I usually DO NOT like a book that is not tied up. This book ends abruptly but it fits in perfectly with the overall story which is in one way senseless and in another way perfectly sensible. Rachel, the protagonist, is the daughter of a white mother and a black father. She is trying to respect both sides of her heritage. But because her mother took a violent action, which could have killed Rachel, it is harder for Rachel to figure out her deceased mother and love her. She is sent to live with her paternal grandmother who has only bad things to say about Rachel's mother so that is hard, too.

There is much sadness and loss of dreams in the book. Yet there is a great amount of hope, too. The chapters are sparse and the author does a fantastic job of creating reasons for people to operate the way that they do. This book also examines how one act of violence can have such a devastating effect on so many people. Thank you for a sensitive and very thought provoking book. I especially enjoyed how many ways the metaphor of "flying" was integrated into the story.

This is a book about prompting your creativity particularly WRITING. It is broken up into four sections plus a last peach page with lists the acknowledgments. SECTION 1: Light royal blue paper up to p. 135 is Lynda reflecting on youth and her relationship with herself. There are dozens of questions posed that you could use to begin a writing exercise. An important point in this section is to PHYSICALLY WRITE and/or physically put yourself IN MOTION for any art (computer has its place) but you must DO. You (on a reread) could open to any page and start writing. SECTION 2: Peach up to p. 173 has four "lessons". You must set aside the time (even suggests a timer) to do these. I am looking forward to trying these out. SECTION 3: Up to p. 188. FREE WRITING KIT! Ideas for gathering WORDS and PICTURES/IMAGES, and questions/prompts which are places to start!

Thanks, Holly C, for the recommendation. After reading the Millenium Trilogy I was anxious to know about the author. This is a slim book but very interesting. The book is a soul searching on the part of the author who was a good friend of Larsson's. I was intrigued with the fact that when Larsson was writing non-fiction about such difficult subjects as racism and Neo-Nazism, he acted as an introvert. But when he began writing fiction, his personality became extroverted. Also, I loved learning that the publisher named the books in the trilogy as 1) orthodox crime novel with a self-contained mystery 2)police thriller and 3)political thriller. I was unable to distinguish those nuances when I was reading the books. However, these labels are right on! It's too bad that this genius was so poor at taking care of himself.

Ooh, a very strong ending to a very strong trilogy. This book was fast paced and had several intriguing plots running simultaneously. Each plot was composed of high drama! Lisbeth in the hospital--is her life still in danger? How will she prepare for her court case? What about her evil half brother who is on the run? And her evil father who is recovering in a hospital room down the hall? Mikael--will he live until his book expose is published? Can he keep his publishing house afloat? How will he help Lisbeth with her case? Can he actually be faithful to any woman?