Reading in Reykjavík

Reading Report for January 2012

2012-02-02T09:00:00.002Z

I read 14 books in January, in a number of genres. Out of those 14, six were e-books and five were books I had started reading before the beginning of the month. I have at least 20 more books I started reading at some point and then either decided to save for later or forgot about, and now I want to try to finish some of them.

Among the books I started and finished within the month was the first book I have read in its entirety on a mobile device. I decided to review that experience and will discuss the device, the software and the overall reading experience in a review within a few days.

The books were divided between fiction and non-fiction as follows:

Of the 6 fiction volumes, two were myth-based fantasies, one was a science fiction novella, one a romance, one a mystery-suspense novel and one a collection of cartoons.

Of the 8 non-fiction volumes, three were about fashion, two were biographies, two history books and one was about the natural sciences.

As I mentioned in my last post I have stopped, for the time being, writing detailed reviews, but I have included a bit of information about the January books in the list below.

The Books:

Shoichi Aoki: Fruits. Fashion photography. Fabulous and wacky photographs of Japanese youngsters showing off their creativity and colourful fashion sense. Originally from a Japanese fashion magazine.
Jaycee Dugard: A Stolen Life. Autobiography/Memoir. Fascinating and sad. It‘s not particularly well written, but it doesn't have to be, not with this kind of story. Dugard gives a clear-headed account of her 18-year captivity and an insight into the mentality of a survivor.
Noël Riley Fitch: Appetite for Life: The biography of Julia Child. Child‘s life was fascinating, especially her years in Asia during World War II and her life in France and the work on her first cookbook, but the whole book gives a detailed (sometimes too much so) account of her life and character.
Richard Fortey: Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum. Popular science. Very interesting, informative and gossipy tour of several departments of London‘s Natural History Museum, by a long-time employee.
Hadley Freeman: The Meaning of Sunglasses, and a guide to almost all things fashionable. Fashion advice, opinion and anecdotes. Freeman is a journalist who writes a fashion advice column for The Guardian. Not afraid of calling a spade a shovel, she takes the reader on an often funny tour of fashion do's and dont's. I didn't agree with all of her advice, but I found it very entertaining.
Neil Gaiman: Odd and the Frost Giants. Fantasy for young readers. This playful book for children about a young boy who helps Odin, Thor and Loki regain control of Asgard will entertain not only kids but also adults who know and enjoy the Norse myths.
Michael Innes: The Daffodil Affair. Suspense mystery. Weird and surreal as usual, this time Inspector Appleby is on the trail of a counting horse, a girl with multiple personalities, a haunted house and a man with a strange and evil plan. All right in the middle of World War II.
Paola Jacobbi: I want those shoes. Fashion advice and opinions. Insubstantial and entertaining, Jacobbi discusses different kinds of shoes and why we love them.
Robin Kaye: Romeo, Romeo. Contemporary romance. A sexy story of two people who just wanted a commitment-free fuck-buddy relationship, but got much more than they bargained for.
Lea Korsgaard & Stéphanie Surugue : Bókaránið mikla - Saga af ótrúlegum glæp (The Great Book Theft. Translated from Danish: Det Store Bogtyveri). True crime. Incredible and detailed account of one of the largest library book thefts in history.
Jan Morris, ed.: The Oxford Book of Oxford. The history of Oxford University in the words of its students, teachers and visitors. Fantastic and informative collection of epigrams, epitaphs, quotations and passages from letters, essays, poems, novels and autobiographies.
Rick Riordan: The Lightning Thief. Young adult fantasy based on the Greek myths. Action-filled adventure, full of characters from and allusions to Greek mythology, but with a modern twist.
Ronald Searle: The Terror of St. Trinian's. Humour, cartoons. Funny classic cartoons about the wicked students of St. Trinian‘s School for Girls.
Connie Willis: All seated on the ground. Christmas sci-fi novella with a romantic flair. A funny and heart-warming story about first contact between humans and extraterrestrials.

Putting on the brakes

2012-01-24T09:00:00.039Z

I have decided to cut down my blogging time considerably until spring, in order to be able to continue to read for fun alongside my studies. I will not be suspending this blog completely, but posting is going to be even more irregular than usual until I have turned in all of my academic assignments.

"Dictionaries"
Snapped on my cell phone and edited using the PicSay app

I am taking two university courses this semester, in Terminology and Literary Translation, both at the master's level, 15 ECTS-credits altogether. In addition, I am taking a course in French for international relations through my workplace. That course amounts to 10 ECTS-credits, meaning that I am doing an almost full academic schedule as well as working full time. Even though I am not studying for a degree, this still needs to be taken seriously and most of the time I have devoted to blogging is now going to be taken up by studying and assignment work.

I do have a couple of reviews I'm working on, as well as one essay, some photo posts, several lists, and a shorter-than-usual Annual Reading Report, but I can't say when I'll post them (probably during fits of procrastinating from my studies...). Other posts will generally be shorter than usual.

Ideas I have had for keeping the blog going while I am busy with other stuff includes quick, short reviews instead of my more detailed reviews, adding more links to book stuff I want to draw attention to, and maybe (but just maybe) more photo posts. I'll also continue to post the monthly reading report. I have also considered starting doing giveaways when I return to full schedule, but we shall have to see about that.

Review: The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

2012-01-23T09:00:00.001Z

Originally published in July 2005, on my original 52 Books blog. This is the final review repost.

In 1886, Edgar Drake, a specialist in tuning Erard pianos, is sent by the British War Office to the wilds of Burma to tune an Erard for Surgeon-Major Carroll, a man who has managed to become perhaps the most important British officer in the whole of Burma by making himself indispensable for the peace negotiations between the British and the Burmese. The piano plays some mysterious part in all this, but has unfortunately reacted badly to the extremes of the climate and is out of tune. Drake, shy, thoughtful and eccentric, finds in himself an unexpected adventurousness as he sets off from England to tune the piano. Once he gets to Carroll’s stronghold in Mae Lwin, he is enchanted by the place, charmed by Carroll, and seduced (not in the physical sense) by a mysterious local woman. All of these unite in holding him there, and he loses all sense of time and sinks into a kind of dream. When reality finally invades, it becomes doubtful if he will ever return to England and his beloved wife.

This is a beautiful and melancholy story. Mason has a talent for describing landscapes and people in flowing and evocative prose, and it has been a long time since I read anything as cinematic as this book. In some strange way I can not quite define, I felt this was a very English book, although the author is an American. He perfectly describes the attitudes and arrogance of the British towards the Burmese people, for example in the chapters about Drake’s journey and the British officers he meets - especially a very tragic tiger hunt he unwillingly joins. The first half of the story is about Drake’s journey from England to Mae Lwin, and the second is about his stay there and the tuning of the piano. The story is very slow and flowing, right down to the last chapters, when it suddenly picks up, with unnecessary suddenness, and becomes a thriller. There is hardly any build-up to the action, and the ending, although apt, is too abrupt.

I did feel that I couldn’t quite sympathise with Drake, or indeed any other character. They are all described from the outside, as if the author was describing something he was seeing on a movie screen in front of him, rather than actually being there. There is always a distance between the reader and the characters, a distance you want to bridge, but can’t, because there is something lacking in the telling of their story. This distant, at times almost clinical viewing of the characters, is a big flaw, and prevents the book from making my favourites list.

All in all, I would say this is a very good first novel, but has flaws that Mason will hopefully not repeat in his next novel.

Rating: A beautiful and tragic story of one man’s adventure of a lifetime. 3+ stars.

Excerpt from The Piano Tuner.

Reading challenges to tempt you, part V: Geographical challenges

2012-01-18T19:00:00.001Z

Travelogues are my very favourite genre, but I also like to read other genres, both fiction and non-fiction, that feature locations that are well described and important for the story. If I know the location I can picture it in my mind. If not, I can imagine it and dream of visiting it some day (or make plans to avoid it all cost).

Here are some challenges dedicated to countries, areas and continents around the world, starting small and ending big. I found so many challenges with this one theme that I decided to dedicate a special post to them.

As before, you can click on either the link or the badge to be taken to the sign-up page.

First up is the Ireland Reading Challenge, hosted by Carrie of Books and Movies.

This challenge runs from January 1 to November 30, 2012. I did not see a deadline for signing up.

There are 4 levels. Crossovers and re-reads are allowed.

The challenge is to read "Any book written by an Irish author, set in Ireland, or involving Irish history or Irish characters, ... – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, audiobooks, children’s books – all of these apply."

Reviews are not required, but there is incentive to do so: A prize. There is a further twist that offers an increased chance to win the prize - check the host blog for more information. 25 people have signed up so far.

The Library of Clean Reads is hosting the I Love Italy reading challenge.

This is a year-long challenge and can be joined at any time.

Books must be "set in Italy, written by an Italian author or about Italy or an Italian person".

There are 4 levels. Reviewing is not required but is encouraged.

9 people have signed up so far.

Tasha of Book Obsessed is running The 50 States Reading Challenge.

This is a big challenge: To read books set in all 50 of the United States, although it doesn't say whether you must read one book for each state or if you can read books that cover several states.

It lasts all year and I didn't see a deadline for joining, although you would have to be a pretty prolific reader if you join any later than, say, August.

Crossovers are allowed, you need not have a blog to enter, and reviewing is encouraged. There are 27 participants already.

The following challenge is about a region close to my heart:

Swapna Krishna of S. Krishna's Books is hosting a South Asian Challenge.

This is a year long challenge, and I did not see a deadline for sighing up.

The aim is to read books (the number is up to you), relating to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and/or the Maldives.

To qualify, a book must either be written by a South Asian author or be about South Asia or South Asians (i.e. "the subject matter focuses on the region, peoples, or cultures in some way").

You need not have a blog and reviewing is not mandatory, but is welcomed. Crossovers are allowed. 32 people have signed up already.

Kinna Reads' African Literature Challenge - tilkynnt í vikunni. http://kinnareads.wordpress.com/

Rose City Reader is hosting a European Reading Challenge.

In her words: "The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour."

The challenge runs between January 1, 2012 and January 31, 2013. I did not see a deadline for signing up.

There are 5 levels, 3 alternative variations, and 4 prizes. Reviewing is not mandatory, but you can only win prizes if you review and post links to those reviews (one review equals one ticket for the prize drawing). Go to the sign-up post to read the complete rules. 39 participants have signed up so far.

Last but not least:

Kerrie of Mysteries in Paradise is taking over from Dorte and hosting the third Global Reading challenge this year.

The challenge runs throughout 2012 and you can sign up at any time.

There are three levels, and the challenge is to read fiction from or about countries on the continents of Africa, Asia, Australasia/Oceania, Europe, North America, South America, and a seventh continent that can be either Antarctica or, in Kerrie's words: "eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it". 19 participants have already signed up.

Review: Dead Heat by Linda Barnes

2012-01-16T09:00:00.001Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

Third of four books about former private eye, now actor, Michael Spraggue, scion of one of Boston’s moneyed families, who prefers to live on his own rather than at the family mansion and to earn his own living instead of spending the family riches. The city of Boston is just as much a characters in this book as the people are, which is cool, because so often places are just used as interchangeable backgrounds for stories that could happen anywhere.

This book was published in 1984 and appears to be out of print. Best place to find it would probably be a library or second-hand book store (or abebooks.com).

The story: Collatos, a former cop, now a bodyguard, and a friend of Spraggue’s, asks him to help him find the writer of anonymous threatening letters that his boss, a US senator, has been receiving. When the senator and bodyguard take part in the Boston marathon and are poisoned by a “woman” who gives them water laced with an overdose of speed, with the result that Collatos dies, Spraggue begins to investigate the death. He leaves no stone unturned, and discovers an insurance scam Collatos was investigating before he left the police force and which seems connected to his death. This leads him to think it was Collatos who was the target of the poisoning, and not the senator, and the anonymous letters were either a subterfuge or unrelated to the murder. But how did the killer know Collatos would have an allergic reaction to amphetamine?

I have previously mentioned how I hate books that are so dependent on other books in the same series that they can’t be read without having read the others first. I wouldn’t exactly go as far as to say this is one of those books, but it did leave me with several unanswered questions about Spraggue’s background that the author obviously assumed the reader would know about. It would therefore be a good idea to read the first two books in order, before reading this one.

Rating: An entertaining crime thriller with a twist in the tail. 3+ stars.

Books having fun

2012-01-12T14:48:00.001Z

Enjoy!

Reading challenges to tempt you, part IV: Types of books

2012-01-10T09:00:00.000Z

Next up in the challenges list is types of books. These are books defined by something other than their subject matter. I have found challenges for listening to audio books, reading free e-books, long books, library books, translations and books of short stories. I am not counting short stories as a genre because they can be about anything as long as they are collection of short stories.

This reminds me of a challenge I thought up and was going to host in 2012. I was going to call it The Long and the Short of it. It was meant to be a challenge to read books under 150 pages and over 450 pages long. Level 1 was to be 3 long and 6 short ones, level 2 was to be 6 long books and 12 short ones, and level 3 was to encompass 12 long books and 26 short ones. An extreme level was to be offered, with 12 long books and 52 short ones but as you'll know if you stop by here regularly, I got fed up with restrictive challenges and decided to take it easy in 2012. I am putting this idea out here in the hope that someone will be willing to host it instead of me.

As in the earlier posts, you can click either on the link or badge for each challenge to go to the sign-up page.

The Book Garden is hosting the Tea & Books Challenge.

Join up if you're planning to read some really long novels this year, 700 or more pages long.

No re-reads or large type books, please!

There are 4 levels, and the challenge runs through the whole year. Crossovers are allowed and reviewing is not mandatory.

This next challenge could be incorporated into the previous one - as long as the rules are followed ;-)

The Chunkster Reading challenge is being hosted on its own dedicated blog. It runs throughout 2012 and the challenge is to read books of 450 pages or more.

There are 4 levels. No audio books or ebooks are allowed. They can be both fiction and non-fiction, and essay collections, short stories and poetry are allowed (perfect incentive for those who want to tackle one of the Norton Anthologies).

Blog ownership is not necessary and you don't need to list the books ahead of time. Reviews are not mandatory, but are strongly encouraged.

Visit the hosting page for some suggestions for what to read, and to read the rules in full.

It may be possible to cross part of this next challenge with one or both of the above, especially if you can fit The Lord of the Rings and/or A Game of Thrones into it.

Martina Bookaholic is hosting the Book2Movie Challenge.

This one is a bit involved, but might be well worth doing if you are both a bibliophile and a movie buff.

Whole year. Each month you commit to reading 1 book and watching the movie based on it, in one of 12 given categories (plus a bonus category).

Reviews must link back to the originating blog, but don't otherwise seem to be mandatory.

I did not see a deadline for signing up.

This challenge can be crossed with any of the other challenges in this post and, for that matter, all the challenges listed in this whole series of posts except the TBR challenges.

Jamie of The Eclectic Bookshelf is hosting the Support your Local library Challenge.

The challenge is simple: Read books from your local library.

There are 4 levels and anyone can join.

You don't need to have a blog, but you are expected to link to at least your book-list even if you don't blog.

Audio books and ebooks are allowed, but re-reads are not.

I did not see a deadline for signing up.

The Library of Clean Reads is hosting a Short Story Reading Challenge.

It runs throughout the year and there is no deadline for joining.

It can cross over with other challenges as long as short stories are involved. Books for all ages are allowed, and both fiction and non-fiction.

There are 4 levels (and boy, would I have finished this one in style in 2010...)

Reviewing is assumed but you don't need to link to them.

Missie of The Unread Reader and Kelly of Reading the Paranormal are hosting the Why Buy the Cow? Reading Challenge.

As the name implies this is about reading free books. But not just any free books - they must be ebooks, offered for free and legally downloaded.

The challenge runs throughout 2012, there are three levels with a minimum limit of 12 books, but no maximum number. Cross-overs are allowed.

If you link your reviews back to the hosting page you are eligible to win prizes, with monthly drawings, so sign up as soon as possible!

If you are one of those people who never have time to read but do have a long(ish) commute or a job that doesn't demand your full attention (fish factory, anyone? I wish mp3 players had been invented when I was doing that kind of work), this challenge is perfect for you. Simply grab your smartphone or mp3 player and download some audio books and join:

The Audio Book Challenge, which is being hosted by Teresa of Teresa's Reading Corner.

There are 4 levels and the challenge goes from one end of the year to the other.

I did not see a deadline for joining, but there will be a special monthly challenge as an incentive to stop by every month.

This final challenge is special to me, as I am a translator myself, and I am tempted to join, but I'll probably pass now and (maybe) do it next year.

The Introverted Reader is hosting a Books in Translation Challenge.

The goal is self-explanatory: Read books in translation.

Choose one of four levels.

Challenge runs from January 7 to the end of the year.

Any genre and format is allowed, as are crossovers. You need not be a blogger, but reviewing seems to be required.

If you know of a reading challenge covering types of book and you would like me to cover it in the follow-up post to this series, just leave a link in a comment to this post and I will take a look at it.

Review: The Mullet: Hairstyle of the Gods by Mark Larson & Barney Hoskyns.

2012-01-09T09:00:00.010Z

Originally published in July 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This is a humorous tribute to that much maligned hairstyle, the mullet (ape drape, mud-flap, neck warmer, etc.). For someone who remembers when it was actually cool to sport one (yep, I was a teenager in the 80’s - I even had a mini-mullet for a couple of weeks until I realised it wasn't a good look for me and had it chopped off), this was a great discovery. The book manages to be both affectionate and mocking, and I had a good laugh at all the pictures of famous people that I once thought were incredibly cool and cutting-edge but now, in retrospect, just had really bad hairstyles and a lousy dress sense.

Rating: A funny book for both admirers and enemies of the mullet. 4 stars.

Reading challenges to tempt you, part III: Theme challenges

2012-01-08T09:00:00.005Z

Last time I covered genre challenges, and now it's time for some theme challenges.

As in the earlier posts, you can click either on the link or badge for each challenge to go to the sign-up page.

First one I am seriously considering joining:

The fifth What's in a Name challenge, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.
I finished it last year and have a mind to join again this year.

It runs throughout 2012 and you must read six books, each of which has a particular type of thing in the title (see the host site for a list). You can join at any time.

Any one book can only be entered in one category. Overlapping with other challenges is permitted, you need not make a list beforehand and you need not read the books in the order the categories are given in.

This is a very popular challenge: When I wrote this, 179 people had already signed up.

The Library of Clean Reads is hosting a Time Travel Reading Challenge.

It's a year-long challenge and you can join at any time.

There are 4 levels and the theme of the books must be time travel.

26 people have already signed up.

Melissa of Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf is hosting a Witches and Witchcraft Reading Challenge.

The challenge runs throughout the year 2012 and the sign-up deadline is December 15. There are a number of rules but the main ones are that the books must have a witchcraft theme and can be fiction or non-fiction, but no reference books are allowed unless you read them from cover to cover. There are 4 levels.

You need not own a blog, but reviewing seems to be required.
Re-reads and crossovers are allowed. There is a prize.
54 participants so far.

Books in the City is hosting the second Immigrant Stories Challenge.

The challenge is year-long and you can join at any time. There are three levels and the books can be of any kind, both fiction and non-fiction, as long as the theme is immigration.

Re-reads are allowed and so are crossovers with other challenges.

10 participants so far.

The team at Bookish Ardour are hosting a Dystopia reading challenge.

This is another year-long challenge and you can sign up until mid-December. There are 7 levels and to make it more challenging there are extra challenges you can join to narrow the field of choice.

Crossovers are allowed, you can change levels, and you do not need to have a blog or write reviews (although they are encouraged), but some kind of commenting seems to be expected. 74 participants so far.

Finally, here are two double theme challenges with no fixed theme. The aim of both is to read pairs of books that share a theme or are somehow joined:

One Librarian's Book Reviews is hosting the Classic Double Challenge.

It's a year-long challenge and there is no sign-up deadline.

There are 4 levels. To join, you must read books in pairs: one classic and, to quote the host: "a newer book that relates to the older one in some way". Example are given if you need inspiration.

Comments/reviews are encouraged, but you need not do it on a blog.

18 participants already.

