The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I really, really, really enjoyed this book! So much in fact, that I am keeping this short so that I can try and read more of book two before work starts tomorrow.

This story is set in the form of a locked room mystery. A disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, is given the task to uncover what had happened to Harriet Vanger 36 years ago on the family island under the guise of writing an autobiography for her uncle. Meanwhile, 25 year old Lisbeth Salander, a researcher for a security company, is having her own ordeals.

I was a rather curious, when, at the halfway mark, the girl with the dragon tattoo had not even bumped into Blomkvist, but shortly thereafter that pieces fell into place - a lot more realistically than if they had been lumped into the thing from the beginning.

This is a good mystery story, targeted at adults (there is some content that I see people have complained about - but lets all be honest here, violence DOES happen to women, and it is naive to think otherwise). It does have more lengthy expositions than some of the shorter mysteries out there, particularly those aimed at younger readers. This, however, I felt added to the intrigue and created a good image of Sweden for those of us who have never been there (I actually can't remember reading a book set in Sweden before! How odd!). It created multiple options as to what could have happened. It also gave me a well deserved break from the loads of YA I have been reading for the kids at school and let my brain feel like an adult brain with a few degrees again.

Overall, I would rate this about 4.5 stars. I am glad I didn't read it during the hype, as I think I would have possibly enjoyed it less.

This is the second book cleared off my TBR pile for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge 

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

Well this was interesting!

This book follows its predecessor well with a strong cast of characters involved in a plot-twisting mystery. Cormoran Strike is sent on the trail of a missing writer - and naturally everything that could go wrong does go wrong. I really do enjoy these types of mystery stories as they are far less predictable than many of the others out there.

Having said that I would not recommend these books for younger readers who are interested because JK Rowling wrote them. It is not targeted for children. The contents of the Bombyx Mori manuscript, the book in the story, is depraved. I did enjoy the different angle it presented in the mystery though. It was unusual and gave the story more depth.

As with The Casual Vacancy, Rowling, Galbraith, whatever name you are supposed to use in these circumstances, does not paint a pleasant picture of adult life. Dysfunctional relationships fill the pages and this does leave a slightly bitter taste in one's mouth. Granted, adult life is not all sunshine and daisies, but there are other options out there besides the hopeless scenario that is presented. Maybe seeing relationships from a Private Investigator's point of view could result in this, but I am in no position to speculate.

Even having said that, though, I will be looking out for the next book when it becomes available as I am really keen to see what happens to Cormoran and Robin in the future. Even though this review seems to have a negative tone, I actually did enjoy this book and will be looking forward to whatever mystery awaits the two next.

Rating: 4 stars although I'll be telling my grandmother that I have lost the book or something, because I am not letting her read this one. It would not be in her comfort zone.

This is the first book to be cleared from my TBR pile for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge!

2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge!

I have decided to join the 2015 TBR Pile Reading Challenge. It isn't really because my TBR pile is completely worrying. It is just has some potential to get that way. I seem to be buying more than I am reading - because, let's face it, it is a lot faster to walk through a bookshop picking up reads than it is to sit and read them. I usually am not worried about the state of my TBR pile. I like it to be fairly big because that is where I choose my next read from. But I am noticing that some books are staying on the 'pile' while others move off it much faster. I would like to get to those harder to move books and start clearing them out.

I am not quite sure which level I will be aiming for. It is somewhere between '31-40 Sweet Summer Fling', or '41-50 Could This Be Love?' We'll see how the year goes. So far it is promising late nights working and days filled with greying-hair level stress. All the more reason to bury my nose in a book right!

This is my mostly-complete TBR pile. Why only mostly-complete, you ask? Well, I have only put the first books of series on it where I usually own more than one, and there are some books that I have missed adding (generally because I am so stoked to get my new treasures home and put them in their places on my bookshelves that I forget to put them in Goodreads and then got stuck trying to sort through the whole thing).

So what to start with? I am cheating a bit here and selecting one that isn't on the procrastination side of the TBR pile, The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith a.k.a. J.K. Rowling. It isn't really cheating though. It is on the pile! And besides, it is nearing the end of my holiday and I plan on enjoying it!

Exposure by Kathy Reichs and Brandon Reichs

Give me the next book now - please! What an ending!!!!

