I have slowed down a fair bit on the reading front. I only have a couple of books on the go as opposed to several like I have in the past. I am better luck keeping track of my reading, but the trade-off seems to be that I’m not reading near as much as I am used to. It is probably for the best as other things have been keeping me quite busy of late. In the past month, I did manage to finish one book and start another. I am still moving in a positive direction at the very least!
In my currently reading post last month, I shared I was reading book three of the Millennium Trilogy: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson.
I was an interesting read though I didn’t find it quite as exciting as book two of the trilogy. In this book, Lisbeth Salander is put on trial for attempted murder and Mikael Blomkvist is on a mission to have her be acquitted through published her history and some damning government evidence in his magazine, Millennium. The story has some interesting twists and turns, but I found that this novel did not move quite so quickly and it even stalled at a couple of points. Thankfully, it did pick up again after stalling. I still enjoyed it, just not quite as much as I did the second book, or even the second half of the first book for that matter. I did find it unfortunate that there was no follow-up with any of the characters after the events of the novel came to an end as I would have been very interested in learning how Lisbeth came to cope with no longer being declared incompetent and having to become a participating member of Swedish society. It was just one of the things I would have liked to know before the story came to an end. In writing that statement, I have decided that the ending left a little to be desired in that regard. I was left wanting more in the tying up of loose ends with the characters – especially Lisbeth and Mikael.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is the end of the Millennium Trilogy.
As a whole the trilogy was a pretty cool story about a very eccentric young woman and her history, as well as her connection to the other main character, journalist Mikael Blomkvist. They have an interesting, if slightly odd relationship and the entire trilogy plays off this. I have read mixed reviews of the trilogy, and in my own opinion, though they are not the best books I have ever read, they are still definitely worth the read.
After I finished Millennium #3, I quickly moved on to my next read: The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel.
This is the fifth book in a series I have been reading since I was in my teens. It has been going on for a very long time. The series is called the Earth’s Children series. The series follows a character named Ayla from her childhood as an orphan of ‘the Others’ adopted by the ‘Clan’ to her teen years when she was shunned by the same clan, to finding people of her own kind, falling in love and learning about and how to live with them and their unfamiliar customs. It is a very interesting historical fiction if you are interested in the last Ice Age and early humanity. I myself have a soft spot for histories, both fiction and non-fiction, of all sorts.
In Book 5, Ayla and her lover Jondalar have returned to his home with the people of the Zelandonii. Ayla meets his family and the other members of his cave, making some deep first impressions on many of the cave members with her skills and intelligence. The book tells of the challenges she faces in preparations to mate with Jondalar, for the birth of her child, and becoming accustomed to these new people.
At this point I am approximately two-thirds of the way through the book and it is definitely making for an intriguing read this month. It is quite a long book (almost 1000 pages) but as usual this isn’t an issue for me. The only problem I seem to run into is that I never seem to have enough time to read (or do everything I want to do for that matter!) since I have been working full-time. I guess I am still trying to find a balance.
I am sure you are all just assuming I have a book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series on the go. I do, and we will just keep it at that. I want to keep my memory fresh for when The Winds of Winter finally comes out!
My future reading plans are all up in the air. For the first time in a very long time I have no idea what I will be reading next. I think it might be time to make up a reading list! Happy reading, everyone!
Update: We spent last night going though our library and putting some books into storage that we don’t plan on reading for a long time. In the process I discovered some books I forgot I had! I think this will end up making reading a lot more enjoyable around here!
