What are you reading the week of Sunday, March 8, 2015?

[scarletwoman]

Happy first day of Daylight Saving Time - ugh. (Editorial comment: I detest this business of changing our clocks twice a year. Pick ONE time and stick with it! We are being jacked around for no good reason, it's just another method of controlling us. Bah!)

Anyway, finished three books last week:

The Ice Queen by Nele Neuhaus - very good police procedural set in Germany. This is only the 3rd book by this author that's been translated into English and part of a series. I hope there are more translations coming, I would love to read everything by this author that I could get my hands on. I already read the only other 2 books in this series that were translated.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - reviewed in a separate post elsewhere on this page.
Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekbäck - Un-put-downable! Awesome writing, fascinating story filled with historical detail, and the descriptions of a harsh winter in the mountains of Sweden's far north are so compelling, I wanted to wrap up in a blanket and put on an extra pair of thick wool socks. Dark, dark, cold and dark - just how I like it.

Next up: Forty Days Without Shadow by Olivier Truc. This takes place in modern day Lapland, written by a French(!) author. I'm really looking forward to this one.

And after that one - I have no idea. I have 10 titles on hold at my local library, and 2 more on order via inter-library loan, and none of them have been marked "ready to pick up" yet.

One of the books I've ordered is The Sea Runners - many thanks to Enthusiast for posting about this one last week! I can't wait until it shows up!

So, let's hear what you're reading this week!

[Enthusiast]

1. Hello, everyone! Thank you for the thread, scarletwoman.

Last Sunday I started The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson. This one blew my mind! I don't know if it would fall into the mystery or thriller category. But it has a mystery at the heart of it and it was certainly thrilling.

Then I read The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig. The Sea Runners has a real authentic feel. You suffer along with the escapees. And they do suffer. Interesting read.

I have just started Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris. TexasProgresive was reading this a while back. I have only read a few pages.

This past week Mrs. Enthusiast read The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig. She liked it very much.

Then she read The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson. She found it to be a page turner like I did.

Now she is reading Black Skies by Arnaldur Indridason. I am falling behind Mrs. Enthusiast on the Arnaldur Indridason books.

[scarletwoman]

2. Hi, Enthusiast!

I have to admit that neither The Girl with a Clock for a Heart or Midnight Crossroad appeal to me. I looked them up on GoodReads, read the plot summaries and a bunch of reviews, and came to the conclusion that they're just not the type of books I'm into.

The Sea Runners, on the other hand, DID appeal to me, so - as mentioned in my OP - I placed an order for it last week. Thank you again for bringing it up!

I'm wondering, have you and Mrs. Enthusiast been reading Indriðason's Inspector Erlandur books in order? I just thought I'd mention that in both Black Skies (#8 of the series) and Outrage (#7 of the series), Erlandur himself is absent, having taking off for his childhood home in the east of Iceland after the events in Hypothermia (#6 of the series). He is mentioned in passing in #7 and #8, which each feature one of his Reykjavik Crime Squad colleagues in the lead - Elínborg in #7 and Sigurdur Oli in #8. In both books someone says something like, "I wonder what Erlandur is doing?" or "I wonder when Erlandur is coming back?" - but's that's all we get of Erlandur.

They are both good reading no matter what, with interesting plots and great writing as always. Black Skies in particular was intriguing because it incorporates the real-life banking shenanigans from the time period of the world-wide financial meltdown of 2008/2009.

Anyway, for me the fun of reading the entire series - even the two books where Erlandur was absent - was always the wonderful writing and well-crafted storylines. And then there's the big payoff in the final book, Strange Shores when Erlandur's life story is wrapped up.

Happy reading!

[Enthusiast]

5. Thank you. Yes, we are reading the Indriðason's Inspector Erlandur books in order.

Mrs. Enthusiast misses Erlandur but she still enjoys the books. I will too.

[scarletwoman]

8. I'll be anxious to hear what the two of you think of "Strange Shores" when you get to it.

It's basically the last book in the series, although there are at least two "prequels" that I know of coming out, which go back in time to Erlandur's earlier years in the police.

I won't say any more about Strange Shores because I don't want to post any spoilers - although I will say I thought it was incredibly moving.

Arnaldur Indriðason is way up there at the top of my favorite authors list.

[Enthusiast]

9. We will be getting to Strange Shores eventually.

I'm looking forward to it.

[shenmue]

3. "Death of the Demon," Anne Holt

and "A Place of Execution," Val McDermid.