I haven't heard anyone discuss these books before. What a loss that is. Maybe they don't get the attention because, for once, this is a YA series that is not all about romance. It is about science and that is awesome. The main premise is a bit stretched (think something along the lines of Spiderman), but the rest is awesome science. I was even interested in the mini lesson on phosphates. I think this is even more important because there is still that silly stupid rumour out there that boys are better than girls at science and maths. Like gender really determines things like that. To quote Tory, "Blergh".

Exposure, the 4th book in the Virals series, picks up shortly after Code. I was glad that it gave a quick recap of the previous book because I must admit I was a bit foggy on the finer details. It has been a while. But in no time, everything fell into place and I was off again, into the world of the Virals.

So what is happening in Charleston this time? Twins are missing. A ransom is released. The Virals are on the trail. But the pack is damaged from the events of the previous book. And something else is damaged too. Can they trust their powers?

I absolutely adore Tory Brennan, Tempe Brennan's (a.k.a Bones) grand niece. She is the only girl in the group, the leader of the group, and not only super smart but physically normal too. (By that I mean she hasn't been stuck in the unfit super-nerd category.) She makes a great role model for teen girls (so long as you don't look at her record of breaking and entering, stealing evidence, sneaking out at night or ditching school - although, at least in her defence for the last one, she gets super marks). As a teacher, I would love to push these books onto the kids. Unfortunately pushing books rarely works on anyone, teenagers being the least likely candidates on that list. But I live in hope. One day... Maybe I can try and grab some interest with Hi's sense of humour. Actually, the sense of humour, although the story itself is serous, is bloody brilliant. Love Tory's similes. "Being a Viral is like golfing in a thunder storm."

I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the final book, Terminal. It is expected out, according to Goodreads, on the 15th of March of this year. Yay! Two months exactly to go - unless you live where I do. It is more likely 6 months. Not so yay.

The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Is it really cheating to review the last three books in one post? I think not. It is going to be rather repetitive saying "Well, there isn't much to say on a book quite far into a series," three times. So I am only going to say it once.

Well, there isn't much to say on a book far into a series. It will spoil what has come before. Besides, reading the books before these will be more likely to get you to read the books than anything I can say or do here.

Overall, I really like the educational value of these books. Riordan had so much info about Greek and Roman mythology. It was fun, easy learning - the best type of learning. Riordan has a great sense of humour and definitely knows how to keep the action going. Exactly what works with young teens.

I did find that the books would get repetitive at times, where Riordan would have a character saying or thinking the same thing s/he had said or thought a dozen times already. Maybe I am being harsh, but I tend to find myself rolling my eyes in irritation when that happens. Maybe it is done for slower readers who don't fly through the entire series of 2743 pages in a week and a day.

Oh, and in case you happened to read my post on The Lost Hero, I did end up liking Piper. She turned out to have a pretty strong character after all. Go girl power!

I gave each book in the series 4 stars. If I was in my early teens, it would have been 5 stars. At my age though, teen romance is ... well ... annoying, lol.

Bout of Book 12 Wrap Up

I made it! I finished everything I wanted to! Sweet!

So the total wrap up for the readathon is:

Day 7 Books read: 1
Total Books read: 5
Total Books completed: 5
Total Pages read: 2502

I really enjoyed this week of reading. I probably would have enjoyed The Heroes of Olympus a little more if I had had a break between the books. By the end I was just wanting to get to the end and not as engrossed in the story. But that could have had something to do with the time too. (It was getting late.)

I am glad to have got them off my TBR pile though. That is quite a huge clearance, even if I do say so myself.

Now the question is: what to read next?

Bout of Books Day 6

Quick, quick, quick! Day 7 is 14 hours in and I HAVE to finish The Blood of Olympus!

This is a total update. I got so engrossed in reading that I didn't make note of where I stopped at night. My bad.
Books read: 5 Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz and The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan.
Books completed: 4
Pages read: 2316
Challenges: You know, I had every intention...

I am really enjoying this readathon. I have made some huge progress! I have managed to chop 4.5 books from my TBR pile, put another series on my 'recommend to my classes' mental list, missioned through Hades, fought giants and had a dangerous trip through Holmes's London. All in all, an exciting week!

Aren't these Heroes of Olympus covers gorgeous!

