Cool device

Kindle 3 really is a great piece of technology. I am using it to read both novels and technical literature, and I am comfortable reading both types of literature on the Kindle device; to me it seems a good replacement for most kinds of printed books. I found it especially useful to easily look up words in the dictionary, or to follow Internet links with a single click. Furthermore, it is almost unbelievable how fast books are uploaded to Kindle, regardless whether 3G or WiFi is used. I am pretty sure that in the future I will prefer electronic books to paper books.

There are - however - two things that should be improved:

First, the included USB cable has a very unhealthy smell of chemical plasticizer; I really doubt that it would be legal to sell that cable here in Europe. I suggest using a higher quality cable.

Second, it should be possible to zoom into illustrations. Kindle 3 already has the useful feature to zoom illustrations to the full screen width; but for some illustrations I found that they are still hard to read even when expanded to full screen. My wish for the next Kindle generation would be that it is possible to zoom into illustrations.

Amazon Kindle

First I must say that I didn't purchase my kindle through Amazon but on ebay. Yes, I preordered on August 13th and waited until September 2nd. But I already accumulated some sci fi books that I was reading on my blackberry kindle. So I really wanted to jump into a real kindle experience. I am saying this because it is really annoying to see whining people who give one star in their reviews of the product that they yet did not receive just because they didn't realize it was a preorder. I purchased my kindle on Thursday and received it on Friday. Yes, I overpaid 20 more dollars but I think it was well worth it.
Anyway... This is my third ebook reader and I must say it's really, really great! I love absolute crispness and sharpness of the fonts and the e-ink screen. I love the size of the device and the color (I got it in white). I actually haven't tried the wifi yet. But I don't even think I'll be needing it since 3g serves the purpose perfectly. I was able to register and synchronize my books in a matter of minutes. I must also note for Russian speaking consumers who are interested in this device, that it perfectly displays Cyrillic fonts and I actually tried to load a txt file with Russian text and learned that I have to save it in UTF-8 format in order to be properly displayed on the screen. I also liked the experimental web browser. Although I think that navigating it with they keypad is somewhat an awkward experience. Speaking of keyboard, this is perhaps my only gripe, the designers decided for some reason not to include the number buttons on it. And it is really annoying, in a middle of typing something you have to hit the sym key and enter numbers and symbols from the sym menu. Luckily, I don't type often on this device, so I this is not a biggie. I also love the dictionary it is a really quick and nicely implemented way to look up the words. When device is being put on sleep it displays a random image of authors or old engravings which I think is also a very neat feature. Another thing perhaps worth mentioning is that the device feels kind of heavy in the hand especially combined with lighted kindle cover. It's ok with me, but some people might dislike that. Overall I highly recommend this device for its really great e-ink screen and user friendly interface.

The new Kindle is awsome!

I was anxious to receive my Kindle 3 and I received it on time as promised. Unfortunately it had a loose piece inside, like a screw, so it made a rattling sound whenever I picked it up. I contacted Amazon's customer service by email about the problem. They responded within 12 hours with a return label and shipped out another one with 2 days delivery. I must say Amazon customer service is excellent, at least that have been my experience so far. So, I received my new Kindle 3, setup was easy. Let me tell you the things that I like: The design overall is pretty cool and intuitive, the new keyboard is good and ease to navigate. The back of the Kindle is ruggedized and feels good at touch. The screen is really awesome, very sharp, it is like reading a paper book. I thought that browsing through the pages would give that black long interval, but I was surprised how fast it goes to another page, you almost don't feel. I loved the design of the power + USB cable. It is a USB cable that connects on one end to the Kindle and the other end to the computer OR you can connect the USB to the power plug and the power plug to the electrical outlet. I charged using the electrical outlet, it took like 5 minutes to recharge the Kindle. It was easy to associate the Kindle with my wireless Access Point. I bought a book and it was sent to my kindle in 30 secs. The Kindle feels very sturdy yet it is light to hold. The screen savers are cool too. I have tested other e-readers and definitely I would recommend the Kindle 3.

Perfect reader for me

This is my first eInk device. Always read eBooks on LCD displays and I can't stand it, my eyes get tired from it. The Kindle is almost like a real book. Only better!
The Kindle is the perfect gadget for me. I travel a lot and I can't lug around all my books. Now I don't have to, because the Kindle is so handy.
Display is sharp, I can put lots of my PDFs on it and the Kindle store is very nice!

love it

Omg, after procrastinating for may months i finally ordered what was to become the new kindle 3.
After waiting patiently for 4 whole weeks,it has finally arrived.
Easy to use,easy to read, in fact haven't found anything i don't like about it yet.
Best value out of all of the readers i have looked at,considering this model has not only wifi but 3g as well.
Go on, do it, order yours now!!!

Exciting with great twists and turns

This is a fun read with many twists and turns. If you are looking for a page turner which will keep you engaged, this is a great choice.

Smart, fun, thriller

What a fun read! The first 150 pages might be perceived as kind of slow with a lot of family names, but hang in there... from then on the pacing is pretty relentless. Love the characters of Blomquist and Salander.... and am looking forward to cracking open Book 2 in the series! Just a shame that the author passed at such a young age...

Page-turning Thriller

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Translated by Reg Keeland
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2008
590 pages
Thriller
1st in trilogy
4.5/5 stars

Summary: Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist who's just been convicted of libel. While in disgrace, he is invited by distinguished businessman Henrik Vanger to investigate his niece's disappearance some forty years ago. What happened to Harriet? How did a solid story turn in to libel? Along the way to figuring these out, Blomkvist meets Lisbeth Salander, a decidedly unusual girl who also happens to be the best private investigator he's ever meet.

Thoughts: I didn't know much about this beyond the critical acclaim it's received and the fact that my sister liked it, which is also impressive because she's pretty picky.

Plots: There are three main plots: Blomkvist's life after libel, Lisbeth's history, and the Vangers of whom there are many. They tie together well although it takes a while for that to happen. Some of the Vangers had ties to the Nazis which enabled me to learn a bit about Swedish Nazism; I didn't know much about Nazism outside of Germany/Austria so that was really interesting.

Characters: I mostly liked Lisbeth, except for her vigilante approach to justice although I understand how she formed that opinion. Blomkvist is a bit of a sorry creature who didn't even fight back in his libel suit. The other characters are pretty interesting and two in particular are really terrifying (let's just say they do/have done awful things to Lisbeth and Harriet).

Mystery of Harriet: I was feeling so proud of myself, that I might have come up with some solutions but I was wrong; I think I was trying to be too tricky and instead missed a candidate hiding in plain sight.

Length: Despite the length, this book moves really quickly. I did think it was a little long and there were some details that could have been cut out but overall I was impressed with how quickly I could read this tome.

Quibbles that bothered me but might not bother you: They smoked...a lot; I find that incredibly disgusting. The very casual attitudes toward sexual relationships (Yeah, puritanical American here!); Some language.

You may also have heard that there is a lot of violence toward women, both described in the book and referenced to. I can confirm that that is a big thread throughout the book although I think it's mostly meant to be educative rather than gratuitous. I did however blanch a bit at some scenes because I mostly read and watch lighter fare and am unused to such violence.

Overall: Page-turning thriller; Recommended for adults.

Cover: I quite like this cover; I'm not actually a fan of the covers that show a girl's back with a dragon tattoo-it's too literal.

mind numbingly slow and boring

I'm sorry, for some reason everyone is going ga-ga over this book?!?! I found it mind numbingly boring and a bit creepy as far as the relationship btwn the detective and the girl with the dragon tats. (I'm sorry, it's been a while since I read it, but this is how I recall it. Sometimes the overall feeling after a bit of time has passed is the best review of all.) I was forcing myself through it, and will NOT read the rest in the series. Maybe some major artistic license and rewriting will revive the story for the cinema... I would hopw so!

Great series

I read all 3 of these Stieg Larsson "Milennium" books in about 2 weeks on vacation & highly recommend them. Not only are they well written mysteries involving unusal characters, they are windows into contemporary Sweden - a place which, frankly, I'd never thought alot about. You save the cost of an airline ticket and get to see Stockholm a little like you would if you stayed with friends who live there. (This aspect is really enhanced by seeing the movie - produced in Sweden by Swedes.)

I've recommended the book to others & the most common response has been that Dragon Tattoo is so long and full of alot of snoozy non-action and side plots and relationships. I am mostly writing this to tell any new reader to hang in - it picks up and all 3 books together are one fascinating saga. If you are hooked by Lisbeth & Mikael, you'll be glad you stayed with all 3!

