Little, Tiny, Red Haired Lisbeth

I'm almost finished with the series of books by Stieg Larsson, starting with The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.  I read the 1st book months and months ago and decided to skip the next two books.  I wasn't sure why everyone seemed to love the book so much.  It seemed dark and dreary and "The Girl" was hard to relate to and get to know much.  Of course I did love the fact that she was tiny and red haired.  Made me feel a little kinship...but other than that, it just didn't seem like that amazing of a book...except that the story line kept you hooked until the end, I may have even given up at some point.

Recently I've been devouring some fun, and sometimes nonfiction books and I was ready for a good, deep novel again.   So I started the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire.  And I fell in love.  It was so much better and so much more about Lisbeth and so, so, so entertaining.  Lisbeth is a strong, independent woman and is quite willing to take control of her own life.  She's a survivor and even when the unthinkable continues to happen to her, she does not give up.  She is not a victim and I respect that.  Lisbeth takes what life has given her and fights back.  I'm always impressed with characters who don't feel sorry for themselves or want anyone else to feel sorry for them.  I love it when something bad happens to a female character and instead of blaming everyone else, they figure out what is going to make them happy and do it.  Sometimes life throws you for a loop, sometimes things happen that seem out of your control, but it's all about how you react and deal with the situation, not really about what has happened. It's hard not to admire the character that holds her head high and says that what you do does not change who I am.  
Again, Larsson writes books that make you keep reading, because the mystery is only solved at the end and it's so worth it.  Especially when it had to do with Lisbeth and her life.

The third book has stayed more like the second and I am so happy for that.  It's so great to get involved with characters in novels, especially when the author does such a great job with the story line!  I now see why so many people are upset about Larsson's passing.  What a great series to read and I wish there were more of his work!