My reading corner
Winter break and the recent wedding weekend home gave me much needed time to dive into reading. I figured my blog would be great way to remind myself what I've read recently and how I'd rate the read. Now I know some of my blog readers were English majors, read WAY more than I could ever imagine and probably have a very different rating system than I would. Mine is very simple: enjoyable characters, good plot development, engrossing, difficult to put down, and has the ability to envelop me into the story and make me forget what's going on in my own world/head.
So without further ado, my recent reads:
Stieg Larsson's third and final installment about Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest had me invested from the very first word. (It helped that I had JUST finished reading the second, The Girl who Played with Fire, and the third installment picks up right where the second ended.) Overall, I moved through the book pretty quickly as I'd already had 1000 pages of time to get to know the characters and 500 pages to know the plot. While I thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy, I found the final book to be my least favorite. Too political, too many additional characters, and the story seemed to drag out just a bit. But I wouldn't let that stop me from recommending the trilogy to anyone looking for a good read. My grade: A-
Looking for a lighter read after diving into the dark, twisted, Sweedish world of Lisbeth Salander, I picked up The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. A book my mother recommended and was on the New York Times Bestseller's list, the book is told from the perspective of a dog, Enzo, and his relationship with his owner and the family. Enzo's story was refreshing and though the book had some sad moments, it overall ends with an uplifting tone and a wonderful look at the relationship between people and man's best friend. I definitely recommend it if you're a dog owner, a dog lover, or just someone who enjoys pets. My grade: B+
Finally, I just recently finished Sarah's Key, a book I picked up at the thrift store for a mere 70 cents when I was searching for an ugly Christmas sweater for a party (and we all know I walked away instead with an amazing felt Christmas tree). I consider both the book and the tree to have been excellent finds at the thrift store that day. The book, written by Tatiana De Rosnay, had me hooked from the very start. The storyline alternates between Sarah, a young, Jewish girl, in France in 1942 struggling to make meaning of the roundup of Jews by the French police who were sent to concentration camps and Julia, an American journalist living in France in 2002 who is writing a story about the 60th anniversary of the raids and deportations of the Jews. I found the story to be fascinating and couldn't help but feel for Sarah and her family. While I highly enjoyed this book, I did find the ending to be somewhat predictable and believe that a female audience would enjoy this book 100 times more than a male audience would. Overall though, I couldn't put the book down and found Sarah and Julia's story a great way to spend two days. My grade: A
So without further ado, my recent reads:
Stieg Larsson's third and final installment about Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest had me invested from the very first word. (It helped that I had JUST finished reading the second, The Girl who Played with Fire, and the third installment picks up right where the second ended.) Overall, I moved through the book pretty quickly as I'd already had 1000 pages of time to get to know the characters and 500 pages to know the plot. While I thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy, I found the final book to be my least favorite. Too political, too many additional characters, and the story seemed to drag out just a bit. But I wouldn't let that stop me from recommending the trilogy to anyone looking for a good read. My grade: A-
Looking for a lighter read after diving into the dark, twisted, Sweedish world of Lisbeth Salander, I picked up The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. A book my mother recommended and was on the New York Times Bestseller's list, the book is told from the perspective of a dog, Enzo, and his relationship with his owner and the family. Enzo's story was refreshing and though the book had some sad moments, it overall ends with an uplifting tone and a wonderful look at the relationship between people and man's best friend. I definitely recommend it if you're a dog owner, a dog lover, or just someone who enjoys pets. My grade: B+
Finally, I just recently finished Sarah's Key, a book I picked up at the thrift store for a mere 70 cents when I was searching for an ugly Christmas sweater for a party (and we all know I walked away instead with an amazing felt Christmas tree). I consider both the book and the tree to have been excellent finds at the thrift store that day. The book, written by Tatiana De Rosnay, had me hooked from the very start. The storyline alternates between Sarah, a young, Jewish girl, in France in 1942 struggling to make meaning of the roundup of Jews by the French police who were sent to concentration camps and Julia, an American journalist living in France in 2002 who is writing a story about the 60th anniversary of the raids and deportations of the Jews. I found the story to be fascinating and couldn't help but feel for Sarah and her family. While I highly enjoyed this book, I did find the ending to be somewhat predictable and believe that a female audience would enjoy this book 100 times more than a male audience would. Overall though, I couldn't put the book down and found Sarah and Julia's story a great way to spend two days. My grade: A
Comments
I randomly found 'Sarah's Key' in an airport bookstore on my way back to India a few years ago, and it's been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read for almost a year and a half now. Guess it's time to move that one to the top of the list.
Hope you're well!
xx