What are you reading the week of Sunday, October 19, 2014?

[Enthusiast]

I finished The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg. That was fun.

I was going to start Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason. But, now that my spousal unit has finished Deadline by John Sandford I will start that one instead. We own Silence of the Grave but Deadline is a library book. Both scarletwoman and my sweetie enjoyed the Virgil Flowers vehicle so I'm looking forward to that one.

Earlier in the week Mrs. Enthusiast read Faithful Place by Tana French. We are both looking forward to the next one— Broken Harbour.

What are you reading this week?

I want to say how much I appreciate the contributions DU readers make to these threads. I check out each author and book on the Fantastic Fiction site.

[shenmue]

1. Wow!

You have good taste!

Right now I'm reading "Dewey," by Vicki Myron. It's the awesome story of a library cat.

[Enthusiast]

2. I must say, what could be better than a library cat?

That sounds good, shenmue.

[shenmue]

3. Thank you

[scarletwoman]

4. I'm about one quarter of the way through "Daybreak" by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson (Iceland).

As I mentioned last week, this is Ingolfsson's third book - I had already read his fourth book and then realized I hadn't read #3. It's okay, so far, but still rather disappointing after his first two books, which were both very unique and original stand-alones. Both books 3 & 4 are basically just standard modern day police procedurals with recurring characters. I wish he'd give up on that genre and go back to the kind of historical storytelling he did in The Flatey Enigma and House of Evidence (books 1 & 2) which were very specific to Iceland and truly fascinating. I would heartily recommend both of his two first books, and just forget about the two newer ones. As police procedurals, they just simply aren't that intresting or uniquely Icelandic, and could take place anywhere.

But of course, for Icelandic authors I'm totally spoiled by the fabulous writing of Arnaldur Indriðason and his Erlendur books. I'm still haunted by his last book, Strange Shores even two weeks after I finished reading it twice. (Please do NOT read it if you haven't read the rest of the series!) Ingolfsson's new police characters are simply flat and one-dimensional compared to Erlendur and his colleagues, who come off the page as real living, breathing people. I mean, I've been madly in love with Erlendur and have cared about him deeply through all 10 books of the series. Ingolfsson's Birkir and Gunnar are simply mildly clever plot devices and totally pale in comparison. Sorry, Viktor!

Last week I finished my re-read of the first two books of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's Martin Beck series, Rosanna and The Man Who Went Up In Smoke. There are ten Martin Beck books altogether, all written between 1965 - 1975. Per Wahlöö died in 1975 after finishing the final book of the ten. I read all ten a few years ago and decided to re-visit them and ordered the whole batch from the library. Eight have come in so far - I'm missing #3 (dammit!) and #8.

After I finish Daybreak, and while I'm waiting for Martin Beck #3, I'll be working my way through the other newer titles I've got on hand: Henning Mankell's newest entry in his Kurt Wallander series (Sweden) An Event in Autumn - a prequel that visits Wallander at an earlier time in his career. As with Erlendur in Strange Shores, Wallander had metaphorically ridden off into the sunset in Mankell's 2011 The Troubled Man. And as with Mankell's Wallander series, Indriðason has brought out an Erlendur prequel set in 1974 in his newest book, Reykjavik Nights. I haven't ordered the new Indriðason yet, since I'm pretty well-stocked with reading material at this time (ya think!). And I've wanted to hold off while I continue to emotionally process Strange Shores. (yeah, I know, I'm kinda freaky about that book...)

Interesting side note about Mankell and his Wallander character, Mankell openly credits Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's Martin Beck series for his inspiration, and a reader of both series will notice a great number of similarities between Wallander and Beck. Not only that, but even a couple of the Wallander books have plots that are very much parallel to a couple of the Martin Beck plots. It's fascinating delving into this stuff.

I don't just read these books - I get involved!

Anyway, I've got the two newest Michael Ridpath books, Meltwater and Sea of Stone on hand to read, also. (Wheew! I'll have to quit my job to catch up on all this reading!) These are #3 and #4 in Ridpath's "Fire and Ice" series set in Iceland. Ridpath is a Brit, but he does okay by Iceland, imo, and I enjoyed the first two books of this series. He's no Indriðason of course - nobody is! - but he does a very nice job of describing the Icelandic landscape, his plots are interesting, and his lead protagonist has enough life and depth to him for a reader to care about him.

