Book #4 Week #4, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Finally! I was able to pick up a copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest at my local library on Friday. Could not put it down!

We left off in the last book with Lisbeth being shot in the head. Now we pick up with her in serious condition in the hospital. While trying to heal she must also work on a way to clear herself of murder charges as well as some other minor charges. This proves to be rather difficult as she is confined to her hospital room with no contact to the outside world except through her attorney and the hospital staff.

Meanwhile Mikael Blomkvist and other Lisbeth supports are working around the clock to clear Lisbeth's name and also expose a secretive government organization that will rock all of Sweden. This is where the story gets good. Many characters were added in the last book and more come into play this time around as well. With these new characters come their back stories and information on how some areas of  Sweden's government function.

I found myself very much engrossed with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the storyline is fantastic and engaging. Here you have the media working with the police to take down this secret agency all the while the agency is working to sweep the whole fiasco under the rug! Who will come out on top is the question.

Stieg Larsson did a wonderful job wrapping up the trilogy and answering all those burning questions that are brought out in the first two books. I loved the ending. My only wish is that we knew what ever happened to Camilla but I guess that will always be a mystery. Haven't watched the movie yet but I will update when I do.

Book #3 Week #3, Fluke by Christopher Moore

I was really hoping to wrap up week 3 by closing out the Millennium series nonetheless life got in the way and derailed my plans. No one seemed to have a copy to loan me, the hardcover is expensive and the paperback doesn't come out until next month, and my library has been out of all eight copies for weeks (I have them transferring me a copy, hopefully it will be in this week)!

While at the library I picked up Fluke Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by one of my favorite authors Christopher Moore. Our journey begins with Nate Quinn, a marine behavioral biologist who has spent the last 25 years trying to answer one burning question: Why do the humpback whales sing?

As Nate gets closer to solving this riddle strange things start happening. Out on the boat one day with his new saucy, young research assistant Amy, Nate sees the words Bite Me spelled out across the tail of a humpback they have been studying.  At first Nate thinks he is hallucinating, maybe going crazy but when the picture that will clear up his doubts on what he saw goes missing from the freshly developed roll of film and his lab gets trashed he knows something is not right.

Nate and Amy are joined by Clay, Nate's long time photographer, Clay's assertive girlfriend Claire and the crew's new lackey Kona, a New Jersey born dread locked wannabe native Hawaiian/Rastafarian surfing pot head. There are fingers to be pointed in every direction. Could it be the other researchers occupying Maui behind all this madness? Or how about the tourist industry? Or even the military? And just when you think things couldn't get any stranger there is the crazy old lady who lives on top of the hill. She is Nate and Clay's primary contributor and while they have always know she is a bit nuts they never expected to learn she has been receiving phone calls from the whales. Well one whale in particular who has a thing for pastrami sandwiches.

One thing I really loved about this book is you absolutely cannot predict what is going to happen next and why someone does not want Nate to answer this seemingly innocent question. I have to say I love Christopher Moore, he has the ability to write about the most absurd topics and instead of making you want to throw the book away, you find yourself laughing and engrossed in the story. So if you are looking for a farfetched, good time I really recommend Fluke or just about anything else by Christopher Moore!

Book #2 Week #2, The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second book in the three part Millennium series by Stieg Larsson. Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander have returned in this sequel however this time around it is Lisbeth who has found herself in hot water.

The Millennium group has been working on a new article exposing a sex trafficking ring. Running this article is a risky maneuver as there will be some big names uncovered in the process. However no one expected the risk to be a brutal double murder. Even more shocking is the fingerprints on the weapon belong to none other than Lisbeth Salander.

Not to fear Lisbeth has some good people on her side working diligently to clear her name and get to the heart of this mystery. Quite a few new characters come into play and along the way Lisbeth's mystifying past is uncovered.

I really enjoyed this book, it is a real page turner! For me, even though there was a lot more action, it wasn't as exciting as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but still a very good read. As with the first book I did watch the Swedish film version of the The Girl Who Played with Fire. Being that this book introduced a lot of new characters, mostly minor roles, the film had to cut out a lot of things but it still managed to stay pretty true to the main story line.

Book #1 Week #1, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Book #1 was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I have to admit I really had no desire to read this book. I would often see it at the book store and wouldn't give it the time of day. I believe I felt this way because it is so popular and I don't really like to jump on bandwagons. However the book was loaned to me and it sat on my desk for a few weeks before I decided to read it for the first week of my 52 books challenge and let me just say I could not put it down! It only took me two days to finish!

The book started off rather slow or maybe I was just exhausted but it picked up rather quickly. One of our main characters is Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist convicted of libel and sentenced to three months imprisonment.  Mikael is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the 40 year old disappearance of Vanger's favorite niece.

Seems pretty cut and dry but oh no! The Vanger family is full of dark secrets, hatred, anger and mystery. Mikael hires the dark, pierced and tattooed Lisbeth Salander to aide him on his quest. Turns out she is as mysterious as the case they are trying to solve.

This story took so many twists and turns that I could not imagine what was going to happen next! The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a thrill ride from beginning (okay maybe middle) to end. Honestly the ending really pulled on my sappy side and I felt so bad for Lisbeth. I cannot wait to get through the next book in the series The Girl who Played with Fire to see how that situation resolves itself, if it does at all.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. My husband and I also watched the Swedish film version of the novel and it was a really good adaptation. A few minor changes here and there but overall excellent!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012! This year I have made no resolutions only one goal instead: I am going to try and read 52 books this year. Yes you read that right! That is one book per week. I really hope I can do it! Furthermore I think that calls for a name change for my blog which will now be "oneyearofbooks"

After much reluctance my first book will be The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I haven't really been interested in this book but the same person that turned me on to The Bronze Horseman series also insisted I read this one and subsequently loaned it to me. So its been sitting here on my desk for over two weeks and its about time I read it we'll see how that goes!