I suppose I was looking for an easy, mindless read when I chose Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. This is a popular book among book club circles, and not my usual choice, but it did the job. I thought this premise was engaging and kept the reader wondering–the hallmark of a popular book.

The writing was fine, but that’s usually the case for popular books from the UK because their speech sounds elevated to the “American” ear. I wasn’t always sure about the scenes, how they achieved their character building, and sometimes wanted more meaning and poignancy to be baked in, but in the end, the points were achieved and the plot landed.