What Books Are You Reading?-#3
- Thread starter Jacquie
- Start date
ladyhunter
Head of the Swing Shift
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I'm reading The Scarpetta Factor. I think it's her latest book??
Somehow after reading a few of Patricia Cornwell's earlier book about Kay Scarpetta, I'm not liking this one as much. Somehow the writing doesn't seem to be a good.
:shifty: Maybe it's me? Anyone else?
I'm reading The Scarpetta Factor. I think it's her latest book??
Somehow after reading a few of Patricia Cornwell's earlier book about Kay Scarpetta, I'm not liking this one as much. Somehow the writing doesn't seem to be a good.
:shifty: Maybe it's me? Anyone else?
Vickyyy
Rookie
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I haven't read it personally but my Nan has and she said exactly the same thing about it not being as good. She was very disappointed in the whole book.
I'm reading The Scarpetta Factor. I think it's her latest book??
Somehow after reading a few of Patricia Cornwell's earlier book about Kay Scarpetta, I'm not liking this one as much. Somehow the writing doesn't seem to be a good.
I haven't read it personally but my Nan has and she said exactly the same thing about it not being as good. She was very disappointed in the whole book.
love_fan
CSI Level One
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I haven't read this one yet, but I agree with you. Ever since Point of Origin her writing style changed as well as her characters. I used to love the Scarpetta series and I'm still reading the new books but it's not the same ...
I'm reading The Scarpetta Factor. I think it's her latest book??
Somehow after reading a few of Patricia Cornwell's earlier book about Kay Scarpetta, I'm not liking this one as much. Somehow the writing doesn't seem to be a good.
I haven't read this one yet, but I agree with you. Ever since Point of Origin her writing style changed as well as her characters. I used to love the Scarpetta series and I'm still reading the new books but it's not the same ...
talkingtocactus
Coroner
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
i read a very trashy "psychological thriller" in the short downtime between exams. it was possibly the worst book i've ever read! i worked out the "twist" right at the start and it was really badly written. but it was quite good for just brainless idiocy which i needed in between exams really.
now i must return to revising beaumarchais, laclos and genet for my french lit exam on thursday. yay.... can't wait to get stuck into my cupboard-full of "to do" books when it's over
i read a very trashy "psychological thriller" in the short downtime between exams. it was possibly the worst book i've ever read! i worked out the "twist" right at the start and it was really badly written. but it was quite good for just brainless idiocy which i needed in between exams really.
now i must return to revising beaumarchais, laclos and genet for my french lit exam on thursday. yay.... can't wait to get stuck into my cupboard-full of "to do" books when it's over
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I haven't read a Scarpetta book in ages. I did find that at some point in time Cornwell wasn't keeping my attention like she was in her earlier books.
I'm currently half way through Elizabeth George's newest book, This Body Of Death. It is a Inspector Lynley book He's been asked by the new acting superident to help out on a murder of a young women. It's got another story line woven thorough it that I'm sure will be connected to the main story line but so far.........
I'm reading The Scarpetta Factor. I think it's her latest book??
Somehow after reading a few of Patricia Cornwell's earlier book about Kay Scarpetta, I'm not liking this one as much. Somehow the writing doesn't seem to be a good.
I haven't read a Scarpetta book in ages. I did find that at some point in time Cornwell wasn't keeping my attention like she was in her earlier books.
I'm currently half way through Elizabeth George's newest book, This Body Of Death. It is a Inspector Lynley book
He's been asked by the new acting superident to help out on a murder of a young women. It's got another story line woven thorough it that I'm sure will be connected to the main story line but so far.........
cathwillows
CSI Level Three
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I finished reading Still Life and I must say I really enjoyed it. First it took off a bit slowly but halfway through I really wanted to know how it would end. The way Joy Fielding wrote the book, letting Casey, the woman in a coma, tell the story from her perspective, was kinda interesting and pretty funny at times.
I finished reading Still Life and I must say I really enjoyed it. First it took off a bit slowly but halfway through I really wanted to know how it would end. The way Joy Fielding wrote the book, letting Casey, the woman in a coma, tell the story from her perspective, was kinda interesting and pretty funny at times.
MacsLady
CSI Level Two
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I just read 'Peace' by Richard Baush. It's the story of three American soldiers in Italy in winter 1944. They're making their way up a mountainside guided by an old Italian man, who they're not entirely certain they can actually trust. They're young, the leader of the group, Corporal Robert Marson is only 26. They're still in shock from seeing their sergeant shoot a woman in cold blood, and during their trek up the mountain, argue over and discuss (and try to avoid talking about at the same time) what they should do. It's really quite grim, and shows the damage war can do to young men, mentally and physically. It's very well written, you really feel you're there in the snow and the cold.