Cool device

Kindle 3 really is a great piece of technology. I am using it to read both novels and technical literature, and I am comfortable reading both types of literature on the Kindle device; to me it seems a good replacement for most kinds of printed books. I found it especially useful to easily look up words in the dictionary, or to follow Internet links with a single click. Furthermore, it is almost unbelievable how fast books are uploaded to Kindle, regardless whether 3G or WiFi is used. I am pretty sure that in the future I will prefer electronic books to paper books.

There are - however - two things that should be improved:

First, the included USB cable has a very unhealthy smell of chemical plasticizer; I really doubt that it would be legal to sell that cable here in Europe. I suggest using a higher quality cable.

Second, it should be possible to zoom into illustrations. Kindle 3 already has the useful feature to zoom illustrations to the full screen width; but for some illustrations I found that they are still hard to read even when expanded to full screen. My wish for the next Kindle generation would be that it is possible to zoom into illustrations.

Amazon Kindle

First I must say that I didn't purchase my kindle through Amazon but on ebay. Yes, I preordered on August 13th and waited until September 2nd. But I already accumulated some sci fi books that I was reading on my blackberry kindle. So I really wanted to jump into a real kindle experience. I am saying this because it is really annoying to see whining people who give one star in their reviews of the product that they yet did not receive just because they didn't realize it was a preorder. I purchased my kindle on Thursday and received it on Friday. Yes, I overpaid 20 more dollars but I think it was well worth it.
Anyway... This is my third ebook reader and I must say it's really, really great! I love absolute crispness and sharpness of the fonts and the e-ink screen. I love the size of the device and the color (I got it in white). I actually haven't tried the wifi yet. But I don't even think I'll be needing it since 3g serves the purpose perfectly. I was able to register and synchronize my books in a matter of minutes. I must also note for Russian speaking consumers who are interested in this device, that it perfectly displays Cyrillic fonts and I actually tried to load a txt file with Russian text and learned that I have to save it in UTF-8 format in order to be properly displayed on the screen. I also liked the experimental web browser. Although I think that navigating it with they keypad is somewhat an awkward experience. Speaking of keyboard, this is perhaps my only gripe, the designers decided for some reason not to include the number buttons on it. And it is really annoying, in a middle of typing something you have to hit the sym key and enter numbers and symbols from the sym menu. Luckily, I don't type often on this device, so I this is not a biggie. I also love the dictionary it is a really quick and nicely implemented way to look up the words. When device is being put on sleep it displays a random image of authors or old engravings which I think is also a very neat feature. Another thing perhaps worth mentioning is that the device feels kind of heavy in the hand especially combined with lighted kindle cover. It's ok with me, but some people might dislike that. Overall I highly recommend this device for its really great e-ink screen and user friendly interface.

The new Kindle is awsome!

I was anxious to receive my Kindle 3 and I received it on time as promised. Unfortunately it had a loose piece inside, like a screw, so it made a rattling sound whenever I picked it up. I contacted Amazon's customer service by email about the problem. They responded within 12 hours with a return label and shipped out another one with 2 days delivery. I must say Amazon customer service is excellent, at least that have been my experience so far. So, I received my new Kindle 3, setup was easy. Let me tell you the things that I like: The design overall is pretty cool and intuitive, the new keyboard is good and ease to navigate. The back of the Kindle is ruggedized and feels good at touch. The screen is really awesome, very sharp, it is like reading a paper book. I thought that browsing through the pages would give that black long interval, but I was surprised how fast it goes to another page, you almost don't feel. I loved the design of the power + USB cable. It is a USB cable that connects on one end to the Kindle and the other end to the computer OR you can connect the USB to the power plug and the power plug to the electrical outlet. I charged using the electrical outlet, it took like 5 minutes to recharge the Kindle. It was easy to associate the Kindle with my wireless Access Point. I bought a book and it was sent to my kindle in 30 secs. The Kindle feels very sturdy yet it is light to hold. The screen savers are cool too. I have tested other e-readers and definitely I would recommend the Kindle 3.

Perfect reader for me

This is my first eInk device. Always read eBooks on LCD displays and I can't stand it, my eyes get tired from it. The Kindle is almost like a real book. Only better!
The Kindle is the perfect gadget for me. I travel a lot and I can't lug around all my books. Now I don't have to, because the Kindle is so handy.
Display is sharp, I can put lots of my PDFs on it and the Kindle store is very nice!

love it

Omg, after procrastinating for may months i finally ordered what was to become the new kindle 3.
After waiting patiently for 4 whole weeks,it has finally arrived.
Easy to use,easy to read, in fact haven't found anything i don't like about it yet.
Best value out of all of the readers i have looked at,considering this model has not only wifi but 3g as well.
Go on, do it, order yours now!!!

Solid conclusion to Millennium Trilogy

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Translated Reg Keeland
Alfred A. Knopf, 2010
Originally published 2007
563 pages
Thriller; Mystery
Third book in Millennium Trilogy
4.5/5 stars

Summary: Lisbeth Salander is finally found and will be going on trial shortly. Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist and her loyal friend, is out to clear her name and uncover a scandal that will rock Sweden's government. These are the two main threads of Larsson's massive tome, the conclusion to the Millennium trilogy.

Thoughts: I was super excited to get this because I thought I would have to wait until it was in paperback. But once my mom started reading the books, she bought the third one. My sister read it first (very slowly because she wanted to spite me!) and then I got it. Like the previous books, it had a slowish start but picked up toward the end. This time the end is centered around Lisbeth's trial, where she is being examined over multiple counts. I won't go too much in detail because I want you to read it for yourself.

There is also a good short summary of what the books are about: women who are abused and the men who enable that. I was frequently brought up short by the awful things done by men toward women, specifically because the abusers were men and the victims were women and how the system which should have protected them looked the other way or actively worked to cover it up.

I actually thought this book had a lot less of the content I found distasteful in the first two books: the drinking, swearing, and sexual content all stood out much less.

Overall: A good conclusion to the Millennium trilogy.

Cover: I do like the silver a lot but the hornets freak me out.

Great Book

I will recommend this book (and the rest of the series) to everyone! Very detailed and well written suspense novel; I couldn't put it down.

Stieg Larrson

Great book series. Loved all three. It's so sad this talented author passed away before his books where published and he could see the overwhelming response to his talent

Where was the editor....out drinking coffee?

I ordered this trilogy without any knowledge of Stieg Larsson or any advanced information about the book(s) except that Don Imus raved about "Hornets Nest" on his morning radio show and that Stieg was now dead. I looked it up and realized that it was the final installment of a trilogy and it became evident that I would have to read all three, in order, to get the full effect. I figured "why not"....I hadn't read a piece of fiction in a while. And besides, I needed a break from the political and historical stuff I have been reading. I mention this because I want to set the scene that I was just looking for some mindless fiction to relax with......no thinking, no deep thoughts, just relaxation.

The books arrived and I was slightly taken aback by the length of each book....between 500 and 600 pages. I am not afraid of a long read as long as it can hold my interest. Well, unfortunately, these three books had me slipping in and out of attention.

Who was the editor on these? These books ramble on and on with the most ridicules nonsense just taking up pages and pages of space. Time and time again, Mr. Larsson fills pages with completely unnecessary dribble and over-verbalized fluff. I wish I had kept track of how much coffee our hero drank or how many sandwiches Lisbeth ate. Who cares? Why did I have to know the thought process on how Lisbeth picked furniture for her humongous apartment that she did not use but 10%.

Just once I want to read a book where the hero is not humble and just so perfect. I get a little tired of reading over and over that every woman who meets our hero must seduce him. Give me a break. He goes days without sleep and writes award winning expose articles for his magnificent magazine. He is able to "Out sleuth" the real professional sleuths, time and time again.

When no one can find the missing 16 year old niece of the powerful Vanger family patriarch from 40 years ago, he tracks her down to a huge ranch in Australia. Please stop it already, I can't stand it....then she is so enamored with him, she beds him on the spot. Stop already. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to put these books down and move on to something else.

I find the heroine, Liz, far too smart, far too strong, far too sexy and far too unbelievable especially in a 95 pound package. She believes that a photographic memory is a curse? Stop it. She is a self-taught computer wiz who can hack any top secure system. She finds, quite by accident, that she is a math superstar too.....really? Way over the top. Shot three times, once in the head and she digs herself out of a grave to attack her father and half brother....right!

Maybe I expect too much, maybe I am a cynic who is never satisfied but the truth is, I was very dissatisfied with the three books.