Amanda of Fig and Thistle is hosting the Truth in Fiction challenge.

It runs throughout 2012 and no deadline is given.

There are 7 levels and the challenge is to read pairs of books, one fiction and one non-fiction, that are related through an easily discernible common thread.

Overlapping with other challenges is allowed.

Reviews are expected and must be jointly about both books in any given pair.

If you know of a theme reading challenge you would like me to cover in the follow-up post to this series, just leave a link in a comment to this post and I will take a look at it.

Reading challenges to tempt you, part II: Genre challenges

2012-01-06T09:00:00.003Z

I had originally written a considerably longer intro and worked on the list for a good half hour, but despite the periodic autosaving Blogger still managed to eat the original post. So here it is, with a much shorter intro, and as for you, Blogger: If this happens one more time I am taking all my blogs and migrating them somewhere else.

I own books on many diverse subjects, both fiction and non-fiction, and like to read in many genres. Apropos of this, here are some genre challenges being offered by and for book bloggers in 2012:

Clicking on the link or the badge will take you to the sign-up pages for the respective challenges.

Yvonne of Socrates' Book Review Blog is hosting the Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge.

The challenge runs all year long, and no sign-up deadline is given. The challenge is to read cosy mysteries and there are three levels.

Books need not be chosen in advance, crossovers with other challenges are allowed and you don't need to have a blog, but must leave comments so others can see your progress. Reviews are encouraged.

There are 60 participants already.

It wouldn't take much ingenuity to combine the above challenge with this one:

Bev Hankins of My Reader's Block is sponsoring the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge.

This is a year-long challenge and the sign-up deadline is November 30.

The challenge is to read 8 mysteries (thrillers, espionage novels, crime fiction, detective novels) in one of 10 categories posted on the hosting blog. More than one category may be finished.

Overlaps with other challenges are allowed. Blogs ownership is not necessary and reviewing is not mandatory, but is encouraged.

There are prizes to be won, and 36 people have signed up already.

The team at Historical Tapestry are hosting a Historical Fiction Challenge.

It's a year-long challenge and no sign-up deadline is given.

The challenge is to read any kind of historical fiction.

Reviewing is expected, and non-bloggers can post their progress information on the blog.

There are five difficulty levels, and 79 people have already signed up.

Reading Romances is hosting the Reading Romances challenge.

The challenge runs all year and the sign-up deadline is December 15.

This challenge is not about number, but variety. Each month the host blogger will post a list of romance sub-genres and themes to choose from. Reviews are expected, but can be posted on review sites, bookseller sites or blogs.

There are 20 participants so far.

Margot of Joyfully Retired is hosting the second Foodies Read challenge.

The challenge is a year-long one, and I didn't see a deadline for signing up. There are 5 levels and you must read food books. To quote Margot:
"A food book is a book which is centered around food and/or drinks. That could be a cookbook, a food biography or memoir, a non-fiction book focused around a specific food, wine, chef or restaurant. Also allowed is a fictional story in which food plays a major role."

Reviews are expected, but you need not be a blogger to participate. 19 have signed up so far.

Melissa of The Betty and Boo Chronicles is hosting a Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge.

This is her definition of what goes for this challenge: "for this challenge, we're going to define memoir as a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation. Published letters, diaries, journals, autobiographies, nonfiction books on the craft of writing memoirs ... in my book, they all count as Memorable Memoirs for this challenge. (Generally, biographies don't, but I could always be convinced.)"

It's a year-long challenge and you can sign up at any time. Re-reads and overlaps with other challenges are allowed, and blog ownership is not required. There are 3 levels, and 19 people have signed up already.

If you detest memoirs or just don't want to participate in the above challenge, maybe this one is better suited to your tastes:

Julie of My Book Retreat is hosting a Non-Fiction Non-Memoir Reading Challenge.

The challenge runs through 2012 and the sign-up deadline is November 30.

You can choose from 4 levels. You don't need a blog and reviews are not required, but you do need to post about your progress.

The books must be non-fiction. Not allowed are memoirs, journals or autobiographies. Also not allowed are children's books, books that are not meant to be read from cover to cover, essays and articles, and re-reads. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed. At least one giveaway will be held for the participants. 30 participants have signed up so far.

If you know of a genre reading challenge you would like me to cover in the follow-up post to this series, just leave a link in a comment to this post and I will take a look at it.

Reading challenges to tempt you, part I: TBR challenges, and one more

2012-01-04T09:00:00.003Z

I said in an earlier post that I was only going to do one big reading challenge in 2012, the already ongoing TBR (read or cull) challenge. I also said I might consider some smaller challenges that could be done alongside the big one. The thought was to maybe find a couple of challenges to help me choose books within the TBR challenge, rather than ones that would necessitate going outside it for reading material.

With that in mind I have been looking at what challenges the members of the book blogging community have come up with for 2012. However, I haven't just been looking at challenges that will suit my criteria, but also reading challenges in general, perhaps in the subconscious hope that I might find a really fantastic one to tempt me. I thought it appropriate to first take a look at bloggers who are inviting others to join their TBR challenges, because, as everyone knows, misery loves company ;-)

Click on the links provided or on the challenge badge - either will take you to the sign-up page. Before I take you to the TBR challenges, there is one special meta-challenge I think every challenge crazy reader should know about:

The Reading Challenge Addict challenge! By signing up for this challenge you can enter giveaways and win prizes and declare just how hardcore a challenge addict you are.

This challenge is exactly what it says on the label: to join and finish reading challenges. There are 4 levels and it runs throughout 2012. There are mini-challenges to be entered, giveaways for participants and special prize drawings.

And now for the TBR challenges
I don't see why you couldn't join all of these and thus accomplish the first level of the Addict challenge with no more effort than what is required to finish the easiest level of the hardest TBR challenge ;-)

The Tales from the Crypt blog is hosting the 2012 Read Your Own Books challenge.

It runs throughout 2012, anyone can join and blog ownership is not required, nor is reviewing. Not allowed are re-reads, library books, books acquired in 2012 or books you have been asked to review.

There are four levels, you do not need to post a list beforehand, and crossovers with other challenges are allowed.

When I last checked, 22 participants had already signed up.

Bev Hankins of My Reader's Block is hosting the Mount TBR Challenge.

The challenge is to read or listen to books from your own collection that you acquired before the beginning of 2012.

It runs throughout 2012, has 6 levels named after mountains and the sign-up deadline is November 30th, 2012. Cross-overs with other challenges are allowed. Blog ownership is not necessary, but bloggers can sign up and non-bloggers can leave comments announcing their participation. Bloggers do seem to be expected to post reviews.

There are already 145 participants.

Bonnie and the team at Bookish Ardour are hosting the Off the Shelf 2012 challenge.

The challenge is pretty much the same as the above, except the sign-up deadline is mid-December and there are 7 levels.

If you own very few books you can still join and read books from your TBR list instead.

Reviewing is optional. Participants already number 104.

C.B. James of Ready When You Are, C.B. is hosting the TBR Double Dare.

This challenge runs from January 1 to April 1, 2012.It is left up to you how many TBR books you read in that time, but you must make a pledge to the number beforehand.

50 people have taken the dare so far.

Jen of The Hopeful Librarian is hosting the Unread Book Challenge of 2012.

This is all about finishing books you own and reducing your TBR stack.

The deadline for signing up is until the end of January and blog ownership is not required.

There are no levels, but prizes will be awarded for the number of TBR books read, for most progress made, and there will be an end-of-year giveaway open to the participants.

If you know of a TBR reading challenge you would like me to cover in the follow-up post to this series, just leave a link in a comment to this post and I will take a look at it.

Review: The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

2012-01-02T09:00:00.020Z

Originally published in July 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

When wealthy Lord Rule offers for the hand of the eldest Winwood sister, she knows she must accept, even if she loves another man. Her brother has sunk the family into debt and the only way of extricating them is for one of the sisters to marry a rich man, and Elizabeth is by far the prettiest. However, the youngest sister, 17 year old Horatia, is determined that her sister shall marry her beloved Edward, and so goes to Lord Rule to explain and offers herself in her sister’s place. To the family’s surprise, he accepts. It appears to Horatia that Rule does not love her (he has a mistress), and that bothers her, especially as she begins to fall in love with him. This leads to several misadventures, especially when Horatia becomes determined to conquer the heart of Lord Lethbridge, an old enemy of Rule’s, and thus make her husband jealous. The plan misfires and Horatia finds herself in deep trouble. Lord Rule, however, has an ace up his sleeve.

Most of Georgette Heyer’s historical romantic novels are Regencies, i.e. they take place during the years 1811 to 1820. It is therefore refreshing to find one that takes place in the 18th century (more precisely in 1776), when fashions were - to our modern eyes - rather silly: wigs, hair powder, towering hairdos, panniers, beauty spots, etc. Those fashions play a part in the story. Heyer’s attention to detail is amazing and she describes clothing styles, hairdos and accessories with gentle mockery of both fashion and wearers. The cant and slang expressions are probably genuine, considering how thoroughly she researched all her books. The story is deliciously frothy and silly - not that there is anything silly about the plotting, but the story is a farce that hinges on characters being silly.

Rating: Another delightful confection from Georgette Heyer. 3+ stars.

Excerpt from The Convenient Marriage

End of year pondering: Thoughts on personal libraries, collecting and decluttering

2011-12-31T09:00:00.001Z

It occurred to me, as I was preparing to add my e-books to my library database, that library size really doesn‘t matter any longer, at least where space is concerned. You could have a library with the same number of volumes as America‘s Library of Congress (over 22 million volumes), and yet you could carry it with ease in your pocket. In terms of the sheer number of owned books this is a great big opportunity for bibliophiliac one-upmanship.

There are a little over 800 titles in my e-book collection, mostly free books downloaded from Project Gutenberg and other websites that legally offer e-books for free, plus a few I have bought or been given. Altogether they take up about 650 megabytes of hard drive space, which is enough to fill the largest hard drive available for the type of laptop I own, and then some. That hard drive takes up about the same amount of space as a small powder compact.

The 2 gigabyte external hard drive I use for backing up the contents of the computer and to store stuff that doesn‘t need to be immediately accessible in the computer is the size of a thick trade paperback and could hold a library of 25 to 30 thousand volumes. You can get a more capacious hard drive into a box that size, how big I‘m not sure, but with modern technology being what it is, we keep being able to store more and more information in less and less space all the time. Just look at SD cards - they are already offering ones with a storage capacity of 64 gigabytes, so the Library of Congress example I mentioned above is no science-fiction. It may even be possible right now, or if not, it will become possible within a few year‘s time, to store all that information in a box the size of a packet of cigarettes, or more likely on a memory card the size of a fingernail.

The thing is, however, that if you want people to be impressed by the number of books you own, it is a lot easier to do so without being suspected of being a brag or a liar if you own a lot of physical books. All you have to do is bring into your home a non-bibliophile, by which I don‘t necessarily mean a non-reader, but, let‘s say someone who reads books without feeling the overwhelming bibliophiliac urge to possess as many of them as possible. Then all you have to do is wait for them to notice the numerous and impressively overflowing bookcases. This will almost certainly lead to the question „How many books do you own?“ and that, inevitably, will lead to the follow up: „Have you read them all?“

This way, you don‘t need to work the contents of your Kindle or your hard drive into a conversation to get the desired awed or envious reaction, which can be difficult in any case, since non-bibliophiles tend not to like talking about books in general, only the books they are reading or have recently read (if any).

Among us bibliophiles I foresee this development: a few non-discriminating collectors, and by that I mean people who collect books in general as opposed to specific books, will start scouring the Web for all the free books they can find, regardless of whether they will ever read them or not. When they feel the collection is sufficiently large, they will begin one-upping each other left and right in a modern version of the Battle of the Books, in which the war will not be waged between the armies of the Ancients and the Moderns, but will instread be fought in a series of duels in which the last bibliophile standing will be the one with the biggest number of books.

As a collector, you see, I know how easy it is to lose control over the collecting urge. I am currently in the process of decluttering my home by throwing out, donating and using up several of my collections which have gotten out of hand. They include quilting fabrics, paper, yarn, craft supplies and, yes, books. I hasten to add that I do not collect any of these things indiscriminately, but merely what I plan to use. Unfortunately I operate on the „out of sight, out of mind“ principle, which means that rather than buy and use I buy and store for later, for that near-mythical time known to most pack-rats: when I have the time to do the project or read the book. Now, however, I am in a situation where I find it necessary to be careful with my money (the house is being repaired – again – and a large bill is looming) so I am now, finally, spending my time making and doing rather than buying and storing.

Phase one of this unusual situation is to try to use something from my pantry and/or freezer every time I cook something, instead of constantly buying new stock and ending up throwing out the old because it has expired. Phase two is the TBR challenge. Phase three is to use up some of the colourful paper scraps and leftovers from my bookbinding projects, and to finish at least one partially done craft project. I am turning the paper into beads, bowls, baskets and Christmas decorations, and the craft project is to finish the granny square crochet afghan I started making 5 years go. If I keep this up, by next spring I will have a nice pile of paper crafts to sell through the handicrafts co-operative I am planning to join next summer, and an afghan to curl up under next winter while I continue the TBR challenge and get going with watching – before the technology becomes obsolete – all the DVDs I have accumulated. There still remain the quilting fabrics, but I‘ll climb that hill when the paper mountain has finally been conquered.

You might think that adding all those aforementioned e-books to the library database will destroy the TBR challenge, but no, that challenge is specifically to make room on my shelves for more TBR books and to prevent the necessity of buying more shelving. The e-books are a blissful extra, a bonus and a guarantee that I will not run out of books to read even if I have to spend the next 20 years under house arrest. I just have to be careful not to start buying e-books unless I have definite plans of reading them.

Reading report for November 2011

2011-12-30T12:00:00.002Z

I had this ready at the start of the month but have only just realised that I never published it, so here goes:

I finished 9 books in November, of which 4 were TBR challenge books. I have now reached the TBR goal for this year: to get the TBR stack below 800 books by reading and/or culling. I took a long look at my bookshelves yesterday (make that December 5th) and made a drastic cull, bringing the TBR down to 791 books. I plan to continue with the challenge in 2012, and will probably begin with a goal of going below 750 TBR books.

This almost became the first month for a very long time in which I did not finish one mystery or thriller, but because the journey covered in The 8.55 to Baghdad was inspired by Agatha Christie and her journey on the Orient Express, I decided to reread Murder on the Orient Express. Knowing what the outcome of the mystery would be allowed me to concentrate on other things about it, and it struck me how brilliant Christie was at drawing, with a few deft strokes, a menagerie of diverse and interesting characters.

The Books:

A Season in the Highlands. 5 romance novellas, comprising: Jude Deveraux; Unfinished Business (contemporary, paranormal); Jill Barnett: Fall From Grace (historical); Geralyn Dawson: Cold Feet (historical, paranormal, Christmas); Pam Binder: The Matchmaker (time travel); Patricia Cabot: The Christmas Captive (historical, Christmas)
Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express. Murder mystery. Reread.
Andrew Eames: The 8.55 to Baghdad. Travel.
Justine Hardy: Bollywood Boy. Travel, film.
Nora Roberts: The Bride Quartet, comprising: Vision in White; Bed of Roses; Savor the Moment; Happy Ever After.Contemporary romance.
Kevin Rushby: Children of Kali. Travel, history.

Down Under by Bill Bryson

2011-12-26T09:00:00.022Z

Originally published in July 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This is the account of Bill Bryson’s (broken up) journey around Australia, to visit its biggest cities and some interesting sights, natural and man-made.

Bryson is obviously an australophile. This book is a virtual love letter to Australia, especially its natural beauty, and in a lesser way to its people. Even though he writes in his usual humorously mocking style, and criticises certain things, especially environmental policies and the less than helpful staff at hotels in a certain city, the book is for the most part a very positive and affectionate, sometimes glowing, account of this interesting country. Besides covering his impressions and travel experiences, Bryson gives some account of Australian history and the country’s attractions, and the book can, in fact, be used as an informal guide to some of the places he visited. He seems to have been very diligent in hunting down and exploring unusual little museums and sights, some of which may not even be mentioned in guide books.

I have previously read four of Bryson’s other books: Made in America and Mother Tongue, both of which are about the history of the English language, and two travel books, Notes From a Small Island and The Lost Continent. I liked the language books - they were funny and good reads, even if some of the etymology was a bit suspect, but I didn’t particularly like the travel books. I found them to be so overloaded with Bryson’s signature self-deprecating humour that it went over the top and started sounding like whining. I would also have liked to read less about him and more about the country he was supposed to be writing about. There was also something, some spirit or spark that was missing from The Lost Continent (not to mention the hostile, almost sarcastic, undertone) and I had to force myself to finish it.

The American title

Here, finally, is a travel book from Bryson that deserves all the praise that has been heaped on him as a funny travel writer. He writes about the country and people and has toned down the self-deprecation to an acceptable level so that it is actually funny instead of “here-he-goes-again” tedious, but it is rather sad that he should feel the need to make some rather mean-spirited comments about people who are supposed to be his friends. Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes couldn’t help laughing, but I still think they are mean. Of course, I don’t know what the people in question are like - maybe they are mean right back at him, but it doesn’t feel very friendly to me. But these are minor faults in an otherwise good book.

Rating: A great and sometimes funny introduction to Australia, its people, cities and sights. 4 stars.

A useful link: Excerpt from Down Under

The Imps with the Bags

2011-12-23T19:00:00.003Z

Swearing is said to feed the Devil, and swearing during Christian holidays must be extra nourishing for him. Here is a moral tale of just that:

It is said that a long time ago, in a valley in the north of Iceland which is no longer inhabited, there were once seven farms. It happened that one Christmas Eve the farmer who owned the farm nearest the mouth of the valley was guarding his sheep while they grazed. In the twilight he noticed seven half-grown boys walking on the bank of the river and heading towards the valley. All were dressed in black, with caps on their heads and carrying folded-up bags. They were moving very fast and running with a strange and grotesque gait.

The farmer felt very uneasy upon seeing this sight and stared after the lads until they disappeared around a hillock. He wondered who they could be, and finally came to the conclusion that they must be imps, come to collect all the swearing people did over the Christmas holidays, to feed their master and themselves.

When he came home that night the farmer spoke to his people and told them to avoid all swearing until Twelfth Night was over, promising to give them a nice treat if they were able to do this. The people promised to behave and everyone watched themselves carefully over the Christmas season and no-one swore at all.

But on the morning of Twelfth Night when the milkmaid walked into the cow byre everything was topsy turvy in there: the cows were all loose and tied together by the tails and so wild that she could hardly handle them. During her struggle to get everything settled she got angry and said: “What a damned mess!”

That same day the farmer was tending to his sheep in the same spot as on Christmas Eve, and in the twilight that night he saw the same seven lads coming down the valley. Six of them were fat and glossy-looking and ran down the river bank with much noise and laughter, carrying very full bags. Behind then stumbled the seventh, skinny as a rake and sullen-looking. His bag was empty except there seemed to be a little something in one corner of it. His companions teased him relentlessly and laughed at him.

That night the farmer told the people what he had seen and gave everyone a nice, big extra serving of food.

Copyright notice: The wording used to tell this folk-tale is under copyright. The story itself is not copyrighted. If you want to re-tell it, for a collection of folk-tales, incorporate it into fiction, use it in a school essay or any kind of publication, please tell it in your own words or give the proper attribution if you choose to use the wording unchanged.

Cover Her Face by P.D. James

2011-12-19T09:00:00.010Z

Originally published in July 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

Such a gorgeous cover!

When a conniving and secretive young housemaid at the Maxie mansion is murdered, the local constable immediately calls in the Scotland Yard. The Yard’s representative is Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, who goes about his job of investigating and interviewing suspects and witnesses, in a thorough, calm and apparently unemotional manner. He uncovers seething emotions, hatred and passions that bubble just under the surface, and finds that most of the people who were at the mansion the night of the murder had good reason to dislike or even hate the murdered woman.

This, the first of P.D. James’ popular Chief Inspector Dalgliesh books, is a rather Christiesque story. Dalgliesh uses Hercule Poirot’s preferred method of gathering together the suspects to unveil the killer, and the story is a country manor mystery in the Golden Age style, as so many of Agatha Christie’s books were.

