Lukewarm

So, here are some books I do NOT recommend. I'm not saying they are bad. In fact, most would say they are good (if not great). There was nothing disturbing or vulgar in any of them. Their fault was that they were lukewarm. They were interesting but in most cases I can think of an author who does it better. I do not regret reading them. I just wouldn't again and I certainly would not say 'read THIS one' to anyone. Please feel free to disagree with me.

 The first two are book club books. 'Major Pettigrew's Last Stand' is a TERRIBLE book for a book club. The problem: everyone liked it. This makes for a very UNinteresting meeting. Why I didn't love it. I think Maeve Binchy writes this type of 'love at any age' story with a much better pen. Recommend: Maeve Binchy's Evening Class

We all agreed that it was a bit hard for us to understand what exactly made my second book on the list, 'The Maltese Falcon', a classic. Perhaps it was groundbreaking at the time. However, we all agreed we have seen this story done better and certainly so many times over that this book seemed like a cliche. I will say: The guys LOVED it! Hahahahahha. Recommended: Just watch the movie. It's pretty much straight word for word from the book.

I have actually met the author of my next book (Sue Grafton) and I have read from A to V (so far) in her series. Despite this review, I have no intention of stopping now. This installment, V is for Vengeance, seems like something that could have been a draft and should have been left aside. The whole book had me wondering what the point was. I just thought it felt unnecessary. Recommended: Just skip this one.

And finally, Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. This book has a sequel called Sapphique and I admit (proudly wearing my Team Jacob necklace) that I picked it up in my post BD part 1 hangover. (Breaking Dawn for the non-Twihards). It was listed on IMDB.com as the next project for Taylor Lautner so I thought I would get a head start on reading the book. Well, I'm sorry to say. It COULD be good if 1) they combine both books together and 2) they get a decent screenwriter. As it stands it's very very very slow and I had a hard time finishing the first book. Honestly, the second book is better. So, it remains to be seen. Recommended: YA Hunger Games, or the Junior level Gregor Series both by Suzanne Collins