Bonus Book #2: The Girl Who Played With Fire

Ummm...so...a mere, what, three days later, I finished book number two.


I'm already dreading the end of book number three because, well, there isn't a book number four. And that makes me sad.

I think I read this one faster than the first one.

And I've come to the same conclusions. Read it if you haven't. And I'll probably read it again at some point in my life.

The only thing that bugs me a little was the violence, but it was definitely central to the book and the plot, so it wasn't that bad.

And now it's late. And I can't think of what else to write. And I'm definitely going to have strange dreams.

Have you read any of these books?

(Yay for July - I tripled my goal!)

EDIT: photo added 05/08/10

Bonus Book: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I did it...somehow this month I managed to read more than one book! It might have had something to do with being on vacation. It might also have had something to do with staying up a little later that I should have reading. And just maybe it had something to do with this book being extremely hard to put down.



I'm already a fair way into The Girl Who Played With Fire and I'm wishing the author didn't die before he finished the series. I have no idea what's going to happen over the course of the next two books, but already I'm sensing that I'm going to be disappointed that there is NO MORE.

Crime novels tend to be my quick reads. I really enjoy Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell and pretty much any other random crime book my dad is reading. I loved that even though this book was in translation, I didn't feel like it was.

I'm not sure what grabbed me about this book, but I certainly recommend it...just like every single person I've talked to who has also read it.

(In some strange way this reminds me of Harry Potter - it has a huge following, lots of "non-readers" are reading it and I think I could probably reread it even though I know exactly what's going to happen at the end.)

EDIT: photo added 05/08/10

One Year To An Organized Life

I finished July's book last week. It had to go back to the library (someone else had a hold on it), so there was some panic reading it. And now I don't have it in front of me to reference, so I'm going to wing it.


This month's book was One Year To An Organized Life by Regina Leeds. I saw it in Chapters one day a couple of months ago and thought I'd check it out. I'm not totally disorganized right now, but I don't feel like I'm as organized as I'd like to be. I'd been sort of dabbling with the whole FlyLady thing, but I didn't really feel it was working for me.

I liked parts of this book.

It put a strong emphasis on journaling and some of the questions seemed so relevant. The big one that hit me was a two parter - did my house always feel this disorganized and if not, how did it get this way. And then she tells you not to beat yourself up about it, but instead do something about it.

I thought about her questions, but I didn't do much journaling (maybe because I was reading 12 months worth of organizing tips, strategies and skills in three weeks). As I was reading, I kept asking myself, do I need to buy this book? I loved how it was broken down by month and then by week. Even the huge tasks seemed less daunting (although, again because of the library thing, I didn't really put anything into practice).

There were a few things that drove me nuts.

One was the constant references to The Container Store (which we don't have in Canada) just because I felt like she was saying there was no where else to buy boxes/containers/organizing equipment. The colour coding of the closet seemed a little over the top to me. And I guess that's where you let your own judgment take over. I group my clothing either by type (all sweatshirts together, all blouses together etc) or by outfit. Looking at a rainbow in the morning would not help me get ready faster.

So. Would I recommend this book? Yes. I think I would. It motivated me to get moving on some things I was procrastinating on. I think I got some good tips. Would I buy it? Maybe. It depends on how often I find myself wishing I could refer to something in that book in the next little while.

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?