"Slumming"

This week I indulged in some mindnumbing entertainment: chick lit and a thriller. Ok, I have to admit that both novels were predictable, lacking depth and eloquence but they were fun, sassy and made you want to finish them in one go which I almost did. I truely understand why people read this stuff and you shouldn't mock something before you've tried it.

What strikes me the most about non-literary novels is their lack of description, atmosphere and setting. It's all about dialogue and action, which I have to admit are things I also crave in a novel. Throw in a little character development and I'm one happy bunny.

First up was Sophie Kinsella's Remember Me. I had read one of her books last year when I was in a rather abysmal mood and truth be told, she lightened my day. I wouldn't dream of starting on her Shopaholic series but I'll give her standalone novels a go whenever the mood strikes me (which is once a year apparently). The novels starts off with Lexi, a twentysomething girl with an average job, great friends and a deadend relationship. Queue a slippery surface and some stillettos. She wakes up in hospital and three years have gone by. Apparently she had a car crash and can't remember anything that has happend from the crash until her stiletto slip up. Three years of her life: gone. Besides getting her driver's license, she has also lost touch with her friends, become a fahionista, her own boss and most shockingly has gotten married fulfilling every girl's dreams (in chick lit that is). Will she remember her past? Her husband? And naturally her lover? Ok, this book was cliched, predictable and flawed but also sassy, relatable (my inner Carrie Bradshaw hasn't died on me yet) and great if you're looking for nothing more than a book that'll put a smile on your face.

Next up was the thriller: The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly which was recently turned into a movie. Despite having read Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy, I have to admit that I've never read a lot of thrillers / crime novels. I don't know why really. Anyway, Michael Haller is The Lincoln Lawyer simply because he works out of the back of his Lincoln, deep right? He has to defend Beverly Hills pretty boy Louis Roulet who supposedly beat up and threatened to kill a prostitute, something he naturally denies or we wouldn't have this novel. Haller investigates, discovers ties to a former case, Roulet confesses (it happens 1/3 through the novel so it isn't that big of a spoiler) and threatens Michael who is left with lots of ethical, judicial and parental dilemma's. It was all pretty straight forward stuff, lots of courtscenes, an ex-wife or two and some snappy dialogue. Oh and there's a slight twist at the end. I don't know if I'll read another novel by Connelly, it wasn't bad but I wasn't impressed either. That being said, I am secretly eyeing up a few crime novels, just to broaden my horizon.



So my slumming experiment wasn't a total loss. I'll never become a convert to Chick Lit or Thrillers but neither am I opposed to reading one once in a while. Sometimes it's good to lower your expectations because you just might be in for a lovely surprise.