Holocaust by Bullets

While many of us have knowledge of the Death Camps and Work Camps of World War II where millions of Jews, Gypsies, Prisoners of War and others were brutally treated and murdered, the fate of nearly 1.5 million Soviet Jews at the hands of the Einsatzgruppen is not nearly as well known or documented.

Haunted by his grandfather Claudius's stories, Roman Catholic priest Father Patrick Debois began an effort to document the killing grounds of the men, women and children who died at the hands of murderous gun-toting men.  Debois wanted to make known the graves of the victims to provide some sanctity for their senseless deaths.

Using previously unreleased documents from the former Soviet Republics, metal detectors and survivor and witness testimonies, Desbois and his team were able to determine the final resting places of many.  This book is a haunting reminder of the mass destruction of lives, communities and a people.

Mockingjay

The Hunger Games.  A post apocalyptic world that has been created by The District needs to be saved.  Katniss and friends have been enlisted by the rebels to help free the districts and bring about peace.

Instead of being the final installment of an intensely exciting duo of novels, what follows is a diatribe of war.  Not only did this novel feel far above the interest and knowledge level of the teens it was intended, but also strayed from the originally characterizations Collins created.  Katniss became a parody of herself.  No longer the strong-willed young lady, but more a pawn of the rebels.  Ironic, considering she fought so hard to not be a pawn of The District.

I found the love triangle to be tiresome.  I don't mind teenage romance.  I survived all 4 novels in the Twilight Saga.  But, the triangle here just did not work.

All in all, I was very disappointed with Suzanne Collins final novel in The Hunger Games trilogy.

September 2010

3 words... Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Autumn can be summed up in 3 beautiful Starbucks laced words... Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Nothing goes better with a latte than a good book.  September also brings the exciting release of the third book in The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay.  So many of my students are excited about the release of this novel that I can't help but catch their enthusiasm.

94.  Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
95.  Holocaust by Bullets by Patrick Desbois
96.  Boom!  by Mark Haddon
97.  The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

There's a certain sadness knowing that once you reach the end of a trilogy you say good bye to the characters forever... unless you reread the books :o).  That's how I felt when I started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  I had grown to like and admire Lisbeth and wanted to see her have her "happily ever after".  The dramatic ending of the second book left me wondering if that ending would ever be possible.

The third book isn't as intense as the first two, but there are many heart-pounding moments.  Ms. Salander is as craft and clever as always.  Blomkvist actually begins to figure out just how she thinks and is able to provide capable assistance as she lies recovering in an Intensive Care Unit.  This melding of their minds is an exciting element to the story.

I was saddened to hear that the author, Stieg Larsson had passed away, as he originally planned for this to be a series of 10 books or so.  I am so curious as to what other adventures Lisbeth, and perhaps Mikael, would take.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

I was excited to read the middle book of the Millennium trilogy.  I had come to admire Lisbeth Salander and wanted to see what would happen next, and especially to discover what "All the Evil" was!

The beginning, so much different than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was so promising, if not a bit disturbing.  However, I am beginning to sense Larsson's writing pattern:  present a bunch of interesting plot elements and then dump in hundreds of red herrings to confuse the reader!  While part of me enjoys the twisting and turning plots, my analytical side gets frustrated because I cannot solve the mystery on my own.

I was disappointed that Salander and Blomkvist's relationship has fizzled out.  I truly enjoyed their interactions.  Again, I was astonished by the lengths that Lisbeth goes within her investigations.  She is one smart cookie!

Of course, I will be reading the final book in the trilogy... I'm a sucker for tying up loose ends.  Not only that, but once again, the ending is a cliff hanger!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

My third book club (yes, third!) chose this book for the month of August.  I was not thrilled.  I had started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo way back in February or March and abandoned it.  I'm not sure whether it was the Swedish name places or the extremely detailed and boring financial information, but I just could not slog through another page.  However, since I like to give things a fair shake, and I wanted to participate in a good discussion, I gave the tome another try!

This time, I managed to get through the first 180 or so tiresome pages.  What I found after that was as a fast-paced and thrilling novel.  The character of Lisbeth (excuse my French) is kick-ass!  She has a lot (I mean A LOT) of baggage, but that is part of what makes her character interesting.

I admit that a lot of the plot elements seemed like clues in a wild goose chase, or in mystery terminology, a slew of red herrings, but eventually Stieg Larsson made everything fit together.

Some of the words chosen for this translation of the story were quite strange.  I consider myself to have a pretty broad vocabulary, but I had to use the dictionary feature of my Kindle on many occasions.  Generally, by the conclusion of a novel, I am ready to say good bye to the characters.  Not so with Lisbeth Salander.  I am extremely eager to see where her next adventure leads her in the second book of the trilogy, especially with the cliff hanger of an ending!

August 2010

Ahhhhh... the sound of chalk on the chalkboard, aisles filled with notebooks, pens and crayons.  My favorite time of year -- back to school!  Although, this blog entry is being created well after the fact, because this time of year is so busy for me!  I went back to school, well teaching, in July, but August is a tremendously busy month.

This month's reading centered upon the third book club I'm a part of... the teacher book club!  The Girls with the Dragon Tattoo was chosen, much to my dismay, as I had abandoned the book in February.  But, this time I made it through the first third of the book and became riveted!  

91.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
92.  The Girl who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson
93.  The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larrson