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Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes...

TheLiteraryCrush

My apologies for letting this blog whither and die. I'm still deciding what I should do with it. But, in the meantime you got the link above. Happy New Year!

Crime Fiction at its Finest.

It's been a couple weeks since I finished this book, but I definitely wanted to share it with you as a "must-read" if you're a book worm...who is into thrillers or crime mysteries or sex or sexual deviance because this book definitely has all of that and more.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo centers around two main characters, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Salander is a young Private Investigator often hired to dig up dirt on high-profile executives. Blomkvist is a veteran financial reporter who was recently found guilty of libel and sentenced to three months in prison. The two characters cross paths when Blomkvist is hired by a very rich, very old business man to investigate the disappearance of his niece over 40 years ago.

This is also the first book in the trilogy written by Stieg Larsson, referred to as the "Millenium series". The book was originally written in Swedish and translated into English. At first, it's a little difficult to get past all the Swedish names and locations, but you eventually get used to it since the story is so engaging. We follow Blomkvist as he and Salander uncover the ugly truth behind one of Sweden's most powerful families. There's a healthy dose of crime and sex in the story, which definitely grabbed my attention, but the way the story is written just grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. Every page seemed to raise more questions about the mystery at hand, but also gave you just enough clues to keep you satisfied until you reach the end of the book.

An interesting tid-bit about Stieg Larsson...these books were written to express his disgust for sex crimes and violence against women. Apparently, he had witnessed the gang rape of young girl (also named Lisbeth) when he was a teen, but failed to stop the crime. He spent the rest of his life living in guilt from that experience and it essentially became the inspiration for this series.

I would highly recommend reading this book, especially since it's being made into an American movie (the Swedish adaptation was released in 2009). Rooney Mara plays Salander and Daniel Craig plays Blomkvist in the American adaptation, which is set to be released in December of this year. I'm hoping to read the second book this month so you can bet I'll be posting my reviews of that in a couple weeks. As a tiny warning, I read part of this book while I was in Tampa...alone...in a hotel room...very late at night...it pretty much freaked me out.

Tampa and Talents.

Finally settled into my hotel room after a red-eye flight to Tampa. Already, I can tell you it's hard to eat healthy while on the road. Once in Tampa, I had lunch at this place called EVOS, which claims to be healthy fast food because they airbake everything instead of deep frying. This cuts the fat content in half. I orded airbaked chicken strips and airbaked fries.Still tasted unhealthy and I know it was probably loaded with carbs. I would say nothing special about this place. However, they had a wide choice of iced tea and ketchup (yes, ketchup) flavors. I, of course, had green tea. I tried all the ketchup flavors: cayenne fire, garlic gravity, mesquite, and americana (aka original flavor). The garlic ketchup was surprisingly good :) Anyways, EVOS is definitely a Floridian restaurant, but there is one located in San Luis Obispo too. Like I said, it's not anything special and I don't think it's as healthy as they want you to think. If I had to re-do lunch knowing what I know about EVOS, I probably would have gone to the Panera Bread next door...hahaha...just had to try something local.

I have about 3 hours to kill until the leadership academy officially starts. I thought it would be good to list a summary of my talent themes based on our "textbook" for this leadership program I'm participating in, that way you'll know what I'm talking about when I refer to them over the year.

This is the order that was given to me by the assessment in the book. I don't know if it means one talent theme is more predominant than the other, but it's probably best to stay consistent. By the way, Talent, as defined by the book, means "a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving."

Harmony: You look for areas of agreement...You can't quite believe how much time is wasted by people trying to impose their view on others... When others are sounding off about their goals, their claims, and their fervently held opinions, you hold your peace...In your view, we are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going. It is a good boat. There is no need to rock it just to show that you can.

Restorative: You enjoy the challenge of analyzing the symptoms, identifying what is wrong, and finding the solution...You may prefer practical problems or conceptual ones or personal ones...Your exact preferences are determined by your other themes and experiences...You fixed it, resuscitated it, rekindled its vitality. Phasing it the way you might, you saved it. 

