2 new words

In reading a blog response by someone on another blog, I had to look up the meaning of 2 words in one reply. I'm now trying to add them to my general vocabulary...and having fun with it when I get funny looks from people wondering what I'm talking about.

The two words and shortened definitions...

Inimical - unfriendly, hostile.

-(said to my kids...Just because you don't get to do what you want, is no reason to be inimical)

Didactic- Intended to instruct, or the practice of valuing litrature for it's instructional content.

- (My mentor can be pretty didactic when we're training.)

I'm wondering how long it'll be before I have to hand out definition cards while I'm having a conversation...

Relic by Preston Douglas and Lincoln Child

This book was interesting to me. I can't decide if I liked it or if I didn't. I liked the story line, and actually only finished it because I wanted to know how it turned out, but there was a lot of scientific information in it that seemed to slow the story down too. However, the information did pertain to the story and I do think it needed to be there. Also, I did wonder if I'd be disappointed, and it would have some corny Scooby Doo ending, but thankfully, that didn't happen.

The story line reminded me of something along the lines of a Michael Crichton novel. I'm not sure how to describe it without giving something away, so I'll just say there's something, or someone lurking in a museum sneaking around killing people in a very grotesque and odd manner. Margo Green, a doctorate candidate working on her dissertation under the direction of a curator at the museum, and an FBI agent, Pendergast, along with an NYPD detective work together to figure out what is going on. It sounds typical I know, but trust me when I say it isn't. One reviewer on the cover of the book described it as Jurassic Park meets Alien...and I think that fits pretty well. All in all, I'm trying to decide if I want to read the sequel.

Relic

Currently reading-Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

Changing things up a bit

I've been thinking about changing this up a bit. I do read a lot, and want to put my little 2 cents in on those books, but lately I also find myself learning about little things here and there. Just random bits and pieces that pop up in books, life, and most often here lately, other blogs. I'm finding out more and more how much I really have no idea about anything outside my raising kids, endless PTA meetings, friends and family life. I don't know if it's more of an American thing to just be basically clueless about the rest of the world, (everyone I know certainly is), or if it's just a birds of a feather thing. Either way, I enjoy learning and would like to make an effort to learn. So, that said, and this being my blog so I can do what I want with it, I'm going to try and throw in the bits and pieces of attempted knowledge I might pick up along with my reading obsession.

Janet Evanovich's Sizzling Sixteen

I LOVE THESE BOOKS!! What's bad is I can't really always remember the plot, but what I do remember is laughing so hard I can't stop. Without fail, these books are hilarious. The crazy characters, the conversations, the situations that are so far out there you can't help but laugh. It could be anything, you never know what's going to happen, (well, other than donuts and fried chicken will be involved). And, to add to it, there is Ranger and Joe Morelli both vying for Stephanie's affections in two very different ways. My favorite line from this particular book...

"Morelli would have offered me a beer. Ranger always offered me wine I couldn't afford to buy. Ranger knew the value of temptation and bribery."

Personally, I think she needs to ditch Joe once and for all and take Ranger up on his many offers, but that's just me.

Sizzling Sixteen

Currently reading - Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Hunting

My list of books I am hunting seems to be getting longer and longer. Ok, so really it's pretty short at the moment, but considering it started out at 0 not real long ago it's getting there. Right now, the list is as follows..

Requiems for the Departed by several authors
Truth by Peter Temple
The Killer Inside me by Jim Thompson
The Lighthouse Land and Lighthouse War by Adrian McKinty, (I think I found them though)
World History for Dummies
Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

So that's the list for now. Most of them are there because the books have been recommended to me or I like other books by the author and just haven't managed to come across these. I'm looking though.

