Brace yourselves, it's time for another update on my book reading adventures.
I finished the Millennium trilogy a few weeks ago. It was really good, and each book was very different. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was somewhat of a whodunnit type novel. It was, I'd say, the best of the three. The Girl who Played with Fire was more of a thriller, sometimes, for reasons unknown, reminding me of the Bourne movies although not quite as much shooting them up and car chases. It was also good but I wasn't as entranced as I was by the first one. The third and final book, The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest was totally different from the first two, being a political intrigue more than anything. Maybe it's just the state of mind of was in at the time but I found it to be the weakest of the series. That said, Stieg Larson wrote some crazy intense books with mind-blowing details. These books are popular for good reason, as long as you're really sensitive to cringe-worthy things.
I really want to see the new movie now but missed out on my chance because I was hacking up a lung and it left theaters without out me. It's out on DVD pretty soon, though, so I'm excited to expose my husband to some pretty gruesome culture.
After I finished with Larson I took a break and went back to my other literary love: chick lit. After the Times Colonist's book sale last year my shelf is full of cheap books with ridiculous content. Totally successful. I picked The Golden Rule one night before bed and figured it'd be a good diversion. I really have nothing to say about this book. It's British, as about 40% of the chick lit books out there seem to be, meant to be funny, has a large cast of interacting characters, and some really odd editing choices.
As far as diversions go, it was okay but not great. I wouldn't really recommend it. When I finished reading it I had no idea what the title was and, upon checking, no idea what "golden rule" was being referred to. Total fail. Also, the layout was really strange. The story bounced between different characters in different situations without any breaks to denote a change of subject. I'd have to go back and reread a few lines to understand who was now doing what. I don't like my diversions to require that much brain power, thank you very much.
After the disappointing Golden Rule I decided it was time to go back to the fantasy genre. I would have been up for another chick lit diversion but nothing on my shelf was sticking out as particularly fun. I picked up The Summer Tree which is the first in a supposedly epic trilogy, The Fionavar Tapestry. I tried this series once before and got almost halfway through the first book. I'm starting again, though, because that was when I was 14 and I don't really remember much at all about what happened. Go figure.
I remember trying to read the series and a boy in my math class reading the same book. I told him it was good. I have no idea why I did. Okay, I do, but I clearly wasn't enjoying it since I abandoned it shortly after. (Is that what they called frogging in the knitting world?) I'm hoping that this time the whole ordeal ends up being much more fun. I'm not sure this was the best time to try and get into something "epic" but time will tell.
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