the finale

book: the girl who kicked the hornets nest

author: stieg larsson

completion date: 29/08/10

method: libraried

i don't know why i did this a thrid time. i should know better. i don't know what i was expecting, but the 2nd was a cliff hanger, and i just wanted to know what happened. it was exactly the same. the idea was solid but it was executed so poorly. i'm sure that the movies in this case are better. it was frustrating. again, no action happened until the very end, by the end i was more than done with this book and... actually you know what, i don't want to even bother. you get the point- read the wiki in this case.

xo- ellebee

p.s. the title of the first book made sense, as lisbeth has a dragon tattoo. but there was no playing with fire in the second, and not even a bee sting in the third book.

editors are valuable people

book: the girl who played with fire

author: stieg larsson

completion date: 18/07/10

method: borrowed (mum)

lindsay went to the cottage this weekend. she packed her brown bikini, one tank top and a couple pairs of underware. her bag wasn't that heavy, so she was ok for the majority of the trip. she checked in online on her 27 inch imac and printed out her ticket on her boyfriend's hp2500 series printer. she flew porter so she only had to catch the shuttle from the royal york hotel on front street. on the ferry to the island she thought are we actually moving? it feels like the ferry isn't going anywhere. in the airport she had one cappuccino, one late a couple of walker's shortbread cookies and packed an orange juice in her bag for flight. when the gate was called, she quickly skirried to the front so she could get on the plane before everyone else. on the plane she read the last few chapters of the book she brought with her. the flight attendant brought around cookies, chips and drinks. lindsay had a bag of terra chips and an apple juice. when the plane began its decent, a young child was crying because her ears hurt and lindsay though i know how you feel kid, but unlike you i can't scream about it. when she landed, she was picked up by her brother and his girlfriend. on the drive they picked up half-a dozen persians and some wild blueberries for the weekend. when they arrived at the cottage on loon lake, they immediatly changed into their swim suits and drank coronas on the floating dock. their parents arrived a few hours later, bringing with them a car full of clothes and her mother's 15" macbook pro. her mother had brought lindsay a stack of new books, including stieg larsson's second novel in the millenium trilogy, the girl who played with fire. while reading it, lindsay thought what i wouldn't give for a red pen- I DON'T THING THIS BOOK WAS EVER EDITED!. she even found that there were a number of sections with gramatical errors, or where the word used was incorrect. overall she found it better than the previous novel, but it seemed to read like a grocery list. she spend a number of hours reading the book over the weekend, finishing it at 3 on sunday. overall she found it more enjoyable than the previous novel by stieg larsson, but lack luster.

xo-ellebee

the man with the mediocre book

book: the girl with the dragon tattoo
author: stieg larsson
completion date: 14/06/10
method: borrowed (mum and dad)

i actually picked this book up in chapters and carried it around with me for a while, but found something that i was more interested in and abandoned this book. i was glad that i read it. at moments i thought it showed signs of promise and for the last few pages i couldn't put it down (the bus driver laughed at me). but i was disappointed at the end. well, the last few pages at least. where i thought the book should have ended was about 20pages in from this page.
this book felt like a first draft to me. the idea was strong and the characters had potential but it was all too shallow for my liking. Mikael, the male lead, is likable enough but seems to passive to be this hard hitting journalist. he seems too soft, not nearly ambitious enough but maybe that would make him too much of a stock character.
and lisbeth. oh lisbeth. writing a maladjusted, unlikable character is difficult. she just seems too unreal and angry. but then again this is just the opinion of a relatively well adjusted girl of about the same age. my father actually wrote a pretty accurate critique of it on his blog here: http://beebee-lovehastornusapart.blogspot.com/2010/06/tattoos-are-not-enough.html which sums it up a lot better than i can.
unlike dad i probably will at least give the second novel a try once mother finishes with it, but then again my recommendations list has reached epic proportions...
maybe i'll just wait for the movie
xo-ellebee