Last week, I wrote about the beautiful novel “Brooklyn,” the first of a two-book series on a young Irish woman who moved to America after the big war. I finished it, and it was one of the best novels I’ve read. Soon, I’m starting the sequel, “Long Island,” by Coin Toibin.

Before that, I’m enjoying two books—the nonfiction Life of Griffin Dunne,  (“The Friday Afternoon Club”),  his famous parents, and his life growing up among famed movie stars in old and mystical Hollywood. It’s a compelling life about a lost world told from inside an incredible literary and film family; I’m soaking it up. Hollywood was an enchanting place stuffed with good and evil.

Dunne still lives in Hollywood and makes movies. It’s a juicy book, and I confess that I like that about it.

The other book I’m reading is a mystery, “Heaven’s Keep,” by William Kent Krueger, one of my favorite mystery writers. I’m a third of the way through. It’s one of those genuine and straightforward mysteries (not gory) that it’s hard to put down.

I also love Olivia Laing’s “The Garden Against Time,” a very different book about gardens and flowers and their place in our future.  It’s hitting home.