Googling locations and items in the book

[Anthony]

Am I possibly the only one doing this? I make a habit of cracking open the laptop during my reading time so that I can look up every location and even clothing or items. It actually greatly enhances the overall experience and at times adds some insight, I'm doing it with other books as well.

[Andrea]

great idea. Being from the US, I often wondered about the authenticity of things mentioned but never took the time to look much of it up.

[Richard]

I use Google Earth when I'm reading authors such as Larsson, Mankell or Nesbo. It really adds to the story to see the actual locations of the murders. I can imagine them, but the reality is always different.

Spending some time 'exploring' Ystaad or Stockholm or Oslo lets appreciate how the characters are moving around.

[Melissa]

I do that with a lot of books. And I Google things I might not be familiar with. I did that with the Winter's War that was mentioned in the first book (and then I got curious and continued searching Nazi activity in Sweden, etc.).

[Silviu]

Even the story about Stig Wennerström was true, he actually was a true spy! Amazing!

[Andrea]

That is so cool!

[Henry]

Larsson was extremely detailed in his geographical descriptions. Remember in the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire, members of the motorcycle gang tried to kidnap her outside her old apartment. Here is the passage:

Seconds later Salander was up on the other side of the car, ready for fight or flight. She met the enemy’s gaze across the hood and decided on the latter option. Blood was pouring from his cheek. Before he even managed to focus on her she was away across Lundagatan, running towards Högalid Church. Blomkvist stood paralyzed, his mouth agape, when the attacker suddenly dashed after Salander. He looked like a tank chasing a toy car. Salander took the steps to upper Lundagatan two at a time. At the top of the stairs she glanced over her shoulder and saw her pursuer reaching the first step. He was fast. She noticed the piles of boards and sand where the local authority had dug up the street. Lundin was almost up the steps when Salander came into view again. He had time to register that she was throwing something, but he did not have time to react before the sharp-edged cobblestone hit him on the temple. The stone was thrown with considerable force, and it ripped another wound on his face. He could feel himself losing his footing and then the world spun as he fell backwards down the stairs. He managed to break his fall by grabbing the railing, but he had lost several seconds.

Larsson, Stieg; Reg Keeland (2009-07-20). The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium Trilogy) (pp. 152-153). Vintage. Kindle Edition. Location: 3100

Emphasis, mine. Copy the latitude and longitude coordinates below:

59 19.085 N 18 2.649 E

Now open Google Maps or Google Earth and paste those coordinates into the search bar.

You should now see a map of Stockholm with a red balloon and green pointer on the Lundagartan.

At the top of the scale zoom slider is a little man icon. With your mouse grab the man and place him near the red balloon or green arrow.

Allow the image to load and then look around by rotating the view with your mouse. You should spot the red balloon in the center of the street in a white painted crosswalk. Rotate the scene so the man faces west looking down the street. You should see Hogalid Church in the distance. On the north side of the street at the crosswalk is the steps that Lisbeth ran up in the passage above.

To see Lisbeth's new apartment building at Fiskagartan 9, copy and paste:

59 19.080 N 18 4.600 E

and drag the man icon right to the green arrow. Fiskagartan 9 is the cream colored building when looking east. There is a 9 on a plaque over the doorway.

Here is the passage from the book:

Blomkvist looked at the attached documentation for the purchase of an apartment in a building at Fiskargatan 9 in Mosebacke.

Larsson, Stieg; Reg Keeland (2009-07-20). The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium Trilogy) (p. 451). Vintage. Kindle Edition. Location 9436.

[Glenn]

Google Earth is great for this. In fact, you might want to check their overlay library because many authors like me create overlays and map out the events and areas using Google Earth.

[Amanda]

I do it sometimes. An example would be if a character is driving a particular car that I wouldn't know then I'd like to get a visual of it.