Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy

It's not the Star Wars trilogy, but this trilogy of books from Stieg Larsson has a similar effect. These books resonate so strongly with some of us that we continue talking about them long after we finished reading one and wait with great anticipation for the next one.  Patrick Anderson's review in the Washington Post today captures some of why we (I) love these books and it will be with a bittersweet feeling that I read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  While there may be the remnants of a book in the pages Larsson left behind when he passed away, we know that the series has an end.

Wow...it's been a while

Not sure I've every gone a month without a posting, but that tells you how busy it's been.  Reading books, working a lot and trying to find a new space for the store.  After working several months trying to get a lease together, I decided to move on to another spot.  Sigh...

On the plus side, I am devouring Book # 2 in the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy - The Girl with Who Played with Fire.  The movie of Book #1, The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, was recently released in the US and it was amazing.  It didn't pull any punches.  If it had been made in the US, I fear it would have been greatly watered down.  Read the book first.

Earlier this week, NPR had a story about avid fans of Stieg Larsson who are not waiting for the U.S. realease of the third and final book in the trilogy, The Girl who Kicked the HornetE's Nest.  Folks were ordering the book from UK booksellers, asking friends to pick them up, etc., not wanting to wait for the May 25th US launch date (it was released in the UK in October 2009).  I don't blame them and am not sure why publisher Knopf would delay the US release so long when the demand is so strong.

The Body Finder and In the Woods

Starting off strong..."The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest finished second on the U.K.'s book charts last week...according to book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan. It came in behind Dan Brown's thriller The Lost Symbol..." (Shelf Awareness, October 8, 2009). US release for Hornets' Nest scheduled for October 31st.

From last week's New Atlantic region indie book conference...Just finished the advanced reading copy of The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting. While I'm older than the target audience (by far!), I really enjoyed the mystery.
Described as: "A serial killer on the loose...A girl with a morbid ability...And the boy who would never let anything happen to her." On-Sale date: 3/16/2010.

Already out, In the Woods by Tana French. Best described by Nancy Pearl on NPR's Morning Edition: "...intense debut novel...part whodunit, part psychological thriller, and wholly successful...French's plot twists and turns will bamboozle even the most astute reader." Winner of the 2007 Edgar Award for Best First Novel

US release of film version of Girl with Dragon Tattoo in early 2010

From Shelf Awareness
"The film version of Stieg Larsson's novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo now has a U.S. distributor. Variety reported that Music Box Films acquired the U.S. rights to the Swedish thriller, "which has grossed almost $100 million internationally and has still to open in Germany. The $13 million pic, the first in the 'Millennium' trilogy based on Stieg Larsson's international bestsellers, is slated for U.S. release early next year. It has been sold to 30 territories. . . . The next pic in the trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire, has already taken $16 million from four foreign markets. The third film, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, is in post-production and will be released this year."

View info on film.

Dragon Tattoo and Zombies

Nope, not the same book, but two books I finished recently.

There's a reason why Stieg Larsson has a book at the top of the hard cover and paper back mystery lists right now. Having read an excellent review of The Girl Who Played with Fire, I decided I wanted to go back and read the first book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (besides liking the title). Fresh Air (NPR) describes it far better than I: "A super-smart amalgam of the corporate corruption tale, legal thriller and dysfunctional-family psychological suspense story." And so much more...

The third book in the trilogy The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is getting great reviews and will be released in the US until October 31, 2009.

For a little background on this series and how pippi longstocking fits in...

Also finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies...like the original Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy end up together and unlike the original, survive the disapproval of Lady Catherine as evidenced by the attack of her ninjas on Pemberley.