It says so right on the cover: “Better than Patricia Cornwell”. In all caps even. Now, I have no idea who Patricia Cornwell is, but I trust the Sunday Express to tell me the truth. So, yeah, better than Patricia Cornwell. Kathy Reichs’ third novel, Deadly Décisions was another page turner.
If you haven’t seen the show Bones, and haven’t read any of Reichs’ books, you gotta get on that train! I personally really enjoy Reichs’ writing style and the way she seamlessly integrates the technical with fast paced action and suspense.
The nice thing is that you don’t necessarily have to have read the preceding two novels to enjoy this one. (Doing a bit of guess work here since I have thus far read them in order of completion). I do have the suspicion that many of Reichs’ novels can also be read as stand alone books. Though the recurring character development is surely more satisfying when read according to release date.
Jack Reacher is at it again, Lee Child I suppose is actually the one at it – but Reacher is the star of the show. It was March of 2015 that I read my first Child book – and thus started a grand love story.
Okay, I suppose I just enjoy reading the Reacher books a normal amount – and I’m here today to say, you should too! After reading Persuader I was hooked, and inclined to start at the beginning of the Reacher novels. As they say, the beginning is a very good place to start. Tripwire is now the fourth Reacher book I’ve read, and third in cronological order.
When I say cronological order I mean order in which the books were written. You, dear reader, really don’t need to read the books in any particular order – which is nice. Though I do think I will continue my Reacher journey in order of publication. Have you, dear reader, not yet started your own Reacher journey, I behove you to begin.
I read Kathy Reich’s first book, Deja Dead, after seeing the television show Bones‘ series finale. You see I hadn’t had enough, so what’s a girl to do? Read the entirety of Reichs written work, of course! Though to be entirely honest I don’t think I’ll be reading her scientific papers. I will keep you, dear readers, in the loop if it turns out I do.
Death du Jour was equally as enthralling as Reichs’ first novel, so it comes with equally as vehement recommendations. It’s a quick read, likely due to how captivating the story line is, so it’s perfect reading for a long weekend like this one. I definitely recommend Reichs, I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!
This book is assigned reading in one of my upcoming ECE classes. (ECE = Early Childhood Education, for those not ITK). ((ITK = Informations- und TeleKommunikationsbranche)).
Kazuo Ishiguro is one of the most celebrated contemporary fiction authors in the English-speaking world, or so Wikipedia tells me. What I can tell me is that this book was a great read. Assigned reading can really be hit or miss, I’ve realized. But this one, luckily, was out of the park.
The Remains of the Day has even been made into a movie, so you know it’s good. It’s even a good movie, nominated for eight Academy Awards. Don’t be lazy and just watch the movie though! Always read the book first.
It had been on my “to watch” list since it came out in 2014, we just never got around to seeing it in the theater. Then I saw that IMDb added it to the top 250 list, and there you have it, two birds – one stone! Also, seeing as the slogan for the movie was “THE END OF EARTH WILL NOT BE THE END OF US” I was pretty confident it would lift my spirits regarding the future of humanity. You know, that the only possible series of future events won’t inevitably lead to our extinction.
I ended up seeing Interstellar on an aircraft. Where I proceeded to hold onto my face for stability for the duration of the movie. My fellow passengers may or may not have thought I have anxiety. Which wouldn’t be completely untrue with regards to the emotional roller coaster I went on during the viewing.
Ladies and gentlemen, prior to take off please make sure your seat and tray table are in the upright position, that your seat belt is securely fastened and that all carry-on luggage is properly stowed. At this time, please feel free to take a firm grasp upon each side of your face and do not let go for the following 150 minutes.
Now, I’m no theoretical astrophysicist, but I’m pretty convinced everything in the movie could totally happen. Hence the need to clutch my face for two and a half hours. If you have not seen this move, please do so. It is worth your time.
