Volunteers for Literacy-*There May Be Spoilers*

Title: Volunteers for Literacy

Author:  Gretchen Elhassani

Publisher: Self Published

Published: September 1, 2012

Format: E-book/Kindle

Pages: 190

Source: Received from the Author in exchange

for an honest review.

Read: December 5 2012

In A Few Words: Fast paced

My Rating: 3 Stars

Goodreads: Add This Book To Your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Amanda Smith never learned to read. A local tutoring program called the City Volunteers for Literacy agrees to provide her with a free tutor. The first time they meet at the downtown library, Amanda is energized; the second meeting is horrifying. As Amanda struggles with sight words in a remote tutoring room, bank robbers burst into the library to escape from the police. Amanda must use her survival skills to save her tutor and the innocent people who are caught at the library that day.

Melissa's Musings:

Volunteers for Literacy will certainly make you think twice about the safety of a public library. 

The initial story is well rounded and believable. Amanda is a single mom, working as a manager of a local burger joint, not able to advance any further as she left school at a young age and cannot read. She has a 5 year old daughter to care for, and even her daughter knows that the stories her mom "reads" to her are made up.

Amanda finally decides to help herself and goes to the Volunteers for Literacy program to be matched up with a tutor.

On the second visit there the library is invaded by robbers. These same group of people have come into contact with Amanda before, or at least one of them has.  Anthony helps to kidnap Sara, one of the employees at Burby-Q where they both work

The action is quick paced, and as a character, Amanda is quick on her feet and fast thinking. I don't care for the fact that a few of the other characters insulted her because she can't read. But it's obvious that what she lacks in reading skills she makes up for in problem solving ability.

As quick as the action is, it could have been cut some as well. It seems like overkill when they are finally about to escape the library just to have the other robber in the group finally come looking for the rest of them with Sara as the hostage and then having to outwit him too. 

I was shocked by one of the actions of the character at the end of the book partly because the action seems so unrealistic, and partly because it's out of character for him. ***SPOILER ALERT***

When the robbery is going on, the senior librarian, Erik, seems like a nice, respectable guy. He wants to protect his patrons and colleagues throughout the ordeal. One of the robbers brings the stash that they got from the bank and tells the hostages to cut out the middles of books and stuff the cash into it. (I cringed when I read this because I cannot imagine destroying books like this) Then they are to tape up the books and send them through the inter library loan program. Well, Erik is the one doing the processing. 

Then once it's all said and done the situation ends and everyone goes back to their normal lives. There's a ceremony to reward Amanda, Anthony and Erik for their actions. Amanda gets a 2 year scholarship to a community college, Anthony is allowed to say a few words and Erik gets a mere plaque. Amanda makes a note that this doesn't seem like enough.

That is until Erik disguises himself and goes to the library that the hollowed out books were sent to and goes to retrieve them. The end of the book is left asking whether he will turn the money in or not, but it's almost a given that he would take it, so it's kind of silly to end it by asking the question in the first place. Otherwise why would he have disguised himself.

This doesn't even seem like a realistic scenario because it's unlikely that the police would have just forgotten about the money that the thieves stole as it is.

This ending did detract from the story a bit, but overall this is a good book. After reading this I'd say that I hope there are hidden rooms and passages in my local library like there are in this one. One, because they just sounded neat, and two because you never know what could happen.

Just a small word of warning, some of the instances of violence in this book may be a bit gruesome for some readers.

I don't think I've read a book where the characters spend a lot of time in a library since I read A Discovery of Witches  so I really enjoyed this setting.

Have any of you read this book? Or, can you recommend any other books where one of the main settings is a library?

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson *There May Be Some Spoilers*

 

Author: Stieg Larsson

Publisher: Penguin Canada

Published: July 5 2011

Format: Paperback

Pages:  503

How I received this book: Got this as a present from my boyfriend

Goodreads:  Add it to your "To-read" shelf

Amazon: Buy it here

Synopsis

Mikael Blomkvist, crusading journalist and publisher of the magazineMillennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation between Eastern Europe and Sweden, implicating well-known and highly placed members of Swedish society, business, and government.

>But he has no idea just how explosive the story will be until, on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth Salander—the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and who now becomes the focus and fierce heart of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

As Blomkvist, alone in his belief in Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation of the slayings, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous hunt in which she is the prey, and which compels her to revisit her dark past in an effort to settle with it once and for all

Read:  May 8-20th

My Rating: 5 stars

In a few words: A gruesome web of twists and turns

Melissa's Musings:

When I first started the Millenium Trilogy, I'll admit I didn't think I was going to like it at all. The first 100 pages was really dry, and I just couldn't get into it. Thankfully, I stuck with it. By the middle of the first book, I was hooked. And at the end, I knew I just had to keep reading.

The character I connected with most has to be Lisbeth Salander. I like her because she's rebellious, but not in a typical, almost trendy, teenage way. She's quick on her feet, both mentally and physically, and she can melt into the crowd easily. She's different. She doesn't follow normal social convention. 

 I think the reason I like her so much is because I envy her confidence,

 I also really admire the fact that she sticks up for her moral beliefs. Although, I don't necessarily like all of the violence that accompanies her actions and belief system, I understand it. Especially now, after reading The Girl Who Played With Fire and finding out so much more about her past.

That has to be one of the aspects I was most pleased with about TGWPWF. As I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I remember saying to myself, "I really wish there was more detail about Lisbeth." I noticed in a lot of the other reviews I read that many people thought that there was too much background information, and they didn't like TGWPWF as much because of it.

Not me. I'm one of those readers who likes to get fully engrossed in the character and their background. The  more detail you can give me, the better. That's part of the reason I kept reading. Larsson gave me just enough info about Salander to keep me hooked into wondering if there'd be more about her in the next book, and he did not disappoint. 

***Spoiler Alert**

And now, with the revelation that Lisbeth has a twin sister, I find myself wanting to know more about Camilla. How is she different from Lisbeth? What role did she really play in everything? What does she really think of Lisbeth?

***End Spoiler***

Generally, I'm not much on thriller stories, but this one flows really well, and the action clips along at a pace that's not too fast, but fast enough to keep you hooked and wanting to read on. The violent scenes are done tastefully, as are the numerous sex scenes.

The supporting characters in this story are really varied, which works out well. The different (albeit few) people in Salander's circle are so different that sometimes it's hard to see how they might have all come to know her. But  once you find out the circumstances, and more about their backgrounds, it makes sense as to why they care for her so much, and she for them.

There is one little quirky detail, that stuck out in my mind and I want to mention it just to see if anyone else noticed it or has any thoughts on it. I noticed that almost every time that Salander went to pick up food, and a couple of times when Blomkvist went to get food they always went to 7-Eleven. And they didn't just get junk, they got staple foods like bread and cheese and apples. Now, when I think of 7-Eleven, I think of soda, chips, and junk food, not apples, cheese and bread. It was just interesting to me that Larsson used 7-Eleven instead of a grocery store. Did anyone else notice this? If so what do you think?

I won't spoil the ending for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but I have to say, for the last 40 pages I went through a gamut of emotions ranging from "hell yeah she's going to get them" to "Dammit!" to "Wow, that really didn't end how I thought it would." 

And just like that, I'm hooked in for the next book.

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes a gripping adventure, and unusual characters. 

Have any of you read this? What are your thoughts on it?