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What I'm Reading DECEMBER 2013
Ann wrote: "Just finished Jo Nesbo's The Snowman........Why do the Scandinavian mystery/thriller writers feel compelled to include such gore? "
Hah, all I can think is the long, cold, and very dark winters.
I've wondered the same whilst reading Henning Mankell's Wallander series.
Carol wrote: "https://www.facebook.com/nicolagriffi...Beth this is her page."
Thank you! I have no idea why I couldn't find it.
In preparation for the new year coming I am attempting to finish all of the partially read books on my "currently reading" list. I've been doing quite a good job but must continue to be vigilant or 2014 will begin with me in an awkward reading state. :)I do plan to add Washington Square to that list once I've finished a couple more books that are nearly completed.
You do have a mountain of currently reading books, Sue. I thought I was bad stringing out Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All for months, with several books in between.
I confess to currently choosing somewhat shorter books, despite the big tomes cooing to me from the TBR--I'm trying to complete my 100 book goal for the year, and I've got a daunting 14 to go after I conclude today's book.It's tough out there among the writing, it is.
That's a big goal, Sara! But I know what you mean about book size. I had already met my 50 goal when I started the very-long Gurganus. I don't know if I'll finish it during this year or not, but I'm hoping.
Sherry wrote: "That's a big goal, Sara! But I know what you mean about book size. I had already met my 50 goal when I started the very-long Gurganus. I don't know if I'll finish it during this year or not, but I..."well, last year I set it at 75 and completed 90, so I thought it wasn't all that undoable, but I got bogged down a couple of times this year. I do have at least 3 or 4 listens that are around 3 hours each, so I hope to catch up. I think next year will be 85, though. :-)
I must say, you've re-whetted my interest in the Gurganus--I know I had a print copy a long time ago, but never read it. Now I'm thinking it will be up for 2014.
It's very long, Sara, and my copy has pretty small print. I've had it since before I joined CR, so you know I've had it a while. It could have been separated into four good-sized books. One of the reasons I like it is because it's set very close to where I grew up.
Have to say I'm learning to appreciate shorter books now too. After some really huge ones, I'm enjoying some shorter 200 to 300 page books.
Ann,There does seem to be quite graphic violence in the Scandinavian novels. I read them despite that because they are so well written. There are plenty of American crime writers that are just as gruesome but I can't manage to read their novels.
I love the sense of place that the authors manage to bring to both the cities and offices but also the interior lives of the characters. That may be due to living in the Pacific NW where I can relate to oppressive darkness and drizzle and the effect it can have on the psyche.
Does the gore in the Jo Nesbo novels reflect the inner turmoil in the main character? Wallander has demons that haunt him as well. Nesbo always manages to fit two books into each novel. The plot resolves and I realize I'm only half-way through the book. It's a great treat to be able to read on.
Cateline and Diane, I enjoyed your comments on the Scandinavian crime/thriller genre. I think the climate probably does have something to do with the dark tone of these books.
I raced through the Steig Larsson's trilogy, have read some of Mankell's mysteries, liked Lars Kepler's books about detective Joona Linna, and have now discovered Jo Nesbo. Whew! There sure are a lot of vicious psychotic killers in these countries!
More seriously, the gore seems to be an accepted part of the genre. I'm sure you are right about American writers, Diane, but I've never been tempted by their books. What makes the Scandinavian writers appealing is the twists and turns in the plots. I have only read Nesbo's THE SNOWMAN so far, but you are completely right about the plot. Just when he seemed to have everything wrapped up and I wondered what he would do with the rest of the book, it took another path. I think I will read more, but I need a break from the sick brutality of the crimes.
Ann wrote: "What makes the Scandinavian writers appealing is the twists and turns in the plots...."So true.
I'm nearly done with Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria, which is quite good, and might interest folks looking to read about current-day Africa, beyond refugee camps, tribal warfare, etc.
John wrote: "I'm nearly done with Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria, which is quite good, and might interest folks looking to read about current-day Africa, beyond refugee camps, t..."I just check it out John. It looks interesting and with your approval, I think it must go on the list.
