Book Club!

A month ago I kicked off Chase-ing the Dream's Book Club.  Now it's time to share what you've been reading.  If you're just joining, no worries, it's a very informal book club! 

I read two books off my shelf last month:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest by Stieg Larsson - This is the third book in the Millenium Trilogy which follows Lisbeth Salandar, Mikhail Blomkvist and a collection of other journalists, police officers and criminals on a complex, amazing journey.  This book picks up moments after the previous, The Girl Who Played with Fire, leaves off.  I read the first two books out of order, but I wouldn't recommend it.  The story twists and turns and can be difficult to hold sequentially.  I struggled a bit with the Swedish names...it's a bit like reading a Russian novel.  Once you get the gender, first, last, and nicknames sorted - it's easy to follow.  Lisbeth Salandar, is an unlikely heroine and is certainly a flawed character.  As her story is uncovered, I was horrified, sad, angry, the whole gamut of emotions.  There is something for everyone in this series, and I strongly recommend you pick it up for your summer reading.  Beware...these aren't fluffy, beach books!  I came away a bit exhausted actually, but I fell in love with the characters and needed to hear how their story turned out.  I read the last third of this book almost without a break...I couldn't put it down!

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman is set in Poland during World War 2.  I find myself fascinated with stories from this war.  I am curious about the choices people make, especially in untenable circumstances and there are so many good stories about the people in World War 2.  This is one of them.  Jan and Antonia, the Zookeeper and his wife, have a zoo in Poland.  After the blitz and the occupation of Warsaw, they choose to work with the Polish underground and use their bombed out zoo to hide Jewish people moving through Poland.  The author weaves a great deal of history into the story, so that sometimes it's difficult to tell the story from the history.  This is a moving book about choices and courage and the ways that humanity prevails in inhumane circumstances. 

What have you been reading?

Please leave a comment sharing what you've been reading this past month, what you're planning to read or what you're currently enjoying.  I don't have a McLinky tool set up, but you can also include your blog address if you post your Book Club updates.

Keep your eye on my Book Shelf...I'll update it with new choices for this month!