I read lots of books. Probably 50 a year.

In this modern age many of the books I read are E-books on my Ipad but I still dip into my inventory of great printed books.

Now when you read a book with strong characters it is normal to create an image of the person to match the story.  When you read a series of books that have the same character it is even more important to have the image so you can follow along. I often go back to re-read books from the past.

For instance if you read an Agatha Christie book about Miss Marple you have to vision Joan Hickson in the role.  I only saw her twice in a TV series but every other actress that played the role was lost in my mind.

Then, of course, there is the James Bond movies.  I had  actually read the early Bond books before the movie From Russia with Love came out and had a different concept of James before Sean Connery controlled the image.  Ian Fleming so liked Connery’s performance he actually changed the character in the later books to match his Scottish and physical presence.  In the original books the character was much closer to the way that Daniel Craig plays it as a lower class guy thrust into the agent role.

Then there is the series of Jack Reacher by Lee Child.  When I read them I envisioned the hero as kind of like the actor The Rock.  Big, fit guy with a gentle side but the ability to do harm if needed.  Definitely not the short-assed Tom Cruise who played the role in the movie.  You just blank that out.

I read a lot of Michael Connelly books.  There is no question that I love the series about Harry Bosch, the grizzled LA homicide detective.  The stories are so interesting and often include smooth jazz renditions (as he is studying a murder file).  I have often downloaded his selections to our Sonos system.

We recently subscribed to Crave TV primarily to watch the TV series about Bosch.  Only took the 30-day free trial, but I love it.  Titus Welliver is the perfect image of Hieronymus Bosch.

I am reading the hard copy of latest of the series of Bosch books (given to me for my birthday) and I just picture this actor as I read.

Reading a book is like watching a movie with the visions in your mind.