The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

David Lagercrantz continues Stieg Larsson's series and certainly does it justice. I very much enjoyed this book. It was fast-paced and stayed true to the characters as written by Stieg Larsson. In fact, it may have been even more enjoyable because SL had a tendency to give a little too many details about things at times!

Lisbeth and Mikael spend very little time together in this book, although they help each other a lot from a distance. Their relationship works well this way. I am still waiting for Mikael & Erika's relationship to run its course and settle into friendship only. It drives me crazy that he still sleeps with her, while her husband waits for her at home. Ugh. For some reason, I didn't remember that Lisbeth had a sister. Seems like something I should have remembered! I guess it's been too long since I read the original trilogy. I would love for Lisbeth to get the better of her. I guess we will have to wait for a future book for that. It's makes sense that Camilla would be difficult to catch/track down, considering how intelligent Lisbeth is, but Camilla is certainly an "evil twin". 

I just don't understand why women stay with men who beat them up on a regular basis! I understand that Lisbeth's mother's situation would have been tough to get out of, considering who she was dealing with - a Russian gangster basically, but why on earth did Hanna stay with such a brute?? Westman was an jerk, and abused both her and her son, whom she seemed to love, so why?? How do you go from someone like Frans to someone like Westman? I really loved how Lisbeth treated August. I was disappointed when Lisbeth brought August back to Hanna, but when I realized Lisbeth was sending them both away, I was reminded how much I love Lisbeth's affinity to helping the helpless and abused.

I was intrigued by the example of the savant losing his focused intellect/talent once he learned to talk - or one he started talking. On one hand it makes sense because something is usually sacrificed when something else is introduced that needs focus. But what a choice! August was an amazing artist and mathematician. Maybe talking simply wasn't important to him, so why try to get him to talk? Should someone else be allowed to make that choice for him?

I guess I haven't even mentioned the main focus of the story: artificial intelligence. Yikes. Computers being able to think for themselves? That sounds downright scary. I was sad that Frans had to die for his incredible research/work - but happy that he had the forethought and insight to destroy everything on his computer before he was killed. I can hardly believe (still!) that Zander was also sacrificed in this story. Unbelievable. Did that really have to happen?? I think not.

I can't wait for the next book!

Wendy's Rating: *****

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Hands down, this is a wonderful book! I adore Ove, for starters. He is the kindest curmudgeon you could ever have the pleasure to know. He and his neighbors are such an eclectic bunch, and they accept everyone for who they are. I love that. It doesn't matter what age, nationality, gender, sexual preference, fit/unfit, smart, clumsy they are, they help each other out. The only thing that does matter to Ove is the car they drive. ;) Ove even softens a bit on that too, becoming a tad more accepting of other's vehicle choices by the end of the book! It's awesome that his best "bud" is a cat. :) When the cat is found frozen in the snow and cat-allergic Jimmy warms him up on his bare skin(flab) without a second thought - that's when I really started loving all of these characters.

This book reads very smoothly, even though it jumps around in time. The story unfolds a little at a time. You really don't know what happened to Ove's wife until it's slowly relayed over time. I love how Ove talks to his wife - and how he makes decisions based on what her thoughts would have been on the subject. I love how Ove is even sensitive to the cat's feelings and safety when he repeatedly contemplates how he is going to die on a particular day. Most of all, I love how much Ove loved his wife of nearly 40 years!

The routine-driven and safety-conscious Ove appears to be on the autism spectrum. This is the second book I have read recently where an author "normalizes" autism, making Ove simply human rather than "disabled". People are not their disabilities. People are people. Ove could not get through a day without helping someone. His deeds gave him purpose. How wonderful that his neighbors gave him purpose again after his wife died. Parvaneh, Patrick and their daughters became Ove's family. I love that the girls called him "Granddad".

There is nothing I don't love about this book! I laughed, and I certainly cried. This is a must-read.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Silver Falcon by Katia Fox

I really love this trilogy! I thought I might have a hard time adjusting to William being the main character in this second book, moving away from his mother Ellenweore's story in book one, The Copper Sign. But, I loved Ellenweore's story and I loved William's story. This trilogy reminds me of a much shorter Game of Thrones, with a lot less characters and no fantasy element, but definitely engaging from beginning to end.

I will admit that there were a couple of times I had to "take a break" for a few minutes because it was hard to read about the evil things people did to each other - or I was too afraid to read what was coming up because I thought something really bad was going to happen. As with Game of Thrones, some really wonderful people died - and it took a long time for certain people to be brought to some sort of justice - and that was difficult too. Another thing that was hard for me to read about was some falcon-related things: sealing their eyes shut; killing small birds to use as their food; the descriptions of the falcons taking down their prey. I am not a big fan of hunting (that's an understatement!), so that's never my favorite thing to read about in any detail. I enjoyed reading about William training the falcons and Robert's love of the dogs though.

William & Robert were wonderful - devoted and loyal friends - and I rooted for them throughout. I was really grateful for Marguerite for forcing them back together - and for Marshal, who gave William some good, non-judgmental advice. William could definitely be a bit of a hot head! And honestly, his jealousy of Robert & Marguerite just because Odon put the idea in his head?? Ridiculous! I absolutely despised Odon, which is what the author intended of course. She did a really nice job of portraying an evil man with a softness for only two people: Clara and Adam. Not that his love for Clara and Adam made up for one iota of all the evil things he did - or allowed. Enid's death was horrible - and so unnecessary (except to move the story along of course). ;)

By the time Marguerite meets William, I had already forgotten that her mother, Alix, was only 17 at the time of her birth and married to Richard. I think I was so distracted by William's story that I forgot about the connection between Alix and John. It was also hard to follow the fight for the throne - who was who, who supported who, who fought for who, who died and how a death affected the throne. But this didn't detract from the story for me. The reader doesn't have to understand all the details of 12th century England's succession to the throne to get wrapped up in the main story.

I was happy that William went home a couple of times to visit his mother & Isaac, because I missed them from the first book. When I finished The Silver Falcon I pulled The Golden Throne (third book) off my bookshelf to see who was the main character. I was hoping it was still William, but no. At first I was disappointed - until I realized that it focuses on Marshal. He is called by a different name in the book though so that the reader doesn't get confused by the two Williams, father and son. I am really looking forward to finishing this trilogy. Hopefully it ends well.

Wendy's Rating: *****