ONE FOR THE MONEY (Janet Evanovich) - October 31/16

It's better than the movie, at least. I was really enjoying this for about the first hundred pages or so, as Evanovich offers up a breezy, fast-paced narrative that's anchored and heightened by an affable protagonist. But the novel is eventually bogged down in the details of Stephanie's case and I just couldn't have possibly cared less. There's a reason I tend to avoid procedurals on television. **1/2 out of ****

THE KILLING GAME (Iris Johansen) - October 23/16

After taking a break from books for a few days, I launched into this fairly generic and absurdly overlong thriller. The characters are fine, I guess, but man is this story padded out. And the dialogue... I would often wonder if the author had ever spent any time in the company of actual humans. ** out of ****

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (Paula Hawkins) - October 7/16

Obviously I wanted to like this one but man is it sluggish. Nothing really happens for most of the book and Hawkins emphasizes long, long stretch in which the main character drinks and investigates. Who cares? Was this stretched out from a short story? That's the only explanation I can think of. ** out of ****

SEINFELDIA (Jennifer Keishin Armstrong) - October 1/16

Well I'm sure glad I didn't buy this one. There's some interesting stuff here but most of the book is filler as Armstrong attempts to transform what should've been an internet article into a book. **1/2 out of ****