Posted: 2019/07/09 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Book Reviews, Fiction, Lust To Go | Tags: Asa Larsson, book lust iii, book review, crime, Fiction, june 2019, mystery, series, sweden |
Larsson, Asa. Sun Storm. Translated by Marlaine Delargy. Read by Hillary Huber. New York: Bantam Dell, 2003.
Reason read: June is Larsson’s birth month.
Rebecka Martinsson had fled her small town of Kiruna many years ago to become a successful tax attorney in Stockholm. She attempted to escape scandal involving sex and the church and hasn’t been back since. You can fill in details between the lines, but readers will not know the exact reason why she disappeared all those years ago until much later in the book. They only know Rebecka reluctantly returns only after being called by an old friend needing legal advice and emotional support. Sanna has been accused of murdering her much beloved evangelical brother, Viktor Strandgard. When all of the obvious evidence, including motive, points to Sanna as the killer Rebecka must dig deep to uncover the truth.
Probably the best part of Larsson’s writing is how descriptive she is with people and places. I especially liked how flawed and broken most of her characters were.
Author fact: Sun Storm is Larsson’s first novel.
Narrator fact: Huber does a great job with the different character’s voices. Rebecka Martinsson as a lawyer is strong and direct while Sanna Strandgard, whose brother has just been found murdered, is weak and frightened. Even the male voices are well done.
Book trivia: Sun Storm won an award for Best First Crime Novel.
Nancy said: just that Sun Storm won the Swedish award for Best First Crime Novel, which I already mentioned.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Swede(n), Isn’t It?” (p 222).
Posted: 2019/07/03 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: E-Books, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: adventure, Amsterdam, annie proulx, Anthony Trollope, Asa Larsson, autobiographical, books, Clifford Simak, crime, depression, family, Fiction, iran, Iraq, Isaac Asimov, Joel Kramer, Katherine Mansfield, lists, Michael Carroll, middle east, mystery, native american, Nicholas Freeling, ocean, Patrick O'Brian, Robert Kaplan, science fiction, series, Sherman Alexie, short stories, sweden, Sylvia Plath, Tabitha King, victorian |
June was all about giving up various elements of my life for the sake of family. I’ll go off the book review protocol to say one nice gesture threw off a myriad of plans. Because of one nice gesture I:
- sacrificed a camping trip,
- postponed my first trip of the season to Monhegan,
- cancelled plans with my mother,
- lost four training days,
- lost hours of sleep but gained a kink in my back due to sleeping on an air mattress,
- got behind on reading and writing end of year reports,
- spent more money than I budgeted due to a cancelled flight,
- missed a day of work, and
- have no idea if I actually helped or not.
Anyway. Enough of that. On with the books:
Fiction:
- Book of Reuben by Tabitha King
- Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- Sun Storm by Asa Larsson
Nonfiction:
- Soldiers of God by Robert Kaplan
- From a Persian Tea House by Michael Carroll
Series continuations:
- Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
- Because of the Cats by Nicholas Freeling
- Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O’Brian
- Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
Short Stories:
- “Shadow Show” by Clifford Simak
- “The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above”
by Sherman Alexie - “At the Rialto” by Connie Willis
- “The Answers” by Clifford Simak
- “Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield
- “What You Pawn I will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie
- “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx
- “Harrowing Journey” by Joel P. Kramer
- “Ado” by Connie Willis
Posted: 2019/06/18 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, E-Books, Fiction | Tags: 2019, Amsterdam, book lust i, book review, crime, Fiction, may, mystery, Nicholas Freeling, series |
Freeling, Nicholas. Because of the Cats. New York: Penguin Books, 1963.
Reason read: to continue the series started in honor of May 15th – May 21st being Police Week.
Whenever an author takes you on a journey to describe the landscape I always imagine a giant bird flying over the land. For the first few pages of Because of the Cats you get that same sensation. The reader looks down on the bigger picture of where the story takes place, this time in the small town of Bloemendaal. It is a simple place usually bereft of crime. Chief Inspector Piet Van der Valk is back on the case when a rash of burglaries escalates to rape in his jurisdiction. As Chief Inspector of the Morals and Children department his focus turns to a group of teens from Bloemendaal. This seems impossible as the town is virtually crime free and all of the suspects are rich. Why would they need to commit break-ins? Why? Because of the cats!
