Reading Challenge: Nature Girl and The Bone Collector
42: Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen
I knew I'd forgotten at least one when I updated yesterday!
Carl Hiaasen has been one of my favorite authors since 1996-ish, when my boss at the lobbying firm recommended him to me. I love Hiaasen's snarky humor and his sense of the ridiculous, which is evident in all of his books. I love that his heroes aren't all that heroic, that they're sort of bumbling, flawed, mostly-normal people who care deeply about something. I love the environmental message in his books, which is clear without being preachy. And with all my heart, I love Skink, the ex-governor formerly known as Clinton Tyree. I would have gladly voted for him over Jeb, road-kill dinners and all.
Nature Girl is fabulous because our girl, Honey Santana, is on a mission. She's determined to teach a lesson to a horrid telemarketer from a company called Relentless, Inc. I love her because she feels the same Oh my god you interrupted my dinner to try to sell me worthless swampland?! I hate you! rage that I feel every time I pick up the phone to hear "Ms Wimmer (or Winner or Wilmer or Winer, or any number of not-my-name names)? How are you this evening? I'd like to tell you about a remarkable opportunity...." Honey doesn't just hang up and then fume silently, though. She does something about it, and it is absolutely hilarious.
I noticed something interesting as I read this book. I've mentioned that I enjoy reading about places in the Twin Cities in John Sandford's books that I recognize. I'd always enjoyed that about Hiaasen's books, too. Especially places like Tallahassee or Pensacola that I actually knew fairly well. I found with Nature Girl, though, that it's less a matter of recognizing home and more of recognizing used-to-be-home. Sandford's books are where I recognize home now, and I like that.
43: The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver
Thank you to dawnshine and the other FriendBot (counselor78? scarlett78? oceanstorme?) who recommended Jeffrey Deaver. I loved this book. I saw the movie when it first came out on DVD, but it's been so long that all I really remembered was that Denzel was a quadriplegic detective and Angelina was a cop. Now that I've finished the book and read a review of the movie, I'm glad that's all I remembered of it because the two are apparently very different. I think I remembered liking the movie okay. The book, though? I couldn't put it down. It moved quickly, the way James Patterson's books do, and I love that. There was plenty of detail and description, but it was delivered in a way that didn't slow the story down at all. The characters each had distinct personalities, and while I found Dellray a little grating and over-the-top, I liked that I was reading about the thoughts and words and actions of several different people rather than Barbies being moved through a scene by one five-year-old. My inner Forensics Files and The New Detectives nerd loved the crime scene details and the care the bad guy took to leave as little accidental evidence behind as possible, while intentionally planting clues and false evidence. And I loved the interaction between Rhyme and Thom and between Rhyme and Amelia. I'll be visiting PaperBackSwap.com today to look for the rest of Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series.
And here is the obligatory sign up so I get book credits link: Swap Your Paperback Books - PaperBackSwap.com.
I knew I'd forgotten at least one when I updated yesterday!
Carl Hiaasen has been one of my favorite authors since 1996-ish, when my boss at the lobbying firm recommended him to me. I love Hiaasen's snarky humor and his sense of the ridiculous, which is evident in all of his books. I love that his heroes aren't all that heroic, that they're sort of bumbling, flawed, mostly-normal people who care deeply about something. I love the environmental message in his books, which is clear without being preachy. And with all my heart, I love Skink, the ex-governor formerly known as Clinton Tyree. I would have gladly voted for him over Jeb, road-kill dinners and all.
Nature Girl is fabulous because our girl, Honey Santana, is on a mission. She's determined to teach a lesson to a horrid telemarketer from a company called Relentless, Inc. I love her because she feels the same Oh my god you interrupted my dinner to try to sell me worthless swampland?! I hate you! rage that I feel every time I pick up the phone to hear "Ms Wimmer (or Winner or Wilmer or Winer, or any number of not-my-name names)? How are you this evening? I'd like to tell you about a remarkable opportunity...." Honey doesn't just hang up and then fume silently, though. She does something about it, and it is absolutely hilarious.
I noticed something interesting as I read this book. I've mentioned that I enjoy reading about places in the Twin Cities in John Sandford's books that I recognize. I'd always enjoyed that about Hiaasen's books, too. Especially places like Tallahassee or Pensacola that I actually knew fairly well. I found with Nature Girl, though, that it's less a matter of recognizing home and more of recognizing used-to-be-home. Sandford's books are where I recognize home now, and I like that.
43: The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver
Thank you to dawnshine and the other FriendBot (counselor78? scarlett78? oceanstorme?) who recommended Jeffrey Deaver. I loved this book. I saw the movie when it first came out on DVD, but it's been so long that all I really remembered was that Denzel was a quadriplegic detective and Angelina was a cop. Now that I've finished the book and read a review of the movie, I'm glad that's all I remembered of it because the two are apparently very different. I think I remembered liking the movie okay. The book, though? I couldn't put it down. It moved quickly, the way James Patterson's books do, and I love that. There was plenty of detail and description, but it was delivered in a way that didn't slow the story down at all. The characters each had distinct personalities, and while I found Dellray a little grating and over-the-top, I liked that I was reading about the thoughts and words and actions of several different people rather than Barbies being moved through a scene by one five-year-old. My inner Forensics Files and The New Detectives nerd loved the crime scene details and the care the bad guy took to leave as little accidental evidence behind as possible, while intentionally planting clues and false evidence. And I loved the interaction between Rhyme and Thom and between Rhyme and Amelia. I'll be visiting PaperBackSwap.com today to look for the rest of Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series.
And here is the obligatory sign up so I get book credits link: Swap Your Paperback Books - PaperBackSwap.com.