Week 7 and 8

And, as I've yet to actually purchase the third book in the Millennium tirlogy, we'll be moving on to one of my favorite authors.
Now, this is a heavier book. So it'll actually be a Tweeker. [A two weeker.] 

Book the pervious: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Book the next: Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller

My Sister's Keeper

One of the most interesting questions you'll ever find yourself trying to answer is this: What's more important? Quantity of life, or quality? Jodi Picoult tells an entire story that has you questioning yourself the entire way with her story of a young girl suing her parents for the rights to her own body.
Along the way we to Anna fighting literally for her right to life, we meet her arsonist brother, firefighter father, ex lawyer mother, and a whole realm of interesting people both with her and against her.

Picoult tells a magnificent story, with a cruel twist at the end, just for fun. You may never look at something as black and white, because this story makes you think in all the colors of grey.

Picoult gets a 3.5 out of 5. Not the best written, but a great story.

Week 6

And now, from the wonderful Lisbeth Salander, onto a compelling family story.

Book the previous: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson
Book the next: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Steig Larsson has done it again. With the second installment of the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth Salander is back as the bad girl hacker that no one wants to be friends with.

There is a wonderful story that Larsson has woven. Filled with mystery, intrigue and everything you'd wish from a James Patterson novel, mixed with computers. Larsson even throws in a few big surprises towards the end, with a tidy finish on the last two pages.

There is not much I can say other than that Larsson is a gifted story teller, with an even better story. While, at times vulgar, it's always depicting a scene so perfectly that it plays out in your mind.

Larsson is a storyteller equivalent to a glass of salt water; Wets your whistle, but you need another drink.

On this one, I give Larsson a 4 out of 5 and frankly, I'm sleeping with my stuffed dinosaur tonight.

Week 5

And, since we have already started the Millennium Trilogy, why not take the next step with the second installment.

Book the previous: Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi.
Book the next: The Girl Who Played With Fire

Unbearable Lightness

Most t.v. stars that try to write, write badly. They simply state things that happened, and expect people to like it.
Portia de Rossi did not do that. She told us a story about coming from an average family in Melbourne, to becoming a cast member on a widely loved t.v. show.

In Unbearable Lightness, de Rossi discusses her battle with food. How she dealt with the need to be thinner and more beautiful. Going from the normal 1400 calorie diet down to under 300. And how she felt with being a closeted homosexual in Hollywood, and not wanting anyone to find out.
And then she met Ellen. 

De Rossi is in no short terms, a poet. Her whole story is well crafted, and thought out. She flourishes in the raw pain she discusses.

Wonderfully written, at times witty, and always real. Real with her readers, and with herself, de Rossi gets a 4 out of 5.

Week 4

And, from fiction back to real life.

Book the previous: The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
Book the next: Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

"Do you like pain, creep?" -Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Steig Larsson did an excellent job weaving a story of pain, mystery and cruelty in the first book of his posthumous success.

Lisbeth Salander and Mikeal Blomkvist make an odd pair that complement one another very well. Mikeal is the soft side, while Lisbeth, the vengeful one. Both are strong characters, that have their flaws, and yet function as the lighter side of the darkness happening through out in both Stockholm and smaller Hedestead. We get glimpses into both their pasts.

We see Mikeals mistake in a large case on libel, and his reactions. As well as seeing how Lisbeth is treated by a new guardian. With strong themes of violence against women, and those crimes being brought to justice, it's no wonder that the original Swedish title was, "Men Who Hate Women."

Well written, thought provoking, and full of mystery, the first book in Steig Larssons "Millenium" trilogy may start out slow, but once you're in, you're in. It hooks you and takes hold. A true hit.

Larsson gets a 4 out of 5 in the first book, while I am waiting for the second.