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

Never in my life have I ever got the plot of a story so wrong.

How on earth does one review a book without saying anything about the book? That is the problem that faces me now. You see, this was a great read. But, to really enjoy it, it is best going into it completely blind. So I am not going to say anything about the story. At all. So what else is there to talk about?

The cover is beautiful. It doesn't show in the picture. Firstly, it has that slightly oiled leather feel to it. Then there is the water, the bubbles rising clearly from the Reichenbach Falls. The font is gorgeous and lifted in a light-catching silver. It looks great on my shelf, gleaming at me, telling me that it is the first book that has ever so completely beaten me.

So how do you know whether you will enjoy this or not? If you enjoy the original Sherlock Holmes stories, if you enjoy deductively solving crimes, if you enjoy old British stories, then this could be the book for you. If you don't, well, then possibly it isn't.

I gave this a 4.5 star rating on Goodreads. It might be bumped up to a 5 star rating, but I am still processing parts.

There had better be another book.

Bout of Books Day 5

Whoops! I have been to busy reading (and enjoying the last few days of my holiday) to update! So here goes!

Books read: 5 Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz and The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan.
Books completed: 3
Pages read: 1912
Challenges: I didn't do them. I was too busy reading and loving it. (They looked awesome. Had I checked them, I would have done them! Nooooo!)

This readathon has really got me to get through the Heroes of Olympus series. I wanted to read it, mostly because I feel it is not right to recommend books to the kids I teach if I haven't actually read them myself (it helps me to nail it and get them reading). But I am actually enjoying them. They are fast, action packed and fun.

Bout of Books Day 1

Whoops! I am running a bit late on this.

As it is already into the wee hours of the am, I am going to keep this short and sweet.

Books read: 2 Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz and The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan.
Books completed: 0
Pages read: 206
Challenges: I didn't do them. :( Maybe tomorrow's? (Seriously! The world was coming to an end, disaster was striking! There wasn't time to do anything but read! The challenges were rather awesome though. I was really tempted - had it already not been the early hours hours of the morning.)

I must say that The Heroes of Olympus books are great for readathons. They are hard to put down and go super quick!

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Done and loving it!

Percy is back! Can you hear how thrilled I am? The story starts in the middle of the action, with Percy Jackson not knowing anything about himself except for his name. Sound familiar? It should after reading The Lost Hero. Anyway, I am not going into the synopsis at all on this one. It will, one way or another spoil book one if you happen to be part of the minority who haven't read it. All I will say is: action, action quest, action action action... while learning backstory on characters.

The new characters that were introduced were interesting. Hazel's backstory, in particular, was unexpected and intriguing. Although, having said that, Frank was an interesting mystery too.

Once again, I am going to say that these books would probably be very well suited to a younger reader. They have lots of general knowledge in them, are fast paced and I absolutely adore Riordan's sense of humour. . Having said that though, I found I was getting impatient for them to get on with their quest. All the detours along the way, while necessary to the plot, started to feel like detours. I suppose I felt that way because I am wanting to know what happens at the end of the series and not just curious about each book.

Over all, another enjoyable read.
Rating: 4 stars.

Bout of Books 12

It is probably a good idea to kick the new year into go by doing a readathon. I had great luck with the bout of books readathon last year, so I figure I would join it again this year!

I have no definite plans on what I am going to read yet, but I am going to get stuck into my TBR pile. I have tons of books there that I would like to read - in fact there are so many that I would like to read that I don't know where to start!

Actually, I know where I am going to start. I received Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz for Xmas, and I can't wait to read it. I thoroughly loved The House of Silk, Horowitz's first Holmes novel. Anthony Horowitz is a prolific writer, not only of books, but of screenplays for British TV too. He wrote Agatha Christie's Poirot, Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War to name a few. And then there are the Alex Rider books which I absolutely adored. (Don't watch the movie! Although Alex Pettyfer is great, the movie was written for a younger audience and the darkness of the books was not conveyed. What was absolutely disappointing was that these changes were a requirement to have the film distributed in America - something that eventually did not happen. The movie Horowitz wanted to make, and the movie I would have almost-killed to see, never happened. Such a disappointment as they had such an amazing cast... But I will leave the whining there.)