Meanwhile, somewhere out there Tana French's latest book, The Secret Place, as well as Camilla Läckberg's latest, Buried Angels, are slowly wending their way through the library system to my local library, and I'm looking forward to reading those. I've already read all of French's and Läckberg's books up to these newest titles.

Like I say, I'm going to have to quit my job...

[Enthusiast]

7. Thank you for the interesting report, scarletwoman.

Last edited Tue Oct 21, 2014, 09:14 AM - Edit history (1)

I have the first two by Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson on what has become a very long list. Eventually!

I'm totally immersed in Deadline. [URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[scarletwoman]

8. Uh oh - is my report responsible for lengthening your list?

Deadline is a fun read, isn't it? I do enjoy plots that employ ordinary people getting caught up in doing bad things - so much more than plots involving psycho villians who are simply unredeemably evil.

That school board in Deadline could be anyone's neighbors. People who've let their greed lead them to cross the line into doing unthinkable things. They shut off their consciences in order to take that first step into violating ethical norms, and the momentum just carries them further and further along until they're so far gone that outright murder becomes not only thinkable, but seems like the only logical solution. The road to hell is a slippery slope...

[Enthusiast]

11. It's corruption from sea to shining sea.

Seriously.

Seems like after that 2,000 Bush v Gore supreme court decision the nation went full on lawlessness. Allow me to qualify that. It went full on lawless by people in positions great responsibility and trust, of power and influence. I think blue collar corruption remained mostly on an even keel. I guess regular people are not in a position to embezzle and influence peddle.

[scarletwoman]

17. This country has degenerated something awful.

Personally, I think it goes back the Reagan years. It seems to me that that's when the deliberate effort to destroy any sense of "The Commons" went into effect.

Greed was exulted, every-man-for-himself was exulted, the sense of community and shared responsibility was denigrated, as was all sense of "the common good".

Yes, those in positions of power totally ran with the new paradigm, but even among the populace at large there was a shift. People stopped thinking of themselves as part of a larger whole, and devolved into an overall attitude of "survival of the fittest" - led, of course, by the examples being presented to them by those in power.

So, yes - corruption from sea to shining sea - it's had its effect on our entire culture and society as a whole.

[Enthusiast]

18. You nailed it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

20. Wow....don't know where to start. If I have read none

of the authors you speak of....tell me what to read first...I am hooked on your recommendations - just based on your knowledge and description.

[scarletwoman]

22. Hmm... Where to start. That's kind of tough one.

My personal Nordic Noir journey started - like so many other readers - with Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy (Sweden). http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/stieg-larsson/ It was all the rage with crime novel afficianados in 2008/2009, and I caught the wave.

Having had my appetite whetted for Scandinavian crime novels, I next hooked onto Jo Nesbø from Norway. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/n/jo-nesbo/ I've so far read everything he's written, but frankly I began be turned off by his later books which became bloodier and more gruesome and sadistic as time went on. If I were ever to re-read any of them in chronological order, I would probably stop at The Redeemer, although it's hard not to want to know what happens to his protagonist, detective Harry Hole from one book to the next. And the most recent Harry Hole book, Police was good enough to make me almost forgive the excesses of the several books which had come before.

At some point while I was working my through the first few Nesbø books, I came across Arnaldur Indriðason's The Draining Lake in my local library's "New Releases" shelf (Iceland). http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/i/arnaldur-indridason/ I was totally hooked! I immediately ordered all his books so I could read them in order. He remains my favorite Nordic Noir author to this day. I have no hesitation in recommending every book he's written. But I would strongly recommend that they be read in order, so you can follow the development of his protagonist, Erlendur, throughout.

In the meantime, I also started following up on the author recommendations that show up on the Fantastic Fiction site and glommed onto Henning Mankell (Sweden). http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/henning-mankell/ It's a wonderful series that I can recommend wholeheartedly. In fact, it might make the best starting point for someone who hasn't read any Scandinavian crime fiction before.

