The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Check 2 for books that have been out for a while that I haven't yet read conquered.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first of the Millennium Trilogy.  It is a crime thriller.  At first I was wondering what all they hype was about, then at about the 4th chapter, I couldn't put it down.   The main character Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist hired by Henrik Vanger to solve the 40 year old mystery of his niece's disappearance.  Interspersed in the story is the character of Lisbeth Salander, a genius hacker whose footsteps will lead her to assist Mikael in his journey.  What at first seems like an impossible cold case, twists and turns into unexpected places. It's highly addictive reading and I look forward to the next 2 books in the series.  I also would love to watch the movies that have been made from these books, both the Swedish versions (already released) and Hollywood (coming this Christmas).  One word of warning with this book is that there is scenes of graphic violence which I wasn't expecting going into the book.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I know, I know, I'm late on the draw with this one.  You know you are behind on your reading when the book you are reading already has a movie version out.  I beat the movie by about 2 weeks.  For those of you like me who haven't yet read this book and have just been hearing murmurs about it, here's a breakdown for you.  The Help is set in the early 1960's and features 3 main characters.  2 are black maids and one is part of the society that they serve in the southern US.  It is the story of unlikely friendship and a look into life from the Help's point of view.  I fall into the category of readers that just loved this book and cheered right along with the characters.  I was so hooked on it that I bought my mom a copy of the book for herself.  I look forward to watching it on the big screen, hopefully soon :)