A proper editor, I believe, could have pared this down to one book, with a stylish slick storyline without all of the fluff. This is just a money grab making us buy three books when one would have told the story very well.
Remember....you have been warned.

Engrossing Summer Diversion

When temperatures top 100 degrees, you can't do better than this complex finale to the Sweden-set Lisbeth Salander trilogy. Larsson's protagonist faces horrific challenges head-on and triumphs by means that are sometimes expected but often unusual.

Settle in for a fascinating diversion with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.

L. A. Starks
13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy

Pacing Problems

First of all, and in all fairness, I must say that writing a conclusion to such a juggernaut as the HUNGER GAMES series is a thankless task. And I must also credit Collins with giving this book new and different directions to explore. For that, I was thankful. What made MOCKINGJAY good but not great for me was the narrative pacing, especially during the climactic moments. I also had a few quibbles with characterizations and the way the many scores were settled at the end of the book. I'll avoid spoilers by speaking in general terms if you haven't read the book -- and I certainly endorse reading the book! Three stars ain't just gravy!

This book focuses not on any "games" but on the real thing -- a Civil War between the 13 Districts and the Capitol of Panem with President Snow at the helm. It draws interesting parallels with modern wars and the United States in the sense that it shows the role of propaganda and how the media can be manipulated to froth your constituency up. Thus, the character Plutarch is asked to exploit Katniss so that the Capitol's propaganda can be usurped by the Rebel's propaganda. For anyone watching the nightly news, it should give you pause.

The reader is patiently carried along as Katniss tries to work her way to the singular goal of personally killing President Snow. Unfortunately, she must also deal with the leader of her own cause, President Coin, a woman from District 13 (a nuclear state, like the Capitol) who has visions of grandeur or her own (and who knows a valuable chess piece -- namely, Katniss, when she sees one).

The book both takes off and sputters with the climactic attack on the Capitol. Among the obstacles for Collins are what I call "suspension bridges of disbelief." That is, the reader must be willing to go along (or "suspend disbelief") with plot developments and I, for one, was not so willing in the methods she used with Peeta, Katniss's love interest. To put it simply, his whereabouts first and his personality changes second occur a bit too conveniently. Also disturbing was the narrative pacing. There are beautiful and realistic stretches where Collins takes us door-to-door and block-to-block as Katniss & Company fight and claw their ways to the center of the Capitol. But then the intense and realistic necessity of such description seems to be forgotten. Gaps in time occur. Major events happen offstage. Anti-climactic resolutions happen too quickly to resolve plot issues that have been central to the entire book. And finally, Katniss's last dramatic act is not unforeseen, but rather foreshadowed in a hamfisted way.

This is why the book lost a few stars in my estimation, but as I said in the opening, bringing this beautiful series to a conclusion is no easy bear to wrestle. I recommend the book and the entire series, but believe that some readers may be disappointed in the climax and in the characterization decisions made by Collins -- especially regarding Peeta vs. Gale. A little more subtlety might have helped on that front.

Oh. And one final word. When you reach the two-page Epilogue, you may wish Collins had skipped it altogether. The gimmick here is sadly cliched and done in too many books and movies in the past. Nevertheless, HUNGER GAMES fans, keep your eyes on the prize! Three solid stars here!

Unbearably painful and hauntingly beautiful

I've never thrown a book before. I've never stared at a book that's laying across the room and viscerally hated it.

Then I read "Mockingjay." And now I've done both.

After hearing "The Hunger Games" series being heralded as "The new 'Twilight'" I made every effort to steer clear of it. Only after I had a friend whose opinion I trust implicitly tell me that they were nothing like "Twilight" did I go out and get a copy of "The Hunger Games. Then I immediately went out and got "Catching Fire." Then I immediately went out and got "Mockingjay."

And then I started throwing.

(Note: There are spoilers below).

I know many, many other reviewers have touched on the disappointments that are obvious in this book: The death of characters you come to love being tossed away without ceremony (I have to admit, when I finally let go of hope that Cinna would show up midway through the book, it was one of the things that hit me the hardest), the needless drawing out of the embarrassing "love triangle," the way none of the characters acted the way they should, the lack of a romantic flourish to leave us with a neatly wrapped relationship.

When I first read the ending, I have to admit that I skimmed along, skipping entire paragraphs in a frantic search for Peeta's name, inwardly counting down, "Okay, only seven pages left, SURELY she's going to have him pop up now and sweep Katniss off her feet and it will be business as usual."

And then five pages. And then three. And then the final page and the epilogue, and then the dramatic toss of my book into the wall.

Then I left it. I made myself not think about it, because for the first time ever I read a book and wished immediately not to have done so. I was so upset with the way the ending seemed tacked on, as if Suzanne Collins got to the end, realized that a decision hadn't been made, and said, "Okay aaaaaand.... Peeta! That's it! The end!"

But, against my best judgement, I went back to it. I turned to the ending and re-read it. And, although I'm not a sap, and although even as a nineteen year old I stayed dry-eyed through "The Notebook," I wept. The ending as it is is perfect. It's unbearably painful to not get the happy ever after epilogue that you want for characters that you've invested yourself in. You want to hear the romantic lines, the thrill of the proposal, the tears that dot eyes at the wedding.

But Suzanne Collins gave us those: We had their first kiss. We had their stories. We had the proposal (as anticlimactic as it might be). We had Katniss in her wedding dress and Peeta in a tuxedo. We even had their first child.

What was lacking was authenticity. And in that page in a half, in the return of the sweetness that was lacking for the entire book (and this was, really, a hard book, especially since the character that I looked to for empathy, for compassion, was missing for ninety-nine percent of it), we see what Katniss has become: that she has needed to become the girl on fire metaphorically, then symbolically, and finally literally, to become the pearl that Effie famously predicted she would be, that the layers she shielded herself with would burn off and what would be left would be the essence of her core that recognized her weaknesses and, more importantly, turned elsewhere for her strengths. At last we have a girl who is acting not out of need to provide for her family, or to keep a promise, or in return for something else. We have a girl who has lost most everything she holds dear and in her we find our heroine, in her we find an unbelievable character, and in her, we at last find the romance.

So don't take this book as is, because it is painful to lose character after character after character, it is painful, like I said, to lose the sweetness that Peeta brings, it is painful to see the devastating impact that the war has on every person we've come to love.

But in the pain is beauty. And the beauty is unforgettable.

The Others were better

For this book, Mockingjay, one might think that it would follow the other two in that it has tons of killing, scary moments, and fake public love for the tv....not only does this book not have that....it is also kinda boring. Well first of all whats her face became so not memorable i literally cannot remember her name and Peeta is her every other thought even after he tries to kill her. I mean seriously if somebody tried to kill me I wouldn't forgive them. But back to the book it was mediocre I personally thought that it should have been more like the other two and have an actual Hunger Games to it and not just talk about how some situations remind her of the Games...booorrrriinnnnggg!

still waiting for delivery

I ORDERED THE BOOK "THE MOCKINGJAY" FOR MY GRAND DAUGHTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA, SHE HASN'T RECEIVED AS OF SEP 8, ATTEMPTED TO TRACK DELIVERY, SAYS IT WAS DELIVERED AUG 26TH, I DONT WANT THIS TO A REVIEW, I JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE DELIVERY IS. AMAZON PURCHASED

Wow!

I love the fact that Collins lets the "gloves come off." It is refreshing to read a book that is unpredictable and does not follow a "cookie cutter" mold. And finally,boy, how our young people need to learn how media can manipulate and contol our thinking!

Salander is a modern day superhero!

Once again the main character, Salandar, is a victim. But while she's a victim, she has an amazing ability to take charge of her life and pay back anyone who has offended her. In short, she's just a few notches below a superhero. Not only can she break into almost any computer system around, she's also a math wizard, and a talented chameleon who can become someone else when she's in danger. But her ability to do what is necessary to pay back someone who has hurt or offended her is something most people dream about but are never able to carry off. And Salander does it over and over again.

This book is another winner. The only thing missing, which the previous book had, are a few passionate affairs to breathe a little more excitement into the novel. I always like a romantic subplot.
Night Glitter

Pleasing Sequel

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
Translated by Reg Keeland
Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2009
630 pages
Thriller/Mystery
2nd in Trilogy
4.5/5 stars

Source: My sister bought it after loving Dragon Tattoo

Summary: The exciting sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Lisbeth has had no contact with Mikael after the successful conclusion of their first investigation together. She has been traveling while he has been working on a new explosive book and article for his magazine Millennium. Soon she is caught up in murder and he has to hunt her down.