From there, I went back in time to that early Martin Beck series by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (Sweden). http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/per-wahloo/ As I posted above, I'm in the midst of re-reading the entire series because I think they're totally worth it.

While I've been working my way through Scandinavia, I've also made sure to find some women authors - and there are several whose books I think are worthwhile:

Karin Fossum (Norway) http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/karin-fossum/
Anne holt (Norway) http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/anne-holt/
Camilla Läckberg (Sweden) http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/camilla-lackberg/
Åsa Larsson (Sweden) http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/asa-larsson/

At this point, I've been hanging out in Scandinavia for about six years, reading just about every Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic author whose books have been translated into English. There are so many good ones, and only a few that I wouldn't bother with.

Håkan Nesser (Sweden)
Jussi Adler-Olsen (Denmark)
Kjell Eriksson (Sweden)
Åke Edwardson (Sweden)
Leif G W Persson (Sweden) - I've only read his trilogy, Story of a Crime, which revolves around the 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme. I thought it was a stunning piece of work.

I always pick an author and then proceed to read everything they've written in order. Nearly all of the authors I've mentioned write series with a recurring protagonist or protagonists. I don't imagine other readers are as obsessive as I am, but when I like an author, I want to read all their books, in order.

I don't know if this helps - but I think if you just start with any of these, you'll be able to see if the genre appeals to you or not. If it does... well, you're not likely to run out of reading material for awhile.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. Yes. Have read all Stieg Larsson books

thanks so much for sharing.



Here's a couple lists I found of top Scandinavian crime novels

Scandinavian crime fiction has become a great success all across the world and rightfully so. Sjöwall & Wahlöö ushered in a whole generation of Swedish crime writers, many of whom are now available in English. I think ours is a tradition that has much in common with English crime writing: there's a very similar care for setting, characters, and psychology. These are some of my favourites – I hope some of them will become yours.

1. The Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser

Nesser sets his stories in a fictional country that's not quite Sweden, but the people in them are very, very real. He used to be a school teacher before becoming a writer, and it shows in the meticulous way he handles his texts. But yet his writing never feels cold or static – there's heart in everything he writes and you find yourself understanding and sympathising with some real villains.

2. Blackwater by Kerstin Ekman

Loosely based on a true story, this is dark, sinister and wonderfully written. It's been a hugely popular book for many years in Sweden, with an appeal that extends to readers who don't usually touch thrillers. A real classic.

3. Missing by Karin Alvtegen

Karin Alvtegen is the master at psychological suspense, and her plots unfold themselves naturally from the character studies. No one does this better than Alvtegen, and her homeless murder suspect, Sybilla, is one of crime fiction's most memorable characters.

4. Sun Storm by Åsa Larsson

Northern Sweden holds a special kind of magic. It's cold, lonely, and the people are tough and silent, or so the stereotype says. This is Åsa Larsson's home turf and I find as much joy in reading her closely observed descriptions of the environment, as in following her intriguing plots. And I love the fact that the heroine in her books is a tax attorney.

5. The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell

Inspector Wallander has become a household name along with the little town of Ystad where he pursues most of his cases. But Mankell's range is far from parochial. Drawing on his own experience living both in Sweden and in Africa, this tale of a serial killer takes us around Congo as well as Ystad.

6. Unseen by Mari Jungstedt

Emma and Johan, the intriguing couple caught up in this murderous plot, are characters to really fall in love with, and combined with the picturesque environment of Gotland, and a great plot, you've got a book to cherish. Mari is also not only a colleague but a close friend of mine, and we love talking about murder methods, forensics and criminal psychology over dinner.

7. Shame by Karin Alvtegen

Another winner from Alvtegen, this book really touched me. She often has a theme based on human nature and shortcomings in her books - and this book is a searing portrait of someone bearing the shame of being unloved.

8. Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin

Johan is a relative newcomer to crime fiction, but has already really carved out his own niche, which blends the murder mystery with the ghost story. It's so spooky, I could never read this one at night!


10. Midvinterblod by Mons Kallentoft (not yet translated)

The Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell
Wallander, the protagonist in Henning Mankell's popular crime series, is a middle-aged cop in a small town in southern Sweden. Wallander has a less than ideal personal life, but his detective skills are top-notch. Despite what can only be described as an overindulgence of alcohol, he brilliantly solves a series of shocking murders throughout Sweden. Start out with Faceless Killers, the first Wallander mystery, and work your way up to "The Troubled Man."