I'm just finishing up a fascinating book by William Trevor, FELICIA'S JOURNEY (212 pp, 1994). It has one of the creepiest male characters I've ever met in a book. He looks and acts like a kindly, portly, and helpful middle-aged gentleman, but.... Felicia, a naive young Irish girl who has come to Britain to search for the father of her unborn baby, doesn't see Mr. Hildich's dark side. It's been made into a 1999 movie which I'll watch when I finish the book. (Willian Trevor is a great writer, and the book won the 1994 Whitbread prize.)BTW, some people in another group have said that on Sunday (tomorrow, Dec. 22), writers Michael Connelly, George Saunders and Terry McMillan will be interviewed on the TV Program, Face the Nation. They thought the talk would be about the best books of 2013.
Marge
Making a mental note of that, Marge.
Marjorie wrote: "I'm just finishing up a fascinating book by William Trevor, FELICIA'S JOURNEY (212 pp, 1994). It has one of the creepiest male characters I've ever met in a book. He looks and acts like a kindly, p..."I read this years ago, Marge. I loved it, too.
Marge,My aunt gave me FELICIA'S JOURNEY a long time ago. While I think Trevor is a wonderful writer, his stories have often left me with a feeling of hopelessness. I never read this book because I was afraid it would be too depressing.
Am I wrong?
Yes, Ann, I suppose it could be a bit depressing. It started out that way for me, but as I got into it, I just got so interested that I couldn't stop reading. Marge
Ann wrote: "Marge,My aunt gave me FELICIA'S JOURNEY a long time ago. While I think Trevor is a wonderful writer, his stories have often left me with a feeling of hopelessness. I never read this book because I..."
You're not wrong, Ann.
I started it and just couldn't/didn't want to finish. I may at some point, but not anytime soon.
Marge, maybe if I'd continued, but the handwriting on the wall was too much for me at the time. I saw it as sort of akin to The Collector by John Fowles. While I haven't read the book, I saw the film when it came out. I was young and impressionable, and it horrified me. Samantha Egger played the girl.
I started Hostage by Robert Crais last night, it's fast moving and keeps the interest. A great palate cleanser. Crais really can create some verra creepy characters!
Just threw In the towel on The Worst Thing I've Done. By Ursula Hegi. I've read Hegi's books set in Germany and liked them very much. Couldn't make it through this one. Way too self-consciously clever.
Finished Hostage by Robert Crais, well done thriller. My review here. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished Tell the Wolves I'm Home, which was the the first Life Interrupter I've read in a very long time. I could not wait to get home from work so I could read it some more, and then finally just started taking it with me so I could read during breaks. Prior to that was Ashfall, a YA novel about the aftermath of an eruption of the Yellowstone super volcano. I have a mild obsession with Yellowstone and secretly worry about the volcano, and even with that, the book was a solid "meh." It read like the author was checking off boxes of "things that must happen to my teen boy hero."
Peggy wrote: "I just finished Tell the Wolves I'm Home, which was the the first Life Interrupter I've read in a very long time. I could not wait to get home from work so I could read it some mor..."I was so fascinated I knocked it off in one marathon day.
Marjorie wrote: "I'm just finishing up a fascinating book by William Trevor, FELICIA'S JOURNEY (212 pp, 1994). It has one of the creepiest male characters I've ever met in a book. He looks and acts like a kindly, p..."I haven't read this book but the movie has Bob Hoskins as the male lead, yes! and I remember having the same thought after seeing it - such a creepy character! Do let us know how the book and the movie compare after you watch it.
Ann wrote: "Cateline and Diane, I enjoyed your comments on the Scandinavian crime/thriller genre. I think the climate probably does have something to do with the dark tone of these books.
I raced through t..."
Ladies, A huge Jo Nesbo fan here, I actually don't mind the gore because I think it is not at all gratuitous. I know there has been a backlash against the genre's style here, especially its sexual voilence, but I just find them so addictive, and Harry Hole a very real, albeit troubled, great detective. I'm sure I've siad before but now the earlier ones are available in Engish do read those up to and including the Snowman before reading any of the later ones
I took some time yesterday to browse through my new local libraries shelves and came back with the following reading for over the holidays: Paul Bowles's Points in Time, Susan Hill's Strange Meeting and Kōbō Abe's The Woman in the Dunes
I've now read 22 of the Nero Wolfe series. Yes, I'm a little obsessive. The library understands this and is a worthy enabler of my addiction...
Ah, Sheila, I added all three to my list.
