Thursday full of zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[annathepiper]

With last night's walking I hit Rauros Falls and then some. I'm now already five miles on my way to Isengard. Go me! But ye gods I'm tired. I'm slowly getting back into a normal swing of things sleep-wise, but I'm still very short on sleep and I can feel it. My brain is essentially mush, and I'm in quite a bit of need of a weekend of sleeping in, that's for sure. I apparently am even spacy enough that I forgot to change the cat box, and Polly expressed her displeasure with this all over the nice poster with photos that we'd made for solarbird while she was in the ICU. :( Guh! I'm hoping I can get it together enough tonight to get our new tenant moved in at MurkSouth.

As of tomorrow it will be two full months without any word from Bantam on Faerie Blood, and five days after that it'll be two full months without any word on Lament of the Dove. mizkit says that six weeks after submission is a good time for a polite note with another SASP requesting a confirmation of manuscript receipt, and that she herself has had similar troubles wherein a publisher just totally spaced on sending her her "we got your manuscript" postcard back. I think I'll give Bantam a few more weeks before sending them a note.

I forgot to mention in the general crunch of hospital-related posts that one of the things that I did while hanging out at Harborview was read two things: Donna Andrews' Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos (which is a fabulous title) and Kathy Reichs' Deja Dead (which had been recommended to me by raise_a_jar).

Picoreview on the flamingos: not quite as strong as the previous two in that series; it took a bit to get its feet under it, and at least at first I felt like there was way too much dialogue and not enough exposition. But once it got its feet under it it was fine.

Picoreview on the bones: I liked that book a lot better than the TV show which is ostensibly based on this series of novels. This Temperance Brennan, unlike the one on the show, does not make my teeth grate with annoyance. And it's obvious to me, now that I've actually read one of these novels, that the only thing that the show has in common with the series is a character named Temperance Brennan who makes her living studying bones. Everyone else in the TV show cast seems to have been made up for the TV show, and plus, the TV show is set in D.C., while the books are set in Quebec. Or at least the first one is, anyway. Long story short, I liked the novel way, way more than I liked what I saw of the series.

Perhaps once things have finished settling down from the hospital adventure, I will be able to resume regular reading and longer review posts!

Wednesday afternoon and evening miles: 3.8
Thursday morning miles: 1.4
Miles out of Hobbiton: 1314
Miles out of Rivendell: 856
Miles out of Lothlórien: 394
Miles out of Rauros Falls: 5
Miles to Isengard: 479

Comments

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

According to my mother, Kathy Reichs aficionado extraordinaire, the novels are set in Montreal and in a city in the USA which is either Boston or Baltimore. 'I don't know. Something starting with B. Probably Baltimore.' The TV show decided not to have the Canadian setting included as well, for reasons of continuity and American-audience-friendliness. (I think the latter is ridiculous, frankly. Montreal is not that alien that you South-of-the-border types wouldn't get anything, and most of you South-of-the-border types aren't nearly as stupid as networks seem to think!.Maybe they just didn't want to have to pay people to subtitle the French conversations?)

[annathepiper]

Right, Montreal. I spaced on the setting. And yeah, it didn't seem terribly alien to me at all, and in fact, the liberal sprinkling of French conversation made it more interesting to me, not less! I wouldn't be terribly surprised if lack of desire to subtitle French conversations were a factor in the setting shift, anyway.

Glad to see you again on LJ, btw! :)

[raise-a-jar.livejournal.com]

Actually, and pardon for jumping in here, the other city is Charlotte, North Carolina :)

[annathepiper]

Okay, that makes sense given Tempe's background. Thanks!

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip on the Reichs books. I enjoy the TV show, so I've been wondering about the books. I bet I'll find them just dandy. (And I'll view them as set in parallel universes...that way, I can enjoy both.)

Sorry to hear Polly got upset. I've finally (I think) figured out my own kitty problem (one of them, probably James, was peeing EVERYWHERE). Whoever it was hated the wheat-based litter. Back to clay clumpers for me, at least for a few more years. {{scritches for Polly}} {{hugs for Anna & Dara}}

[annathepiper]

You're very welcome! Note also that I've seen novelizations of the actual show released as well, not written by Kathy Reichs, so they are not to be confused with her actual works. I'll be picking up the next Reichs book, anyway.

Polly and I have this recurring issue, yeah. I keep needing to work on getting that box cleaned out in a timely fashion. -.- *hugs though!*

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

Don't know what your finances are, but the Litter Robot is really working well on that whole "keeping it clean" bit. There is also one you roll yourself manually, available at pet stores and the like...my friend swears by that one.

[annathepiper]

Well, what with the whole "spouse was in the hospital for 16 days" thing, a super-fancy litterbox is unfortunately probably out of the question for a while. Nah, this is just a problem I'll have to solve by CHANGING THE DAMNED THING ON TIME! :}

But thanks for the recommendation regardless. Perhaps when we climb back out of the hole dug by this medical adventure, I'll look into this.

[raise-a-jar.livejournal.com]

I think I've determined that the television show is based more on the experiences of Kathy Reichs, more than the actual books she's written about Tempe Brennan. The television character does grate on my nerves a bit, but I simply *have* to watch for the snark between Brennan and Booth :D

Actually, I picked up book three in the series at the library the other day. Haven't had the chance to open it, yet, but it's next on my list.

Glad you enjoyed the first book!

[annathepiper]

The TV Tempe completely grates on my nerves. I found her unwatchable after the episode where her well-meaning friend took her into a nightclub and she provoked a fight by making remarks about "tribal" rituals in front of the young black women who were at the club. I'm right there with the sympathy for the bookish, socially inept woman who doesn't know her way around a nightclub, but Christ on a crutch, that was just idiotic.

I'd like the snark between her and Booth a lot more if I just liked her more. I don't, unfortunately, and it's a shame, 'cause Mr. Boreanaz? Still totally easy on the eyes. ;)

I've added Death Du Jour to my list of titles to purchase, anyway!

[lethendy.livejournal.com]

I only watched the first couple of episodes of Bones because the show has nothing which drew me to the books. For me, one of the strengths of the books is Brennan herself - a middle-aged divorcée doing an incredibly hard job and trying to have a life at the same time. The show, obviously, does not reflect that. Unfortunately, I thought the books went downhill as the series progressed. It almost felt as though they were being dumbed-down, becoming too formulaic - one of the reasons I'm not a fan of Patricia Cornwell. Having said that - they are worth reading.

[annathepiper]

Yeah, the Brennan in the books seems infinitely more interesting to me than the one in the TV show.

Noted about the latter books, though. About how far did you get into the series before you felt this started becoming an issue? And did it make you bail on the books at all, or did you keep going?