An American Marriage - Tayari Jones --------------------------- 4 Stars

As I was reading An American Marriage, I realized it was like an inverted bell curve of entertainment (basically, a U shape). It started out very exciting and interesting, moved into a very slow middle section, and rallied again in the last few chapters. But, as that middle part didn't last too long, and did move the story along, I found this book quite enjoyable.

An American Marriage is a recently released book that became MUCH more popular after Oprah named it to her book club list; and for good reason, it's a well written and told story. Based on the author hearing a couple discuss whether the man in a relationship would have waited for the female if she had gone to prison (while he did not answer, he did say that scenario was not likely), the book is about a man going to prison right as his marriage was beginning for a crime he didn't commit. The third main character, is the childhood best friend of the female lead. Told in alternating chapters from the voice of one of these three characters, the author would slowly move the plot forward while getting the perspective of each of the characters in a chapter.

The book shined in many notable ways. First, it's an engaging story with an interesting premise (described above). Other than the middle quarter/third when the action really slowed down, the book grabs you immediately and delivers through the end. Which is another thing - great ending. As happens too often, authors struggle to pull everything together and leave the reader unsatisfied. Not here, I finished the book and felt it was a nearly perfect ending that fulfilled all the needs of the characters. Third, the characters are well rounded and easy to engage with. As the author switches perspectives often, it's effortless to fully connect with each character's motivations. Finally, the story takes on the subject of race directly and fairly. All of the characters deal with the aftermath of the injustice of the criminal system on Black individuals.

I have few gripes, with the biggest being the large section in the middle of the book when the story comes to a nearly grinding halt. The pace was moving so smoothly and then it got bogged down during the years when one of the characters was in jail. Perhaps purposeful in allowing the reader to better understand the parallel affect his incarceration had on the characters - there lives slowed too - it didn't do much for me as the reader.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It's of decent length, is well written, has a fascinating plot and great starting and ending. The copy I read also had some interesting discussion questions after the book ended which I enjoyed engaging with to help think more deeply about themes in the story. 

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators - Ron Farrow --------------- 3 Stars

 Catch and Kill is not the type of book that you look forward to reading. It's about awful human beings, most notably, Harvey Weinstein, and those that know and have hid, and continue to hide awful things. While the book was often not enjoyable to read about, it was quite interesting and I greatly appreciated Farrow's courage to put to print the many findings he learned in his research.

As most people know, Harvey Weinstein is now in jail for sexually harassing, assaulting and raping many women of his long career in the movie industry. Thanks, in large part to this book, those allegations and eventual convictions came to the public light. What was not so clear is the amount of people and organizations working diligently to ensure these wrongs never became public. It is truly astonishing to see the level of cover-up that occurred and the number of high power and profile people who came to Weinstein's defense.

While the book is revelatory, many of those findings are incredibly hard to read. Both from the level of specificity of his crimes and also the harrowing aftermath that negatively affected so many people's lives. The book adds some lightheartedness as Farrow talks about his own personal challenges in doing the research for this book. He also has a good sense of humor which he includes which allows an occasional break from the quite serious subject matter.

The biggest weakness of the book is the length and final fifth/quarter of book. Farrow basically finishes telling his findings about Weinstein about three-quarters of the way in. He then weaves through less related stories that are marginally connected to the focus of the majority book. For example, he talks about the accusations about Matt Laurer - who is also a pretty awful dude - but the depth was lacking compared to the Weinstein material. I wondered why the book didn't just conclude after he finished the items related to Weinstein.

Overall, the book is highly recommended for the importance of subject matter. While not the most entertaining book (frankly, I wanted to put it down often), hearing these stories and knowing the importance of supporting ways to stop sexual harassment, assault, etc. and the cultures that allow reprehensible behavior is vitally important.