That Just Happened!

Newberry, Linda. At The Firefly Gate.  Orion Children’s Books. (2004).

Henry has never been confident.  When he and his parents leave London for a Suffolk Village, he doubts that he’ll ever make friends, especially with grouchy Grace from two doors down.  But the first real friend he makes is an unlikely one: Dottie, Grace’s great-aunt.  As soon as he hears her laugh, Henry feels he must have known Dottie all his life – and she seems to recognise him too.

Puzzle after puzzle absorbs Henry’s thoughts – especially when he sees a shadowy figure waiting at the orchard gate. Who is he waiting for? Why do so many planes fly over by night, and why does Henry seem to be the only person who hears? How can a promise, broken year ago, ever be kept? What’s the message the Scrabble board seems to be spelling out – and what must Henry do when he finds an answer?

A haunting story of friendships that stretch across the years.

From the Jacket

From the very beginning I was intrigued. All of these questions just waiting to be answered as Henry discovers a story that happened long ago, but has yet to find its ending.  Henry is a very relatable character. He helps his Mom and Dad, makes friends in his new neighbourhood, but he doesn’t like everyone. Dottie was also a very quirky character.  Although not in a lot of the story, she seems to be the one who will help Henry discover the identity of the mysterious man at the gate of his backyard.

The story was very sweet.  I liked the ending and I think you will too! I would Put it On Your TBR List.

Reichs, Kathy.  206 Bones. Scribner (2009).

There are 206 bones in the human body.  Forensic anthropologists know them intimately, can read them in stories or brief or long lives, and use them to reconstruct every kind of benevolent end.

Seamlessly weaving between Tempe’s present-tense terror and her memory of the cases of these murdered women, Reichs conveys the incredible devastation that would occur if a forensic colleague sabotaged work in the lab.  The chemistry between Tempe and Ryan intensifies as this complex, riveting tale unfolds.

The twelfth Temperance Brennan novel from Kathy Reichs, 206 Bones opens with Tempe regaining consciousness and discovering that she in some kind of very small, very dark, very cold enclosed space.  She is bound, hands and feet. Is she buried alive?  In some kind of cell?  Who wants Tempe dead, or at least out of the way, and why?  Tempe slowly beings to reconstruct…

Tempe and Lieutenant Ryan had accompanied the recently discovered remains of a missing heiress from Montreal to the Chicago morgue.  Suddenly, Tempe was accused of mishandling the autopsy–and the case.  Someone made an incriminating phone call.  Within hours, the one man with information about the call was dead.  Back in Montreal, the corpse of a second elderly woman was found in the woods, and then a third.

- from the dust jacket

Well, that description so does not accurately portray what is in the book.  First of all, it seems like the man who died was an integral part to the story, but he was not.  Secondly, there was already chemistry between them as evidenced by their stories in the previous books.  Thirdly, Reich only talks about sabotage specifically nearing the end of the book.  I don’t think I would go so far as to say the whole book was a commentary on that theme.  Eeesh!  That being said, I will continue.

I love this series.  I’ll state that from the beginning.  I was fortunate to be introduced to it by a former colleague, Helen.  She had a policy of only lending one book at a time because people would forget to return them and she really didn’t trust anyone.  I read through the books so fast she finally gave up and said, “Here, take the last four.  You read too fast and I trust you.”  Quite the compliment!  And read I did.  I think I read the eight books that had been published by that point in 10 days.  Unfortunately, Helen passed away from cancer just a few short weeks ago, so as I read this I thought of her.  I also wanted to thank her for introducing me to such an awesome series.

206 Bones followed a slightly different format than the other books in the series.  She usually gives a little snippet of the end at the beginning and then proceeds to tell the story, but in this one Tempe goes back and forth between her current situation and the events leading up to this end.  This technique adds suspense as I found I wanted to keep reading just to find out if she escapes the current situation and who put her in there.

The one criticism I do have about this book is that it seemed fairly obvious to me what was happening and it should have been to Tempe as well.  She is an extremely intelligent, in-demand forensic anthropologist and has been the one to find leads in every book (including a few in this one), so for her not to see what was so obvious to me was a little frustrating.  I kept thinking, “she is not supposed to be this stupid,” and waited for her to clue in (which she only did at the very end).  Perhaps she was supposed to be really upset over the changes happening in the department and her personal life, but then that should have taken more of a focal point rather than brief mentions a few times in the story.

As always the relationships between her and her colleagues are amusing and after twelve books it feels like I know them.  The science behind it was interesting as always.  Although you do not have to read them in order, it helps to start at the beginning of the series with Devil Bones as you can follow the personal relationships better.  I will also mention at this point that I do not watch the show Bones which is based on this series, but I have heard that it is quite different; especially the relationships Tempe has with others and the character traits of Tempe herself.

For more on the series and the author you can go to http://kathyreichs.com/ 

I am going to say this one should be PUT ON YOUR TBR LIST.