Just M-E

Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist just like her character Temperance Brennan who is featured in her books and the TV series Bones.

I was a fan of the show before reading the books. I kept meaning to buy the books but at the time I was living in Venezuela and they weren’t all available. I wanted to start the series from the beginning and read the books in order!

Last December I finally started the series and I’ve read all of them except for the latest book Spider Bones which is still only available in hardcover. I love the stories and I got a kick out of the fact that many of them are based in Montreal the city I now call home.

I was really excited to find out that she would be making an appearance at a downtown bookstore but I didn’t know anything about the new book she would be promoting. I thought it was another book in her regular series but then I read online that it’s a Young Adult novel and that the heroine is the niece of her main character Temperance Brennan.

Thursday, November 18th finally arrived and I left work in a rush and walked over to the bookstore. I bought the new book and settled in to wait. Despite the fact that the book is for a YA audience most people waiting were adults and some of them elderly.

Ms. Reichs finally arrived and she spoke about 15 minutes about her new series (you can find more information here) and the she took questions from the audience. A few questions were about the TV show Bones and she explained her role as a producer. She explained why Montreal isn’t featured in the show and that TV Tempe is in a way book Tempe but at an earlier point in her career. I asked her if her main character would be making an appearance in the new series and she explained that yes she would be because young Tory Brennan would be going to her famous Aunt Tempe for help with the science as her pack of Virals solve mysteries. By the way, the book says for ages 12 and up but she joked that she’s going to have it changed to 90 and down since it’s mostly adults buying the books for themselves!

After the Q & A, Ms. Reichs signed books and posed for pictures. I found her to be an incredibly smart, funny lady. She’s really down to earth and she speaks in a no-nonsense kind of way. She is the first author I’ve met and I’m really happy with my experience.

Virals in now on my “To Read” book pile and of course I will post a review once I’ve finished reading it.

Barney sits down to write his memoirs when, in an autobiography, a fellow Montrealer who is now a famous writer accuses him of being an abusive husband, a drunk and maybe a murderer. His story moves back and forth between the past and present. You realize from the beginning that Barney with his faltering memory is not the most reliable of story-tellers especially since his memoirs include footnotes by his eldest son who corrects or clarifies some of his writing. Barney is not a likable fellow but deep down he’s not a bad guy and in spite of the sarcasm, humour, and the pranks he describes you feel his regret and remorse. Despite the increasingly frequent memory lapses and the constant digressions, Barney’s life story spills out. He finally tells his version of the disappearance of his friend Boogie that led to him being charged with murder.

As a backdrop to the story, Barney is writing his memoirs in a divided city struggling to find its identity. As a new Montreal resident, I loved the author’s descriptions of the climate of the city during the period of time leading up to the 1995 Referendum in Quebec.

Towards the end the story, Barney is mixing up events, getting confused often and you begin to suspect the reason. Barney’s story ends abruptly and is followed by an afterword by his son Michael that finally answers the question of his Dad’s innocence (which you find yourself doubting while reading his story). The saying says that hindsight is 20-20 but I’m not sure that’s correct in this case as Barney struggles to come to terms with the different events in his life. As for Mr. Richler’s writing, it was phenomenal. This story is witty, snarky, funny but poignant. I found myself rooting for Barney but also pitying him at times. If there is a lesson to be learned from this story it should be that we shouldn’t judge others and we shouldn’t spend so much time worrying about fitting in or achieving the correct status is society.

I worked as a volunteer for a couple of hours at one of the exhibitions today. It was pretty interesting. It runs until Oct 11th so check it out.

www.moisdelaphoto.com

Pretty cool event that takes places all Sundays between May and September in Parc Mont-Royal . I went for the first today and I loved it.

Check it out!

http://tamtamsmontreal.net/english.html

I’m now in Montreal. Almost settled in to my studio apartment. I have cable and internet and a bed. Now I need to start my job search.