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Thanks to the ongoing legal wars between the people Stieg Larsson left behind, readers only have three books from his bestselling series. With no fourth (or is it actually fifth) book to be published, what’s a reader to do?

Publishers Weekly reports that Random House will release a special box set with the entire Millennium series in hardcover format. The set will include an 85-page book entitled On Stieg Larsson. Contributors include his colleague Jonas Sundberg, his original Swedish editor Eva Gedin, and his friend John Henri-Holmberg.

Kurdo Baksi wrote the memoir Stieg Larsson, My Friend, which is already out in Sweden. An English translation will be available by the end of the year. An interview with The Star revealed that Larsson made Baksi a character in The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Baksi noted: “That is the best thing I have done in my life. I’m very proud of that.”

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Not to be upstaged by the Nook Color, Amazon revealed that James Patterson is the second novelist to sell more than one million Kindle books–joining the exclusive “Kindle Million Club.”

eBookNewser has more: “Back in June, The Hachette Book Group said that Patterson had sold 1.14 million eBooks across retailers … Stieg Larsson, author of the Millennium Trilogy, was the first author to hit the 1 million mark.

What do you think? Will Amazon reveal more Kindle statistics now that Barnes & Noble bragged that they have sold one million Nooks?

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Bestselling author Stieg Larsson‘s younger brother has confirmed there is an unfinished manuscript by the late novelist.

Joakim Larsson told the Sunday Morning: “I got the email from Stieg 10 days before he died where he wrote, ‘Book No. 4 is nearly finished.’ To make it more complicated, this book No. 4, that’s book No. 5, because he thought that was more fun to write than book No. 4.” Later in the interview, Joakim stressed again that the so-called fourth book is actually the fifth book of the series.

At the moment, Larsson’s long-time partner Eva Gabrielsson has the manuscript. The Larsson family maintains they would not publish the manuscript. Gabrielsson and the Larsson family have been legally battling overthe novelist’s estate following Larsson’s  fatal heart attack. (Via CBC News)

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As with exercise regimens and New Year’s resolutions, summer reading lists are those kind of goals that, despite the best of intentions, never seem to get finished. Still, I’m pretty jazzed about the amount of reading I’ve managed on the subway and at lunch, and I forgive myself for not getting to the rest of the list – I had two trilogies to attend to!

I realize that I never expressed my post-reading feelings about some of these titles, so here’s a round up of the books I promised I’d read, and actually did!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo AND The Girl Who Played With Fire – Stieg Larsson /

Murder mysteries aren’t exactly my thing, but I can see why this trilogy has so much buzz. If you can get through the first 250+ pages of exposition and keep up with the host of Swedish names, Larsson’s first book is a truly engrossing thriller, and the sequel takes it right on par from there.

I’m not sure why Dragon Tattoo, and especially detective/journalist/man-about-town Mikael Blomkvist, would be considered feminist in the least, as pointed out by The Rejectionist in this deliciously seething review. Blomkvist is exactly the man who male fiction writers like to fantasize they are (see Robert Langdon), and he spends way too much time being a lady-magnet in tweed to actually be a believable character. Salander, on the other hand, may be seriously screwy, but at least she is interesting.

I also agree that reading or watching highly disturbing scenes of rape and torture is not my idea of a good time (really, I only watch Law and Order SVU for Chris Meloni and Ice-T). I could stomach parts of the no-holds-barred Swedish film with the sound off, and reading those gruesome scenes left me needing some Glee songs and a cupcake.

That being said, take Stieg Larsson’s trilogy for what it is – crime fiction – not some icon of feminist literature. Maybe, like me, you don’t only read characters who hold to real-life moral standards (if that’s the case, knock yourself out with Left Behind, please). Get lost in Larsson’s cold, cold Scandinavian underworld… then come up for air and find something happy to do.

This Is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper /

Several months after hearing Tropper speak and praising the cover design, I finally, finally read This Is Where I Leave You… and found a voice that I wasn’t exactly prepared for. Sure, the dark comedic elements were impeccably timed, as expected. But Tropper’s protagonist, Judd Foxman, also left me with a perspective on the middle-aged male

Ok so we're not so quick with our postings, but it IS that time of year (well that's going to be our excuse for the day anyway!!) Nonetheless, it's me, Christy, and a short while ago I explained I was working on another entry, which will now be known as my Strawberry Series Selection.

This series will highlight one of my favorite literary series and/or authors. Just to give you a background of some of the more mainstream series I follow, I absolutely love the Alex Cross series by James Patterson and the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. There is just something about following characters and storylines that attracts me. But of course I'm a sucker for new series, so feel free to recommend any you've read and enjoyed. I just had another series that I've started that will DEFINITELY be on the list shortly (just a little something to keep you waiting!! :)

You will learn, if you haven't figured out based on my "favorites", I am a VERY diverse and eclectic reader and the series I read are no exception. There is a little bit of this and a little bit of that so stay tuned and maybe learn of some great new reads for your taste.

My first recommendation isn't technically a series, although it may have been if the author had lived. With that introduction, my first selection is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. His next novel, The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is slated to be released next May but will surely be another fantastic read. Apparently, Mr. Larsson suffered a heart attack shortly after delivering the manuscripts for these 3 novels. And believe me, what a tragedy as he is clearly a talented writer.

These novels have been translated from Swedish, which is not typically my thing as translated novels often seem to lose part of the story (as we've discussed in our review of The Angel's Game) but these stories do not miss a beat. The first approx 50-75 pages of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo seem a little rough at first, but once you get through that bumpy part, it is a non-stop thrill ride. I simply can not say enough about these books and can't wait to read the final installment. Without giving too much away, these stories follow Lisbeth Salander who appears as a modern day Lara Croft heroine for lack of better description. She's not a very likable person but you end up thinking that she is the coolest chic out there!! The other main character is Mikael Blomkvist who is a journalist for a rather liberal Swedish magazine that is no stranger to controversy. Together, this unlikely duo search for the truth shall we say, all while hunting "serial criminals". This is an EXCELLENT series that will keep you up at night turning pages faster and faster.

I hope you enjoy it and we will return SOON, hopefully within the next week or so with our review of Mudbound by Hilary Jordan.

Until then - Happy Reading!!!!