Reading!

I've been reading, but not what I typically read.  I have been reading a series of Graphic Novels. Specifically, The Walking Dead Graphic Novels and I have loved them! I am a huge fan of the show and the novels somewhat follow the story line, but there are a lot of differences between the show and the books, which does not bother me one bit. I must say, I would find the novels pretty boring if it was exactly like the show. There are bits and pieces that are the same, but events may happen to a different character on the show. For example, Carol, who is a strong female character in the TV show, is the exact opposite in the books. I love her on the show, but not in the books. Others that have died on the show, are still alive in the books. I have heard people that have read the novels will not watch the show and vice versa. I would say you can do both because they are different enough, that you actually get two Walking Dead stories.

 I would definitely recommend reading them if you are a Walking Dead fan.

(I think that is my concentration face! ugh)

Other books that I have read are  

Ways to Disappear and The Swimmer. 

Ways to Disappear

by Idra Novey

 

This book has been receiving amazing reviews, so I check ed it out from the library. I honestly think I cannot read 5 star books because the "prose" is beyond me at times. that is what I found in this book. I honestly loved the story of what I could understand, but the flowery poetry language...count me out. 

From Amazon:

Deep in gambling debt, the celebrated Brazilian writer Beatriz Yagoda is last seen holding a suitcase and a cigar and climbing into an almond tree. She abruptly vanishes.

In snowy Pittsburgh, her American translator Emma hears the news and, against the wishes of her boyfriend and Beatriz's two grown children, flies immediately to Brazil. There, in the sticky, sugary heat of Rio, Emma and her author's children conspire to solve the mystery of Yagoda's curious disappearance and staunch the colorful demands of her various outstanding affairs: the rapacious loan shark with a zeal for severing body parts, and the washed-up and disillusioned editor who launched Yagoda's career years earlier.

Idra Novey's exhilarating debut is both a novel of ideas and a novel of intrigue, an innovative combination of mystery, noir, and humor. 

I just couldn't grasp why the Brazilian writer would suddenly disappear what terrible "side effects" it will have on her family. She knows what it is doing to her family, but still stays away. That part I could not wrap my head around. At one point, I found my self thinking, there is no way a mother would allow that to happen!! 

The author's translator shares bits and pieces from the books Beatriz has written and it does help explain the authors' motives and moves the story along, but there were times that I just had NO IDEA what was going on! I am not good at deciphering poetry and descriptive language. I would give this book a 2 1/2 stars.

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The Swimmer

by Joakim Zander

I started to read this book on the way home from vacation and it really grabbed my attention. The story is told from the CIA agents point of view in chapter that are dealing with him. The rest of the chapters are told from the typical third person. There were times that I was absolutely confused about what the CIA man was doing and where he was going and who he was talking to. I know there is a big story in those chapters, but I missed it. 

However, I did like the rest of the book and the other characters. They are not what or who you thin they are. There are twists and turns and some parts where you say, "Really."  I enjoyed the book, but I would not say it is the next Girl with the Dragon Tattoo author as the cover was stating.  would give this book 3 stars.

From Amazon:
A deep-cover CIA agent races across Europe to save the daughter he never knew in this electrifying debut thriller.
Klara Walldéen was raised by her grandparents on a remote archipelago in the Baltic Sea, learning to fish and hunt and sail a boat through a storm. Now, as an EU Parliament aide in Brussels, she is learning how to navigate the treacherous currents of international politics: the lines between friend and enemy, truth and lies. But Klara has accidentally seen something she shouldn’t have: a laptop containing information so sensitive that someone will kill to keep hidden. Suddenly, she is thrown into a terrifying chase across Europe, with no idea who is hunting her or why.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, an old spy hides from his past. Once, he was a man of action, an operative so dedicated that he abandoned his infant daughter to keep his cover. Now, he is the only man who can save Klara . . . and she is the only woman who can allow him to lay old ghosts to rest.

What will you read today?