The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve

It's a big night...not only am I writing a book review, I'm also putting up an update of the 2012 BOTY bracket and an update of the 2012 Christmas Present Project Countdown. And then...well...then I'm going to continue to sit on this super comfy couch. I love this couch... 

Oh...and if you didn't see it over on Twitter or the Facebook page...I finished Marley's birthday present. She apparently loves it (thank goodness), as she wouldn't let her parents sleep the night we took it over. She wanted to play in her kitchen. (Sorry guys.) I will be doing a tutorial on her project here in a few weeks.

Alrighty...back to business.

All this fun talk and I am reviewing a book that didn't score so hot. Ugh. Sorry. I have to admit, The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve was a disappointment. After reading The Pilot's Wife, I was really excited to read another of her books. It's probably a good thing I didn't read this one first...because it was just okay.

The Last Time They Met tells the story of Linda and Thomas. It breaks their love story down into three separate points in time, ages 52, 28, and 17...in that order. Yup. The whole thing runs backwards. This style can be cute. I've actually liked it in a few things I've read before. It just did not work here. Early on, it just worked to confuse me. Honestly, it just annoyed the crap out of me in the later chapters of the book.

I also discovered that I did not really "bond" with the characters like I do in a lot of the books I read. Thomas comes off as a jerk in the first section of the book and Linda...well, there are some not so nice words that I could use to describe Linda.

Looking back on this book now, I've had to really think about why I rated it the way I did. I'll tell you right now...I'm still not 100% sure. So...I went back and changed it to a more appropriate rating. Sad, but true. When I have this much anger writing about a book...I can't really give it an "I liked it" rating. Let's be honest here, that would totally be a pile of crap. It's like giving a kid an "B" because you feel sorry for them, not because they earned it. Baloney. Not happening.

So...will I read more Anita Shreve? Yes. I actually already have. I give second chances. I'm so nice. But...I didn't really like The Last Time They Met. So, it gets 2 out of 5 stars.

And this is where the bracket now stands...well...this is where it stands with the books I have thus far reviewed on the blog. It's actually a bit fuller with the ones I have finished.

And this is where the project countdown currently stands. I've busted out the first batch. Ya!!

I'm down to about four items that need purchasing, three of which should be purchased by the weekend. My goal is to have a plan put together for the timing of each project by this weekend. That way I can regulate how much I'm getting done and make sure I stay on task...so that it doesn't end up being a huge rush like last year.

Tomorrow afternoon's task? Washing fabric. Eww. Not my favorite task. It takes forever. Oh well, maybe I can accomplish some other things while my washer is working some serious overtime.