98/100 (368 pages)

True Detectives: A Novel by Jonathan Kellerman


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I assumed going in that this was an Alex Delaware novel, but he actually only plays a small part. The same is true for Detective Sturgis. Instead, this novel focuses on two characters from Bones: Moses, the by the book boring cop, and his brother, Aaron, the self-made man who likes the finer things in life. As we learned in Bones, the two do not really get along, but they eventually wind up working together to help solve a murder. The more I read Jonathan Kellerman, the more I feel like there are a zillion characters that I have a hard time keeping track of.

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97/100 (368 pages)

Best Friends Forever: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jennifer Weiner's latest is the story of Addie, a woman who basically keeps to herself and wants little to do with the outside world. Addie's only real friend in life was her best friend Valerie, who we are led to believe betrayed Addie in some way. Addie and Valerie eventually team up to hide a crime committed by Valerie. I found the whole thing to be kind of juvenile and I thought there was a desperate attempt for humor at strange places. But overall, I still enjoy Weiner's writing style, and I looked forward to reading the book.

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96/100 (400 pages)

Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was standard Jen Lancaster, but it was my least favorite so far. As the title implies, this memoir focuses on the fashion part of Jen's life. I think I may have liked the other ones more because they were more food focused. It is still a quick read with a zillion little footnotes.

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95.100 (536 pages)

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So I have been hearing about how this is the best book on earth forever. I started it a while back and gave up after a few pages. Now that the movie is coming out, I figured I may be able to get a better grasp on it since I found it confusing the first time around.The story is about Henry, a time traveler. He meets Clare when she is a child and basically tells her that they are eventually going to get married. Later on, when Clare is in her 20's, she runs into Henry who doesn't know who she is. Confusing? Definitely. I had a hard time pulling everything together. I will be reading about a time in 2000, then a time in 2001, then a time in 1973, but really Henry is in the present. There were also a lot of times when Henry would run into himself at a different point in time. Maybe this was easy to grasp for some people, but I was having a hard time with it.I am not going to say I didn't like the book. It kept me reading. But it was very Notebook-esque in a "this is the most romantic love story of all time" garbage. I don't see how that is true since it seemed like Clare was always waiting for Henry and meanwhile he was sleeping with women left and right. I also found the miscarriage scenes to be a little sci-fi like. So in all, didn't love it, didn't hate it. It kept me interested, but it certainly wasn't the best book of all time.

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94/100 (389 pages)

Oh My Stars: A Novel by Lorna Landvik


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is another book that I picked because it was Landvik. This was once of my least favorites. The book is narrated by Violet, a girl with a horrible childhood. She loses an arm in an accident, her mother leaves her, and her father doesn't love her. She decides to go to San Francisco to kill herself, but the bus has an accident that derails her plans.

This is when the book turns south for me. Violet meets up with a band and decides to travel with them. And I find the subsequent 200 pages to be dreadfully boring.

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93/100 (417 pages)

The Lie: A Novel by Chad Kultgen


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read the reviews of this book before actually reading it, and I was a little nervous. Going in I knew it was sexually explicit and very misogynistic. As a woman, I know I am probably not supposed to like this book, but I found it to be an absolute page-turner.The story follows three college students throughout their college careers. Each chapter alternates between Kyle, the smart, nerdy guy, Heather, the sorority chick who only cares about status, and Brett, the man-whore who is best friends with Kyle. To say that this book was perverted is like saying a habenero is warm. I think the author had to have a really twisted mind to come up with this story. But honestly, I couldn't get enough.

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92/100

Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I listened to this on audio book. Mary is a lawyer who takes on the estate of Amadeo Brandalini. The entire case is based on Amadeo killing himself. Mary doesn't believe that it was an actual suicide. She investigates and in the process puts herself in danger. Once the bad guy punches her in the face and then lets her go. I found this to be a lot like Janet Evanovich and Jonathan Kellerman, but not as much of a "page" turner. I thought Mary was annoying and she kept saying "fort" instead of "forte" which I just did not get at all. I thought the twist at the end was unnecessary and far-fetched, and the last line really made no sense to me. I thought it was just okay.

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91/100 (324 pages)

Welcome to the Great Mysterious by Lorna Landvik


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The main character of this book (whose name I am having a hard time remembering at this point) is a famous Broadway actress whose sister begs her to watch her nephew for a month. This nephew, Rich, has Down's Syndrome and the main character wants nothing to do with being responsible for him. But seeing as she just broke up with her leading man costar, she decides to go to the midwest and stay. It is a standard girl finds herself in a laid back setting story, but I thought they treated people with disabilities with respect. I found the love triangle a little annoying since the "regular" guy seemed to put up with a lot of crap, but I thought the book was decent.

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