Third Times a Charm!

Ok, So I finally am getting around to reviewing the last 3 books I've read. I think the reason it's taken me this long is b/c I didn't like the first two very much.

Me Times Three by Alex Witchel -- which Kate "bought" for me for Christmas, and I say bought, but she really stole it from the library :)

This book sounded good, and Kate said she liked it, but I wasn't too thrilled. Obviously it was decent enough that I finished it, but it wasn't one of my all time favorites. This novel tells the story of a girl who has been with her boyfriend since high school. He starts to turn into this big shot in NY and is rarely ever home while she can't seem to find much to do with her Theater degree. Then shortly after he proposes she goes to an event without him (as he was away on "business" yet again) only to be confronted by a woman who claims to also be his fiance. Then it turns out he has ANOTHER finance. Yes, three. (Hence the name of the book, Me Times Three). Instead of being angry and going out for revenge, or any type of dramatic confrontation one would expect from a girl who finds out her finance has 2 others -- it's this boring tale (or so I thought) about how she can't seem to move on. She doesn't stay in contact with him, but she just goes about her days trying to figure out how she missed it and nothing major ever really happens. It has some decent parts, but all in all not the best (sorry Kate!!)


The next book I decided to read was A Painted House by John Grisham. Normall I love a John Grisham book (LOVED the Rainmaker!), but I should have known when my mom (who LOVES Danielle Steel and Jackie Collins) suggested this one. I also should have known because they turned it into a Hallmark movie (yes, I know, big clue!).

This is one of Grisham's stab at a non-lawyer book. I loved his attempt with Skipping Christmas, so I figured this, too, would be good. Well I was wrong. I'm actually surprised I even finished this book (maybe I was just hoping something would actually happen). The book is set in the 1950s on a cotton farm in the south and is narrated by a 7-year-old. His family has 2 groups working on their farm for the cotton picking season, the Spurills, another southern (and dysfunctional) family; and the Mexicans (a group of men who came up from Mexico to make money for the cotton picking season). A lot of trouble starts to brew as there a relationship between the Spurills daughter and a Mexican, named Cowboy, blossoms. Then one of the Spurills, named Hank, has a very short temper and ends up causing an extreme amount of trouble around town. Now a lot of drama does happen in this book, but it's hard to get a good story out of a 7-year-old. I just couldn't get past the boys whiny attitude about cotton and his extreme obsession with baseball (he swore he was going to be a baseball player for the Cardinals when he grew up). Even the ending just leaves you hanging as there is no resolution to of the drama --- it all just seemed a little blah and pointless.

I wouldn't recommend this unless you love adult novels narrated by 7-year-olds and you wanted a good bore for 500 pages!

Because I was on such a bad streak with books I decided it was time to go back to old faithful, Jodi Picoult (author of My Sister's Keeper, Vanishing Acts, Keeping Faith, etc).

This book took me a bit longer to get into than most Picoult novels, but I knew that once I got about 1/4 of the way in I'd be hooked. This novel, like most Picoult books, touches on some pretty big/important topics; the main one being spousal abuse.

The story starts with an Sioux Indian legend (there are a few of them scattered throughout the story and they are really good and lend great meaning to the novel itself.) The actual story then starts with a woman, in 1993, who wakes up in a cemetary and can't seem to remember who she is, where she is, how she got there... basically has amnesia. She is picked up by a man who turns out to be a cop (a man who is a Sioux Indian, who now lives in LA). Turns out her husband is a big movie star; the story then goes to her going home with him and her basically just having a hard time adjusting to him and the house. The story then jumps back to how they met, got married and leads up how she got the amnesia.
It's a great story with some major twists -- I was literally gasping at the end. I definetly recommend this book, even though it started a bit slow it really did pick up and had some great plot twists. :)

Now i'm currently reading Good Grief by Lolly Winston. :)