Thoughts: Again abuse toward women is a prominent theme. This time there is more of Lisbeth's history and an expose of human traffickers in Sweden. It was terribly depressing to read how the system skipped over these vulnerable women and ignored them. In this case though Millennium is getting involved which ties Lisbeth and Blomkvist back together again.

In the book, they don't really meet although they communicate through Lisbeth's favorite way (computers!) However they are both trying to puzzle out the same thing. One of my favorite things about this book and the previous is how they both solve the mystery despite the fact that they are coming at it from completely different angles and with different knowledge and biases.

I would also classify this more as a mixture of thriller and mystery. Mystery because in thrillers the reader is supposed to know more than characters which was not always the case but definitely still thriller because it was absolutely page-turning. It did take me longer to read (4 days to Tattoo's 2) but that was because I had to work and because it's longer. I don't want to spoil much of the plot

I did not like the end, mostly because it ended with a cliffhanger! I would have liked it more if I had the third book with me and could have started it although who knows if it would have picked up right afterward.

I was just as bothered by the casual attitude toward sexual relationships in this book and possibly even more so because it felt like there was more in the beginning.

Mostly cheers to translator Reg Keeland who had a mammoth task in translating these tomes. One thing I didn't like was, in both books, the usage of variations of "You'll have to seduce me." That makes me think a. of The Graduate and b. what awkward phrasing. I don't think it works in American English although perhaps it's okay in Britain.

Overall: Another gripping thriller from Larsson that ends on a cliffhanger!

Cover: I think I like this cover more with the golden hair shimmering although I don't think Lisbeth's hair is supposed to be that color or length so it may be irrelevant.

Even better than the first!

This is the second of the three part saga by the late Steig Larrson, about Lisbeth Salander, the young, socially challenged computer hacker and Mikael Blomkvist the investigative journalist and takes off where The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ended. I read the first book on my Kindle and immediately downloaded this one and started reading as if it were just the next chapter. I liked this book even better than the first because the Lisbeth Salander character was my favorite and this book gives us a closer look into her background although much is still in question by the end of the book. Nonetheless, we begin to see some of the reasons that she is so introverted and such a free spirit. We also see Blomkvist back in his office at Millennium after taking close to a year off to write a book and solve the mysteries in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

I don't want to give away any of the storyline, not that it would be easy to do so since this book, like the first is very involved with lots of twists and turns. There is lots of mystery, suspense, and thrills throughout the book. If you've read the first book you probably already like both of these characters as well as some of the supporting cast such as Erika, Blomkvist's boss and sometime lover and others in the Millennium office. You'll like them even more after reading this book as you learn more secrets about them and more of the reasons why they believe and act as they do.

I went on to download The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest on my Kindle immediately after finishing this one and I think I have to say that this second book was my favorite of the three. It's such a shame that the author suffered a heart attack and died in November of 2004. He was so talented and he undoubtedly would have written more wonderful books like these three.

Loved the book

I loved the book. Much of it is unexpected. The only disclaimer is that their is some sexual assault scenes described. Don't read if this may bother you.

The saga continues...as if it's simply chapter 2

Great series. Highly recommended. If/when you see the movies...make sure you read the books first, b/c they don't develop Lisbeth's character fully in the films. The first two movies were very good.

Amazingly addictive!

Shuffled Row is very addictive! Unlike Every Word, Shuffled Row doesn't have "set" words that you must find. You can make almost any word out of the available letters. It saves your high score and progress automatically, so you can press Home any time without loosing your progress. Unlike other Kindle "games" which are just e-books with a link to an interactive website, Shuffled Row is in AZW2 format, and is executable by Kindle. Shuffled Row doesn't work on Kindle 1 or Kindle apps (such as Kindle for PC and Kindle for Blackberry). Shuffled Row is a small file (just over 911 kilobytes) and should download pretty quickly. I suggest you download it. It's completely free, so what's the worst that could happen?

it's fun

i am not a native speaker. my highest score wa 236. i hope i can do better. it is fun in general.

Short, fun game

This game is the perfect balance between having to think and just having fun. Some games aren't fun to me since I have to "work" at them. For example, I tried chess and didn't find it relaxing at all. Other games are so mindless that they drive me crazy and aren't any fun either! This found that happy middle place for me. It's pretty intuitive so I was able to pick it up and start playing within minutes.

It is also a great length. I can sit and complete an entire game in about 5 minutes so I can pick it up, play the game, and put it down when I only have a few minutes and don't want to get started into reading a book.

It is a lot of fun if you enjoy word games. I would love to see more games of this nature developed for the Kindle.

Fantastic fun!

I downloaded this game because it was free and didn't expect to be addicted!
It is fun and challenging. I hope Amazon makes more games available like the two free ones offered.

Fun for word game fans

I enjoy this game and recommend it to those who enjoy scrabble and other word games. I think it makes you exercise your brain. I can never think of any J words besides jet, jam, and jade. haha

Good, but what's the big deal

Numerical corruption and 140 year old english aside, this is a pretty good book, but I prefer my crime mysteries to present the facts so that I might be able to solve it as well. Sherlock Holmes would be much more a hero in my mind if all of the evidence was presented, and yet it was still difficult to solve the issue at hand.

An entertaining read, nonetheless.

Short stories for short attention spans

Bonus points to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for being a free kindle book and for being one of the greatest firsts of its kind. That being said, the quality of the book is not quiet as "timeless" as I had hoped. I read Sherlock Holmes right after finishing Treasure Island and before that, Around the World in 80 Days. Needless to say, these other "classics" I had picked up were more impressive than I could have imagined and easily hold their own to anything written in modern adventure/thriller novels. I wish the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes gave the readers a little more freedom to venture other possible solutions and to really stir the imagination but, sadly, it does not.

Great value for readers looking only for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

This Kindle freebie is great for readers who are only keen to read the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The stories contained within this title are:

A Scandal in Bohemia
The Red-Headed League
A Case of Identity
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
The Five Orange Pips
The Man with the Twisted Lip
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches


This Kindle freebie does NOT include "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes", "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", "His Last Bow", "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes", or the novels, i.e. "A Study in Scarlet", "The Sign of Four", "The Hound of the Baskervilles", and "The Valley of Fear".

It is an excellent "purchase" for readers who would like to enjoy reading about the intrepid Holmes and Watson on their adventures. The formatting is okay, i.e. not excellent but not overly annoying either. As is the case with many other Kindle titles, the Table of Contents is not one which is reader-friendly - one cannot simply click on a particular story to get to it, but has to manually scroll through. I hope this is addressed as more books become available as Kindle titles. On the whole, I have little to complain about, except for the lamentable lack of illustrations. To those who love Sherlock Holmes, I would recommend getting not just the complete stories and if you don't mind a truly bulky (yet beautiful set), I would suggest the annotated set by Leslie S. Klinger,The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories (2 Vol. Set) and The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume 3: The Novels (A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear) (non-slipcased edition).

Incomplete and with poor formatting!

I had finished reading this edition before I realized it was incomplete. The Bedford Park edition The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection, with attractive cover illustration of London Bridge, is a much better edition overall, with proper formatting of numbers, and contains all of the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels.
It was extremely annoying to encounter strange symbols every time a number is mentioned, and to be forced to decipher badly-formatted html to figure out what number was being stated. Also, a variety of line breaks in the wrong places were very frustrating.
This edition is simply not worth trying to save $0.99.

Wonderful, funny, so glad i downloaded this!

I love the classics that are available, and right now I am SO enjoying these stories!! I've never read Doyle before, but it's fun for me to watch each mystery unroll the way they do. I can't help but laugh at the genius of these stories!! So glad I was able to get this for my Kindle!!!

Very Good Read

I have not read any Leslie Meier before and was pleased to find that I really enjoyed this book. I will definitely read more from this author.

One Dimensional

A quick read that fell flat. I did not care for her writing style.

Sweet, Likeable Mystery

This novel was thoroughly enjoyable and easy, light reading. The mystery is woven thoroughout sub plots that focus on family life and specifically the relationships between mothers and daughters, and to some extent the relationships between neighbors as well.

The novel reads like much of Kensington Books' products: think Shopaholic and Jennifer Crusie novels. It's fun, escapist reading that makes up for its cliches and lack of realism with humor and heartfelt dialogue. The whole novel was read in one evening (about 3 hours) and was a great, free Kindle read.

Bake Sale Murder

I have read all of Leslie Meier's books, always enjoy them. Well written mysteries.

Godd Mystery Series

I enjoy the main characters and the Maine setting. It is a fun book series to read. I recommend reading the books in order.

