I finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson on Saturday night. I bought it last Sunday when we were in Port Macquarie so it would be pretty close to a record. I just couldn't stop reading it.

On Saturday night Big Jay went to the Neil Young concert (yeah, he has a thing for mouldy old hippies, what can I say...) and I read the last 300 pages non-stop. I finished just before midnight and then couldn't get to sleep until after 3:00 am. Sheesh.

On the surface it's a bog standard mystery but there's something about it. Can't quite put my finger on it. I love the character of Lisbeth Salander and can't wait to catch up with her in the next book (which I plan to buy sometime this week; too bad we aparently need to wait a whole year for the third and final instalment to be translated).

I have to admit to struggling in the beginning. It was all those Swedish names; I felt I would have benefited from a whiteboard and some multicoloured markers to keep everyone in order. But once I got into the swing of things the story just took over.

Highly recommended if you're a mystery buff like me.