That Girl!

The Girl Who Played with Fire
Stieg Larsson
Quercus

Much has been made of Larsson's Millennium series and it got me to thinking ... is The Girl Who Played with Fire really part of a trilogy, or had the author lived, is it the second instalment in a much bigger series?  TGWPWF doesn't really exhibit the standard "book two" characteristics -- there isn't the expected lull in the action, a large number of new characters are introduced, and foreshadowing for events outside of the novel is almost completely absent.  In fact, I would argue that the lack of a story arc from Larsson's first novel to this one categorically excludes it from trilogy eligibility.  But what the hell do I know?  I just read this shit.

TGWPWF was, for me, a better read than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Wild-child and hacker extraordinaire, Lisbeth Salander, is in a whole heap of trouble.  Wanted by the Swedish police for the murders of three people, Salander goes into hiding unitl she can figure out a way to dispense of her troubles.  Helping her, of course, is the intrepid Mikael Blomqvist -- her former lover, editor of an investigative news magazine and one of her only friends.  There are more plot twists in this novel than a pretzel has bends.  Larsson could have wrapped up a bit sooner, but generally, it was a good read.  It makes me a little sad that Lisbeth Salander has only one book left.  She's one of the more interesting characters that I've read in awhile and definitely series worthy material.  Three scandalous body piercings out of five.

I'm Swede on You

Benny and Shrimp

Katarina Mazetti

Penguin


I'm not usually prone to words like "heartwarming" and "charming," yet I can't think of anything better to describe this novel.  Benny and Shrimp are an unlikely pair that meet on a bench in a cemetery.  Benny is "visiting" with his mother and Shrimp (whose real name is Desiree) is contemplating the grave of her recently deceased husband.  One day, the couple exchange smiles and it is as if Cupid has sent arrows straight into their hearts.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that despite their obvious passion, they really aren't that compatible.

Benny is a farmer on the outskirts of town.  His life is tied to the rhythm of his cows and he is looking for a traditional Swedish helpmate -- someone who can help him fix the tractor, warm his bed, and make fantastic meatballs.  Shrimp, on the other hand, lives a more cerebral life.  She likes abstract art, thoughtful discussions about Lacan, and is the head of the children's section at the local library.  They are both in their late thirties and not expecting to be seized by love.  But they are and it surprising and funny and beautiful.

I'm not going to tell you how this story turns out.  It's actually worth the read.  Leaf fans be on the lookout for a reference to our team -- I think the author might have had a crush on Sundin.  Three quirky moo cows out of five.

French Twist

Sarah's Key

Tatiana de Rosnay

St. Martin's Press

I've been putting off writing this entry for almost a week now. While I readily admit to innumerable flaws, procrastination usually isn't one of them and I've been giving some serious thought as to why the content for this post has been so elusive.

Let me start by saying that I really, really got absorbed by this story. I started it last Saturday night when I grabbed it off the shelf and stuffed it in my purse. I was heading out to my local Chinese buffet and, like always, wanted a book to act as my companion. As I opened the cover, I was immediately transported to Paris. It is 1942 and I am witness to a Jewish family being roused from their beds, torn from their apartment in Le Marais, and marched to Vel d'Hiv. Led by the French police, it was one of the worst round ups of the war. The families were first sent to internment camps outside of Paris and then to Auschwitz. Very few survived.

I turn the page to start the next chapter and I'm suddenly in present day Paris, in the same apartment in Le Marais, watching a modern French family discuss the renovations they will make to their grandmother's home now that she has moved to a care facility. As the story progresses, the mother, an American who is never quite accepted by her French relatives, starts to dig into the building's "history" and learns that her in-laws took possession of the rooms in late July 1942. The chapters alternate between heroines -- a little Jewish girl and an American in Paris -- and I am lost. I finished the book on Sunday and am thinking of it still. Sarah's Key gets five stars. Please read it.

Paranormal Activity?

Born of Fire
Sherrilyn Kenyon
St. Martin's Press

Question: When is a bad vampire romance novel not a bad vampire romance novel? Answer: When it is a bad "paranormal" romance novel. Okay, I admit it ... I made slight error in judgement when I picked this one off the shelf. All I can say in my defense is that I was lured into thinking that I might actually enjoy it when I read the words "alternate universe," illicit scandal," and "assassin." The main character's name was "Syn" for goodness sake -- how could I go wrong?

To be fair to the novel, there were parts that I enjoyed (and no, I'm not talking about the sex scenes.) There was a "character" in the book named Vik, who was a robot wicked sense of humour. The fact that a robot could have wicked sense of humour really intrigued me and I very much liked this instance of Kenyon's imagination. The storyline was also relatively interesting and had the novel been better written, I think it could have been quite something. One fizzling blaster out of five.

Moving, Harrowing, Insightful and all that Other Stuff

What They Wanted
Donna Morrissey
Penguin Canada

The bulk of my day today was spent in waiting rooms. Last week's craziness left me a little under the weather and I ended up heading to my local clinic to see if I could get something to shake a nasty bug. Stuck in a room full of wailing children, disgruntled immunization candidates, and more sniffles that you could shake a stick at, I decided to block out the world by getting into a good book. Already in a contemplative mood, I was ready for harrowing, insightful and moving. And boy -- did I get it.

Morrissey's novel was gut wrenching. Spanning the course of twenty years, it tells the story of a Newfoundland family that is literally and figuratively pulled from the sea. The story opens with the ruin of the fisheries and the patriarch of the family having to leave the sea and take up residence (and occupation) on the land. A generation later, his daughter and son take it one step further and leave Newfoundland to work the oil fields of Alberta. They are as much in search of themselves as they are in search of a livelihood.

There was so much feeling poured into the writing of this novel that it is no wonder that I was overwhelmed when I first picked it up. I definitely want to know what happens to this family -- I can only hope that Morrissey writes more. Four intractable clouds out of five.

Back Stories

My Horizontal Life -- A Collection of One Night Stands

Chelsea Handler

Bloomsbury

Life has been rather hectic lately and lots has been going both personally and professionally. Last week found me on a bit of a road trip and as always, I brought along a good book for the journey. "Good" in this particular case, was a novel by Donna Morrissey -- a Newfoundland author whose writing is described as moving, harrowing, gripping and insightful. Well, I got about fifty pages in, started to cry and decided that maybe I wasn't quite in the mood for moving, harrowing, gripping and insightful. Luckily, one of my coworkers rescued me and gave me something else to read. It couldn't have been more different!

My Horizontal Life is about as shallow and uncomplicated as they come. The author, Chelsea Handler, is a stand-up comedian known for her love of the drink, her sense of adventure, and her slightly slutty ways. The book is a series of vignettes about the ups and downs of being a party-seeking twenty something who has very little responsibility and a very, uh, interesting relationship with her family. There were definitely some laugh out loud moments in this memoir and its fluffiness was exactly what I needed to lighten my mood. Two moderately dirty martinis out of five.