48 Hours Read-A-Thon Update: Closing Down

With a good long sprint, I managed to finish Dashiell Hammett's Maltese Falcon. I'll probably write up something further on my thoughts, but suffice it say, it was interesting, both for reading a classic of the genre and thinking how it has been adapted over the years. Most people have some faint knowledge of the story because of the movie. It's interesting read the real story. It's a little ironic we associate Maltese Falcon with that final line "the stuff that dreams are made of" -- added for the movie I might add -- since it adds an almost fantastical romantic twist to the story. It's really a story of obsession and betrayal and murder and greed and vengeance.

And with the closing of that book, I am prepared to call my inaugural 48 Hour Read-a-thon a reasonable success. I managed to clear off two books (Heat Wave and Maltese Falcon) from my pressing list. I was able to get away from the computer and just read for some consecutive hours. Also I tapped into the bigger book blogging community and saw what they were reading. I was able to blog about my reading thoughts without worrying if I didn't sound solemn and "book critic" enough. I need to force myself to do this more, maybe not in an organized fashion, but just allow myself time away to read or write or "be".

48 Hours Read-A-Thon Update: Slowing Down

Just to update everyone on my progress on the 48 Hour Read-A-Thon -- unfortunately it's slowed down a bit. I included Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon in my pile because I've made several attempts at reading it, including an online class. I'm finding it hard to forget the John Huston movie or even what I already know about the story. The descriptions do help separate the book from the movie, because while you can hear Bogey in his trenchcoat, you see Hammett's Spade. And Bogey made him a bit more tragic/romantic, because in the book, Spade comes off as slightly unsympathetic in places. And I still don't know how anyone trusted Brigid O'Shaughnessy -- obviously my woman's intuition tells me different things than Effie's does.

I also started Alan Furst's Spies of Warsaw last night. He writes a sequence of espionage books set in Europe during WWII or the years just before. It's a very different world, filled with foreign dignitaries and innuendo. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Richard Castle's "Heat Wave"

The 48 Hour Read-A-Thon started last night with a chat on twitter. Used to hanging around comics and manga folks, I was a little intimidated by the book bloggers. Everyone encouraged me to work at my own pace and not get too hung up on what everyone else was doing. Blogging and reviewing doesn't come nearly as naturally for me as twitter, so I think this event will be good for that.

Last night I started my reading with what I considered a fairly easy read – Richard Castle's Heat Wave. As a fan of the series, I was curious how they bridged the two worlds. I finished it earlier today. For such a slim volume, Heat Wave left me with a lot more conflicting emotions than I anticipated.

There appear to be two types of tie-in novels. One is the "case file" books where tie-in writers give us additional adventures of the same characters. They have the advantage of having familiar characters and settings. This style really relies on the skill of the individual writer in capturing the style of the particular series. Some do this extremely well. Some clearly do not. And then there's the "as appeared in" tie-in books. These are books that actually appear in the series/movie that have been magically turned into a real book by some enterprising publisher. The problem they sometimes have is not living up to their billing.

With Heat Wave, the book feels like an uncomfortable compromise between the two styles. On the one hand, it's a thinly veiled Castle murder mystery. But the tv series has pushed and teased and promised Rick Castle's Nikki Heat series, so this is what we wind up with.

This unfortunate mish-mash doesn't do the tv show any favors. Why? Because "Castle" has pushed "Rick Castle" the professional writer, a mystery/thriller writer at the end of creative rope after his last series. Heat Wave as shown to us feels like a bad "file the serial numbers off" fiction for me where the names are changed, but the personalities and quirks are basically the same. Call me crazy, but I don't think Castle would take such an easy way out.

Castle's biggest draw as a show for me are the characters. They have a bountiful array of fun and quirky characters, especially the women. I kept trying not to hear the actors' voices when I was reading their lines, but it was impossible the way it was written. The biggest change with Rook was making him less gifted an amateur sleuth. I'm tired of seeing cops portrayed as idiots in mysteries, so it's nice seeing Heat's team get some respect. That said I hated calling Raley & Ochoa "Roach", it was dumb and it got old very fast. I love Kate Beckett, so seeing Nikki Heat was painful. This was not the strong and witty and determined cop I used to. I couldn't quite warm up to Nikki. And I could have lived without the "woman in peril" scene they seem to always do with female leads -- was that really necessary?

When I said this felt like a thinly-veiled episode of Castle, I could literally see "the twist" coming. If you've watched mysteries or procedurals on television, you know what I mean. The cops or investigators think they have it solved, but there's still time on the clock and then the final plot twist is revealed and everyone's wrong. I stopped watching NCIS because I could literally predict the point when Ducky or Abby would give Gibbs that last clue and he'd go "It's not who we thought it was". This book was no exception.

Heat Wave is a fun book, but ultimately falls short because of what it's trying to be. I'd almost rather read the Castle and Beckett tandem and imagine what the Nikki Heat books are really like to reading this. This just makes me want to watch the series and appreciate what a wonderful character Kate Beckett can be.

(Richard Castle, Heat Wave, Hyperion Books, 2009, 208 pages, available in mass market paperback)

48 Hours Read-A-Thon? I'm In, Are You?

I've always prided myself on being a reader. I love books. I love poking around in bookstores for something new or as yet undiscovered. But I've always pulled myself back from blowing through books because I feel like I'm missing something in the ride. Next thing you know, other stuff crops up and the books pile up and get forgotten.

Frustrated by my lack of quality reading time lately, I welcomed the idea of Unputdownables' 48 Hour Read-a-Thon. From Friday evening through Sunday, I will make the game attempt at reading some books from my crowded shelves. For my purposes, I'm going to attack my pile of hard-boiled/noir/crime/mystery shelves. They're feeling ignored lately. I've updated my "What I'm Reading" sidebar with the first five books on my list. Obviously I reserve the right to change and add as I go along. I may add non-crime books in my reading, but I'll talk about those mostly on Goodreads. If you friend me there, please tell me how you found me or how I know you.

If You’re In:

1. Choose a few books that you will attempt to finish this weekend (Friday evening through Sunday night).
2. Post your TBR Read-a-Thon books on your blog so your readers can see what you are attempting for the weekend.
3. Challenge your readers to read along with you! (It’s OK if they don’t, but might be fun if they want to choose at least one book to participate with).
4. Join the discussion all weekend long at #bookblogchat on Twitter.
5. Post updates on your blog about what you are reading and what you have finished (full reviews can come later, but this will let your readers know what you are reading so they can either read along or look forward to your reviews!)
6. Visit other blogs that are doing the read-a-long. Post comments and follow your fellow bloggers.
7. Make sure you sign up here with Mr. Linky with a link to your first post so we can follow your progress!
8. *If you don’t have a blog but want to participate: Sign up with Mr. Linky, just don’t add a website (or you can link to your Twitter or GoodReads page).*