Courtesy of moviespad.com

I am 25% of the way done to my New Year’s Resolution and I am 1 month ahead of schedule. I was able to finish all 644 pages of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. 644 was a big task but this year for me is all about follow through and not just saying stuff. I have this ambition this year I haven’t had before. I want to be one who not only says what they are going to do, but can back it up by my actions.
I have never been one to spend free time reading. I take that back, do sports magazines count? I picked this book kind of by chance. My wife and I were walking around Barnes & Nobles with the kids trying to find just the right book. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was good placement by the store but I just walked right into it. With its recent success in the box office and a curiosity to read the book and then see the movie, and a very reasonable price of $9.99 I was hooked.

There were two parts of the book that really kept my interest. They were the two main characters and the conflict they went through. Mikael Blomquist is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of Harriet. Mikael has his own problems with the law before being hired by Henrik. However, Mikael is convinced by Henrik to take the job because if Mikael can solve the mystery, Henrik will give Mikael the information necessary to clear his name. I thought this was an excellent hook. Not only is Mikael solving one mystery, but he has hopes of clearing his name of any guilt.

Mikael comes into contact with Lisabeth Salander when he hits a dead end and needs a bit of help. Lisabeth is able to help Mikael get some information in some not so legal ways. Through their investigating together their business relationship turns into a bit more. One wouldn’t really call their relationship normal but their relationship is a good hook.

Henrik and Lisabeth face their own conflicts and then have a conflict together. Henrik’s investigation of Harriet’s disappearance, clearing his name, and the involvement and cooperation of Lisabeth kept me interested.

However, an area that I didn’t really enjoy was it did take about 100 pages to really get into the book. A slow beginning for a guy who doesn’t really read that much wasn’t what I hoped for but after the first 100 pages the “meat” of the story began and my interest was sparked. My only other criticism for the book was after the mystery was solved, the last 100 pages kind of dragged on to solve an issue I really didn’t think necessary.

As I was about half way through the book my wife and I decided after I was done reading it, she would read it and then watch the movie. We are going to call it the Bashaw Book Club.

Is this book worth reading? Absolutely.

If you are interested here is the trailer for the movie.