The characters of the main witnesses and suspects are developed in depth before the crime takes place, only the victim’s full character is left to be uncovered as the story progresses. Dalgliesh is very much in the background all the time, and it is his implied rather than actual presence that drives much of the latter part of the story.

Roy Marsden as Dalgliesh

Just as I kept seeing George Baker in my mind when reading the Inspector Wexford book I reviewed recently, I pictured Roy Marsden, who played Dalgliesh on TV, in my head whenever Dalgliesh was mentioned. This is the unfortunate thing about knowing a character from the screen before ever reading about them - you find it difficult to separate the on-screen representation from the character on the page. Not that it mattered, Marsden was the perfect choice to play Dalgliesh.

Rating: Another good beginning to a mystery series that I plan to pursue further. 3+ stars.

Off on a tangent

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000Z

Yesterday, a barely remembered comment from a Terry Pratchett novel about a professor at Unseen University sent me to google to look up from which book it came. The professor in questions was commonly referred to as the "reader in the loo" or something similar, but the results that came up for that sentence (sans quotation marks) sent me off on a tangent. Among the search results on the first page was the following Wikipedia entry, which has to be one of the weirder ones to be found in that estimable encyclopaedia (not that the entry is in any way silly, but it's weird that the subject made it onto WP in the first place). It's a long entry, too:

Wikipedia: Toilet paper orientation

Apropos of this, here is a challenge for you, Dear Reader: To find a more unexpected or strange Wikipedia entry and post it as a comment to this post.

List love: A funny dozen

2011-12-13T09:00:00.000Z

I present you with a dozen funny novels I have enjoyed through the years. Indeed, some of them are on my perennial re-reading list, e.g. nos. 2, 6, 7 and 10.

Some will have you laughing out loud while others might have you bubbling with barely suppressed laughter through the read. Not all of them may appeal to all of you, as they range from dark satire to airy parody to pure slapstick, but there is something in there for almost everyone. In no particular order:

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Satire. About the absurdities of army life and war.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. All of the books in the series, but especially the first one. Very good science-fantasy and a parody of the genre, and also very funny.
Three Men in a Boat, to say nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome. A funny collection of the travel misadventurs of three men and a dog on a boating holiday in the Thames.
Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis. The adventures of the unflappable Auntie Mame as seen through the eyes of her nephew.
Rumpole of the Bailey by John Mortimer. A Short stories about a canny old lawyer. If you can find a more humorously cynical old codger than Rumploe, please let me know.
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. Actually, all of Pratchett’s books are funny to some degree, although the humour has become darker as the Discworld series progresses. I decided to pick this one. Because. No, just Because. Oh, all right, I if you must know, it was all the movie references and twists. And the talking dog. And the …. Look it’s a funny book, all right?
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Parody at its best. Gibbons took every cliché from the rural novels so popular at the time and molded them into a classic humorous novel.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend. Teenage angst has never seemed so funny.
Bellwether by Connie Willis. Two scientists investigating trends collide with the assistant from Hell and comedy ensues.
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. His descriptions of people and animals sparkle and he had a wonderful eye for the absurd.
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin. The chase scene is classic comedy gold that I would love to see in the big screen.
Appleby’s End by Michael Innes. Innes wrote wonderfully quirky detective stories but this one is probably the strangest of them all, and quite funny in a rather surrealist way.

From Doon with Death by Ruth Rendell

2011-12-12T09:00:00.010Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

Margaret Parsons, a dowdy housewife, disappears from her Kingsmarkham home, and is found murdered the next day. During the investigation, suspicion fall on several people, including her husband, a former boyfriend, two former school friends, and their husbands. Finally, when Wexford and Burden discover a cache of inscribed books from “Doon” to “Minna”, they begin to piece together a story of obsession and desire, going back more than a decade, and make a startling discovery as to the identity of “Doon”.

This is the first book in the Chief Inspector Wexford series. Like many other readers, I first became aware of Wexford as the leading character in a series of very good TV films based on the books, starring George Baker as Wexford. For some time I wasn’t even aware they were based on books, and even when I did realise it, I still was not very interested in reading them. Then I started becoming interested in crime mysteries again, literature I had mostly given up reading in my late teens. Now that I have finally got round to reading the first in the series, I definitely plan to continue.

George Baker will always be Wexford to me

The book is deftly written, has some interesting and intriguing characters, and presents a motif that is common in Rendell’s other stories: obsession. (I may not have read any of her other Wexford books, but I have read some of the non-series books). I quickly figured out certain relevant facts about the killer, and if I had not had to divide my attention between the book and other matters, I would in all probability have realised who the killer was rather sooner than I did.

Rating: A good beginning to a series that promises hours of reading pleasure. 3+ stars.

Review: Bollywood Boy by Justine Hardy

2011-12-06T09:00:00.000Z

Genre: The stated genre is Travel, but Film and Social History could just as well apply
Year published: 2003

A glimpse of the Hindi movie industry’s newest heartthrob, Hrithik Roshan, sent Justine Hardy on a year-long exploration of the whole Hindi movie phenomenon. She interviewed people in the movie industry, including a film journalist, a small-time director, actors and actresses and a former movie choreographer, to gain insight into the industry, but it is her interviews and conversations with the ordinary people, the fans, that are the most interesting and illuminating. Always at the centre of the narrative is Roshan and Hardy’s ever more comical attempts to get an interview with him (it took a loooong time).

In the end we don’t get a very deep insight into Bollywood, just a look at the surface glamour and glitter, with the occasional deeper glimpses of the dangers involved (organised crime both extorts money from the film-makers and backs their projects) and the dark side of an industry that chews up people and spits them out much like its Hollywood counterpart.

This is a well-written and often funny romp, with occasional very serious subjects thrown in for balance, and makes a fine appetizer for people wanting to get a taste of the Hindi film industry without digging too deep. 3+ stars.

P.S. If anyone can recommend a book or documentary that gives a more in-depth look at the Hindi film industry, please leave the title in a comment.

Pastures Nouveaux by Wendy Holden

2011-12-05T09:00:00.016Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

My first introduction to chick lit was the much praised Bridget Jones’ Diary, which I frankly hated. IMHO, the movie, for once, was better than the book. It didn’t stop me exploring further, however, and I have read several books belonging to the Genre: good, bad and indifferent. I’ve even reviewed some in this blog.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead

Two very different couples’ lives begin to interweave when they move to a small village in England. They are the practically broke illustrator Rosie and her ill-tempered columnist boyfriend Mark, and filthy rich actress, evil stepmother and bitch queen Samantha and her husband, Guy the financier. Also involved are a noisy family of slackers who live next door to Rosie and Mark’s cottage, a farmer who becomes attracted to Rosie (who seriously considers dumping Mark for him), a reclusive rock star, a former Bond girl and Guy’s teenage daughter, who has every intention of breaking up her father’s marriage to Samantha.

This frothy concoction is a combination of satire, seriousness and slapstick, and tackles, among other things, relationships, pretentiousness, social climbing, and the bleak future facing some farmers. Parts of it read like a slightly more sophisticated print version of a Carry On movie, and many of the supporting characters are broadly drawn stereotypes, while others are more three-dimensional. I only wish I could say that about Rosie’s big love interest, the rock star, but unfortunately he is a cardboard cut-out of the reformed bad boy type, and his infatuation for Rosie is, frankly, unconvincing. If Holden had used up a hundred pages more in giving him a more rounded character and developing the relationship between them and a hundred pages less in showing the reader just what a social-climbing bitch Samantha is, this might have been a good book. As it is, it only just rises above mediocre by virtue of its sparkling humour and the delicious descriptions of Samantha’s decorating mania and her big party.

Rating: A so-so book, recommended for some delicious comic passages. The love story is weak, but if you have fantasies of being swept off your feet by a rock star, by all means go ahead and read it. 2+ stars.

In memoriam: Anne McCaffrey

2011-11-30T11:16:00.001Z

I read today, on one of my regular blog stops, that Anne McCaffrey has died.

I discovered the Dragonriders of Pern series when I was in college. I picked up the very first book to be published, Dragonflight, at a fantastic second-hand bookshop that, alas, no longer exists. It was love at first read. I scoured the second-hand bookshops for the rest of the books then published, and found Dragonquest, The White Dragon, and the Harper Hall trilogy, read them and loved them all. I introduced them to my mother, who is an even bigger fantasy fan than I am, and she loved them too.

Then came Renegades of Pern, All the Weyrs of Pern and Dragonsdawn, and ouch! Our favourite fantasy stories had become science fiction. Neither of us liked it much, but we struggled on. We finally gave up as the books became more and more sciency (even the prequels and mid-quels) and less and less fantastical, but we both still have an enduring love for the early books and have re-read them often.

I wonder, now, whether she is out there somewhere, and whether she is riding a space craft or if she has Impressed a dragon. Goodbye, Anne, and thanks for all the good reads.

Romance review: Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts

2011-11-29T09:00:00.009Z

Genre: Romance, contemporary
Series: The Bride Quartet
Year of publication: 2010
Setting & time: Greenwich, Connecticut, US; contemporary
Level of sensuality: Hot, breathless kissing, short and flowery sex scenes.

Parker Brown (‘of the Connecticut Browns’) is a modern day princess: classy, beautiful, wealthy and well-bred, but blessedly free of any pretension or hauteur (except when faced with people likely to hurt her friends). She is the planner, director and M.C. of Vows, the one who holds the whole wedding-planning business together.

Malcolm is a Harley-driving former Hollywood stunt-man who ran away from a damaged childhood but has returned to run his own automobile repair-shop and plays poker with Parker’s brother Del.

Ever since Parker kissed Mal to spite her brother, he had been interested in knowing her better, and the chemistry is undeniable. But will her breeding and his past get in their way?

Not a bit. Their story runs a smooth and shiny and not very eventful course through a narrative in which two weddings are the high points, when it should have been scenes between the two of them. Their characters are well-written and rounded, although Parker has a somewhat Mary Sue-ish flavour. While they are first appear to be clear opposites, she the modern American princess and he the wild boy from the wrong side of the tracks who clawed his way up and became a successful business owner, they are in fact both goal-oriented, business-minded and focused individuals.

The usual humour and high-quality writing is there (I have said it before, although not here, that Roberts could easily write what the snobs call “serious fiction”), and the plotting is smooth, but there is something missing. It would have been so easy to have a bit of fun with the bad boy-good girl/peasant-princess combination, but instead we get a glittering and perfect romance where everything is smooth and perfectly perfect and love’s course runs nearly obstacle free. Even the descriptions of stormy passions tearing through the bodies of the protagonists when they have sex aren’t enough to make the romance feel as passionate as it could be. I had been hoping for a climactic ending to this tetralogy, but what I got was a fizz (or should I say a whimper?). 2+ stars.
--

Overall, I have to say this tetralogy has been disappointing in its glittery smoothness, but I’m not going to let that stop me from reading Roberts’ future books, or to continue my journey through her back-list. After all, an author cannot be expected to produce top-of-the line work every time. Besides, I must admit that my favourite Roberts books (written under that name) have always been her standalone romantic thrillers.

Ex Libris: Confessions of a common reader by Anne Fadiman

2011-11-28T09:00:00.011Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This slim collection of essays by journalist Anne Fadiman was originally published in a literary magazine, but adapted and in some cases rewritten for the book. It was recommended to me by several people who know I love reading, and I would just like to say thanks to them for the recommendation. I have been trying for ages to find the book - according to the library database it was always in, but I couldn’t find it where it was supposed to be shelved. I finally came across it where it had been filed on the wrong shelf, probably by some browsing library patron.

The book is basically about several different aspects of reading and owning books and an analysis of the author’s reading habits. She discusses, among other things, the problems of uniting libraries, her addiction to collecting books about doomed polar expeditions, her habit of proofreading everything she reads, those pesky gender pronouns that turn everyone into a man, pokes fun at plagiarists and plagiarism, and other subjects related to books, etc., all in a personal vein.

Rating: Fun reading for bibliophiles and an insight into the bibliophiliac mind for non-bibliophiles. 4 stars.

Romance review: Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

2011-11-26T09:00:00.001Z

Genre: Romance, contemporary
Series: The Bride Quartet
Year of publication: 20
No. in series: 3
Setting & time: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA; contemporary
Level of sensuality: Several sex scenes including one in which a metaphor does not evoke the intended emotion in the reader (clue: I posted it the day before yesterday...)

Laurel is the baker/pastry chef of Vows, the wedding planning business run by four childhood girlfriends. She has known Del, company lawyer and brother to her friend and business partner Parker, for most of her life and they are as close as siblings, except Laurel has known for about as long that he is The One. She doesn’t know that Del has recently started noticing her as a sexy woman rather than as an honorary sister, so isn’t quite ready for the backfire when she kisses him in a fit of pique. They end up agreeing to date for 30 days – with no sex – and no one will have any problem guessing what happens next.

The “how it happens” is the reason why romance readers keep reading romances when they already know the ending. Unfortunately, while the characters are about evenly matched in terms of being realistic (repeat characters for Roberts with a few details to flesh them out) and the story isn’t too exaggeratedly a formula, it does drag. The reason is that everything runs too smoothly. The obstacles Roberts puts in their way are minimal and easily overcome, and in fact they are so slight as to be negligible. The narrative is comfortable, smooth and bland and at the end one shrugs and thinks, “oh, well, she can’t write a winner every time”. 2 + stars.

Since I posted a bad metaphor yesterday, today you get a nice little taste of Nora Roberts humour

2011-11-25T09:00:00.001Z

This conversation between the rigidly-in-control-at-all-times heroine and her friend takes place after the hero has thoroughly kissed the heroine before they actually get together, seriously confusing her:

“I was wearing the Back-Off Cloak.”

“What?”

“I’m not stupid. He made a little move in the kitchen. Actually, he makes little moves every time I run into him, which is disconcerting, but I can handle it. So when I walked him to the door, I thought he might get ideas.”

Laurel’s eyes widened. “You swirled on the Back-Off Cloak? The famed shield that repels men of all ages, creeds, and political affiliations?”

Yes.”

“Yet he was not repelled. He’s immune.” She gave Parker a slap on the arm. “He may be the only creature of his kind.”

Nora Roberts, Happy Ever After

I know "love" scenes are hard to write, but this metaphor really isn't a good one

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000Z

„He watched pleasure turn her eyes to blue crystals, tasted her moan as he crushed his mouth to hers.“

Nora Roberts, Savor the Moment.

Please tell me what is so sexy about crystals for eyes, even if they are blue? They are cold and hard and while they are pretty to look at, they are hardly sexy. That is an image that belongs more in a horror story than a romance novel."The Girl With the Crystal Eyes", anyone?

Romance review: Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

2011-11-23T09:00:00.000Z

Genre: Romance, contemporary
Series: The Bride Quartet
Year of publication: 2009
No. in series: 2
Setting & time: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA; contemporary
Level of sensuality: Several breathless sex scenes and cute moments with kissing

Emma, friend and business partner to Mac, heroine of the first book in the Bride Quartet, is the highly-skilled florist of Vows, the all-exclusive wedding-planning business they run together. She has long harboured a secret crush on Jack, an architect who is among her best friends. He is also interested in her, but hasn’t acted on it because of his close friendship with Parker’s brother who considers Emma, Mac and Laurel as his honorary sisters and is highly protective of them.

After he helps her when her car breaks down late at night it becomes clear to them both that the attraction is mutual and after some initial hesitation they plunge into a passionate love affair. But their friendship, combined with Emma’s desire for the "happily ever after" package and Jack’s commitment phobia puts some hurdles in their way.

If you read my review of the first book, you’ll know I didn’t like it much (apart from the scrumptious nerd hero). This one, however, I did like. It’s not going on my keeper shelf, but I think it deserves a better rating because while equally formulaic, it is better put together. Roberts even managed to surprise me a couple of times when I thought I knew where the story was headed.

Both the hero and heroine are reminiscent of characters seen before in Roberts’ books, but unlike in the previous book, the two are more balanced and equal to each other. Mac in Vision in White felt too flat, too stock, to me to balance well with Carter, who felt very much alive, but here I get about the same feeling of recognition for both characters, both of whom she has fleshed out enough to make them distinct and equal.

The plot is the classic “friends-to-lovers” story, skilfully told and written in Robert’s usual readable style. Some of the twists are foreseeable, while others surprise. The best gauge of quality is that this is the first Nora Roberts novel to bring tears to my eyes since I read the Chesapeake Bay trilogy. Tears didn’t actually fall, but there was definitely increased moistness in the corners of my eyes when I was reading the climax and denouement. For that, and for the better balancing of plot and characters than the previous book, it gets 3+ stars.

The next book in the series also seems set to be a “friends-to-lovers” story, this one between people who see each other like brother and sister. I’m looking forward to seeing how Roberts handles that one without making it feel incestuous.

The Book of Tea by various authors

2011-11-21T09:00:00.022Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

Mary Cassatt: 5 O'clock Tea

I am an avid tea drinker and have been ever since I drank my first cup of tea around age six. I enjoy tea in many of its incarnations: the sweet, spicy chai of India and Pakistan, the minty green tea of Morocco, strong and sweet Turkish tea, delicate Darjeelings, robust Kenyans and iced tea with slices of orange and lemon, to name some examples. I have never been much fond of fruit teas or plain green teas - the first I can tolerate iced, but the second tastes to me like freshly mown grass: the smell is nice and refreshing but the flavour is less than pleasing. I guess it’s an acquired taste and no doubt I will learn to drink it if I ever visit Japan or China.

I am not what you would call a tea snob - you are just as likely to find me slurping sweet milk tea made with a tea bag (oh, my!), from a chipped and stained old mug (horror of horrors!), as you are to find me sipping milkless FTGFOP Darjeeling from a bone china cup. Each has a suitable occasion. Maybe tea nerd would be a better description of my relationship with the beverage.

But let’s turn to the book. It’s a large-format book of the kind often referred to as “coffee-table books”, although in this case maybe “tea room book” would be more appropriate. It features some gorgeous photography and artwork, and has chapters on tea growing and processing, tea history, tea drinking habits the world over, types of tea, statistics and even recipes for food such as tea sauce and tea ice, and a list of tea houses and tea shops in the USA, London and Paris. It was published in France, is a translation from French.

It is a lovely book for tea enthusiasts and foodies who want to have some knowledge of the subject but do not want to become experts. For those interested in more information, there is a bibliography of books they can turn to for more in-depth reading.

A touch of snobbery surfaces here and there - one author suggests that it is criminal to use either milk or lemon in tea, and that sugar is only acceptable in a few types of tea (as if it wasn’t simply a matter of personal taste). All skim over the subject of flavoured teas - you get the feeling they do not approve of anything beyond Earl Grey or Russian citrus tea, and those only because those blends are old enough to count as traditional. Tea in bags is universally denounced - which is perhaps not surprising as it is a fact that many tea companies use sub-standard leaves to fill their tea bags, but it is also true that you can get quite decent bag tea if you know where to look. Minor snobbery of this kind is forgivable when you really don’t care what others think of your tea drinking habits, but it is unfortunate that it may influence impressionable people who are new to tea drinking and liable to think they must follow the rules implied by the book in order to enjoy their tea.

Rating: A lovely book for tea enthusiasts. 4 stars.

Finally, here is a tea that I often enjoy, especially on cold winter’s evenings when I want something warming.

Mary Cassatt: The Cup of Tea

Pakistani cardamom chai:

3 bags black tea, or 3 level tablespoons of robust black tea leaves. The best tea for chai is broken leaves, dust or fannings (the kind used in tea bags), as they make stronger tea.

6-8 green cardamom pods

1/2 litre water

1/2 litre whole or condensed milk

sugar to taste

Bring the water to the boil. Bruise or lightly crush the cardamoms and cook in the water for 5 minutes. Add the tea leaves and cook for about 2 minutes (I prefer using tea bags - it's less messy). Add the milk. Remove from heat when the mixture boils, strain out the cardamoms and tea leaves and serve with sugar to taste. If you want a more intense cardamom taste, pour the chai into a thermos flask with the cardamoms and leave it to steep for about an hour (do not steep with the tea bags/leaves as it will make the chai bitter).

