2008 Woodie Awards
Chick lit dominates the best of 2004
One of the Journal's Staff writers lists her top five books of the year.
Diana Rossi
Issue date: 12/1/04 Section: Arts
First off, let me just say that I did not read "The Da Vinci Code", nor do I have any desire to, so it will not be on this list. Deal with it. Other than the phenomenon that was the cult of the "Code", 2004 did supply a few other noteworthy books amidst a plethora of celebrity autobiographies and political satire. I did not read any of these because I am a "chick" and I like "chick" books. The closest I came to reading anything like this was listening to my roommate recite excerpts from George Carlin's "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?"
From all the books I did read, I have compiled a little list I like to call "The Books That Didn't Suck in 2004." Catchy title, huh? On it you'll find a not-too-sappy love story, an emotionally powerful tale of self-reliance and empowerment, a quirky and hilarious Bridget Jones-esque love tale and one unbelievably amazing story that makes you think.
First up is James Patterson's "Sam's Letters to Jennifer". If this title sounds at all familiar to you, it should, because I'm sure you all read my "Best of Summer" review of it, right? If you didn't, shame on you, but here's a little something to catch you up.
The bare-minimum basic premise of the story is the question "Have you ever gotten a letter that changed you life completely?" When Jennifer's beloved grandmother Sam falls into a coma, Jennifer stays in her house and finds a stack of letters with her name on them. Sam has left those letters for her to read one by one in an attempt to explain life and love to Jennifer, while divulging juicy family secrets along the way.
Jennifer has lost her husband to a diving accident and her unborn child from the trauma of it and she thought she would never love again until Sam's letters give her the strength to find amazing love in an unexpected place.
Mystery and suspense writer Patterson does an excellent job of rebounding from his first romantic novel "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" with "Sam's Letters to Jennifer". It delivers a powerful story of love against all odds on more levels than one and brilliantly debunks the notion that you can never go home again.