join now| sign in| help
Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:

Request Friendship
Send Request Cancel

Susan T

Susan T

I'm a freelance editor living in San Francisco with a cat named Weasel. I pay the rent working for a graduate school. I blog book reviews and other literary musings and adventures here:

http://inoneeyeouttheother.blogspot.com/

Please stop by. :-) more »
  • member since April 28 2009

Groups

Friends

Susan T’s last login was 2 days ago.

Random books from my shelf

     
 
 
 

Public Notes

  • CRAIG S

    CRAIG S says

    Hi Susan,

    Thank you. I love your book reviews. I'm not a big poster on Chris board,but I go by cjamsc. I been anxiously awaiting your review of John Irving's book. Btw,you want me to ask my mom to start reading your blog?lol

    posted 3 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Matchew Bert

    Matchew Bert says

    You have some really great reviews in your book review group. Thanks for the help.

    posted 4 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Nicole R

    Nicole R says

    I love your tag of "trashy underwater fiction"! I am totally checking out some of those :)

    Also, I sent you a private message...I hope you got it! Let me know if you didn't...

    posted 1 month ago. ( send a note )
  • bulphan

    bulphan says

    Greetings Shelfari friend!

    Haven't been around much recently, too busy with life!

    How are things with you?

    Read anything good recently?

    I'm on my 75th book so far this year!

    Hope all is well...

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • againstthetide

    againstthetide says

    Nevermind! I found the title on your blog . . .I'm all set now.

    posted 3 months ago. ( send a note )
  • againstthetide

    againstthetide says

    Susan,

    Hi there! Sorry to bother you, but recently you read a book that I really wanted to get for my best friend. But now, I forget the title and can't seem to find it amongst all the PBT reviews :[. I'm hopeful that maybe you'll recall it. I'd say it was one you reviewed this month or last month and it had to do with food, and I believe the word "Gourmet" was in the title.

    I promise to put the title on my own wishlist so I don't forget it this time . . .

    posted 3 months ago. ( send a note )
  • againstthetide

    againstthetide says

    Oh Susan - - I'm so sorry to hear about your job situation. What a nightmare! Those things are so tough. My hubbie is facing something not too dissimilar himself and the stress involved is just overwhelming.

    No problem at all on the review. I'm so glad it wasn't lost!! Just misplaced :).

    Anita

    posted 4 months ago. ( send a note )
  • againstthetide

    againstthetide says

    Hi Susan,

    I went to double check to make sure your review wasn't there - - and lo and behold, I had no trouble finding it. Not sure why you couldn't see it. Maybe you just whizzed by it when you were searching. At any rate, it's there!! I copied and pasted it below for you.

    Anita

    Susan T
    The Girl Who Played with Fire
    by Stieg Larsson
    4 stars
    It feels like a ridiculous cliché to call Stieg Larsson’s premature death a tragedy—no matter how true it is. But now, as I am still breathless having finished the second novel of his dazzling Millennium Trilogy, I truly believe this man has achieved immortality. I can easily imagine his creation Lisbeth Salander joining the ranks of the most enduring literary characters. Once you’ve met Lisbeth, you’ll never forget her.
    The Girl Who Played With Fire opens quite provocatively, with an unknown 13-year-old girl being held captive by a sexual predator. Whatever ideas you form at that point—you’re wrong. Trust me, you are. From there, we have some one-on-one time with Lisbeth. She’s been busy since we last saw her, getting a personal makeover and taking some time to see the world. She’s been away from Sweden for about a year, and it’s time for her to return home. She left without a word to anyone, and she cautiously begins making contact with the people who care about her, with the notable exception of Mikael Blomkvist. Much to his consternation, she wants nothing to do with him, and has refused all contact.
    That’s okay. Mikael’s busy running Millennium magazine and jumping in and out of affairs. And, as it happens, a huge story has just walked into Millennium’s office in the form of Dag Svensson. Dag’s a young journalist who has been researching sex trafficking in Sweden for years. He’s written an explosive book, and he wants Millennium to publish it. They decide not only to take the book, but to build an entire issue of the magazine around it. The question is, how far is someone willing to go to keep a crime quiet?
    As an American, I’ve always had a very positive opinion of the Scandinavian peoples. They always seemed “better” than us, more enlightened somehow. Let me tell you, Stieg Larsson has disavowed me of that notion. The Swedes are just as unpleasant as we are. God, maybe worse! Reading this book, written by a native, is a fascinating glimpse at a culture in many ways quite different from our own. Regardless, it seems that people are people and there’s a lot of ignorance, hatred, violence, venality, and sickness in the world.
    Others will write more about the plot, but I see no reason to go there. I read this novel without knowing what to expect, and the reading experience was the more enjoyable for it. There were some BIG surprises. That said, the plot was the most flawed part of a luminous novel. On the one had, I absolutely loved it. On the other, Stieg Larsson cheated—not once, but twice! Deep into the middle of the novel, a major plot point revolves around a coincidence. That’s not cool. I had a conflicted internal debate, and had just about decided to let Larsson have a pass on at least a semi-plausible coincidence when he did it again! A second major plot point based on a coincidence. That’s bad. I was so disgusted at that point that I put the book down for a day. But, I have to admit that when I picked it back up, the story moved along at such a headlong pace that I could hardly bare to set it down again. Seriously, I went without food. Ultimately, it’s an amazing story being told, but very flawed from a technical standpoint. As much as I want to, I just can’t give it five stars.
    Now, what aren’t flawed are Larsson’s characterizations, and that’s what elevates this novel from being one hell of a good mystery to a work of far greater significance. And as I alluded earlier, it is Lisbeth Salander that is his showstopper. I’ve never met anyone like her. You’ve never met anyone like her. She’s one of a kind; a damaged genius who will break your heart while pissing you off. Lisbeth’s past had only been hinted at in Dragon. We learn a lot more about her in Fire. Happily, I feel confident there is still much to unravel in Hornet’s Nest. The ending of this novel will leave you deeply impatient to get your hands on the final installment, and fearful of how that one will end.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • againstthetide