Review: The 8.55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames

2011-11-19T09:00:00.000Z

Genre: Travel
Area covered: Train journey (by stages) from London to Baghdad, with stops in Italy, various Balkan states, Turkey, Syria and various cities and archaeological sites in Iraq.
Published in: 2004

This is an enjoyable read about setting out on a journey with the slimmest of excuses, in this case visiting places Agatha Christie travelled to and through when she set out to make a new life for herself after her divorce from her first husband, and to go to the places where she lived in with her second husband, an archaeologist who spent his working life digging up ancient cities in Iraq.

Eames visited various places which one would have travelled through on a train journey between England and Iraq in 1928, which is when Agatha Christie first made the trip aboard the Orient Express, following her traumatic divorce from her first husband. Once the trip could have been made in a few stages (for example directly, without disembarking, from Paris all the way to Istanbul), but was in fact much more difficult to do when Eames did it in 2003 (and probably impossible today).

While the premise – to visit places Agatha Christie visited on her first trip to Iraq and on subsequent trips and places where she lived in Iraq while on archaeological digs with husband Max Mallowan – is slight, I must say to Eames’ credit that wherever he went, he tried to dig up connections with Christie and to see things she saw or might have seen (once even putting himself in grave danger to do so). He includes interesting facts about her life whenever it is warranted, but doesn’t try to tell her life story in any detail. He made several stops that were probably longer than hers, and writes interestingly about people he met and places he visited, especially when he is examining political tensions, nationalistic attitudes and apparent national characteristics. He doesn’t try to analyse Christie beyond speculating about her mental state during her first trip to Iraq, and reaches no conclusions about her, but that’s fine, as it is clear that she is the excuse rather than the reason for the journey.

The book is well written, in a simile-rich style that frequently brings a smile to one's face, and I enjoyed it, especially after Eames stopped using blatant stereotypes to describe people, something that annoyed me in the Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express chapters. The final chapters were especially interesting and even thrilling at some points. They cover a journey through Iraq on the eve of the 2003 invasion, with a tour group made up of characters just as varied and colourful as the cast of one of Christie’s whodunnits. He even suggests that some of them may have been spies. All in all, a very enjoyable travelogue, covering some places I haven’t read much about before. 4 stars.

Review: Vision in White by Nora Roberts

2011-11-17T09:00:00.004Z

Genre: Romance, contemporary
Series: Bride Quartet, book 1.
Year published: 2009
Setting and time: Greenwich, Connecticut, USA; contemporary.
Level of sensuality: Several flowery sex scenes.

Wedding photographer Mackensie Elliot runs a successful wedding planning company with her three best friends. She has never known a proper family life because her immature, self-centered parents divorced when she was a child and have both gone through multiple marriages and relationships since. Additionally, her mother is a master manipulatrix who can play her daughter like a finely tuned instrument to get what she wants, usually money or unreasonable favours.

As a result of all this, Mac is highly strung and insecure and doesn’t believe she is capable of maintaining a lasting relationship with a man. Along comes nerdy English teacher Carter Maguire, who is her opposite in every way: calm, rational and solid, in addition to being very sexy, so sexy that once Mac has decided to have a fling with him, she keeps coming back for more even though she doesn’t believe it can last. However, this being romance, we all know how it ends: problems are resolved and character growth happens and happily ever after with bluebirds and babies looms on the horizon.

As my regular readers know, I like to read Nora Roberts novels. Her romances are like candy or desserts to me: rich, full of calories, perhaps not very nutritional but generally satisfying. Despite this I was almost ready to give up on her after reading the overblown paranormal disaster that was the Sign of Seven Trilogy – which I thought I had reviewed here, but I must merely have written a brief (and scathing) review of for one of my reading forums – but then I found out about the Bride Quartet, which is a return to traditional romance, and decided to give her another chance.

The premise of the series is charming and has a lot of promise: love finds four female friends who have adored weddings since childhood and as adults run a successful all-inclusive wedding planning business, each friend having a specific role within the company.

Unfortunately this book fails to deliver on the promise. This is partly due to characterisations and partly due to the overuse of hoary clichés and formulas that Roberts has combined much better in other books.

The four friends are all types Roberts has written about before and Mac is unfortunately not clearly delineated enough from her predecessors in previous books to emerge as a distinctive and singular character, whereas Carter is an adorable and well-delineated hero. I must admit that I do love to see a romance hero who is clumsy, wears glasses, can quote Shakespeare and isn’t all buff muscles and alpha-dog attitude, but besides these physical characteristics the character is also a distinctive and realistic personality, which means that he much overshadows Mac whenever they have a scene together. Mac’s mother is a crude caricature of a childish, totally selfish and self-centered user, and Carter’s ex-girlfriend is a flat and typical Roberts villainess who exists only to spice up the plot with a twist as old as time, unfortunately done badly.

The gossamer thin plot revolves around Mac’s inability to understand that just because her parents are a manipulative megalomaniac mother and a charming but uncaring and mostly absent father all her romantic relationships are not doomed to fail like theirs did. It is as of she has blinkers on and can only see what her parents’ private lives have been like and not, for example, the loving and exemplary relationship of her friend Parker’s parents. Almost every climactic moment in the story (apart from the actual climaxes in the sex scenes) comes because of Mac having another fit of low-self esteem, fear of commitment – because she knows she is destined to mess it up – and gut-wrenching doubts about herself, while the catalysts for these scenes usually involve her mother (and in one case the evil bitch ex-girlfriend).

These climactic fits are followed by fairly realistic moments of character growth as Mac slowly realises she is not her mother OR her father, and comes to understand that Carter isn’t going to give up on her so easily. Carter, however, does not grow. We see his multi-faceted character unfold over the course of the story and this stands in for character growth. He is basically the same man at the beginning and end of the story, hasn’t changed, just come into sharper focus.

The whole story feels rushed, as if not enough thought was put into creating characters that come alive on the pages (because Nora can do that) and making their development and their stories realistic and interesting. While I would be among the first to admit that most romances are formula literature, I would also be among the first to argue that even the most entrenched formula can be used well and creatively. This is not the case here. The book has certain good points – there is a coherent story, however thin and cliché-ridden, the interactions between the four friends are realistic, the wedding-planning and photography aspects are well done and the descriptions of hysterical brides and averted wedding disasters are interesting and occasionally funny. It’s too bad they are actually more interesting than the patched-together, gossamer-thin main storyline concerning Mac and Carter.

At the end of the book I didn’t put it down with my customary sigh of satisfaction, but felt as if the craving for reading candy was stronger than before I started reading. For that reason and the ones enumerated above I can only give it 2 stars.

Burglars can’t be Choosers and The Burglar in the Closet by Lawrence Block

2011-11-14T09:00:00.012Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

These are the first two books in a long-running series about burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Bernie is a cool character, perfectly immoral when it comes to other people’s property, daring, professional and charming. The books are a light-hearted blending of the traditional cozy mystery and the rogue genre, because the sleuth is a criminal. Being a criminal, he has obvious problems. The only cop likely to take him seriously is bent and needs to be bribed before he will do anything for him, and in both these books Bernie is a suspect in the murders, so has to go not only undercover to solve the murders, but on the lam as well to avoid being arrested for them.

I have read a fair number of rogue stories (e.g. Raffles, Arsene Lupin) but Bernie is the first of the rogue heroes I have really liked. I hated the Raffles stories - Raffles is mean and Bunny such a wimp that it’s a wonder anyone likes them at all, plus the stories are badly written, and several other rogue heroes are into tricking and taunting the police who of course are always dumber than jellyfish. Bernie is the first I have come across who seems to simply make a living off crime without wanting to attract attention or taunt the authorities, and the stories do not hinge on anyone being unnaturally stupid.

In Burglars can’t be Choosers, Bernie is hired to steal a small box that’s supposed to be hidden in a desk. He doesn’t bother to peep into every room of the apartment before he starts to look for the box, which turns out to be a mistake, because when two cops rush into the apartment, one of them finds a recently murdered man in the bedroom. Bernie manages to make a quick escape, and spends the next several days hiding out and desperately investigating the murder, which looks very much like a set-up.

In The Burglar in the Closet, he is again hired to perform a burglary, and is actually in the apartment when the owner comes home unexpectedly, lets in someone she knows and is murdered. Suspicion falls on him when his (innocent) “employer” is arrested for the crime (the victim was his ex wife), and decides to save his own skin and give Bernie to the cops as a possible suspect. Again, Bernie has to hide out and investigate in order to avoid going to jail. The Whoopi Goldberg movie Burglar was ever so slightly based on this story.

Rating: Light-hearted and entertaining murder mysteries with a likeable “hero”. 3+ stars.

Little Indiscretions by Carmen Posadas

2011-11-12T09:00:00.009Z

Original title: Pequnas Infamias
Translated from: Spanish
Translator: Christopher Andrews
Genre: Crime, literary novel
Year of publication: 1998 (original); 2003 (translation)
Setting & time: Spain, contemporary

Chef Nestor Chaffinch (speciality: sweet desserts) finds himself stuck inside a walk-in freezer in the middle of the night after catering a successful private party and is found dead and frozen in the morning. At least four people in the house had reason to want him dead, but who killed him, and was he even murdered at all?

After this first, terrifying chapter, the narrative flashes back to the events that lead up to the death, showing how Fate tangled together the lives of several people and finally led them all together in one place for a grand finale. The translation is seamless and according to reviewers who have read it in both languages Andrews has managed to preserve the author’s style, which is, as any good translator knows, a commendable feat.

This is a stylish, elegant and darkly humorous whodunnit/whydunnit, as rich as the chocolate truffles Nestor is so proud of, but with more than a hint of bitter flavour underneath. Several of the characters are aware that Nestor is privy to secrets they would rather not have revealed to the world, and the narrative is an examination of how this knowledge of their little (and sometimes not so little) indiscretions may have led to his death.

The characters are deftly drawn and rounded and a hint of magic realism lends the story a touch of supernatural mystery that spices things up nicely, like a piece of ginger added to dark chocolate. Nestor’s tantalisingly incomplete recipes add a touch of humour, and the result is a wonderfully entertaining but dark story about a man heading unknowingly to his doom. 4+ stars.

Icelandic folk-tale: The Bags of Sin

2011-11-11T19:00:00.000Z

One has to hope the minister in this story learned something from his experience:

Once upon a time there was a minister or priest who was wont to moralise to his congregation. He preached sternly and told off his listeners for their sins with great gusto.

Among his parishioners was an old woman who rarely if ever came to church and the minister would scold her mercilessly for this, telling her that she would not be allowed into the kingdom of heaven if she continued to neglect her church-going duties. The old woman ignored this completely.

After some time had passed from the last scolding the old woman fell ill and sent for the minister, saying that she needed his services because she was being plagued by the sins of the human race. The minister hurried to her bed-side and was about to begin scolding her, for he could see that she was deeply worried and he thought it would be a chance to bring her back into the fold. But the old woman asked him to first listen to her and hear about her greatest worry. The minister agreed to this and listened carefully to what she had to say.

She told him: “Not long ago I dreamt that I arrived at the Pearly Gates and knocked on the door, as I was cold and needed shelter. A man opened the door; he had a large key-ring in his hand. I asked him his name and he said it was Peter. Then I knew with whom I was speaking and asked him to let me inside.

Peter replied: “No, this is not the place for you.”

“Oh, please, “ I said, “please, good Peter, I am so very cold. Just let me inside. I will stay by the door.”

“No, you may not enter,” replied Peter.

I then saw that there was a great big storehouse outside the gates and off to one side, and asked Peter if I could shelter in there. He told me I could and opened the door for me. I hurried inside, but Peter stood in the doorway. Inside I saw huge piles of bags and sacks of all shapes and sizes. All of the were full of something and tied closed. I also saw piles of mittens, some of which were full while in others only the thumb was filled.

I was curious and asked Peter what was inside the bags and the said it was all the sins of all the people in the world.

I asked him: “May I see the bag belonging to my parish minister? It can not be a very big one, I think.”

“So, so,” said Peter, “take a look over there,” and he pointed to a tremendously large sack. I was quite astonished, because it was the biggest one I could see in there.

“What in the world?” I said, in wonder. “But where, then, is my sack? It must be very, very big indeed.”

“Not so much,” said Peter and pointed to one of the mittens, which had a tiny bit inside the thumb. I was completely overcome with astonishment and walked out of the building in a daze. Peter slammed the door shut, and that woke me up.

This is what has been bothering me,” said the old woman, “and the reason why I asked for you was so I could tell you all this.”

The minister didn’t know what to say and hurried away from her bedside as fast as he could.

Copyright notice: The wording used to tell this folk-tale is under copyright. The story itself is not copyrighted. If you want to re-tell it, for a collection of folk-tales, incorporate it into fiction, use it in a school essay or any kind of publication, please tell it in your own words or give the proper attribution if you choose to use the wording unchanged.

Another book purse - with instructions

2011-11-09T09:00:00.000Z

Remember the link to the steampunk book purse I posted once upon a time?

Well, here is another one with more instructions.

Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn

2011-11-08T09:00:00.000Z

If you’re sensitive to SPOILERS, don’t read beyond the plot summary.

I noticed this book because of the cover, which is reminiscent of an old-fashioned children's book (until you look closer and notice the skull-and-crossbones snowflakes).

Genre: Murder mystery
Year of publication: 1994 (this edition 2009)
Type of mystery: Historical cosy.
No. in series: 1
Series detective: Daisy Dalrymple

Type of investigator: Amateur (and police)
Setting & time: England, 1920s

The Honourable Miss Daisy Dalrymple arrives at Wentwater Court just after the beginning of the new year to write and photograph a story for Town & Country magazine. She already knows a couple of young people there, but in addition she meets Lord Wentwater, his children and his lovely young second wife, who seems to be very troubled and afraid of their houseguest, Lord Astwick.

When Astwick is found drowned in the skating pond, everyone assumes it was an accident, but when the police arrive on the scene, Daisy is able to point out to handsome Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher that something isn’t quite right about the scene. There ensues a delicate investigation into matters, and it turns out almost everyone staying at Wentwater Court could have had a motive for murdering Astwick.

I am in two minds about this novel. On the one hand it is smoothly written, has a lovely flavour of the Golden Age mysteries that I love reading and the author plays fair with the reader as regards clues. On the other hand, Daisy, while being a very likeable character to begin with, turns out to be a bit of a Mary Sue. She is plucky, capable, independent and everyone likes her so much that they immediately trust her and tell her their troubles and secrets. Even the handsome Scotland Yard officer takes her into his confidence after a short acquaintance by having her take shorthand while he interrogates the suspects, without having first done the double-checking necessary to take her off the suspect list.The only flaw she seems to have is not being very good at taking shorthand, and not being a good speller. Even near the end, when she turns out to be an arrant (not to mention arrogant) class snob who likes to play God, it is put forward in such a way as to make it look like a positive trait, thus emphasising the Mary-Sue-ness rather than removing it.

Also, Daisy doesn’t really solve the case. She seems to be on the verge of it but never reaches a definitely reasoned conclusion, instead drawing a confession out of the killer by accidentally startling him into it. The killer confesses too easily and his accessory does too, and Daisy believes them too easily. One would think that a story told in such perfect accord and harmony as that of the killer and his accessory would arouse suspicions, but Daisy takes it at face value – I get the feeling it’s just because they are of her class and she likes them. In fact, a lot of people take too many things at face value in this novel. Additionally, the police officer is too easily placated when he finds out about the trick Daisy has played on the police (even if he is a bit sweet on her) and his superior seems too eager to take part in a deception at the end.

As for the resolution, another reader might not agree, but I happen to think that just because someone deserved to die, it doesn’t absolve the killer of the guilt not does it mean he shouldn’t have to face justice. It can be poetic or karmic as well as legal justice, but in my mind there has to be some kind of justice, and being separated from the woman he loves is not enough. Likewise, among the things that enrage me in detective stories are endings in which someone gets away with a crime because of their social position or wealth. Let's face it: cosy detective stories are fantasies and we, the readers, expect good old-fashioned justice - not bleak social realism.

I feel Dunn deserves a thumbs up for the pitch-perfect Golden Era style and fair play, but a thumbs down for much of the rest of the story, so I am only giving it 2 stars. However, I did like the style and some of the plotting enough that I am not going to let the low grade stop me from reading more, and as a matter of fact I bought two books - the other one is the 17th in the series and it will be interesting to see what has changed (hopefully for the better).

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

2011-11-07T09:00:00.007Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

A clever killer sends taunting letters to Hercule Poirot, telling him dates and the names of towns where he intends to strike. The towns and the victims are alphabetical, A in Andover, and so on. Poirot agrees with the police that they are dealing with a psychopath, but he can not but feel that there is something wrong about the letters, something that doesn’t fit the profile of the killer they have deduced from his methods and choice of victims. So begins a cat and mouse game, but who is which? Regular Christie fans will be in no doubt as to who is the cat and who is the mouse, but may be surprised at a deviation from the Christie formula. Whether it is real or a red herring, I leave up to the reader to find out.

I admit to not being a Poirot fan - he annoys me too much, and I need to take breaks between the books about him, but this is quite a good Christie story. It is perhaps unfortunate that I have read so many of them that immediately upon reading the back cover blurb I figured out certain facts about the main plot twist, and knew who the killer was as soon as he appeared.

Rating: Christie dishes out murder with her usual gusto, Poirot annoys the reader, Hastings blunders on as usual. 3+ stars.

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

2011-11-06T08:00:00.014Z

Genre: History
Year of publication: 2000
Setting & time: USA and the Pacific Ocean, 1820-21

In 1820 the whale ship Essex , small, old and with a mostly inexperienced crew, set out from Nantucket Island towards the whale-hunting grounds of the Pacific Ocean. Once they were there the crew proceeded to hunt sperm whales and fill the hold with barrels of oil, but on November 20th the ship was attacked by a huge bull sperm whale which rammed it twice and sank it. The crew were able to rescue some navigational charts and equipment and food from the sinking ship, but were left floating aboard three flimsy and old whale boats thousands of miles from the South-American mainland.

Ironically, in light of what was to happen later, fear of cannibals kept them from making for the nearest cluster of islands and instead they resolved to head for South America, a mistake that may have cost 12 of the crew of 20 their lives. About 20 years later Herman Melville read about the incident, which served him as an inspiration for parts of Moby Dick.

The story told in the book is based on the published account of the mate, Owen Chase, and a recently discovered account by the cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson, in addition to other historical sources.

Philbrick ties together the story of the ship and the crew with a portrait of the whaling industry and of Nantucket society with seeming ease and has created a sympathetic portrayal of a group of men driven to extremes in order to survive.

This is an excellent read, well-written and well-researched, although not recommended for the squeamish, as the boat-bound survivors resorted to cannibalising the bodies of their dead crew-mates for nourishment. 4+ stars.

Reading report for October 2011

2011-11-05T09:00:00.000Z

I finished a total of 10 books in October, which means that my reading index is slightly up, although it has not yet reached last year’s monthly average. In addition there was one Did Not Finish, which was rather unfortunate as it sounded very interesting when I was offered it for reviewing.

The books were a mixed bag of various genres, and I have reviewed no less than four of them. One review is already published (in 2 parts) and three more are coming up in the next couple of weeks, starting tomorrow.

Mary Balogh, Colleen Gleason, Susan Krinard, Janet Mullany :Bespelling Jane Austen. 4 paranormal romance novellas, 2 historical, 2 contemporary.

Jim Crace: The Devil's Larder. Short stories with a food theme.

Carola Dunn: Death at Wentwater Court. Cosy murder mystery; historical.

Rachel Gibson: Daisy's Back in Town. Romance, contemporary.

Kay Hooper: Lady Thief/Masquerade. 1 volume, 2 historical romances (1 short novel, 1 novella)

Michael Innes: Appleby's End. Mystery.

Nathaniel Philbrick: In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. History.

Carmen Posadas: Little Indiscretions. Crime, literary novel.

J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, read by Stephen Fry. YA fantasy, audiobook. Reread.

Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Literary novel, historical.

DNF: The Undertaker by William Brown.

