Looking for an engaging summer read? Here are two books I've recently read that I can recommend without any hesitation.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Oh, what a fine book. I've read Flynn's other two books, each of which was very good; this is the best of the three. This is a clever, ingenious suspense novel about a marriage gone bad. I don't want to say too much about the plot because the joy in this book is in the pleasure of uncovering for yourself what's going on. It's a dazzling, richly layered story. If you want to read more about it, here's Janet Maslin's review from the New York Times. You also can click on the book title to go to the Amazon reviews of it.
I also recommend Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead. It's a character study, playing out over a weekend at a wedding set at a Nantucket-like locale. Exceptionally well done. See the review today in the NYT Book Review.