Because prostitution is legal in Amsterdam, law enforcement have a different relationship with the ladies of the night. Van der Valk allows Fedora to pick him up and bring him home for dinner. He even tells her, “You don’t bother my morals” (p 17). Pay attention to this woman for she is essential to the case.
The first reference to cats is when one of the rapists declares, “the cats won’t like it” (p 11).
Quote I liked, “It was, he knew from experience, fatal to fall in love with a theory” (p 25).
Author fact: when Love in Amsterdam was published and it became a success, Freeling said he was able to stop cooking other people’s dinners.
Book trivia: Because of the Cats was made into a Dutch-Belgium movie in 1973.
Nancy said: Pearl admitted Because of the Cats was one of the best mysteries because she admitted to feeling creeped-out when she finished it. If you can remember the sensation long after you have finished the book, that’s the sign of a good plot.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love a Mystery” (p 119).
Posted: 2018/09/17 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: Book Reviews, BookLust I, Fiction | Tags: 2018, book lust i, book review, crime, Ed McBain, Fiction, murder, mystery, september, series |
McBain, Ed. Fuzz. New York: Warner Books, 2000.
Reason read: to finish the series started in July in memory of McBain’s passing.
McBain is a master of character development and dialogue detail.
The 87th Precinct has met its match in Fuzz. After a prominent citizen of a fictitious New York City is gunned down witnesses can only say they saw a man wearing a hearing aid. Dubbed the Deaf Man, it isn’t long before he strikes again. His modus operandi is to call the precinct to extort a sum of money or else someone is going to die. In the case of Parks Commissioner Cowper, it was $5,000. The next threat was aimed at the deputy mayor for $50,000. Finally, it was the mayor’s turn to die. Meanwhile on a different assignment, Steve Carella tries to figure out who is setting homeless people on fire. Dressed as a derelict Carella puts himself in danger and isn’t fast enough to get out of harm’s way…
Quotes I liked, “In a city notorious for its indifference, the citizens were obviously withdrawn now, hurrying past each other without so much as eyes meeting, insulating themselves, becoming tight private cocoons that defied the cold” (p 23),
Author fact: So, here’s a really odd one. McBain can describe the weather so well the heat detailed on the page can send trickles of sweat down your back or the lack of it can freeze your fingertips. Impressive, considering all the while you are in the comfort of your own temperature controlled home.
Book trivia: Fuzz was made into a movie in starring Burt Reynolds.
Nancy said: I read Fuzz and Big Bad City out of order because Pearl listed Big Bad City before Fuzz. I should have known better than to trust Pearl to put the series in the order in which they should be read. It’s an attention to detail I would have appreciated.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “I Love a Mystery” (p 120).
Posted: 2018/09/05 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: BookLust I, BookLust II, E-Books, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: africa, Arnaldur Indridason, audio book, books, Bryce Courtenay, chick lit, china, civil war, colorado, crime, Donna Jo Napoli, Dorothy Dunnett, e-books, Early Review, Ed McBain, fairy tale, greece, historical, Iceland, india, Isabella Bird, Kerstin Ekman, Kirsty Needham, librarything, lists, mystery, NonFiction, Nora Roberts, Peter Bridgford, romance, Rona Jaffe, series, Sofka Zinovieff, sweden, Tarquin Hall, travel, women |
So. I’ve done a few short runs here and there. Nothing crazy, but at least I’m back in it somewhat. Spent more time with the books. Speaking of which, here they are:
Fiction:
- Under the Snow by Kerstin Ekman (EB/print)
- The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe
- The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall (AB)
- Crazy Jack by Donna Jo Napoli (EB)
- Power of One by Bryce Courtenay (EB)
- Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett (EB/print)
- Daring to Dream by Nora Roberts (EB)
Nonfiction:
- A Season in Red: My Great Leap Forward into the New China by Kirsty Needham
- A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird
- Eurydice Street by Sofka Zinovieff
Series continuation:
- Arctic Chill by Arnuldur Indridason (EB/print) – which I forgot to mention when I was plotting the month. It’s the last book of the series -that I’m reading. (There are others.)
