Posts Tagged ‘books’

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

{ March 21, 2010 @ 3:56 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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I just completed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for my book club, and it was fantastic. I started the book probably a week and a half ago, but have been reluctant to put it down to do much of anything. The thriller follows an investigative journalist named Mikael Blomkvist through his highs, lows, and year long search for a murderer. The title refers to the other main character in the book, Lisbeth Salander, a personal investigator. Their lives intertwine throughout the novel by Stieg Larsson as they try to solve the mysteries of the wealthy Swedish Vanger family.

Mr. Larsson is Swedish and wrote all three books in this trilogy before his untimely passing in 2004. I eagerly await reading The Girl Who Played With Fire next. If it reads with as many twists, intrigues, or is half as compelling as the first book, I will be perfectly happy. While the translation of these novels definitely leaves something left to be desired, it does not take away from the novel itself and reads quickly despite its 590 pages.

The book deals with a lot of dark concepts, so if you are easily disturbed this probably isn’t the book for you. I’m easily scared but still liked it though.

An Aventura

{ January 25, 2010 @ 5:44 pm } · { Life Update }
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Bad pun intended, but we did some exploring this weekend.

Friday night we enjoyed a night out at the Grove together, with stops at Mr. Moe’s for $2.50 well drinks during happy hour and then continued to Chili’s for dinner. We tried to watch 30 Rock when we got home, but Cameron fell asleep during it for the second week in a row.

Saturday, we wanted to go to the beach. The forecast looked perfect for a trek to Surfside, where Cameron’s classmate Phil lives. As we crossed the bridge to the island, the clouds came over us. My heart sunk a little because I knew what was next- rain. It did not pour, but it did rain off and on the entire day. We explored Surfside, which is a largely Jewish community. We walked around on the beach and through the town. There are high-rises right along the beach, and almost all the condos have an ocean view. They have beach chairs for the condos and most the places have pools too. They are building a St. Regis hotel there too, so all in all not a bad place to live! We ate Greek food for lunch, and a 2nd year student from the watchmaking school was our waitress! We went out to Aventura after lunch to possibly see Avatar and look around the shops. Aventura’s mall is incredible! It has almost all the stores I enjoy. They had Avatar on Imax there, but it wasn’t for about 3 more hours, so we opted to head back and watch a Blu-Ray DVD and see Avatar Sunday instead.

On Sunday, we met my great uncles and great-aunt for lunch in Hollywood, FL. They were in Boca Raton for the weekend to visit some friends of theirs and wanted to see us. It was a delightful lunch and I enjoyed seeing them for the first time since July. Next was some more exploration around Bal Harbor, and we went to a mall with giant diamonds and fancy watch stores. I wandered into stores I could not afford and enjoyed the window shopping while the boys looked at watches.

Then I stumbled upon a place called Books & Books. Books & Books is a privately owned book shop with four locations. Authors visit to speak and sign copies of their books, they have cafes and wine bars inside, and since it is privately owned, the book selection is more impressive. The one in Bal Harbor is not enormous, but it is a book store I could get lost in for hours! In my browsing, I found two signed copies of books I wanted to read. Nick Hornby, one of my favorite authors, came out with a book I wanted to read for a while now, but I did not see it at my old library or purchase it at a store. Then yesterday, there it was,Juilet, Naked, signed and waiting for me!  The other book I picked up was Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Since I enjoyed her first novel so much, I knew the second would be a great read and she signed it too. Now I can try to fill out the book shelves in our living room!

We finally saw Avatar on Imax 3D! Even though it is basically the story in Ferngully, I think everyone should see it for the stunning visual effects. The land was so fantastical and the plot kept you intrigued so that 3 hours felt like 30 minutes. If you choose to see it, which you should, make sure to see it in 3D.