The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson. A Review by Donna

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is the third book in Stieg Larsson’s enormously popular Millennium Trilogy. I didn't think this installment would eclipse The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire in my rather narrow minded affections, but I am now thrilled to admit I was wrong.

In this culmination of the series, we find our unlikely computer hacker heroine Lisbeth Salander slowly recovering from the life threatening wounds inflicted by her Russian defector father (one incredibly nasty dude) and her overgrown, mentally underdeveloped murdering half-brother. Salander is also under arrest for various crimes – and as we know, committed in self-defense.  However, conviction on all counts or at the very least, another long stint on the psych ward is guaranteed as long as dark forces are allowed to labor behind the scenes.

Throughout the book, the author deliberately and in great detail, shines an unrelenting light on these forces. In the process, the reader learns a whole lot about Swedish secret police, ongoing criminal investigations, cut throat politics and investigative publishing. Mr. Larsson is a master at making this dissection breathe life with rich, easy to digest explanations and characters that literally leap off the page. It should be noted that this English translation is  done so well, nary a seam is visible.

Of course, crusading journalist and busy ladies’ man Mikael Blomkvist is back and plays an important role in the defense of Salander. But this story, as well as The Girl Who Played with Fire, belongs totally to Lisbeth.

If you haven’t read the trilogy, you absolutely should. No, make that you absolutely must. If you haven’t seen the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, starring Michael Nyquist and Noomi Rapace, you should (must) do that too. Unfortunately, Mr. Larsson did not live to see the fruit of his efforts, but how lucky we are that he left such a brilliant legacy.

The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. A Review by Angie

Dinah’s life was a mere footnote in the Bible, as most of the story was devoted to the slaughter of her husband by her brothers in order to “avenge her honor”.  We are never told of Dinah’s life, until now.  Anita Diamant has taken the little known character from the book of Genesis and given her a voice and a life.

Dinah was the only daughter of Leah and Jacob, raised by her mother and her three aunts, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. Mothers wish for daughters in order to pass down their stories, and the birth of one is cause for much celebration.  Dinah—being the only daughter of the tribe—was enfolded into their bond from an early age, and gained entrance to the red tent when other girls would know nothing of its secrets.  The red tent was a place where women gathered every cycle to worship the moon, and bond as women.  It was a place of birth and death, and sometimes resurrection.  Bright and curious, Dinah learned how to spin from her Aunt Bilhah, to be responsible and bake bread from her mother Leah, and how to be a midwife from her beautiful Aunt Rachel.  She hears things she is too young for while serving her mother and aunts in the red tent, things that prepare her for life to come.  She is present for births at a time when no unmarried women was allowed, and begins to pick up the skill of midwifery.  It is this skill that leads her to Shalem, son of king Hanor.  While there to help a beloved maid bear her first child, Dinah and Shalem fall in love and she is taken willingly as his bride. Taking the unfortunate advice of his greedy sons, Jacob places conditions on the union, only have his sons kill every man in the kingdom to avenge their sister’s honor.  Dinah curses her father and brothers, and flees back to the kingdom to die along with her love.  Her mother in law, the Queen Re-nefer, rescues Dinah and takes her to Egypt, where she bears a son, only to have him snatched away by his grandmother, so he may be raised as a prince of Egypt.  Living with Re-nefer’s family, she becomes a reputed midwife along with friend Meryt, and eventually finds love.

While this is the basic story, there is much more that makes it truly unforgettable.  The bonds of womanhood claim a major role in this novel, and Diamant paints the lives of women in ancient times vividly.  There are graphic depictions of childbirth, death and murder, alongside stories of happiness and triumph.  Dinah’s memories weigh heavily upon her as she moves through life trying to find happiness, a prisoner of her own past.  Only when she is briefly reunited with her family does she find peace, knowing her story, while watered down, has lived on.

I chose this book to read for my Women Writer’s class, and I’m so glad I did.  It’s been quite a while since I have read a book of such substance and beauty.  While not lighthearted by any means, The Red Tent will appeal to most every woman because of its emphasis on being a woman.  Do not pass up this thought-provoking read.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. A Review by Angie

 A little girl’s world is thrown upside down;  the sudden death of her brother and his snowy graveside set the scene for an act of thievery that will mark her new beginning.