Fascinating Journey, Annoying Companion

Four months of languae study in Rome. Four months of yoga study in an Ashram in India. Four months of hanging out on the beach at Bali. Elizabeth Gilbert's journey in "Eat Pray Love" is a glorified gap year, and indeed there's something extremely juvenile and lame about the entire journey.

Don't get me wrong. I would love to be paid by a publisher to study and gorge myself in Rome, then chill with other wealthy, enlightened expatriates in India, before just hanging out in Bali. But if my travel companion were a manic depressive, self-obsessed, and neurotic successful writer I would very quickly need to hop on the next plane home. This book was very hard to get through because the writer is more annoying than sympathetic, and the writing from this professional writer can sometimes be just silly and mediocre: "The next morning in meditation, all my caustic old hateful thoughts come up again. I'm starting to think of them as irritating telemarketers, always calling at the most inopportune moments."

There are some honestly funny moments in the book, and because I love to eat and I practice yoga the first two-thirds of the book were bearable for me (the idea of hanging out at an island resort with a bunch of drunk expatriates had no appeal for me so I flipped through the last third), but what really sells and saves the book is that there are actually a lot of neurotic women out there (who, for whaver reason, all decide to congregate in New York) who also wish that a publisher would pay a trip around the world for them to meet beautiful Italian men, find enlightenment and transcedence in India, and fall madly in love with a Brazilian in Bali. In other words, this book is a marketing gimmick, and it's a very annoying one at that.

Because this book is marketing gimmick, the entire journey is cheapened. The author says that she's escaping a broken life in New York. Yes, she's going through a messy divorce, but it's because she's decided she's bored with her husband. Yes, she's stuck in a co-dependent relationship with a lover, but it's because she's a depressive and is looking for this sort of self-destruction. So she says that she's going to go on a journey of self-discovery. But it'll be one year, in three different places, will be paid by someone else, and there'll be a book at the end of the journey. This contradicts everything she says is good, noble, and beautiful: living for living's sake, being always present, finding comfort and beauty in the moment. Would an Italian or an Indian or a Balinese find himself in such a lame contradiction? Only a self-obsessed ambitious New Yorker. Enlightenment is good, but only if it's from 5-6pm Monday to Thursday, right before spinning class.

Here's a book about a New Yorker who has everything, goes on a journey to learn that everything is nothing, and decides she wants everything and nothing at the same time.

Thought Provoking

This book not only keeps you entertained throughout but is very thought provoking as well. She writes with a quick wit and sense of humor that, although the subject matter is sometimes rather deep and serious, you can't help but chuckle all the way through it. It leaves you thinking about what you've read long after you've closed the book for that day. I found myself thinking, "I'll just finish this chapter and then go do ............" whatever, but before I knew it, I'd be in the middle of the next chapter and completely forgot to close the book and go "do whatever"! Well worth the read! Can't wait to see if the movie lives up to the book.
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

A good summer read..

The movie got so much media attention but it ended up being a flop. I got sucked into the marketing scheme and purchased this book to read while on summer vacation. Overall a good book, but also a forgettable one. I have yet to see the movie, but I will rent it once it's out on DVD.

Not as good as I thought it would be

(3.5 stars)I thought this was going to be a book about eating, spirituality and love. As it turns out, it's all of that and also about making mistakes, forgiving yourself and starting over. Gilbert's writing style is open and honest as she shares her journey of finding balance and contentment in her life. She does this through completely immersing herself in three different cultures. Italy is all about the food and the intimacy of sharing meals with friends, not denying yourself simple pleasures and giving yourself permission to do nothing. India is the spiritual part of her journey. Here she conquers the art of meditation and learns the meaning of some inspirational Sanskrit phrases. This part is especially interesting for those who practice yoga or meditation. And then there's my favorite section of the book, Indonesia. Its breathtaking beauty is the perfect backdrop for finding balance and love. Gilbert writes with a delightful mix of humor and wit in a style that is easy to read and flows nicely. However, there are several sections that are slow and slightly tedious, with too much descriptive detail and no movement in plot. In short, anyone struggling with divorce or feeling disconnected to their life will easily relate to and take comfort in reading this book. Travel journal enthusiasts will also find it delightful and a great escape or those on their own spiritual journey.

Great

Great - the book is what I thought it would be. Shipping was on time and got here in perfect shape. Thanks - A+

lil wet pants

yo digitty dogs this book is a ham jam yo it was like diggity dawg i pump up the rappin chains it was hizel of the shizel i like thight dawg i reaaly wnt 2 go dawg its like oh yeeah dawg it was of the izzle ghizzle dawgy wawgy frawgy im a shilzzling dawg dawg shizel man just chain off the hook shizel my nizzle

awesome read

I could just see the movie playing in my head as I read. every detail was visible it was amazing! I loved this book!

Good but I've read better books

im not saying this is a bad book. its soooo much better than the movie (cartoon) my mom hates the book and i didnt really want 2 read it but on the kindle it wuz free and i need more books 2 read on my kindle and free 1s r cool. i like more modern books i guess but i used 2 love historical fiction. i like the new movie even though it is kinda the sequel 2 this 1 and i thought they were so simialar and i would like this 1 2. this wuz really good

Alice

I enjoyed this classic immensly. This is the first book that I read on my kindle and found it a quick and easy read. Although it was a fairly easy read there were several sections that were hard to comprehend and had to be reread. Although I believe that some confusion was intended it made reading a bit difficult. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy books. If anyone is wondering how this book relates to any of the movies it has some basis but as usual the book is much better.

Great afternoon read

A great, truly timeless story about Alice and the interesting characters she meets on her journey through Wonderland. I loved both films, and now I love the book. Read it in two sittings on my new Kindle. The best part about it is that it's free!

Southern gothic? No.

Just because a suspense novel takes place in Memphis, do not be so quick to label it Southern gothic. This does not belong alongside Flannery O'Connor on your bookshelf... With its elementary prose (to adopt a phrase from another reviewer, who got it spot-on) and teenaged romanticizing of Memphis' mystique, this novel reads like it was written by a Beale Street honeymooner who got all her ideas about the city from a pamphlet in her hotel room. Skip it.

I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this book.

(I have the Kindle version but don't know how to change the notation "paper back" on this review looking at the 'review page'.)

I don't normally read detective stories. This was so good I'd like to read another of Lisa Turner's books.

Wonderful twists in the plot. Things that made me say "I didn't see that coming".

Would definitely recommend this book.

A little disappointing....

After all the rave reviews for this title, I couldn't wait to dive into it, but I found it really hard to get into and hard to stay with and the ending wasn't nearly as "wow" as some are reviewing it. It's not a bad book, but far from great suspense. I also found the prose to be a little elementary for me.

Very enjoyable read

I really enjoyed this story. I found the two main characters slightly flawed but very likeable. It had a good pace to it as it unfolded and I was engaged throughout the whole story.

Truly entertaining.

This book was so good!!! I agree that most novels in this genre are predictable and you can see where they are going a mile away but not this book. I am hoping to read more from this author.

Objective info that may be helpful - light or not, colors

Have a good scale and have now seen all cover colors, so here's data to help you pick. VERY well made cover.

Weights are for the cover only, not including the Kindle:
Cover without light -- 170 grams or 6 ounces
Cover WITH light -- 240 grams or 8-1/2 ounces
Only you know whether the 2-1/2 ounce difference in weight is worth carrying all the time to have a light always at hand.

The most accurate depiction of the cover colors is the photograph at the bottom of the sales page.
Burnt Orange -- same shade as a basketball
Burgundy Red -- closer to a vibrant brick red as it has no purple overtone
Steel Blue -- pure grey blue which shows well on web page
Hot Pink -- deeper shade than it appears anywhere but photograph
Green -- picture a Granny Smith apple
Brown -- very deep brown, not a chocolate color

Extremely Tacky Looking

It doesn't make it clear in the pictures what pebble-grained leather is. It's a fancy word for bumpy, uneven texture that looks cheap and plastic. Maybe Amazon thinks it will be easier to hold onto your Kindle with a textured cover but it looks like something you'd buy at a dollar store. I'd be embarrassed to use it and will almost certainly return it. Especially since other reviewers say it doesn't fit the 3rd generation Kindle. I'm not getting my new Kindle for a few weeks, apparently, and I don't want to get stuck with this turkey of a cover because I didn't return it in time. Better safe than sorry. Why doesn't Amazon offer at least one cover that looks nice - or any option to this one style in different colors?

Glad I went ahead and got it....