Currently reading, (well, planning to start today once the mailman delivers it) - Janet Evanivich's Sizzling sixteen and then Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's Relic

Tess Gerritsen's The Keepsake

The last few Tess Gerritsen novels I've read I really liked, but this one, not so much. The story was about a guy that was preserving/mummifying women in order to collect them forever, and Rizzoli and Dr. Isle have to figure out the who, how and where of it. For some reason however, it just didn't "hold" me, even though it sounded interesting. It was more like what I would expect to see on Criminal Minds than a Tess Gerritsen novel, in fact, I could almost picture Dr. Spencer Reid walking in the bogs explaining things. I have to admit though, there was some interesting random facts about how mummy's and shrunken heads are done...

Random fact I learned in this story - I'm not sure I remember exactly how it's done, but shrunken heads are basically made by making a cut down the back of the head and peeling the skin off of the skull. Then salt and some other stuff is rubbed on the inside to dry it out and it's set out to dehydrate. 3 rods are inserted in the lips to make holes and sometime later the holes are used to sew the lips together. Then the shrunken head is decorated with earring and whatnot and worn as a necklace as a sign of conquering. All of this is done over the space of a year with ceremonies.

I'm currently reading Lee Child's Without Fail.

The Keepsake

One of those random things thrown in

Ok, so I'm tired, and have a bit too many random things running around my head, so beware, this may not make a lot of sense. It's been an interesting day..surprisingly. Typically, with it being summer, I get restless in the house all day with the kids. I'm not a "homebody". Today though, I couldn't drag myself out. Today, my obsessive side kicked in overdrive when Adrian McKinty put a contest on his blog to find out who took a specific picture of Jorge Luis Borges. The first person to hunt it down got a signed copy of his new paperback 50 Grand. I've posted about this book, and enjoyed reading it, so getting signed copy sounded like something fun to add to my nice little book collection. The hunt started. I googled my little heart out, forgot to eat lunch, drank lots of coffee, and managed to pacify the kids and eventually the answer came to me and I'll soon have the book...(did I mention I can be a bit obsessive when I'm looking for a "piece to a puzzle"?). And, along the way I think I learned more random facts about Borges than I could possible remember. As a matter of fact, at this moment I feel like I've crammed for a test and now can't remember what it's over. I can't say I mind though, I like random pieces of knowledge, and I'm hoping I retain at least part of it.

Lee Childs Jack Reacher series

I'm really starting to like this series. I had the fourth book in the series, Running Blind, on audio for several months before I got around to listening to it fully, and it took me 2 tries to actually get into, and finish it. The first time, I think I got frustrated with one of the characters, or it moved to slowly so I gave it up, but the second time, I stuck with it, and found I got intrigued with where it was going. Since then, I've read the first 3 books, along with various other ones I could get my hands on for cheap. I'm liking them more and more, and I believe I'm getting a crush on Mr. Reacher..other then the fact he seems to lack a bit in the personal care area. If you haven't heard of the series, Jack Reacher is ex military police and basically now goes and does anything he wants. He has no possessions, no family, and no ties to anyone. He pretty much travels around the country as he sees fit while all sorts of scary and dangerous situations fall in his lap, and of course he always seems to have the skills to deal with them and save whoever needs saving. Jack Reacher seems to know everything, (especially guns), and knows how to do everything. He's a "man's man"...(Who needs Perry Mason?).

Lee Child's The Killing Floor (Jack Reacher series book 1)

Currently reading Tess Gerritson's The Keepsake

The Glass Castle

This book surprised me. I don't normally read books like this, even though I tend to enjoy and learn things from them. This one was no different..I couldn't put it down, (except at times I had to to get over some silly frustration with the people in the book). The basic story is about a young girl growing up with parents who seem to refuse to. On the surface, when she is young, her parents are fun and exciting. They have "adventures" that any young child would love. Underneath, they are avoiding all responsibility. They don't work, normally don't have money or food, and anytime something happens they don't like, they pack up and move. It's a beautiful story over all though. It really showed a lot about how we choose our lives and who we are. We don't have to succumb to the circumstances. Every teenager that thinks their life is hard and terrible should read this story.

