Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
Harper, 2011
personal purchase
![](https://www.pvd-ri.com/s/books/1358353512l/9736930.jpg)
While the suspense and twists in this book are intense (as expected), for me, they were slowed down quite a bit by Christine's journaling style (which is how much of the book is narrated). For someone who has to furtively write in her journal each night before her husband catches her doing it, she writes in such flowy, painstaking detail. This felt disingenuous and made it hard for me to find her believable as a character. However, the story itself is delightfully convoluted and will get your heart rate up (even though I did figure out the "bad guy" a good bit before he/she was actually revealed).
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Grosset & Dunlap, 1897
personal purchase
![](https://www.pvd-ri.com/s/books/1387151694l/17245.jpg)
(Has anyone seen the film adaptation of this from the early 90s? From what I can see, it looks like Coppola kind of massacred the plot. Also, Keanu Reeves? Srsly?)
The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
Scribner, 2003
personal purchase
![](https://www.pvd-ri.com/s/books/1378065801l/394255.jpg)
This was my first Meg Wolitzer novel, and I was beyond pleased. The writing is fantastic: snappy, beautiful, intelligent, and humorous, all at once. While the title left me thinking that the purpose of the novel was a character study of Joan-as-wife, I soon realized that Wolitzer was also making some interesting statements about the "wife" role in general: what it symbolizes, its value within a family, and how much some women give of themselves when they take on the title. There was even a surprising twist at the end. I'm impressed with everything that Wolitzer was able to pack into such a short book, and I can't wait to read more of her work.
What was your best read of October?