11.‘The Hypnotist’ by Lars Kepler

This book, which has been a sensation in Europe for years, was finally released in English this month, and the reviews are raves. Written under a pseudonym by a Swedish crime-writing couple, the book follows detective Joona Linna, who uses hypnotism to help question the only survivor of a grisly triple murder: a young boy who's entire family was killed before his very eyes. You won't be able to put it down.

12. ‘Three Seconds’ by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom

This gritty and fast-paced novel questions the Swedish police force's use of civilians in its operations. Piet Hoffman is a father of two who has been secretly working undercover for the Stockholm police for nine years. As part of an operation, he must get himself sent to a maximum security prison and survive there until he has enough information for the police to move in on a crime ring. The book was named “Best Swedish Crime Novel of 2009,” and the English translation has been praised for sticking close to the original.

13. The Inspector Van Veeteren series by Hakan Nesser

The protagonist of this series is Inspector Van Veeteren, a detective in the fictitious Scandinavian city of Maardam. In the first novel of the series, “Mind's Eye,” Janek Mitter wakes up one morning with a brutal hangover and finds his wife dead in the bathtub. Despite Mitter's flimsy alibi, Van Veeteren is convinced the case is more complicated than it would seem, and sets out to prove Mitter's innocence. Check out the most recent book in the series, “The Inspector and Silence.”

14. The Ann Lindell Mysteries by Kjell Eriksson

In the first novel of the series, “The Princess Of Burundi,” Ann Lindell is a policewoman living in Uppsala, Sweden, who must solve the murder of a tropical fish expert who is found dead in the snow. What sets this novel apart isn't so much the details of the crime itself, but rather the psychological insights into the characters, from the suspects to the detectives. The most recent book in the series, “The Hand That Trembles,” is due out in hardback this August.

15. ‘Misterioso: A Crime Novel’ by Arne Dahl

Detective Paul Hjelm must track down a mysterious killer who has been breaking into the homes of Sweden's high-profile business leaders and kills them while playing Thelonious Monk's jazz tune "Misterioso." This is the first novel in Dahl's "Intercrime" series and will hit American bookshelves on July 12.
Stieg Larsson’s partner reflects on their life together

15. ‘Red Wolf: A Novel’ by Lisa Marklund

Journalist Annika Bengtzon was about to interview a journalist about a long-ago attack on a nearby air base — but before she can, he is found murdered in northern Sweden. Convinced that his death is linked to the attack, Bengtzon begins to investigate his death, which is soon followed by a series of shocking murders.

17. ‘Bad Intentions’ by Karin Fossum

Detective Konrad Sejer must deal with a disturbing new local trend: The bodies of young men keep turning up in nearby lakes. This is a fast-paced thriller that will be released later this August.

18.‘The Last Fix’ by K.O. Dahl

In this Norwegian psychological thriller, Oslo detectives Frolich and Gunnarstranda investigate the murder of an ex-addict who is killed the night of a party in her honor. Was someone in her recovery center involved?

19.The Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo

Harry Hole is the protagonist in Jo Nesbo's wildly popular series, and like many of the detectives in literature, a heavy smoker and alcoholic. Though his methods may be unorthodox (and occasionally get him into trouble with his superiors,) Hole is a brilliant detective. Start out with The Redbreast and you'll be ready for his latest novel, The Leopard, when it's available later this year.

Mons came to crime fiction relatively late, after three other books including Food Noir, a collection of groundbreaking essays on food and travel. As well as a terrific plot, this book also has one of the best-realised female heroines I've read by a male writer. It's not yet translated into English, but it really should be.

