"Mr Dixon Disappears" & "The Book Stops Here" ~ Ian Sansom

"Mr. Dixon Disappears" is the second book in Sansom's Mobile Librarian series and "The Book Stops Here" is the third.  The latter was the one recommended in the Booklover's page-a-day calendar.  It's hard for me to call these mysteries and I'm not sure why?  Maybe it's because, with the exception of the "Mr. Dixon Disappears", nobody is unjustly accused, murdered, or in fear for their life.  In fact, except for that book, none of the mysteries in the series even revolve around a person.  So I feel a lack of tension or suspense that I normally have.  Maybe this is the "tea cozy" type of mystery, I don't know.  Any way this series improved dramatically from the first book.  Some of you may remember that I wasn't even sure I'd read these two books.  You can thank my Dad.  He liked the first one so much he bought the second, read the third and fourth and then ordered the other two books the library didn't have. BIG STUFF for him. 

I thought the writing improved so much.  It was descriptive without bogging down the story.  You feel the small town North Ireland life.  I loved this passage from "Mr. Dixon Disappears".

"It rained here all the time, but still it somehow caught you unawares, creeping up on you.  If it was possible for weather to be duplicitous and undermining, then Tumdrum's weather was: it was bad weather, morally bad weather; it was rain that left no visible trace, no puddles, only a deep-down damp, a remorseless damp that at first you couldn't get out of your clothes and then you couldn't scrub out of your skin and then you couldn't dig out of your soul; the kind of damp that if you could have smoked it , you wouldn't have know but already you'd be addicted."

Of course I live in a place obsessed with the weather, so I sympathize with the main character and laugh along with the author.  Israel Armstrong, the vegetarian, Jewish, mobile librarian is back. Along with Ted, companion and fellow driver, Rosie, occasional assistant, and ever present, but always physically absent, girlfriend Gloria. 

In "Mr Dixon Disappears", Israel has settled into his routine.  The whole "fish-out-of-water" vibe is still there, but not nearly as distracting as in the first book.  I also laughed at a number of places in this book.  Especially when he's listing all the reasons people don't return their books.  As a former bookseller that had me laughing out loud, because people really will say the craziest things.  Israel, by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, becomes involved with the disappearance of Mr. Dixon, owner of the local department store.  Israel tries to put the skills from his fictional detectives to use to help solve the mystery, but without much luck.  This was my favorite in the series so far.

In "The Book Stops Here", Israel is invited back to his home town of London for the annual convention of mobile librarians.  This was Mom & Dad's favorite in the series.  Israel is looking forward to going home, showing off his London life to Ted, and seeing his girlfriend Gloria.  Then the unimaginable, and the basis for the story, happens. After Israel's mom makes him park the mobile library around the corner, it disappears.  Then the race is on to find the bus before the convention is over.  Some very funny things happen along the way.  Sansome also takes some time to explore how you really can't go home again.  Nothing is as Israel remembers and the harder he tries to recapture it, the more painful it becomes.  You do meet Israel's mom who is great fun.  You begin to understand alittle more why Israel is the way he is.  There is one more in the series, we'll see if it makes the "to-be-read" pile.

"Morgue Drawer Four" ~ Jutta Profijit

"Morgue Drawer Four" was a page-a-day recommendation and it deserves it spot.  This mystery was originally written in German and the translation to English is excellent.  The story starts out with small time car thief Pascha Lerchenberg describing the events leading up to his demise, where he ends up in morgue drawer #4 under the care of pathologist Martin Gansewein.  It turns out Martin is the only one who can hear Pascha and Martin is very reluctantly drawn into helping him investigate his death.  Especially since Pascha had a blood alcohol level of 3.7 when he fell from a construction walkway. 

