What I've Read So Far This Year: The Sister, The 158-Pound Marriage, Hell's Kitchen

1. The Sister by Poppy Adams. I really enjoyed this book. Two sisters grow up in a big, old house. The older one leaves as soon as she can, and the younger stays behind. 50 years later, the older returns to live with her sister. The narrator is clearly untrustworthy, but we can't tell precisely what's wrong with her. Secrets from their childhood are remembered and revealed throughout the book. The narrator becomes more and more unreliable as the story progresses. Very enjoyable!



2. John Irving's The 158-Pound Marriage. I love Irving's story-telling ability. This story's plot didn't grab me. It's about two couples in the 1970s who try to swap spouses without their children finding out, and without anyone getting hurt. It's okay, but seems very 70s to me, in a way that I'm not interested in at the moment. If you like Irving and this plot sounds good to you, check it out. I did like that the narrator (one of the husbands) was kind of a slimeball. It made it more interesting.



3. Hell's Kitchen by Jeffery Deaver. A mystery recommended by my Dad. Although my edition had terrible editing (are commas expensive to print??), there is nothing wrong with the writing! The book was quite enjoyable. I now have a stack of other novels by Deaver, and I plan to read them all. This one is about a pyromaniac in NYC, and especially in Hell's Kitchen. Though there is only one protagonist, several characters are developed. The history of Hell's Kitchen is fun to read. Best of all for a mystery, there is no way to guess the ending.