The Time Keeper (↑)

Finished another book! This one is a lot different than the books I usually read. Although it could be taken as philosophical, I actually found it easy to read and follow (way easier than The Alchemist!) This one is Mitch Albom's The Time Keeper. Although I've never ready anything by him before, I've always heard good things about his writing, how it's personal, thought provoking and emotional. I have to say though that I didn't find this book anymore emotional than any other book I've read recently. I did however find it quite thought provoking. It's basically talking about the concept of time, and how it would change when you were given the 'gift' of not aging. I guess it would make one more appreciative of aging and the ending of a life. Although it's always sad when someone passes away, it's a part of life, and it's what makes us human. It allows us to rethink what's going on, and makes it become more appreciative of the time we have. If we don't age, we won't realize the time we spend on earth is a precious commodity, and we wouldn't take the lessons we learn to heart. Anyway, enough of that blabbering of what I got out of that book. Time for a synopsis.

This book has 3 storylines. The first is based in pre-historic times and follows the creator of time. He is shunned from their village, and as his wife dies, he runs back to the village, and up the Tower of Babel to speak with the gods. Instead of the gods listening to him, he was sent to a cave for thousands of years listening to all the humans asking for more time, or less time, etc. After a couple thousand years, he was sent back to earth to help 2 humans. The 2nd storyline is about an elderly man who is dying of cancer who wants to take part in a cryonics experiment in order to extend his life. The 3rd storyline is about a young girl who wants to end her life because she learns that a boy she likes (to whom she made advances) posted all over social media sites that she is pathetic. Father Time then helps these two individuals by stopping time and showing them the future and what they would be missing out on, or returning to. It almost seemed A Christmas Carol-ish. Anyway, it changed their views, and they ended up returning to the present time and changing their views and living their lives (or for the old man, dying naturally and not taking part in cryonics).

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book, as it really does make you think about life and the concept of time. Anyway, until next time, Happy Reading!

What the Night Knows (↑)

I've finished another one! This one was by Dean Koontz. What the Night Knows. I don't usually get freaked out by books, but there were multiple times while I was reading this that I had to put it down and walk away because I kept getting the creepy-crawlies. I've read books by Dean Koontz before, so I know he's a suspense/thriller writer, so I shouldn't have been surprised by reading this, but honestly I was. Although it's very long (about 400 pages I think), it was definitely worth it, and kept me engrossed in the story throughout the whole thing.

Onward to the actual plot. This book is about a man who as a boy had his whole family viciously murdered before he killed the serial killer. Twenty years later, the serial killer's spirit comes back and possesses people who then continue his dirty work (killing families). The spirit targets the man's family, haunting/tormenting them for a few months before it all comes down to the 20 year anniversary of his family's death. A supernatural battle ensues where (hopefully) the man sends the spirit back into the pits of hell. They never really say if he does end up back there, but one can only hope/assume.

Anyway, I would recommend this to anyone who wants a nice creepy thriller, and doesn't get too creeped out by things that go bump in the night! Until next time, Happy Reading!

A Secret Kept (~)

Finished another book! Not as quickly as the James Patterson one, but quickly compared to the last few books! This time I finished A Secret Kept by Tatiana de Rosnay. Although I enjoyed this book, I can't say it's my favourite, nor that it's as gripping as Sarah's Key. I just didn't find the storyline as interesting. Although there was an internal struggle in the main character, honestly, I didn't find it as heart wrenching as her other novel. I'm not saying I hate it (as you can see from the rating I gave it, there were some redeeming qualities) I'm just saying it's not my favourite. I certainly didn't get bored with it, and I wanted to continue to read it, but I'm not sure if that was because I wanted to see if there was more depth to it, or if it was truly interesting for me.

This novel follows a man who had gotten into a terrible car accident with his sister when they were returning from celebrating her 40th birthday at their childhood vacation spot. His sister about to tell him a flashback she had encountered during their stay there when she veered off the road. During her recovery, she told him that she remembers going to their mother's room and seeing her laying there naked with another woman. Antoine then spent the rest of the novel determining who this woman was and why/how their mother died. There are other personal/familial events that occur that honestly confused me a bit as to why they were even in the novel, but I'm not going to mention them as I don't deem them important.

I believe this book is a meh read. You can read it if you like, but don't compare it to Sarah's Key as you will most likely be disappointed.  I must say though, this won't stop me from reading more of her novels as they come out! Anyway, I'm off to read a Dean Koontz book! Until then, happy reading!

Sundays at Tiffany's (~)

So, when I said I was going to read something easy...I guess I didn't clarify. I meant chick lit... so I just finished Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. I probably could have finished it within a day, but I wanted to space myself out with it as I've been so used to taking months to finish a book...

So this one is about a woman who falls in love with her imaginary friend (who she had when she was 8) and accidently runs into him in real life when she was in her 30's. It follows their 'love story', although it wasn't a very well developed story. But I suppose after reading the Millennium series, no stories would have the plot twists and such that that series did. But anyway, the premise behind the book was cute and I could definitely see a romantic comedy movie come out of it, if the story itself could be better developed.

It was a nice step back into the world of reading fiction. But now I'm onward to Tatiana de Rosnay's A Secret Kept, if it's anything like Sophie's Key, I should love it! But until then, Happy Reading!

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (~)

Finally finished another book. This time it's the last book in the Millennium series The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larrson. The book was alright, but I have to say that because of how detailed it was, it was hard to keep track of everything, so unfortunately I don't really remember all the details. What really annoyed me was that nearing the end of the book, it seemed really out to lunch with the court proceedings. The defence was able to bring in random witnesses that the prosecution knew nothing about. I know in North American judicial systems that's not allowed. The case would have to be completely restarted, so either Swedish judicial systems are different, or Mr. Larsson was out to lunch. What prosecutor goes only by what the police tell them? I thought they would do their own research and figure things out. Anyway, those are really my only 2 gripes with the book. I mean obviously the fact that Lisbeth and her brother are basically superhuman seem a little out to lunch, but it's a fictional book....I shouldn't complain too much.

Basically, this book picks up where the last one left off. Lisbeth and her father are in the hospital. It follows Lisbeth as she's kept in isolation and guarded in the hospital, and then put into prison. And then follows the court proceedings and research that went into that. It ends by tying up all loose ends for characters.

Not my favourite book, but I'm glad I'm finally finished the series and can move onwards to something that might be a little easier on my brain. Anyway, until then, Happy Reading!

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!