Set in fictional Molching, Germany, The Book Thief follows the trials and tribulations of Liesel Meminger as she begins life anew with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, while the Nazi idealism in Germany grows stronger.

As you accompany the narrator, Death, from Liesel’s arrival on Himmel Street through the next five years, you will experience the ups and downs of adolescence, the courage to stand up for what you believe in, and the utter tragedies of war. You root for Liesel as she learns to read and develops a profound love for books, especially those which are stolen. You go along as she and her best friend Rudy Steiner commit various acts of ‘teenage-ism’. You sit on pins and needles as Liesel and her family risks everything by hiding a Jew in their basement. And one of the most intriguing aspects of the journey is the insights Death gives you into his perspective of war along the way.

Prepare to be pulled into the chaotic world of a little girl who is growing up in Nazi Germany. Don’t think it’s another German-Holocaust-Anne Frank like book. Don’t be put off by the fact it’s listed under Young Adult (which I completely disagree with). And think about picking up this book and enjoying one of the most brilliantly written, enduring stories of our time.

I Remember You, by Harriet Evans. A Review by Debra

My first experience with a Harriet Evans novel reminds me of my first taste of Entenmann's  Marshamallow Iced Devils' Food cake. For those of you unfamiliar with this indescribable treat, suffice it to say that eating it is something you'll remember long after the last bit is gone. It's sweet, it's textured, the icing is an extra added bonus,  and it gives a heck of a lot of pleasure. And there is not a crumb left when you are done.  Enough said.

I Remember You is the story of two people and a town. Yes, the town of Langford figures as prominently in this novel as the two protagonists, Tess Tennant and Adam Smith, thirty-somethings who grew up there together as best friends and playmates, and for one painful summer, something quite a bit more. After that summer, Tess leaves Langford and Adam behind and escapes to University in London, where she becomes a classics teacher and tries to start a new life. Twelve years later, she finds herself made redundant in her old job and, back in Langford, takes up a position teaching classics to adults. Adam is still there, still mourning the death of his mother and living a life no one expected of him a decade earlier.

When circumstances force Tess and Adam to confront their past, Tess realizes that she really doesn't know her best friend at all, or perhaps she knows him too well, and resolves to finally move on from their complicated past. On a trip to Rome, she meets someone else who makes her question her quiet country existence, and almost simultaneously discovers the secrets of Adam's past, which puts him in a new light in her eyes and the eyes of the town they grew up in.

Harriet Evans writes with an almost lilting air. Her prose is sharp, her descriptions of places and people clear and full. Her secondary characters, in fact, all the townspeople of Langford, figure prominently in making the reader see and understand Tess and Adam's long history. A lesson in conservation is cleverly tucked into the story, as a water meadow development figures prominently in the plot, but not to the point where it gets preachy and tiresome.

Like my Entenmann's cake, the ending is sweet, and it lingers on your tongue for awhile. I'm already looking for another Harriet Evans novel to devour.

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

You have emergency plans for fires, earthquakes, and various other natural disasters. But have you thought about what you will do when the zombies attack? That’s right, when the living dead are roaming the land, do you know what to do? Have you a plan of action? If not, The Zombie Survival Guide is what you need to read, for it is a “complete protection from the living dead” guide. It isn’t a matter of if but a matter of when, as to the timing of the next rise of the living dead. And when that happens you have to be sure you are ready to survive.

The Zombie Survival Guide reveals everything you need know in order to live to tell the tale of the zombie outbreak. Breaking down the myths and realities of the undead is your first step in survival; from the origins of the zombie, to the physical abilities and behaviors exhibited by one, and finally the different levels of outbreaks. Detection is first key survival.

Once you’ve identified a true outbreak, you must know how to protect yourself by using the appropriate weapons and combat techniques. Now, you must defend yourself, whether it is at your home or another public arena, or on the run in different types of terrain. When defending isn’t enough, or you’re fed up with running, attacking is your only option. The guide will give you general rules and strategies of attack, to hopefully be victorious and not one more of the undead horde. Finally, if the unthinkable happens, you have to learn how to live in the undead world. Endurance and isolation will be the name of the game when the living become nearly extinct.

So read the guide, head to the nearest supply store to begin your stockpile of supplies, and be ever vigilant. You won’t know when the dead will rise, but you will be ready, for you are now a professional zombie hunter!

