the girl with the dragon tattoo

Happy Friday, friends!!!

I have SO been enjoying the ***GORGEOUS*** weather we've been having here in Colorado! I've been spending some quality time with my lounge chair outside this week. And my puppies are sun-bathers, too, so we've all been behaving like little lizards!

With all the lounge time, I managed to finally read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. My 5th book for 2011. This is the third time I've tried to read this book! Third time's a charm --- I made it through! I was initially intrigued by this book when there was all the hype surrounding it. And then when I learned that the author passed away shortly after delivering the manuscripts for this series. My dad gave me the series, and I figured I'd be really into them. I LOVE mystery/action books! Like I am *OBSESSED* with Dan Brown books! Anything by him is gold.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo follows Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who gets nailed in a libel case. He gets hired to do family research and try to solve the mystery of a girl who went missing 36 years ago. Lisbeth Salander is a private investigator with a very troubled past, social ineptitude, and a knack for digging up the most hidden of secrets about anyone. She becomes Blomkivist's research assistant, and together the unravel family secrets no one ever dreamed they'd find.

So, my problem with this book was that there was 300 pages of background/buildup. I just was not into the extensive family tree that they went into. Or all the issues with financial journalism. I literally wasn't into it til like page 350. Props to Larsson though, because his book was very much a social commentary on the prevalence of violence against women in Sweden. Each segment of the book begins with a statistic about the high rate of threats, abuse, or sexual assault against women. I appreciate the attention brought to light about issues as important as this, but the book delves into this violence and hatred against/of women, so it includes some very graphic and nauseating situations throughout the story.

Overall, I'd take Angels & Demons any day over this book. But I do plan on reading the sequels. I heard The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest are better than this first book. I'm also interested in seeing the movie depictions of these books! I'll keep you posted :) If you've read this book, what were your thoughts on it? 

Cheers.