"Three point seven! Right on! I was extremely impressed with myself.  This pleasure did not persist, however, since my inebriated condition was apparently being used against me here.  My murderer was going to get away with it because the official opinion was that my self-induced state of intoxication was the cause of my tumble from the bridge.  That's just not what happened!  And even worse, my buddies were going to think I was so wasted I died from my own stupidity.  What kind of obituary was that? 'He was so wasted he fell off a bridge!' " 

 Pascha and Martin are a classic odd couple.  Pascha is a street savvy, beer guzzling, act first think later kind of guy.  Martin is a highly educated, tea drinking guy who drives an economical/environmental car that drives Pascha crazy.  In fact, most of Martin's life seems a little left of center to Pascha but Martin's excursions into Pascha's world are equally bewildering to him.  The story is told from Pascha's point of view, with the added bonus that he can hear and sense the emotions coming from Martin.  The character development is good.  You get an immediate sense of who these two guys are.  I also loved how Pascha is forced into some reluctant self-reflection when the afterlife isn't working out quite the way he thought it would.  The story moves along at a nice steady pace and kept me turning the pages.  I enjoyed the descriptive language and the time the author spent establishing the scene.  I'm not sure if that was all the author or partly the translation.  Either way it works for me. I didn't guess the villain, but then I usually don't.  I was excited to learn that the next two books in the series have already been published in German and are currently being translated.

"The President's Vampire" ~ Christopher Farnsworth

     This is the second book in Farnsworth's Nathanial Cade series.  Cade is a vampire who was turned and then willfully bound by a voodoo curse to serve the President of the United States and his appointed agents. The first book "Blood Oath" was enough fun that I kept an eye out for the next book.  I would classify these books as political thriller with some supernatural.  Honestly, though, what doesn't have a hint of the supernatural these days.  Not that I mind, it's just that my genres used to be pretty standoff-ish toward each other.  Here's one of my favorite bits that illustrates this fraternization as Farnsworth describes the bad guy's top secret, hidden base. 

"There were ley lines to be considered, the position of the stars and the ritual of sacrifice. (He) knew better than to questions these touches.  After a while, he began to think of them as another section of the building codes, like occult OSHA regulations."

The occult OSHA regulations just made me laugh. Oh, and just wait until you find out where it is.

     The book starts out a little slow for me.  Also, I found the snippets at the beginning of each chapter kind of distracting.  And you are told who the villain is pretty early on.  And you don't get enough back story on Innsmouth.  Ok, those are my biggest gripes.  Other than that..."The President's Vampire" is fun.  It's action packed, moves right along, no crazy left turns, and the writing is short and to the point.  Not being a military person, I can't say how accurate the gun, weapon, military portions are, but they sound good to me.

     Cade doesn't get much character development this book.  Zach, Cade's "handler" gets a little more, but not much.  I'd like to see the author spend a whole chapter in Cade's past not just those snippets.  Maybe next time.  Farnsworth also does a good job with the bloody bits without grossing me out.  It would be easy to cross over from horrific to cheesy.   This book was an easy read, which I mean in the best possible way, and I liked it enough to see when the next one is coming out (April 26th, 2012)

"Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise" ~ Wil Wheaton

I have got to stop reading books with such long subtitles.  Thank goodness for copy/paste.  After reading "Memories of the Future" by Wil Wheaton, I decided to try his autobiography "Just A Geek".   After leaving Star Trek and doing some personal work on his life, Wheaton decides he's ready for that major acting career.  Then not much happens.  He gets married, has a couple stepsons, and goes on auditions for jobs he doesn't get.  So to pass the time he starts a blog WilWheaton.Net.  The book is a mixture of autobiographical information and pertinent blog posts.  This is where the "unflinchingly honest" part comes in.  It's almost too honest.  His insecurities and, at times, an almost whiny tone wear after a while in parts.  Most of that is connected to Star Trek and acting.  Wheaton eventually makes his peace with Trek and the ghost of what might have been.

This book was written before "Memories of the Future" and it shows.  It isn't nearly as polished or professionally distant.  Where this books is good is in his journey from actor to writer.  To see the transition slowly taking place is very interesting.  To feel that self-confidence start to build and solidify is cool. It's also an interesting look into the life of a non-A list actor and see the process at work.  Where this book shines is when Wheaton talks about his family and his love of all things geek.  His love for his wife, stepsons, family, and friends is evident in every word he writes about them.  He is also a geek from way back.  The story told in "The Trade" illustrates this point.  Be it comics, tech, movies, or gaming  he has a giddy joy in it all.  I can't give this book an enthusiastic thumbs up, but it was interesting and I'm glad I read it.

