Rambling about books
So I have some time and I thought I'd ramble about some of the books that I read in 2009.
Standouts:
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo & The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
These are two of the books in the trilogy (the last one won't be out in English until this spring) and they are fabulous. Not at all what I expected and definitely uncomfortable to read in parts, but fabulous. In the first book, a disgraced journalist teams up with an antisocial hacker (with the titular dragon tattoo) to solve the 40 year old disappearance of a teenage girl. In the second book, two people are murdered just before publishing an expose on sex trafficking and Lisbeth Salander (the antisocial hacker with a dragon tattoo) is blamed. Although the second book doesn't have quite the same impact as the first, I loved getting a better look at Lisbeth's past, including what she calls "All The Evil." Can't wait for the next book. Almost makes me want to learn to read Swedish so I can read it sooner.
The Reader by Bernard Schlink
It hit me just right. I love the way it's written. I actually wrote a review of it where you can read me ramble on about it.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I read a lot of Agatha Christie books last year. They were all pretty good, but this one has to be my favorite. There are no heroes on this island: all of them have done terrible things (and seemingly gotten away with them). And everyone gets their just desserts in the end. I think it would have been an even more interesting ending to not have The Epilogue Where Everything Is Explained, but I don't think the Queen of WhoDunnit Mysteries could write a book without the "whodunnit."
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Not as good as The Time Traveler's Wife and it is even stranger than that book (if such a thing is possible). Again, there are no heroes here. And there is a twist that you'll see coming a mile away so it won't have the impact I think Audrey wanted it to have. But I'm a fan of the gothic, Victorian feel to the book and I didn't mind the lingering questions or the complicated plot.
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
It's the book club choice of evil mutant leaders! I'm a fan of the King Arthur legends in general, so I really enjoyed this book. It dragged in some places, but overall it was really great. I've not usually been a fan of Lancelot's (I'm Team Arthur), but I actually kind of rooted for him for a while. Also, I'm not ashamed to say that what finally got me to pick up this book was this comic from XKCD. It's such an interesting idea to have a character who is living his life backwards, for whom goodbyes mean nothing but hellos are tearful. The version I read didn't have The Book of Merlyn in it, so I'd still like to read that sometime.
I would also recommend just about all the Doctor Who audiobooks I listened to last year. Especially the ones read by David Tennant; that man can do voices like nobody's business. If you like Greek/Roman mythology, I highly recommend The Stone Rose.
Standouts:
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo & The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
These are two of the books in the trilogy (the last one won't be out in English until this spring) and they are fabulous. Not at all what I expected and definitely uncomfortable to read in parts, but fabulous. In the first book, a disgraced journalist teams up with an antisocial hacker (with the titular dragon tattoo) to solve the 40 year old disappearance of a teenage girl. In the second book, two people are murdered just before publishing an expose on sex trafficking and Lisbeth Salander (the antisocial hacker with a dragon tattoo) is blamed. Although the second book doesn't have quite the same impact as the first, I loved getting a better look at Lisbeth's past, including what she calls "All The Evil." Can't wait for the next book. Almost makes me want to learn to read Swedish so I can read it sooner.
The Reader by Bernard Schlink
It hit me just right. I love the way it's written. I actually wrote a review of it where you can read me ramble on about it.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I read a lot of Agatha Christie books last year. They were all pretty good, but this one has to be my favorite. There are no heroes on this island: all of them have done terrible things (and seemingly gotten away with them). And everyone gets their just desserts in the end. I think it would have been an even more interesting ending to not have The Epilogue Where Everything Is Explained, but I don't think the Queen of WhoDunnit Mysteries could write a book without the "whodunnit."
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Not as good as The Time Traveler's Wife and it is even stranger than that book (if such a thing is possible). Again, there are no heroes here. And there is a twist that you'll see coming a mile away so it won't have the impact I think Audrey wanted it to have. But I'm a fan of the gothic, Victorian feel to the book and I didn't mind the lingering questions or the complicated plot.
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
It's the book club choice of evil mutant leaders! I'm a fan of the King Arthur legends in general, so I really enjoyed this book. It dragged in some places, but overall it was really great. I've not usually been a fan of Lancelot's (I'm Team Arthur), but I actually kind of rooted for him for a while. Also, I'm not ashamed to say that what finally got me to pick up this book was this comic from XKCD. It's such an interesting idea to have a character who is living his life backwards, for whom goodbyes mean nothing but hellos are tearful. The version I read didn't have The Book of Merlyn in it, so I'd still like to read that sometime.
I would also recommend just about all the Doctor Who audiobooks I listened to last year. Especially the ones read by David Tennant; that man can do voices like nobody's business. If you like Greek/Roman mythology, I highly recommend The Stone Rose.