Squeeze Me

Perhaps if I hadn't read a few Elmore Leonard and John D. MacDonald novels this effort by Carl Hiaasen would have landed with something other than a thud. 

Ditch

This Herman Koch novel doesn't carry the same energy and controversy as earlier books like The Dinner and Summer House with Swimming Pool. In essence it is the story of a man who is undone by bizarre suspicions, with side plots about his elderly father's bizarre behavior and a scientist friend with bizarre ideas. Sound bizarre enough? It actually is more plodding than strange.

Weapons of Math Destruction

Mathematician Cathy O'Neil examines the role that algorithms play in society and finds many of them dangerous and destructive. Mainly because of a "negative feedback loop," these programs reinforce their own biases and create a death spiral for people, mainly poor, trying to get a job, credit, or get into college. The diagnosis is convincing; the epilogue in which solutions are offered seems, unfortunately, wildly unrealistic. Greed and self-interest are far too firmly entrenched, as witness the recent revelations by the Facebook whistleblower.

Lolita

Despite having not read Lolita, it was no surprise that the element of eroticism was entirely absent in favor of sly humor, mostly wordplay. After all, who would expect Nabokov to write smut? The puns, obscure references, and French phrases would benefit from a closer second reading, but a brisk survey gives a satisfying foretaste. I doubt that much ink has been spilled discussing the suspense the novel creates, but for me that was no small part of its appeal.