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, A Review by Lindsey

Darkly whimsical perfectly describes the mood set in this book, especially when you are crossing the line between the real world and the shadow world lying beneath the surface.

If you’ve ever been to London, or any major city for that fact, you’ve more than likely traveled in that city’s underground.  But what if there was a world, a very real world, underneath that. The true “Underground.” A world completely unlike the one you know, where the rules of physics and biology don’t necessarily apply.

Richard Mayhew is young man living an ordinary life, with a good job, a “good” girlfriend, and a good heart. It is his good heart that drives him to help a bloody, strange and oddly regal girl named Door. By helping Door, Richard finds himself unknowingly entering the Underground, where their  allies are the marquis de Carabas and Hunter and their enemies are Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, two of the most ghastly and other-worldly villains in that world.

Soon, Richard’s life as he knows it doesn’t exist anymore.  He walks among the world, completely unseen by those around him. Knowing he must find Door, Richard makes his way literally into Underground, into a world he still doesn’t fully believe exist. Trials and tribulations abound as he accompanies Door on her mission to find who murdered her family, all so he can return to the world he left behind. From the Rat-Speakers to a manor where tragedy occurred, to floating markets and finding the Blackfriars, and from an angelic home to a hellish cavernous maze (to name a few). Friends come and go, heroes are made and broken, and answers are found.

Go along for the journey as you fall through the cracks into a horridly fantastic dark world where you never know what is around the next shadowy corner...

Love in the Afternoon, by Lisa Kleypas. A Review by Angie

My general reaction at the end of a Lisa Kleypas novel is usually a contented sigh of happiness, and this book was no exception.  The only difference in this case was I also needed a fan to cool myself with!  There is one brooding, sexy hero in this book!

Love in the Afternoon is the final book in the Hathaway series, and for me, the most anticipated.  It is the story of Beatrix, the lovable youngest sister whose fondness for injured creatures easily made her my favorite of all the Hathaway brood.  Young Beatrix is now twenty-three, and a beauty in her own right.  She is admired by the gentlemen, but never, ever courted because of her unconventional ways.  When her friend Prudence catches the eye of Captain Christopher Phelan, local golden boy, she reads the letter Pru has received from the gentleman.  Beatrix is adamant her callous friend answers the letter, especially in regards to the dog Captain Phelan is having behavior problems with.  The letter is also full of stories from Crimea and his battles, and how he is handling them.  It's very personal and heartfelt,  but Pru is not interested.  Beatrix is appalled and takes on the task herself.  What commences is a letter writing campaign where both Christopher and Beatrix, under the guise of Prudence, share their deepest feelings about life and war, while falling in love with each other thousands of miles apart.  Beatrix knows it is wrong to continue the correspondence, and ends it abruptly in an attempt to save herself from bitter disappointment.

Christopher is a society darling, handsome and witty, always a favorite with the ladies.  Beatrix does not think much of him, especially after his overheard comment about her and how she would be better off in the stables.  Her prejudice wanes however, when she reads his letters.  Christopher is a brave soldier, but is having problems dealing with the death that surrounds him.  He returns to Stoney Cross to find his brother has died, his mother resents him for being alive, his sister-in-law, Audrey, is not being truthful with him, and the woman he has fallen in love with through letters bears almost no resemblance to the woman he knows as Prudence.  The letters and her image helped him through his darkest hours, and he is disappointed to find her lacking in person.  His chance meeting with Beatrix and a few slips about the letters she should know nothing about make him question just who the lady was he fell in love with.  Christopher knows he should not even consider Beatrix because of her eccentric family, but finds himself unable to turn away.  Her boldness with him, and her lack of propriety, not to mention wearing breeches to train a horse, all should send him running in the other direction, but her sweetness and caring manner draw him in.  Despite his feelings, however, he still cannot trust himself around her, as he is tormented by images of the war that he cannot control.

I can't even begin to describe how wonderful this book is, and how much I enjoyed reading it.  This is by far my favorite of the Hathaway series.  The Hathaway's never disappoint, and with the addition of some minor characters in their world it makes for a delicious novel.  (Some of which I hope get a series of their own.)  The passion between Christopher and Beatrix is undeniable, and their love for each other is practically perfect.  Once again, Kleypas transports us to a place where dreams become reality and the most unlikely of matches finds love.  This is a must read for any fan of romance.