It’s definitely summer here in Texas but thanks to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which I started yesterday, I feel like I’m getting a bit of a respite from the heat. Despite hearing a lot of rave reviews about the book I wasn’t really sure what it was about but so far it’s wonderful.

Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist has just lost a libel case and is sentenced to prison, but just when things seem pretty grim he gets an offer he can’t refuse. Henrik Vanger comes to him to ask for help in solving the case of his missing niece who disappeared decades ago. Mikael must spend a year in a small town along the Norrland coast.

“According to the Hedestad Courier, Blomkvist’s first month out in the country was the coldest in recorded memory… He had several miserable days in the middle of the month when the temperature dropped to -35F.”

See why this is perfect reading for me right now when our temps are in the 100s?

Now, this book isn’t the only one I’m excited about. I know on my last bookstore outing I didn’t buy any books and some of you were shocked but that doesn’t mean new books haven’t arrived at Casa Bookgirl. Recently I’ve gotten the following:

• Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino. This one came to me via Tanabata who needed to weed through some of her books as she was preparing to move and she was generous enough to send it my way.
• Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbot. Thanks to Simon & Schuster who sent me the following ARC. I’ve read one of her books and really liked it so I’m looking forward to this noir tale.
• Absent Friends by S.J. Rozan. I’ve not read anything by this author but her books have been recommended to me.
• The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis. I love historical mysteries, although I tend to step back only a couple of centuries, but I’m kind of in the mood to travel further back in time and this one sounded interesting.

Now, I am going back to northern Sweden to find out what is happening with the journalist, the missing girl and the strange young woman with the dragon tattoo.

We went to the bookstore twice this weekend so the first time I just hung out reading a bunch of magazines. I was so glad to see the latest issue of Venus Zine. I was sure it had gone out of print as I hadn’t seen a new issue in a long time but luckily they are still around and with another great issue.

On our next trip to the bookstore while my husband spent time in the Art section, I wandered over to the fiction shelves. I go to the bookstore at least once a week but usually I’m reading my own books, checking out magazines, etc. but this time I wanted to pet the new books.

Lots of books looked interesting but these are the ones I wrote down:

• Miss Harper Can Do It by Jane Berentson. A story about a young woman who feels like her life is on hold when her boyfriend is deployed overseas. How does she cope? Does she stay loyal? Does she stay in love?
• Kiss the Sky by Farai Chideya. A book about a would be rock star? This isn’t my typical read but I loved listening to Farai Chideya when she was an NPR commentator so I’m curious to see what she comes up with for her debut novel.
• Frida’s Bed by Slavenka Drakulic. I’m fascinated by Frida Kahlo’s life and art so this fictional account of the last days of her life goes on my list.
• The Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner. An inventor, Oxford and Victorian England. How could I not put this one on my list.
• How to Buy A Love of Reading by Tana Egan Gibson. Honestly, I didn’t even read the description of this one (it was too high on the shelves for me) but I liked the title. The description though makes it sound like a fun read. The parents of Carley commission a book to be written just for her so she’ll love to read.
• Songs For the Butcher’s Daughter by Peter Manseu. From the cover: Summer, sweltering, 1996. A book warehouse in western Massachusetts. A man at the beginning of his adult life — and the end of his career rope — becomes involved with a woman, a language, and a great lie that will define his future. Sounds good doesn’t it?

I only got as far as the “M’s” so hopefully on my next visit I’ll make my way through the rest of the alphabet. Heh. So have you read any of these? Any thoughts?