"101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen" by Patrice Hannon

I picked this up on the bookstore's bargain shelves a couple months ago, thinking it would be basically a list of 101 random facts about Jane Austen, one to a page or something. I flipped through it a bit, saw it was more substantial than that, and figured for less than $10, I couldn't go wrong.

Turns out, this book is a little bit biography, a little bit literary analysis of Austen's works. The only purpose the 101 facts seem to serve is to break up the book into readable chunks, and they're not even presented as "facts," but more as topic headings. Here's a sampling:

5. A family member meets the guillotine
25. Arrested for shoplifting!
59. Why are there so many clergymen in Jane's Austen's novels?

As you can see, this book covers a wide variety of material, and in only 230 pages. For the casual fan of Austen, like me, it's a great way to learn more about the author and her books. Those who are avid Austenites would probably also enjoy it, particularly if they want to know more about the author herself, but don't have time for a lengthy biography. I enjoyed the bits of literary analysis the most, undoubtedly because I minored in English and still love delving deeper into books than what an initial reading gives you.

101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen: The Truth About the World's Most Intriguing Literary Heroine is a fairly easy read, and enjoyable even if you haven't read all her novels yet (like I haven't). It's not engrossing, however, and it took me over a month to read it because I kept getting sidetracked by other books. But because it's broken up into 101 little chunks, it's perfect for picking up whenever you have a few minutes.

(Originally posted on The Huggermugger Blog on Nov. 16, 2009.)

"Death du Jour" by Kathy Reichs

I read Death du Jour so quickly, I didn't even get around to putting it in my sidebar here before I'd finished it. I'd say it was even more absorbing that Reichs' first book, Deja Dead. The characters are more fully realized this time around, and the dialog in most places was much more natural.

Once again, the story crept inside my head and stayed there until I'd finished the book, which is the main reason I read it in just a couple days despite it being nearly 400 pages long. That's pretty rare for me these days, with my son demanding so much of my attention, though it was normal for me back in my pre-parenting days. It was possibly even more creepy than Deja Dead, as it dealt with things like cults and some decidedly unnatural deaths. So if you're not a fan of creepy books or all those forensic crime shows on TV, you might not dig this.

Death du Jour focuses on a series of seemingly unrelated murders in Canada and South Carolina that Dr. Tempe Brennan ends up investigating more than her jobs as forensic anthropologist and professor would ordinarily necessitate. It involves more personal relationships than its predecessor, and we not only meet up with Brennan's daughter and ex, but also her sister and nephew. And her professional relationship with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan takes a more personal turn as well, much to my delight.

Reichs' descriptions are the most powerful aspect of her writing, something I admire since I often struggle when describing things in my own writing. Here's my favorite passage from this book: "The new flakes lay white atop the underlying gray, like newborn innocence on last year's sins." Good stuff!

(Originally posted on The Huggermugger Blog on Oct. 7, 2009.)

"O Jerusalem" by Laurie R. King

I've read O Jerusalem before, but I think I enjoyed it more this second time through, possibly because I got to relish the storytelling this time through instead of breathlessly wondering what would happen next. It's one of Ms. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books, and it's actually the fifth book in the series, although it takes place during the events of the first book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. Someone recommended that I read O Jerusalem after Apprentice and before the second book, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, and I've done that on both my trips through the Russell/Holmes books. I've yet to read all of this series, but I was inspired to start the series afresh when I met Ms. King a few months ago at a book reading. I'm not sure it's best to read the books out of published order like this, but that's how I've done it, so oh well.

O Jerusalem follows Mary Russell and her mentor Sherlock Holmes to Palestine, where they seek refuge from a deadly enemy back in Britain while helping solve a mystery in the Holy Land. Since this is a mystery, I won't say much more, so as to not spoil things for anyone coming newly to this marvelous series. If you want to know more, you can read an excerpt and reviews here on Ms. King's site. I will only say that this book continues the exceptional relationship between Russell and Holmes and is an adventure worthy of them both. If you are a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I highly recommend this series, as it is the best non-Doyle portrayal of the master sleuth I have ever read.

(Originally posted on The Huggermugger Blog on Sep. 1, 2009.)

"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" by Alexander McCall Smith

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is an engaging book, full of earthy wisdom and charming observations on life. Told mostly from the point of view of Mma Ramotswe, the only lady detective in all of Botswana, this book is a collection of several small mysteries and one larger one that runs through the others now and again. I found this to be a quick read, though not a particularly absorbing one.