I got sent this book for review and gave it the 25% test (the Kindle equivalent of the 50-page test for books with no pagination) before deciding that while the premise of the story is interesting and it is well-written, the style is not to my taste and I simply couldn’t work up enough sympathy for the narrator-hero to want to see what happens to him. However, others have given it good reviews, so don’t pass it on just because I didn’t like it enough to finish it.

As usual, I am reading Too Many Books At Once. Take a look:

Children of Kali by Kevin Rushby.Travelogue and history.

Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey

The Oxford Book of Oxford, edited by Jan Morris. History. Bathroom book that I expect to finish by mid-2012.

London: The Biography, by Peter Ackroyd. History.

The Mysterious West, edited by Tony Hillerman. Short mystery stories set in the western USA.

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon.Adventure tale.

Nul Points by Tim Moore. Travelogue/biography. Examination of what happened to the people unfortunate enough to come last in the Eurovision Song Contest with zero points.

These are just the ones I have read something in during the last week. I have about a dozen more I haven’t touched for weeks or months which are in various stages of being read. When I come out of a reading slump I tend to do it with a rush.

Icelandic folk-tale: Rich Rusty

2011-11-04T19:00:00.000Z

There once was a farmer who lived with his wife on a very poor farm in the north-east of Iceland. They owned a bitch that gave birth to a rust-brown puppy. This puppy the farmer raised and used as a sheep-dog, calling him Rusty. He gave the dog an ewe-lamb as payment for his faithful service.

The ewe-lamb grew up to have lambs of her own, and so on, and the dog was very lucky in that none of his sheep ever went missing and all the ewes always had twins, most of them ewes. Over time Rusty came to own all the sheep on the farm and finally the farm as well. People started calling him Rich Rusty, and the farm was now prosperous and doing very well.

Rusty was much loved by his owners, so much so that when people were served food or given favours and people thanked the couple, they would reply and say not to thank them but Rich Rusty.

Once when the bishop of northern Iceland was on a tour of inspection of his diocese he arrived at the farm. He and his men were welcomed with a grand feast and served an abundance of food. Instead of plates, the food was served in troughs, instead of bottles, drink was served in casks, and instead of glasses, they drank from tankards.

At the end of the feast the bishop thanked the couple for the grand welcome, but they said not to thank them but Rich Rusty, who owned the whole farm. The bishop asked if Rusty was a man, but they replied that he was their dog. The bishop then said that he must see this remarkable and hospitable animal and so they led him out to the dung-heap where there lay, enjoying the warmth from the fermenting dung, a decrepit, ancient dog, deaf and blind and covered in matted fur.

The bishop stood looking at the dog for a while and then looked at his servant and said: “See you the cur?”

The servant kicked Rusty hard in the head so that his brain lay exposed. The bishop then turned to the couple and scolded them soundly and ordered their parish priest to make them publicly confess their sins and then give them absolution for their idolatry and backwardness.

But after Rusty was dead, all the riches he had accumulated dwindled away to nothing and finally the old couple died of hunger and poverty.

Quotation

2011-11-03T16:45:00.001Z

A lovely quotation from Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson:

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilisation, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints. Alas, as we get up in life, and are more preoccupied with our affairs, even a holiday is a thing that must be worked for."

Romance review: Bespelling Jane Austen, part II

2011-11-02T09:00:00.000Z

Continuing on from yesterday:

Blood and Prejudice by Susan Krinard

Sub-genre: Contemporary
Setting & time: USA, east coast, and England; modern times
Level of sensuality: Kissing.

There is no need to mention which Austen novel this story is based on, as the title speaks for itself. I also think it’s pretty clear that vampires are involved. Like in Northanger Castle, the plot is patterned after the plot of the original. The characters, those of them that are used (Charlotte Lucas, for one, is missing) are the same people as in Pride and Prejudice, with the same names and certain modifications appropriate to the modern setting. For one thing, Elizabeth is more active in trying to discover the truth about Darcy than she is in P&P, which is believable because, spirited and forward as she might have seemed to a contemporary of Austen’s in the original, she would seem rather docile and reserved showing the same behaviors in a modern setting, so that is all for the good. Darcy, if anything, is even more forbidding and brooding than in P&P and has a somewhat Byronic feel to him at times, but he is also updated, as is necessary for him in order to protect Elizabeth (who is not called ‘Lizzie’) from the vampirous main villain, who is not who you would expect.

The plot follows P&P pretty closely, with a few interesting twists, some of which are unexpected. It is a longer story than the previous two in the book and the relationships between the two pairs of lovers are given proper narrative time to develop.

The transposition of Regency England settings to modern-day USA and England is interesting. Rosings, for example, is a vampire nightclub, Bingley owns a pharmaceutical company and the two friends meet the Bennett sisters when a takeover of the Bennett family business is being discussed, but other things are just the same: Mr. Collins is as unctuous as he is in P&P, Caroline the same bitch, Mrs. Bennett as silly and Lydia as man-crazy, forward and empty-headed as ever, but it is all done in a believably modern way.

Having the action part of the plot – and no, it’s not the one you would think – take place on stage rather than off as it does in the original is interesting and adds colour to the narrative. The romance is also more satisfying and more passionate than in the first two stories. With everything coming together: characters, plot and a satisfying romance, I am giving this one 3+ stars.

Little to Hex Her by Janet Mullany

Sub-genre: Contemporary
Setting & time: Washington D.C., USA; modern times
Level of sensuality: Kissing and two sex scenes, one off stage, one on.

Those who know their Austen will know which novel this story draws on. If the misquotation in the title looks unfamiliar, think back to the opening passage of Emma.

Like Krinard, Mullany uses the actual names from the original, and the people are more or less recognisable as modern version of the original characters, but with important differences. For one thing, some of them are werewolves. Or vampires. Or elves. This is of course an opportunity for a magical twist to the story, and boy, does it get magical, both in funny and not so funny ways. I am certain some readers of Austen’s tale have wanted to do to Elton what Harriet actually does do to him...

As for the lead characters, Emma and Knightley, they are a witch and wizard. They are the same age in this story and have already had a relationship in the past which didn’t work out, so at least Emma is both more experienced and mature than she is in the original. But while she may be more mature, she is no more sensible or less meddling than in the original, and while Knightley is the same caring but somewhat overbearing know-it-all, he at least shows Emma that he is interested in her. The biggest difference in the characters is that Emma gets to be active here. She is the one who saves the day and makes her own destiny in the end.

Mullany has cleverly used only certain elements of Austen’s story in her own, such as the matchmaking – taken to new levels as Emma actually runs a matchmaking agency – her Elton-Harriet-Martin meddling and the Frank Churchill-Jane Fairfax story, but all of it is done with interesting twists and in fact this story deviates more from the original than the previous two stories in the volume, which is not a bad thing. After all, one can only take so much past-to-present transposition of what is more or less the same story.

The romance comes a bit fast, but not implausible, because after all, they were lovers once and know each other already. It was also interesting to see a certain principal rule of romance writing get broken with impunity.

This is altogether quite an enjoyable and funny romantic story, and it gets 3+stars.
--

Conclusion:
Unlike some anthologies I have read no one story holds up the whole thing here, although one only needs to look at the cover to see that Mary Balogh was the one chosen to catch the attention of potential readers, whereas it was Susan Krinard who came up with the idea and recruited the others. Making Balogh, who is arguably the best known of the authors in the book, the headliner, may not have been a good idea, as she isn’t known for writing in the paranormal genre, and her contribution, while the least derivative, in fact turned out to be the weakest of the four tales.

Be that as it may, this is overall a pretty good collection of short stories/novellas with themes borrowed from Jane Austen, and has helped me add three new authors to my list of authors whose books I think worth checking out (Balogh was already one of my favourite romance authors).

Review: Bespelling Jane Austen, part I

2011-11-01T09:00:00.000Z

I won this book in a giveaway last year (thanks, Janet!) and have finally got round to reading it. The premise of this anthology is for four modern authors to play with characters, themes and stories from Jane Austen novels. There are two historical stories and two modern ones, each taking inspiration from a different novel. I decided to review each story separately as I finished it and then give an opinion on the book as a whole. Since the review seems set to become somewhat long, I will divide it into two parts. The other part will be posted tomorrow.

Genre: Paranormal romance
Year of publication: 2010

Almost Persuaded by Mary Balogh

Sub-genre: Historical
Setting & time: England, Regency era
Level of sensuality: Kissing plus one very short (and very flowery) sex scene.

Mary Balogh has written some pretty good historical romances set in England during the Regency and Georgian eras. This, however, is her first venture into paranormal territory. The story she chose to play with was that of Persuasion (my favourite Austen novel), but she did not use the same characters (although some of them are clearly echoes of those of Austen’s book) and she merely alludes to Austen’s story and doesn’t follow its plotting.
What she has done is add reincarnation and Indian mysticism to the premise of Persuasion: lovers kept apart by other people’s intervention, and also by their own insecurities. Her lovers have never met before in this life, but feel a strong affinity and connection from the moment they first meet that turns out to have been caused by them having been star-crossed lovers through many reincarnations, and then it’s a matter of being strong and not letting themselves be separated once again.

The story is written in Balogh’s customary readable style, but it is slow and lacks the sparkle and liveliness of those of her novels that I have read, and frankly I found it a little dull. 2+ stars.

Northanger Castle by Colleen Gleason

Sub-genre: Historical
Setting & time: England, Regency era
Level of sensuality: Kissing.

Here we have an entertaining tale, a spin-off from the Gardella Vampire Chronicles, and if the writing and plotting in this short story is anything to go by, I think I might enjoy those. As the title indicates, it is based on Northanger Abbey, and as the story follows the original quite closely for the first two-thirds of the narrative, I don’t think I will give a summary of the plot. As for the last third, the twists are perhaps not entirely unexpected but clever enough for this to become more than just a clever pastiche of Austen’s original.

As in the original, the story concerns a young woman who loves to read Gothic novels and has an active imagination which leads her into some potentially sticky situations. As these not only concern social faux pas but an actual vampire, there is real danger involved. The characters are quite clearly based on Austen’s, but Caroline Merrill is not Catherine Morland under another name, but a heroine with more modern sensibilities and more courage. If Catherine is “in training for a heroine” as Austen put it, Caroline already is one, albeit quite inexperienced.

As for the hero, he is a bit of a surprise, so I’ll say as little as I can about him. He is underdeveloped as a character and the attraction between him and Caroline feels more like sexual attraction than one of love. They hardly know each other before they have confessed their love for one another and it all feels very sketchy.

However, it is fun to trace the original story, to see how Gleason tackles the task of making Austen’s characters her own and follows or deviates from the original plot, and easy to forgive her for the slight historical inaccuracies which would matter if this were straight Regency and not an alternative reality one. If only she had taken more time to develop the relationship between the hero and heroine than in trying to follow the plotting of the original, this might have been a more believable coming together.

I found this tale entertaining but not very romantic and am giving it 3 stars.

Memento Mori by Muriel Spark

2011-10-31T09:00:00.017Z

Originally published in May 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This is a novel about age, ageing, relationships and the ever present Death. The title, Memento Mori, means “a reminder of mortality” and refers to mysterious phone calls that the elderly people in the story keep getting, from someone who sounds different to each of them, but who always tells them the same thing: “Remember you must die”. The calls affect them in different ways - some ignore them, others accept the message, and at least one is driven to minor madness by it. The characters are all interconnected: friends, servants and former servants, their children and caregivers. Their relationships are complicated, full of memories of past illicit love affairs, and the present is fading health, dottiness, blackmail, and an ageing gerontologist who uses his friends as research material. As the calls escalate, so Spark burrows deeper into the lives and minds of her elderly protagonists, revealing their hopes and fears, and gently (and sometimes not so gently) satirising them. The humour is inky black, and some of her portraits of people, especially one of them (read the book to find out who), are very funny.

The story starts slowly, and for the first chapters it’s hard to see where it’s going (actually, you do know where it’s going all along, but you keep wondering who the mystery caller is and if he will do something more than just make spooky calls).

I liked Memento Mori better than the previous Spark novel I read, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It’s a more focused story and the characters are more distinct (I kept getting the girls in the other book mixed up - no danger of that with the characters in this book). Another reviewer complained that there are too many characters - I don’t agree. If the characters are well drawn and distinct like those in this story, it doesn’t matter how many of them there are.

Rating: A darkly humorous story about the ironies of life, death and old age. 4+ stars.

List love: Halloween reading

2011-10-30T09:00:00.023Z

Tomorrow it is Halloween, and so here is a list of books you might want to pick up and read (or start reading) on that special day.

I posted two Halloween lists last year, one of short stories and one of books. This year there will only be one list, of books and a couple of long short stories. I tried to list all different stories from last year, and this time decided to not only choose obvious stories but ones you perhaps wouldn't at first think of in connection with Halloween. Their subjects which suit the Halloween theme without necessarily being classifiable as actual horror stories. It is quite possible to get a chilly frisson of fear and/or revulsion without blood, guts and screaming demons.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. A non-fiction examination of what happens or can happen to our bodies after we die. It’s actually quite cheery and even funny in places, but the subject is one that makes a lot of people squeamish and since it is all about the afterlife it’s perfect for Halloween. Roach also wrote a book about the spiritual afterlife, titled Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, but I haven’t read it and so can’t say if I would recommend it or not.
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. Vampire mythology gets turned on its head when classic evil vampires clash with a trio of more-or-less good witches. Many of Pratchett’s books have dark elements and some are very dark indeed. This isn’t even the scariest of the Discworld books, but with its classic Halloween-related theme of vampires and Igors I chose to recommend this one.
Alternatively, if you want to read about evil werewolves, try The Fifth Elephant, also by Pratchett. It and Carpe Jugulum mark the point at which the Discworld series started getting darker.
"The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood. This is a very scary and atmospheric novella about two men who camp on an island in the middle of the Danube river and come across a mysterious and malevolent force that seems bent on destroying them. Need more convincing? H.P. Lovecraft thought it was finest supernatural tale in English literature.
It wouldn’t be at all bad if "The Wendigo", another fine supernatural tale by Blackwood, was included in the same book. It is about an encounter with the titular monster on a camping trip in Canada.
Any collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M.R. James.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. This is a pretty obvious choice. May be read as a simple weird science horror tale, or as a complicated moral tale of the fight between good and evil.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. With a serial killer as the hero, you know it’s going to be dark. The fact that Dexter is somewhat endearing makes it an even chillier read.
The Witches by Roald Dahl. This terrifying children’s tale of witches who hate kids can scare even adults.

Icelandic folk-tale: The little ghost

2011-10-28T19:00:00.001Z

Since its almost Halloween, I decided to post a ghost story. This is one of the most chilling and tragic ghost stories found in the Icelandic folk-tales, and almost everyone knows it.

The folk-group Islandica has recorded the ghost’s poem under a haunting melody, sung by a little girl, that chills me to the bone every time I hear it. I have incorporated it into the story.

I think I mentioned it in the introduction to last’year’s Halloween ghost story, but will repeat it anyway, that verses that were supposedly spoken by ghosts in Icelandic folk-tales usually have repeated words and/or lines in them, which are the mark of a ghost.

Once upon a time there was a young woman worker on a farm. She had gotten pregnant and given birth to a baby and to avoid punishment she had left it out to die of exposure. This was not uncommon in those days, as the law concerning babies born out of wedlock was very harsh. An unmarried woman who got pregnant risked heavy fines at best (if she had powerful relatives to protect her) and a death penalty at worst (if she had no protection) for her “crime”.

Some time after this took place there was to be a vikivaki dance in the neighbourhood, to which this girl was invited. She was only a poor farm worker and had no clothing suitable to wear to the dance, but since she liked fancy clothes and fripperies this made her unhappy because she would rather stay at home than go in her everyday clothes.

Shortly before the dance she was out in the sheep-fold milking the ewes with another woman and telling her companion that she needed something nice to wear to the dance. The words had hardly left her mouth when they heard the following sung under the wall of the sheep-fold:

The woman who had killed her baby knew the message to be directed at her, and knew it must be the ghost of the baby speaking. The shock was so great that she went permanently insane.

The Icelandic version of the verse goes like this (the sung version changes the order and repetition, but not the words):

"Móðir mín í kví, kví,

kvíddu ekki því, því;

ég skal ljá þér duluna mína

að dansa í

og dansa í."

In English:

“Mother mine in fold, fold,

Do not worry none, none

I will lend you my little rag

To dance in,

and dance in.”

List love: 10 recommended stories with cross-dressing characters

2011-10-25T09:00:00.000Z

This trope is almost as old as literature, what with Achilles, Hercules and Athena all cross-dressing in the Greek myths, Thor and Odin disguising themselves as women in the Norse myths, and Arjuna doing the same in the Mahabaratha.

In modern times it is most common in romance novels, especially historicals in which a heroine often spends part of the book disguised as a boy, the hero sometimes falling for her while thinking she is a boy. Occasionally a hero will cross-dress, using a female disguise to avoid recognition or to gain access to someplace where he would never be able to go as a man.

However, the trope isn’t just found in romances, as may be seen in the list below, in which I recommend stories with a variety of cross-dressing characters. Unfortunately I was only able to dredge up from the depths of my memory two book-length stories I had read in which men cross-dress, so this is mostly a list of women dressed as men.

Ghost Riders by Sharyn McCrumb. One of the interwoven stories in this novel is the more or less true story of Malinda Blalock, who disguised herself as a man in order to go with her husband into the army to fight in the American civil war.
The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer. About twins of the opposite sex who have for a long time masqueraded as the other sex and become very good at it. A bit far-fetched but good fun.
The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer, in which the young heroine is able to fool everyone but the hero into thinking she is a boy.
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer, in which the heroine spends a considerable part of the book disguised as a boy.
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. The cross-dressing plot in this comedy play verges on the ridiculous as people keep confusing Viola, the cross-dressing sister, with her undisguised twin brother, but Shakespeare’s brilliant plotting and way with words makes it work.
Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease. In this YA historical novel a girl who is running away from an arranged marriage disguises herself as a boy and in a girl-as boy-as girl twist ends up playing all the female leads for the troupe of actors amongst whom whom she has hidden. I can’t remember - as it has been a while since I read it - if she ever plays Viola, in which case she would be a cross-dressing cross-dresser.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, in which the heroine Portia disguises herself as a man in order to defend her lover Antonio in court.
The Two Towers, the middle book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, in which Éowyn, the brave female warrior, disguises herself as a man in order to be able to fight the enemies of her people. This is actually an easy disguise, as she simply has to keep down the visor of her helmet and no-one is any the wiser.
My Lady Notorious by Jo Beverley. While the heroine does briefly cross-dress - not very successfully as the hero immediately sees through the disguise - the hero has much better success when he dresses up as a woman and pretends to be her sister’s chaperone.
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett is a brilliant parody of this trope. In the beginning Polly Perks cuts her hair short and disguises herself as a boy in order to join the army so she can find her brother, but at the end there are so may cross-dressers and cross-dressing cross-dressers that you don’t know where to begin counting.

Honourable mentions:

The Triumph of Love by Pierre de Marivaux. Another play, in which a princess disguises her self as a man and infiltrates the home of her greatest enemy in order to right a wrong. Although in the movie version the male disguise is laughably easy to see through, it’s still good fun to watch.
Jingo by Terry Pratchett, in which corporal Nobbs cross-dresses as an unimaginably ugly woman, with very funny results.

Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer

2011-10-24T09:00:00.012Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

Warning: Minor SPOILERS

Kate Malvern is left alone in the world after the death of her father, and discovers she is too young and too pretty to get work as a governess. Her former nursemaid, Sarah, writes to Kate’s estranged aunt, telling her of Kate’s misfortunes, and the aunt soon arrives and sweeps Kate off to her mansion. It soon becomes clear that aunt Minerva has ulterior motives in bringing Kate to Staplewood, and Kate’s sense of uneasiness is increased by the erratic and often violent temper of her very handsome cousin, Torquil. When Torquil’s cousin Philip appears on the scene, Kate’s feelings are thrown into an oproar: she sees that he despises her, but she still feels attracted to him, and when his misconceptions about her are cleared up, he starts showing interest in her. But her aunt has other plans, Torquil’s behaviour keeps getting stranger and stranger, and it looks as if Kate and Philip may not be able to be together after all.

