PEONY (Pearl Buck)

GO TO MY GRAVE (Catriona McPherson)

GOOD RIDDANCE (Elinor Lipman)

I picked this up from our newest books going out to the shelves for the first time.  It's a funny, quirky book full of odd characters, but not too odd.  Daphne Maritch, the protagonist, is clearing out after the demise of her brief, ill-fated mistake of a marriage when she decides to recycle her mother's class of '68 yearbook.  Her mother wasn't a member of the Pickering, NH high school class of 1968, but a teacher, and the heavily annotated yearbook was left to Daphne in her will.  Daphne has no idea why her mother considered the yearbook valuable or why she attended class reunions every year.  Her father, the high school principal, never attended with his wife.  When the yearbook fails to pass the joy test Daphne she tosses it in the recycle bin where it is found by her neighbor, Geneva, a "filmmaker" who decides to make a documentary about Mrs. Maritch and the class of '68. 

Despite Daphne's efforts to reclaim the yearbook, Geneva coerces her into attending the next reunion to help her sort out the graduates and discover the story behind the yearbook.  Needless to say, some unwanted secrets are revealed at the reunion, secrets that make Daphne even more determined to stop Geneva's project and get the yearbook out of her life.

There are some interesting characters here.  Daphne herself is not particularly likable, but Geneva, Mr. Winters, and neighbor Jeremy are appealing enough.  I know I enjoyed the novel and I know I'd recommend it, but I can't exactly say why!