On my Ipod I'm listening to House Rules by Jodi Picoult. It follows one of her tried-and-tested formulas - disabled-kid-gets-involved-in-some-kind-of-serious-legal-issues and there are some familiar character-types, too, most noticeably the sibling-who-has-to-deal-with-the-problem-of-having-a-disabled-sibling. But Picoult makes the book different and new, too, and the old formula works as well as did it My Sisters Keeper and Handle With Care.
The story is about 18 year old Jacob, who has Asperger's Syndrome. He's obsessed with forensics and crime shows, religiously watching a crime show called Crimebusters - clearly Picoult's homage to the CSI franchise, as some of the episodes/forensics methods used in the episodes may well be familiar to CSI viewers - and has a fuming chamber in his room, and sets up fake crime scenes with himself as victim for his mother to investigate. He also goes to real life crime scenes, after hearing about them on his police scanner, and offers the detectives investigating it his 'advice'. When Jacob's social skills tutor, Jess, is murdered, Jacob becomes a suspect, and his mother, Emma, must ask herself is her son capable of murder. The whole thing is complicated by the fact that the symptoms of Jacob's Asperger's - flat voice, avoiding eye contact etc, mirror those of someone guilty of a crime.
As in all her novels, Picoult tells the story from several different points of view - Jacob's, Emma's, and Jacob's younger brother Theo, who, like the siblings in My Sister's Keeper and Handle with Care struggles with the many difficulties that come with having a sibling who is disabled in some way. Like those other siblings, Theo acts out, by breaking into people's homes, not to steal, but just to try to experience 'life in a normal house'.
There's also the perspectives of Rich, the detective investigating the murder, and Oliver, Jacob's lawyer, but it's Jacob, Theo and Emma's stories that are most interesting for me now.
I love Picoult's work, especially when it's this kind of story, because when dealing with families who have children with illnesses/disbilities, she does not portray such families as saints. She shows the struggles of the parents to deal with the strain, and the siblings' jealousy and sense of feeling left out and less important than their disabled siblings. Most important, IMO, she doesn't shy away from showing the flaws of the disabled characters. Their disabilites don't make them saintly, suffering characters who are allowed to do or say whatever they want. They're sympathetic, but they're flawed, too. Jacob, for example, is exceptionally bright in some ways, but he lies to his mother (not sucessfully, though) and his Asperger's has caused him to lash out at and hurt other kids before, and he's faced consequences for this from not just his school, but his mother, too, she's defensive of her son, but she won't excuse his bad behaviour all the time. I really like that, as in some fiction/tv shows that deal with such issues, there's a tendency either to 'saint-ize' the disabled characters/excuse whatever they do or say just because they're disabled, or to do the same with their families.
Really enjoying it so far!
I just read 'Peace' by Richard Baush. It's the story of three American soldiers in Italy in winter 1944. They're making their way up a mountainside guided by an old Italian man, who they're not entirely certain they can actually trust. They're young, the leader of the group, Corporal Robert Marson is only 26. They're still in shock from seeing their sergeant shoot a woman in cold blood, and during their trek up the mountain, argue over and discuss (and try to avoid talking about at the same time) what they should do. It's really quite grim, and shows the damage war can do to young men, mentally and physically. It's very well written, you really feel you're there in the snow and the cold.
On my Ipod I'm listening to House Rules by Jodi Picoult. It follows one of her tried-and-tested formulas - disabled-kid-gets-involved-in-some-kind-of-serious-legal-issues and there are some familiar character-types, too, most noticeably the sibling-who-has-to-deal-with-the-problem-of-having-a-disabled-sibling. But Picoult makes the book different and new, too, and the old formula works as well as did it My Sisters Keeper and Handle With Care.
The story is about 18 year old Jacob, who has Asperger's Syndrome. He's obsessed with forensics and crime shows, religiously watching a crime show called Crimebusters - clearly Picoult's homage to the CSI franchise, as some of the episodes/forensics methods used in the episodes may well be familiar to CSI viewers - and has a fuming chamber in his room, and sets up fake crime scenes with himself as victim for his mother to investigate. He also goes to real life crime scenes, after hearing about them on his police scanner, and offers the detectives investigating it his 'advice'. When Jacob's social skills tutor, Jess, is murdered, Jacob becomes a suspect, and his mother, Emma, must ask herself is her son capable of murder. The whole thing is complicated by the fact that the symptoms of Jacob's Asperger's - flat voice, avoiding eye contact etc, mirror those of someone guilty of a crime.
