July 2006 Archives

Foreign Babes in Beijing portrays Rachel DeWoskin's time in 1990s Beijing, working both as an actress on a soap and in the equally superficial world (some would say) of PR. The people this American graduate meets and befriends over the years she spends in China never really come alive, and I got the end of the book feeling that DeWoskin hadn't really managed to do them justice. On the other hand, she provides an amusing insider (of sorts)'s view of the workings of Chinese TV production, and her early struggles to settle and succeed in a country and a culture very different from her own.

Buy it: Amazon link

I've seen this in many a bookshop's Bestsellers pile over the past few months, so spotting it at the library I picked up a copy, having already bought a copy for Karen for her birthday a few months ago.

Although it's clearly of the Da Vinci Code genre, it's got different historical emphasis, much stronger female characters and a few drops of mysticism. Not to be taken too seriously, it's an enjoyable read with the twin tales set in the 13th century and the 21st intertwining throughout the novel, and not surprisingly coming together at the end.

Buy it: Amazon link

Another unsettling whodunnit featuring Dr Kay Scarpetta, this time with heavy emphasis on the psychological aspects - particularly Benton's criminal profiling and the long term affects of child abuse. As the plot unfolds, you soon realise that you're not at all sure who exactly is watching who.

Amazon.co.uk link: Predator - Patricia Cornwell

Amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)

It's now 15 October, and I'm sooo behind with my 'reading' blog, that I'm going to have to do a whistlestop tour of the things I've read over the past three months - although work has been so busy that I've not been reading at my usual rate.

Starting with.... With Nails - Richard E. Grant's autobiography. Probably marginally more interesting if you know who he is, but his dry self deprecating style provides readable wry comment on the film world in the US and the UK - without the self importance of William Goldman's books on screenwriting.

Buy it: Amazon link