In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox is a weekly Meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren 
*Note: all links go to Amazon

I wasn't actually expecting to buy any books this week, but when I walked into Dymocks and saw that two books I have been dying to get may hands on were on sale, then I really couldn't say no, could I?

 
The House of Silk (A Sherlock Holmes Novel)by Anthony Horowitz

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory

Book Review: Death du Jour (Tempe Brennan #2) by Kathy Reichs

Death du Jour (Tempe Brennan #2) by Kathy Reichs

Release Date: 1st August 2000
Publisher: Random House
Format: Paperback
Pages: 436
Rating: 5.0/5.0

Summary from Amazon:

"Forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs exploded onto bestseller lists worldwide with her phenomenal debut novel Déjà Dead -- and introduced "[a] brilliant heroine" (Glamour) in league with Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta. Dr. Temperance Brennan, Quebec's director of forensic anthropology, now returns in a thrilling new investigation into the secrets of the dead. 

In the bitter cold of a Montreal winter, Tempe Brennan is digging for a corpse buried more than a century ago. Although Tempe thrives on such enigmas from the past, it's a chain of contemporary deaths and disappearances that has seized her attention -- and she alone is ideally placed to make a chilling connection among the seemingly unrelated events. At the crime scene, at the morgue, and in the lab, Tempe probes a mystery that sweeps from a deadly Quebec fire to startling discoveries in the Carolinas, and culminates in Montreal with a terrifying showdown -- a nerve-shattering test of both her forensic expertise and her skills for survival."

Review:
I really, really enjoyed this book. Unfortunately, I took this book away with me to read on holiday, and it wasn't until I opened to the first page that I realised the first book in the Tempe Brennan series was sitting on my bookshelf at home. Nonetheless, I persevered onwards, and whilst I may have had trouble understanding the back story (because this was the second book in the series and also because the TV show Bones, which is based on the books, is completely different), the story itself was amazing.

At the beginning, I was a bit wary - starting off by digging up a corpse to examine for sainthood didn't really appeal to my tastes - but as the story progressed it just became so complex and intense. **Possible spoiler alert** What began as seemingly unrelated stories became an intricate and complex narrative, with each individual story expertly woven to another so that at the end of the novel, every incident that occurred was somehow related to every other incident. Nothing was included just for the sake of it - Reichs has been superior in her writing and created a mystery that is captivating.

If you're a fan of crime and mystery, then you can't go past these books. But, if you're interested in reading the books because you've seen the TV show, don't get your hopes up - whilst the books are amazing, the only similarity between them and the TV show is that the main characters share a name. Once you get past that though, I'm sure you'll enjoy the books just as much as I did.

Around the Stack in How Many Ways? 2012 Book Challenge

I've just signed up to this new book challenge, hosted by Dog Ear Discs and the Book Monkey. The aim is to read as many different genres of books throughout the year, depending on which level you have signed up for. I thought this would fit nicely with the Off The Shelf challenge, so to support the challenge in its debut year, I've signed up for the Hikers level, meaning I am aiming to read books from up to 5 different genres. My reading list is as follows:

1. Crime/Mystery: Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs {my review here}

2. Romance: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger {my review here}

3. Dystopian: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins {my review here}

4. Historical Fiction: The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory {my review here}

5. Young Adult Fiction: Vixen by Jillian Larkin {my review here}

To have a look at the info page, click here

Book Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Release Date: a long time ago...
Publisher: Penguin Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 302
Rating: 4.0/5.0

Book Blurb:

"The always unflappable Sherlock Holmes solves the world's most baffling puzzles with the able assistance of Doctor Watson. Mysteries of disguise, madness, red-headed members' clubs and missing thumbs must be untangled - and the only woman to ever beat the sleuth must be faced."

Review:
I've always loved Sherlock Holmes. I don't really know why, because this is the first Sherlock Holmes book I've actually read. I think ever since I got into mystery and crime, Sherlock Holmes just became the epicenter of that for me. But I can now say that I am a true fan of Sherlock Holmes after reading the original short stories.

