The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel

I had really high hopes for this because it was written by the author of Station 11.  Sadly, this book was not nearly as good.

Gavin finds out he has a long lost daughter when his sister sees a child that looks just like she did when she was young.  Gavin then sets out to locate his high school girlfriend who disappeared when he graduated.

The intersecting lives felt like a Seinfeld episode.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

3 stars.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Audio book.
Narrated by Kirsten Potter.
8.5 hours.

When the Conti's infant is kidnapped, many secrets are uncovered.

Wonderful story with a great narrator.

5 stars.

Cross the Line by James Patterson

Another incoherent Alex Cross novel.  Several plots, none fully developed.  Mr. Patterson has become such a disappointment, and yet I always try again.

2.5 stars.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Audio: 10.5 hours
Read by Kirsten Potter

What's left of Earth after a new plague kills 99% of the population?  Different POV and moving back and forth through time suprisingly did not make the story hard to follow.  Also loved the narrator and will have to look for books read by her again.

5 stars.

Paris for One & Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

Can this really be my first finish of the year?  I know I've started lots of things and then not finished, so maybe.  I guess that says something about this book.

Paris for One is more of a novella.  Nell plans a weekend in Paris for herself and her boyfriend, who proceeds to stand her up.  She goes alone, copes with lots of uncomfortable situations, and finally meets some people and ends up having a great time.  (Of course.)

The rest of the stories are true short stories.  Maybe 10 pages at most.

I enjoyed this book more than I'd like to admit.  Very chick-lit, but Ms. Moyes is skilled at characterization.

4 stars.

After You by Jojo Moyes

I almost didn't read this when I saw it was a sequel to Me Before You because generally sequels stink.  Glad I did though because this novel about Louisa's life after Will dies was excellent.  Again, Ms. Moyes does not go for the happily ever after ending, which I appreciate.

4.5 stars.

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Ruth Jefferson, a black labor and delivery nurse, is charged with homicide when the newborn son of white supremacists dies.

The look inside the white supremacists movement was horrifying.  I can only hope that I will forget some of what I read.  Looking at Ruth's life is similarly upsetting, but for different reasons.  The way Ruth is treated by the white people around her and how she feels she needs to act because of this subtle racism is so sad.

I would have given this 5 stars, but I found the epilogue kind of hokey.

4.5 stars