"World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" ~ Max Brooks

This was a Booklover's Page-a-day recommendation from a few years ago. I liked the idea enough to put it on my Amazon list and it sat there until now. I wasn't sure what to expect besides, like, you know, zombies. But I like zombies so ok, let's give it a go. Plus I didn't realize that Brad Pitt was turning it into a movie.

Brooks tells the story from an oral history perspective. His unnamed narrator travels the globe collecting first hand survivor accounts. I expected this book to be funny. It wasn't. It's serious and that surprised me. Once you except the basic premise that some unknown factor caused people to become zombies, it becomes about the survival of the human race. Brooks starts with a survivor from the "ground zero" city in China and follows through to survivors at the end of the "war". His survivors include the whole range of people from government workers, to soliders, to families. One particularly awful person was a drug company president who developed and marketed a vaccine for rabies while being fully aware that the problem was not rabies.

I found this book to be more of a cautionary tale. It felt real. Like this is a place we, the human race could end up. There is a section were a general talks about the useful skills needed after an apocalypse. Not the lawyer, or the ad executive, or the sports figures, but the plumbers, the carpentars and the farmers. I remember telling my mom that assuming we lived through the attack my dad would be highly valued for his skill set. The actions and reactions to situations rang true for me. Congratulations to Brooks he did a great job. It took me a while to finish this book. In fact I finished two other books while reading this one. Part of that comes the non-linear format, but part comes from the need to set the darkness aside. I'm glad I read it and do recommend it. In all honesty though, I'm not sure how Brad Pitt's going to make a movie out of it.

"Memories of the Future - Volume 1" ~ Wil Wheaton

I'm a moderate Trekkie/Trekker. I've seen the shows and all the movies. I can't quote dialogue, but I do know which actors go with which show. I get it from my Dad who was a big fan of the original series. So when Star Trek: The Next Generation came out in 1987, I was excited. It was must see tv for me and Dad for the next three years until I moved away to finish college. Now 20+ years later, with the advantage of streaming video, I've been rewatching season one. I feel a little disloyal to those memories because I just didn't realize how bad some of those first shows were. I don't mean the effects, those hold up pretty well for their age, but the plots. Oh my.

So watching the show lead me back to Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher, who has had some small but fantastic roles in Leverage and The Guild and is now a pretty famous blogger. I discovered he was hired to do humorous recaps/reviews of the first season of ST:TNG from his unique position of having been there and now being a writer. Then the people who hired him ran out of money, but he was enjoying the project so he just kept going. What you get is "Memories of the Future". Wheaton reviews the first half of season one with joyous snark and true affection for this show he was a part of. I never had a problem with the Wesley character at my ripe old age of 17. I don't know if that would be true if I was watching the show for the first time now. Wheaton explores some of that in the book.

This is not a "tell all" book. Each chapter corresponds with one episode. Starting with Encounter at Farpoint and going through Datalore. He starts with an in-depth review of the episode, a quote, a memorable techno babble selection, a behind the scenes memory, and the bottom line. Wheaton has a highly personable style that makes you feel you're just sitting around having a conversation. The language, while hysterical, is also explicit. Definitely not suitable for work. That said I was never offended. Mostly I was laughing too hard. Judge for yourself.

From The Last Outpost ~ "There are a few power surges, and the Ferengi ship fires at the Enterprise! Luckily, the shields hold, and the blasts bounce off harmlessly. Everyone wants to return fire, except Picard, who gets cranky and says the Enterprise should just chill out for a moment."

From Code of Honor when Security Chief Tasha Yar is kidnapped ~ "Picard sends the ship to red alert and goes back to the bridge, where he tries to contact Lutan, who is totally ignoring him. That shit don't fly with Picard, so he shoots a whole bunch of photon torpedoes at the planet to shock and awe the Ligonians. Lutan must be in the parking garage or something, because he still doesn't answer his cell."

