Normal Sucks by Jonathan Mooney

Starting from the question almost every parent has to answer at some point, "Why aren't I normal?", Mooney uses his own experiences to build a framework around "normal" and how it is determined.  Studied for hundreds of years, humans have tried to find the norm of canceling from our physical selves to our sex lives. But during that study, many scientists have discovered that their is no one person who can completely match the definition.
This definitely reads like a speech that has been adapted into a book. I didn't realize that this was going to be so closely wrapped around Mooney's own experiences and that was a bit jarring for me. I tend toward the nonfiction books written by people who can take a good step back from what they're studying (obviously, autobiographies not included.) There were a half dozen or so studies included in this book but I wish more had been included. If this had been marketed more as a biographical book I may have been on board sooner and enjoyed it more.

Three stars
This book came out August 13th
ARC kindly provided by Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Intelligence Trap by David Robson

We all know them, the forgetful professor, the absentminded scientist, and otherwise seemingly intelligent people who do things that make us blink. One example in this book is a prominent scientist who is convince that aliens are among us. This book looks at why it is very easy for experts in a field not belief the evidence that is right in front of their eyes.

I really enjoyed this book. Robson skillfully wove both anecdotes and larger data studies together to show why having a high IQ doesn't necessarily mean that you are the smartest person in the room.

Five stars

ARC provided by W. W. Norton & Company and NeGalley

Opinions are my own

Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins

Taking a page from innumerable contemporary romances at the moment, this book is told from alternating first person narrators. The person we hear from the most is Emma London. When her mother died, her father dumped her with his mother, the incredibly well-known designer, Genevieve London. She never quite feels like she belongs. And it becomes official when, at 18, Emma gets pregnant. Suddenly, she is out on the streets without a penny to her name so she goes to live with her maternal grandfather.
Years later, Emma gets a call from Genevieve; Genevieve is dying and wants to surround herself with family in her last days. Emma doesn't want to leave her burgeoning psychiatry practice but a series of events, including her now-teenage daughter, Riley, being bullied by her former group of friends. Now Emma, Riley, and Emma's grandfather are all going to live with Genevieve.
Like many Higgins books, there's a lot going on in this novel. Maybe too much... there are a lot of Big Themes and trying to deal with all of these leaves little room for character or relationship development. I would have thought that Emma and her romantic interest would have been more of a focus... except that this book is categorized in Women's Fiction. And that made it less interesting than Higgins' other books. She's good at big emotions but they hit more with the reader when they're tied to people we care about. And that just didn't happen in this particular Higgins book.

Three stars
This book came out August 6th
ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Invitation to Die by Barbara Cleverly

It's 1924 and the Great War is over but no one knows quite what to do with the soldiers who came back, many of whom have seen conflict beyond what anyone has seen before. In Cambridge, one such soldier has been living on the streets. Well-known for being affable, Richard 'Dickie' Dunne is the latest man to be invited to dine with a group of Cambridge dons. It seems this group of six men enjoy feeding incredibly opulent meals those who they consider "less" (for a variety of reasons) and then slowly tearing them apart. But it's not just the dons who are at this meal, there is also a man with whom Dickie fought; one who shares a dangerous secret. And, at the end of the night, someone ends up dead.
This was very much modeled after mysteries actually written in the '20s - aka- it was very confusing to begin with, had a lot of references to Great Lit-er-a-chur, and lots of focus on the classes. Also, long-winded conversations that can make a person lose track of what, exactly, is going on in the book. I hadn't read the first book in the series but didn't feel like I was missing anything because of it. I did like the character development of Inspector Redfyre but didn't really connect with anyone else. Golden Age mystery fans will probably find this book quite entertaining but I'm not certain about others.

Three stars
This book came out August 6th
ARC kindly provided by Soho Press and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Relative Fortunes by Marlowe Benn

Julia Kydd is in America for one reason only: to get her half of her father's fortune. She hasn't ever really gotten to know her half-brother Philip, he's much older than she is, but she doesn't really like him. He seems to take great pleasure in making her crazy for absolutely no reason.
When her (sort of) friend's sister dies, the role of women in the 1920s comes into stark relief for Julia. Naomi Rankin's family seems to be more concerned about covering up her death than figuring out what was wrong. Her brother controlled the family finances and seemed to take great delight in making the sufragette's life as hard as possible.
Philip makes an off-the-cuff wager that Julia can't figure out what happened to Naomi. If so, he'll stop fighting their father's will and let her have her share of the Kydd money. In doing so, Julia is going to have to confront any number of inequities and a truly horrible family.
This book was so slow to begin with and then piled up so much information into the end that felt overdone. I also had hoped to have a little more history thrown in. For a book that is nearly 400 pages long, we could have gotten some more about that time period. And a little bit deeper character analysis. Everyone felt a bit shallow. It was an okay start to a series but not a barn burner.

Three stars
Followed by Passing Fancies
This book came out August 1st
ARC kindly provided by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

The Case of the Missing Hippo by Laura James

Oh, how I wish that the illustrations had been included in the ARC I got from NetGalley. The story was fine but I think the pictures might have upped my rating.

Violet, the niece of a local hotel owner, is trying to get the hotel some more business by holding a talent show. One of the judges catches a bad cold so Fabio is asked to step in. During the tryouts, the lights go out and a hippo singer disappears. Fabio is immediately on the case. It takes a race at the nearby athletic event to put him on the right track.
This book will probably amuse parents with the arch jokes and wink, winks but I'm not sure how it will appeal to children.

Three stars
This book comes out August 6th
ARC kindly provided by Bloomsbury Children's Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Lone Wolf Cowboy by Maisey Yates

How much do the scars of our past affect our current relationships?
Vanessa Logan has been mentioned in past books. Her twin Olivia was the perfect child while Vanessa was the one who descended into drugs, alcohol, and debauchery eventually leaving home when she was a teen. Five years ago, she managed to pull herself into sobriety and now she's back in Gold Valley working with at risk kids.
On the other hand, Jacob Dalton is burying his own guilt from spending the day in bed with a one-night stand while his friend covered a wildfire shift and died. He's using alcohol. His family are the ones who set up the camp for the kids and he's being pulled in to just be in the classroom so that the teen boys don't decide that Vanessa is fair game.
One night, Jacob and Vanessa are each dealing with their own dragons and hook up. Neither is very proud of themselves but it does lead them to opening up with each other about their past. It also leads to them being linked in ways that they never expected.
I... didn't love the last half of the book. And I can't articulate why. Possibly because Major Plot Point (MPP) came out of left field for me. More because MPP made it so that everything was fast forwarded and I like a little more relationship development in most of my books.

Three stars
This book came out July 30th
Follows Cowboy to the Core
Followed by Cowboy Christmas Redemption
ARC kindly provided by Harlequin and NetGalley
Opinions are my own