I enjoyed both of those books so much, megan. I loved how what was set up as the abuse in the first book was not what I had anticipated. And I love how fierce Liz is.

I have not been able to get into the first chapter of Dragon. Should I really give it another try?

The Michael parts of the first part of book one are sloggy to me. But Erin, I loved the book. I'd say give it about 50 pages and if it doesn't work for you set it aside.

Oh my! Finished The Children's Book, by AS Byatt. Oh MY what a giant sprawling book, looking at the destructiveness of the artistic temperament and the hotbed of genuine change and hypocrisy of he pre-WWI era.

Oh, I had picked that up at the library (the Byatt) and not gotten around to it. Is it fun, then? I love big ol' Victorian era novels.

It's why I love Sarah Waters so much; I still like her WWI period stuff, but I adore the Victorian lesbian thrillers.

It is definitely thought-provoking, Erin. I was up for two days in a row to finish it. But, like all Byatt, it's unsettling. I think I still prefer Possession to The Children's Hour, but the doubling and the foils in the book are great. Extremely bleak though.

I have a Sarah Waters out right now (last years) but I think I need to be light for a bit. I'll still skim Moby Dick and instead read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.

The new Waters is v. Gothic; I quite enjoyed reading it up late one night this winter.

I enjoyed both of those books so much, megan. I loved how what was set up as the abuse in the first book was not what I had anticipated. And I love how fierce Liz is.

I love how I completely misread the opening scene of the second book. I think Liz is a little too good to be true, but it's great to have such a strong female character. Which is true about The Hunger Games as well.

I'm excited to read the Sarah Waters as well, but I have The Help and a few others to get through first.

I'm just so excited that I've gotten into reading fiction in a serious way again.

I've started the sequel to The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and so far it is lovely. I could read any number of books in this protagonist's voice.

I just read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last week. I enjoyed it, but didn't feel particularly compelled to pick up the second book, especially since the first one ended with like 100 pages of Mikael's vendetta against Wennerstrom, which was not nearly as interesting to me as the story about the Vanger family. If I liked the Lisbeth parts more than the Mikael parts, should I give the second book a shot?

Kate, I would say yes. The focus of the second book is much differnt (more on Lisbeth)