Book 21 of 2012: Grave Secrets

Today has been a good day for my belly button; I managed to get my trousers done up (and kept them done up all day) and I've been able to walk around with my back straight. This means that the swelling has gone down now which is very good. I was beginning to panic a little bit because my tummy was getting kind of firm and swollen, I was worried that I'd have to track down some larger trousers for work next week.

I've also managed to go the better part of today without taking any painkillers/anti-inflammatories. So I'm anticipating that my actual recovery time will be somewhere about the seven days recommended by the leaflet they gave me at the hospital. I can count the number of times I've sneezed this week on one hand, it's still very uncomfortable, but getting easier. The one thing I'm still finding is that I'm exhausted, the smallest thing seems to sap me of energy, I'm putting that down to the fact that I'm not able to bend/sit/stand/stretch, the way I normally would. It's tiring. I think if I'd taken the week off to recover I think I'd be feeling less wiped out by it all.

Aside from that, I'm doing well. I'm needing to do a bit of work to get caught up with my OU that I've sort of slipped behind on in the last couple of weeks. I have a big assignment due at the beginning of next month and part of it requires me to find a text to compare to one provided. This seems to have awoken an insatiable desire in me to read anything and everything.

I was looking miserably at my bookcase this morning thinking how many books I still had to read and how little time I had to get through them all. It's a little ironic considering the fact that I've already read over half of my book target for the year, I've nearly filled up the 'S' section of my book journal, and I've already read more books in less than three months than some people read in an entire year. Reading has become a bit of an addiction for me; I try to regulate myself, but sometimes I just get carried away!

So, onto Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs, the fifth in the series of Temperance Brennan books. This one sees her in an entirely new location (for most of the book); neither Montreal or North Carolina, but Guatemala. Of course, with Tempe, things are never simple. She's out there to excavate a mass grave, but in the process is sucked into a suspected serial killer case. My copy also has a note stuck in the front of it regarding a driving lesson that I'd booked many, many years ago.

Thankfully I've reached a point in this series of books where I've forgotten exactly what is happening in the books. Bits do come back to me as I'm reading, though not always the whole solution so I still don't know exactly what's going to happen. The last time I read this book was way back in 2007, so the last five years have done wonders at restoring the suspense in these stories. For the most part, I'm feeling like I'm reading the book for the first time.

When I'm reading one of these books for the first time (or if it feels like the first time because it's been half a decade since you last read it - seriously? where have the last five years gone?) one of the things that always stands out to me is the way Kathy Reichs does cliffhangers. I swear it's the reason why I was able to read this one so quickly. With the earlier books in the series I didn't feel that same urgency to find out 'whodunnit' because I could remember perfectly well thankyouverymuch.

When you've forgotten who the murderer is, it's so much easier to get lost in the tale. Kathy Reichs has this wonderful was of ending a chapter on a sort of dun dun DUN! moment, so after you've told yourself 'just one more chapter' you end up having to read on to find out what the outcome of the moment it. Of course, it's usually something which is quickly explained in the next chapter, although sometimes it's cunningly not revealed until the following page so you can't just scan ahead to find out the answer.

As I was reading, I did find a couple of bit a little confusing. My main problem with getting confuzzled with Kathy Reichs books is that there's always so many people involved in the cases that I find it easy to get a little muddled. Of course, that's also a good thing in one respect; in real life it wouldn't just be one person off solving the case. It just can mean a bit of back-tracking while you're reading to nip back and check on who it was who was running an analysis, or who was a suspect in the murder, or whatever. It was also dealing with a part of the world (and its associated history) which I know very little about, so I can understand that may have added a little to my moments of confusion.

This one does still manage to follow the usual format of a Tempe Brennan story, despite her being in a different country. Around about Chapter 30 she ends up being attacked and the end of the story is revealed mostly though the other people recounting things to her. It is a little predictable in that respect, but it's an easy read.

I'm pleased that I'm getting near to the end of the ones I've already read. As much as I'm enjoying rediscovering the ones I've read before, I can't wait to get onto the ones I've never read before.

"My grandmother used to say that God's tonic for sorrow was physical labour. She also felt toads caused infertility, but that was another issue."

Page 26