Breathe To Read

Breathe To Read

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Book: Deja Dead

 Book: Deja Dead

Author: Kathy Reichs

Pages:560


This is my 83rd read for the year

This is the story of Temperance Brennan.  She is a forensic anthropologist who has recently moved to Quebec after her marriage ended.  A dismembered femal corpse is found in a trash bag, and Temperance starts relating this find to a few past cases in the last few years.  She sees a pattern, but the police department think she is wrong.  She takes it on herself to find the killer before he attacks someone else.

This book was okay.  I was interested in trying it because I did like the show "Bones" which this book series is based on. However - the book isn't like the show.  That isn't good or bad - it just is.  I actually found the book very dry.  It was a long book that was overly wordy.  I love a good murder mystery book (I am a big Patricia Cornwell fan), but Reichs book just didn't do it for me.  I struggled with this book for over 2 weeks, before finally finishing it.  

I know this was her first one.  Maybe I should try another in the future?  We shall see.  The writing just wasn't good.  Too much overly describing the mundane.

Stars: 3


Friday, October 21, 2022

2022 Challenge: A Book Part Of A Series: Castle In The Air

 Book: Castle In The Air

Author: Dianne Wynne Jones

Pages: 400


This is my 82nd read for the year

This is the story of Abdullah.  Abdullah is a carpet salesman who owns a modest booth in the desert.  One day, a stranger comes by and sells him a magic carpet.  Abdullah doesn't know what to make of it, but finds that when he falls asleep on the carpet he ends up in the courtyard of a beautiful princess.  Abdullah - thinking it is a dream - falls asleep each night on the carpet hoping to return to Flower-in-the-Night until one day, a djinn kidnapps her and Abdullah realizes it wasn't a dream after all.  Thus starts an adveture to save the princess.  A soldier, cats, a genie, and a castle help Abdullah find Flower-in-the-Night on an adventure he could never have imagined.

This is the second book in the Howl's Moving Castle series, and it was just as good as the first.  We have the Folio Society edition, and the artwork is incredible.  The story flows nicely, and is well written.  Howl and Sophie make an appearance at the end of the book, and for awhile I thought this was more of a stand alone book than a sequel.  And I still feel that way - while Howl and Sophie tie Howl's Moving Castle into this book in the end, it truly isn't about them.

A good book and I am looking forward to reading the third.

Stars: 4.5



Saturday, October 1, 2022

Book: The Hike

 Book: The Hike

Author: Susi Holliday

Pages: 266


This is my 81st read for the year

This is the story of 2 couples who take a hiking trip to Switzerland.  They wanted a chance to reconnect after some estrangement between all of them - even husband and wife.  As they hike, tensions arise and tragedy strikes.  A trecherous trip back down the mountain to talk to the police leads to more questions than answers and suspicions arise.  Those who survived the hike back down the mountain aren't telling the whole story.

This book was fine.  I really didn't like any of the characters.  All of them were terrible people.  The author did another thing that I loathe about books - kept the reader in the dark for no reason to try to propel the story forward.  She gave snippets of "troubles" and "reasons" that things were happening before the hike even started, but it just left me wanting more.  When I got to the ending I really didn't even care what was happening, and it wasn't surprising at all which direction it took.

Eh - it was a Prime First Reads, and I should have stopped reading it.  But it is a short book, so I pushed through hoping it would get better.  Sadly - it didn't.

Stars: 2