And now for something completely different....

...aka the review of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

While waiting for Magic Mountain to come in at the lbirary I took a break to read "The girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. One of my good friends lent me the series saying I could give them back to her when ever I finished them even if that meant that it was 10 years down the road. Little did I know that I would devour the first book in a week.

I generally avoid books that become insanely popular just to spite the world. I can be stubborn when I want to and I am generally not a fan of popular culture. I am glad that I chose to read this one (mostly out of vanity) since the main character shares my last name Blomquist!

The book is a blend of a few different genres. I was suprised that it contained elements of the traditional british locked room mysteries with the crime occuring on an island locked down due to an accident. I always love the added puzzle of a limited number of suspects and a confined space to apply my reasoning to. The other half of the book is a sadistic and twisted expose of a series of horrific crimes commited against women. To be honest I almost wished it had stayed a mysterious british style mystery! That being said I could NOT put this book down and read an average of 200 pages a day.

I love Lisbeth Salander and find her quirky and amusing. I am not sure how I feel about her relationship to Mikael Blomqvist, but I am was pleasantly suprised at the end of the novel when she realizes he has broken her wall of defense down. I loved the quote, "What she had realized was that love was the moment when your heart was about to burst". I will be interested to see where their relationships goes in the rest of the series.

I am planning on finishing the series although I will attempt not to let them take over my life! Although I loved reading 200 pages a day of this book, if I consistently do that on a regular basis it may get in the way of life in general!