The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson

The last we left Lisbeth, it was over a month ago and I immediately placed my Amazon order for this one. Four long weeks later, my package arrived and I tore into it. Let's not be all high-brow and be like, "For a thriller, it's a fun beach read." Okay, yeah it is, but it's also just really good and exciting and pro-female and I couldn't put it down. No literary snobbery here.

A few notes:

• Apparently the Swedes drink coffee like no one's business. The constant quaffing really made me want a cup. 
• One scene mentions that the sun is setting at 1:30 in the afternoon one wintry day. Wowza.
• It's mentioned in passing that a hostel on Langholmen has been booked for a character. On impulse, I looked it up, and I'm pleased to say that the hostel in question, based in a former jail, is a Hostelling International location. HI also has a couple of other cool hostels in Stockholm, one on a ship and one in a 747 jet. 

• No spoilers, but how could they keep on mentioning the existence of this one character and then never ever have them actually show up? Surely had Stieg Larsson lived, this character would have the focus of the next book.

So in Sweden, movies based on all 3 books have long been made and released. Here in North America, we've just seen the 2nd movie, The Girl Who Played With Fire, come out. Kelly and I saw it on the first night, and I must say, I was disappointed. Maybe the story wasn't as good as the first one, which definitely worked as a stand-alone mystery,  but I can't help but wonder if the change of directors didn't affect it. Also they left so so much out, which I can't stand. Book trumps film, yet again.