A bunch of books....again

I have been on a reading kick lately (more so than normal) and have been lazy about writing about each of them, so here are a bunch of books I have read so far this year:

The Jane Austen Society - Natalie Jenner - This was a nice historical fiction about a group of people living in a town Jane Austen once lived in. They love her books and decide they need to do something to honour her works and history in the town. The group is made up of many different people, from the town doctor, to a farm worker, to a movie star from America. It's a very enjoyable book. If you liked The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, you will like this one.

One of Us is Lying - Karen M. McManus - This Young Adult book is part mystery, part thriller. A strange group of five students are given detention and one of them, Simon, ends up dead. All of them become suspects and all of them have reasons to want Simon dead. As each of their lives takes uncomfortable turns as their secrets are revealed, they hunt for the truth. This was a pretty good book. I'll admit I did figure out what happened part way through the book, but still enjoyed it. There is a sequel, but I don't think I'm interested in reading it.

Akin - Emma Donoghue - This one is pretty slow paced, at times frustratingly so. Noah is a retired professor who is planning a trip back to his home country of France when he receives a phone call about his great nephew Michael. Michael's dad (Noah's nephew) died of a suspected drug overdose and his mother is in prison for drug dealing. Michael's guardian, his maternal grandmother, recently passed away and there is no other relative left in the city. So Noah agreed to take him in for a short time, and that included a trip to France. The book has a happy ending, but at times it was a struggle for me to want to get to the end.

Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All - Jonas Jonasson - I have read many books by Jonas Jonasson (the best known would be The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared). This one follows a similar theme, with the main characters stumbling across fortune and bad luck at times, always escaping dangerous criminals. I enjoyed it for the most part, but not as much as some of his other books.

Anxious People - Fredrik Backman - I have read most of Fredrik Backman's books too and this one was great. It begins with a bank robbery gone wrong that turns into an accidental hostage situation. This book was sweet, funny, sad, and just all around enjoyable. I don't think there was a single character I didn't enjoy and you could not help rooting for all of them. Read this book!