[scarletwoman]

4. I thought "Death of a Demon" was superb!

It's been well over a year since I read it, but it was certainly memorable. I have to say I liked it better than The Lion's Mouth, which I read a couple weeks ago. No matter what, I love the character of Hanne Wilhelmsen. So far, 1222 remains my favorite of the series.

I've been tempted for a long time to read Val McDermid, especially since she's so highly praised by Ian Rankin, one of my favorite authors. But every time I look up her books, I see plots based on serial killers - and I am SO over reading any thrillers featuring serial killers. So back she goes into my "not interested" list. Maybe someday I'll relent...

Thanks for posting!

[hermetic]

6. Thoroughly enjoying

The Long Way Home, Louise Penny's latest Inspector Gamache novel. I just happened to notice it in the new arrivals section of the library. I started it last night and read 100 pages. I just couldn't stop. It's so wonderful to be back in Three Pines with all its delightful inhabitants. I feel quite at home there.

Note to Enthusiast -- NOW I get it. Each week the post becomes unpinned and slides down the page. Thank goodness because my computer crashed last week with an unsaved document where I had jotted down bunches of authors I want to check out. Whew.

Happy reading, everyone.

[scarletwoman]

7. I totally love the village of Three Pines, too!

I SO want to hang out at the Bistro with Olivier and Gabri, visit Myrna's used bookstore, stop by the bakery, sit on the bench by the lake, and thoroughly annoy Ruth by trying to strike up a conversation with her.

I've read the entire series, up to and including The Long Way Home. I'm delighted that there's another title coming out in the series (this coming August), The Nature of the Beast, which will certainly go on my library book order list!

Note to Enthusiast -- NOW I get it. Each week the post becomes unpinned and slides down the page. Thank goodness because my computer crashed last week with an unsaved document where I had jotted down bunches of authors I want to check out. Whew.

I'm so glad you "got it"! Yes, nothing here is lost - you can go through page after page of all the former "What are you reading this week" threads to your heart's content!

[hermetic]

14. I LOVED this book

SPOILER ALERT!!
.
.
.
.
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As an artist, I found all the discussions about art fascinating. I suspect, though, that some people may find it somewhat tedious.

I also love when a book makes me want to do some research, so here are some gems I found.
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation is a REAL place. And it actually is only open one day a year. And there really are hares. Trippy stuff:
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/garden-of-cosmic-speculation

Clarence Gagnon is also real. He was not one of the Group of 7 but lived around the same time. His work is gorgeous. http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list.php?m=a&s=tu&aid=3662

Funny thing, on my second day of reading I took a look at the cover art and could not figure out what it was supposed to be. Then I read about them studying Peter's paintings and when I closed the book, I saw the back. Made me lol. What a clue!

Lastly, I haven't cried at the end of a book in a long time. But this one really got me. I certainly am anticipating a new one, but I think I have some ideas about what it might be about. We shall see....

[Paladin]

10. "The Narrow Road To The Deep North," by Richard Flanagan

About the tribulations of Australian POW's at the hands of the Japanese, while building the Siam-Burma railroad during WWII. Pretty good, but not the classic that some are claiming it is.

[japple]

11. I was in the middle of Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake when I got a notice from the

library saying that an e-book I had on hold was available. It is titled When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning and is about the enormous effort it took to keep up the morale of US soldiers during and after WWII by providing reading materials to the troops. It is a very interesting story and I was surprised to find that the two most popular books among American GIs were Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Rosemary Thomas's Chicken Every Sunday. I requested a copy of Chicken Every Sunday from the library just out of curiosity. Betty Smith and Rosemary Thomas received thousands of letters from GIs who were so grateful for books that reminded them of home and a normal life back in the US. For many of the soldiers, the war was the first time they ever read a work of fiction or read anything for pleasure.

I will probably get back to Oryx and Crake after this little detour.

[SheilaT]

12. Just finished The Secret Place

by Tana French. It's her fourth and most recent novel. Very good.

Now I'm starting Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

So many books, so little time.

[TexasProgresive]

13. Running late this week- "The Murder of Harriet Krohn" by Karin Fossum

This is a rather different book- it is NOT a murder mystery as we are eye witnesses to the murder. The latter 3rd could be called a police procedural as police inspector Konrad Sejer who has been quietly investigating the murder for several months begins to interview the murderer.

I'd like to read others take on this book. I finished it Thursday. The 1st chapters made me think of Dostoevsky's [u}Crime and Punishment/ I read chapter 1 right after starting [u}Harriet Krohn and had to discipline myself not to continue with Dostoevsky which I haven't read since high school- a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.