Up until I read this book, I had considered Georgette Heyer to be a skilful and diverting writer of funny historical novels with romances at the centre. This book, however, is not a comedy at all. There are no misadventures and silly secondary lovers, and romantic feelings crop up much sooner in this book than in the others I’ve read. It is, in fact, closer to being a typical romance than the other Heyer books I have read. But it is about much more than romance. It’s a psychological thriller, a gothic novel with the supernatural element removed (gothic lite perhaps?), with its theme of a (seemingly) helpless female, isolated and trapped in a big house with people who are not all what they seem, and its atmosphere of menace and danger. Torquil’s mental illness is handled skilfully and with compassion, and he is not made out to be a villain (as would have been very easy to do), merely a poor sufferer who can not help himself. It is his mother who is the villain of the story, and her “madness” or rather obsession, is of a completely different and altogether more subtle sort.

Rating: Very good romance with gothic touches. 4 stars.

Icelandic folk-tale: Borgarvirki

2011-10-21T19:00:00.019Z

Borgarvirki (literally "the fort on the rocky hill") is situated in Vatnsnes in northern Iceland, about 40 km off the Ring Road. It is an old fort built on the top of a steep, rocky hill, from where there is a good view in all directions. The hill is the remnant of a volcano, and the fort is inside the crater. It has natural rocky walls on two sides, with walls built of rock extending across two gaps in the crater wall, to the south and east.According to legend, there was a freshwater spring inside the fort in the days when it was in use.

It was misty when I took this, but visit it on a clear day and you can see for miles.

According to legend, back in the Saga age there was a chieftain named Víga-Barði (Bardi the killer), who had made a lot of enemies. He and his men were besieged inside the nearly impregnable fort for a long while and their food supplies started running low.

One day Barði asked how much food was left and was told that the only food left was one sausage (this was a kind of sausage either similar to haggis or blood sausage - the story doesn't say). Being a cunning man, he took the sausage and cut it in two and flung the two halves down into the throng of besiegers, who were just then discussing amongst themselves that Barði would soon be out of food.

They were startled to see the sausage come flying out of the fort, for they had expected the men inside to be driven to surrender soon out of hunger. The sausage, they thought, was a clear sign that there was plenty of food inside the fort, and as they had farms to attend to and families waiting for them at home, they struck camp and left.

These days the hill is easily accessible by road and a hiking path will take you up into the fort. It is well worth visiting, both for those interested in geology (the cliffs are composed of basalt columns) and for the view.

The road up to the fort. To imagine the size, the two tiny dots you see side by side on top of the hill are people.

At home with books by Estelle Ellis & Caroline Seebohm, photographs by Christopher Simon Sykes

2011-10-17T09:00:00.026Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

I sat down after work on Tuesday and can't say I looked up much until I had finished At home with books: how booklovers live with and care for their libraries. It's a gorgeous coffee-table book with oodles of pictures and chapters on various millionaires, aristocrats, collectors and designers and their libraries, interspersed with advice on how to care for and display books. The libraries range from small and cosy to huge and imposing, but all the owners are real bibliophiles who read their books and obviously love them. The only thing that was missing, in my opinion, were the libraries of some ordinary people. Cool coffee table book.

I was inspired by this book. My library only contains about 1200 volumes* at the moment, but I can foresee it getting a lot bigger - maybe even as big as my grandmother’s library which at its biggest contained at least 10 thousand volumes. This means that one day I will have to seriously think about getting fitted floor to ceiling bookshelves. When I do, I can definitely look to this book for ideas.

I was also inspired to make a reading nook for myself. At the moment, I either lie in bed when I read, or lounge in the living-room sofa, but what I really would love to have is a big, chunky upholstered chair and an adjustable reading stand, preferably attached to the chair.**

Rating: Big and gorgeous, perfect for the coffee table, but don’t be surprised if you guests actually start reading this fascinating book. 5 stars.

Note: I acquired my very own copy of this book a couple of years ago and I pick it up every now and then and open it at random to look at all that gorgeous book-shelf porn.

*The library has since swelled to about 2000 volumes.
** This is yet to happen, but I did buy a chunky, comfortable sofa that I read in.

What's in a Name challege wrap-up post

2011-10-16T09:00:00.000Z

Well, I did it. Although I had given up actively trying to finish the challenges I signed up for at the start of the year, I managed to finish this one, and didn't even realise it for a couple of months, so completely had I put it out of my mind.

The challenge was to finish 6 books with certain types of words in the title, given in the order I finished them:

Click on the links to see the reviews of the books I read for the challenge.

As might be expected, considering my interest in the genre, four of the books were mysteries. Two of those were hard-boiled/noir detective novels, one a cosy police procedural and one a mystery thriller. The others consisted of a romance novel and a memoir-travelogue.

Although I was wasn't actively trying to finish this challenge, I am glad I did. I might even participate in next year's What't in a Name.

Review: As I walked out one midsummer morning by Laurie Lee

2011-10-15T13:17:00.002Z

I decided it was time I finished at least one challenge. As you may remember, I decided to stop trying to finish the challenges I had signed up for (Gothic novels, mythology and What's in a Name), without actually quitting them. The plan was to stop actively looking for books that fit and just wait and see if something I read fit a particular challenge. Well, I didn't realise it at the time, but I actually finished my last What's in a Name challenge book 2 months ago. That's the one with travel or movement in the title, which this book fits perfectly. So here is the review:

Year of publication: 1969
No. in series: 2/3
Genre: Memoir, travel
Setting & time:England (London) and Spain, 1934-36

Laurie Lee set out on foot from his home in Slad, in 1934, and ended up in London, working as a labourer for a while, before taking a ship to Spain. Starting out in the northern port of Vigo, he walked across Spain, visiting various cities and towns and ending up in the town of Almuñécar. There he was able to observe first hand the political unrest that finally led to the Spanish civil war, in which he would later take an active part, described in the final part of his trilogy of memoirs, A Moment of War, which I have not read (yet).

Like the previous book in the trilogy, Cider with Rosie, this book is written in a style that at times feels like one is reading a prose poem. The humour is there as well, but also a feeling of emptiness, as if, although he never states it outright, he was looking for something but didn't know what. He details his adventures on the road in Spain: fighting off wolves in the mountains, befriending shepherds and vagabonds, often sleeping rough, once falling ill with sunstroke, but never seeming to have been in any danger, not even when living among very poor people or when taking sides in the political debates of the time.

Unlike Cider with Rosie, which was written as if it were meant to be a one-off, this book was clearly meant to be continued in the last book in the trilogy, and therefore feels unfinished, in that it has no resolution or firm ending, just a suggestion that Lee is finally setting off on a journey that will enable him to find what he is looking for. It is nevertheless a very good read, and I look forward to reading the final book, although I am in no hurry to obtain it. 4+ stars.

News: AmazonCrossing to publish books by 6 Icelandic authors

2011-10-13T13:57:00.003Z

It was announced yesterday at the Frankfurt Book Fair that AmazonCrossing, Amazon.com's publication imprint for translated foreign books, would be publishing 10 books by 6 Icelandic authors in 2012. This is good news for the authors, as it is very difficult for authors to break into the American market if they don't write in English. (only about 3% of all books published in the USA are translations).

Listed below are the 6 authors, and the 5 titles I could find:

Hallgrímur Helgason: The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning (in Icelandic: 10 ráð til að hætta að drepa fólk og byrja að vaska upp). Hallgrímur wrote 101 Reykjavik. This book is no less funny and sarcastic in tone and it is also a thriller.
Audur Ava Olafsdottir: The Greenhouse (in Icelandic: Afleggjarinn). No idea what this one is about.
Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson: The Flatey Enigma (in Icelandic: Flateyjargáta). A double mystery.
Vilborg Davidsdottir: Galdur (same title also in Icelandic). Historical novel.
Arni Thorarinsson: Season of the Witch (in Icelandic: Tími nornarinnar). Murder mystery.
Steinunn Sigurðardóttir - I couldn't find the title.

I have read 3 of these books, and have even reviewed one of them on the blog. I think maybe I'll reread the other two and post reviews on them as well, and I might possibly read Galdur and review that, as I have been considering reading some of Vilborg's historical novels.

TBR challenge progress and 10 reasons I haven’t read ‘that’ book:

2011-10-11T10:11:00.000Z

If you read this blog regularly you will know about my TBR challenge. (If you are a casual visitor: it's a challenge to reduce my out-of-control TBR Stack (it’s so big it deserves the capital letter) of books I own but haven’t read. I have now reached the updated 2011 goal of reducing it to 820 unread books, which is very good indeed, especially considering I started out with the goal of reducing it to 850 books. I am now going to raise the bar even further and set myself the goal to reduce the Stack by another 20 books so that by the end of the year I will “only” have 800 books in the TBR. As before, I plan to do this with a combination of culling and reading.

In order to make things go a little faster, I am going, whenever I buy books, to read at least one of them right away, followed by an older TBR book. This means that at least one new book from every batch bought never makes it into the Stack and every time I buy books the Stack gets reduced by one older book. I have tried it already and I think it’s going to work.
--

All this TBR blather has got me thinking about the reasons why people amass such collections of books they haven’t read, because it seems that most serious readers have at least some books they bought or acquired with good intentions but haven’t ever read. The reasons vary from reader to reader, but here are 10 of the most common reasons why I have so many books I haven’t read:

I bought a stack of books on sale and this was one of them. It seemed sort of interesting at the time, but first I gotta read this. And this. And this....
I felt I should read it because everyone seemed to be reading it and it got really good reviews and I bought it with good intentions, but now I’m having doubts.
I won it in a competition without really wanting it.
I read something by the author that I liked and glommed several of her/his books but lost interest or got bored with their formula before I could finish them all.
I only discovered after I bought it that it is part of a series or -ology in which the story stretches over several books and I have never got round to getting the other book(s) in the series so I can actually read it/them. (I abhor such series and try not to read them unless I know all the books are published and readily available).
I bought it for the cover alone and will never read it. I am interested in the artwork on old pulp novel and romance covers. Some of them belong to genres I am not really fond of, like crappy spy novels or rapey bodice rippers, but have artwork that I like. None of these books are on the actual TBR list (although they do appear on the list of all my books for insurance purposes), but they have a shelf to themselves and are on rotating display.
It’s huge and intimidating. I am not always in the mood to read a book that it takes me a month to finish, on top of which reading big books is physically difficult for me as suffer from myalgia, but once I get that e-reader just watch me...
I bought it on speculation because it was cheap and then forgot what I found interesting about it.
I read a couple of books from the series, loved them and bought the rest, only to hit a really bad book. Now I am waiting for that horrible memory to fade from my mind so I can continue reading.
I have so many books I don’t know where to begin. Help!

10 Reasons I have heard from others:

I bought a “three for two” offer and couldn’t find a third book I really wanted, so I picked this up.
I heard good things about the author but once I had acquired the book(s) I lost interest.
I bought a box of books at auction and it was in there. I feel I should read it to get my money’s worth, but...
It was recommended/given/lent to me by a good friend/lover/family member, but I am afraid I will not like it and then what will they think of me am when they ask and I tell them?
It’s a school book. I only read the pertinent chapters, but I’m keeping it because it might come in useful some day as a reference book. (From a guy who has never used his degree and is working in an unrelated field).
My ex left them and I haven’t got round to returning them to him. (This 2 years after said ex left AND the speaker had moved house once).
I inherited it and it has emotional value but I’m not interested in reading it.
Read them? Whatever for? I just got them because they look nice on the shelf. (She bought a collection of classics for the leather bindings alone).
I’m saving them for when I retire.
Read it? Are you crazy!? It’s collectible!! I must keep it in mint condition!!!

How about you, Dear Reader? What are your main reasons for not reading books you have acquired?

Morality for Beautiful Girls

2011-10-10T09:00:00.013Z

Originally published in June 2004, on my original 52 Books blog.

Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Year published: 2001
Genre: Detective story, literature
Where got: Public library

It’s easy to imagine you’re in Africa when you’re sweating away - the sun has been shining all day and the temperature inside my apartment is around 28 °C and feels hotter.

The story:
The detective agency is having financial difficulties and to save money Precious has moved the office to her fiancé’s office. Mr. Matekoni is not feeling well, but refuses to see a doctor, and Precious has to go away for a few days to find out if a client’s sister-in-law is really trying to poison her husband. Meanwhile, her assistant/secretary, Mma Makutsi, takes over both the agency and the garage and runs both with efficiency. While Precious is away, she is handed a case to solve, which relates to the book’s title.

Technique and plot:
As with the other two books, the prose is beautiful in its simplicity, even poetic at times, and flows easily. These books just keep getting better, and I have begun to feel that Precious and Mr. Matekoni are real people and that Smith has merely been writing down their story.

Rating:
A third, brilliant installation in the saga of Precious Ramotswe and her detective agency. 5 stars.

Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson

2011-10-05T09:00:00.034Z

Genre: Romance, contemporary, minor supernatural elements
Theme(s): Second chances, coming home, sports, raising teenagers, divorce, death
Year of publication: 2008
No. in series: 4
Setting & time: Small-town Texas; contemporary
Sex? Yes (fairly explicit)

Adele Harris is plagued with bad dates. One man after another she had dated for the last 3 years has turned out to be a creep or a jerk, and she is ready for a change - any change. This arrives in the form of her pregnant sister, whose husband has left her for his personal assistant. Together they return to their old home-town in Texas after an absence of 15 years, and Adele ends up looking after her 13 year-old niece while her sister is in the hospital with preeclampsia. Once there, she discovers that Zach Zeamaitis, the football player she had loved and briefly dated in college, is widowed and living there with his 13 year-old daughter. Neither thinks they have any particular interest in renewing the acquaintance, but neither can deny that there is still an attraction between them.
But Zach’s dead wife has a plan...

This is the fourth of Gibson’s loosely interconnected romances about a group of female writers in Idaho who find love, one after the other. I thought I had posted a review of the first one, Sex, Lies and Online Dating, which I read when it first came out in 2006, but apparently I didn’t. That book was a thriller, but this is a pure romance in the “second-chances” category.

Zach is a typical romance hero: handsome, sexy and rich and an ex-football player (“football as in American football), while Adele is a typical romance heroine who is smart and doesn’t see herself as beautiful, although the hero does. Despite being such typical romance heroine and hero, they are realistic people, and so are most of the supporting characters, with the exception of Devon, Zach’s dead bitchy wife, who is a mean-girl stereotype right out of every high-school underdog story ever written. She had bullied Adele all the way through their years together at school, and finally taken Zach away from her and unfortunately she never, not even at the end, rises above the stereotype.

The story realistically (for the most part) shows two people hooking up again after an initial heartbreak. Both of them have lives of their own, and both have been happy, if only briefly, with other people, but the old flame of their first romance has never died. Adele had been deeply in love with Zach and Zach had had some feelings for her that might or might not have been love, but even the most romantic reader can see that the girl and boy they were the first time around would not have lasted long together. They have grown into a man and a woman and had experiences that have matured and changed them into the people they are when they meet again, and it is those changes that both almost rip them apart and eventually bring them together in the end.

Adele and Zach were torn apart originally by Zach’s decency and insistence on doing the right thing when it turned out that Devon, with whom he had broken up shortly before getting together with Adele in college, was (deliberately) pregnant. With her dead and Adele and Zach both in the same place, things should run smooth, but Devon, who is stuck in Limbo pending the rectification of the wrongs she has done to others, has every intention of preventing the reunion from taking place even if it means losing her chance of getting into Heaven.

This supernatural aspect of the story feels unnecessary and strikes a false note in an otherwise straightforward romance. It would have been quite easy to keep Adele and Zach apart by non-supernatural means for long enough to create some tension in the narrative. Fortunately this aspect of the story is presented with a minimum of fuss and the Devon chapters are not long. Additionally, I must admit that they undeniably infuse some humour into the story. Anyone who has ever been bullied or wronged by a bitchy princess-type will immensely enjoy the descriptions of Devon’s stay in Limbo, even if they agree with me that it could easily have been left out of the story.

3,5 stars.

Reading report for September 2011

2011-10-04T09:00:00.010Z

You may have noticed that I have been going through a rather bad reviewing slump for the past three or four months, that has gone hand-in-hand with a reading slump. Not that I haven’t been reading, but I have been sticking to re-reads and favourite authors and rejecting one book after another that doesn’t fit into this category.

I think I have finally managed to break out of the reviewing slump - at least I actually find myself interested in reviewing again. I am also clearly in the middle of a turn-around genre-wise. Every few years throughout my reading life I have found myself focusing strongly on a particular genre. For about 6 years now this genre has been that of crime literature, but now I find myself focusing more on romances, adventure and non-fiction. I also find myself longing to re-read old childhood favourites I haven’t thought about in years, and I see no reason why I shouldn’t review them. These include some classic adventure and sea-faring tales, and I also have a couple of non-fiction adventure books I suddenly find myself interested in reading. This goes hand-in hand with my return to school. I am taking a couple of very interesting but demanding university courses in editing and terminology management, which you might think would mean I will have less time to look after my blogs, but as a matter of fact I find that going back to school stimulates my brain and gives me more energy, which in turn means I have more interest in blogging. So that’s a good thing. It’s only personal misfortunes and illness (and I count my periodic descents into depression as illness) that decrease my interest in blogging.

For those of you who mostly come here or originally discovered this blog because of the strong crime literature slant, I hope you will stay even if the content will start to go more in the direction of these other genres. There will always be a few reviews of crime novels - just will not as many - and I will continue to review Icelandic crime novels that are being translated into other languages.

This month’s finished books numbered seven, five of which were rereads. Additionally, I gave up on one brand-new book I was sent for reviewing a couple of months ago, which is a pity because it sounded really interesting and I was all set to enjoy it, but the writing style was not to my liking and so I gave up on it.

The first-time reads were:

Rachel Gibson : Not Another Bad Date . Contemporary romance. The review will post tomorrow.
Georgette Heyer : Sylvester, or The Bad Uncle . Historical romance.

The re-reads:

Georgette Heyer : Lady of Quality , The Corinthian and The Unknown Ajax
J.K. Rowling : Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Audio books, read by Stephen Fry.

Simply Irresistible by Kristine Grayson

2011-10-03T09:00:00.013Z

Originally published in June 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

Psychic Vivian Kineally is surprised to find three terrified women knocking on her door and claiming to be the Fates, on the run from a mysterious power that is trying to capture them. The Fates have given up their magical powers in order to fulfil some new job specifications, having been fired and told to reapply only when they can show that they have the skills to do their job in today’s multicultural society. In the meantime, they will be replaced by three Valley Girl types, daughters of Zeus. They send Vivian to find Dexter Grant, a mage who they think can help them. There is an instant attraction between Vivian and Dexter, who becomes determined to save her from whatever power it is that is now trying to get to her as well as the Fates. They seek help from two other mages, but ultimately, it’s up to Viv and Dexter to save themselves and the Fates from the enemy (who, by the way, is shown to the reader from the start).

When I picked this book up at the library last week and read the back cover, I thought to myself: “Hmmm. Magic, characters from Greek mythology, humour AND romance. Should be good.” Unfortunately it falls short of expectation. There are just too many things to complain about in connection with this book.

My first complaint is that there is no indication that this book is part of a series. In fact, I didn’t realize that until well into the book, when characters popped up from a previous two books, characters the author obviously expected the reader to be familiar with.

My second complaint is that this is not a complete novel. The romance and the threat to the Fates parts are completed, but the story of the Fates’ problems is obviously just beginning, making it altogether obvious that you are expected to buy who knows how many other books to see that storyline resolved. Again, there is nothing to indicate this until the book suddenly ends without resolving the storyline.

My third complaint is that the romance feels undercooked, like a meal served up in a hurry.

In addition to the main complaints, there are some other faults I would like to mention. There is a lot of potential for good jokes that is mostly wasted, although I did laugh at the names of the new Fates and their obvious teenage shallowness and inexperience, and at the Superman connection. The middle part with the other mages feels unnecessary, and reads more like a reminder of the books they originally appeared in. And the villain, a supervillainess no less, is, in the end, just too easily defeated, with the author resorting to a deus ex machina device to get rid of her.

