The Temperance Brennan (AKA Bones) Series by Kathy Reichs

This book series by Kathy Reichs is one that I probably would have missed if it wasn't for the fact that they based a TV show on it. I love the show Bones, so I jumped into the books as well. I love cop and forensic procedural dramas on TV, but I'm not a big fan of mystery novels. Unfortunately, the plot synopsis for mysteries and procedural dramas often sound very similar on book covers.

This series has its share of mystery, but it is definitely a procedural drama. It is different from the TV show in many ways. In the show, Temperance Brennan is shown as a hyper-rational, non-believer that has a hard time relating to other people. In the books, she is a lapsed Catholic, divorced mom, and recovering alcoholic. She is extremely intelligent and has a lot of integrity in both versions.

Forensics has fascinated me for years, I was obsessed with Forensic Detectives for quite a while. However, the details about forensic anthropology are new to me, so the science interested me as much as the stories. I even sent Kathy Reichs a tweet asking how accurate the science in the books is. Her response was that it is "very" accurate.

There are currently 15 books in the series, with two more coming out this year. I enjoyed the series quite a bit though some books more than others. I liked the characters surrounding Tempy, as well as Tempy herself. There were parts that seemed a bit repetitive, but I'm not sure it's possible to avoid that entirely in a series of any length especially when you can't be sure the reader started with the first book and read them in order.

The following three books from the series had the most intriguing or unique plots in my point of view.

Bones to Ashes in the tenth book in the series, it centers on the discovery of a set of bones discovered in an attic in Arcadia, Canada. These bones turn out to be those of a young girl. Between the location of the bones' discovery and their apparent age, they bring back some strong childhood emotions for Temperance. She wonders if this skeleton could belong to her best friend from childhood that suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from her life with the warning "I'm dangerous". Temperance is a consummate professional in her field and works hard to maintain a professional demeanor, but this case sorely tests her abilities to put her emotions aside and remain objective. The emotions in this book touched me and rang very true.

Another book from the series that I really enjoyed was the eighth book, Cross Bones. This book abounds with conspiracy theories as well as a trip to Israel. The case starts with the murder of an Orthodox Jew in Montreal. The murder seems very unusual and answers can only be found in Israel. In the middle of the murder investigation, some ancient bones are found. It is suggested that these bones could belong to Jesus or a member of his immediate family. These bones could also lead to confirming the location of the Jesus family tomb. People take steps to prevent Temperance and her team from finding out. I like the way Reichs deals with this at the end of the story.

The seventh book in the series is Monday Mourning and another favorite of mine. Three skeletons of young girls are found in the basement of a pizzeria during some plumbing repairs. Temperance is convinced that they are recent murders despite being found with antique buttons. She must fight to prove the young age of the bones and have it investigated as a set of homicides. Once she proves the age of the bones, they must race to catch the killer and prevent other deaths. This one fascinated me because of the serial killer aspect.

My Bucket List

I've been asked many times what my ambitions are and I have to tell people that I really don't have any. To me ambitions are things you need to achieve, while dreams are things that you want to do to make your life richer or happier. I have gotten two degrees to help me in my career and support my family. I am happily married with a beautiful and intelligent daughter. These are the things I need in my life, the rest is just icing on the cake (to borrow a cliche).

I have gotten to experience some special and unique things in my life. I've been to Disney World twice, walked in the footprints of dinosaurs, and camped in the second largest canyon in the United States. I have survived to hurricanes: Rita (which chased us to Lake Livingston) and Ike (which shared his eye-wall with us for several hours). I've met Chuck Norris (before he lost his mind) and Nolan Ryan. I experienced several true road trips where gas stops hat to be planned out so that you didn't run out before the next town. I've met two of my favorite authors twice each: Scott Westerfeld and Mark Z. Danielewski. I got to tour the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory and the Bellville Chip Factory/Museum. I got to take English riding lessons for a brief time (would love to do it again). I wrote in novel in a month while doing NaNoWriMo with my husband and came to a greater understanding about writers' experience and work.

I am finding that as I get older, I want to push myself farther, experience more, and try new things where I was too timid to do so when I was younger. Honestly, I tired of being afraid of the world. I decided to make a "bucket list" of things I dream of doing, achieving, or trying. I'm sure the list will change as time goes and hopefully because I've completed that item. I left off some things because they are things that are immediately manageable, I just have to motivate myself to do them. Things like create more, work on my novel, and blog more.