- Big Bad City by Ed McBain
LibraryThing Early Review:
- Where Eagles Dare Not Perch by Peter Bridgford (EB) – which came after I plotted the month of reading so it wasn’t mentioned before.
Posted: 2018/08/01 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, E-Books, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: Athens, audio book, books, Bryce Courtenay, chick lit, china, colorado, crime, Donna Jo Napoli, Ed McBain, fairytale, Fiction, greece, india, Isabella Bird, Kerstin Ekman, Kirsty Needham, list, memoir, mystery, NonFiction, Nora Roberts, romance, Rona Jaffe, series, Sofka Zinovieff, sweden, Tarquin Hall, travel |
Since the Run for Nancy was only a few days ago I am still on a high from not only running four miles, but running four miles without pain. No pain whatsoever. The pain is so gone it’s as if I imagined the whole thing. Weird. Weird. Weird. As for books, since I don’t have any other running plans in the near future:
Fiction:
- The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe – in honor of August being Chick Lit month.
- The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay – in honor of Courtenay’s birth month being in August.
- Daring to Dream by Nora Roberts – in honor of August being Dream Month (hey, I read it somewhere).
- Niccolo Rising by Dorothy Dunnett – in honor of Dunnett’s birth month being in August.
- The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall – in honor of Rajir Ratna Gandhi’s birth in August.
Nonfiction:
- A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird – in honor of Colorado becoming a state in August.
- Eurydice Street: a Place in Athens by Sofka Zinovieff – in honor of the Dormition of the Holy Virgin.
- A Season in Red by Kirsty Needham – in honor of the Double Seven festival in China.
Series continuations:
- The Big Bad City by Ed McBain – to continue the series started in July.
If there is time:
Fiction:
- Under the Snow by Kerstin Ekman – in honor of Ekman’s birth month.
- Crazy Jack by Donna Jo Napoli – in honor of Fairy Tale Month.
Posted: 2018/07/31 | Author: gr4c5 | Filed under: audio book, E-Books, Early Review, Fiction, NonFiction | Tags: Alice Mattison, Arnaldur Indridason, Caroline Preston, chick lit, childrens book, cookbook, cooking, crime, David Halberstam, Early Review, Ed McBain, Elizabeth David, Elizabeth Lowell, Fiction, greed, historical, Iceland, Jacqueline Kennedy, James Stewart, Joan Aiken, Kate Walbert, Korean War, librarything, Lizzie Borden, Mediterranean, mystery, NonFiction, relationships, romance, series, short stories, Tristam Korten, Walter Satterthwait, women |
July was jamming. Guess what! I ran a few times this month. Even participated in a charity run for an aunt-in-law (is that a thing?). I am feeling much, much better! And. And! And, I was able to read a ton:
Fiction:
- Jackie by Josie by Caroline Preston – in honor of Jacqueline O. Kennedy’s birth month.
- Cop Hater by Ed McBain – in memory of McBain’s passing in the month of July.
- Miss Lizzie by Walter Satterthwait – in honor of Lizzie Borden’s birth month.
- Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken – in honor of July being Kids Month.
- Gardens of Kyoko by Kate Walbert – in honor of Japan’s Tanabata Festival.
- Animals by Alice Mattison – in honor of Mattison’s birth month.
Nonfiction:
- The Coldest Day: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam – in honor of July being the month the Korean War ended.
- The Book of Mediterranean Cooking by Elizabeth David – in honor of July being picnic month.
- Den of Thieves by James Stewart – in honor of July being Job Fair month (odd choice, I know).
Series Continuation:
- The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason – to continue the series started in June.
- Midnight in Ruby Bayou by Elizabeth Lowell – to continue the series started in April.
Early Review for LibraryThing:
- Into the Storm: Two Ships, a Deadly Hurricane, and an Epic Battle for Survival by Tristam Koten.
