My sister was actually loaned In the Woods  by Tana French by our cousin Chase, but I stole it and read it first…oops!

Let me just say, after reading books on my Kindle, it was kind of weird to switch back to a real book!  I found myself annoyed that I had to leave the light on while I read in bed and actually had to turn the page.  I know…you’re rolling your eyes at me right now and I totally understand.  I’m rolling my eyes too!

Going from “Mockingjay” to “In the Woods” was quite a change.  The writing was at a much more mature level and because this story takes place in Ireland there are quite a few colloquialisms that you have to get used to.

From the beginning the action in this story takes off.  As I first started reading this book, I couldn’t help but think of the Lovely Bones.  Because of the fact that this book starts off with two children who vanish under rather peculiar circumstances and the lack of answers surrounding their disappearance is a constant presence in this story.

One of the things I liked the most about this book , was I didn’t figure out “who done it.”  It seems like in most mysteries at some point I figure it out, and then I’m just reading to see how the author gets to the end.  But with this book, French does a great job with twists and turns to keep you guessing and interested in the story, so she definitely gets two thumbs up from me!

I can’t wait to read the next book and see what happens with the main characters, Cassie and Rob and to find out if the author ever reveals what happened to those two children who went missing in the woods…

Last year seemed to be super busy and reading a book that took too much concentration seemed to be more than I could handle.  So…I just now read “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”  This year I plan to be a much more faithful reader and have actually challenged myself to read 20 books this year, though secretly I’m hoping I read more than that!

I first attempted to read this book back in May/June but man, those first 30 pages were just too much.  So I put it down thinking I’d come back to it when I had a good chunk of time to devote to it.  Next thing I knew the movie would be out in a matter of weeks and I still hadn’t read it.  I don’t know about you but I hate to see a movie before reading the book.  And I definitely recommend reading this book before seeing the movie.  So many details are left out of the movie.

My sister gave me a great piece of advice that I will pass on here. If you haven’t read “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” yet, keep a piece of paper handy and write down the characters names and a couple words about them to help you know who they are.  Since the author is Swedish and the book was originally written in Swedish the names can be quite confusing; there never seem to be enough vowels in there.

I did that this time and for some reason once I started reading I could NOT stop!  It was addicting, yet at the same time reading it at night freaked me out a bit.  Yes this book has some gruesome parts that are hard to read.  But overall this book is very well written in my opinion.  After finishing this book I truly felt like I knew the characters.  Larsson did a fabulous job of making you really feel like you felt what the characters were feeling.

Despite this book being really popular and hearing about it all the time, I loved that this book was by a Swedish author and the story takes place in Sweden. My dad’s mom was 100% Swedish; both of her parents immigrated here. Of all the different nationalities I have in my family, Swedish the most predominate, most of my grandparents were “mutts” (for lack of a better word).

I haven’t yet read books 2 and 3 but am looking forward to it. It’s too bad for Stieg Larsson that he did not live to see the success of his novels.  Though I wonder, would they have gained such notoriety if he hadn’t passed away?

Yesterday I went and saw the movie, and I thought it was one of the best adaptations that I had seen.  Yes there were things that were omitted and yes they changed some rather significant parts; but overall I definitely recommend the movie, after you’ve read the book!

Thanks to the brilliant advertising efforts of Barnes and Noble I purchased and read, Star Island by Carl Hiaasen.

I had never read one of his books and was surprised to discover that this was the man who wrote Striptease, and series of children’s books; odd mix if you ask me.

This was the fifth book I took on my trip to the Dominican Republic a little over a month ago and I have just finished it this past weekend. No it isn’t that long it was just that boring to me. Well boring might not be the right word. Complicated is probably more accurate. There were entirely too many characters and story lines. In fact at the end of the book in the author’s epilogue I didn’t remember who a few of the characters were he mentioned.

Star Island is the story of a troubled young pop star, Cherry Pye, who can’t seem to keep herself out of trouble for more than a few minutes. The entourage around her has hired a double to stand in for her when she is too high or drunk to function, which seems to be the majority of the time. Despite their best efforts to keep Cherry out of trouble she seems to be attracted to it and finds it everywhere she goes.

The range of characters Hiaasen includes is quite impressive.

The most unexpected and intriguing character to me was Chemo. An ex-con with a weed whacker for an arm, hired by her manager to be Cherry’s body guard because he isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to get his job done.

Ann DeLusia the actress that was hired to play Cherry’s undercover stand and is flown all across the country on a moment’s notice to make sure Cherry’s reputation stays intact in the public eye.

Bang Abbott, a paparazzi with poor grooming habits, who thinks he is entitled to invade the private lives of anyone famous simply because he has spent decades perfecting his craft, building a network of informants to tip him off to the stars whereabouts and networking with top tabloid magazines to ensure his pictures get published for top dollar.

However, my favorite character was Skink, who I hear is one of Hiaasen’s reoccurring characters. He is a colorful and lively old man who was surprisingly a former governor of Florida but is currently parading as a homeless superhero.

This book might appeal to you if you don’t mind keeping a cheat sheet with you so that you can keep all of the characters and story lines straight, but for me it took entirely too much effort to keep up with just a mediocre story.

I know this book has been around for quite some time, but I am just now getting around to reading it.

I had always heard mixed things about this book, some people really enjoyed it, and some people hated it. I have to say that I enjoyed it.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, is the story of a little girl that is murdered and then watches over her family and the investigation of her murder. I thought it provided a very unique perspective.

And. . .like the majority of the things I’ve reading, this book is about to be made into a movie directed by Peter Jackson and starring Mark Walhberg and Rachel Weisz. I can’t wait to see it.

Fortunately the murder happens in the beginning of the book so the majority of the book is spent watching Susie’s family cope with her death and how the investigation unfolds.