This was our book group selection for May, and a very popular choice.
Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist, recently convicted of libel against a leading Swedish businessman. When he is hired to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl over forty years previously he finds himself entangled with dark secrets and even darker characters. He enlists the brilliant but troubled Lisbeth Salander to help him with his search for the truth, bringing unique and often unorthodox talents with her.
There has been a huge amount of hype surrounding this book and I found that it lived up to this hype. In some ways it has been done before - corporate crime, crusading journalist, misfit sidekick, disfunctional family with dreadful secrets, extreme sexual violence and depravity, cryptic clues hidden in biblical references - but the whole is greater than the sum of the parts in this case. The backdrop of small town Sweden brings a refreshing element to the story and an atmospheric bleakness underlying the narative.
As this book is a substantial 644 pages long I am counting this toward the Four Month Reading Challenge - read a book with over 500 pages.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Cell by Stephen King
This book starts with such promise. The basic plot is that someone (who is never revealed) tampers with the mobile phone signal affecting the minds and behaviour of all who use one. This leads to the population being split between those affected (phone crazies) and those unaffected (normies). Cell follows the fortunes of a small group of normies trying to understand the events unfolding around them and their attempts to survive in a world where they don't know the rules anymore.
i started by saying that the book starts with promise, sadly it doesn't end that way. Part way through I found my attention drifting, no longer caring what happened to the characters. By the end I didn't care whether they lived or died, surely not the author's desired result. The ending I found to be especially weak, I won't go into details but the words "cop-out" sprang to my lips.
i started by saying that the book starts with promise, sadly it doesn't end that way. Part way through I found my attention drifting, no longer caring what happened to the characters. By the end I didn't care whether they lived or died, surely not the author's desired result. The ending I found to be especially weak, I won't go into details but the words "cop-out" sprang to my lips.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Why can't I keep up?
We all have them in our lives - overacheivers! There's a lovely woman in my life, a friend (but not a close friend) who can do everything. We met through a mutual hobby for which she has a real talent, she's really good. Okay it may help that she can spend much more money on supplies, classes and all the paraphernalia that surrounds creative endeavours, but that's no excuse. She also creates beautiful examples of other crafts effortlessly (can you tell I'm being slightly vague? She would be mortified to know I see her as a rival), bakes wonderful cakes and has a beautiful home which she keeps spotless and clutter free. Did I mention that she always looks effortlessly elegant? No? Well she does.
My son calls her my nemesis because she brings out the worst in me, I become dissatisfied with myself, but not in a positive way that makes me throw out all the clutter, work out to shift those extra inches, learn new skills. All I see are my shortcomings. Why can't I be more naturally creative? Why are my family so untidy? Why do I find it so difficult to get myself organised so that I can make the most of my life? Why can't I be more outgoing and vivacious?
I'm sure there are things about me that make her envious, or so my husband says. I love my life, but I know it could be so much better if I could clean up my act (and my house), lose some weight, make the most of my appearance - generally move my life up to the next level. Is it really hard work for everyone, or do I just not yet have the skills to make it all look so easy?
My son calls her my nemesis because she brings out the worst in me, I become dissatisfied with myself, but not in a positive way that makes me throw out all the clutter, work out to shift those extra inches, learn new skills. All I see are my shortcomings. Why can't I be more naturally creative? Why are my family so untidy? Why do I find it so difficult to get myself organised so that I can make the most of my life? Why can't I be more outgoing and vivacious?
I'm sure there are things about me that make her envious, or so my husband says. I love my life, but I know it could be so much better if I could clean up my act (and my house), lose some weight, make the most of my appearance - generally move my life up to the next level. Is it really hard work for everyone, or do I just not yet have the skills to make it all look so easy?
Catch up!
Eep! I haven't blogged for a whole month! So what have I been doing?
Reading - as usual. Since my last post I have read Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult, December by Elizabeth Winthrop, and probably something else which has slipped my mind.
Crafting - I've been getting back to scrapbooking, which I'm enjoying very much. I'm trying to incorporate different techniques into my work which is making the whole process so very satisfying. I've also been knitting, mainly flower brooches using the pattern I used for the poppies in an earlier post, to be sold in aid of a very good cause which is a hospice located in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Like all such facilities they are always in need of extra funds, and the ladies there make some lovely things to sell to raise money.
Work - same old, same old! I enjoy my work but like everyone I occasionally feel like a change. I'm starting to consider looking for new oportunities.
So that's been my month in a nutshell!
Reading - as usual. Since my last post I have read Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult, December by Elizabeth Winthrop, and probably something else which has slipped my mind.
Crafting - I've been getting back to scrapbooking, which I'm enjoying very much. I'm trying to incorporate different techniques into my work which is making the whole process so very satisfying. I've also been knitting, mainly flower brooches using the pattern I used for the poppies in an earlier post, to be sold in aid of a very good cause which is a hospice located in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Like all such facilities they are always in need of extra funds, and the ladies there make some lovely things to sell to raise money.
