Long time no blog ... Books #71 and #72

I've been slacking in my book updates, forgive me. I've got some weird medical issues that have been consuming a lot of my time and my mind. Of course nothing short of death would stop me from reading so ...

Book #71 of 2010 was "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson.

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

These books are not for everyone - the violence portrayed is extremely brutal. Typically this is a not a genre I would even consider but something keeps drawing me back to the books.

Book #72 was "The Other Side of the Bridge" by Mary Lawson.

Two brothers, Arthur and Jake Dunn, are the sons of a farmer in the mid-1930s, when life is tough and another world war is looming. Arthur is reticent, solid, dutiful and set to inherit the farm and his father’s character; Jake is younger, attractive, mercurial and dangerous to know – the family misfit. When a beautiful young woman comes into the community, the fragile balance of sibling rivalry tips over the edge.

Then there is Ian, the family’s next generation, and far too sure he knows the difference between right and wrong. By now it is the fifties, and the world has changed – a little, but not enough.

These two generations in the small town of Struan, Ontario, are tragically interlocked, linked by fate and community but separated by a war which devours its young men – its unimaginable horror reaching right into the heart of this remote corner of an empire.

This is definitely one of my top 10 favorite reads of this summer. This is not a fast-paced novel which was nice after "The Girl Who Played with Fire" but it was a satisfying read.

Up next is "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I am probably the last person on earth to have read it.