    againstthetide says

    Susan,

    I would be the person to ask, and there is absolutely no reason it would be removed unless it had very serious spoilers and wasn't marked with some warning like :**Spoilers below**.

    However, I'm quite sure none of us administrators removed it because we always discuss removing something before we do. I think in all of the time of PBT we've only removed two posts.

    Soooo, my bet is that it had something to do with a server glitch. Did you actually see it listed in the thread, or did you simply submit it and assumed that it posted? If you saw it in the thread, that's really wierd (and very unfortunate). But if you never actually saw it there, I'm betting that something happened during the processing of the post that kept it from being successfully listed. That's happened to me before as well!

    At any rate, I'm really sorry the post is gone. I will double check with my fellow admins to make sure no one removed it, but I'm almost 100% sure that no one did.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Coyotemusic

    Coyotemusic says

    I'm ridiculously excited about Vine tomorrow! Woo hoo. I've ordered some speakers, some ceiling fans and a scanner from them in the last month ... so i'm hoping I have something more exciting in electronics than a radar detector. We'll see.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristal

    Kristal says

    P.S. To send you a private message, we must be friends, so I am requesting your friendship in order to send you my addy.

    posted 6 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristal

    Kristal says

    Yipee!!! Thank you SO much Susan! Wow, I'm speechless. I don't usually win anything. I'm so happy. You made my day :0) I'll be adding your blog to my blog roll. Thanks again.

    posted 6 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Ellen R

    Ellen R says

    Wow, I am so excited! I just sent you my info. Thanks, Sue!

    posted 6 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Coyotemusic

    Coyotemusic says

    I have this idea stuck in my head now, that I want to come to your house one day with a laptop and Excel and catalog your whole library!

    :-)

    If things slow down for me, expect me to hit you up.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Coyotemusic

    Coyotemusic says

    I'm so glad you seem to be enjoying my group!

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Nicole R

    Nicole R says

    Susan~ What a fantastic journey you've been on thus far! I have often thought that it would be fun to simply volunteer at some place that I want to work and the Smithsonian would totally be at the top of that list! While biology is definitely the love of my life, I find that I am a fickle and have numerous liaisons with anthropology, history, astronomy, and mythology (among other random topics that I find interesting); however, I continuously keep coming back to biology.

    My time in Monterey was fantastic, that area is so beautiful. I worked on marine policy and legal projects at the Center for Ocean Solutions...I have recently decided I don't want to be a straight academician and am leaning more toward policy work. If I weren't over halfway done with my PhD I would consider scraping it and doing a joint degree - Masters of Marine Affairs and Environmental Law. sigh, maybe in my next academic life....

    Your background in editing definitely lends itself to your wonderful reviews! They definitely catch my attention. I checked out the one on Amazon about Fragment and already added it to my TBR pile...it sounds like a great summer beach read. I noticed the "trashy underwater fiction" tag on your shelf and was laughing to myself but then there was only one book listed! Being an avid diver, I think that is a great category to have. :)

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Jen M

    Jen M says

    Always good to see a fellow Bay Area resident in the halls of Shelfari :D

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Nicole R

    Nicole R says

    Hi Susan! I saw your post about science nerdiness and thought I would respond here. :) I am a marine biologist and am currently working on my PhD in Rhode Island. I just spent 4 months in Monterey, CA, though completing an internship and spent several weekends in San Fran...it quickly launched itself onto my list of top 5 cities in the US :)

    I say that if you have spent time in the Marine Eco Lab at the Smithsonian (especially working on something cool like sharks) then you are an honorary scientist! If you don't wade through science on a daily basis, what do you do as a career? I see that you are an editor...what do you edit?

    I am looking forward to your break-out science fiction thriller of the summer! I'll have to make sure I look for your review!

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Coyotemusic

    Coyotemusic says

    you did it! Nice

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Nicole R

    Nicole R says

    Hi Susan, welcome to Play Book Tag! The tag for May is suspense; once you read a book that fits this tag, post a review and rating on May tag: collective reads for our shelf. For answers to commonly asked questions, please look over the FAQ for new members which is pinned to the top of our discussions. If you have any questions about PBT please don't hesitate to ask me!

    See you on PBT!

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )


© 2006-2009 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close