I will always be a true-blooded New Yorker (even though I’ve been living in New Jersey for 14 years!), and for me, New York will always be the center of the universe. But even though this is the greatest city in the world, I’m tired of reading about stories that take place here—it’s all too close to home. I’d rather be transported and get immersed in a different culture and environment—pretend that I’m living somewhere else. One of the zillion reasons why I’m so excited that Vertigo is adapting THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and the two other titles in Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium Trilogy” is that Sweden is as much a character in the books as the incredible creations of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. I’m re-reading the novels now, and I am totally taken with the gloomy glamour of Stockholm, the stark white landscapes of Hedeby Island and the omnipresent cold of this at once historic yet very modern country. Plus, there’s something about the austerity and doggedness of the Scandinavian sensibility, not to mention Lisbeth’s completely IKEA furnished luxury apartment in the second novel that I find totally fascinating! So, if you’re yearning for a quick escape from this cold winter, go someplace even colder – read a Henning Mankell Inspector Wallander crime novel or read Let the Right One In, a chilling and touching portrait of a child vampire by John Ajvide Lindqvist or see the incredible film. And if you’re really stuck, there’s always Hedda Gabler to curl up with while you’re eating some lingonberry pie with a cup of hot coffee. Skoal! Karen Berger