false 6 225 207 true 5710849 read 3 true 2760272 currently-reading 15 true 2760271 to-read 67 false 4068163 2009 66 false 2968410 2008 46 false 2968411 2007 25 false 2968412 2006 22 false 2762932 ya 21 false 2968424 non-fiction 17 false 7242038 month-09 17 false 7242039 month-10 17 false 7242034 month-07 15 false 7242040 month-11 13 false 7242029 month-05 11 false 7242033 month-06 11 false 7242035 month-08 10 false 7242027 month-04 10 false 7242046 month-12 7 false 7242003 month-01 7 false 4119828 audio 6 false 7242007 month-02 6 false 2763025 short-stories 6 false 5588984 classics 5 false 7242011 month-03 4 false 6731998 library-reserved http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77880431 Justice Hall (Mary Russell, #6) by Laurie R. King
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78939908 to: The Chain of Curiosity (Paperback) by Sandi Toksvig
bookshelves: 2009, month-11, non-fiction
I'm a big fan of Sandi Toksvig; I have read all her fictional works and never miss an episode of BBC Radio 4's News Quiz.

However I'm not a reader of the Sunday Telegraph and was surprised to learn that she pens a regular column. Around one hundred of these articles, written between 2005 and 2009, are reproduced in this book.

They are all beautifully random and meandering, always amusing and educational, some ephemeral and some thought-provoking. And if nothing else, the book introduced me to the 30-Second Bunnies Theatre Library! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/220.Goodreads_Librarians Gill joined the Goodreads Librarians group. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78980836 The Complete Maus (Paperback) by Art Spiegelman
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78403280 The Others (Hardcover) by Siba Al-Harez
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77331982 to: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1) by Stieg Larsson
bookshelves: 2009, month-11
Following his conviction for libelling a prominent financier, journalist and publisher Mikael Blomkvist leaves Stockholm for the northern countryside and takes a commission, ostensibly to write a family history for tycoon Henrik Vanger. In reality, elderly Henrik wants one last attempt at solving the mystery of his favourite niece, who went missing as a teenager some forty years ago. He's convinced that she was murdered - by a member of his dysfunctional family.

This is a great thriller. It's a big book but don't be put off. The first couple of pages hooked me but I found it a slightly slow start until the introduction of the eponymous character, Lisbeth Salander.

She is a particularly intriguing character; we learn very little about her childhood and this only leaves you wanting more! How did she come by her mad hack0r skillz? How does she speak multiple languages with multiple accents? What happened to make her socially withdraw to the point where she was identified as being unable to manage her own affairs?

Larsson starts each section of the book with a statistic about violence against women. Given that Swedish society is renowned as one of the most gender-equal in the world, these are frequently startling. I would love to know how these stats compare with other Western societies like the UK or USA.

I enjoyed Larsson's writing and his world view and look forward to reading the other two titles. I loved his ironic name-check of Val McDermid - this book is at least as dark and gruesome in parts as some of hers! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/65770064 I Am a Cat (Unesco collection of representative works: Japanese series) by Natsume Soseki
bookshelves: currently-reading, library-reserved
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78071461 Woman: An Intimate Geography (Paperback) by Natalie Angier
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75136110 to: Selected Stories (Hardcover) by Sylvia Townsend Warner
bookshelves: 2009, month-11, short-stories
Some entertaining short stories, but overall her writing isn't my cup of tea. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76950527 to: The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4) by Rick Riordan
bookshelves: 2009, month-11, ya
The rise of the Titan Lord, Kronos, continues to threaten Camp Half-Blood and Olympus itself.

This instalment is a great adventure in itself as well as a good build-up to the final book in the series, Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian.

The sub-plot of Grover's search for Lord Pan is finally resolved and can be read as an allegory on environmental protection and climate change, albeit completely US-centric. ]]>