Friday's Feature: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Book Review

I picked up this book because of the movie hype. If I know a movie is connected to a book, I like to read it! I’m just a book-nerd like that. It helps that I had seen this book around on shelves at the grocery store and popping up in advertisements. Plus, I love dragons and tattoos, so right there we have at title worth looking into.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson” is one part murder mystery, one part thriller, one part psychological intrigue, and one part love story. Mikael Blomkvist is a financial journalist who, at the beginning of the book, is being indited for libel and defamation of the business mogul Hans-Erik Wennerstrom.

The situation is complicated. Mikael had published his story in good faith, only to have his world crumble. We don’t actually find out until the end of the book exactly what happened, so I’ll leave that up to your imagination. One thing that is firmly established is that Mikael is a good guy in a bad situation.

Then Mikael is summoned to mysterious meeting with the aged head of the Vanger family. There he is presented with the opportunity to write a novel based on the complex and disturbing history of this family who has made their mark in Swedish industry, and at the same time attempt to solve a 40 year old murder mystery. If he writes the book and gives the mystery his best effort, he’ll not only be remunerated generously, he’ll also be given telling information about Wennerstrom.

It’s a crazy proposition, but Mikael is at a place in his life where he needs to take what he can get, and the thought of being able to tackle Wennerstrom at the end makes it worth it.

He has no idea what he’s getting into.

I found the murder mystery compelling. I’ve read my fair share of murder mystery’s, both the classics like Agatha Christie and more recent works, and Larsson left me completely in the dark about the solution. Oh I was able to pick up on pieces along the way, but the final solution evaded me until the end.

I was fascinated by the girl with the dragon tattoo herself, Lisbeth Salander. She’s an investigative hacker who probably falls somewhere on the autism spectrum. Larsson does an incredible job at bringing us into her world as she first is skating around the edges of Mikael’s mysteries, and then becomes an integral part of the investigation.

I’m giving this book 5 out of 5 cups of coffee with the following caveat: the book tackles some brutal topics and contains the imagery to go with it. It’s brilliant writing, meticulous and containing an incredible amount of detail, while still keeping you captivated. However, if you have too vivid of an imagination and don’t handle the exploitation of women well, don’t read it. I believe he handled the topic well, as in there was closure and the wrongs were avenged, but it is a pretty hard core book at times.

I haven't decided if I'm going to watch the movie (either the Swedish or the America version) just because of the brutal imagery used in some places in the book. I handle that kind of thing much better in book form than movies. If I do end up watching them - I'll write up a review!

~ Ruthie ~

Friday's Feature - Down These Strange Streets - Book Review

I discovered about two years ago that I love reading anthologies. I can't really remember how I stumbled on this discovery, I suspect I was browsing the shelves and found something that looked interesting, and I've been hooked every since! I love the fact that you get to read stories by a whole bunch of different authors. It can be a great way to get a taste of what they write, without investing as much time in any one author as if you read the whole book. I know that shouldn't matter too much to me with how much I read, but I'm the type who has a really hard time putting down a book, even one I don't like, once I've invested any time in it!

Every anthology is different. Some showcase only 3 or 4 authors, others are much longer, and most have some sort of theme. "Down These Strange Streets" is based in urban fantasy, but it goes way beyond the normal expectations of that genre. The first section, an essay really, is called "The Bastard Stepchild," by George R.R. Martin. It both introduces the book, and also explores the origins of Urban Fantasy, what it is, where it comes from, and why we love it so much.

As much as Ioved some of the stories in the book, I think the intro essay was my favorite. I like learning about the origins of things, and the more I write, the more I want to understand this world I've being brash enough to enter. It helps, of course, that I'm fascinated with Urban Fantasy. I love fantasy of all kinds, but I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was when I first discovered Urban Fantasy! I don't have any stories in that genre yet, but I aspire too, and these stories left me itching to put my fingers on the keyboard and write!

