The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Categories:
Originally written in a language not your own.
Set in a country starting with S 
To Be Read Pile 
4 out of 5 Stars

   This was the last book in my winter book challenge!! WHOOP WHOOP! I did pretty good for my first challenge, I finished 2 weeks ahead of schedule! It also fit into my other 2 challenges nicely so that rocks!  Now on to the book, it was originally written in Swedish and translated to English which is lucky for me because I don't know Swedish. I really enjoyed this book. The overall plot was really well done, although there were some dull moments including a whole page dedicated to a cheese sandwich. I had seen and enjoyed the movie, the one with Daniel Craig, so I was excited to start reading this. I knew there would be several differences as is custom with books and movies but I was surprised at just how much the movie had changed. To me the details they changed with the plot were pretty significant. Here is the blurb from goodreads.com 

   A spellbinding amalgam of murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue.

.. It’s about the disappearance 40 years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden... and about her octogenarian uncle, determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.... It’s about Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently at the wrong end of a libel case, hired to get to the bottom of Harriet’s disappearance... and about Lisbeth Salander, a 24-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age — and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness to go with it — who assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, astonishing corruption in the highest echelons of Swedish industrialism, and an unexpected connection between themselves.

The mystery is very intriguing and even though I had seen the movie the book's ending plays out quite differently and I was pleasantly surprised. Overall a really good book, I will be reading the the rest of the series! 

Angels & Demons

Angels & Demons
Category: A genre you don't usually read
5 out of 5 Stars

 

 This was a really cool book! I read The Da Vinci Code several years ago and enjoyed it, not sure why I waited so long to read this one. I was fascinated with the lore of the Illuminati and the Church and couldn't wait to see how the story unfolded. Dan Brown's ability to weave fiction and fact together is remarkable. I was constantly looking things up to see what was actually true and what was myth.Here is the blurb from goodreads.com:
    World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuries-old underground organization--- the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive vault on the earth... the long-forgotten Illuminati lair. 
     I also really enjoy this movie and although there are some notable differences the grand scheme and most of the plot points are the same, and hey who doesn't love Tom Hanks. I can't wait to read the rest of Dan Brown's books!!! Hope you'll check this one out too! 

PS : Just one book left in my Winter Book Challenge!! WHOO HOOO!!!

I Got You, Babe

I Got You, Babe 

Category: Song Lyric in the title 

2 out of 5 Stars 

Ok, I know its been a long while since I posted but I started a new job, and took a break to binge watch some Netflix. Also I had a really hard time getting into this book. It wasn't terrible it was just slow. Here is the blurb from goodreads.com 

She picked the wrong man . . . 

On the run for a robbery she didn’t commit, Renee Esterhaus is stuck in the middle of Texas with a broken car and a sadistic bounty hunter hot on her trail. Desperate for a way out, Renee decides to make a promise she never intends to keep–offer the first man she meets a night of unforgettable pleasure in return for a ride. A night to remember, all right, since the handsome guy turns out to be a cop with a pair of handcuffs and zero tolerance for sweet-talking criminals.
. . . only to find Mr. Right.
John DeMarco was supposed to be on vacation, far away from the lowlifes he endured on a daily basis. Even with his guard down, he doesn’t expect to be duped–especially by a beautiful blonde con artist whose claims of innocence and tempting curves are nearly impossible to resist. Renee is not a woman he can trust . . . so why does he feel himself falling in love? 

     Sounds promising but it just took me a while to get into it. I think because there were too many details about things I thought didn't matter. The story finally got interesting in the middle and by the end I was wanting these two to end up together and hoping things would work out. I think if the author cut the book in half it would have been better but over all a cute little read, maybe good for the beach or something but not really my cup of tea. 

Progress Update

Winter Book Challenge Progress Update

 5 points: Freebie! - The Revenge of Seven,  Pittacus Lore  
10 points: an author who has published at least 10 books. - The Wedding- Nicholas Sparks 

10 points: Read a book of short stories. - Smoke and Mirrors , Neil Gaiman 
10 points: Read a book with a food in the title. -The Peach Keeper, Sarah Addison Allen  
15 points: Read the first book in a series that is new to you. - The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen 
15 points: Read a book written by a local author. - Hourglass - Myra McEntire 
20 points: Read a "bookish book." - The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
20 points: Read a book with a direction in the title. - Witches of East End, Melissa de la Cruz 
30 points: Read two books with a different meal in each title. - The Dinner, Herman Koch & 

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman -  Sam Wasson

Total Points: 135

I am only 3 books away from finishing this challenge! Some of my favorites so far are: 

1. The Revenge of Seven - because I just love this series. 
2. Hourglass - just a cool premise and fun little read!
3. Witches of East End - I love this author and this world is so cool! 
4. The Peach Keeper - this book surprised me and I love it for that! 

The Peach Kepper

The Peach Keeper, Sarah Addison Allen
Category: Book with food in the title
4 out of 5 stars

This was a delightful little read! I thought this was going to be just a chick lit fru fru kind of book but I was definitely surprised when some elements of fantasy and magic started to show up! It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots. But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it. I loved all the characters and being witness to their growth throughout the book was wonderful. I also really enjoyed the way Allen laid out the story I was kept guessing on more than a few things! I gave this book 4 stars because I found some areas a little slow with too much detail on non important things but overall a great read! Would be good for the beach!!

The Surgeon

The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen
Category: First book in a series new to you
4 out of 5 Stars

I picked this book because I love the TV show Rizzoli & Isles, and as is usually the case the book was very different. Never the less I enjoyed it and finished it in only a few days. Here is the premise from goodreads:  In Boston, there's a killer on the loose. A killer who targets lone women, who breaks into their apartments and performs terrifying ritualistic acts of torture on them before finishing them off. His surgical skills lead police to suspect he is a physician - a physician who, instead of saving lives, takes them. But as homicide detective Thomas Moore and his partner Jane Rizzoli begin their investigation, they make a startling discovery. Closely linked to these killings is Catherine Cordell, a beautiful medic with a mysterious past. Two years ago she was subjected to a horrifying rape and attempted murder but she shot her attacker dead. Now she is being targeted by the new killer who seems to know all about her past, her work, and where she lives. The man she believes she killed seems to be stalking her once again, and this time he knows exactly where to find her.  I tried to figure out who the killer was but I was really surprised when they were finally revealed. I found this book an enjoyable, quick and easy read. A few notable differences from the TV show for all who are interested. 

1. Maura Isles is not in this book at all (she does not show up until the second book)
2. The story is mainly told from Thomas Moore's point of view with Jane and Catherine's thrown in a little. 
3. Jane is not quite as cool in the book as Angie Harmon makes her on the show. 

Hourglass

Hourglass - Myra McEntire
Category: Local Author (Myra McEntire lives in Nashville, TN)
4 out of 5 Stars

   I really enjoyed this book!!  It was a little slow in some places but I find that usually the first book in a series is because of all the information and background the author must give. The primise to this book drew me in: For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back. So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may also change her past. I couldn't wait to find out why Emerson was seeing the visions and how it related to the Hourglass. Also there were some twists and turns I did not see coming! I love Emerson and Michael together, and I can't wait to get to the next book unfortunately its at the bottom of my to read pile.