Notes of Life

… and I’m currently reading Bryant & May Off the Rails by Christopher Fowler. It’s the 8th book in the Bryant & May series and follows on from Bryant & May On the Loose (see my review here). This time, Bryant & May have been given just 1 week to catch a killer they’ve caught once before. While that might sound relatively easy, it isn’t… The killer uses a false identity and their investigation takes them into the world of the London Underground.

It’s only the 2nd book I’ve read in the Bryant & May series, but so far it’s proving to be just as good as ‘On the Loose’. I’m reading it on my new toy… my brand new Kindle. It’s so easy to read with.

The last book I read was 61 Hours by Lee Child. It was my final book for the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge. I must say that I actually enjoyed all 4 books that I picked from the list (of 15) for the challenge. Click on the links below if you’d like to read any of my reviews for the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Bryant & May On the Loose by Christopher Fowler
Second Hand Heart by Catherine Ryan Hyde
61 Hours by Lee Child

Talking of Second Hand Heart by Catherine Ryan Hyde… Click here for a chance to win 1 of 10 signed copies of the book, but be quick because the winners will be picked on the publication date – 16th September 2010!

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I haven’t a clue what this critter is… Some kind of fly, maybe?
It was on the lavender in the garden a few weeks ago.

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Author: Lee Child
Publisher: Transworld Publishers
ISBN: 978-0-553-82556-5

Jack Reacher doesn’t stay anywhere long, he’s ex-army and used to being on the move, but it looks like he’s going to have to stay in Bolton, South Dakota longer than he wants to. What makes it worse is that it wasn’t even his intended destination. His bus crashes in a gathering snow storm and Jack has no choice but to stay in Bolton until the weather eases. Unfortunately for Jack, that’s not the worst of it. There’s been a murder in the town and it looks like there’s another target and she’s going to need Jack’s help.

61 Hours is not the first book in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series (in fact, it’s the 14th), but it’s the first Jack Reacher book, and indeed the first Lee Child book, that I’ve read. I found that it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the other books. I got a real feel for the main character of Jack Reacher, despite him coming across as a man who probably doesn’t want people to know much about him.

This story is full of tension and mystery, with some action thrown in. There’s even a little hint of a relationship for Jack, which (from what I’ve read) is a rare occurrence due to his lifestyle. The writing is descriptive (like you could be right there), but to the point and there’s no rest in the story, it’s all there for a reason. It makes you want to keep reading and turning the pages.

The book counts down the hours throughout the story. To start off with it’s kind of annoying, because the reader doesn’t know what the count-down is for. Around page 100 (out of 493), I got an idea of what was at the end of the count-down, but looking back, I didn’t really know what the count down was counting down to until the end. And even now, I’m not entirely sure… I’ve got a need to read the next book in the series, Worth Dying For, and it doesn’t come out until the end of the month!

You know what? Lee Child is good! I’ve read one book and now I need to read a second. That’s a very good way to sell books!

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Please note: I received this book free from Transworld Publishers as part of the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge. However, this in no way influenced my opinion of the book.

This past week has been a quiet one really. I’ve been working and babysitting and that’s about it. There hasn’t been time for much else!

The Kindle I ordered from Amazon a month ago finally arrived on Wednesday. I got the 3G + Wi-Fi version. I’d ordered a couple of e-books for it before it arrived and by the time I’d turned it on and entered my Wi-Fi password, the e-books were sat there waiting for me. So I was impressed from the word go!

The e-books I’ve got for it so far are Bryant & May Off The Rails (the follow-up to Bryant & May On The Loose) by Christopher Fowler and Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. I also downloaded a sample chapter of Grave Sight (also by Charlaine Harris). I thought it was about time that I read some of her books! I’ve already read the sample chapter of Grave Sight on the Kindle and I enjoyed it, so I’ll be buying the e-book just as soon as I’ve got enough time to read it.

Reading on the Kindle is a breeze. It really does feel like reading a book! As the Kindle uses E-Ink technology, the screen looks just like a page of a book would. It’s not back-lit so there’s no glare from the screen and, if reading outside, the sun doesn’t bounce off the screen either.

I can’t wait to read more books on the Kindle, but I’m going to have to as I’ve got some paperbacks waiting to be read also!

I’m currently a quarter of the way through 61 Hours by Lee Child. It’s part of the Jack Reacher series of books and I’m reading 61 Hours as part of the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge (It’s my last book for the challenge). I haven’t read any of the other Jack Reacher novels, but I don’t think that matters. I’ve already got a feel for the Jack Reacher character. The only thing is that the book seems to be counting down to something and I’m only just getting an idea of what that is (I think)!

As I’ve already got a stack of books to get through, I’m trying not to buy any new ones at the moment, but that’s proving difficult! I already have a couple of books on pre-order and now Robbie Williams is releasing a new book called You Know Me as part of his celebration of being in the music industry for 20 years. It’s only available through Tesco, which is slightly annoying. They are also releasing a limited and numbered (limited to 1,000 copies) deluxe version of the book, but I hate to think what the price of it will be!

Last weekend we took my niece for a walk to see the ducks at a nearby pool. By the time we got there she was fast asleep in her buggy so she didn’t get to see the ducks after all! Maybe next time…

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