It would take way too long to mention each of the stories in this book because this anthology is longer than most  - 17 stories plus the introduction! Martin and Dozois drew from a variety of genres for the authors they invited to write this story. The only stipulation they gave them was that the "story involve a private detective and a case with fantastic slant, be it real or... less so." I'm also a huge fan of mystery stories, so this made for an exciting combination!

My favorite story in here (other than the intro) is probably "In Red, With Pearls." It's written by one of my favorite authors, Patricia Briggs, and is set in the world of her most famous character, Mercedes Thompson. Mercy doesn't appear in this book, but I loved that we got to know the werewolf Warren a little bit better, and I would love to see her do another spin off series (she already has one, Alpha and Omega) featuring his work as a detective!

I don't think I can pick a story that comes next in my favorites, I just loved this book!

I'm giving the book 4 out of 5 cups of coffee. I did love the book, but I'll admit there were a couple stories that I wasn't as thrilled with. They were great writing, but they just weren't my style, or what I was hoping to read. There was one story that I had a hard time following, and I think a lot of it was that there were too many characters, and if you didn't already know his work it was easy to get lost. I've ordered the first book in the series that the story was based on because I'm very curious to see if it actually was just the story out of context, or if it's the way the author writes. Either way I was disappointed to see that this particular author couldn't make his world more easily understood by someone who's never read his books, none of the other writers had a problem with that!

Book Review - The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten." (Inner flap of the book jacket)

This is John Green's fourth book on his own (he has two others that he co-wrote or contributed to), and while I haven't read the others yet, if they are anything like this one I'll eat them up!

In addition to being a writer, John Green is a vlogger with his brother Hank, and he once served as a Hospital Chaplin. This is the book he's being trying to write ever since. The story of teenagers facing death, and how they choose to live their lives.

Facing death is rarely easy, and its some how more tragic when it visits the young. They have had so little life to live after all! Hazel has lived with the specter of death for many years, and wouldn't be alive now if it wasn't for a game changing treatment that granted her some extra time (that the author made up btw). Despite the reprieve she is still stuck attached to an oxygen tank, and struggling to find meaning in what time she has left. She goes to a cancer support group, which tends to be boring and not that helpful, and one day meets Augustus Waters.

Augustus is a charismatic boy who walks with a prosthetic because the cancer took his leg. He's considered in remission, and he goes to the group to support a boy named Isaac who is rapidly losing his eyes to cancer. He reaches out to Hazel, and they begin what will be both a beautiful friendship, and a tragic love story.

I love the little details that John Green puts into this book. At the book signing tour he told us that he wanted Augustus to have a grand name, that could also have a diminutive, because it shows the boy's two sides. On the one hand he's grabbing life by the horns, loves to use big words (that he often misuses), and enjoys grand gestures. On the other hand, the Gus side, he is a boy facing cancer and pain and all the hard things that go with it, including vulnerability. Hazel is an in between color, and Hazel herself is in between. In between life and death, love and fear, joy and pain.

I loved this book. I loved the details. I loved the watching the two main characters dance around love, fearful to put each other through the pain of their own death, although that made me cry. Actually I cried a couple of times during this book. It's so real. As someone who has faced death (both nearly dying myself, my brother's fight with cancer that he's currently winning, and more) I can tell you that the issues these teenagers face are very realistically done, and raw. The pain in this book is raw, but the joy is exhilarating.

If you've ever wondered about how you should live your life, if you face obstacles that would seem to get in the way of you having a full life, this book is for you. Yes, it's painful, but it's also inspiring to watch these two kids with cancer find a way to live their lives, to enjoy it, and even squeeze in a trip to Europe! I give this book 5 out of 5 cups of coffee. Go buy it!

~ Ruthie ~

Ps. Read any good books lately?

WIP Wednesday - January in Review

I mentioned in Monday's Post that I have some posts I'm really excited about. Unfortunately I then lost Tuesday to a migraine (seriously, it might as well be erased from the calender). My plan was to post it today... then I realized that it's the first day for February, and the first day of the month is a day that I like to reserve for looking at the month prior, and thinking about the month ahead.