After reading the reviews I was concerned that the light might be an issue since several folks commented that it doesn't shine evenly on the page. But I wanted something that would allow me to read in bed without disturbing my husband and the clip on lights are a pain to fuss with and are way too bright I think. Anyway, the light on the cover is just fine. Yes, it is a little dimmer at the bottom of the page but still quite readable. It is not one of those intensely bright lights that you have to kind of avert your gaze from. And it will not disturb anyone else trying to sleep.It kind of reminds me of my childhood days of reading a book under the covers with a flashlight except that you don't feel like you're going to suffocate.

The second thing that some people didn't like was the added weight of this cover. The added weight is what I really like. The Kindle itself is so thin and light....for me TOO light. It feels so fragile and un-book-like. The cover gives it that little bit of heft that turns it into a book. I especially like to bend the cover all the way back and hold it either in both hands or in my left hand while I eat popcorn and drink champagne cocktails with my right.

This is just one woman's opinion but I think can assure you that the light is adequate and very handy. And the weight is not a burden and may make it more of a normal reading experience for you as it does for me. Hope this helps if you are on the fence.

A good basic base

My first reaction to ordering this was "$35? Really?" Upon searching historical cases for the Kindle 2 to gauge how it might be for the 3, it seems not all that off. I'm sure it'll drop in price a little, but the price to pay for being impatient. But I don't see this (or anything similar) being less than $25 anytime soon.

With that said, the weight of this nearly doubles the whole package. I debated whether to use it or not because the Kindle is so nice and light. But it does let you get a decent grip on it and feel more secure.

I do wish the corners were tucked in on the right edge. It doesn't NEED anything, but it would have been a nice touch.

The band is great conceptually. Some report it is only glued in, but I'm not trying to test that. Some complain "it's a hair tie" but what do you want? It's an elastic band on a $35 product... even other moleskin notebooks I've seen have a thinner "hair tie." I think it's fine, just wish the tab for it was an inch lower.

Overall, more a 3.5 star than a 4 star rating. But I'll give amazon an edge. I'm not sure what you could really do to make it lighter w/o compromising the purpose of protecting it in a bag. And long term durability and quality.. I'll come back to this in a year.

Highest quality, great protection, sleek look

We have two Kindle 3s. Both arrived on time. Have the black cover and the blue. both are very high quality, very good looking. Dont understand some of the negative reviews. no supposed smells. Easy to use with one hand. Guesss those 1 star people just dont get it !

A warning to others.

While the first two books of this series are very good, the final book, "Mockingjay" was a total let down. If you truly do not want an anticlimaxtic ending that reduces characters you've grown to love into mere side stories I would avoid this series. Not a "happy ending" we would want for ourselves or our children. Consider yourselves warned.

Fight or flight?

I've read other reviews that have described this book as sick and extremely similar to "Battle Royale." One reviewer on Amazon even stated that this book was depressing for her to read in these troubled economic times. I don't see it that way. I thought the book was fantastic, showing humans at their ugliest and while these "Hunger Games" are government run, hell, it could be worse in our own reality! The main character was fantastic; smart, capable, merciful, compassionate and resourceful. All qualities I'd admire in anyone. She feels; she is surviving not for herself but for her family. I think it flows well throughout the entire book and straight on till the end. Highly recommend.

No Vampire or Werewolves?!

Does this author not know that a story can't be any good without paranormal critters running around trying to mate with gullible tweens? :) I for one am glad she doesn't.

The Hunger Games and it's sequels are 3 of the best books I've read in along time. They truely are addicting and very hard to put down. It's been a long time since I felt the urge to read 3 books in 4 days but this is what happened with this series.

If you're a fan of books like "The Postman" or "Earth Abides", you'll probablly love this trilogy as well.

V^^^^V

The Hunger Games

My Thoughts: Wow, what a book. I'm one of the people who jumped on the Hunger Games train very late. I read this book on September 1st, 2010 which is a long time after it was released. It had the dystopian feel to it so I was unsure about reading it since I'm usually not too into those types. I was so afraid I would be let down after all the hype building up about these books. I was so surprised how much I loved The Hunger Games! We meet Katniss who is truly an inspiration for girls everywhere. She's so strong, determined, sincere, and has a big heart even though she has to be tough. She is best friends with Gale, who goes hunting with her. We don't get much info on Gale, just that he has a big family and he is the sole provider for his family. We meet Katniss's mother and sister Prim. Prim is just 12 years old. Katniss comes from a very poor family and she hunts illegally to feed her family and trades just to keep them going day to day.

The Hunger Games take place every year. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen are called upon to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Of course that year, Katniss is worried that her or Gale's name will be called because they have their names so many times in the draw. But, unfortunately her sister is called and Katniss stands up and volunteers to take her place. She can't imagine her sister making it, or having to try to survive. She can't see her sister go through that. Another boy is called, Peeta. What can I say about Peeta? He's pretty awesome to me. Katniss is vaguely familiar with Peeta, they sure don't hang out with each other and she's just glad it wasn't Gale.

Anyways, they go to get ready for The Hunger Games, and the small interactions between Peeta and Katniss were nice especially when it would dawn on her, she needs to stay away from him since he's basically the enemy. The talent section where she shows them how she can shoot a bow and arrow cracked me up! I actually reread that passage a few times! They go onto The Hunger Games. It starts out simple enough with supplies out in the open and players going after what they want. And, some of the participates band together which is just pointless since only one can walk away the champion. The things they have to endure are painful to watch, painful to feel.

I don't want to give away the whole book. Lets just put it this way, The Hunger Games is wonderful. The trials Katniss has to go through and she never gives up no matter what. She knows back home there are people waiting for her and she must defeat this! She must win.

Peeta was likable at the beginning and by the end I really really really loved him. There has been so much talk about Team Gale and Team Peeta and I guess I do like Gale but I just don't feel much of a connection to him at this point (maybe because he wasn't in book 1 much) and Peeta just made me fall for him. The things he said, his personality, it was all there. Katniss is still brave and I am glad we saw things through her point of view. I really liked a lot of the characters. I really liked Rue. I didn't like Foxface very much. She just annoyed me I guess. The characters are likable, the plot is wonderful, the suspense was awesome, and I found myself happy, sad, crying, mad, hurt, and wanting to throw up throughout the book! Not many books make me feel all those emotions! In other words, hands down it was one of the best books I've ever read!

Overall: I loved loved loved loved this book! Way to go Collins for making me fall in love with this novel because not many books like this do! I started reading this and finished it within a day, I kept telling myself every time I needed to set it down, just a few more chapters than I'll stop! Well, I didn't stop too often! It was so addicting!

Cover: Like it, its simple but neat.

What I'd Give It: 5/5 Cupcakes

Taken from Princess Bookie
(Hardcover Edition)

Finished it and immediately read it again

I finished reading The Hunger Games and immediately reread it. I didn't want it to end. I really enjoyed the author's imaginative series, Gregor the Overlander, but this story is aimed at slightly older readers and is just a step beyond Gregor. The premise is not so new- young people from different areas are set up in a gladiator style sacrifice/fight to the death that is reminiscent of Logan's Run and The Running Man. A poverty stricken sixteen year old girl is sent off to the capital city of the country that arose from the ashes of North America, along with a male counterpart. Katniss doesn't think she stands much of a chance against the "career" competitors who have trained many years for the glory and honor of battle. Her skill at foraging and hunting small prey may keep her from starving, but she has no experience with fighting and cannot allow herself to become attached to other players when only one is permitted to exit the arena alive. The entire event is filmed and all citizens are expected to watch the games.

The writing is superb and the details of the challenges she faces are exquisitely presented. I can hardly wait to read the other books in the trilogy.

You get what you pay for

I'm not reviewing the book here, but the free Kindle version. In short: love the book, hate the formatting.

There are many typographical errors from simple typos to random line breaks in the middle of paragraphs, often following a title (Mr./Mrs.). For some reason the book is void of italics and emphasized words are in all caps, which is rather ANNOYING, don't you know? The errors haven't kept me from reading, but they are an irritating distraction.

If I knew of the slipshod manner in which this book was transcribed I would have just sprung for the $0.89 version. In fact, I think I will now.

Austen's Best Work!

When reading any Jane Austen novel you have to have a certain taste in literature to fully appreciate her work. If one posesses that taste they can not doubt that Pride & Prejudice is her best work.
-VCH

Even better than the movie

Even though I am a guy who had accompanied his wife through every film relating to "Pride and Prejudice," I enjoyed reading the book. Jane Austin gives details of the characters' thoughts that make the story, especially the development of the two main characters, convincing. The other characters are amusing and vivid. The dialogue is delicious with treats like, "Is not general incivility the very essence of love?"
In my Kindle version random line breaks occur. For example, one often encounters "Mr. [line break] Darcy," even when "Mr." is almost the beginning of the line. Although this is a little annoying, the Kindle version can't be beat for price and convenience.