And in the midst of Tasha still being kidnapped Dr. Crusher comes and asks the captain if Wesley can come hang out on the bridge ~ " 'Picard says, "Are you out of your fucking mind? My chief of security got kidnapped and taken down to the planet and we haven't heard from her in over a day, you idiot! Of all the times in the world to drag your little wunderkind up here, you picked now? What are you smoking, and why didn't you bring me any? Get out of here, and take Mary Sue with you!' Nah I'm just kidding again Picard invites Wesley to sit at ops. Next to Geordi. In the middle of a major crisis."

For any ST:TNG fan this book is so much fun. It doesn't take long to read and you don't have to pay lots of attention to follow along. Plus at $4.99 on Kindle, it's a steal. I can't WAIT for volume 2.

"One For the Money" ~ Janet Evanovich

I am a HUGH Janet Evanovich and Stephanie Plum fan. She is one of my favorite authors. When I say HUGE fan, I mean HUGE. I have advanced reading copies, hardcover first editions, a few foreign editions, and paperbacks for actual reading and loaning about. Some are autographed and some aren't. When I used to sell books for a living, she was a top recommendation. With the exception of my brother, my whole family reads this series. Why, you ask? Because she makes me laugh...out loud and snort, and giggle, sometimes in inappropriately public places. When I got to the cliffhanger at the end of 'High Five" I actually screamed "NO!!!" and threw the book across the room because I would have to wait a year for book six.

After we went to see the movie on Sunday I needed to reread "One For the Money". Mostly because my sister and I couldn't agree and/or remember if some things in the movie had been in the book. After finishing it I remembered why I used to tell people to start with book two. Book one is dark. Darker than the movie, and much more serious than any other book in the series. It also has the most well constructed mystery of the series. I don't read the series for the mysteries. Honestly, I don't usually even remember what they are after I'm done. I read it for the characters. For Stephanie, Ranger, Morelli, Lula and Grandma and the craziness the author dreams up for them. And for the smouldering sexual tension between Stephanie and Morelli and Stephanie and Ranger depending which guy your for. They both work for me. But back to the book, Benito Ramirez is a seriously scary villian. Stephanie also has a desperation, a helplessness and a weight that you that you don't see in later books. This bounty is the difference between surviving and not. You understand why she is sees this as her only option. The other characters, especially Lula face true jeporady as a result of Stephanie's actions. I like the book and the series. Is it great literature? No. A memorable mystery? No. Lots of fun? Damn skippy it is.
(Originally posted 02/02/2012)

"Shakespeare Wrote For Money" ~ Nick Hornby

I love Nick Hornby. I truly like the way he writes. "Shakespeare Wrote For Money" is the third volume of "Books I've Been Reading" columns that he wrote for the Believer magazine. Each chapter starts with a list of the books he bought and a list of the books he actually read. As he puts it "Reading begets reading." and this is never more true than when he explains how his reading started out in one place and ended up in another. And he never takes himself too seriously, especially when he is talking about about the magazine's editors.

"The Polysyllabic Spree, the three hundred and sixty-five beautiful, vacant, scary young men and women who edit this magazine, have never really approved of my reading for fun, so after several warnings I was taken by force to the holding cells in the basement of their headquarters in the Appalachian Mountains and force fed proper literature. It's a horrific place as you can imagine."

I also love that his September 2006 column listed his books read as "none". A little something called the World Cup took over that month. Reading his justifications for not reading a thing for a column about books is some of the funniest stuff I've ever read.

The recommendations are varied from sports to poetry, literary essays to young adult, fiction to non-fiction, there is even a blank-verse novel about werewolves. That last surprised him as much as anyone and don't look at me I had to go goggle "blank verse". But it's seldom about the actual books for me. There are probably only a handful I'd check out further. It's all about Nick Hornby. This book is like a phone call from a good friend. You know, the one who makes you laugh because they can and will say anything.
(Originally posted 01/31/2012)

"Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the new Girlie-Girl Culture" ~ Peggy Orenstein

I couldn't wait to read this book. I'm a girl, lots of my friends are girls and an increasing number of them have daughters. I also have the privilage of being an aunt to two wonderful nieces ages 6 & 7. I never thought much about the "princess" culture or the "pink, sparkle, shine" culture. For me it's fun. I get to sprinkle glitter, play with Barbies and pretend to be a fairy. Then I go back to the less fun parts of my life work, laundry, etc. I want my nieces to feel special, that they deserve to be treated well and that all options are open to them. What's the harm?

