The Casual Vacancy

This book was a wonderful read. J.K. Rowling meets Middlemarch. For my friends who had read it when it first came out and didn't like it so much, I think it ages well - in particular with the more distance you put between J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter in your mind.

I swear I wrote a review for this book immediately after putting it down, which must have gotten misplaced in the bowels of the internet. At the time, I was emotionally caught up in the fact that Krystal was trying SO HARD to make a better life for her and Robbie, it failed so spectacularly, and nobody had any idea about what she was trying to do. . Phew. Thanks, J.K. Rowling. (But I really mean it!)