5/4 - Another book from my school days that I haven't read since, at least 14 years ago (I'm not sure which year I was in when it was the set reading). Another book where my tolerance for injustice will be tested. I think the only war book that I've read from the German point of view, but except for calling the enemy 'Tommy' and the fact that most of the names aren't what you would expect to hear from a group of Australian, American, or British soldiers, this could have been written by a soldier from any army from either side of the war. This was the book that taught me that the average German soldier had a pretty similar experience to the average Allied soldier - inappropriate clothing for the conditions, not enough food, a lot of hurry up and wait, too many dead friends, men too old to go off to war encouraging the boys to join up and fight for their country - simply put no matter who you fought for it was a horrific experience for any 18-year-old boy that left a generation of men permanently damaged. To be continued...

12/4 - I consider that I have reasonably strong ties to 'the Western Front' (for an Australian of my generation) and a high level of interest thanks to the presence of my two paternal great-grandfathers. One was with the 22nd (I can never remember who was in which battalion or who went through which specific experience, so I won't be able to name them), the other the 24th infantry battalion of the AIF. Their battalions were practically neighbours on the battle field, it's amazing that they both made it back home and ended up brothers-in-law. A kneecap was blown off by the shrapnel of a passing grenade and they were both gassed, and reading the chapters of that were set in the hospital really made me think about what they went through while they recuperated in whatever hospital they were sent to (records do exist, but they're very faint and the handwriting is a nearly illegible scrawl). Were they sent to hospital with friends or did they go alone? How many men did they see being taken away and then never saw again while they lay in their bed, not knowing if it was going to be their turn next? Of course, they lost many friends, in fact one of them was discharged from the AIF a sergeant because all of his commanding officers died in battle and he was the only one left with enough experience to reliably hold the position. I never actually knew either of them, they both died before I was born, but I have heard a lot about them from their children (my grandparents) and my father who was close to both of them. 24 years later my grandfather enlisted in WWII and he went through many of the things his own father and future father-in-law did (although, knowing my grandfather as I did, I doubt they talked about their experiences). He was with the 2/6th Field Ambulance in New Guinea and the surrounding islands and almost never mentioned what he saw or did during the war. All that kept running through my head while I was reading was that the 'others' Paul and his friends were fighting could have been one of my ancestors' battalions and how it was pretty much luck that my great-grandads made it home (and thus, indirectly enabled me to be here) and Paul and his friends didn't.

2016 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Category: A Banned Book (this was banned by the Nazis after they came into power in 1933, it was in fact one of the first so called 'degenerate books' to be publicly burnt).

23/3 - I just finished watching the last episode in season 10 of Bones on Foxtel and considering the fact that Channel 7 is only halfway through season 11 I don't think Foxtel will be getting its hands on it for some time, possibly not until next year even. Coming to the realisation that I might have to wait 12 months before I see a new episode of Bones sent me into almost immediate withdrawal, but then I looked at my to read list for March and had the epiphany of what's the next best thing after Bones? Scarpetta!! that's what! What early Scarpetta lacks in up to date forensic details it makes up for in realism. I've read the first five books a number of times, but this is the first one where I don't actually remember whodunit or why, which will make for a nice surprise when it's revealed. To be continued...

25/3 - The cover is chilling, but it annoys me that it doesn't accurately represent the crimes from the book - yes, there are dead women (and men) found in the woods, but not one of them is described as wearing a skirt and they're all described as being fully clothed and partially skeletonised. So even if one of the women had been wearing a skirt, by the time she was found her bare leg would be nothing but bone and what was left of her flesh, the rest of which had been eaten away by animals, insects and bacteria. I know I'm over thinking things, but details like that bother me.

I had forgotten how early on in the series Scarpetta gets caught up in the politics of murder and I was surprised by the climax of the investigation. The killer was revealed way before the actual climax, but I didn't guess/remember how it was all going to end until I read it. The whole way through the book I found myself looking for clues or hints of some of the big events that I know are coming in later books, but unlike in tv shows (I still have Bones on my mind and that's the first thing that popped into my head when it comes to the little hints and sideways glances that gave the viewers hope about Booth and Bones getting together) I couldn't see anything that would lead me to guess what's going to happen (no spoilers) over the next few books. Still a five star read (YAY! I was worried I was going to find myself disillusioned after so many years between reads). I loved this so much I went straight into Cruel and Unusual.

2016 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: A Murder Mystery

I thought this story was good, but strangely enough the movie with Nicole Kidman was far better. For once the movie fleshed out the story more than the original book, plus the movie had a much better, more satisfactory ending (although maybe not as disturbing).

23/1/2016 - Just watched the Nicole Kidman movie for the first time since reading the book and I definitely like the movie's ending better than the book's.

I received a free Adobe Digital Editions copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, this has not compromised my ability to write an honest and critical review of the book.

23/2 - I just finished the six page foreword by F. Gonzalez-Crussi. It was very well written, informative and properly punctuated. I just hope the author's writing is of a similar standard, because otherwise Gonzalez-Crussi's is really going to shine a spotlight on any editing errors - they will be even more obvious and irritating than they would have been if we hadn't had six pages of such lovely prose. To be continued...

26/2 - The author's writing is good, not quite as lyrical as the foreword, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. If Jose Angel N's writing style was similar to F. Gonzalez-Crussi's I would be a bit suspicious considering the journey his life has taken. I do wish that the Mexican interspersed with the English was readable by all - I don't know any Mexican and so I've had to guess from the context what the three instances (so far) of Mexican language mixed into the English were meant to mean. To be continued...

3/3 - Simply ran out of time to finish this. If I ever get the chance to continue reading I will.