Deliberative: You are careful. You are vigilant. You are a private person. You know that the world is an unpredictable place...Rather than denying these risks, you draw each one out into the open. Then each risk can be identified, assessed, and ultimately reduced. Thus, you are a fairly serious person who approaches life with a certain reserve...You select your friends cautiously and keep your own counsel when the conversation turns to personal matters...If some people don't like you because you are not as effusive as others, then so be it...Life is something of a minefield...You walk with care.

Intellection: The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think...You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection...This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives...this mental hum is one of the constants of your life.

Consistency: Balance is important to you...you do not want to see the scales tipped too far in any one person's favor. In your view this leads to selfishness and individualism. It leads to a world where some people gain an unfair advantage because of their connections or their background or their greasing of the wheels. This is truly offensive to you...In direct contrast to this world of special favors, you believe that people function best in a consistent environment where the rules are clear and are applied to everyone equally...each person has an even chance to show his or her worth.

I obviously gave you the abridged description of each talent theme. For better or worse, I think it's fairly accurate (especially the stuff in purple). I'm kinda afraid it paints me as a more serious person than I really am, but maybe that's something about me I haven't really noticed or that's become more evident as I get older. I'm definitely introspective, but does that mean I'm an Introvert? I took the Myers-Briggs test in high school and it said I was an introvert, which would have been fine if one of my high school teachers didn't blurt out to the class that I would end up as a Librarian. That was a sad day.

So what do you think? Does that sound like an accurate description of me?

Social Experiments 2011 in 3....2....1!

Last year, I applied for this Leadership Program offered by one of the transportation organizations I'm involved with. I found out before the holidays that I was accepted into the program (I'll tell you more about the program itself in another blog) and included with my acceptance letter was the first assignment.

The assignment was to read the first 30 pages, take the online assessment, and submit the results to the Director (of the organization). My guess is they're going to split the class into work groups based on our strengths.

This book is a really quick read and the assessment is just as quick, if not quicker. What the book says, in a nutshell, is that most people are SO focused on overcoming their weaknesses that they forget (or neglect) their strengths. This was particularly insightful to me because (to quote Kanye West), "I'm so gifted at findin' what I don't like the most." The book was right...I'm definitely one of those people who give 150% into trying to compensate for a weakness that I completely overlook what I'm actually good at. In fact, if you asked me, "What are your strengths?" or "What do you think you're good at?" I would give you some smart ass answer like, "Blow jobs" or some canned answer I read in a book about how to succeed in an interview.

The "reading" part of the book is really about 30 pages, the rest of the book describes the different talent themes you would fall into based on the online assessment. After taking the assessment and reading through the descriptions, I felt that I had a better idea of what my strengths are or a better way to articulate them. If you're one of those people who like to read and like the idea of broadening your perspective through books, then StrengthsFinder 2.0 is worth the $25.

Thanks to the book, I'm going to do little social experiments throughout the year to test out the author's theories. My first social experiment is actually one of my resolutions for 2011 - Focus on what I'm good at instead of trying to make up for what I'm not so good at. This has led to a lot of reevaluating where I'm at in all aspects of my life: family, love, career. With this new perspective, I feel great about where I'm at in everything  except for career...how ironic, since this book landed on my lap because of my job. LOL.

Stay tuned...

Summer Reading

I LOVE reading books. I'm a total bookworm and summer is when I like to kick back with a good book rather than watch T.V. I've read a couple books this summer, but none worth mentioning until now. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith (SGS), is definitely something worth passing on. The novel is considered part of the "literary mash-up" genre, where two unlikely genres are mixed into one interesting story. In this story, U.S. History is mashed together with vampire folklore to make for a creative take on Abe Lincoln.

I love vampires and I liked studying history back in high school, so I was curious about this book early on. After finishing the book last night, I have to admit it's one of the better vampire novels out there. It's very well-written and just the right mix of history and fantasy to keep you engaged. I like European History over U.S. History, but this novel earned some points for the subject. I mean, it was able to connect vampire uprisings to slavery...it is that creative and convincing. I had to keep reminding myself that this didn't actually happen, although I think a part of me will always see Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter from now on. What can I say, I really get into my books.

If you're looking for something different and creative, give this one a read. I read SGS's first literary mash-up, Pride Prejudice and Zombies and thought Vampire Hunter was MUCH, MUCH better. Also, I'm on the hunt for a new book to read, any suggestions are much appreciated :)