What are you reading?

[j8sheehy]

Aaah, see, this is why we part company on the Janet Evanovich issue. I thought The Road was fascinating and I still think about it on occasion a year after reading it. So it would seem that we have different tastes .

well i read almost all true crime. someone accidentally gave me the 3rd and 4th janet evanovich books for christmas last year, instead of patricia cornwells 3 & 4th books. so i decided to give em a shot. they are totally cheesy and i am shocked that i like them, my bf was even more shocked. to me, they are like a break from reading. i read mostly true crime, and now im reading a bit of crime fiction. i read a lot of biographies too, and satire every now and then. george orwell is probably my most favoritest author ever

[steppemaster]

Ahem. I'm holding my hand in the air here. I tried a couple of Janet Evanovich's books and couldn't finish either of them. I prefer natural humour and dry wit over schtick, though, so I am not inclined to appreciate crazy grandmothers in general.

That's two of us.

I tried some of the earlier ones and didn't get past the first few chapters which is unusual for me. Usually when I start a book I finish it.


Then last year I accidentally picked up her "Christmas" one and started to read it when I ran out of faves. I really loved the first few chapters but as it went along it got.....I don't know how to say it....less and less "believable" in terms of how the chaarcters behaved and reacted to real world situations.

IMO when you're writing eccentric characters don't try to push them into the real world because then the humor turns to tragedy.

So I didn't finish that one either.


For right now Evanovich is on my "don't bother with" list along with Carl Hiasson.


As someone said above--different people have different tastes.

[Rattus]

well i read almost all true crime. someone accidentally gave me the 3rd and 4th janet evanovich books for christmas last year, instead of patricia cornwells 3 & 4th books. so i decided to give em a shot. they are totally cheesy and i am shocked that i like them, my bf was even more shocked. to me, they are like a break from reading. i read mostly true crime, and now im reading a bit of crime fiction. i read a lot of biographies too, and satire every now and then. george orwell is probably my most favoritest author ever

Love George Orwell. 1984 is interchangeable with Dodsworth (Sinclair Lewis) as my favourite book, depending on my mood.

If you like true crime, I can't recommend Son (Jack Olsen) highly enough if you haven't read it yet. It is the one true crime I have read multiple times.

[j8sheehy]

Love George Orwell. 1984 is interchangeable with Dodsworth (Sinclair Lewis) as my favourite book, depending on my mood.

If you like true crime, I can't recommend Son (Jack Olsen) highly enough if you haven't read it yet. It is the one true crime I have read multiple times.

wow - i LOVE jack olsen. i HAVE read Son. I have read about 8 of his books. All were great. Misbegotten Son is a good one too. Night Watch and Predator are also good, if you havent read any more of his books. I cant recall the other ones Ive read right now.

Joe McGinnis is also a really really good true crime author. Im not sure if you are familiar with the Jeffrey MacDonald/Green Beret Murder case-the book is called Fatal Vision. i could NOT put that book down. I read all of his other books too, and they were all really good.

[steppemaster]

wow - i LOVE jack olsen. i HAVE read Son. I have read about 8 of his books. All were great. Misbegotten Son is a good one too. Night Watch and Predator are also good, if you havent read any more of his books. I cant recall the other ones Ive read right now.

Joe McGinnis is also a really really good true crime author. Im not sure if you are familiar with the Jeffrey MacDonald/Green Beret Murder case-the book is called Fatal Vision. i could NOT put that book down. I read all of his other books too, and they were all really good.

"Fatal Vision" was fantastic! so very well done.

btw--someone above seemed to think that Patricia Cornwell writes nonfiction crime books. She writes novels and a lot of her "info" about pathologists is out and out wrong.

I have worked in labs and morgues and know well over 200 pathologists and not one of them is depressed the way her main character is. Pathologists do not get depressed about working with the dead the way Scarpetta does. They are fascinated by what the dead can teach the living.

And it doesn't take long in working with bodies to lose the attitude of "fear" of the dead or that "death is contagious"-which is what a lot of people fear.

Also it is the job of pathologist and their lab personnel to come up with answers for the physicians whose patients they work on.

For most pathology labs only 15% of their work is with the dead/autopsies etc.

Most pathology labs deal with routine and other testing which can help the physician diagnose and treat the living.


Also--and I have confirmed this with crime lab personnel--a lot of her "details" about crime lab work are wrong too.

She never worked in a crime lab the way she tries to present herself as doing--she admits--if you look at her earlier work--that she worked one floor down from a crime lab and only writes from a bystanders "knowledge."

As a writer myself I try not to badmouth other writers out of professional courtesy but Cornwell unfortunately does not give her readers what they think they are getting.

(sorry about the rsnt. I have similar problems with tv shows that supposely are "about doctors" but which have very little real info and details of what physicians do and/or how they feel.

One of the very best hospital/doctor shows I've ever seen is the two-hour premiere eipsode of "ER.'

It is practically a documentary and that's because it was wtritten by Michael Crichton(the novelist and physician) whose was the originator of the idea for ER.)

It's often available at dvd rental stores etc. I highly recommend it. George Clooney and Anthony Edwards give fantastic performances.
The story deals with the suicide attempt of Julie Margolies' character and covers only one day in the lfie of ER docs on 24 hour call.

Watch that for some real insight into how doctors are trained and what they go through and give up to become physicians.

End rant)

[j8sheehy]

"Fatal Vision" was fantastic! so very well done.

btw--someone above seemed to think that Patricia Cornwell writes nonfiction crime books. She writes novels and a lot of her "info" about pathologists is out and out wrong.

