"Talking to Strangers" by Malcolm Gladwell

This was a very topical book in light of the George Floyd protests which are taking place around the world. Interesting to know the origins of police using the flimsy excuse of traffic stops to check out people for possible criminal activity. And interesting to know that people's facial expressions are not as transparent as sitcoms would have us believe.

"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens

A lot of people love this book, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. The human interactions were not very pleasant, and the author is poor at dialogue and motivation. She made the characters seem stilted and unbelievable. It's a pity she's not a better novelist because the close relationship between Kya and nature was a very nice idea. The fact that her entire family abandoned her and that her mother was unable to get her back does not ring true.

“The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi

I found this book harder to get into then “The Waterknife” because it was written on a more intellectual level, with a great deal of talk. Additionally, it took place in Thailand and so used a number of foreign words, and the world that Bacigalupi introduced was filled with concepts that we are not used to in current society. He did not explain those concepts. You come to understand them as the book progresses.

“The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern

This book had beautiful imagery and was a pretty good read. But it was too long and too abstract/fantastical for most tastes, I think.

“The Good Soldier” by Ford Maddox Ford

Supposedly, this is a perfect novel. Perhaps it is, but it’s not very pleasant.

“The Unbearable Bassington” by Saki (H.H. Munro)

For the most part, this was an amusing and clever satire. Then it be lightly boring and then it ended by being poignant. I’m glad Eva recommended this book to me.

“Watermark” by Christy Ann Conlin

I enjoyed these dark short stories by an East Coast Canadian writer.