As in all her novels, Picoult tells the story from several different points of view - Jacob's, Emma's, and Jacob's younger brother Theo, who, like the siblings in My Sister's Keeper and Handle with Care struggles with the many difficulties that come with having a sibling who is disabled in some way. Like those other siblings, Theo acts out, by breaking into people's homes, not to steal, but just to try to experience 'life in a normal house'.
There's also the perspectives of Rich, the detective investigating the murder, and Oliver, Jacob's lawyer, but it's Jacob, Theo and Emma's stories that are most interesting for me now.
I love Picoult's work, especially when it's this kind of story, because when dealing with families who have children with illnesses/disbilities, she does not portray such families as saints. She shows the struggles of the parents to deal with the strain, and the siblings' jealousy and sense of feeling left out and less important than their disabled siblings. Most important, IMO, she doesn't shy away from showing the flaws of the disabled characters. Their disabilites don't make them saintly, suffering characters who are allowed to do or say whatever they want. They're sympathetic, but they're flawed, too. Jacob, for example, is exceptionally bright in some ways, but he lies to his mother (not sucessfully, though) and his Asperger's has caused him to lash out at and hurt other kids before, and he's faced consequences for this from not just his school, but his mother, too, she's defensive of her son, but she won't excuse his bad behaviour all the time. I really like that, as in some fiction/tv shows that deal with such issues, there's a tendency either to 'saint-ize' the disabled characters/excuse whatever they do or say just because they're disabled, or to do the same with their families.
Really enjoying it so far!
BlueDiamondStar
Coroner
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I'm reading David Baldacci's Divine Justice. I started about 6 month ago but i'm just reached chapter 10. Possibly it was another books guilt
I'm reading David Baldacci's Divine Justice. I started about 6 month ago but i'm just reached chapter 10. Possibly it was another books guilt
talkingtocactus
Coroner
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
"les bonnes" by genet; "les liaisons dangereuses" by laclos; and "le mariage de figaro" by beaumarchais. not reading so much as revising - and getting pretty sick of in the process!
actually i've really enjoyed "les bonnes", it's a great absurdist play, really dark, full of hatred and anger for all kinds of things, and generally quite enjoyable (i do love a bit of dark/evil). plus it really really reminds of sam shepard's true west, it's actually quite similar in many ways, which as per my sig+icon, is one of my all time favourites. haha i'd pay to see gary sinise & john malkovich as embittered, murderous housemaids - genet did say he hoped men would take on the roles so who knows, maybe some day
dangerous liaisons is pretty good too, although pretty long for revision purposes, that's a LOT of revision. but i have the film (another malkovich!) to help me.
the marriage of figaro, on the other hand, meh. it's ok, it's kinda funny i guess but ergh, just too much.
i really can't wait til my exam's done on thursday and i can put the lot in a cupboard and never look at them again
"les bonnes" by genet; "les liaisons dangereuses" by laclos; and "le mariage de figaro" by beaumarchais. not reading so much as revising - and getting pretty sick of in the process!
actually i've really enjoyed "les bonnes", it's a great absurdist play, really dark, full of hatred and anger for all kinds of things, and generally quite enjoyable (i do love a bit of dark/evil). plus it really really reminds of sam shepard's true west, it's actually quite similar in many ways, which as per my sig+icon, is one of my all time favourites. haha i'd pay to see gary sinise & john malkovich as embittered, murderous housemaids - genet did say he hoped men would take on the roles so who knows, maybe some day
dangerous liaisons is pretty good too, although pretty long for revision purposes, that's a LOT of revision. but i have the film (another malkovich!) to help me.
the marriage of figaro, on the other hand, meh. it's ok, it's kinda funny i guess but ergh, just too much.
i really can't wait til my exam's done on thursday and i can put the lot in a cupboard and never look at them again
DetHiggins
Police Officer
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
I just finished Lord of the Flies by William Golding (sp?) for school. I thought I'd hate it, but it's been one of my favorite books this year. I was so upset when my two favorite characters died But I really enjoyed the symbols, and I think the essay I'll write on it in two days will be really easy.
I just finished Lord of the Flies by William Golding (sp?) for school. I thought I'd hate it, but it's been one of my favorite books this year. I was so upset when my two favorite characters died
But I really enjoyed the symbols, and I think the essay I'll write on it in two days will be really easy.
talkingtocactus
Coroner
Re: What Are You Reading?-#3
^ i remember doing that for english in school, and even now (about 18 years later!) it's still one of my all time favourite books, it's just fantastic!
^ i remember doing that for english in school, and even now (about 18 years later!) it's still one of my all time favourite books, it's just fantastic!