Oh, I just downloaded The Stories of Paul Bowles to my Kindle. But, right now I've started Lucky Bastard:: A Novel by the wonderful Charles McCarry. I've read a few of his series featuring the spy, Paul Christopher and loved them.
I'm not sure how appropriate the feeling is, but the dialogue that begins Lucky Bastard is laugh out loud funny. :) Just crackling.
I've started a book I think some Constant Readers may appreciate: The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community, and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book, story of the author's opening a used bookstore in not-particularly-affluent southwest Virginia during the post-Kindle era.
I'm in the mood for funny. I put in a request for a library copy of Lucky Bastard:: A Novel. It has 3 different books by that title, so I had to make sure that I got the one by Charles McCarry.
Ann wrote: "Marge,My aunt gave me FELICIA'S JOURNEY a long time ago. While I think Trevor is a wonderful writer, his stories have often left me with a feeling of hopelessness. I never read this book because I..."
Without giving anything away, it doesn't end the way you are sure it will from reading the beginning. I didn't find it depressing at all.
Ann wrote: "I'm in the mood for funny. I put in a request for a library copy of Lucky Bastard:: A Novel. It has 3 different books by that title, so I had to make sure that I got the one by Charle..."Well, cynical-funny is actually the case. I love McCarry's sense of humor. It's funny in a very cynical, 'we know what people are' sort of way.
I just finished The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America. Extremely readable and revelatory of what has happened to America's middle class over the past few decades. Packer uses the device of following several individuals, a black female factory worker from rust-belt Ohio, an entrepreneur from North Carolina, a Washington lobbyist, as well as interspersing profiles of figures like Newt Gingrich and Jay-Z. Thr result is compelling and in many ways sad, as small towns and cities all over the nation crumble.
Just finished Dirty Love, four well written short stories that look at manifestations of love that are far less than 100% pure and wonderful, but are about believable human beings. I especially enjoyed one about an unhappily single woman who finds a good boyfriend, with whom she becomes a "happy couple;" I like how he subtly shows how, despite our cultural concepts about it, there are very real benefits to living on one's own, even compared to a pretty good relationship.
Well the Paul Bowles's Points in Time was devoured over a tea break yesterday and is on its way back to the library this morning where I already put in reservation's for his The Spider's House and Up Above the World!
I am readingThree Weeks in December by Audrey Schulman. This is set in Africa and alternates between a story set in 1899 about an American engineer building a railroad and battling killer lions and another story set in 2000 about an autistic American scientist looking for an elusive plant with amazing medicinal properties. The scientist is in danger because of marauding child soldiers.I am very curious to see how Schulman will bring these 2 stories together. The autistic scientist especially intrigues me. Maybe it's because her inability to interpret social cues just adds to the sense of danger and suspense.
This was one of the books I bought on super sale when Borders closed. Has anyone else read anything by Audrey Schulman?
Cateline wrote: "But, right now I've started Lucky Bastard:: A Novel by the wonderful Charles McCarry. I've read a few of his series featuring the spy, Paul Christopher and loved them. ..."Cateline, I read his most recent book, The Shanghai Factor a few months ago. It was okay, but disappointing when compared to most of the Paul Christopher novels. Have you read any of Bill Granger's novels in the series that started with The November Man? Many were quite good. Unfortunately. I think that most of them, if not all, are out of print. It's easy enough--and worth it--to find used copies of these books.
No, Larry. I haven't heard of Granger. I'll take a look-see. Thanks :)I've finished Lucky Bastard:: A Novel by Charles McCarry. Not his best, in a way, but interesting all the same. Here is my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sheila wrote: "And I just added Charles McCarry's The Miernik Dossier to my reserved list from my local library"Sheila, it is the most different of any of McCarry's Paul Christopher novels. It is written in a "sketchy" format ... you'll understand when you see it. But it is worthwhile. For another good look at that time and place, i.e. Berlin during the Cold War, you may wish to try Dan Sherman's truly great Prince Of Berlin.
Larry, Sadly not available in my library system and I am trying not to buy more books :) but thanks for the suggestion
I'm quickly finishing up The Memory of Trees, Cottam's latest paranormal/horror book. Listening to Christmas music in the background. Odd mix in a way but somehow feels right. The story has a medieval connection.
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Constant Reader
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Charles McCarry (other topics)
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Why do the Scandinavian mystery/thriller writers feel compelled to include such gore?