The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Good morning, fellow readers.  My husband just left to go fishing for the day so I have hours of uninterrupted reading ahead of me.  It's starting to get busy around this seaside area so I've been biking to the beach in the morning and staying until it gets too crowded around noon.  I'm not a normal beachgoer.  I usually just wear my clothes and sit and write a letter and read.  There is something about the waves that is like a magnet to me.  I find it so peaceful and relaxing to be there.

I finished this book a couple days ago and enjoyed my couple of weeks with these characters.  I know there won't be any more in the series because the author died before publication so my reading was bittersweet. 

Of the three I think my favorite is the middle book because it focuses more on Lizbeth Salander than on Mikael Bloomqvist but I still really like all three.  This last one has just a tiny bit more politics than I care for but the trial scene is excellent.

The only thing that might put people off about this series is the hard-to-pronounce Sweedish names.  I think he mentions every street in Stockholm!  And many of the characters have similar names and that gets a little confusing.  For example, there is a Holm and a Malm and lots of Bs: Berger, Blomqvist, Bjork, Bjurman, etc.  Then there is Neimenen and Neiderman.

But those quibbles are minor.  Overall, a great series with believable characters and a sophisticated plot.

Now, time for me to get dressed and head to the beach!

Red Sox Game

This is part of the reason why I'm still reading the same book!  Our son treated us to a game at Fenway for our 39th anniversary.  We took Amtrak out of Saco into Boston.  It was my husband's first time on a train.  And it was his first live major league baseball game, too.  We had great seats and loads of junk food and fun.

I actually took my Kindle with me and mananged to read a bit on the train but that was it.

This week I plan on making it to the beach a couple times and I always read there so, hopefully, will finish The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  I'm over half way, now.

Have a great reading week!

Plugging Away

Another rainy Sunday here in New England.  We're at camp but will be heading home this afternoon for three more days of school before summer vacation begins.  Can't wait!

I'm still reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and enjoying it.  It's a long book and I'm only 29% of the way through.  Seems like it's taking me forever.

I'm liking it, though.  Lisbeth Salander is in the hospital recovering from bullet wounds and Michael Blomqvist is doing everything he can to keep her out of jail and prove her innocence.

This is the third novel in the trilogy and I'm glad it's taking so long to read because I'll miss these characters when I'm done.  So, I'll continue poking along savoring every minute.

I won't have much time for pleasure reading today, though, because I have to read and correct 30 journal writing projects.  Each one contains 12 poems written by my kids.  So, I guess I'd better get my you-know-what in gear and begin.

Happy reading! 

The Horse Boy

My friend Regina recommended this book and I'm so glad she did. It was amazing what this dad was determined to do to heal his son. Rowan suffers from severe autism. The only times he seemed to come out of it were when he was near horses and one time when he met with a shaman. With this in mind, his father decides to take him to Mongolia where they will ride horses deep into Siberia to meet with shamens.


Their tale is filled with humor, trials, mytical events, and lots of poop. It had me cheering.

Bronx Masquerade & Eat Right for your Type

This book was recommended as a book that our whole school could read next year.  So, I figured I'd better check it out.  And I'm so glad I did.  This book tells the story of an English class that is studying the Harlem Renaissance and they decide to write their own poems and present them to the rest of the class on Open Mike Fridays.

I like the way the book is arranged.  Each student speaks in prose, first, and that is followed by a poem reflecting his or her emotions.  The poems are approachable but still contain lots of nice poetic devices.  

And the stoies these kids have to tell are heartbreaking and joyous at the same time.  I'm not sure it would work in our school setting just because many of our teachers and kids are not fans of poetry and might not buy into this idea.  As far as I'm concerned, though, it's right up my alley.

I've seen Eat Right 4 Your Type around for years and even glanced through it a couple times but just recently heard good things about it from several different sources so decided to download it. 

The author describes the four different blood types in a very easy-to-understand way and even I understood it, science being not my best subject!  I actually found it fascinating.  I've been plagued with excess phlegm in my throat and heard that dairy might be causing it so several months ago I cut out milk but continued with other dairy products like cheese and sour cream.  My phlegm issues did get a bit better so I am convinced that diet can solve it.

I have type O blood and sure enough, dairy is not recommended nor is wheat.  Now, I wasn't very happy reading that since I love homemade whole wheat bread.  Can I live wheat-free?

The author explains how all men and women were type O originally.  They were hunter/gatherers so their digestive system was designed to efficiently process meats and vegetables and fruits.  O's have very acidic stomachs for this purpose.  There was no bread.

Over time, as men moved and started living in communities, they began farming and wheat was one of the products.  Eventually, a new blood type started to show up in these people and that was type A.  Over thousands of years and the industrial revolution, etc. two more blood types emerged: B and AB. 

Each blood type has its own unique digestive system and it's important to eat foods that agree with it.  Since I'm part of the Cro Magnon clan, I've got to eat like a wild hunter/gatherer.   Maybe!  I'm going to try for a couple weeks to see if I can see a difference.  One thing I've noticed so far, and I've only been doing this for a few days, is that I don't feel bloated and my scale says I've lost a couple pounds.  Anyway, we'll see.

Going Bovine

It's very foggy here along the southern Maine coast this morning.  I managed to ride my bike to the beach yesterday for about an hour and a half.  There was quite a cool breeze, though, coming off the water.  It was beautiful, anyway.  When I got back to the campground, my friend, Regina, came for a visit and brought me two books of poetry by Annie Finch.  Later our son and his girlfriend arrived and we enjoyed a pleasant evening by the fire.

This book is a riot!  It centers around a sixteen-year-old weed-smoking underachiever.  Cameron is just floating through his days like a helium balloon doing poorly in school, acting like an outcast, and generally being miserable.  Then he begins to experience tingling in his arms and legs and ends up at the doctor's being diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease.  He has only a short time to live and embarks on a journey with his reluctant friend, Gonzo.

Now you are probably wondering how a book with such a serious topic could be funny but it really is.  They get themselves into such ridiclous situations and seeing everything through Cameron's jaded eyes puts a unique spin on the world.

And I like the message: sometimes it takes dying to learn how to live.

Well, the fog is starting to lift a bit and the company will be stirring soon so I guess I'd better read for a bit now.  Have a productive week!

Robin and Ruby

We're at camp and the sun is shining through the oak and pine trees.  I rode my bike to the beach yesterday afternoon and read for an hour or so and it was wonderfully peaceful.  I hope to do the same today.

This was a free download from Amazon and I was a bit apprehensive about what kind of book it'd be but it turned out okay.  Different, though!  Robin and Ruby are siblings.  Robin is gay and Ruby is defiant.  It follows them during a weekend at the Jersey shore.  Ruby has disappeared and Robin and his friend George are trying to find her. 

This book contains quite explicit sex scenes.  In fact I was reading it at school during Silent Reading and was embarrassed even though the kids didn't know what I was reading.

The plot was a little slow but the writing was surprisingly good with lots of nice similes and metaphors, etc.

We're going to have breakfast outside on the picnic table in the sun.  Have a good week!