THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (Stieg Larsson) - June 26/10

This incredibly entertaining (yet overlong) book spends quite a bit of time setting everything up and establishing the characters (Mikael and Lisbeth don't even meet until around page 500!), but the story is so well planned out and executed, that it's easy enough to overlook the book's somewhat erratic structure. And while Mikael is indeed painted as a very vivid protagonist, I found that I was more interested in Lisbeth's exploits (what an original, fascinating character). Likewise, the financial stuff involving Mikael's nemesis isn't nearly as entertaining as the central mystery (Harriet being alive is one of the best WTF moments I've encountered in a while), although it is occasionally a little difficult to keep track of all the characters. I only hope that the sequels focus more on Lisbeth. *** out of ****