I’m not sure if it’s because we’re moving soon, or that we’ve just had a baby, but I feel the need to have less things. Not only have less things but do less things. Do less things more effectively. Which is what this book is about.
Now I definitely think you should go read this for yourself, but my big take home was that whenever a choice presents itself to you, in life, love, business, whatever, ask yourself if/how this will help you make your biggest contribution to the world. This is some difficult stuff, it requires one to be a grounded and informed individual. But, something I think is important to remember is that nothing is written in stone, and you should never not do something because of the time it takes. The time will pass anyway. If an opportunity you deem to be important enough to pursue presents itself, then it’s an easy: Yes.
After finishing the book I find myself often asking myself two questions (in my quest to have less possessions and to use my time more effectively):
If I didn’t already own this, how much would I pay for it?
Do I want this enough to struggle for it?
I feel the second question needs some explaining. By combining what I read in this book, and the contents of this article, I ask myself this question for two reasons. If I think I want something I need to first examine the hinders/obstacles ahead of me that may prevent me from getting there. After I have determined the obstacles I need to then determine if I am willing to overcome them. The answers to these questions help me decide if whatever I’m pondering about is truly worth pursuing.
As we continue along this trip, let’s make a stop at May, 2013.
Evelina and I traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to see my cousin, and meet her beautiful little girl. Who by now has turned 3, but let’s return down the lane and talk more about Denmark.
We arrived pretty late, so the first thing we did in Denmark was sleep. Okay the first thing was to find and check into the hotel, but the second thing was sleep.
After waking up to a beautiful view of Copenhagen we ate breakfast with my cousin and then proceeded to explore the town.
As dusk fell we found our way to Tivoli, or the amusement park, right in central Copenhagen (next to our hotel, so the finding wasn’t particularly difficult). We wandered around taking lots of pictures of flowers. I’m pretty sure that’s what all the tourists do in Copenhagen. We must have been there on a day of no tourism, because we were the only ones taking flower pictures that evening.
When we returned to the hotel Tivoli started the firework show in our honor.
We had a great weekend away, and though much of Copenhagen reminded us of Sweden, the ever-present Danish speaking always reminded us that we were a long way from home.
As we concluded our weekend we returned home to Sweden, but didn’t venture far from Stockholm. The evening of our return we caught Pink at The Globe. We ate dinner before the show, and to be honest the food was quite good.
If you haven’t yet, go see Pink in concert, she is truly an entertainer. Also, if you have the chance, eat dinner first on a balcony from which you later enjoy the show.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg was very enjoyable. But, before we get into things I would like to comment on how long the titles of my book of the month books have been these past two months! Geeze! Is that the new thing, ridiculously long titles? I like it. Or at least I’ve really liked these past two books!
Anywho! If you haven’t seen my most recent PN post, go check it out, because a big reason for why I read this book was PN. All the talk about habits in PN got my thoughts a churnin’. Luckily, this book gave me some of the answers I was looking for.
First, basically every single habit and lesson in PN is based on thorough research, some of which is touched upon in this book. Second, I think this book should be recommended reading for all those in PN. The book is captivating, touches on a wide range of subjects while still keeping its focus and the interest of the reader. That is quite a feat, in my opinion. At times I was reminded of Malcolm Gladwell’s writing, but I want to claim that Duhigg took a step up in his writing and really kept one focus strong throughout the entire book. Something that is missing from Gladwell’s writing. Don’t get me wrong I’m a huge fan of both authors (apparently!), but I felt that The Power of Habit spoke to me personally on a level that Gladwell’s books just don’t.
The ending was truly powerful *wink wink*, but I particularly enjoyed the appendix. If you were to only read one part or section of this book (which I don’t actually recommend) read the appendix. The appendix is particularly juicy. Have you read this book? Did you like it? Hate it? Tell me about it in the comments section below!