That's the question Orenstein, journalist and mother of a young daughter, examines in this book. "What's the harm?" What is being directed, marketed, and pushed on girls on a daily basis? The author does research, finds some interesting studies, talks to the people she knows and other moms. As she puts it, "Apparently, I had tapped into something larger than a few dime-store tiaras. Princesses are just a phase, after all. It's not as though girls are still swanning about in their Sleeping Beauty gowns when they leave for college (at least most are not). But they (Princesses) did mark my daughter's first foray into the mainstream culture, the first time the influences on her extended beyond the family. And what was the first thing that culture told her about becoming a girl? Not that she was competent, strong, creative or smart, but that every little girl wants - or should want - to be the Fairest of Them All."

In the end she has just as many questions, if not more, than when she started. That freaked me out. Because anyone who know me knows I want to do it right. Give me a clearly defined set of rules and expectations and I'm good to go. The pressure aimed at girls about how to be a girl is enormous. It took me about a week after finishing the book to calm down and for reason to return. Orenstein looks at this culture from preschool up to middle and junior high school. In the chapter "Pinked!" she looks at when the color pink overwhelmed any and all products related to girls. "Sparkle, Sweetie!" looks at body image and sexualization, including the world of toddler beauty pagents. "Wholesome to Whoresome: The Other Disney Princesses" tries to make sense of the Mileys, Lindsays, and Britneys. How outgrowing thier "innocent" branding is confusing for for them and their fans. Finally, in "Just Between You, Me, and my 622 BFFs" tries to navigate the internet and social media. Things that weren't even an option when I was a teenager, like taking a picture of myself in my bra with my phone and sending it a boy. Not that I couldn't have done this but it would have taken a whole lot more work and it wasn't forwardable to his address book at the press of a few buttons.

Once I resurfaced, I realized, as the author did, that sometimes a princess is just a princess even if the world seems over run with them. That you pick your battles and chose your "teachable moments" and do the best you can. That there is a fine line between deserving to be treated well and being entitled to what ever you want. For me, I think, it comes down to awareness. Maybe looking a little deeper, listening a little harder. And if you are lucky, you get to hear Kitty tell Snowy that the dinosaur needs to put on his sunscreen before he jumps in the lake while playing with the 4 year old.
(Originally posted 01/24/2012)

"Naked Heat" ~ Richard Castle

Let me start by saying I mostly liked this book. I know, faint praise. I love the Castle tv show and would gladly marry/run away/ shack up with Nathan Fillion in a heartbeat. I've loved him since Firefly. But (and yes, I know you aren't supposed to start a sentence with "but") I can't get into the Castle books. I thought my problem with the first one was that I listened to it on audio and couldn't tell the main characters voices apart. Which is bad when one is male and the other is female. "Naked Heat" I read on my Kindle. I thought the writting was thin, the plot ok, and the inside jokes bugged me. My sister says the jokes are supposed to be funny and sometimes they are. Mostly though I don't like the Nikki Heat or Jameson Rook characters. Or probably I should say I don't like them as well as Beckett and Castle. I see Heat and Rook more like pale echoes of instead of inspired by. And my time is valuable so I'd rather spend it with the originals instead of the imitations.That said. I've read worse. It had it's moments and the last third wrapped it up nicely. This would be a great vacation book or airport book. It doesn't take alot of thought and you don't mind if you leave it behind after reading. I'm glad I checked it out of the library. I also don't mean to pick on the author, because I know it had to be a tightly controlled process. here are your characters, your story, but don't stray to far or do anything drastic because it still needs to fit within the Castle world. I haven't decided if I'm reading the next one yet or not. We'll see.
(Originally posted 01/19/2012)

"Case of the Missing Books" ~ Ian Sansome

This book wasn't in the calendar, the third one in the series was. But let's be honest, anyone who knows me, knows there is no way I'm jumping into the middle of a series. So I had to start with number one and it has it's moments.