People to Meet
 
1. Patrick Stewart
2. Penn & Teller
3. Eddie Izzard
4. Stephen King
5. Cornelia Funke

 The reasons I want to meet these people are varied, but I respect them all in one way or another. Patrick Stewart has always struck me as extremely intelligent and classy, plus he's a knight. And what girl doesn't want to meet a knight? I know that Penn & Teller is really two people and that it's kind of cheating to put them together. However, that is how I picture them in my head. Together they are an act, as well as being very good friends, so it would seem wrong to meet one without the other. My reasons for wanting to meet Penn & Teller and Eddie Izzard are very similar. I find them intelligent and funny. I also respect the charity work that Izzard does and admire him for running 5Ks. Stephen King and Cornelia Funke are two of my favorite authors and write very different kinds of books. I enjoy their stories and respect their talents. King has been a huge part of my life for about 20 years, thanks to my husband's obsession with his body of work and insistence that I become familiar with at least some of it. I also admire King's generosity in giving to charity, his constant support of shelters for abused women, and his fight with addiction. Funke's work is the embodiment of the love of reading, at least the Inkheart series is. I would love to meet the mind behind that work.

Places to Go
1. California (Hollywood)
2. Washington
3. Oregon
4. Chicago
5. At least 2 countries

It seems weird that almost all the places that I want to visit in the U.S. are on the West Coast, but I've lived in the South and visited the East Coast twice. Hollywood, California is just about visiting where the "movies are made". I want to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, maybe go to the studio where Gone with the Wind was filmed, check out the beaches, and maybe be a micro-stalker of celebrities by doing one of those cheesy "Tour of the Stars' Homes". I'd like to go to Washington to see the redwood forests. I hear Oregon has a great art and writing community, it's also home to a friend I haven't seen in many years. As for Chicago, I have friends that live in the burbs of that metropolis. I also hear that it's an awesome place to visit. I might even take one of those tours about the Gangsters of the 20's and 30's.

Events to Attend
1. Convergence
2. FantasticFest
3. A huge movie premiere
4. A huge book release party
5. ITSE conference

 For those of you that don't know me, I love books and I'm a bit of a SciFi/Fantasy geek. Convergence is a local genre convention focusing on scifi/fantasy. This year the theme is Doctor Who. The only thing keeping me from it is having the right amount of funds at the right time. Next is the legendary (and to me almost mythical) FantasticFest. A movie festival focusing largely on horror films, they have other genre movies and a large number of independent films are showcased. Great movies, food, trivia events, and parties crammed into 7 days. It's suppose to be an absolute blast and completely exhausting. I think the movie premiere and book release party are fairly self-explanatory. The ITSE conference is a education conference focusing on using technology in the classroom. It helps teachers integrate technology instruction into their assignments, gives new techniques, etc. It would be great to continue learning and meeting other educators passionate about technology.

 Things to Achieve
 
1. Own a home
2. Have $20K in savings
3. Run a 5K and a marathon
4. Support Doctors without Borders
5. Help with AIDS/cancer research
6. Try pufferfish 

I know, I know! The first two are incredibly practical and boring, but they are also comforting and provide a secure home base for further adventures. One of my goals for the new year was to get in shape and exercise more, I started off strong but between winter weather and nursing an injured dog, it fell to the wayside. Since it's warm enough now, I've begun my training for a 5K. I will be running one in September for sure, and maybe one in July. The one in September is to help raise money for those suffering from mental illness. I'd appreciate any sponsorship that you can spare, here's my personal fundraising page. I want to donate to Doctors without Borders as well, I don't have the skills to volunteer with the organization unfortunately. I really respect and support this group because they are a secular organization that helps people in need of medical care. They don't try to convert or sway the people, they just help them. I want to help raise money for AIDS and cancer research as well, they both hurt so many lives. My craziest dream is to try Pufferfish as a food. I became fascinated with the idea after reading about it in a book when I was about 14. I realize how dangerous it can be, but I find it almost irresistibly intriguing.

Now you probably know more about me than you ever wanted to, feel free to share some of your wild and crazy dreams in the comment section.

Help Jester Mend

Jester, the great escape artist, made another run for the border last night. He wanted a game of chase with Daddy, sadly Daddy lost site of him.

About an hour after that, we get a call that someone found him. Sadly, they also had to inform us that they had hit him as he darted out into the street.

We took him to the emergency room, and the vet bills are already huge and we really need help as they won't treat him unless we can pay immediately.

I've started a Giveforward.com page to help us get our baby home. Please help out with a donation or by sharing the page. How can you say no to that face?

