The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson

I know the translation could be better on this one--okay, a lot better--but the story is amazingly good. I'll admit it--I was surprised. Thrillers and mysteries always seemed cheap to me...easy bestsellers, played out plots, cheap thrills. How judgmental can you get, right? All my talk about genres and their idiocy, about how important it is to read a book without it's marketing category in mind, eschewing generalizations for the sake of good books. Yikes. I was wrong. I love thrillers. I love mysteries. And there's a reason books are bestsellers, right? And the more I think about it, I think the rough translation is actually kind of endearing--making the sometimes sordid tale of evil doings in Sweden quite readable. What am I saying? Really readable. Eminently readable. And what's even better about this book is that there's a SEQUEL. And it's just as good. Same translator but much cleaner, more edited. And guess what? There's going to be a THIRD one.

Just read it. When's the last time you read a Swedish thriller? Here's your chance.