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!

Sarah's Key (↑)

I'm on a roll finishing books quickly! I actually finished this book on January 17th, but I never got around to doing this blog entry (work and whatnot). Anyway I finished Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay. It's an amazing book about a girl losing her family to the Holocaust in the 40's. It's amazing because it really depicts the struggle she faces when she realizes she's the only one of her family who's left. It really makes you feel like you've lost your family also. It also made me think of what it'd be like if I did in fact lose all my family and what I'd do if I did. The only thing I didn't like about the book is the story that's set in modern times. I didn't mind the investigative part about finding out who and where Sarah was, but the part about the divorce. I thought that was a bit pointless. However, maybe it's a reflection of the woman losing her family and how to survive it. I'm not really sure.

Anyway this novel follows a journalist who is writing about the Vel' d'Hiv' (the round up of Jews in Paris during WWII) when she discovers that the apartment her family and she are moving into used to be owned by a Jewish family who were rounded up during Vel' d'Hiv'. She then went on to investigate what happened to the family and discovered that one of the children of the family survived the round-up and she went on to see what happened to her. At the same time she realizes she's pregnant and has to go through some tough decisions and decide whether her marriage means more to her than the new life growing inside of her.

I really recommend this book to anyone interested in the Holocaust as well WWII. It's a terrible part of history but it's still best to know about it because if not, we're bound to repeat it. Until next time, Happy Reading!