Last night thanks to a neighbor’s car alarm, I didn’t spend much time sleeping so I finished these three.  Elizabeth is Missing is a book I had heard about but was avoiding because quite frankly I find the entire topic of dementia/alzheimers absolutely terrifying.  In the book, we meet Maud a grandmother who is concerned about the disappearance of her friend Elizabeth.  She is attempting to find Elizabeth by carrying out her own investigation, however she is hindered by her family and Elizabeth’s and her own mind, clouded by dementia.  To confuse matters further, there are actually two disappearances, Elizabeth’s in the current day and Sukie, Maud’s sister seventy years prior.

In Maud’s mind, the two disappearances blend, twisting together and separting again in moments of clarity.  The book follows Maud on this frustrating journey as it also allows the reader a peek into the impact dementia has on Maud’s family and how they handle it.  Well written and engaging, if depressing and disheartening.

212 is the third book in the Ellie Hatcher series by Alafair Burke.  The hook is very current, focused on the dangers of the internet and how it allows predators to terrorize victims with no repurcussions. The main gist of the mystery involves mistaken identity and sorting through the red herrings, which are numerous, and lead the reader and Ellie Hatcher down several side streets and alleys before solving the murder case(s).The murders are tied up neatly in the end and the cases are solved.  Interesting, quick mystery read.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves was an impulse pick up for me.  I have seen the book in Barnes and Noble and on a few blogs and decided to give it a shot.  This is a family-centric novel that explores the meaning of family and connectedness or not that we experience.  I can’t really say much else with out giving major spoilers, the book is not what it seems initially.  It starts with meeting Rose and learning how she has “lost” both her brother and her sister, and it is not really up for discussion in her family.  What is clear is that it has had a devastating impact on them all, Rose, her mother and her father.  Just how devastating, you will have to read to find out.

I will say that the book was well written and completely compelling (I had to know how it ended).  However, I do think there was a significant weakness.  In some ways it is political issue statement designed as a novel.  The author has a personal point of view and there is no voice through character or narration for any other side of the issue.  The other thing you need to know is that for an animal lover, the book is extremely disturbing (at least in my opionion). Personally, I wish I would not have read it.  That is not to say that it hasn’t and won’t work for many other readers.