Book review: Girl with the dragon tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.



I was leant this book and thought I'd jump on the hyped up band wagon and give it a go. Honestly, I can't say I enjoyed it. It took almost half the book to introduce the characters and their background and to get going with the action. Some would say it was just on a slow burn but for me there has to be some excitement or action quite early on to hold my attention.



Before the action unravelled I could see the kind of direction it was going to go - Harriet was in fact not dead - it was hinted at rather blantantly for me.



While the writing was indeed intricate, I found it full of cliches and just too graphic - it left nothing to the imagination when it came to the crimes committed. Unfortunately this won't be a series I'll be continuing with, it just didn't hold up to the hype for me.



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Book review: Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares — has been canceled.



After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.



Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.



This is essentially a story about forgiveness. Could you ever really completely forgive someone who harmed you? Caleb has spent the last year locked up in prison paying for one piece of bad judgement which ended in his neighbour and his sister's best friend being maimed for life.



Maggie is terrified of Caleb and what she thinks she remembers from the accident. He's the reason she can't walk properly, can't play tennis and has lost all her friends. He's also the reason why they all call her a freak. But as Caleb is released from prison and Maggie returns to school, they are constantly thrown together - particularly by the old lady they are both working for.



Caleb's family are falling apart, Maggie is racked with guilt by how much her therapy is costing her single mother and they gradually realise the only person who they can find solace with is the one person they shouldn't.



The concept of this book I found to be realistic and the progression of Maggie and Caleb's relationship to be natural. My one gripe with the book is that Simone Elkeles always seemed to have the boy leaving in order to 'save' the girl just as he's realised he's in love with her.



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Favourite Fictional Characters

Favourite Fictional Character is a weekly meme by a blog I've just discovered: wordsmithonia.  It's where we discuss our favourite fictional characters from books, tv, movies.  So, without further ado here's my first Favourite Fictional Character:

ALF:  Who didn't love ALF in the late '80s, he was adorable.  Alf landed in the Tanner's garage - well perhaps crashed is a better description and they took him in and protected him from being discovered.    He was mischievious, saracastic, slovenly and cynical but he had a heart of gold and would do anything for the Tanner's - particularly the children. 

I used to love watching ALF and seeing what he'd get up to next: whether it was chasing the cat around:  he had a real hunger for cats; or doing a Tom Cruise in the living room.  I'd be in fits of giggles.  And I had every kind of ALF merchandise available: the movie, colouring books, the action figure. 

ALF was the force behind a show which was filled with comedy, drama and science fiction.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at  http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/  that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


I've just ordered off Amazon.co.uk another book by Simone Elkeles - it's not exactly a new release but I can't wait to receive it anyway....

Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad—her chance to escape everyone and their pitying stares — has been canceled.
After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb’s free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.
Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It’s a bleak and tortuous journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other

Top ten picks: favourite books of all time

Top ten picks is an original meme hosted by random bookish ramblingswhere she picks a topic and makes a list. This weeks is favourite books of all time here's her list:  http://randombookishramblings.blogspot.com/2010/07/top-ten-picks-favorite-books-of-all.html

And now on to my little list:

1) The Bronzehorseman by Paullina Simons:  I adore this book - for me it's the ultimate love story - there's the tragedy of war, the pain of forbidden love, the threat of death.  It truely is an epic.  I stumbled upon this book by accident, I just happened to pick it up in a book shop and couldn't decide whether I wanted to read it or not. 

2) Tomorrow when the war began by John Marsden:  I read this book when I was in high school and kept coming back to it time and time again.  It's set in Australia and is kind of a what if story about the country being invaded and a group of teenagers being the only ones not captured. 

3) The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks:  Mr Sparks wrote about a kind of love and relationship I could only dream of having.  The book literally made me swoon.

4)  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:  I first read this book when I was about twelve years old after seeing the mini-series on tv.  I just adored Lizzie, she was independent, fierce and knew what she wanted from life.  She didn't want to marry out of convenience or for stability but for the promise of true love and she wouldn't settle for anything less.

5) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: The only novel Lee ever published was sensational for it's time.  It brought into question racial divide and was told through the eyes of a child.  It really questions the concepts of innocence and guilt.

6) Stephen King's The Shining:  Scares the heck out of me everytime but that's what makes it so great.  Honey, I'm hoommme.

7) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl:  Roald Dahl was a genius pure and simple.  I loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a kid.  What kid didn't?  Who wouldn't want to be Charlie and meet Willie Wonka and inherit a chocolate factory?

8)  The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory:  This book is what started my slight obsession with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn and their love which turned to hate.

9) Alice in Wonderland:  What more needs to be said?

10)  The Catcher in the Rye:  The ultimate bad boy rebel without a cause story - not as shocking now but for it's time it sure was.

On my wishlist #10

On My Wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by http://www.bookchickcity.com/ whose blog I absolutely love. Anyway, On My Wishlist is where we can post our list of books which are on the list to be read, wishing we owned....books we covet.


This week's book is The last letter from your lover by Jojo Moyes. 
 
When journalist Ellie looks through her newspaper's archives for a story, she doesn’t think she'll find anything of interest. Instead she discovers a letter from 1960, written by a man asking his lover to leave her husband – and Ellie is caught up in the intrigue of a past love affair. Despite, or perhaps because of her own romantic entanglements with a married man.

In 1960, Jennifer wakes up in hospital after a car accident. She can't remember anything – her husband, her friends, who she used to be. And then, when she returns home, she uncovers a hidden letter, and begins to remember the lover she was willing to risk everything for. Ellie and Jennifer's stories of passion, adultery and loss are wound together in this richly emotive novel – interspersed with real 'last letters'.

 
What draws me to this story most is the beautiful cover art - I'm a sucker for letters and love letters are a lost art I really wish would come back. 

Waiting on Wednesday: Rules of Attraction

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted breaking the spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.


Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
published:  April 27th 2010 by Walker & Company (first published 2010)

When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now.