All About The Books, Baby

[johnmill79]

I've gotten in a surprising amount of reading this summer. Three books in this month alone, with one of them clocking in at over 770 pages. Goodness. A couple years ago, it would've taken me two or more months to finish a monster like that

Comments

[furzicle]

Thanks for the links, John. I will try to read a few of those books.

I have enjoyed Dan Brown. I think more intellectual people poopoo him, but I personally think he is the master of pacing.

I found Timeline (If I'm thinking of the right one) by Michael Crichton to be too Hollywood for my tastes. I found his other books fall into the same category. You know, along the lines of a dramatic escape, followed immediately by a motorcycle chase, where everything works out because they all slide under a moving train.

My husband has read some John Grisham and appeared to like them. He's not really a reader, so I consider anything that he stays with to have merit.

I generally love most anything by Kathy Reichs, though I recently picked up Grave Secrets and was disappointed. She seemed to break a lot of the guidelines I give my elementary students when I teach writing, like try to avoid sentence fragments. However, as a former microbiology student, I really appreciate her topic.

I have read nearly every Agatha Christie I could get my hands on. My ardor has paled a bit, but they certainly are classics.

I have seen one film and read the second book by Stieg Larsson. Enjoyed both.

Michael Connelly is my favorite author, hands down, above all others. He is the master of the complicated plot with twists. In spite of that, he is not confusing in the least. Another bonus, his stories are all interconnected. I give him a 12 out of 10. (And I would recommend everything he has written.)

[johnmill79]

I've never even heard of Connely, but will have to check something out of his on your recommendation.
h Brown, I feel like his writing isn't all that great but the stories are awesome! I do believe there is a difference.
And I actually like Crichton. I know that he is way over the top usually, but it makes for good escape reading. He imagines things very well.
I think A Time To Kill was the only really good Grisham book, in my opinion. As many have said, he's kind of formulaic in most cases. But if you're into legal stuff, then yeah you might enjoy it.
Thanks for reading.

[furzicle]

I will say one more thing about Connelly. He usually sets his stories in LA. It's not essential to understanding the story, but it does lend an interesting detail.

Every now and then he muffs something in that regard. In one book he referred to being able to see the Channel Islands from a highrise in Santa Monica, and that wouldn't work. Though I heard that one on a tape, so I never knew if the reader had made the mistake. You can see Catalina and it is a channel island, but there was something off about the statement which by now I may be mis-remembering.

[johnmill79]

Oh, and you say Connelly's stories are interconnected. Does this mean I should start in any particular place?

[furzicle]

I don't think it matters, but they are chronological. After I read one, I tried to go back and read the first one chronologically. What is fun is that a character will pop up in a book without a whole lot of fanfare who figured prominently in a much earlier book. Connelly doesn't make a deal out of it, but, as the reader, it's fun to remember that person from an earlier time.