The Glass Castle

Currently reading - One Shot by Lee Child

Stephanie Meyer's The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Yep, I'm one of those "Twilight" people. I read this one in a few hours, it was short. Honestly, it wasn't a favorite in the series, but I did enjoy it, and I think when the Eclipse movie comes out we'll see how it plays into things better. There were also a few holes it filled in from the book Eclipse too, but they were minor things that I had just assumed answers to. Overall, if you have a few hours and want a simple read, it'll do the trick.

Jeffrey Archer's Paths of Glory

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this story. It's really the book that has gotten me interested in "historical fiction", and curious about Mount Everest. This is mostly a "what if" type story. What if Edmond Hillery was not the first person to climb the mountain, but a man by the name of George Mallory was, and we didn't know it? What if he climbed the mountain, but it couldn't be proven? After I read it, well, listened to the audio book actually, I looked up some of the details the book gave only to find out that the story could possibly have happened, and in fact, some people believe it did. A lot of the facts are actually in history and we'll honestly never know if this story hits the mark, but it's always fun to have all of these seemingly useless facts about Mount Chomolangma in my head.

Johnathan Kellerman's Devil's Waltz and Bad Love

These books are the 5th and 6th in the Alex Deleware series I believe. I read the first one, When the Bough Breaks, and it was ok, good enough for me to read more. Honestly though, even though I like the premise of Kellerman's books, I can't say I like the books a whole lot...they tend to drag with a lot of descriptions and not a whole lot being accomplished. I don't find myself getting involved or caught up in the story and I often will easily get up to do other things. None the less, I'm usually curious enough to finish the story. Devil's Waltz is a story of Munchhausen by Proxy, and Bad Love is a typical "bad guy after the main character" story, with a psychological twist. Like I said, not bad premise, but slow moving.

When the Bough Breaks

Devil's Waltz

Bad Love>

Iris Johansen's The Wind Dancer and Storm Winds

I gotta say, I loved these books, they are probably 2 of my favorite by Iris Johansen. The first book, The Wind Dancer is set in Renaissance Italy. It's the story of a female slave sold to a rich and powerful man who buys her only to steal back The Wind Dancer, a beautiful and priceless statue, from the man that stole it from him. It's a beautiful, and at times harsh, story with his struggle of trying to fight himself, his urges, and the things allowed in that day and age and be an honorable man. It's also the story of a woman who has been a slave all of her life, believing her place was only to please her master in any way she could, learning to stand for herself. Along with all of this is a story of history, and what could have happened...a "what if" story.

Storm Winds, is set in the 1700's and tells the story of a girl raised in Marie Antoinette's castle in Revolutionary France. Again, the story is wrapped around the Wind Dancer statue, love, struggle to change, grow, and a curious "what if" story. Like the first story, it's beautiful and at the same time harsh.

I enjoyed both of the books a great deal. I loved the history, and even though I'm not sure how accurate the "picture" is, it was enough to make me curious and want to find out.

(There's also a 3rd book, Reap the Wind that I greatly enjoyed, but it's been awhile since I read it).

The Wind Dancer

Storm Winds

Reap the Wind

Adrian McKinty's 50 Grand

I just finished this one this morning. I really liked it, I like his writing style. With a lot of books, I find myself getting frustrated with all of the descriptions of everything..there are just too many details and I end up skipping paragraphs. With McKinty's books, I can't see the exact shade of the sky or the shape of a cloud, but I get a very definite "feel" for where I am and what's going on. I can get lost in it. His other books are the same way, (my favorite is the "Dead" series). Granted, his stories aren't "happy go lucky", and I think a lot would say they are on the "dark" side, but I enjoy them...they seem honest. In this one, you follow the story of a cop coming to America from Cuba to find out who killed her father. It's not really so much of a "who done it", although, there is that, but more of a story being told. You can see it play out in your head. I admit, if the picture in my is anything close to what it's like living in Cuba, it's not a place I'd want to go.

Fifty Grand

The "Dead" trilogy
Dead I Well May Be
The Dead Yard
The Bloomsday Dead

Giving this another try

I honestly haven't blogged much in the last year or so, but I read so much that I thought I'd give it another try. We'll see how it goes...