Just a couple of guys sharing a joint after a tough run.

Who says you can't be fierce at the tram station?

This kid was amazing, running up and down the street, dancing, and playing. Poor Dad just wanted to do some errands.

Monster Hunter International is a book about people who, well, hunt monsters. Owen Zastava Pitt, "Z", was a CPA and a (mostly) regular guy until his boss turns into a werewolf and they have an epic showdown. His victory catches the attention of MHI and he joins their company as a professional monster hunter.

First off, the name. Owen happens to be one of my all time favorite names for men. Pitt reminds me of Dirk Pitt, the misogynistic hero of the NUMA/Dirk Pitt books that I loved in middle school. Lastly, Zastava is supposed to be a Czech family name, so another random connection. Z is not unlike Dirk Pitt in personality either. Every time I read it, I could hear the loudspeaker on the tram announcing stops in my head. A tram stop is a zastavka. Zastavka apparently means a pledge.

Back to the story. Its a pretty fun adventure story with some fun surprises. The elves for example are not exactly ethereal. That said, Z likes guns. A lot. Really. There are luscious descriptions of guns described in utmost detail. What they look like, what they fire, how they feel, smell, taste, etc. If you happen to like both monsters and guns, this is definitely the book for you. If you're buying for an impressionable YA, maybe not.

Long Story Short: Brain candy overall enjoyable if you're into this story of thing. 

I'm fairly sure there are elves and fairies in this tree. Zoom in close and maybe you can find them..

I have an upcoming trip to visit Spain, so I wanted to read some books set there to get in the mood. I ordered a bunch of used books to be delivered from Better World Books, but this one wasn't available so I got it right away on kindle. It was a failure on multiple fronts as this book (or at least the part I read) takes place in Sweden and my physical book order hasn't arrived yet. Oh well.

Back to our Andalucian Friend. In our post Girl with a Dragon Tattoo world,  thrillers by Swedish authors are all the rage. This one is full of morose, depressed characters. The only ones that show a spark of life you know are going to end up being terrible people. There are also so many characters with so little personality it was impossible to track who was who.

I have had the pleasure to meet several people from Sweden here in Brno and they are lovely, upbeat, optimists with a great outlook on life. So I can't recommend this book as a thriller or to give any insight into Sweden let alone Spain. Ouch.

Long Story Short: Let me know if you read this and make it more than a third of the way through to find something redeemable.