Pride & Prejudice - Kindle version

I enjoy Jane Austen as an author and I have always favored Pride and Prejudice. The digital version on Kindle has a lot of capitalized words that were not written that way and, with today's technology, it does appear to be shouting. Some of the words are missing half of the letters and one can only guess at what the word should be. The overall story remains one of my favorites.

My favorite book!

This is my favorite book of all time. When I read Pride and Prejudice (at least once a year) it takes me to a time that I wish I could visit. The rich characters seem like true friends, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to spend an evening with The Darcy's.

Always will be a "Classic!"

A timeless classic I downloaded for my DROID phone. HTC Incredible. I am finally old enough to enjoy reading this because I am not being forced to do so, as I was when I was growing up. I highly recommend you treat yourself to this timeless classic, sit back and just plain enjoy a great piece of literature!

A Great Classic Novel

I hadn't read Treasure Island in many years, but when I saw that it was available for my new Kindle I downloaded it. A good move for me, as I had forgotten how great it is. Although I was a teenager when I first read it, I think I enjoy it even more now that I am over 60. The story probably has less appeal to kids today since pirates are not a favorite subject for youth as it once was. But I would recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting story with many twist and turns.

A classic and a freebie!

I'm so delighted that so many of the literary classics which I've enjoyed in my childhood and youth are now available as freebies which I can download to my Kindle and read at my leisure. "Treasure Island" impressed me as a youngster with its high sense of adventure and it still does. Yes, the language used takes some getting used to, and it is certainly quite different from what most youngsters are reading these days in terms of the language style and form, but the themes in this literary classic are still relevant today and those who are not put off by the style will appreciate this work. It's disheartening to see many of these literary classics ignored in favor of generic stories which seem to captivate younger readers these days, but I hope making these works available as free downloads will entice more readers to give these classics a chance.

[insert pirate joke here]

Wonderful. This book is a must read. This was the first classic I downloaded (for free nonetheless) for my Kindle and could not be more impressed with the quality of the novel. I expected a sort of lame adventure-Disney pirate hybrid but instead found myself looking forward to each and every turn of the page. The book is not terribly long (so you won't feel like the author fancies the killing of trees for sport) and keeps a rather good pace of narrating the action. Treasure Island is a must read. (A) It's free, (B) You'll knock out reading a classic, and (C) You'll feel all that much more enlightened when you throw up in front of it's namesake hotel in Vegas. Yarr.

Classic

Great read. The writing style may be considered a bit dull by today's standards, but I really liked reading this. This is the original pirate adventure book. Yo ho ho!

No "Mitch Rapp."

Just finished readng Hostile Intent and it was enjoyable. Michael Walsh is not..and is never going to be..."the Vance Flynn of the 21st century." The character "Delvin" is the clandestine hero. Situations in all books of this nature have to be somewhat believable and this books is. A short, good and enjoyable read having ebooked this on 8/31/10. Some humor, historial governmental facts and the ease of Mr. Walsh's story telling does make me want to read his next "Delvin" installment. I have read 8 out of the 12 Mitch Rapp books, and believe me, Michael Walsh's books will not have a security review by the Department of Energy and the FBI because of "too much reaity."

Painfully bad and obviously never edited

This book is horrible. Surely it must be someone's hilarious joke.

There's a faster academic internet that runs off of power generated by the Large Hadron Collider?

People use "Blu-Ray" headsets with their cellphones?

The above two are just some of the absolutely unforgivable errors in this book. It almost reads like they outsourced the writing to polar bears mashing a bank of speak and spells and then ran it through a spell checker and called it a day.

Not a good book

I read this book because it was a free Kindle download. I have always enjoyed the books of Clive Cussler, Lee Child, etc., and since this looked to be in the same vein, I was looking forward to it. I did not enjoy this book. The villain was ridiculous. I am willing to suspend disbelief when reading a good book, but I could not believe in the things the villain went around doing in this book. The plot, moved along by the illogical and nonsensical actions of the villain, was a muddled mess. This is one of the worst books I have ever read.

Not worth my time....maybe yours?

My brother gave me this book to read and I was excited because it was on my list and I was looking forward to it. I got to page 30 and was I had my doubts by the time I got to page 50 I was like I'm not wasting any more time on a book where I truly don't care what happens HATE the lead character and is dull. There are too many books out there like (Dan Silva, Andrew Britton, John Hart, Brian Haig and Alex Berenson) that are worth reading. If you time is not valuable go ahead and waste it on this book, but mine is worth too much to me to do so.

Painful....

I seldom submit reviews for books I've read. But then, I don't stop people on the road to tell them the road is good, either. But, if I hit a pothole or there's some hazard on the road, I feel it's my duty to warn others. This book is a pothole. Even if you overlook the fifty-cent words poorly injected throughout and the tedious character development, the plot convolutions will have you scratching your head. Mostly unbelievable, from beginning to end. Unbelievable too that I read the whole thing, though I did just skim the parts that hurt too much. Definitely a pothole.

Suggested to all young men to enter the world

I came across this book without prior intent to find it. Having read it, I believe it beneficial to recommend any young man at the end of his schooling, about to embark on life in the "real world," To read this publication.

Long, Difficult, but REWARDING read

I consider myself a bit of a history buff.. and not the conspiracy theory sort of history. I very much enjoyed this read although it was difficult and slow at times. It was very informative and the fact that I could get it on my kindle app for my iPhone was a definite plus.

Fascinating

This autobiography provided an interesting look at a fascinating life. I came away from this book with a deep respect for the way Benjamin Franklin approached his life and sought to improve himself through hard work and careful study. What struck me the most was that he acknowledged shortcomings and made a deliberate effort to overcome them. As an example he recognized that being argumentative and forceful with people carried many long-term disadvantages. So he changed his methods and was better for it, both in terms of "winning" disputes and in developing lasting friendships. As an additional note, some would point out that Benjamin Franklin did not live up to his stated "life philosophy" and may even go as far to call him hypocritical. For me it doesn't matter so much whether or not he successfully lived up to his stated principles, rather what matters is that the principles are valid and a worthy goal for anyone to strive for.

In addition to the life, and life philosophy, of Benjamin Franklin, this book provided an interesting look into life in the 1700s British Colonies. Several things came out in the book that gave me pause. For example, I was not aware that boys were signed on as apprentices to a trade at such a young age (around 10 years old). Learning about the hardships of traveling from Boston, to New York, and on to Philadelphia was also interesting. Additionally thinking about the dangers involved in a sea voyage, from weather and pirates in particular, made me thankful of the ease and safety in which we travel now. In a similar vein, this book provides some great insights into the colonial politics of the time period. Even though it stops short of the American Revolution, the disputes between the colonies and England are clearly present and growing.

Again, this was a fascinating book. It had been on my to read list for some time and I regret that I had not picked it up sooner.

Amazing story of our country's founding

I wondered "How can an autobiography get a 4 to 5-star review?" Now I see why. This is one of the coolest things I ever read. I won't spoil the fun for the new readers, but it is a definite don't miss. If you want to know what it was like in early America - and how a principal founder of our country helped form its development (and WHY he was so popular), this is a must-read.

One very cool tidbit - a true account of events led to the outsting of the British out of the country, and why we went to war...if you're British you may not want to read this. ;) On the other hand, if you're French, you will be flattered!

In addition to reading history, you will also learn negotiating and fund-raising tactics, as well as master-minded political moves that help move bills toward passage.

A difficult read and can be boring

I had to read this for a college course and thought it was just ok. I love history and I do like to read, but to keeping me interested in a book is important and the writing can becoming very difficult to get through. Probably would not recommend this book to friends it might turn them away from reading history books.

Best book of the trilogy

This was by far the best book of the Hunger Games Trilogy. You have at least gotten to know the characters and feel for them, and it is before they completely drain the life out of you with Mockingjay. This was a really good read and an excellent complement to the first book.

Terrific Sequel - Exciting and Thrilling

"Catching Fire" is a terrific read, picking up only a short time after Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games victors depart the train in District 12.