Rating: Easily resistible. Resisting the sequel(s) will not be a problem, although I may pick up the prequels to satisfy my curiosity about the other mages. 2+ stars.

Icelandic folk-tale: Dead Man's Skull

2011-09-30T19:00:00.000Z

Cruentation was accepted as proof in murder cases in several European countries well into the 18th century. It was an accepted belief that the wounds of murdered people would start to bleed in the presence of the murderer, and here is an Icelandic variation on the theme:

Once upon a time a grave was being dug in the graveyard of an Icelandic country church. As will often happen in old graveyards when graves are being dug, some bones from an old burial came up with the soil, and among them was a skull. This particular skull had a knitting needle stuck right through it.

The minister took the skull into his keeping and the next time he said a mass the took it to church with him and when the congregation had all entered the church, he put it on a shelf above the church door. After the service, he and his helpers exited the church ahead of the congregation and observed the people as they left the church.

Nothing unusual happened, but when they checked to see if anyone was still inside, they found a very old woman covering behind the church door, and they had to force her to leave the church. As she walked through the doorway, three drops of blood fell from the skull and onto her head. She then said: “All dark deeds must come to light in the end.”

She then confessed to having murdered her first husband by thrusting the needle through his head. She had been very young when they were married and had been forced into the marriage against her will. She had prepared the body for burial herself, and no-on else had examined it. Later she had married another man, but he was now dead.

Her punishment for this deed was death by drowning, as was the custom in those days for women who had killed their children.

Do you recognise the place?

2011-09-27T09:00:00.001Z

I am reading a book about it right now, and hope to post a review before long.

I took the photo the weekend before last, on a trip to London?

Taken at the Natural History Museum in London.

Because of the neo-Gothic architecture I thought black-and-white suited the subject better, although it did look pretty good in colour as well, because of the colours of the stone.

Reading report for August 2011

2011-09-25T09:00:00.001Z

I suddenly realised I hadn't posted a reading report for August, so here it is:
The reading slump continues, although things are slightly better this month than they were in July. I re-read 5 books and reduced the TBR stack by 4 books, and read the last page of one of the online comics/graphic novels I was reading online. 2 of the re-reads were audio books and it was the first time I have listened to them. I an becoming ever more enamoured of audio books – with my myalgia long reading sessions have been getting ever more difficult and painful, and being able to just listen while I do other things, like cook or tidy up around me, is very nice.

The first-time reads were:

Catherine Aird : The Religious Body . Murder mystery, police procedural.
Warren Ellis (writer) & Paul Duffield (artist) : Freak Angels . Graphic novel, steampunk.
Nick Hornby : The Complete Polysyllabic Spree: The diary of an occasionally exasperated but ever hopeful reader . Columns, reading.
Laurie Lee : As I Walked out one Midsummer Morning . Memoir.
Norman Lewis : Voyage by Dhow . Collected articles, travel.

And the re-reads:
G.K. Chesterton : The Secret of Father Brown . Short stories, mysteries.
Georgette Heyer : Devil's Cub . Historical romance.
Terry Pratchett : The Truth . Fantasy.
J.K. Rowling : Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . YA fantasy. Read by Stephen Fry.

Icelandic folk-tale: The Whale of Whale Lake

2011-09-23T19:00:00.000Z

Geirfuglasker (Great Auk rock) is a small island off the coast of Reykjanes in southern Iceland, that was one of the last refuges of the great auks before they were hunted to extinction.

Hvalvatn is a lake in western Iceland, situated in the highlands above Glymur, the country’s tallest waterfall.

Power poets (kraftaskáld) were people who could do magic with their versification, and were thought very highly of.

Once upon a time some men sailed out to Geirfuglasker, presumably to hunt great auks. Due to high breaking waves they had to leave one man, whose name was Gísli, behind in the island when they left for home, and it was believed that he must have been swept off the island and drowned.

A year later another expedition went out to the island and found Gísli there alive and in good health. They brought him back to the mainland, but although he was asked about his stay in the island, he would not talk about it much. However, someone was able to get out of him that he had been staying with two women, and that the younger of them was expecting his child.

A short time later he attended a church service in Hvalsnes, with many others. When the service was beginning a woman came into the church and put down a cradle with a baby in it, covered by a red cloth. She then walked out of the church.

After the service the minister asked everyone in the church if anyone was familiar with the baby or of anyone was willing to have it christened, but no one came forward. The minister then turned to Gísli and asked him straight out if even he did not know the baby and if he wanted to have it christened. He denied this adamantly.

At that moment the woman came back into the church, looking very angry. She told Gísli severely off, saying that he owed her his life, had been with her for a year and had this baby with her and was the worst kind of scoundrel for pretending not to recognise the baby and for refusing to have it christened. As punishment for his caddish behaviour she laid on him a curse, saying that he should become the worst sea-monster in Faxa Bay.

The minister wanted to speak to the woman, but she grabbed the cradle and left with the baby and no-one could stop her. She was never seen again in those parts, but the red cloth from the top of the cradle got left behind and was thereafter used as an altar-cloth in the church.

Gísli became disturbed and ran straight into the sea, where he turned into an evil whale-monster and attacked boats in Faxa Bay, causing a great deal of damage and distress. Finally the people there asked a power poet to draw the whale up on dry land with some power verses. He did this and drew the whale up the river at the bottom of Hvalfjörður (Whalefjord), up the waterfall Glymur and up into Whale Lake (Hvalvatn). There he is still but is only seen as an omen of hard winters or great events.

The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson

2011-09-19T09:00:00.009Z

Originally published in May 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This is the third in a series of mysteries that combine cooking and crime, as amateur sleuth and professional caterer Goldy Bear serves up one delicious dish after another while sleuthing on the side. In this installation, Goldy has been hired to cater a series of events at an expensive prep school. The peace is disrupted by two murders (a third appears to be connected), and someone starts harassing her and her son. Through it all Goldy serves up one delectable dish after another (recipes included) and observes the graduating students and their parents battling it out over who deserves to go to which exclusive university. It’s a matter of touch and go whether Goldy will manage to solve the mystery in time to prevent a fourth murder.

As in most amateur sleuthing series, the murders and the murderer’s methods are highly unlikely - especially how it is Goldy who finds two out of three bodies - but the characters are rounded and the surroundings realistic for the most part. The descriptions of the cold and snowy weather, for example, are positively chilling. There is a touch of realism in this book that I have not seen in many others of its kind, in that Goldy actually feels wretched after finding the bodies, has difficulty sleeping and is offered therapy by the police at the end of the story. Her relationships with her son, her lodger/assistant and her lover, are realistic - things are not always sunny, but neither are they always bad.

The title, in my opinion, stinks. It’s a good example of a bad title: cutesy, punny (to say nothing of cheesy) and not much connected with the story. If the rather clumsy homophonic pun is ignored, it doesn’t even make sense. Which cereals were murdered? Was cereal involved in the murders somehow? (it was not). Someone, I hope not the author, deserves to be flogged with a wet noodle for inventing such a lame title. Some of the other titles in the series are just as offensive, while others actually manage to be quite clever.

Rating: A nice, slow murder mystery to cool you down on a hot summer’s day. Don’t let the cheesy title deter you from reading it. 3+ stars.

List love: 10 animal books I enjoyed, part 2: Anthropomorphised animals

2011-09-13T09:55:00.000Z

I am not participating in the Top Ten Tuesdays meme this week, so here is a list of my own making:

Last week I posted a list of books about animals being animals. Now it’s time for animals being more or less human.
We have a strong tendency to ascribe human emotions, rationality and morals to animals, sometimes to the point where they really come across as little more than humans in animal suits. Often these are moral tales or fables, although occasionally an author is able to avoid that and simply write an entertaining tale. This list contains some of both.

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Although each chapter is in itself a moral tale, it never gets preachy or sentimental and it is at heart not a moral tale but a tale of friendship.
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. As a child I was enchanted by the tale of the The Cat That Walked by Himself, and later enjoyed reading the rest of these whimsical children’s tales.
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. Another Kipling book, this one for older children and adults.
Animal Farm by George Orwell. Possibly the greatest and most stinging animal tale ever tol, and it isn't really about animals at all.
Aesop’s Tales by Aesop. They are fables, but (at least in the edition I have) are not preachy but attempt to teach by example.
Watership Down by Richard Adams. A tale in which that unlikely animal, the common rabbit, gets the literary treatment with enjoyable results.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Written as a condemnation of the ill-treatment of horses, this is an often harrowing story about the life of a horse, told by the horse himself in his old age.
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. Made intelligent and able to speak by magic, Maurice the con-cat and his rat companions travel around re-enacting the Pied Piper rat plague and making money off it, until one day they enter a town where they can’t play that game and have to fight to survive.
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.Whimsical, fun and just a little bit creepy, he shows kids that it's all right to have some messy fun if you only clean up after yourself when you're done.
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, specifically the edition illustrated by Edward Gorey. Whimsical and enjoyable verses about cats, some of whom are anthropomorphised and other who are not. I enjoyed the musical, but I love the book.

See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson

2011-09-12T09:00:00.017Z

Originally published in May 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

I read this funny romance over the weekend. When journalist Jane Alcott is asked to cover the ice hockey beat while the regular reporter is on sick leave, she jumps at the chance. Not only is it a better paying job than writing her monthly “sex and the city” type column, but it is a step up the journalism ladder for her. She is expected to cover all the Seattle Chinooks’ games, and it quickly becomes clear that her presence on the team plane and in the locker-room is not wanted. She meets with hazing that might discourage a less determined woman, and open hostility from sexy goalie Luc “Lucky” Martineau, whom Jane secretly fancies. After an incident where she is first fired for bringing the team bad luck, and then rehired for bringing them good luck (by barging into the locker room and giving them a goodbye speech) a ritual develops between Jane and the team that gets funnier and funnier as the story progresses. The incident also serves to show Luc that she is a real person with feelings and a strong character, and he becomes attracted to her in spite of her being nothing like his usual bimboesque "girlfriends". But love’s journey doesn’t run entirely smooth, and Jane’s moonlighting job just might put a boulder in their path.

With plenty of funny verbal sparring, interesting details about ice hockey, and believable characters, this is a good book to spend an afternoon with. 3+ stars.

Here’s a more detailed review from All About Romance (with slight SPOILERS).

Friday night folktale: Idle hands doing the Devil's work

2011-09-09T19:00:00.011Z

Here is a moral tale that applies to all work, not just farming:

A young and inexperienced farmer was out in the hayfield, cutting the grass with his scythe. The weather was hot and the farmer liked to take it easy, and was in fact very lazy by nature.

Suddenly a man came walking up to him and said to him: “Rest awhile, resting is good.” He then left.

No-one knows what the man looked like or how the farmer liked the look of him, but he took the advice he had been given and took it easy for the rest of the summer, with the result that when autumn came around he only had one haystack with which to feed his sheep and cows over the winter.

Then and only then he realised that he had not acted very sensibly during the summer and blamed everything on the stranger.

One day the stranger came back and grinningly said to him: “Lazy man, little crop,” and then disappeared.

This was really no consolation to the lazy farmer, who had become convinced that he had taken advice from none other than the Devil.

Wednesday night video: How books are made

2011-09-07T19:00:00.000Z

A video that shows how machine-bounds books are put together:

List love: 10 animal books I enjoyed, part 1: Animals being animals

2011-09-06T09:02:00.000Z

I’m not participating in Top Ten Tuesdays this week, so here instead is a little List Love:

Animals appeal to a lot of people for different reasons. They bring out in us both the hunting instinct and the mothering instinct, and to some of us they are the best friends we have ever had or the thing we are most afraid of. We have a strong tendency to anthropomorphise them by ascribing to them human emotions, abilities and personalities.

I have read my share of animal books and I have come up with some lists based on my reading. The one below covers books I have liked that are about animals or feature animals in pivotal roles as themselves without attempts to anthropomorphise them. Some time or other I will post the others.

Encounters with Animals by Gerald Durrell. Essays. Animals: Various. As much as I would have liked to put My family and other Animals on this list, it simply is not enough of an animal book to count here. I could actually have named several other Durrell titles, but this one is almost entirely about specific animal characters and not about one of his expeditions with animal characterisations thrown in.
The Cat Who Covered The World: The Adventures of Henrietta and Her Foreign Correspondent by Christopher S. Wren. Memoir. Animal: Domestic cat. The Wren family took their pet, Henrietta, with them to postings all over the world, including Paris, Moscow, Cairo and Beijing. That she managed to reach the age of 18 after being an outdoor cat in all of these places (even living as a stray in Cairo for several weeks) is testament to the resilience of cats.
Rosie is My Relative by Gerald Durrell. Novel. Animal: Elephant. Durrell claims that this is a “nearly true story” which he has merely embroidered, but whatever the truth of that statement might be, it is highly entertaining. About a young man who inherits a circus elephant and sets out to find her a new home.
Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era by Sterling North. Memoir. Animal: Raccoon. I loved this book as a kid and am therefore putting it here even though I remember almost nothing about it except some snippets about the eponymous raccoon.
My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead, and Green Grass of Wyoming by Mary O’Hara. Trilogy of novels. Animals: Horses. A coming-of-age story about a boy on a farm in Wyoming and his horses.
All Creatures Great and Small and its sequels, by James Herriott. Novelised memoirs. Animals: Various pets and farm animals. Describing the life of a vet in the Yorkshire Dales, these books are based on the author’s life as a vet in Thirsk (named “Darrowby” in the books).
The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson. Popular science. Animals: Lobsters.I couldn’t resist putting one science book on this list. He manages to make these crustaceans as endearing as cats or dogs, which is quite feat considering they’re primarily seen as food.
Born Free: A lioness of two worlds by Joy Adamson. Memoir. Animal: Lion. Another book I dearly loved as a child. About the a pet lion and her eventual release into the wild.
Travels on my Elephant by Mark Shand. Travelogue. Animal: Elephant. Shand bought an elephant in India and travelled around on her back in southern and central India.
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. History. Animal: Race horse. Seabiscuit isn’t just about Seabiscuit the race horse. It is also a portrait of three men – his owner, his trainer and his jockey - and the era they lived in, with the horse tying everything together.

Honourable mention:
Jaws by Peter Benchley. Novel - thriller. Animal: Great white shark. The shark is off-stage for most of the book, but when it does make an appearance - wow! Even when off-stage it permeates the book from beginning to end.

Why Marley and Me by John Grogan isn’t on the list: Because of all the maudlin “beloved pet as a teacher of life lessons” twaddle in the final chapters. I greatly enjoyed the book right up to that point but can’t really recommend it on this score.

An animal book I’d like to read:
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter.

Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis

2011-09-05T09:00:00.015Z

Originally published in May 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This book had been sitting in my TBR pile for nearly a year, so it was about time I read it.

I love these old pulp covers!

In short, the book tells of the escapades of the narrator’s aunt Mame, his legal guardian. Mame is offbeat, outrageously fashionable, adventurous, and a sucker for a sad story. She is the kind of woman who throws herself wholeheartedly into all she does, including her relationships with men. She becomes a southern belle for the millionaire from Georgia whom she marries, Irish for the Irishman whom she falls for, and so on. She seems unable to recognise when she is being played for a sucker until the facts stare her right in the face, but when realisation dawns, she is quick to act and can extricate herself from all sorts of situations. She also has a knack for getting her nephew involved in her adventures.

The book is told like a biography in the form of snapshots, seen from the point of view of the nephew, who draws a portrait of a woman who is totally unprepared for the responsibility of rearing a young boy, but who rallies magnificently and manages to retain her free and easy lifestyle while still being a loving, if a trifle eccentric, parent to her orphaned nephew.

This is a funny book. It’s charming and was probably a bit risqué when it was first published, with its allusions to sex, single motherhood, its unconventional heroine and her hedonistic lifestyle. It’s easy to see why it was made into a movie, because it has a very charming heroine, who, in spite of her unconventionality, has a heart of gold, an opportunity for dozens of costume changes, and is allowed to be sexy without being bad - a perfect role for the right actress (I haven’t seen the movie, but I plan to). The comedy is by turns satire and slapstick, and through it all, Mame never loses her dignity (except for a brief dunking in a river, but even that turns into a victory).

The book is well written, and the author has a good eye for comedy, although he does go a bit over the top in the chapter with the British war orphans, but then he did need a good climax to top everything that happened earlier in the book.

Funny and irreverent, satiric and slapsticky, this books gets 4 stars from me, and a permanent home in my library.

Note: I still haven't seen the movie. I can get a copy of the musical with Lucille Ball, which is by all accounts dreadful, but not one of the Rosalind Russell movie, which is supposed to be quite good.

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer

2011-08-29T09:00:00.010Z

Originally published in May 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This is a delightful Regency romance from the mother of the genre, Georgette Heyer. It should perhaps rather be classified as a historical novel with a romantic twist, because, like in all the Heyer novels I have read so far, the romantic element doesn’t come in until about 3/4 of the way into the story and takes second place to adventure. All the way through it is a delightful romp with a plot that would not feel out of place in a Shakespearian comedy.

Sir Richard Wyndham, dandy and sportsman supreme, is about to give in to family pressure and marry a young woman who only wants him because he’s rich and can get her family out of financial trouble. As he walks from his club one night, slightly the worse for drink (as they would have put it back in those days), he sees a young woman, dressed as a boy, struggling to climb out a window. She turns out to be the Honourable Miss Penelope Creed, an heiress who is attempting to escape the house of her aunt, who is trying to force Penelope into marriage with her odious son. Richard decides to help her escape, and accompanies her to the country where she has another aunt whose son she intends to marry. To avoid detection, they travel by stagecoach, Penelope still dressed as a boy, and pretending Richard is her tutor. What awaits them is adventure in the form of stolen diamonds, low characters, murder, and a pair of lovers in desperate need of help.

A great combination of adventure, romance and historical detail. 4 stars.

2011-08-24T21:00:00.001Z

If you remember the B&N video from a few weeks ago about the mystery-obsessed couple, here is another one, this one about a woman who loves a good romance novel. Without further ado, here is the Disclaimer: Although this video is a Barnes & Noble production, I would like to state that I am in no way affiliated with them. And now the video:

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

2011-08-22T09:00:00.013Z

Originally published in May 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

This is the first of Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, written during the Golden Era of crime fiction, an era that produced many authors who are still in print and considered to be classics. They include Sayers, Agatha Christie, S.S. Van Dine, Ellery Queen and John Dickson Carr, to name a few of the biggest.

The story tells of how Lord Peter Wimsey gets involved in two criminal cases. The first is the mysterious appearance of a naked corpse in the bathtub of a respectable architect, and the second the disappearance of a rich businessman who had a strong resemblance to the dead man. Aided by his valet, Bunter, and his detective friend, Parker, Wimsey uncovers a clever and diabolical revenge scheme and a very ingenious method of corpse disposal, with a few red herrings thrown in to confuse both Wimsey and the reader.

Wimsey has, when the story begins, solved at least one case of theft, and other criminal investigations of his are alluded to, and characters are spoken of as if the reader were expected to know them. Either it is a trick of Sayers’ to make the reader feel at home with the characters right away and make away with long “get to know them” passages, or the novel is the continuation of short stories about Wimsey. Either way, it does not feel like the first thing she ever wrote about him, and the aura of familiarity makes one feel as if the book has been plucked from the middle of a series, but without the reader having really missed anything.

I liked this book much better than the previous Wimsey mystery I read, Five Red Herrings. That particular story was much too involved and mathematical for my taste, but this one is quite different, and I’m glad I didn’t let my dislike of the other book prevent me from reading this one. 4 stars.

Friday night folk-tale: The Disappearing Passenger

2011-08-19T19:00:00.000Z

The Disappearing Passenger is a famous story belonging to the type of folkloric tales that are called urban legends. It has been localised in many countries, and Iceland is no exception. The area where this version is supposed to have taken place was a very lonely and rather desolate place before they put down electrical lighting along the road, and was thought to be haunted long before the motor-car was invented, so it was perfectly natural that sooner or later a ghost story would pop up in connection with cars.