Work - same old, same old! I enjoy my work but like everyone I occasionally feel like a change. I'm starting to consider looking for new oportunities.
So that's been my month in a nutshell!
Monday, 5 April 2010
My Canape Hell by Imogen Edwards-Jones
When journalist Abigail Long is called to her boss's office she fears the worse - dismissal. Instead she is offered her own celebrity column in the newspaper she writes for. What could be better, attending star studded parties amd premieres and being paid to write about them? But every silver lining has a cloud, as Abigail finds out as she spirals into drug abuse after finding herself the subject of her fellow journalists' attentions.
Abigail comes across in this book as silly, self-centred and shallow, but in reality this is a prime illustration of how our society has become obssessed with fame and the famous. I'm sure many of the readers of celebrity gossip magazines and columns would set aside common sense in order to fit in with the "stars" they read about and whose lives they follow so avidly. While I found Abigail intensely irritating I can see that she is not unique, and also not unique in not seeing what is right in front of her face in her search for success. A quick read, but not a very satisfying one.
I have read this book toward the Four Month reading challeng and the Typically British reading challenge.
Abigail comes across in this book as silly, self-centred and shallow, but in reality this is a prime illustration of how our society has become obssessed with fame and the famous. I'm sure many of the readers of celebrity gossip magazines and columns would set aside common sense in order to fit in with the "stars" they read about and whose lives they follow so avidly. While I found Abigail intensely irritating I can see that she is not unique, and also not unique in not seeing what is right in front of her face in her search for success. A quick read, but not a very satisfying one.
I have read this book toward the Four Month reading challeng and the Typically British reading challenge.
The Ten O'Clock Horses by Laurie Graham
Ronnie Glover is not happy with his life. It is 1962, he is married with two daughters, has a steady job as a housepainter. Feeling that life has more to offer he starts dabbling in art and learning Italian. Then his younger daughter starts learning ballet leading to new opportunities for Ronnie.
Something I found difficult in this book was the lack of a female character I could feel any kind of sympathy towards. I think Eileen, Ronnie's wife, was supposed to fill that role but I found her pathetic, I find it difficult to feel any warmth toward women who show total lack of ambition or aspiration. Ronnie's mother was particularly unpleasant in her dealings with him as a child. Jack, the ballet teacher I found to be manipulative, taking advantage of other people's unhappiness to satisfy her own desires.
Ronnie's sadness and desperate longing to escape his current situation is very touching, I think most of us have at times felt the way he does, that surely there is more to life than it currently offers and wanting more for ourselves and our families . Is it wrong to aspire to greater things? Or just wrong to lose sight of why we want them?
I have read this book toward the Four month reading challenge and the Typically British reading challenge.
Something I found difficult in this book was the lack of a female character I could feel any kind of sympathy towards. I think Eileen, Ronnie's wife, was supposed to fill that role but I found her pathetic, I find it difficult to feel any warmth toward women who show total lack of ambition or aspiration. Ronnie's mother was particularly unpleasant in her dealings with him as a child. Jack, the ballet teacher I found to be manipulative, taking advantage of other people's unhappiness to satisfy her own desires.
Ronnie's sadness and desperate longing to escape his current situation is very touching, I think most of us have at times felt the way he does, that surely there is more to life than it currently offers and wanting more for ourselves and our families . Is it wrong to aspire to greater things? Or just wrong to lose sight of why we want them?
I have read this book toward the Four month reading challenge and the Typically British reading challenge.
Mary, Mary by Julie Parsons
It's been a while since I have noted my reading here, so let's see what I remember! In my defence I have been away from a computer for a while, visiting family. When I straighten out my opinion of the country I visited maybe I'll write about the trip here. Suffice to say it was a country of great contrasts.
Mary, Mary is a murder mystery set in Ireland. Margaret and her daughter Mary have returned to Ireland to live from New Zealand to care for Margaret's elderly mother. When Mary fails to return home one day margaret finds it difficult to get the police to take her concerns seriously until one day a body is found floating in the river. This book follows Margaret's pursuit of justice for her daughter, through the courts and beyond. Margaret is a very dignified character and by her own choice quite socially isolated. She rejects the offer of involvement with the detective investigating her daughter's case, perhaps wisely. When she recognises a face from the past in the courtroom things take a whole new, unexpected turn.
I have read this book towards the four month reading challenge.
Mary, Mary is a murder mystery set in Ireland. Margaret and her daughter Mary have returned to Ireland to live from New Zealand to care for Margaret's elderly mother. When Mary fails to return home one day margaret finds it difficult to get the police to take her concerns seriously until one day a body is found floating in the river. This book follows Margaret's pursuit of justice for her daughter, through the courts and beyond. Margaret is a very dignified character and by her own choice quite socially isolated. She rejects the offer of involvement with the detective investigating her daughter's case, perhaps wisely. When she recognises a face from the past in the courtroom things take a whole new, unexpected turn.
I have read this book towards the four month reading challenge.
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