Reddit reviews The Dinner

The Dinner by Herman Koch. Not as good as Gone Girl, but it's still pretty good. The entire novel revolves around this one dinner and you learn more and more about the four characters. I mean... these people are crazy. The ending will shock you. You'll be reading the last paragraph over and over just to wrap your head around what it's actually saying.

The best book I read last year was Long Division by Kiese Laymon. It's a funny/sad book with time travel and a mystery. A young man becomes a viral sensation after an academic competition goes awry. Searching for a girl lost in the town where he is hiding out while waiting for the sensation to die down, he discovers a wormhole to the past. It's $10 for Kindle on Amazon, but I believe I read it via my local public library's ebook lending on Overdrive. http://www.amazon.com/Long-Division-Kiese-Laymon/dp/1932841725/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426713319&sr=8-1&keywords=long+division

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes was a fun read. The writing isn't bad, it's a mystery, and there is some timeline flipping. Another one that is available on Overdrive, if your library uses it. $9.99 for kindle. http://www.amazon.com/Shining-Girls-Novel-Lauren-Beukes/dp/0316216860/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426713345&sr=8-1&keywords=the+shining+girls

The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander is a mystery of sorts that is set in Argentina during the Dirty War. It is comical, sad and surreal, the story of a couple oppressed by their government, trying to save their son. $9.99 for Kindle. the ministry of special cases

The Dinner by Hermann Koch was recommended to me by someone who said it was like Gone Girl but for men. I'm not sure what that means, but it was a fast read, and relatively enjoyable. $4.99 for Kindle. http://www.amazon.com/Dinner-Herman-Koch/dp/0385346859/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426713379&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dinner

The Garden of Evening Mists by Twan Eng Tan is beautifully crafted and suspenseful. A Malaysian woman who devoted her career to trying Japanese WW2 criminals retires and returns to the estate where she convalesced from her time in a Japanese work camp during the war and learned the art of Japanese gardening under the tutelage of the exiled head gardener of the Emperor of Japan. The story is told largely through flashback and reveals a harrowing story of survival and a fantastic mystery surrounding her host/teacher at the estate. My synoposis makes it sound boring, but I couldn't put it down. $8.63 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Evening-Mists-Tan-Twan/dp/1602861803/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426713396&sr=8-1&keywords=the+garden+of+the+evening+mist

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The Dinner by Herman Koch is one of the best horror novels I've read recently, and even saying that much gives the game away a little. Marketed as literary fiction, this book slowly falls apart as you read it until you come to an ending that's...well, it's pretty horrifying.

It was a big hit across Europe but doesn't seem to be having the same impact in the US.

The Dinner, by Herman Koch. The book is very readable and well-paced.