Some Ground Rules & Books 6 & 7

Well, I feel a little more on track. Still behind compared to last year, but keeping a better book schedule. #7 only took me 2 days, although it was fairly short, under 300 pages. Normal Saturday routine is a trip to the library & since I have no other plans to speak of, I'm hoping to get through another book or 2 by Monday.

I also thought I should lay out a few ground rules for myself for when I do book reviews. I will try to keep from posting any spoilers without prior warning, but anything mentioned on the back of the book or the book jacket I will consider fair game. Same goes for stuff that happened in books earlier in a series when reviewing a later book. Ummm ... other than that I don't know yet but if I come up with anything more I'll be sure to let you know =) On to the books:

#6:

3rd Degree

Women's Murder Club Book 3

James Patterson & Andrew Gross

I've been enjoying this series more than I thought I would, but I have to start out by saying - damn you James Patterson! He has a habit of killing off important characters, and while from a plot standpoint I understand that not everything can have a totally neat & happy ending, it's starting to get a little old. Every book has contained the death of a main or semi-main character.

As a reader it's sad when you get to know someone & then they get axed just to progress the story. As a writer, I'm aware it's something I need to work on, because I have a TON of trouble ever killing off any of my own characters.

#7:

Real Murders

Aurora Teagarden Book 1

Charlaine Harris

This is a series that had been on my to read list for quite a while. I like Charlaine Harris but up until now I had only read her Sookie Stackhouse series, which may sound familiar to some because last summer it was adapted for TV by HBO into the series True Blood (which I have to say is pretty well done & has excellent casting [& Anna Paquin even won a Golden Globe for her Sookie] & I can't wait for summer for the 2nd season).

I liked this book but didn't love it - that may just be that it's the first in the series, and I feel like I'm still getting to know the characters, I'm not really invested in what happens to them yet. But I definitely liked it enough to pick up the 2nd book in the series. I got this partly to see if it was something I could recommend to my friend after she finishes the Women's Murder Club series, although Patterson does have another couple series & plenty of stand alone books to keep her busy.

So that's that & all for now. Thanks for reading.

~Colette