2023 - 10 - translated - What did you read?

[PAS, Moderator AC]

October Shelf is translated | translation

[Apple]

Not quite sure how it came up, but I just listened to Marzahn, mon amour by Katja Oskamp, translated from German, and beautifully read. The author had kind of "retired" from her writing career and studied to become a chiropodist, and this is a sweet collection of character studies of her clients who live in the suburb of Marzahn. Less than a 4 hour listen, and winner of the 2023 Dublin Literary award. A nice little escape from the bustle of the every day.

[Kristina Simon]

I read The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg. ✭✭✭.5, rounded up to ✭✭✭✭

I enjoyed this police procedural and thought it was a good first book of a series. It wasn't without problems, but I liked the characters, for the most part, and I didn't guess the resolution to the mystery too early. In the end, I didn't really buy the murderer's motivation but that won't stop me from picking up the next book in the series.

PAS Challenge(s) used for: Seriously Serial (2023)

I nominate: Magical

[Meg]

Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin
translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell
4 stars

A collection of 7 slightly creepy stories. Disturbing in an understated way. Comparisons to Shirley Jackson are warranted.
I listened to the audio which probably wasn't ideal (although the narrators were great). Some of the stories were very short, so you had to pay very close attention.

I nominate happy

[Susan]

I read The Murmur of Bees. I liked the characters, the story-line, and especially the use of magic realism. It wasn't heavy-handed, like it can be in some works, but made the magic seem like just a natural part of the real world, which is what I think magical realism should be. It sort of dragged at the end, which is why I rated it 3* rather than 4*.

[Bea]

I read The Girl Who Reads on the Métro and gave it 3*, partly because the setting seemed fluid to me and partly because at times I struggled to remember who was who. Still it was an overall interesting story.

I nominate female authors.

[Apple]

I also listened to Days at the Morisaki Bookshop. I really enjoyed it, simple, straightforward and based on relationships between people and how and what they bring to our lives. Quite short, so an easy way to fill an afternoon.

[Joyce]

I listened to The Cat Who Saved Books.
Review:
This was an interesting read. It is the coming of age of a boy who has lost his parents, and then his grandfather and is at a loss as to what to do next. Then a talking cat (not everyone can hear the cat) comes to help him learn about life through a series of adventures. The book flows beautifully and it was narrated very well.

I nominate: Horror
Used in: Moving Mountains 2023, 15 in 15 prompt #12

[Elvenn]

I read Un mes con Montalbano [A Month with Montalbano] by Andrea Camilleri, translated from Italian, somehow still waiting to be translated into English (other short-story collections, like Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories and Death at Sea, have already been translated).-

It's a collection of 30 short stories revolving around Inspector Montalbano, very much like Montalbano's novels but in a very condensed form.-

We read about cases solved by the inspector, always alert, ready to detect any behaviour out of the ordinary as he goes about his daily life, and we are invited to read a story a day and spend a month with him, though the volume may also be read as a catalogue of ideas the author didn't find complex enough to turn into whole novels.

I liked the stories a great deal, and found them very entertaining, perfect for those times when I only had a few minutes, here and there, to read, but I think I still prefer to read about the inspector in novel form, as I kept feeling the cases ended too soon.

Rating: 4 stars

Shelf nomination: Space

[Apple]

I keep forgetting that I have read translations ...

Had been wanting to read Tove Jansson for a while, so I picked up The Summer Book which was nice enough, but not going to change my world in anyway. The grandmother was creative and grumpy, the granddaughter was more emotional and challenging than my own child, (and she is VERY challenging!), but this was a different time, and I wish that childhood experiences could be more like this than the screen ruled existence they are today.

[Elvenn]

I also read The Snack Thief (1996) by Andrea Camilleri, translated from Italian.

A retired businessman has been found murdered in an elevator and a fishing man has been killed in international waters by a Tunisian patrol boat. While Montabano is intrigued by the first case, he doesn't want to have anything to do with the second one, which looks like a diplomatic nightmare, but, despite his wishes, the clues keep showing links between both cases.

The police procedural aspect on this novel is on point and the relentless pace of Montalbano's investigation ends clashing with his personal life, which refuses to be postponed. Then, when it looks like nothing else can go wrong, Montalbano finds himself on a situation well out of his league.

I understand this book may not be a favourite among some Montalbano fans, as the usual cosy vibe has some nasty undertones, but the decisions taken in this book make it an important instalment in the inspector's series. For availability issues, I had to read the next 12 books first and this volume really helped me understand later events and where characters like François and Clementina Vasile Cozzo came from.

Rating: 4 stars

Shelf nomination: Survival

[Joanna]

I read Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Five stars

I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but definitely not what I got. This book is so far outside of normal it's not even helpful for me to describe what happens. You're better off coming into the book without knowing what to expect.

But, trigger warnings should attach here. This is an uncomfortable book, with uncomfortable moments involving verbal, physical, and sexual abuse of a child. This is an emotional book, with some crazy things happening and the choices being made by these characters well outside of what you expect them to do.

I'm glad I read this. It's expanded my perspective. I'm here for what this author writes next.

(NOTE: this would also fit the November shelf for novella.)

Shelf nomination: happy