Reading: Bossypants

Bossypants by Tina Fey
#2 in 50 book challenge

I rarely read non-fiction and never read autobiographies or memoirs. But for Tina Fey, I am more than willing to make an exception. And boy, am I glad that I did.

I regularly watch 30 Rock and have basically idolized her since her time on SNL. I enjoyed learning more about her through short anecdotes about growing up in theatre, being a female writer on SNL, managing a show, and raising a daughter. You can really see how her life influenced her work. For example, the 30 Rock episode "Sun Tea" is clearly based off of her experiences from the chapter "Peeing in Jars with Boys". Reading this book has blurred the lines between Liz Lemon and Tina Fey, which I'm okay with because it makes Liz Lemon more human rather than Tina Fey a fictional character.

I hear good things about the audiobook, narrated by Tina Fey herself, so I think I'll have to give that a try as well.

Reading: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
#1 in the 50 books challenge

I really enjoyed reading this one. It was a little slow in the beginning as it set up the background with Mikael Blomkvist and the Wennerstrom affair. But as soon as Blomkvist was wholly fascinated by the Harriet Vanger case, I was as well. It was like boom boom boom. All of the pieces falling into place very quickly.

I found Lisbeth Salander to be such an interesting character. At times, you cheered her on because she was being a badass. But at the same time, her no mercy attitude and stubbornness could be a little off-putting. Perhaps it was the anti-Lisbeth within me that was conflicting with her in certain situations. No matter though, I don't want to like or agree with a character all the time because it makes them more human.

I also thought the ending didn't leave with a huge plot cliffhanger to set up the next novel. Instead, the hook leading into the next book is the relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth as well as their further characterization. Lisbeth is a closed book to everyone around her and the readers too. I found myself reading more and more each time, hoping to find out more about the mysterious Ms. Salander. Of course I shouldn't have expected to find everything out about her or else there wouldn't be sequels. So instead, I'll have to start The Girl who Played with Fire.

Anyway, I finished this book first so I could watch the U.S. movie in theaters, which I just came back from. I'm too lazy to recap that. It would most likely be a post about all the differences between the book and the movie and I'm sure there are plenty of posts like that elsewhere on the Internet. But I will say this: I believe that Daniel Craig's glasses and the cat should both be nominated as supporting cast because that was some quality acting by an animal and inanimate object. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Reading: 50 Book Challenge

Back in elementary school, I participated in a challenge to read 100 books during the school year. I'm proud to say that I accomplished that goal (yay for me!), but honestly it's not that difficult with books like The Bernstein Bears and Dr. Suess.

As one of my several 2012 resolutions, I'm going to try the 50 book challenge. It's fairly self-explanatory. Throughout the year, read 50 books. Simple. Well, thinking about it, that is about a book a week, which is completely possible. If Life doesn't decide to interfere. Which it always seems to do.

Some ground rules:

• Re-reads count as long as it is from cover to cover.
• Graphic novels count.
• Instruction manuals? Nope. Doesn't count.

Let's see how this goes. I already predict an embarrassing amount of young-adult novels will be on this list.