Israel Armstrong is an English, Jewish, vegetarian librarian who has been hired to run the Tundrum and District library in Northern Ireland. When he gets there the library has been closed and they want him to run the mobile library. He reluctantly agrees, because he's broke with no other options, not even enough money to get back home. Thus begins this poor sod's fish out water experiences. Then as he prepares to start this new career he discovers that the library books are missing, all 15,000 of them.

You do feel for him even if he isn't a particularly likable main character. He doesn't understand the lingo (neither do you as the reader sometimes.), he's living in a converted chicken coop and his girlfriend doesn't seem to miss him much. The locals aren't much help. They don't understand why he wants a map. They all know where they live and are more than willing to give him directions that tend to take him thru "Ballygullable" until he catches on. Get it Bally - "gullable".The cast of supporting characters are much more fun than Israel. Especially Ted local cab owner and former mobile library bus driver. Plus his boss Linda Wei, who is never with some sort of food and won't take no for an answer. The search for the missing books is slow to get going but does get more enjoyable as Israel tries out different literary detective styles (in his mind, if no where else). I enjoyed the resolution and it left me smiling. The running bit about the map had me laughing and I liked it enough to try the next in the series.
(Originally posted 01/10/2012)

"The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage and my Family" ~ Dan Savage

Fair warning, this book is about gay marriage. If that is a topic you object too, don't say you weren't warned and provided the option to stop reading this review.


As the book jacket says, "Dan Savage’s mother wants him to get married. His boyfriend, Terry, says “no thanks” because he doesn’t want to act like a straight person. Their six-year-old son DJ says his two dads aren’t “allowed” to get married, but that he’d like to come to the reception and eat cake. Throw into the mix Dan’s straight siblings, whose varied choices form a microcosm of how Americans are approaching marriage these days, and you get a rollicking family memoir that will have everyone—gay or straight, right or left, single or married—howling with laughter and rethinking their notions of marriage and all it entails." I loved this book. It was interesting, funny, thought provoking without being preachy, and timely. I found myself telling people about it and reading portions of it to them. In 2004, Dan Savage is a sex advice columnist who has been with his partner for 10 years and the two are adoptive parents to a 6 year old boy named DJ. Two things happened that year. The gay marriage debate exploded when Massacusetts became the first state to issue same sex marriage licenses and Mr. Savage's own relationship was turning 10 years old and they wanted to throw a party to mark the occasion.

This book is more a memoir that happens to include a "social commentary", but that's because he can't escape the "social commentary". I admit it's a topic that I haven't had much reason to examine, except to believe that all American citizens should have access to the same benefits. Mr. Savage takes on most of the traditional arguments against gay marriage and refutes them in a way that is both personal and backed with well researched studies, cultural, and historical examples. I particularly like the example at the end of chapter 8.

But it's the memoir part that makes you laugh out loud. Mr. Savage is a witty, neurotic, outspoken. big city boy worrier. The book starts with Dan, Terry and DJ on a cross country trip from Washington State to Michigan to spend a two week vacation with Dan's family. Dan agrees to drive 1,500 miles from the "artsy-fartsy island where we live...to an artsy-fartsy resort town on Lake Michigan" and as he puts it,"...It was a strategic, insincere agreement. Two weeks before we were supposed to leave, I played my trump card: Driving to Michigan and back would mean driving through-not to mention sleeping, eating, and going to the bathroom in-some of the least welcoming places for gays and lesbians in the country: the reddest of the dreaded Red States. 'Gay couples driving across Montana or South Dakota aren't on a road trip, Terry,' I said. "They are on a suicide mission."

