...So, I haven't been doing much reading. But, I took a break last night and this morning, and read Flash and Bones (Scribner, 2011; 278 pages), by Kathy Reichs.
This is a good book and a quick read, in which forensic anthropologyst Temperance Brennan solves several murders against the background of one of the biggest NASCAR races of the season. I won't say any more because I don't want to spoil the book for anyone. I'll just say, Go, find this book, and read it.
Now, I'm ready to get back to writing my NaNo entry. I've written 22,764 words so far, almost halfway to the competition goal of 50,000 words. My personal goal this weekend is to hit the halfway mark.
Showing posts with label Kathy Reichs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kathy Reichs. Show all posts
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Monday update: A recommendation and a little on media differences...
As predicted, I read right through Break No Bones, by Kathy Reichs.
It was so good that I stayed up much later than I should have last night/this morning to finish it. I kept trying to put it down, and I kept picking it back up. Aside from the usual...great plotting and wonderful writing...it had the difference of being set entirely in South Carolina, rather than taking place mostly in Montreal, or going back and forth between the US and Canada.
I don't think I'm going to do a more detailed review of this one. I can't really think how to do it, without giving too much away. Which is my gripe about reviewing in general, especially reviewing mystery novels that really depend on the reader being surprised by the ending.
I will say something, however, about Reichs' books versus the TV series Bones, which is very loosely based on the series of novels. I've run across people who love the books and hate the series, and those who love the series and hate the books. I've managed to enjoy both because I look at them as being two separate things. It seems to be an easy thing to do, considering the fact that the only thing the two have in common is the name and occupation of the lead character, Temperance Brennan. There are no other characters or situations that exist in both universes.
Reichs herself explains the dichotomy by saying that the character in the series is a much younger version of the character in the books, who is a much diffrent place in her life. I don't even think that is even necessary. I consider them to be different universes, with that one slight convergence. To bring my love for science fiction/fantasy and time travel stories into my explanation of this, it is as if the books are Temperance Brennan living on one universe, and the tv series is the same person, only she made some choice in her life that was slightly different and ended up living a completely different life. (See David Gerrold's novel The Man Who Folded Himself, or the Fourth Series Doctor Who episode "Turn Left" for illustrations of that concept).
Of course, I see reasons who someone would not like one or ther other series. That is a matter of personal tastes and choice. But the fact that the book and the TV series have so little in common shouldn't even enter into it as an excuse for liking, or not liking, either one.
The thing is, this is a good book. It might not be my favorite of all Reichs's novels, but it is well worth spending the time necessary to read it.
It was so good that I stayed up much later than I should have last night/this morning to finish it. I kept trying to put it down, and I kept picking it back up. Aside from the usual...great plotting and wonderful writing...it had the difference of being set entirely in South Carolina, rather than taking place mostly in Montreal, or going back and forth between the US and Canada.
I don't think I'm going to do a more detailed review of this one. I can't really think how to do it, without giving too much away. Which is my gripe about reviewing in general, especially reviewing mystery novels that really depend on the reader being surprised by the ending.
I will say something, however, about Reichs' books versus the TV series Bones, which is very loosely based on the series of novels. I've run across people who love the books and hate the series, and those who love the series and hate the books. I've managed to enjoy both because I look at them as being two separate things. It seems to be an easy thing to do, considering the fact that the only thing the two have in common is the name and occupation of the lead character, Temperance Brennan. There are no other characters or situations that exist in both universes.
Reichs herself explains the dichotomy by saying that the character in the series is a much younger version of the character in the books, who is a much diffrent place in her life. I don't even think that is even necessary. I consider them to be different universes, with that one slight convergence. To bring my love for science fiction/fantasy and time travel stories into my explanation of this, it is as if the books are Temperance Brennan living on one universe, and the tv series is the same person, only she made some choice in her life that was slightly different and ended up living a completely different life. (See David Gerrold's novel The Man Who Folded Himself, or the Fourth Series Doctor Who episode "Turn Left" for illustrations of that concept).
Of course, I see reasons who someone would not like one or ther other series. That is a matter of personal tastes and choice. But the fact that the book and the TV series have so little in common shouldn't even enter into it as an excuse for liking, or not liking, either one.
The thing is, this is a good book. It might not be my favorite of all Reichs's novels, but it is well worth spending the time necessary to read it.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Reading update...
I'm finally onto a book that I think I might finish. It is Break No Bones (Scribner, 2006), by Kathy Reichs. I've read most of her other novels, and enjoyed them immensely. Since this one is several years old, I'm not quite sure how I missed it. I'm nearly to page 60 (out of 339), and it's quite promising so far. Even with the Headache that Won't Go Away.
