Can't believe I forgot this one...

As I was discussing books with someone a couple of days ago, I realized I forgot a 2011 favorite... 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I finished it very close to the end of the year, so I will use that as my excuse. Definitely one of my favorites by Stephen King for the mere fact that I wasn't scared shitless while reading it. (Nope, not into being scared shitless.) He does a remarkable job of telling a story about time travel without getting all hung up on the science of it (i.e. wormholes, quantum physics, etc.) Not that there is anything wrong with the science of it, I just found it refreshing to be able to focus on the storyline and not get distracted with the actual possibility of it happening. Oddly enough, I just watched a program on Nova called The Fabric of the Cosmos that does talk about the science of it, so it coincided nicely with the timing of my read. I would definitely recommend this book to a) any King fan and b) any time travel fan. There were a couple of aspects of the story that I am still a little fuzzy on (I won't go into details as I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't yet read it), but I will attribute this to the fact that I sometimes read too fast as I'm anxious to find out what happens next. And I usually read before going to sleep, which means I'm tired and frequently disrupted by my night-owl three-year old climbing into bed with me. This book may also have to go on the re-read list for 2012.

I've noticed that on several of the blogs I've been reading, bloggers like to give a synopsis of the book they are reviewing. Well, for anyone expecting that from me, you have been warned: I'm not that kind of blogger. For one, there is usually a really good synopsis included on the actual book, and I will admit that my writing would pale in comparison to what has already been written by someone else. (I'm a math major who likes to read. Which will also explain any grammatical errors that any of my posts may contain.) Also, the main goal of this blog is to document my journey; my thoughts and feelings about what I read, not to spend a lot of time (and it would take me a lot of time) summarizing.

I just finished Jo Nesbo's Nemesis. I am a little irritated with myself because once again I started a series of books out of order. This book can be read as a stand-alone, but it does contain a secondary story line which I assume began with a previous book. Once I got past that, I was confronted with a situation I faced when I read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: I have a difficult time getting into these foreign (Norweigan?) novels. It takes about 100 pages before I'm fully "lost" in it. I don't know if it's a translation issue I have, or if it's a vocabulary issue. I am a visual person, and as I read I create a picture in my mind of the setting and characters. The unfamiliar names of both people and places make that more work for my brain, which is probably why it takes me longer to really get into the story. (It took me at least one chapter to figure out through context that a "skip" is a big garbage can.) Names like Trond, Stine and Aune are unfamiliar to me and I cannot go on autopilot while reading them. Thank goodness the main character's name was Harry Hole. Saved me some time there. The mystery/thriller part of the story was very engrossing and kept me guessing as to how it would end, which made the read worthwhile. I would say that if you were unable to get through Stieg Larsson's works, then this author probably isn't for you either. If you did enjoy the Girl series, then Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books might be very satisfying for you too. I have enough on my to-read list for now that finding the first Harry Hole isn't a high priority, but it just may make an appearance this summer when I have more time to get through the stack on my nightstand.