★★★★☆ Equal parts funny, heartwarming, and sad, the story of a gay uncle pressed into temporary custody of his niece and nephew for a summer

★★★☆☆ The Danny Ryan trilogy coasts to a conclusion, wrapping up open plot points but mostly just checking the box in this mailed-in effort.

★★★★☆ A book club darling of a novel about a boy born with ocular albinism (red eyes), whose life I found less extraordinary than expected.

★☆☆☆☆ By the author of the excellent Thistlefoot, a collection of short stories written six years ago that should have remained unpublished.

★★★★☆ A reimagining of the events leading up to and surrounding the crimes of Ted Bundy, with a focus on the victims rather than the killer.

A running tally of my "Best Books of 2023", updated each time I finish a book throughout the year.

★★★★★ It's long, but it's also a brilliant tour de force, presenting a multi-generational character study spanning nearly 80 years in India.

★★★★★ A masterful book, Lehane's best since Mystic River, set against the racial tensions of Boston school busing during the summer of '74.

★★★★★ A beautifully written character study of a cast of memorable souls that spans 30 years from the end of World War II until the mid-70s.

★★★★★ Harrow returns to top form with a genre-blending story of a young woman trying to scrape by in a town haunted by its past and secrets.

★★★★☆ A decent but unremarkable debut about a young girl's disappearance, its impact on her family, and ultimately their path to reuniting.

★★★★☆ Set in the 1930s, an expansive cast from the Black and Jewish section of Pottstown, PA come together to rally around a common cause.

★★★☆☆ The semi-autobiographical account of the author's childhood, focused on him leaving the reservation to attend a white high school.

★★★☆☆ A character study of two neighboring families on the outskirts of New York City. I hoped for spellbinding; what I got was milquetoast.

★★★☆☆ A mostly tragic decades-spanning debut about a young woman dealing with adversity while growing up in rural Colorado circa 1950.

★★★☆☆ Inflated expectations probably diminished my enjoyment of this river odyssey tale. It's an okay story, but Ordinary Grace it is not.

★★★★☆ Hart's tale of women finding their power through witchcraft is diluted by her one-dimensional portrayal of universally horrible men.

★★★☆☆ A rushed sophomore slump of a novel that fails to live up to Boulley's first book, Firekeeper's Daughter, in almost every way.

★★★★☆ Societal commentary abounds in this story of a white author stealing the final manuscript of an Asian American author after her death.

★★★★☆ The 2nd book in the Danny Ryan Trilogy fails to live up to the 1st, but it's a quick read if you want more time with the Dogtown crew.