Even After All This Time: A Story of Love, Revolution, and Leaving Iran, Afschineh Latifi

This was a recommendation from my friend Katie - thanks!! This was an excellent book!!

The background of the story is that Afschineh and her family lived in Iran during the reign of the Shah. Her father was a high-ranking official in the military. When the Shah was overturned, many of her father's fellow officers left the country, fearing what was coming. However, her father refused to leave and he was eventually arrested and executed. The family (her mother, sister, and two young brothers) were left to fend for themselves in an increasingly restrictive government. Her mother decided the girls would be better off being educated in Austria. So Afschineh and her sister, Afsaneh, were sent to a convent school in Austria without knowing anyone or much of the language (Afschineh had studied German so she was in a pretty good position on that front). Their mother left them money at a local bank for day-to-day needs, as well as to hide the money from the Iranian government. In the course of one year, the girls spend almost all of the money, about $15,0000!! Obviously two young girls were not the best financial advocates for the family!!

Because the money was gone, their mother could not afford to keep them at the school. They were sent to live with their uncle in Virginia. They stayed there for about 5 years. Unfortunately it was not a pleasant 5 years in that their uncle either ignored them or complained about them. They had few friends and spend most of their time avoiding their uncle. They eventually graduated from high school and moved out of their uncles while going to college. Their mother and brothers were finally able to join them and they were all together again after 6 years. She and one of her brothers became lawyers and her sister and other brother became doctors.

I think it is interesting that the American dream still exists. The girls were obviously spoiled before growing up - it is difficult to spend $15,000 on nothing but junk. They realized this when they saw how upset their mother was when she checked the account. They learned their lesson and through hard work, succeeded. Very much a struggle, but they survived.

This isn't the best written book - but a good story about the American Dream!!

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of The Little Bighorn by James Philbrick

Okay, so this is my first Custer book. Currently reading another. I'm actually about 2 reviews behind so this one might be kind of short. I figure not many of the 3 of you reading this actually care about a Custer book :)

Anyway, so I don't know much about Custer's Last Stand except that Custer and all his men died - one horse survived, which I actually knew from Paul Harvey! I knew they were fighting American Indians and that is the extent of my knowledge (not my favorite time period to study). So, I did have the basic story correct, but obviously a lot more to the background.

Custer was quite the showoff, although he was a talented Calvary leader. He fought in the Civil War and was eventually given the title of Brevet General (which is an honorary position during wartime - he wasn't actually a General). He got on the wrong side of President Grant while Grant was dealing with some serious scandals in his administration; Custer testified about the scandals. So, basically, we was trying to suck up to Grant by getting some American Indians.

The problem with this was that Custer, being the egomaniac he was, he refused to listen to scouts telling him there was a significant amount of Indians in front of him. He assumed he could beat anyone, no matter how few men he actually had. He had even gone so far as to desecrate some Indian burial platforms and villages. So, when they attacked, they were woefully outnumbered and paid the ultimate price. They were massacred and tortured and mutilated.

I was a little surprised at the atrocities that were attributed to Custer and his men against the Indians. I'm not stupid enough to not think that the whites did nothing - I know we're not nice either. It's just always amazing to me that man can do what he does against other men - or women and children. Just plain cruel!

Ultimately, not a bad book, but I'm not sure it would be interesting to anyone not interested in Custer or the history of the American Plains Indians.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest, by Stieg Larrson

Well, I FINALLY finished the third book in the Millennium series. Between illness and having a heck of a time getting into the thing, it seemed to take forever to get this finished. It also didn't help that this book was significantly longer than the other two. I guess having to wrap things up takes a little longer than setting everything up (although I have heard rumors that there was a 4th book that wasn't finished before Larsson died).

I will admit, I did get into the book about 2/3rds of the way through. I don't know if it's because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel or because it actually got interesting. But the end went much faster than the rest of the book. The courtroom scene was very good.

I think what made this book so slow for me was that there was so much detail; so many things and people to keep track of. Very cloak and dagger stuff with government cover-ups, the mob, and the media. Lots of stuff to keep up with. I did like that Lisbeth is finally given some personality and people skills. I know the other books were leading to this, but it was nice to finally see.

But I finally finished the trilogy and now I can join with all the other people who have read the books. Overall, I would suggest reading the first and just skimming the Internet to find out what happened in the others and how the whole thing wraps up.

Now on to my Custer book!!

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

So, it's been a few days. Finally caught up to my previous reading and the family and I had a rough week (car accident, sickness, plumbing issues - fun) so we're finally getting back on track. I finished this book about a week ago, but am just now getting around to posting. Better late than never!

Anyway, this is the second in the Millennium trilogy. Definitely not as good as the first. Although we do get more background information about Lisbeth and why she is the way she is. This book also ends with a definite need for a third book. The first could be a stand alone with a little more information added. This was also longer and much more "wordy" than the first. The whole first sequence with Lisbeth doesn't even seem to be needed. Not sure if that will come back for the third book or not.

This book also gets a little more unbelievable. Hard to follow at certain points and a lot of back story to get through. I don't like having to keep flipping back to figure out who people are and there seems to be a lot of that in this book. Now, I'll admit, some of that might be because the Swedish names are a little hard for me to follow. But still! Also, this book isn't as graphic as the first - lots more cloak and dagger stuff.

Okay, not my best review, but it has been a week and I'm already half-way through the third book (which is by far the worst and very difficult to get through). Plus, it's hard to get excited about a book I didn't enjoy. After the third book in the series, I have a couple that were recommended from my friend Katie and I'm really looking forward to reading them. I also have a couple about Custer's Last Stand that I'm sure most people will find boring, but who knows!