I have worked in labs and morgues and know well over 200 pathologists and not one of them is depressed the way her main character is. Pathologists do not get depressed about working with the dead the way Scarpetta does. They are fascinated by what the dead can teach the living.

And it doesn't take long in working with bodies to lose the attitude of "fear" of the dead or that "death is contagious"-which is what a lot of people fear.

Also it is the job of pathologist and their lab personnel to come up with answers for the physicians whose patients they work on.

For most pathology labs only 15% of their work is with the dead/autopsies etc.

Most pathology labs deal with routine and other testing which can help the physician diagnose and treat the living.


Also--and I have confirmed this with crime lab personnel--a lot of her "details" about crime lab work are wrong too.

She never worked in a crime lab the way she tries to present herself as doing--she admits--if you look at her earlier work--that she worked one floor down from a crime lab and only writes from a bystanders "knowledge."

As a writer myself I try not to badmouth other writers out of professional courtesy but Cornwell unfortunately does not give her readers what they think they are getting.

(sorry about the rsnt. I have similar problems with tv shows that supposely are "about doctors" but which have very little real info and details of what physicians do and/or how they feel.

One of the very best hospital/doctor shows I've ever seen is the two-hour premiere eipsode of "ER.'

It is practically a documentary and that's because it was wtritten by Michael Crichton(the novelist and physician) whose was the originator of the idea for ER.)

It's often available at dvd rental stores etc. I highly recommend it. George Clooney and Anthony Edwards give fantastic performances.
The story deals with the suicide attempt of Julie Margolies' character and covers only one day in the lfie of ER docs on 24 hour call.

Watch that for some real insight into how doctors are trained and what they go through and give up to become physicians.

End rant)

well , i WAS under the impression that she worked in an MEs office, but I think a LOT of her stories are a little far-fetched. when i read Cornwell in the past I viewed it as fiction with a tad bit of fact that i think she got from outside sources (like Dr. Bill Bass - who has writted a few great fictional novels and a few great non-fiction books on the body farm that I would highly recommend. he writes under the name Jefferson Bass). I read about 12 of Cornwells novels and Scarpetta always bothered me because she seems depressed with a bad attitude. I dont personally know any MEs, but I watch a crapload of Dr.G (Im sure you know Dr. Garavaglia) and shes light-hearted and friendly. As with most people who do jobs that a lot of people would be uncomfortable with, I think they get desensitized to it after a while and view it as just performing a task, and dont connect themselves with every person and get depressed like Scarpetta. Her last 3 or 4 books, imo, have just been unreadable.

If you havent read any other of Joe McGinniss' work, I would highly recommend it-along with Jefferson Bass - founder of the body farm.

[deedreamer]

..... Her last 3 or 4 books, imo, have just been unreadable.
If you havent read any other of Joe McGinniss' work, I would highly recommend it-along with Jefferson Bass - founder of the body farm.

ITA with the part of your post that I have bolded. I first began reading the Kay Scarpetta series around the same time I began Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series. I soon grew to love Kinsey Millhone a lot more than Kay Scarpetta. Though both were professional women living alone (for the most part) and both had a shambles for a family history...I began to really appreciate Kinsey's wry, jaded but humourous outlook on life. She never seemed to take herself too seriously like Kay Scarpetta did. The only problem I had with the Sue Grafton books was that they tended to be kind of repititious in spots. Once through those passages though I always found it a good chuckle to find out how Kinsey was going to get herself maimed or injured in each story.

My favourite books though for keeping me guessing is Robert Ludlum...except for some strange reason I couldn't get into the Bourne series. One of my favourites was entirely in a different vein than Ludlum normally writes. It was much lighter and humourous. That was "The Road to Gandolfo."

[j8sheehy]

ITA with the part of your post that I have bolded. I first began reading the Kay Scarpetta series around the same time I began Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series. I soon grew to love Kinsey Millhone a lot more than Kay Scarpetta. Though both were professional women living alone (for the most part) and both had a shambles for a family history...I began to really appreciate Kinsey's wry, jaded but humourous outlook on life. She never seemed to take herself too seriously like Kay Scarpetta did. The only problem I had with the Sue Grafton books was that they tended to be kind of repititious in spots. Once through those passages though I always found it a good chuckle to find out how Kinsey was going to get herself maimed or injured in each story.

My favourite books though for keeping me guessing is Robert Ludlum...except for some strange reason I couldn't get into the Bourne series. One of my favourites was entirely in a different vein than Ludlum normally writes. It was much lighter and humourous. That was "The Road to Gandolfo."

Did it annoy you that she went from writing in 1st person from Scarpettas viewpoint to 3rd person? That totally made me hate her books. I think it started with Predator. And it also got to be too much technology, computers and Lucy. And I hated how she made Marino always seem like the bad guy when he was pretty much the only likeable one in my opinion.

[deedreamer]

Did it annoy you that she went from writing in 1st person from Scarpettas viewpoint to 3rd person? That totally made me hate her books. I think it started with Predator. And it also got to be too much technology, computers and Lucy. And I hated how she made Marino always seem like the bad guy when he was pretty much the only likeable one in my opinion.

I think what most annoyed me was the way she went from having Scarpetta be such a strong person in her job as contrasted to her personal life and then took her down a slippery slope until her professional life was as much a mess as her personal life. There was no contrast left. Instead of confidence versus angst it just became angst.

[norealityhere]

I thought Cornwell's earlier books - esp. the first 4 - were terrific. When she killed off Mark and started changing her characters so much, she started going downhill.
I think it's a given, though, that writers will take a certain degree of poetic license, if you will. I liked the fact that Scarpetta was showing her humanity. It took her away from so many one dimensional characters out there. Unfortunately, I think she started getting a bit carried away with herself. That's when things started going downhill.