Religious Double Standards

I am an atheist, and I do not apologize for this. I keep atheism posts on my Facebook page (and here) to a minimum as most of my friends and family are believers. I believe strongly that one shouldn't push one's views on others, and if you wish you receive that courtesy you must act on it. I believe that everyone has a right to believe what they want and that this right needs to be respected. However, I do not believe that respect must extend to the beliefs themselves. I am not extended the same courtesy by the majority of the believers on my list. They are constantly posting religious sayings, Bible verses, etc. They would say that this isn't pushing their belief, yet if I was to constantly post sayings by atheists (especially those questioning faith) I would be told right away that I was being pushy and insulting.

I recently posted a joke (shown at the right) related to religious belief on my Facebook page, the result of this was someone unfriending me and telling my spouse that "I'm full of hate". I'm not going to say that I don't feel hatred, that would be a lie. I hate child molesters, rapists, war mongers, and asparagus. My original intent was to save it until I could get home and share it with a small group of friends that would appreciate it and then remove it. Needless to say, I decided to leave it on my wall. A bit of a rebellious act I admit, but it's my wall and I don't like being told what can go there when I already censor myself to a large extent.

This general post was taken as a personal insult on this person's intelligence. Now I am not one to use a person's religious beliefs as a measure of their whole intelligence. I know many very intelligent people who are also believers. They are critical thinkers in so many aspects of their lives, the only area they avoid using this ability seems to be their religious beliefs. If I'm going to question your intelligence, I'm going to look at the choices you've made in your life not what religion, if any, you follow. You ability to learn from mistakes, adapt, and make good choices are a much better gauge of intellect than which god you follow.

I mentioned that I ignore offensive homophobic and racist posts all the time, and was told that that I'm not a minority. Yet I am a minority, one that is discriminated against under US law. There are many places where atheists can't run for political office based on the fact that they do not have a religious belief. And I think it's asinine to for someone to tell me that I can't be offended about such posts because I'm not a member of that particular group. I am offended by such posts, partially because it offensive in general and partially because (especially in the case of gays) it was taught to the person by their religion. They often don't even see it as bigotry because it's a religious belief.

My posting was in no way intended to be insulting or malicious, this person assumed that was my intent because she was aware of my atheism. Through out the exchange on my wall, I was polite while she resorted to name calling and threatening a friend that spoke up for me. She carried the conversation over into text message and her last comment included a statement that "faith teaches tolerance" which I found ironic since she resorted to nastiness. I wanted very much to list the many examples of religion showing the exact opposite of tolerance, but I resisted as I knew it was pointless.

The comments about hate and tolerance got me to thinking. Atheists are accused regularly of being depressed, bitter, angry, and hateful. And I'm sure there are atheists that fit into all these categories, at least part of the time. Because every person on the planet no matter what they believe has these feelings at one point or another. And yes, many atheists make fun of religious beliefs. Just as many religious people make fun of other faiths. But that's ok, since they are doing it in the name of religion. They only consider it a problem when it is directed that their particular belief system. Yet religious people don't make jokes about atheism. Instead, they tell atheists that they don't deserve to be citizens of the US and should just leave, that they are immoral and criminal, and threaten them with burning in hell for eternity. I don't know what their definitions of tolerance and hate are, but these comments definitely counter my definition of the former and fulfill my definition of the latter.

Not the Christmas Post I Intended

So sweet!

Update 12/26/12, Jester was found and taken to the local vet. He's now safely back with us.

I was very hopeful about this Christmas, it was
going to be small but good. I had planned to write a Christmas blog, but now it will be very different post than I intended.

Yesterday morning changed my plans for my blog and my feelings of Christmas spirit. I was taking our beautiful dog Jester on a morning walk when he slipped his collar. I tracked and followed him for about an hour through the snow and woods (he's a runner and much quicker in the snow than I). I returned to the house when my feet were too hurt and numb to continue and got The Girl up to help me look again.

Just look at that face!

 We followed him through the underbrush for another 40 minutes before completely loosing track of him. Both of us were numb through and through, we had to head home.

Upon arriving home, I called the Sheriff's office to notify them that he was lost so they could contact us if he was found. I signed up for Lost Dogs MN website, after learning of it through a friend. I filled out a form at PetHarbor to have them send his information to all local shelters, vets, etc.
Today, I called our in-town vet to notify them and lucked out that they are the intake location for lost dogs for the three surrounding towns. Any dog found in town is automatically brought to them. I fear him getting hurt or someone keeping him since he's such a pretty and sweet dog.

Jester biting at snowflakes.

According to some of the information I looked up, being that he's young, a pretty good size, and energetic, he could have travel up to five miles in a day. This is the last place we saw him. Please share this far and wide, we miss our baby dog.