It's sections like this or the bit about the dog, or when they visit the wedding expo, or trying to book the location for their party that make this book stick with me. The author is a sex advice columnist and the language is reflective of this and no topic is off limits. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat. I also didn't realize until after finishing the book that Dan and Terry were the ones who had started the "It gets better" project.
(Originally posted 01/08/2012)

"Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" ~ Stieg Larsson

I reread this after seeing the movie. I read it the first time on Mom's suggestion. She told me "It's slow getting started, but once it gets going it's pretty good." and she was right. For those out there who aren't familiar with the story, disgraced Swedish reporter Mikal Blomqvist is hired to find out what happend to industrailist Henrik Vanger's great-neice Harriet Vanger 30 years ago. The other story going on is Lisbeth Slander, the girl from the title. She's a 24 yr old antisocial, but extremelly skilled with computers, ward of the state. She introduced when Vanger hires her to do a background check on Blomqvist.
Mom was right, it takes a while to get going, and at 644 pages it's up there in length, but you want to know how it turns out. Larrson gives you so much detail that you almost believe you are in Sweden. This works both for and against him. You also spend alot of time keeping the Vanger family tree straight as they form the basis of the suspect pool in Henrik's mind. I also like that except for one convinient coincidence, I bought how the mysetry was solved. Lisbeth Salander is an amazingly different heroine. In no way does she fit the mold of any mystery/thriller leading character I've ever read. Much of her story is explained internally with a logic that makes sense to her. Larsson did a good job of explaining to me why she does what she does. It may be a completely alien reaction from my own, but I do understand. Expecially during some violent passages.
I liked this book. Enough that I read the next two, watched all three Swedish films and saw the American version. The story is good, really good. I needed to know what happens next. It scared me in parts, horrified me in others, and (once it got going) kept me completely engaged. It is not for the faint of heart, either in subject matter or length. The swedish title was "Men Who Hate Women".
(originally posted 12/31/2011)

"Yes, My Darling Daughter" Margret Leroy

This book was recommended as a gothic story in the vein of "Rebecca", "Woman in White", and "Jane Eyre". The main character is Grace a young, single mother of 4 yr old Sylvie. Sylvie has nightmares, a horrible phobia of water and a growing conviction that she remembers a place she's never been. Barely getting by Grace seeks help form a psychology professor with some unusual ideas about what's wrong with Sylvie.
So I'm thinking atmospheric, secrets, spooky happenings, possible past lives, maybe even GHOSTS (which would be cool!!). Well I got a few of those things. Mostly I got bored. The "lyrical and suspensful writing" did not resonate with me at all. I spent a good portion of the book wanting to slap Grace who's focus narrowed with radar precision the second a male character strolled through the story. Sylvie has the vocabulary and grammer of a much older child. I've known some 4 yr olds. None of them sounded like this. Finally, the story just takes FOREVER to get going. I know it's supposed to be a slow suspensful build, but it wasn't, it was just slow. It's almost half way through the book before the professor even shows up. The story had some strong potential, but never got past gloomy for me.

"Hurry Down Sunshine" Michael Greenberg

Every year I buy the Page-a-day Book Lover's calendar. Every year I swear I'm going to take advantage of the recommendations. And what happens...every year I look at each day, think "hmm, that looks good" or "No way" and do nothing. Every January I thow out the previous year's pages to make way for the new ones. So I've decided, this is the year, and yes I know it's not over yet, that I read those books. I have 30+ recommendations saved on my Amazon list and another stack in a drawer. Here's to some new adventures.

"Hurry Down Sunshine" by Michael Greenberg caught me with the first sentance and made me cry with the last. On July 5th, 1996 at age 15 Greenberg's daughter "was struck mad". She experiences a psycotic break associated with a bipolar disorder. I found this book honest, sad, hard, and unflinching. The author never glosses over the truth or hides from the reality of the situation. The book is split into three parts. The events leading up to Sally being hospitalized, Sally's hospitalization, and Sally's return home. What, how, why are all questions he asks as he deals with this "new reality". He wonders if he should have seen something, been a better parent, is it his fault as he struggles to understand. Greenberg is also honest enough not to gloss up a "happy ending"This was a quick read for me. Partly because I didn't want to put it down and at 234 pages it wasn't very long. I liked this book. Due to the subject matter I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but it made me think and I was still thinking about it after I was finished.
(originally posted 12/26/2011)