My favorite aspect of this book was the look it gave me at life in modern Botswana, as well as other parts of Africa. Mma Ramotswe had a likeable voice, and the writing was never dull. But as a mystery book, it wasn't terribly exciting. So if you're looking for a thrilling mystery, this might not be for you. But if you want some lighter mysteries, this would probably please you. I thought it was a good summer read.

(Originally posted on The Huggermugger Blog on Aug. 11, 2009.)

"Brisingr" by Christopher Paolini

On a whole, I found Brisingr to be a much smoother, richer, more thoughtful book than the first two in the series, Eragon and Eldest. Paolini's writing becomes more subtle with each book, and you can definitely see him growing from a talented adolescent into a gifted adult writer.

In fact, the only thing I didn't particularly like about Brisingr is something it can't help: it's a middle book. As such, it doesn't have a definite conclusion, but keeps leading up to things that will happen in the final book.

For those who found out about Eragon's parentage in Eldest and thought it was too much of a Star Wars rip-off, I say this: new information comes to light in this book. Read it.

(Originally posted on The Huggermugger Blog on Aug. 2, 2009.)

"The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner

I got about 120 pages into this book, then realized that for three days running, I'd chosen to read Potty Training in Less Than a Day rather than Faulkner because the potty training book was more interesting. So I quit reading Faulkner. Because I have very little time to read right now, and I'm not going to waste it on something I'm not enjoying or learning from.

I'm not a big fan of stream-of-consciousness. Virginia Woolf gives me a headache. This didn't quite go that far, as it's not entirely stream-of-consciousness... but it's also told all out of order, which also annoys me. Sometimes it can work to tell a story in circles -- think Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -- and sometimes it seems to serve no purpose other than to try to show how clever the author is to tell a story in a non-conventional way.

Yes, Faulkner is an Important Writer. Yes, I've read some of his short stories and liked them. Yes, his books are Modern Classics. But I simply didn't like this book.

(Originally posted on The Huggermugger Blog on Jun. 29, 2009.)

"Deja Dead" by Kathy Reichs

Deja Dead is Kathy Reichs' first novel, and it's a riveting read. Her dialog can be a bit stilted, but her characters were excellent, and the plot kept me guessing, which is actually a bit unusual for a mystery.

I don't mean that in a conceited way -- I love reading mysteries, and I don't usually try to figure out whodunit or anything else. I like letting the stories unfold before me, without me spending time trying to outsmart the author. If I do figure the ending out ahead of time, I get all disappointed and feel like the author didn't do their job very well.

But while I read Deja Dead, I couldn't stop the story from popping into my head while I wasn't reading it. I had theories on who the bad guy was (all wrong, yay!) and who would die next (I was mostly wrong, so mostly yay!), and I kept trying to figure out how I was going to get creeped out next.

Yes, this is a somewhat creepy book. Reichs is a real-life forensic anthropologist, like her protagonist, Dr. Temperance Brennan. She fills this book with all sorts of vivid details about death and other not-so-yummy-things -- so vivid sometimes that my skin started to crawl. If you're a fan of forensic TV shows like Bones, NCIS, and the CSI: shows, then you'll probably do fine here. If those churn your stomach, you might want to avoid this book.

Boreanaz and Deschanel on Bones

Speaking of Bones, these books by Kathy Reichs spawned that show. I've been a fan of the show right from the start, due to the presence of David Boreanaz (who had starred in my second-most-favorite-show-ever, Angel). Bones is a really fun show, revolving around the characters of Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (Boreanaz). I think my biggest surprise while reading this book wasn't at all related to the plot -- it was regarding how different the book's Dr. Brennan is from the one on the show. On Bones, Dr. Brennan is socially awkward and has a pretty unusual view of life, people, relationships, everything. The Deja Dead Dr. Brennan is cerebral, but not to the point of social awkwardness. She's actually a divorcee with a college-age daughter, and seems to have no problem relating to "normal" people. There was no Seeley Booth, but I'm hoping he pops up in one of the next books in the series.

So, I enjoyed Deja Dead, and I hope to read the next book or two later this summer. If you like forensic mysteries, you'll dig it!

(Originally posted on The Huggermugger Blog on Jun. 23, 2009.)