The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

After reviewing my blog for the first time in a month or so, I am shocked to find...yes, that's right! My last post was a month or so ago! Unfortunately after having extensive surgery, recovering (still getting there) and catching up with school work, I haven't had time to look at Ex Libris. Fortunately, however, I did get sufficient time to read.

I read at least half a dozen books but I'll review the one I read last.

I'd heard all the rave reviews about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and then all the hype with the movie, but had never paid much attention to it all. Until my aunty fervently recommended the trilogy to me, to which I responded by buying the trilogy, storing them away for when I was in hospital.

I admit, the book wasn't what I was expecting. From the praise, I thought it was some kind of epic chronicle. Instead I realise the world-wide popularity of the book probably stemmed from its focus on sexual violence against women. One of the main protagonists, Lisbeth Salander, an introverted and talented hacker is enigmatic and I found most of the drive to finish book was to find out more about her obscure character and past. Of which, remains in all its obscurity even at the end of the book (bring on the next two books!). However, not only are all the characters highly believable and complex, I also found that those two attributes can be applied to the plot itself. Basically, Swedish journalist Mikael Blomkist is given the task of uncovering the the truth about the disappearance and possible murder of Harriet Vanger. He then enlists the help of Lisbeth Salander. Even when the entire mystery is unravelled, it is almost impossible to have guessed it yet it is still tangible enough to make absolute sense. The storyline flows well, except the first few chapters seem to make the assumption that the reader knows exactly what's going on and then the narrative hurriedly fills in the blanks after seemingly realising its mistake. But overall the novel was intellectually satisfying and thrilling and it seems that the next two may surpass the first.

Inkdeath

Once again I have delayed posts for a bit. *shakes fist at homework*

But I have gotten time to read Inkdeath, the third book in the Inkheart trilogy by German author Cornelia Funke. I've been waiting a long time to read this book after having absoluely adored the first book. The series features a bookbinder and his daughter, Mortimer (Mo and Maggie). They both have a deep love of books, but Mo has a peculiar ability. When he reads out loud, whatever he is reading comes out of the book! But whenever something comes out, something must go in. When Maggie is young, Mo is reading out loud a book, Inkheart, to his daughter and wife, suddenly, a fire breather, Dustfinger, and the evil Capricorn, come out of the book, and Mo's wife goes in. Brilliant story about the pitfalls of reading!

House Rules and Megatokyo

Many apologies for quite a delay in posting. I've recently returned to the realm of the living, after having looked like "death warmed up" (though my dad didn't think I looked that good).

I've read a few books since my last post, one of them being House Rules, Jodi Picoult's most recent book (you'd have to be living underneath a large, illiterate rock to not know who she is, does My Sister's Keeper sound familiar?). I actually got the book for my mum's birthday but she let me read it after her (a foolproof plan...). In a nutshell, main character Jacob Hunt has Aspergers, which makes up the more higher functioning spectrum of autism. Usually people with Aspergers have an interest or focal point bordering on obsessive, in Jacob's case, forensics. After his mentor is found dead, Jacob is questioned and of course, with all the traits such as nervous ticks, not meeting people's eyes, and being painfully literal, all the evidence points to him.

I've read several of Jodi Picoult's books, but this tops them. She's obviously done a huge amount of research into all aspects of the novel and orchestrated the whole plot flawlessly. Especially as autism is an area of interest for me, unfortunately there are those who don't (or won't) understand how this peculiar condition can alter your perception of the world. Also, enter the interesting character of Theo Hunt, Jacob's younger brother. Theo offers a bit of insight into the love/hate relationship of living with an older brother you constantly have to look out for.

On a less serious note! I also read two manga novels. Manga is the Japanese style graphic novel (though this one was written by an American), generally characterised by the big-eyes thing (also in Anime).

I find that whenever I tell someone I like/read manga, they either give me a rather blank expression, or they regard me with a degree of suspicion, or a bit of both...

These graphic novels were volume 4 and 5 of Megtokyo. The plot follows two friends, Largo (serious gamer) and Piro (manga/anime fan), who travel to Japan on a whim and get stranded there with no money. Megatokyo originally started out as an online comic with individual comics being updated daily, but all the comics were combined and turned into 5 graphic novels. The entire series is very entertaining and I would even find myself occasionally showing my family members some of the funnier parts (which is brave because half of my family are the blank expression people and the other half are the suspicous ones). I also really enjoyed the fact that Megatokyo has a great deal of character development in it. A cracking good read!

I really must post faster than I read...

Ex Libris indeed

Just a small random note about the title of this blog! A friend recently asked me what Ex Libris actually meant. Ex Libris is a Latin term meaning "from the books..." or literally, "from the library...". The phrase is used in book plates to show whose book it is.

Finished the book!

I finished Into White Silence a couple of days ago, but had not the time to post the fact. I have never been haunted by a book quite to the extent of this one.
I finished it in the evening, and found that I had trouble falling asleep afterwards. Eaton comments in the book somewhere that the diary itself would make the novel, and he is right; the diary's writer, Lieut. Downes describes his situation with unfailing accuracy and depth. His later entries, during the last fews days of being stuck in an ice pack, describe the thin line between insanity and blind ambition. One of the most disturbing entries includes when he and the remaining crew members find their dead doctor's grave uncovered:

Several men have suggested that the culprits must be the dogs...the alternative being too ghastly to contemplate - the fact is that we have not heard any howling for some days now and I suspect that our animals are now long gone, or dead, and our grave robber is a far more human creature...

The narrative is unflinching; interjected only by a running commentary by the author detailing his research of the characters and how he discovered the journal (by accident!).
I'd recommend this novel to anyone interested in lost pasts...

1st book

Since it is school holidays, the time presents an excellent opportunity to catch up with the reading I was meant to do during the term.

I've just started a new novel called Into White Silence by Australian author Anthony Eaton, which was short-listed for the CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers. I saw Anthony speak at the 2008 Adelaide Writers' Festival; he proved to be a charismatic and very entertaining speaker.

The novel is based on the diary of Lieutenant William Downes, who was one of the members of the ill-fated 1922 expedition aboard the Raven, which became trapped in an Antarctic ice pack.

I'll update when I finish! Watch this space!

After much contemplation, I have decided to create this blog and share it with many (unfortunate and unwilling) people.

I hope that I can attract other book enthusiasts and maybe encourage some more into existence *insert evil dictator laugh here* ;D

But don't worry too much, if you dislike books or reading or just stories in general, just click Esc and hopefully you'll forget about your close encounter with the bibliomaniac kind.

Note: Always keep a dictionary handy when navigating this blog (and maybe a Latin-English dictionary in the rare event of a Latin splurge...)