14. The Golem and the Jinni

By Helene Wecker (484 pp)

My sister-in-law gave me this book and I loved it. It is set in 1899 NYC and tough to summarize simply and without spoilers. The golem, named Chava, is brought to life en route to the city where she is supposed to become a wife. The jinni, called Ahmad, is released from a lamp but has a complicated history. They become acquainted and form a lovely friendship. As I say about everything I read, I had a few issues but overall, interesting and satisfying story. Recommend.

13. Broken Harbor

By Tana French (450 pp)

Another murder mystery. Childhood sweethearts grown and married with two kids buy a home in a fancy suburban development outside of Dublin that goes bust in the 08 financial troubles. The family is murdered except the woman who barely survives. That doesn't quite cover it but I don't want to get spoilery. The story is from the POV of the detectives. It was a good, readable book but got long for me. This author is not afraid to sink the reader into an endless interrogation scene that consists of Detective asks question, Respondent says: I don't know, Detective says: we know you're lying, Respondent reluctantly gives up a piece of information. Sometimes interrogation scenes duplicated information we already learned.