Actually, I'm not sure it's the same headache, since it does come and go at odd intervals. It just seems like I've had it for just about ever. I've come to the conclusion that it's this strange weather we're having this spring. Take today. It's raining, which is definitely not normal for the sixth of June in Fresno.
I've got a few other books out of the library that look promising as well, so if I can find the time to read, it looks like I might actually be coming out of the reading doldrusm, finally.
Actually, I'm not sure it's the same headache, since it does come and go at odd intervals. It just seems like I've had it for just about ever. I've come to the conclusion that it's this strange weather we're having this spring. Take today. It's raining, which is definitely not normal for the sixth of June in Fresno.
I've got a few other books out of the library that look promising as well, so if I can find the time to read, it looks like I might actually be coming out of the reading doldrusm, finally.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Just finished and currently reading...
Recnetly finished:
Spider Bones, by Kathy Reichs (Scribner, 2010), 306 pages. This is the latest in the series of Temperance Brennan novels by Reichs, and it isn't the best of the series, but it kept me turning the pages and I definitely didn't see the resoslution of thhe mystery coming.
If you've been avoiding these books becuase you don't like the Fox television series Bones, which is based on these books, don't let that stop you from reading. About the only things the books share with the television series are the name of the main character and her occupation as a forensic anthropologist. I love the books, and I like the series very much, but they are two different things altogether.
My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Murderers, by Helen Morrison, M.D. and Harold Goldberg (William Morrow, 2004), 276 pages. Don't read this book if you're squeamish. Really. It is non-fiction by a psychiatrist (Morrison) who has interviewed pretty much every serial murderer you've heard of - more than eighty of them, she claims.
There were things about this book that irritated me, such as the fact that Dr. Morrison seems to have a bit of a persecution complex of her own as a woman who started practicing psychiatry in the 1970s, when there weren't that many women in the field and those who were there weren't taken very seriously. It isn' that her complaints don't have merit. I'm sure it was a rough row to hoe, especially as she started having to deal with the law enforcement and legal communities when she began her studies of serial killers. The problem with the book is, she tends to stop in the middle of a story to air her issues on the subject in a way that interrupts the flow of the information she is trying to explain.
Dr. Morrison theorizes in the book that serial killers are born, not made, an idea that contradicts current paradigms on the subject, and from the quick bit of research I did after reading the book her opinions and her book have come in for a certain amount of criticism from her peers. Still, especially if you are interested in the subject of serial killers, it is a book worth reading. I'll probably be writing more about it soon. Finished reading: 29 December 2010.
Currently reading (for a complete change of pace):
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir, by Elna Baker (Dutton, 2009), 276 pages. I'm over halfway through this one, and I'm still not at all sure about it. It may well be a little too chick-litish for me. On the other hand, Baker writes from a fresh perspective. And she's funny, altoughh some of the stories she tells might not be quite as funny as she thinks they are.
Spider Bones, by Kathy Reichs (Scribner, 2010), 306 pages. This is the latest in the series of Temperance Brennan novels by Reichs, and it isn't the best of the series, but it kept me turning the pages and I definitely didn't see the resoslution of thhe mystery coming.
If you've been avoiding these books becuase you don't like the Fox television series Bones, which is based on these books, don't let that stop you from reading. About the only things the books share with the television series are the name of the main character and her occupation as a forensic anthropologist. I love the books, and I like the series very much, but they are two different things altogether.
My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Murderers, by Helen Morrison, M.D. and Harold Goldberg (William Morrow, 2004), 276 pages. Don't read this book if you're squeamish. Really. It is non-fiction by a psychiatrist (Morrison) who has interviewed pretty much every serial murderer you've heard of - more than eighty of them, she claims.
There were things about this book that irritated me, such as the fact that Dr. Morrison seems to have a bit of a persecution complex of her own as a woman who started practicing psychiatry in the 1970s, when there weren't that many women in the field and those who were there weren't taken very seriously. It isn' that her complaints don't have merit. I'm sure it was a rough row to hoe, especially as she started having to deal with the law enforcement and legal communities when she began her studies of serial killers. The problem with the book is, she tends to stop in the middle of a story to air her issues on the subject in a way that interrupts the flow of the information she is trying to explain.
Dr. Morrison theorizes in the book that serial killers are born, not made, an idea that contradicts current paradigms on the subject, and from the quick bit of research I did after reading the book her opinions and her book have come in for a certain amount of criticism from her peers. Still, especially if you are interested in the subject of serial killers, it is a book worth reading. I'll probably be writing more about it soon. Finished reading: 29 December 2010.
Currently reading (for a complete change of pace):
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir, by Elna Baker (Dutton, 2009), 276 pages. I'm over halfway through this one, and I'm still not at all sure about it. It may well be a little too chick-litish for me. On the other hand, Baker writes from a fresh perspective. And she's funny, altoughh some of the stories she tells might not be quite as funny as she thinks they are.
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