Chances are very good that I will try and finish the The Heroes of Olympus series. I have managed to get my hands on the second book, The Son of Neptune, and already have The Mark of Athena and The House of Hades. That will clear some books from my TBR pile.

Well, I do not know how far I will get during the readathon, but as I am still on holiday, there is a good chance I will have a successful week. On the other hand, I was supposed to plan and build my new ceiling-to-floor, wall-to-wall bookcase!!! Hmmm.... Choices choices.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

OK, hands up. Who hasn't read the Heroes of Olympus series yet? Yeah, I didn't think there would be many.

The series following the Percy Jackson books began with a bang. Three new demigods: Jason, Piper and Leo got right into the action right from the get go. And we learnt one thing (well, actually, we learnt a lot of things, but it was the only thing I cared to remember) - Percy Jackson was missing. And then the trouble began. Trouble worse than before - and that says something. Oh, and did I mention that one of the heroes has no idea who he is? Yip! Complete amnesia. But he is definitely a guy you would want in a fight.

This is a tough one to judge because I am getting to the point where I feel I am a little old for this. Having said that though, I think this book reaches it demographic market perfectly. It is action packed and humorous. I also feel that these books (including the Percy Jackson series) provide a fun way to learn some general knowledge of mythology. Sure beats reading an encyclopedia when you are in your early teens.

But there was something that didn't feel right about this book. It took me a while to realise that I missed the first person narration of Percy (yes, I like Percy - although the new lot don't seem too bad either - but I am all about the Percy). He had a fun, quirky set of expressions and a delightful way of describing things. Also, each chapter focused on a different character, and I realised that I was missing the corny (yet highly appealing) chapter headings. Can something as small as that really be something worth complaining about? I am not sure. But I am putting it out there. I missed that.

I enjoyed the intrigue created around the new characters. Jason, especially, seems to be an interesting chap, and I would love to know more about his past. Leo is lovable. My jury is still out on Piper. There were parts of her that I really enjoyed but the whole super beauty thing ... meh. I get it. Girls would like to be beautiful because we are judged on looks (sucks but it is true) but ... meh. I will see how her character develops in the later books. Until then, I will withhold my judgement as Riordan has given us one super brainy girl (Annabeth) and one kickass gal (Thalia).

The Lost Hero is a good start to what is clearly going to be a rather epic adventure for the demigods. Although I am not as into this series as I would have been twenty years ago, I will definitely be continuing it. As if that ending was not to going to accomplish that! Now I just need to wait for my bookshop to get a copy of The Son of Neptune.

Rating: 4 stars (because I think it hits it market well - even if I am not a part of that market)

2015 Goals and Plans

Happy New Year everyone!

A new year always brings new plans and goals. Who am I to argue with tradition? So here is mine.

The BIG plan

I have one and only one plan for 2015. Get another job. I am keeping it short, sweet and simple so as to not divert any energy into any other less important plans. This is the year where I kiss my current place of employment goodbye and find one that has humane expectations. So. Just to make sure it is clear, I will be getting a new job. Got that universe!?

Now onto the reading goals - because this is my reading blog.

1) Read 30 books.

I like to start off reasonably. While in my head I would like to aim for something closer to 100 books, that is not feasible with my current work load. When the BIG Plan comes through, maybe it will become a possibility. But for now, 30 it is.

2) Review every book I read.

This is pretty self explanatory. I am not bad with this on Goodreads, but I am rather dreadful on my blog. I am going to try and rectify that this year.

3) Start a booktube channel.

Another one that doesn't need much explaining. I have been watching booktube for many, many months, constantly thinking about what I would do or say. It is about time I got off my backside and actually made it happen. It isn't as though I have to carry on with it if I don't enjoy it.

ETA 4) Try the Alphabet Reading Challenge again

This one does not really require completion. I like having the A-Z list on my door and trying to fill in the blank spaces. I will be happy if, as with 2014, I have 4 letters not achieved.

And that is it. Initially I was going to have a ton of goals for my reading: read so many classics, read books written by South Africans, read books that have been given awards, read more diversely... But my TBR pile is full of that already, so if I just continue moving though it, then that will be accomplished already - without adding the pressure of making it a goal. At the moment, reading is for FUN and I plan on keeping it that way.

I hope 2015 brings everyone health, wealth and everything 'ealth'!

Toodles!