10th Anniversary- James Patterson

I’ve really dropped the ball here lately haven’t I? Well, I'm back on track and will be devoting some time this weekend to catching up on writing posts.  I've been reading, just not writing about it.  So here’s to turning over a new leaf, and watch for some new posts this week! I wish I could start with a book that I wasn’t completely disappointed with.

Which leads me to 10th Anniversary. You may recall from my favorite thrillers post that the first book in this series, 1st to Die, is one of my all time favorites. I think it’s for that reason, and that reason alone, that I've stuck with this series. At one point I could tell you that I have enjoyed the character progression of the four main women in this series, but now that we’ve arrived at the 10th book, Lindsay Boxer seems like a pale shadow of herself.

This book was… fine. I mean, it was a passable thriller, but not anywhere near one of the best ones I’ve read, and nothing close to the caliber of the first four books in this series. James Patterson has really disappointed me with this one. The plotline was not even all that exciting, revolving mostly around a court case rather than the serial killer on the loose, and even the secondary plot that is more typical of a Patterson thriller was pretty bad. Usually I burn through books like these in about a day, this one took me three on a vacation with unlimited reading time. I’m not saying it was terrible, but it was just so disappointing. How far the Women’s Murder Club has fallen. It’s sad, really.

2- I didn't care for this particular book, but I'm ok having read it because I know if I hadn't I would wonder about it.  I'll most likely keep reading these books, I like Lindsay and the rest of the group enough to want to know what Patterson ends up doing with all of them, but maybe next time I won’t be in so much of a hurry.

Before I Go to Sleep- SJ Watson

Fast paced, intriguing, and constantly keeping you on the edge of your seat, Before I Go to Sleep is a book that I started one morning and had finished the following afternoon. Though not an original concept (see: Memento, 50 First Dates), amnesia causing a person to forget the most recent parts of their life has always been one that is incredibly interesting to delve into. Before I Go to Sleep was no different.

The main character, Christine, wakes up every day not knowing where she is. In a twist on the way that 50 First Dates did this type of amnesia, Christine will occasionally remember different parts of her life. Some days she knows she’s married, some days she thinks she’s had a one night stand with a married man. This married man, of course, is her husband Ben. Told over more than half of the book as entries in Christine’s secret journal, we learn things about her life that no one sees coming, and prominent among these is the declaration on the first page, DON’T TRUST BEN.

From here we learn things about Christine’s life as she does, and perhaps the most interesting part of this book is that the only word we have on these events is Christine herself. So throughout there is always the factor of a possibly unreliable narrator, which adds to the depth of the book.

I enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep immensely. It has been touted as one of the must-reads of the summer, and did not disappoint. The only complaint I can think of is that there were portions of the book that drug along a little bit, but I think that was really only a result of my high expectations. I will certainly read this book again, especially now that I know how it ends, and all of the secrets that it holds. Another solid 4.

Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me- Chelsea's Family, Friends, and Other Victims

Due to a sudden need for beach reads (since after all, I just spent a week on the beach) Game of Thrones was tossed aside after about 150 pages (I’ll get back to it) to make room for the latest book from Chelsea Handler… or in this case, a book ABOUT Chelsea Handler.

I didn’t know what to expect with Lies Chelsea Handler Told Me. I loved Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang and Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, but since this wasn’t written by Chelsea herself, I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as those two. Although it wasn’t exactly a triumph in hilarity, I was pleasantly surprised, and caught myself laughing / smiling like an idiot throughout the book regardless.

Chelsea clearly surrounds herself with some hilarious people, and thankfully, people who can take a joke. If there’s one thing that this book has definitively proved to me, it’s that I could never be friends with Chelsea Handler. I am far too gullible. The elaborate pranks she has pulled on her friends and family are in some cases so outrageous that I hesitate to believe they actually happened. But being an avid fan of her show and books, I can’t help but find them entertaining.

This book’s a solid 4, I liked it more than her first book (Horizontal Life) but not as much as her other two. I would have preferred another book that she wrote herself, but this is a good substitute!

I'm playing some catch up from the books I read on vacation, so next up will be one of those!