The Harry Bosch Novels, Volume 1

I got sucked into these books after reading the first three of Michael Connelly's Mickey Haller books. Harry Bosch shows up in the third as a primary character, and it turns out that Connelly had already a whole series around the guy.

The stories mostly run together - Bosch is a detective mostly in disgrace with the LAPD because he's not a team player and he often crosses the line into unethical behavior. But he always gets his man, one way or another, usually after a few twists and turns.

The books are stylish and funny and dark and good airplane reads, or it's summer and it's too damn hot to go outside reads. Connelly reminds me of a mix of John Grisham with the police and legal stuff and Elmore Leonard with the style. His books, all set in and around LA, have a definite sense of place to them. LA is as much a part of the story as the people are.

I think there are at least three more volumes of the Harry Bosch books, and I'll probably work my way through them as the summer progresses.

Bossypants

I'm going to commit heresy here, but I didn't like Tina Fey's book as much as everyone else seems to have. Don't get me wrong, I think Tina Fey is brilliant and funny and beautiful, and I'd want to be her when I grow up, except for the fact that I'm older than she is, which is depressing.

But the whole early section was just a little too self-deprecating for my taste. I mean, we were children of the 80s. Of course we had really, really bad taste in hair and music and men. It's what defines our generation. I got tired of reading about just how awkward she was and how badly she dressed and how awful her so-called dates were.

I perked up a lot, though during the sections about her life at SNL and on 30 Rock and her inspired partnership with Amy Poehler, another one of my favorites even though I don't watch Parks and Rec.

Her prayer for her daughter was funny, but her responses to hate mail felt forced and overdone. I guess that's how I felt about most of the book - it felt forced and overdone, like she was trying too hard.