The Girl Who Played With Fire (~)

Finally finished Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Played With Fire. I'm not saying it's a terrible book because the last 150-ish pages really had me hooked, but I don't feel that having to wait until the last 100 pages when the books 500 pages long is really necessary. It also sucks because it's hard to keep facts straight when it's been taking me so long to read them. But oh well.

This novel answers many questions I had regarding Lisbeth Salander (what her past was etc. and her disorder). Well it doesn't directly answer the disorder question, but it gives a bit more information to go off of. In this book, Lisbeth is framed for 3 murders. It goes through a lot of ups and downs to figure out who is behind the murders, but in the meantime, a lot more is discovered about Lisbeth which allows the reader to gain more insight into why Lisbeth is the way she is. As usual, the novel really picks up the pace during the last 150 pages, and it makes it very hard to put down. Although I really didn't like how it ended, but I guess it made me want to start the 3rd book pretty quickly (which I did, haha!)

Anyway, I'm on to reading the last novel in the series, and then probably I will go back to Game of Thrones series. Until next time, happy reading!

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (↑)

Finished Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I had started it before in hard copy, but couldn't stomach the first 40 pages, so I stopped, got rid of the hard copy, and then got all three of the books in epub format, and put them on my ereader. Everyone I know who has read them recommends them, so of course, I decided to read them. Not to mention C.L. has been hassling me to watch the movie, but I refused because I hadn't read the book yet. Anyway, I've read it, and honestly, once I got about 100 pages in, I didn't want to stop reading it! At first I wasn't sure how Salander fit in to the story line, but I just had to keep reading. The only thing is that Salander is so mysterious, I really want to know more about her past! I've started the second book so maybe it will explain it a bit more. I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Anyway, this book follows Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who was ruined by a larger company (serving time in jail for libel, etc.) as he sets off to a lonely, out of the way island to solve a long ago family mystery for the Vanger family. He solves it, but he's in for a ride along the way.

Honestly, this mystery isn't spectacular, and the characters aren't all that well developed, but the reason I gave it such a high rating is because it kept me hooked the whole time, and I really enjoyed reading it. I would recommend it to anyone, but I would encourage them to keep reading it even if they found the first 40-100 pages to be extremely boring or random. Anyway, I'm going to continue to read the 2nd book in the trilogy, so until I finish that one, Happy Reading!

Turn of Mind (↑)

I finished another book very quickly this time. Only because I crap-load of time on my hands lately (I worked a lot of night shifts, and I had all of today off and to myself). this book was called Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante. It's very similar to Still Alice, but instead of seeing the Alzheimer's develop, it's already in full-force you and you see the quick deterioration of the mind. Again it's told in the first person, and shows why people with dementia act the way they do, and can be quite stubborn. It's funny, but since starting my new job and hearing stories about the psycho-geriatric unit where there are a lot of dementia patients, I can almost empathize with them about what's going on, only by reading this book. This book also almost made me cry. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I find it so sad that someone who was so intelligent was ripped down to almost nothing mentally. She might still be smart, but forgetting her own family, and living obstinately in the past and refusing to be brought back to reality seems sad to me. I know that really, living in the past and refusing reality isn't truly her fault, but I find it sad that she got so upset when people tried to pull her back to reality (not that she remained there for long). I know that this paragraph is kind of rambly so I'm going to leave it there, and get to the synopsis.

This book followed the character Dr. Jennifer White who had been a orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hands. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, and she was progressively going downhill. Her best friend Amanda (who could be a bit of a bitch) was murdered, and the police began to investigate. One thing lead to another, and the police labeled Dr. White a 'person of interest'. It continues with the investigation, and then leads to Dr. White being put in an institution because her mental health had deteriorated so far, and she was no longer competent and was considered a danger to herself and society.

This book was awesome. I was certainly recommend it to anyone who wants more of an inside view of dementia, and what it feels like for patient. Anyway, I believe I'm going to be reading a Jodi Picoult book next, so until next time, happy reading!

The Pact (~)

Unfortunately, it's taken me FOREVER to actually finish a book. I don't know if it's a combination of busy-ness, work, laziness, or just not wanting to read. But anyway, I've finally finished The Pact by Jodi Picoult. It says this is a love story, and technically it is. It really made me think about love, and finding that undying love where you give yourself completely to someone, and you are willing to do anything for them, including helping them commit suicide because you can't bare to see them in pain, emotionally or physically. I would love to have this kind of love, but also not. Only because it would be a burden to my partner. The fact that my pain was hurting someone else just as much as it was hurting me would be almost unbearable. Thinking about it now, I don't think I've ever had this kind of love. I think I've been in love, but not to the same extent as was described in the book. I almost feel that I'm selfish though, in my love. I care about the other person, and would make sacrifices for the other, but I don't think I could give myself self-lessly to someone. But I guess that kind of love is one that doesn't occur often, or I've yet to experience it. Maybe someday I will, but we shall see.

Anyway, sorry for that random tangent haha, recent events in my life have been making me sentimental, and this book apparently made it worse. So, this book was about 2 teenagers who have been best friends since birth and became lovers when they were teenagers. The girl becomes depressed and pregnant and is not able to deal with this and decides she wants to commit suicide. She confides in her boyfriend/best friend, who then tries everything he can to stop her, but in the end can't. It follows the trial of the boyfriend who is on trial for first degree murder for shooting his girlfriend.

All in all, it was a good book (I can't expect anything else from Jodi Picoult), but the rating was lower only because it took so long to get through, and it really didn't draw my attention like others I've read by her. Anyway, not sure what I'll be reading next, so until then, Happy Reading!