"Catching Fire" is more adult than the original in the series. The themes are a little stronger, the imagery a bit more vivid and the emotions run deeper and are more complex. The violence is more intense than "Hunger Games", but not because the language is more descriptive, nor more creative (although "Catching Fire"'s Hunger Games are new and innovative). The story is large in scale. The characters actions have broad impact across all of Panem's districts. Collins sets the stage for a Panem-wide rebellion and, all of a sudden, Katniss' little world of troubles becomes something much more substantive.

We explore Katniss' relationships further...things change between she and Peeta, and while the relationship differs from the first book, the intensity grows. We also explore her changing relationship with Gale. While older teenage girls should be able to relate to Katniss' up, down, and sideways feelings towards the two young men, younger readers will will have a lot to absorb. That being said, I didn't find anything inappropriate for more mature pre-teens and any teenager.

This second book of Collins' trilogy is a real thriller and sets up what should be a terrific conclusion to the series. I couldn't get through the final 150 pages fast enough, and felt throughout that the story was providing a very satisfying continuation from "Hunger Games", and a relatively satisfying conclusion in itself. Granted, I won't have to wait long to read the third and final story in the series since it's already available, but I certainly understand the agonizing anticipation for "Mockingjay".

As good as the original, and even more emotionally grueling and rewarding.

It's a few months after Katniss and Peeta jointly won the Hunger Games, they're back in District 12, and the status quo has been restored. Though her mom and Prim are living in the Victor's Village, Katniss stays in their old shack and spends what time she can with Gale, while she and Peeta aren't speaking to each other. But she and Peeta are going to have to pretend to be madly in love very soon (though Peeta's not pretending), because as victors they must travel from district to district doing guest appearances. President Snow personally tells Katniss that her behavior in the past year's arena has made her the symbol of the rebellion rising in the districts and if she doesn't do exactly as he says, he'll execute everyone she loves.

The romance--or possibly, the lack thereof--ramps up in this sequel, where Katniss needs Gale and Peeta, but still won't confess any sort of romantic love for either of them. This isn't surprising, since Katniss has been the sole breadwinner for her family since childhood. She's an adult in every way until it comes to her feelings and emotions, where it's like she's developmentally frozen at age eleven and is utterly confused and disturbed by any sort of romantic longing. Both guys find her confusion about them depressing. This can't-choose conundrum seems natural and appropriate for Katniss and I'm not annoyed with her character, but it's terribly frustrating as a reader--one with such a deep loyalty to Peeta that I didn't even realize there was a Team Gale until a few months back.

I can't truly admire Gale because when he gets his rare pagetime, the main vibes I get from him are anger and resentment, even toward Katniss whom he loves. Is his attitude simply the natural byproduct of growing up in abject poverty and borderline starvation? Perhaps. But just because his actions can be explained, it doesn't mean that I find them honorable. Also, I feel very strongly that that he should have made his intentions toward Katniss known before she was carted off to be slaughtered, and then brought back after surviving a bloodbath. I don't like that he gets upset that she's paired up with Peeta for the cameras, when he himself never said or indicated to her that he had a romantic interest. I don't hate Gale, nor even dislike him, but neither has he done anything to make me support him.

Peeta, on the other hand... if you thought Peeta was reliable and selfless in THG, he gets even more amazing in CF. More of Peeta's charisma is evident, and though we already knew the magic way he has with words, his spirit shows here. He's moved to anger a couple of times, and it's a sight to see because you know he's not a hothead--if Peeta is visibly angry, it's with good reason. In the first book, he was in desperate straits plenty of times, but he was focused on saving Katniss and he never showed bitterness over his fate. Now, he's in an impossibly difficult situation, and when he lays down the law for Haymitch and Katniss as they're working for their future survival, those two strong-willed victors comply with whatever he says. And the lengths Peeta's willing to go to just to keep Katniss alive...he's unbelievable.

Technical notes: 1. I will admit to the first 150 pages being relatively slow, though there's no wasted space or redundancy. Still, if you're expecting whiz-bang action right off, they might feel plodding. 2. CF takes place over a longer period of time than THG, and as a result it has to do this strange little time-collapse trick more times than I can count. It'll say something like: "And then, we did ___ for the next few weeks" or "we spent a month at ___" which I dislike on principle. If a time-collapse is that big, I expect to see it in a novel only once, twice tops, and I expect that it will be done for dramatic effect. The strategy was a necessary evil for CF, and I can't think of another way the problem could have been handled, but I'm not fond of it. 3. The plot coherence is amazing--Collins rocks so much at dramatic setup that her foreshadows have foreshadows! If CF takes the time to reference a memory, skill, activity, character, object, type of food, etc, you can bet that this same thing will reappear and be significant later on, and you also discover that plenty of these connections were set up way back in THG.

In Which Katniss is Not Sherlock Holmes

When last we left our heroine Katniss Everdeen, she was faced with a life of misery because she had to pretend to be in love with someone she kind of likes. She had angered the Capitol by not only surviving the Hunger Games, but bringing fake-boyfriend Peeta out alive as well. Such blatant disregard for the rules has not gone unnoticed, and now the twelve Districts are beginning to get ideas of rebellion.

And so President Snow orders Katniss and Peeta to tour the districts and pretend to be in love to defuse the situation. The Capitol seems to be a bit undecided as to what to do with the pair, because Katniss and Peeta are also thrown back into the Hunger Games for round two.

Catching Fire is a better, more rounded view of life in Panem, but the same problems from The Hunger Games return to haunt this book. This time around Katniss and Peeta tour the different districts, so we get to see just how put down and dystopian this society really is. We see more interaction between the Capitol and the Districts, making the Good Guys seem more good and the Bad Guys seem more Bad.

Unfortunately, for someone who narrates the entire story, Katniss seems to be completely oblivious to anything that goes on around her. She notices, quite clearly and on multiple occasions, the symbol of the mockingjay in relation to rebel activity. The mockingjay was her symbol in the Hunger Games. She was the one who sparked the rebellion. And yet Katniss fails to put two and two together to figure out that she is the one all the rebels look to as a symbol of hope.

No, instead she spends her time trying to deal with Peeta and Gale. Gale is of course her childhood friend, who hunts in the woods with Katniss. He got maybe a page and a half total in The Hunger Games, and yet is apparently Katniss' true love. We see more of him this time in Catching Fire, but his screentime is once again far overshadowed by Peeta. It 's a poor romance when the heroine spends most of her time mooning over someone we hardly know while snubbing the character the readers have come to know and identify with.

The ending is rather abrupt and has little closure for the story. Much the same as the ending to The Empire Strikes Back, Catching Fire is a blatant setup for the next book. It's mostly exposition to lay the groundwork for part three, with more Hunger Games thrown into the middle to keep us pacified. And through it all, I still have no idea if Katniss likes Peeta or not.

Enough Surprises to Keep a Reader Engrossed

Yes, the middle book of a trilogy is usually the weakest and this one is no different. In fact, I deliberately set the book aside until I also had the final book in hand. However, as "the middle," this was stronger than is usually the case and though not as good as the first book, it was a real pager-turner.

Some reviewers have made legitimate points about how this has a lot of summary as Katniss recounts the fallout after the games, and the Victory Tour. However, the tour gives readers (and Katniss) a chance to connect with the other districts making the revolution more than just District 12 vs the Capitol. And, the book does feel a bit like a retread of the first after Katniss learns that she must return to the arena. President Snow uses the 75th anniversary of the Hunger Games as an excuse to kill her by decreeing that all the tributes this year will be culled from previous victors. Though this could easily have been "Hunger Games the Remake", I found it was actually a clever way to segue into the upcoming rebellion. I thought the best parts of the first book took place in the arena, and that is the case here. This time her opponents are skilled killers who each won before. Plus, Haymitch begins pushing her to forge an alliance with some of them, who actively protect her and Peeta , so how will she be able to kill them? Throughout the book, Collins lays down breadcrumbs for the development of the revolution - each mention of the Mockingjay carries significance - and the ending is explosive with some surprises.

Catching Fire also develops the love triangle between Gale, Katniss and Peeta better than other series, such as Twilight. I never found Jacob to be a real contender because it was so obvious Bella would end up with Edward. Not so here. Even though readers don't spend much time with Gale, he has a history with Katniss and her memories evoke this. On the other hand is Peeta, who is so obviously in love with her, has fought by her side, and protects her as only he can. Halfway through the final book, and it's still not obvious who she will choose, which keeps the suspense high.

Though a cliffhanger is practically expected here, I never-the-less found the conclusion to be very satisfying. The book ends at a staging point; there is resolution in that all the pieces are in place and readers can move to the next stage - war. Overall, I could not put this book down and have already begun the finale. Highly recommended series!