The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson

I had very high expectations for this book, given how much I enjoyed Larsson's prior novel in the series. Simply put, this just wasn't as good.

I found the first third of the book slow moving, the second only a touch better. The last third seemed to move faster, although the ending became predictable.

Still, I'll read Larsson's third (and sadly final) novel when it is printed.

Cutting-edge Band Saw Tricks, by Kenneth Burton

This is an excellent reference. It has great illustrations, shows practical tips, and even includes a couple of projects.

Fragment, by Warren Fahy

It would have been easy to stop reading this after only a few dozen pages, that's how uninteresting the character development and writing are. But I kept going on this Jurassic Park riff (compared to which Fahy does not deserve comparison against Crichton's writing skill), and in the end I'd give it a C+. Surely there will be a sequel, and the author is no doubt shopping the script to Hollywood.... maybe the movie will be better than the original.

The Bandsaw Book, by Lonnie Bird

This was an okay introduction to the bandsaw, but not great. Perhaps it was just too introductory in nature, but for whatever reason, I don't recommend it.

Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, by Phil Gordon

I thought it might be useful to learn how to play Texas Hold-em poker, and this book got good reviews on Amazon. It was very interesting, although it is probably better for people who actually have experience or talent at the game than it was for me.

I found it a bit advanced, with some nuances that I didn't quite get, and analytics that I'm not quite prepared to address at this point. Still and all, seems worth the price.

I'll probably read another in this space; that will give me a better comparison point.

First Family, by David Baldacci

You can rely on Mr. Baldacci for a solid mystery. This one includes recurring characters, bad guys who are good guys too, good guys who are very much bad guys, and only a little bit of sugar-coated plot devices. It is a winner in its genre.