My exciting and fun stuff is going to have to wait. I will tell you that it has to do with where I'm knitting in my picture, and why the gesture for "Live Love and Prosper" was my first thought for posing for said picture. Other than that, you'll find out tomorrow! I'm going to write up the post today to make sure I don't get knocked down again and miss posting it. 

Looking Back at January:

I posted on our PDX Wrimo's group that I was ready to write January off writing wise, and I was, until I looked at the numbers today. No, I didn't meet any of my goals, and that is frustrating. I had a bad month and it was hard to get anything done. BUT I still got a total of 20,781 words written between books, short stories, blog posts, and other random writing. Divide by four and you get just over 5k a week on average. 

What does that mean? Well I've decided it means January should not be written off. I didn't meet my goals, but back in the day (before I took a break from writing and found my way back through NaNoWriMo) my goal had been 5k a week. I never met it back then. Ok, maybe twice I met my goal, but it puts things in perspective.

Perspective is always a good thing. In this case it tells me that I have still grown, even if not as much as I had hoped for, and considering my health this last month, I'm more than ok with that. 

Reading wise I've done really well. I usually do when I'm sick. My goal breaks down to 15 books a month, and I read 16, and some of them were really awesome!

Looking Forward to February:

Honestly, this part I'm still figuring out. I am going to have to dial back my goals, but I'm not sure the best way to do that. I don't really want to give up any of them, but apparently my health is not going to cooperate with my dreams right now, so I need to dial it back a little. I think, at this point, that is going to mean working on one book at a time, which frustrates me because I really want to work on both! 

I will update my goals sheet to reflect my current reality by Sunday, and share about those changes then.

I look forward to seeing what books this next month ends up holding. I'm excited about the one's on my shelf from the library right now, and I'll be doing a beta read for a friend as well, which should be fun, it's my first one!

How are your goals going now that we're one month into 2012? Read any good books?

~ Ruthie ~ 

Happy 2012!!!

Happy New Year! I've always found the change of the year to be both exciting and a little depressing all at once. I love that we have a new year, in which anything can happen, because it's kind of like having a blank piece of paper in front of me, just waiting for me to fill it with words. The depressing part? Well...I'm not a big fan of winter, of the storms, the cold, or the seasonal colds that normally come with it. This just plain isn't my time of the year.

Having said that, I'm really excited about this upcoming year! I'm poised to do a lot more writing, and I'm excited to see what happens as I continue to move forward with that. I have a lot more I could say on that front, but it belongs in tomorrows post, so you'll have to check back then!

Looking back at this last year I have a lot of things I could talk about, but since this is a new blog, I don't really have a ton of links that I could include like other bloggers have done. I'll save that for next year when I've been blogging here for awhile.

One thing I DID want to mention is my books read list! You may have noticed I always have three books in the left side bar. The book I'm reading on my kindle, my paper book, and the audio book I'm currently listening too. Yeah. I read a lot. Apparently not as much as I thought though.

I started recording my books read last January, and it's one thing I've managed to keep up faithfully over the course of this entire year. I have a spread sheet with the total numbers on one page, and additional pages for each and every month. It's kinda cool looking. Too me at least, but I'm a big book nerd who likes things like spread sheets. That's just me.

I read 171 books during 2011. I honestly thought the number would be higher! I've never recorded the number of books I read before though, so I have no way of knowing if this was low year or if that's actually about average. So guess what? Yup, I'm going to keep track again this year! I’m having way to much fun to stop now.

Here's the stats for this year:

171 Books Read
An Average of 14.5 books a month.
80% were fantasy or dark fantasy (ie vampires and werewolves)
27% were JV or YA fiction
Lowest #of books in a month = 5
Highest #of books in a month = 23

How many books do you read in a month? What genre? YA fiction or adult?

Who else is excited about what else this year holds???

~ Ruthie ~

Ps. The first picture is from a winter storm a few years ago - I  thought the snow covered palm trees were fun! The second picture is the last book I read his year - on audio book!