Yes, this IS a book report.

Last Christmas, Ned's Aunt Irene recommended The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to me. Ned's Aunt Irene has a very distinct way of speaking that makes me hang on to every word, and kinda wish I was best friends with her. She lives in Chicago and travels a lot, and is awfully busy with Uncle Wes, so I don't think it'll happen, but I do like listening to her talk when she comes to visit.  She's borderline hypnotic, in the sense that when she's gone, her strong influence is gone too. When she was telling me, I desperately wrote the name down on a Post-It note on my fridge. When she left, I glanced at it every few days, and tried to summon the effect Aunt Irene has on me. It took me a few months to get it.

  I had always imagined it to be about some Chinese girl flitting about a garden somewhere with a magical dragon tattoo. Lisbeth Salander is far from Chinese. Or flitting. She is the character I have always wanted to read about. You don't want to be her, exactly, or even friends with her. You just want to read about her. And Mikael reminds me of my dentist (who just fathered a love child), who has become a bizarrely huge part of my life, much thanks to Kiwi H. The characters are brilliant. The only reason I could put the book down is because I am in my 1st trimester (!) and keep falling asleep. When Ned comes home from work, I barely glance up from the couch to ask him how his day was, and pray to God for a one word answer. I hit ignore on the phone yesterday when Kiwi called. Might be a first time thing. (Except for when she was socially depressed in '06). I took my 2 youngest to the Science Museum yesterday, with reading as my sole motivation, and read for 2 glorious hours.
It's safe to say that the transition from not pregnant to pregnant has been made smooth by Lisbeth Salander. It ain't easy bein' queasy. All. The Time. But with Mikael (Dr, Walker?) and Lisbeth, and peppermint tea, all seems fleeting.