There's a reason why Sherlock Holmes keeps getting recreated (what with movies, TV shows and books) - it's just sooo good. Whilst some of the stories are a bit absurd (a secret society for people with red hair?), its Holmes himself that will draw you into the stories. You read for a couple of pages some person relay all the details surrounding their mystery, and then you are shown piece by piece how Holmes figured it all out, and you say to yourself, "With the next short story, I'll be more attentive and I'll figure everything out." And then you try to do that, and you may work out parts of the story, but you have no chance of figuring out everything. And that's why the stories are addictive - you keep going back because not only are the stories interesting, but you want to see how Holmes solves the next mystery.

Whilst the stories are great, it took me longer than I expected to get through the book, and each story itself took me a while to read. I think the problem is that the book was dense, and I found it hard to finish one short story and then jump straight into the next. Either way, the short stories were worth the read, even if it takes some time to get through them all.

WWW Wednesdays (3)

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you'll read next?

*Note: all links go to Amazon

My Answers:

1. I'm currently reading, Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs. I bought this book along with 2 other Kathy Reichs books because they were in a box set for only $19 (can't pass up a bargain like that!).
   
   
2. Last Tuesday I finished reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle {read this review here}, and on Saturday I finished reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen {read this review here}
   
   
3. I think it will be Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs. Once I got a bit into my current read I realised that the books were completely different from the TV show Bones, so I think I need to read the first novel to understand the back story.

Teaser Tuesday (3)

Teaser Tuesday is a Meme hosted by Mizb @ Should Be Reading. Anyone can join in, as long as they do the following:

• Grab your current read. 
• Open your book to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. 
• Warning:  Avoid spoilers in your teaser as not everyone has had the pleasure to read your current read
• Share the Title & Author so anyone can add your current read to their list if they wish to do so. 
• Note: links go to Amazon
  
  

Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs
Release Date: 1st August 2000
Publisher: Random House Australia
Pages: 436

"Since Ryan's call an image of Malachy had been floating through my mind. I saw his half-open eyes and mangled chest, his tiny fingers curled in death. I thought of his dead sibling and his dead parents and his grieving grandparents." pg 184 

 

Introducing a new segment - Page to Screen

So its been a little while since I last posted on the blog. As it turns out, not only am I really lazy, but it takes me longer than I thought to get my way through a book. So, I came up with an idea for a new segment on the blog - Page to Screen. Since I happen to watch a lot of TV and movies, I thought that I could add this to the blog, by talking about how successfully I think a book was transferred to the small or big screen. So, in the first post, here is a success story, and a tragedy. 

*Note - clicking on the pictures will lead you to some fun external websites, links will lead you to various places...

The Success Story - Harry Potter

No one can deny that Harry Potter is one of both literature's and Hollywood's success stories. The books have sparked a worldwide following, and the movies have earned almost $8 billion at the global box office. And whilst the movies and books have come to an end, Harry Potter continues to live on, with the online world of Pottermore and the exhibition traveling the world (currently in Sydney). And, honestly, we're not going to forget the likes of Harry, Ron and Hermione anytime soon.

 

 The Tragedy - Confessions of a Shopaholic

I read this book around the time the movie came out and I absolutely loved it! But, the story didn't translate very well onto the screen. For a start, the character of Rebecca Bloomwood seemed a bit too whimsical on screen, when she was so perfect on paper. And what was with the moving  mannequins? They were on their own level of creepy... COAS had potential, but the movie didn't do the book justice, garnering only a 25% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The book, however, has gone on to bigger and greater things, spawning a series of around 7 books and counting.







And there you have it - my first Page to Screen post (I'm sure they'll get better the more I do)! This will be my last post for about a week since I'm going away on holiday tomorrow!!! I'm extremely excited about it :)  Happy Reading