After telling you all to watch this awesome Netflix series (which I seriously hope you have) I thought it would be fun to read the book that inspired it all. Piper Kerman (not Chapman) is a real life person who went to real life prison. Like her fictitious blonde friend, also for a drug charge.
Before we go any further, if you’ve seen the show I won’t be giving anything away, but if you haven’t and are planning on reading the book you may not want to read on.
Obviously real life events are fictionalized to make for more exciting and dramatic television & movies (except for Monster, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how shit went down). Anyway, there were some clear similarities between the book and the show, including, of course, the main character’s first name.
In the show Piper works in electrical after asking to work for the GED program. In the show the GED program was shut down because of mold in the classrooms. This aspect of the show was apparently 100% true, and 100% terrifying. Or is it just me who is irrationally appropriately afraid of mold?
Piper’s eventual roommate is a Caribbean woman whose attributes are morphed into the on-screen character seamlessly. As well as the lovely head of the kitchens Red, also known as Pop in the book. Pensatucky & Crazy Eyes are both based on real people, although the characters in the show seem to be built from multiple people Piper encounters in real life. The guard called Rotmanson in the book is perfectly portrayed as officer Mendez in the show.
In season two Piper travels by plane to Chicago, which apparently also happened in real life, and the plane ride in the show seems mostly accurate. The ending of the book does not coincide with the show, seeing as we’re all excitedly awaiting the release of season 3 in just twelve days. But that’s not the only thing that doesn’t quite align. As far as I can tell Alex Vause is, unfortunately, completely fictionalized. Her presence in the same prison as Piper from the beginning is fictional, as well as most things about her. The one grain of truth, as far as I can tell, is the fact that a former female lover got Piper mixed up in the drug world to begin with. Alex Vause’s moody good looks were, despairingly, never part of the equation.
Some other things that get lost from book to television show:
Piper’s dry humor
gay David
Larry’s fans in prison
Kids day
Piper’s loving and supportive family
Larry’s identity as a doting and secure fiancé
Though these things would certainly enhance the television show (in my humble opinion) I’m sure they were calculated changes. And who knows, maybe gay David is coming in season 3!
If you love the show I definitely recommend the book. It’s interesting to see where such an entertaining show gets its roots, but also to discuss in a surprisingly captivating fashion the short comings of the US prison system. That and the awesome tomato metaphor Piper uses in the final pages, and her expert use of the word ostensibly. Some seriously good writing.
If you don’t recall my other post about Eurovision, read up here. There I explain all about how the contest works. Guess what, one week ago today, Sweden did it again!
This post won’t be quite the same detailed run-down as my previous post was, but I will have you know that I personally think that this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was the best one I have ever seen. Every country that made it to the final really stepped it up. Every single song and artist was truly amazing. And I’m pretty hard to please, seeing as I’m a native English speaker I’m hard on artists. If they can’t sing in English, I’m a firm advocate for them singing in their native tongue. This year, however, no one’s English caused me to cringe or want to turn off my TV. Everyone brought their A-game.
That being said, here are the results, as well as links to the songs from the official ESC site.
Definitely click the link to listen to Sweden’s song, and I even encourage you to click all the links. Form your own opinion. Learn a little about European music. Although I thought this year’s performances were above and beyond, as per the usual I did not agree with this year’s voting.
If I was the Queen of the Eurovision Song Contest this is how I would have ranked the songs:
This year’s song contest did not occur without a little drama. Half way through the contest Russia was winning. The audience did not like this, and they started booing when Russia received points. The TV hosts reminded the audience that the song contest is completely outside of politics, and all artists should be supported. A bit later on a Sweden chant began.
Little awkward, but the ESC has been very pro LGBTQ, and Russia these days is the opposite of that. So, although awkward, not unsurprising in the least. I do think that what the hosts said was important though, the music is the focus, and the music this year was GREAT.
I’m super glad Sweden won, and if any of you readers can get me tickets to the song contest next spring I would be forever in your debt!
Enjoy Not Knowing 