I loved The Last Policeman books, although I never had any interest in the mystery aspects of the book at any point. (I am honestly not sure the author did, either.) But the world-building was fascinating, and the last book nails the ending.

I just started The Girl on the Train myself. I can't yet decide what I think about it. I have very little patience with Rachel so far.

Oh, the actors definitely sold it. Elisabeth Moss was great. It just didn't quite work for me.

I didn't hate it, but I did think some parts of it were a little too fan-service-y (Peggy and Stan, Roger's bequest to Kevin).

I love how Carole Middleton simultaneously spent her daughter’s entire life scheming to get her married to Will and become royalty and also hates the royals and won’t let them raise her grandson. It seems like it would be one or the other.

Gene would especially be better off with Henry, who is essentially the only father they have ever known. But how did the laws work in the 1970s? If Don doesn't come back, it's possible that custody would go to (shudder) Betty's awful brother and his wife.

No, I don't mean that, but something about making sure that Bobby and Gene (who is, what, four?) remember her. Or some general principles about how she wants them to be raised — after all, she can't be sure that Don is ever coming back, and Henry is not in an emotional place to listen to her.

Yikes. This must have been really hard to watch. I'm so sorry about your mom.

I was expecting something about the boys, who are about to be effectively orphaned, but no, it was all "blue chiffon" and "how I do my hair."

Someone gave my mom a cat with, I guess, very luxuriant fur. Naturally, she named it “Fluffer.” Because of the really fluffy fur, you see.

D) All of the above.

Yeah, between that painting and her apartment building, she's set for life.

I wasn't clear on why Shirley and the other secretary were called in there, but Dawn was potentially in trouble because paying the lease was her specific job. (And if she had just forgotten to pay the lease, then she would have deserved to be fired.) So I think attributing Roger's actions in this situation to race was…

Someone told the baby about paparazzi. I wouldn’t come out either.

I have been working my way through the longlist of the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction and am just about to start The Bees, which appears to be yet another post-apocalyptic thing, except with insects. I am dubious, but I want to finish the longlist and it comes highly recommended, so we'll see.

I liked the first book in that Nantucket series, but I wasn't crazy about the other two. The world-building was much more interesting to me than the plot.

The sequel, Bring Up the Bodies, is even better.

Oh, I loved The Rehearsal. I actually preferred it to The Luminaries.

I felt the same way. I thought it was outrageously overrated.

My fourteen-year-old son loved it.