The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stig Larsson

Started: March 17, 2012
Finished: March 23, 2012
Pages: 602

I was looking for some fiction, so I stopped by the library and found this.  I've read Dragon Tattoo and Played with Fire, but waited a long time to read this final novel because the publisher refused to put out the paperback version.  Well, fooled them.  I can't remember how I read the first one, I bought the second,  and would have bought the 3rd in paperback....but instead waited until it was easily available at the library.  That's how I read most mysteries:  they're consumables, and as such as not worth purchasing.  Sara Paretsky is almost the only author I regularly buy, and that's mostly because I like her books and political attitude and want to support her.

At any rate, on to the book itself. I won't call it predictable, but it is very similar to the first two.  Blomqvist brilliantly pursues a story while Lisbeth proves herself super-heroic.  Corruption is uncovered, evil-doers are punished.  Gripping writing makes it hard to put down.  The end.

It's too bad Larsson didn't get a chance to write more....but only because I'm curious as to what Lisbeth would have chosen to do with her $2.3 billion after she finished slaying dragons.

Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott

Started: March 3
Stopped: March 17.  Due back at the library.
Pages: 253

Fierce Conversations is a business/self-help book that was recommended to me by a coworker.  I can see why she liked it.  The book is about how to have necessary, potentially difficult, and even transformative conversations at home, or in your work life.

I'm struggling a bit to finish it though.  How to have those kinds of conversations isn't a top-of-the-mind issue for me right now so I don't feel committed to doing the work needed to get the most out of the book.   I'm still deciding whether to continue skimming to get an overview of the message, or to abort and pick it up again when the issue feels more urgent to me.

Update:  I finished about 1/3 of the book before the library wanted it back.

After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

Started: March 9
Finished: March 14
Pages: 342

So your parents are superheroes.....without having superpowers yourself, all that seems to get you is a permanent front row seat for the kidnapping plans of the less-brilliant members of the local criminal class. At least that's the premise of After the golden age, which follows the adventures of the accountant daughter of renowned crime fighters.

Unfortunately, the summary is better than the book.  Okay, just to be clear, my summary may not be better than the book, but After the golden age doesn't live up to it's potential.  It's not a bad read, it just could have been better.

If you want a truly funny satire, read Heroics for Beginners by John Moore.  Even modern adventure fiction will never be the same again afterwards.

Memory's Daughter by Alice Major

Started: Feb. 24
Finished: March 26
Pages: 134

I don't read much poetry.  When I do, I usually pick modern Canadian poets, and I buy their books.  Somebody should: poets need the encouragement.

There's also a practical rationale.  I read poetry very very slowly.  Memory's Daughter has only 134 pages, and perhaps 100 poems but I started it weeks ago and I'm only on page 64.  There's just so much compressed onto every sparsely printed page.  The first poem, "Baucis and Philemon" runs for 6 brief stanzas over 2 pages, but comprises a novel's worth of beauty and tragedy.

I finally finished over a month after starting.  There are in fact several novel's worth's of emotion and observation compressed into these poems.    Recommended.

Black Moth by Georgette Heyer

I've read all of Georgette Heyer's romances several times....or so I thought.  But when I started rereading The Black Moth on Sunday I realized that I've only read this one once before.  So reading it again now is almost as good as discovering a new one.

Started: 4 March 2012
Finished: 6 March 2012
Pages: 326

Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer

I was going to say, "Georgette Heyer's romances are second to none", but I don't actually know that.  I've never read any others, unless you count the Harlequin romances my sister used to leave lying around the house.  And I only read the last 3 pages of those to get the peculiar experience of reading the exact same ending with different character names, over and over again.

So Georgette Heyer is my expectation of a romance:  witty,  well-written, and with plots of extreme implausiblity but high entertainment value.  Jane Austen light, with a bit of madcap adventure thrown in for leavening.

Her mysteries don't live up to that standard.....but I've read all of the romances, and almost all of the historical novels!  And they're solid, readable British country-house mysteries of a certain era.  Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours of relaxation.

Started Feb. 27
Finished Feb. 28th
Pages: 347