The Lost Symbol

This is my third Dan Brown book. I had previously read the other two Langdon books. I rather enjoyed Angels and Demons. I thought The Da Vinci Code was okay. This book was pretty much terrible. I know other people will argue with me about it, but it was awful.

 

Let me give you the gist of this plot (without spoilers). It’s going to be VERY familiar. Langdon is basically summoned to a city, he has to figure out the code in order to save people’s lives, he faces adversity, and in the end he saves the day.

 

While on this journey, he meets a few people. He meets the crazy person attempting to murder some people. He meets a girl who he has a semi-romantic relationship with. He meets a cop that you feel is a bad cop, but is really a good cop. Plus, a few other generic Brown characters.

 

The whole book is a recycle or mad libs of his other books. I swear, he has a computer program that generates story lines based on his inserting a few words, new character names and descriptions writes the book for him. Seriously. And I know what you are thinking: but you didn’t rip Sophie Kinsella a new one for having a similar story line to all her books.

 

That’s true. I don’t expect a lot from a chick lit author. I don’t expect brilliance. Chick lit authors (and I say this with complete respect because I read them [obviously]) write books so that girls can take them to the beach, or on the subway, or on a road trip, or to her parents house for the weekend and read mindlessness. Seriously. They are not supposed to be thought provoking. They are intended to make us laugh, smile, cry, sympathize, thank the Universe that our lives aren’t that messy. They are not supposed to be written by literary genius with the purpose of making us think about something larger.

 

You may even argue that Dan Brown writes the exact same kind of book but with men in mind. Sure. I can see it. I can give him props IF (and only if) he intended this book to be man lit. I didn’t say man lit anywhere so if I am wrong please correct me.

 

Either way, I was largely disappointed. I figured out the two big secrets on page 100. I’m sure my 18 month old niece could as well. The ultimate lost symbol was ridiculous. I feel it was a complete cop out. And basically, I had a horrible sense of déjà vu.

 

Grade: D (Dreadful)

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest

I picked up this version (the British version) of the book because it was the only one I could find at the bookstore I was in and I was desperate to keep reading the trilogy.

 

This book picks up exactly where the last book left off. I mean really, same day, a few moments later. It’s not so much action packed in the beginning as in the end.

 

Towards the middle of the book the pace picks up to lightening speed and it is hard to put down. The trial scene is VERY different than what you would expect in an American court.

 

Overall, aside from the problems I mentioned in The Girl Who Played with Fire and Larsson’s writing style; the book is very good. There are some open ended questions left. BUT there are some satisfying endings to the characters you hate. Not so much for the good guys I’m sad to say.

 

Grade: A (Acceptable)

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Over the break, (Working at a college affords me the luxury of having 2 weeks off over the Christmas holidays.) I managed to finish the whole Millennium Trilogy.

 

This book is jam packed. It’s slow in the beginning, but picks up pace. I sped through it and made a mad dash to the bookstore to get the next book.

 

The story follows Lisbeth and Mikael again. This time, however, it’s Lisbeth who is in deep trouble. And the ending completely leaves you hanging. It’s a thrill ride the last 100 pages or so.

 

Overall, this book is great. I do have some issues with the way Larsson writes though. I don’t like the way when a new character is introduced we get their ENTIRE back story in like 3 really long paragraphs. I wish he would have followed the cardinal writing rule of “Show – Don’t Tell.”

 

Nonetheless, Larsson captivates again with his wonderful vibrant characters and their ambiguous and interesting lives.

 

PS. Does everyone in Sweden have sex like rabbits and with random people?

 

Grade: E (Exceeds Expectations) 

East of the Sun

I adore all things India, having spent a summer there in college. I fell in love with the whole country. Thus, whenever I get a chance to escape into India via literature (since the real thing is too expensive right now) I do.

 

I was nervous that the book wouldn’t capture India correctly (some books don’t catch the small details that make the experience false for me). However, Gregson completely caught EVERY small India detail that I could remember.

 

East of the Sun is historical fiction. The action is set in the 1920’s and deals with the movement of women who would head over to India to find husbands. In the end, the book talks not just about what it meant to be a woman in the 20’s or India. It covers so many topics. There are 3 main heroines: Viva (the misunderstood and introspective writer), Rose (the blushing and beautiful bride to be), and Tor (the heartbreakingly insecure and love hungry seeker of a husband). There are also several other main characters: Jack (Rose’s husband), Frank (Viva’s love interest), Guy (a enigmatic character), Ci (the bitchy rich lady), and Daisy (the chronic do-gooder).

 

The story is rich with detail. Most characters feel completely three dimensional. Some characters (like Guy) feel almost like an afterthought. The setting is vivid. The storyline is mostly believable. The ending, the bit about Guy, some of the other details feel contrived. They feel like they were tacked on for length or were shortened to save space. Either way, the story doesn’t suffer from these things.

 

My only problem with this book is the ending. I feel like she finally just ended the book to be done with it. Good endings are ridiculously hard and I find most endings don’t work for me. Oh well.

 

Grade: A to E (Acceptable to Exceeds Expectations)

These Is My Words

My book club picked this book to read for the month. I drug my feet reading it. I’m not a huge fan of pioneer books. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Little House series either. So, I really didn’t want to read this book. My husband and gal pal read it and they loved it. So, I tentatively picked it up. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it.

 

I started it. It was agonizingly slow. The first 127 pages are pretty slow and pioneer-y. I wasn’t impressed or thrilled. And then, her husband died and the book picked up. It became an obsession then. The love story rivals all the other guilty pleasure couples (the Darcy’s, Edward and Bella, Jane and Rochester) in literature. It’s quite as delicious.

 

I loved the book up to the last few pages. Then, I cried like a baby. There is no happy ending to be found in this book. However, the book is worth a read. It seems to be universally appealing to males and females since it was evenly liked at our book club.

 

Grade: E (Exceeds Expectations)

One Flew Over the Cuckcoo’s Nest

My husband decided after he read this book that I should as well. I debated on actually posting a review about this particular book. Lots of people have read it. It’s a classic. I came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t review this book in the major sense of the word review. I would just leave some parting comments and give it a grade.

 

I rather liked this book. I was afraid that I would hate it starting out, but as the book progressed I became engrossed in the characters, the plot and wanted to know where the story was heading. That said, I also feel like the ending is a bit of a cop out. More like Kesey got tired of writing the book, ended it.  And said enough. Either way it was a pretty good book.

 

Grade: E (Exceeds Expectations)

Twenties Girl

I received this book from a friend for my birthday back in June. I didn’t have a chance to read it until recently. May through October was crazy for me. So, I picked it up last week and sped through it.

As with all Kinsella novels, you expect a ditzy (but trying and relatable character) female lead who overcomes the obstacles she places in her own path. There is as always a guy (or two guys) and a parallel love story that ends like you would expect.

However, there is a twist to this story that makes the book so readable, hysterical, and well tear worthy. I did cry at the end of this book. I’ll admit it. Twenties Girl is a book that is haunted. And the ghost, Sadie, makes this whole book so incrediblely different in some ways from all the other Kinsella novels I have read.

This book also has some wonderful quotes that will make you LOL.

Grade: E (Exceeds Expectations)