I would never have bought the Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger. I had high hopes for this book, and actually bought two copies of it before I even began reading it.

I first purchased the book exactly two years ago.  I was in Ben Gurion Airport on my way to London, and overcome by the excitement of travel and the "anything-could-happen-at-any-moment " buzz I always feel when I am in the airport, I fell in love with the title and decided to splash out and treat myself to this book.

Well, to cut a long story short, I can't EVER read on planes due to nausea and the joys of supervising two young children (not necessarily in that order), and didn't have a second to read while I was in London. I ended up leaving the  book at my sister's friend's house, and only realized its absence when my sister called me up and told me that I had left it behind.

Well, I never did get that copy back, and, determined that my luck would change, bought the book again in Ben Gurion a year later on my way to the States. (When you're from England, and your spouse is from the States, vacations only ever happen in these two countries.)

I guess with such drama surrounding the purchase of the book itself, it stands to reason that the actual reading would be anti-climactic. I was not impressed. I had read some really positive reviews about the book - I had, after all, an entire year before purchasing copy # 2 to read up about it - and expected to be really wowed, but it's gotta be said, it was an extremely dull reading experience. There were very few redeeming features. The premise of the book was interesting - the aspect of time travel combined with a love story appealed to my romantic sensibilities - but the book itself put me to sleep. The plot felt contrived, the characters were pretentious, and the dialog was unforgivably tedious. I did make it through to the finishing line, but that was due to my determination not to have wasted $30 on two copies rather than tribute to the book itself. Anything positive to say about the book? Yes, it was a great sleep-inducer.