THE GIRLS (Lori Lansens) - February 28/07

This book about conjoined twins Rose and Ruby is sporadically quite interesting and even moving, but Lansens generally bogs the proceedings down with small details that aren't even remotely as intriguing as she clearly believes. And although the reader does come away from the novel with an incredibly vivid picture of Rose and Ruby's existence - including their small town, and the lives of their Uncle Stash and Aunt Lovey - the whole thing feels about a 100 pages longer than necessary (the book did, after all, take me around two months to finish). *** out of ****

NEXT (Michael Crichton) - February 25/07

A decent but unspectacular book from Crichton. The author's decision to move away from the one-person perspective he's known for doesn't entirely work, as I struggled to remember who these characters were at the start of virtually every chapter. And, as expected, some of these stories are more interesting than others - Gerard, the super-smart parrot and Dave, the chimp/little kid being the two most intriguing - though Crichton thankfully leaves the preaching to a minimum. **1/2 out of ****

THE CHILD IN TIME (Ian McEwan) - February 8/07

Though expectedly well written, The Child in Time is far more pointless than I would've liked. McEwan's rambling style just doesn't work here, as the author emphasizes a series of unusually dull subplots (the politician who's regressed into childhood, the whole thing involving the child care manual and the hubbub that explodes when it's leaked prematurely). It's too bad, really, given the potentially electrifying subject matter (the sequence in which the little girl disappears from a supermarket is undoubtedly the highlight of the book). ** out of ****