First two hours - 7:00-9:45 update

I just finished Michael Connelly's 9 Dragons, his latest Harry Bosch novel and I'm about to move on to another one of his books, The Brass Verdict.

I'm reading both of these because I'm attending an event this weekend at which he is speaking and I'll get to spend some time talking to him and hopefully some autographs. I'd like to have something semi-intelligent to say.

9 Dragons was actually much more enjoyable than I anticipated. It's always a pleasant surprise to find that an author hasn't lost steam after writing the same character for the umpteenth time. I felt that the last couple of Bosch novels weren't very outstanding, but he definitely picked himself up in this one.

The crime takes Harry Bosch deep into Asian Triad territory and as a big fan of Asian culture and gang culture, that aspect of the investigation was really interesting to explore. It's hard to get fooled by mystery novels after reading them for so many years, but the plot wasn't over-obvious and it kept me reading until the end.

Adding a personal element was also a good turn for Harry Bosch. We got to see his reactions as his own family got involved in his case and his emotions were exposed in a much more vulnerable light than we have really seen before.

All in all, I enjoyed the novel even it took me way to long to read the 374 pages. Hopefully I'll pick up steam for the rest of the day. I'm off to grab coffee and swing by the library book sale to pick up some new titles for the rest of the read-a-thon, I'll of course be toting my kindle with me so that I can keep reading while on the go! That's commitment, folks.