MUST-READ SWEDISH BOOKS
20. April Witch (Aprilhäxan)
by Majgull Axelsson, 1997

21. The Serious Game (Den allvarsamma leken)
by Hjalmar Söderberg, 1912

22. Gösta Berling’s Saga (Gösta Berlings saga)
by Selma Lagerlöf, 1891

23. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann)
by Jonas Jonasson, 2009

24. The People of Hemsö (Hemsöborna)
by August Strindberg, 1887

25. Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
by Johan Ajvide Lindqvist, 2004

26. Simon and the Oaks (Simon och ekarna)
by Marianne Fredriksson, 1985

27. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs (Nu vill jag sjunga dig milda sånger)
by Linda Olsson, 2006

28. The Road (Vägen till Klockrike)
by Harry Martinson, 1948

28. Popular Music from Vittula (Populärmusik från Vittula)
by Mikael Niemi, 2000

[pscot]

5. Arctic Chill by Indridason

and Blood Rain by Michael Dibdin. I finished The Jane Austen Book Club. Has Anyone figured out who the narrator is? I didn't enjoy this one as much as Sister Noon.

[Enthusiast]

6. Thanks, pscot. I have never listened to an audio book.

I didn't give it much thought before but I guess the narrator would have a tremendous influence on a book.

[scarletwoman]

9. I've never listened to an audio book, either.

I let the voices in my head take care of things.

[Enthusiast]

10. My friend lost his eyesight.

But he refuses to listen to audio books. I don't know why. Hardheadedness I suppose.

My BIL and SIL are constantly on the road so they listen to audio books all the time. They seem to enjoy them.

[scarletwoman]

15. My dad has macular degeneration - and although he still has some sight, it's hard for him to read.

So he's been using audio books for a few years. The biggest problem he has with it is that he often falls asleep while he's listening (he's 88 years old), and then he has a very frustrating time trying to go back and figure out where he left off.

My reluctance to try audio books largely has to do with the fact that I'm a visual learner not an oral learner. I just don't absorb the spoken word anywhere near as well as I absorb the written word. Reading focuses my attention completely, my mind wanders all over the place when I have to just listen to something.

The other big factor is that I don't want someone else's voice mediating the experience of a book for me. I "hear" and "see" everything so vividly in my own mind when I'm reading, I just can't imagine giving some of that over to someone else's voice and interpretation.

But if I should lose my eyesight (knock on wood!) I imagine I would go ahead and get audio books so I wouldn't have to give up the experience of books altogether.

[Enthusiast]

16. Give your dad a hug for us.

I often fall asleep and I'm only 62.

I'm with you, scarletwoman. It will be a sad day when I have to abandon reading.

[scarletwoman]

19. Well, I'd love to give a hug to you, too!

There's something truly sensual about reading, I think. It's just such a sublime pleasure to hold a book in your hands and abandon yourself to the written word.

[Enthusiast]

24. I'd love to receive a hug.

You're too nice.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

21. From a hard-cover purist - I found that

audio books - unless their stories are very sequential are hard to stay focused on. I drove long distances at one time and True Crime was the only genre that worked for me.

Has your Dad considered surgery? My MIL has it and reading is her life - and the surgery helped.

[scarletwoman]

23. He's been getting some kind of injections in his eyeball.

One eye is pretty much hopeless, but he's actually managed to regain quite a bit of sight in the other one. He's doing alright.

[pscot]

12. I don't use audio books either

I was referring to the narrator of the story. The narrator seems to move back and forth between omniscience and a particular point of view, i.e. one of the characters is telling the story. But that narrative point of view moves around, apparently coming from different characters at different places in the story. I was wondering if anyone knew what Fowler was up to here. I suppose I could wade through 3000 Amazon reviews, or search the NYT, but I was hoping someone here might know.

[Enthusiast]

13. Sorry, pscot. I misunderstood.

[scarletwoman]

14. Have you ever gone to GoodReads?

https://www.goodreads.com/

It's a fun site, with interesting member reviews. Also, you can post a question about your book there (you may have to sign up in order to do that, but it's free and no big deal).

I went ahead and pulled up the page for The Jane Austen Book Club: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2152.The_Jane_Austen_Book_Club?from_search=true in case you'd like to check it out. I browsed a few of the reviews and came across this comment - which seems to obliquely address your own question about who is the narrator:

I think the thing that put off the most was how it was written - for the most part - in third person, yet there was an annoying constant use of 'we'.

It's from the 6th review down the page.

Anyway, the little fill-in blank for asking a question appears above the section of member reviews, in case you want to try it.