The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I'd seen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson in bookstores for awhile now.  I suppose it was highly profiled because there was a film made of it, and because the third book in the trilogy was being released.   I was interested in it, but didn't really know much about it, so I never gave it a try.

A couple of weeks ago, I was lent a copy of it from a friend's mom. 

OH MY GOD.

WHAT A GOOD BOOK!

I just finished reading it, right now, and am ITCHING to go buy the sequel.  It's a story that takes place in Sweden, and features quite a large cast of characters that at first makes it just a touch confusing until you get to the point where the real plot starts to come into play.  Others have said that they found the book dull at first and tough to get into, however I didn't think the same and enjoyed it right from the beginning.

The main characters are instantly likeable.  Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist who has been sued for libel and found guilty, is hired by a wealthy man (Henrik Vanger) to solve the mystery of his missing niece -- who disappeared forty years ago, in a case that went unsolved but that was suspected to be a murder.  Blomkvist gets wrapped up in the case, which he doesn't expect to solve, and intrigue and suspense carries on from there.

There are twists and turns as you dive deeper into the history of the Vanger family, and into Blomkvist's quest to clear his name following the libel conviction.  He teams up with Lisbeth Salander, a young woman with a troubled past and expert investigative skills, who is a character that I think we'll learn even more about in the sequels to this book.

If you haven't read it yet, and you like some mystery and suspense, I highly recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I'm not sure how the movie is, but I might watch it just to compare it to the book.

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Edited:  Okay, upon some research, I think I understand the movie thing a little more.  Looks like there were Swedish movies made about all three books in this series; but in 2011, a Hollywood version is coming out.  I really didn't know much about this series before being loaned this book two weeks ago, haha... but I knew some movie was already on TMN.  Must be the Swedish version!  I'll give it a try.

Way Overdue Reading Update

I've neglected my reading blog for far too long... partially because, I've been neglecting reading.  In September, I had a huge change in my personal life (which, if you read my main blog, you already have heard way too much about, I'm sure), and it really threw me off.  The only thing I read after that was a quick re-read of the first Twilight book (I needed something absolutely mindless, and in a way, comforting in its familiarity and easy-readability), and then I took a bit of a break from reading novels.  I was also very busy with teaching my new grade one class, and with taking an online course, which has just ended.

I have read 10 books since my last blog post in July though... yes, I made it to 39 books this year.  I'm just finishing up book 40.  I don't think I would have been able to make it to 100, regardless of what happened in September, but I probably would have made it past 50 had I been my usual self, which would have been pretty cool.

As it is, I scrapped my ENTIRE "101 things to do in 1001 Days" because way too much of it involved the relationship-that-is-no-more, so I scrapped the "read 100 books" goal too.  Next year I'll maybe try a new reading goal, 100 books was TOO MUCH. haha.

Anyway, here's what I've read since July, just in list-form, with no reviews:

30) An Ideal Wife by Gemma Townley
31) Second Prize by Chris Manby
32) Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
33) How Nancy Drew Saved My Life by Lauren Barantz-Logsted
34) Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
35) It's About Your Husband by Lauren Lipton
36) Welcome to the Real World by Carole Matthews
37) English as a Second Language by Megan Crane
38) Mini-Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
39) read-read of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I'm going to document how many books I've read up until New Years Eve... but honestly, what I went through in September really changed things for me.  However, no more neglecting this blog, that's for sure!