The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

Frances Marion and Mary Pickford were best friends who helped shape Hollywood in its infancy. Mary was the face, the perpetual little girl, while Frances worked behind the scenes as a scenarist (writer). The book follows both women from their beginnings with “flickers” to wondering what kind of future they'll have when the “talkies” become popular. Their friendship, like most, has it's ups and downs, but they eventually fracture in a way that neither thinks can be repaired. 

I enjoyed this story because it taught me a lot about the early days of Hollywood, however, I felt at time that the conflicts between Frances and Mary were insanely petty. I felt like a story about women who were pioneers in the film industry was basically boiled down to arguments about men and who's trying to upstage who at work. The book was a quick read and kept me interested. 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Who is May Ling? Who is Mirabelle? 

Elena Richardson grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio: a Cleveland suburb. In 1997, she has 4 high school children and the perfect lawyer as a husband. Elena's life is her own perfect plan, and 3 of her children easily fall into her cookie-cutter family recipe. Her youngest, Izzy, has always been a wild card.

When Mia and Pearl Warren move to Shaker Heights, the 2^ndfloor apartment they rent is owned by Elena Richardson, who has a soft spot for Mia. Elena offers Mia a job before digging into Mia's personal history. Under normal circumstances, Elena and Mia may have been friends. If only Elena hadn't hired Mia to clean and cook for her teenage children. 

Pearl and Mia attract all four of the Richardson children: Lexie, Trip, Moody, and Izzy. And each of these teenagers reacted differently to the mother/daughter family. When Shaker Heights is thrown into an adoption scandal that attracts media attention, everyone takes sides. When Elena realizes that Mia is intimately involved with the “other side” she pushes Mia and Pear right out of her family's life, which has dire consequences for her perfect little life.

This book is wonderfully written and every character feels like a real person. This story brought me back to 1997 and my sophomore year in high school, and I loved it. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

A missing wife, signs of a struggle, and a sketchy husband who can't stop lying. Kidnapping? Murder? Where's Amy?

I want to keep this review vague because I don't usually read crime/thriller books so I don't want to give anything away. This book had me going back and forth between 'okay, yeah, what's next?' and 'what the hell is wrong with these people?' I didn't really like either character, Missing Amy or Killer Nick. 

This is now the second book I've read specifically because it's on PBS's Great American Read. This is also the second book on the list I'm giving a mediocre review of, so I really hope whatever arrives from the library next is considerably better! 

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Miles, aka Pudge, decides to follow in his father's footsteps to attend boarding school because he has no real friends, so why not, he thinks. His roommate Chip, aka the Colonel, immediately takes him under his wing and introduces him to Alaska, who Pudge immediately falls for. Alaska flirts with him while reminding him she has an out of town boyfriend who she loves. Alaska and the Colonel bend the rules just as far as they can without breaking them and Pudge is enthralled. 

But that's before. After, everything changes. Pudge pushes everyone away, he goes to class but he's not really there. He just needs to piece everything together, and then everything will be okay...right?

This is the second John Green novel I've read and I honestly think this was a lot like Paper Towns, which was written after this. I found the two protagonists to be very similar as well as the girls they were obsessed with. Pudge worries about himself in relation to Alaska instead of what's actually bothering Alaska. He idolizes her and is selfish about her affections toward him and their other friends. 

This book was just interesting enough to keep me reading and since it's a short YA novel it didn't take long to finish. This is the first book that I read just because it's on PBS's Great American Read, which is kind of disappointing. However, I don't expect to instantly like every book on the list.