Reading May/June

Managed a decent number of books the past 2 months- all before we left for vacation. Since getting to steamboat I have only managed 3 books- something about not leaving children unattended in the pool lest they drown. Here's what I read:
Reign of Ash- Gail Z Martin: book 2 of The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga. Not nearly as good as the first book. Not nearly enough plot to justify the length, which makes the author's amateur writing (or should I blame it on bad editing?) much less tolerable.
War of Shadows- Gail Z Martin: completely pointless book 3 of Ascendant Kingdoms. Did absolutely nothing to further the storyline of the first two books, and I just cannot deal with the author's intensely amateurish writing. I'm done with this series.
White Plague- James Abel: military/disaster thriller about the rescue of a submarine crew stranded on the Arctic ice. Exciting and quick read.
I Am Pilgrim- Terry Hayes: fantastic spy novel. Detailed enough to be realistic (and terrifying), fast paced and convoluted enough to be engrossing. A real page turner.
Yes Please- Amy Poehler: this book was not particularly funny (just like most of the biographies I've read by very funny women). It was interesting, and it was surprisingly inspiring and eye opening. A lot of it was 'this happened to me' stuff, but there were some real deep LIFE LESSON type gems in there too. I'm kind of mad I got this at the library because there were passages that needed highlighting. I loved her before, but now she's my guru.
Inherit Midnight- Kate Kae Myers: fast paced and fun read. Finished almost in one evening. Gets a little bogged down in sappy romance at the end, but I think that's par for the course with YA fiction.
Just What Kind Of Mother Are You- Paula Daly: frazzled, overwhelmed mother inadvertently involved in the disappearance of her best friend's daughter. Twisty and interesting, even if the self pity/ guilt of the main character was a little trying.
The Dinner- Herman Koch: partially dark and twisted satire, partially just kind of tedious and whiny. If anything, this really needed to be darker and or more satirical to be really good, but it is translated from the original language (Dutch maybe?) so it's possible that the full extent got lost in translation.
You Should Have Known- Jean Hangf Korelitz: meh. Yet another book mired in the inner monologue of a miserable person, except this time she was also very smug and snobbish too so you hardly felt bad when her life fell apart. Which was sort of the point of the book, but still didn't make for very fun reading. It is clearly a focus of novels to be all about what characters think and feel, but I really prefer what they do. I like books where stuff happens
Bittersweet- Wittemore: mystery and intrigue and the depravity of the filthy rich. What's not to like? A little to heavy handed with the 'everyone has terrible secrets' that were beyond easy to guess, but good nonetheless.
The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty- Amanda Filipacchi: bizarrely magical yet realistic, vaguely humorous and totally engrossing. Although almost disturbingly negative towards every aspect of being physically attractive.
Bellweather Rhapsody- Kate Racculia: I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it and I'm not sure I can out my finger on why. Decent mystery, although despite a missing girl and a terrible snow storm trapping everyone in a fading resort hotel there is never any real sense of urgency or danger. Like death and tragedy and the fallout are all sort of happenstance, but by all means let's deeply explore the way music can make you feel. Huh. Maybe I do know why I didn't love it.
Red Notice- Bill Browder: fascinating, infuriating, intense, and horrifying. And TRUE.
Full Black- Brad Thor: run of the mill spy thriller, and while the main bad guy is a stretch, the intermediary acts of terrorism are all too possible.
The Forgotten Room- Lincoln Child: decent thriller, but pushing the boundaries of acceptable suspension of reality.
Watching You- Michael Robotham: Better than average thriller, and while there was no huge twist, it kept me guessing what was really happening for most of it.
Life or Death- Michael Robotham: Well written thriller about a possibly innocent man who escapes prison one day before being released. Lik able and interesting characters, nicely paced plot keeps you reading.