This isn't a translation, but the story as it was told to me.

It was during the Second World War and a lorry driver was driving from Keflavík home to Reykjavík after dark. There was a blackout, so no lights could be seen anywhere except the car lights, and those only lit the road for a couple of meters right in front of the car, because of black-out precautions. The road in those days was all gravel and the going was slow. On a lonely stretch of the road the driver began to feel uneasy, and when he glanced towards the passenger seat he was startled to see that he wasn't alone in the car. He knew he had been alone when he started off and since he hadn't stopped anywhere since starting out he found this very peculiar.

The passenger was dressed in a dark jacket with a deep hood that was pulled up so that the driver could not see his face. The driver was somewhat spooked by this, but since the passenger wasn't making any threatening gestures but just sat there, he decided that he must be harmless. He even tried to engage the passenger in conversation, since it was a lonely drive, but he got no answer and soon gave up. After a while the feeling of uneasiness disappeared, and when he looked at the passenger seat, the passenger was gone.

When he got home to Reykjavík and told the story, he was told that he wasn't the first to pick up this mysterious passenger, but it only happened if the driver was lone in the car. After that, the driver refused to drive this route alone after dark, and he never saw the mystery passenger again.

Copyright notice: The wording used to tell this folk-tale is under copyright. The story itself is not copyrighted. If you want to re-tell it, for a collection of folk-tales, incorporate it into fiction, use it in a school essay or any kind of publication, please tell it in your own words or give the proper attribution if you choose to use the wording unchanged.

Wednesday night video: Superlibrarian kicks ass

2011-08-17T21:00:00.000Z

Enjoy!

List love and Top Ten Tuesdays meme: 10 bookish pet peeves, fantasy, horror and urban fantasy snark edition

2011-08-16T09:36:00.001Z

It’s freebie week at The Broke and the Bookish, which means we can post and link a list of anything book-related, so I decided to use this List Love list I had prepared and enter it in the meme. Please click on the link above to visit the hosting blog and check out what the other participants have posted.

I have read a fair bit of fantasy and horror literature over the years and some science fiction, and am now making inroads into urban fantasy. While I have been mostly lucky in my choices of reading material in those genres, I have come across some duds and a few really terrible books and short stories, and I have also come across tropes and clichés that I have disliked in stories that I have otherwise enjoyed. So here, without further ado, is a list of 10 things that irk me about fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction:

Over-complicated world-building, including when there is a map and the story takes place in 1/20th of the area shown and nothing of the rest is mentioned in the story. Authors: It’s better to unfold it bit by bit, sequel by sequel.
Over-simplistic world-building. If we don’t see any merchants selling, traders trading, tax men taxing, farmers farming and night-soil men going about their business we are going to wonder how your world functions. It makes enquiring minds wonder what is the economic basis of this community? How does it interact with other communities? Doesn't anyone ever take a dump around here? And why, oh why, is the weather tied into the emotional state of the protagonist?
Unnecessary weird words and strange names. If you have to use strange names, at least make them pronounceable and don’t sprinkle them with diacritical marks and strangely placed consonants. As for weird words, only use them for things that don’t already have a name in your language. Calling what is basically a sword a knizl is just overdoing it, even if the thing looks like no sword known in this reality. If it serves the purpose of a sword, it is a sword.
Inconsistencies in made-up languages. Authors, some of your readers have actually studied linguistics.
When you ~~plag..~~ borrow from famous authors, can you at least be subtle about it?
Every fantasy story does not have to be part of a trilogy or a series. How about a standalone for a change? This extends to publishers who don’t put a single hint on the cover of a book from a trilogy or whatever-logy that it’s only part of a longer story and not a standalone.
Cardboard-cut-out villains who are just evil with no explanation and have no character. A good villain has a personality, at least a minimal back-story and isn’t totally evil. Cold, dead eyes, fangs and bat wings are not enough. Neither are scars, greasy hair and a cackle.
Human/non-human sex. And living/dead sex. Gives me the creeps.
Science fantasy that suddenly turns it into sci-fi. When my favourite fantasy turned into sci-fantasy it didn't faze me, but when it suddenly became more or less pure sci-fi I decided enough was enough and stopped buying them.
Horror stories that leave nothing to the imagination. You don’t have to be graphic to be effective, in fact some of the best horror stories leave it to the reader’s imagination to fill in the (deliberate) blanks.

Bonus peeve: Covers - I could actually write another list of 10 based just on them, but I’ll let two examples stand for the rest:

Old-school covers with half-naked females with breasts that in real life would make them fall over if they stood up, and men with pecs bigger than the women’s breasts.
The modern urban fantasy female back-to-the-reader pose with tramp stamp. For some reason it irks me greatly.

Used & Rare and Slightly Chipped by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

2011-08-15T09:00:00.016Z

Originally published in April 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

I read these two books by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone one after the other. The first, Used and Rare: Travels in the book world, is about why and how they started accumulating a library of used books, how they gradually began to understand the language of book collecting and recognise the value of books, and how their collecting escalated until they were buying expensive first editions, and how they finally came to their senses and decided it was more important to get good reading copies of many favourite books than to spend thousands of dollars on a few first editions.
This is a charming book about the development of a hobby that the authors show can be both affordable and enjoyable, even for people of modest income, as long as they don’t get carried away with first edition fever.

The second book, Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in booklore, which on the dust jacket is somewhat pretentiously called a “companion piece” to the previous book (it is fact an ordinary sequel), is about their continuing interest in books, friendships made through book-collecting, and adventures, such as when they attended the Edgars (mystery book awards) and the auction of the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. This book is padded with pages upon pages of information about authors and book trivia, and one gets the impression that it was written in haste. Some of the charm of the previous book is still there, but this book is not as solid a piece of work.

Note:
Call me grumpy, but I thought books had to be proofread before going into printing. I have never in my book-reading life come across as many typing and spelling errors in any book as I have in those two, errors that any decent computer proofing tool would have found. It is all the worse in book one because it is not a first edition and someone should have corrected the spelling errors before it went into paperback.
The second book has rather fewer proofing errors, but the ones that there are, are much worse, terrible typing errors that have gone unnoticed at the proofing stage. Of course, should this book ever become collectible, this will probably make the first printing of the first edition more valuable, but that is no consolation to the poor reader who has to put up with the errors. For this reason I am withholding one star from each book, and giving Used and Rare 3 stars and Slightly Chipped 2 stars.

Friday Night Folk-tale: Strandarkirkja

2011-08-12T19:00:00.001Z

Strandarkirkja is located on the south coast of Iceland and is one of Iceland‘s oldest churches. The current building dates back to 1888, but there has been a church in this location since at least the 13th century.

The following tale is told of the origins of the church:

A young man, the son of a farmer, was sailing from Norway with a load of wood for building houses. As his ship neared the southern coast of Iceland, a great storm broke out with thick fog and darkness and the crew were convinced that the ship was going to founder upon the shore and break apart. There are few natural harbours in this particular area of the southern coast and there was no way of finding any shelter from the storm.

The crew knelt in prayer and pledged to build a church if they were able to land safely, in the location of landing. As soon as the words of the pledge were uttered, a bright light blazed up on the shore. They followed the light and suddenly the storm died down and all was still. As they approached land, they saw that the light emanated from a shining figure on the shore, but it disappeared when they landed.

Looking back in the dawn light, they saw that the light had guided them through a narrow trough of calm sea that cut through a great wall of breaking surf. Since that occurrence, the inlet where they landed has been known as Englisvík or Angel Inlet. As pledged, they built a church up on the shore above their landing place, where a church as stood ever since.

Ever since that first miracle, people who are struggling against the odds, in danger or trouble, have made pledges to the church. Usually these pledges come in the form of money, but people have also given furnishings to the church, and there are many stories of wishes being miraculously fulfilled.

Some say that as a result of this, it is the richest church in Iceland.

A look back in time

2011-08-11T09:00:00.037Z

I posted the message below on this date 7 years ago on the original blog:

Heatwave and perennial books, top 5

Posted at 9:39 am.

The weather outside is Mediterranean today: blazing sun, still and sticky atmosphere (wouldn’t be surprised if there is a thunderstorm later today) and a heat haze is obscuring the mountains. Good day for sitting on the balcony, reading a book and getting sunburned. A record temperature was registered for Reykjavík this morning and it looks set to be broken in the afternoon.

Apparently tourists have been complaining about the heat. I can imagine the complaints: “We didn’t come here to get sunburned - where’s all the snow?”

And now back to business as usual:

There are several favourite books that I read again and again, and the re-reading of some of them has become an annual or biennial event for me. These perennials vary widely in subject, ranging from biography, to fantasy, travel and children’s books. One thing they all have in common is a certain kind of magic that ensures I never tire of them and they are always fresh.

My top 5 perennial books (that I read at least once a year):

1. My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell

2. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

3. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

4. The Bafut Beagles - Gerald Durrell

5. Momo - Michael Ende

And now, August 11, 2011?

The weather is sunny and warm, with a mild breeze playing in the leaves of the trees. It looks like a wonderful day to be out doing something fun, but I am in bed, sweating out a bad cold and generally feeling sorry for myself.

The list of my top perennial books still contains My Family and Other Animals, Good Omens and The Hobbit, but my rereading pattern has changed, and I no longer read them or any of my perennials annually. Instead, I plan my rereading, often in series, or I grab them when I don't feel like reading anything new and I feel like I need the comfort of familiar words and sentences. Momo and The Bafut Beagles have been replaced by other books: Anyone but You by Jennifer Crusie and These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer.

Wednesday night video: It takes a really good book to do this

2011-08-10T21:00:00.000Z

Reykjavík becomes a UNESCO City of Literature

2011-08-10T10:27:00.000Z

Reykjavík has joined the ranks of UNESCO's Cities of Literature, the first city in a non-English-speaking country to do so.

Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

2011-08-08T09:00:00.012Z

Originally published in April 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

I just finished reading this collection of short stories and poetry by Neil Gaiman. Previously, I had read Stardust, Neverwhere, American Gods, Good Omens (collaboration with Terry Pratchett) and the Sandman comics and enjoyed all of them, as well as his illustrated children’s books, Coraline and The Wolves in the Walls.

(I don't have the book with me, so there may be some errors in the story titles below.)

The stories and poems in this collection are mostly fantasy, and in fact there are stories for lovers of just about any subgenre of fantasy. You will find humorous stories (Chivalry, Bay Wolf, Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar), dark stories (Only the end of the world again, The White Road), supernatural stories (The wedding present, The daughter of owls, Black cat), weird stories (Eaten alive, The facts in the disappearance of Miss Finch), folkloric stories (Troll bridge, The white road, Snow, glass, apples), detective stories (Murder mysteries, Bay Wolf), horror stories (Snow, glass, apples, Eaten alive), vampire stories, werewolf stories. Gaiman plays with themes familiar from his novels and graphic novels: myths, legends and folktales, literature (Beowulf, HP Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde), popular culture, sex, blood, and death.

The stories and poems vary, but the overall quality is quite good. 3+ stars.

Reading report for July 2011

2011-08-06T09:00:00.003Z

The number of my read books is staying low at 8 books finished in July. Three were rereads, but the remaining 5 were all TBR books, so I am getting somewhere with that challenge.

I found one keeper among the TBR books: Bellwether, which went into the rereads shelf alongside To Say Nothing of the Dog. The Paris literary companion is also going in my keeper collection for now, as there are a few passages in it that I want to keep, but for the most part it was disappointing, with its too-strong focus on literary classics and the past. All three murder mysteries were good reads, all in different ways. I may post mini-reviews of them next week.

The TBR books:

Catherine Aird : A Late Phoenix. Murder mystery.
Ian Littlewood ( chose the passages and wrote the introductions): Paris: A Literary Companion. Literary passages describing different aspects of Paris.
Julie Smith : Dead in the Water. Murder mystery.
Janwillem van de Wetering : The Corpse on the Dike. Murder mystery.
Connie Willis : Bellwether.Romantic science fiction.

The Rereads:

G.K. Chesterton : The Incredulity of Father Brown. Short mysteries.
Jennifer Crusie : Anyone But You. Romance.
Connie Willis : To Say Nothing of the Dog . Romantic science fiction, time travel.

Finally, it is with some sadness and much relief that I hereby announce the death of the Top Mysteries Challenge. Like several other challenges I have devised for myself through the years it turned out to be simply too ambitious and I realised that in order to read the few really good books I had found on the list, I had also read some others that didn't give me much pleasure. Looking over the books I had already read, I couldn‘t see that I had given these books, on average, any higher ratings than the same kinds of books I had read that weren‘t on the lists, and therefore I decided to kill it off.
It did bring to my attention some books that I otherwise wouldn‘t have read and gave me the kick in the arse that I needed to read several others I had been planning to read, and for that I am grateful. I am going to incorporate most of the list of the remaining books into the „potential future reads“ section of my TBR list, but they will not be a priority.

Friday night folktales is cancelled for this week

2011-08-05T18:01:00.000Z

I feel a migraine coming on and as I have no ready-translated folk-tale to post, I am cancelling the folktale for this week.

Wednesday night video: The Cookie Monster visits the library

2011-08-03T19:00:00.001Z

Sesame Street has, to my knowledge, never been shown on Icelandic television, so I missed out on ever experiencing that as a child. I am sure I would have loved it. Here the Cookie Monster, one of the recurring and best loved Sesame Street muppets, visits the library:

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

2011-08-01T09:00:00.017Z

Originally published in April 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

Story:

The relationship between Min Dobbs and Cal Morrisey begins on a sour note when she overhears her ex-boyfriend, David, make a bet with Cal that he can’t get Min to have dinner with him. A further bet, which Cal does not accept but both Min and David think he has accepted, says that Cal can’t get her into bed with him within a month. Min, upset and slightly drunk, decides to piss David off by going out with Cal, and thus begins a rollercoaster relationship that involves food, friends, families, in-laws, statistics, snow globes, a frantic ex-girlfriend, a jealous ex-boyfriend, and a stray cat with a talent for mischief.

I’m fast becoming a fan of Jennifer Crusie. Not only does she write great romance, but her novels (at least those I’ve read) are funny and the characters great. This one is no exception. In the last Crusie novel I read (Fast Women) I felt there were too many side characters that drew the attention away from the main couple, but in this one the focus is mostly on one couple, with a large supporting cast. Crusie has toned down her obsession with strange and ugly animals, and is generally getting better all the time.

Rating: A great screwball comedy of a romance. 4 stars.

Review: Bellwether by Connie Willis

2011-07-30T09:00:00.000Z

Genre: Science fiction, romantic
Year of publication: 1996
Setting & time: Boulder, Colorado, USA; contemporary

Sociologist Sandra Foster is deep into a research project studying fads: how they begin, evolve and fade out. HiTek, the company she works for, has high hopes of the results, hoping that they can learn to start and control fads if they can just discover how they begin. Chaos theorist Bennett O’Reilly is reduced to studying monkey group behaviour – that is if he can ever get the corporation to acquire the monkeys. An incompetent office assistant called Flip brings Sandra and Bennett together by misdelivering a package and while she tramps through the company like a colourful, sullen cloud of poison gas or the Plague, leaving chaos and destruction in her wake, Sandra and Ben find their research fields converging and things getting stirred up more and more by Management, fads, the prospect of a large research grant, a flock of sheep and Flip. The book’s title comes from the name for a sheep that leads the other sheep without actually seeming to lead them, and it is also, not at all co-incidentally, the name given to a trend leader.

No sooner had I written Thursday’s announcement than I chanced to pick up this book, which had been languishing in my TBR for a couple of years and turned out to be not just eminently readable, but eminently reviewable as well. Why I hadn’t read it before is a mystery, as I highly enjoyed both the Willis books I read earlier, so much so that I re-read the delightful To Say Nothing of the Dog earlier this month and then added it to my perennials shelf. Perhaps it was the old fear of having chosen the author’s best book first, but I needn’t have worried: Bellwether is every bit as entertaining as To Say Nothing of the Dog. Both have the same sense of chaos and a narrator who wryly observes it swirling around them before getting swept up in it, a scientific discovery waiting to be made, love to be found and a quest to be finished, but while To Say Nothing of the Dog is genuine speculative science fiction, complete with time travel, Bellwether is fiction about scientists. The theories in it may or may not be realistic – to me at least they are, and while I have not studied science myself, I do have a bit of knowledge of the social sciences and find Sandra and Ben’s bellwether theory quite plausible.

The writing is the same mixture of wry humour and tongue-in-cheek social observation and satire found in Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog and the short stories in Miracle and other Christmas Stories, interlaced with obvious and not so obvious literary references and peppered with book titles (Sandra being actively trying to prevent classics in the library from being culled by checking them out). The otherwise unnamed and faddist Management is the butt of the iciest satire, while Flip would actually be rather pathetic if she weren’t such a trial to the protagonists. The story is tightly plotted and intricately woven and the characters of Sandra, Ben, and Shirl are believable while the people around them are more or less caricatures of faddists everywhere. Flip is somewhat exaggerated, but not that much – I have met her, or someone a lot like her, on several occasions.

Each chapter starts with a short, succinct and entertaining paragraph about an actual real-life trend, like the hula-hoop, miniature golf and marathon dancing, which would make a very funny mini-dictionary if collected together.

Verdict: An excellent read that would make a good starter book for someone who wants to get into science fiction but doesn’t want to jump right into full-on futuristic speculative techie sci-fi. 4 stars.

P.S. I have started reading The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby and I expect there might be another review in the offing soon.

Slowing down the blog

2011-07-28T12:00:00.000Z

I know I haven't been a good blogger lately. I have been neglecting the blog and not posting much, and very few reviews. In the past when the blog has gone into semi-hibernation it has often been because I was away travelling or because I was going through one of my depressive episodes, but not this time. I have been focusing on my photoblog and on photography in general, and I haven't been reading much, and all of this has led to me neglecting the book blogging.

Photography and reading are the two hobbies that have stayed with me the longest. I read my first novel all on my own at age 7 (not counting the readers we had at school), and I got my first camera when I was around 12.
I would just as soon give up reading as I would eating - it is that important to me - but there have been years when I didn't do much photography. However, I find it gives me something reading doesn't - like almost all the other hobbies I have tried through the years (which include quilting, rock painting, origami, book-binding and cooking) it gives me a creative outlet.

When I invested in a DSLR a couple of months ago it was the first time in several years that I wasn't shooting with a compact camera (not counting the occasional use of my father's EOS because I always used the A program on that). The compact I was using before that is a temperamental little beast that burns up batteries faster than I can buy them and that took all the fun out of photography. The DSLR (a Nikon D7000, if you must know) on the other hand is a dignified machine with so many different settings and buttons that I feel as if I'm back in elementary school. It really is like I'm learning photography all over again, and I am enjoying exploring my creative side. So you'll just have to excuse me if I only check in sporadically for the next several weeks.

I am reading a brand new crime thriller I was asked to review, and there will be a review of that some time in August. I am also reading a couple of older books I may review as well. The Monday blast from the past will continue to post and I will try to remember to post the Friday night folktales and a few Wednesday night videos, but other posts will be sporadic.

How many words do you know in English?

2011-07-26T10:38:00.000Z

According to the results of this test, I know 36,900 words in English. How they can calculate that number by testing a person's knowledge of about 50 words, I don't know.

Bimbos of the Death Sun - Sharyn McCrumb

2011-07-25T09:00:00.013Z

Originally published in April 2005, on my original 52 Books blog.

I just finished reading this prequel to Sharyn McCrumb’s Zombies of the Gene Pool and I think it’s a really good story. Not only is the mystery strong, with several interesting suspects, a likeable hero and a loathsome and rather tragic murder victim, it is also a very funny description of people one is likely to meet at a sci-fi and fantasy “con” (“convention” to the uninitiated, although “gathering” is perhaps more descriptive). The title itself, just like that of the sequel, is a parody of the kind of titles you’re likely to come across on a pulp sci-fi novel. 4 stars.

Warning: slight SPOILERS ahead

The story: Jay Omega has written a sci-fi novel, and his girlfriend, Marion, thinks he should do more to promote it, even if he is deeply embarrassed about the title which the publisher gave his novel. So he goes to a local sci-fi and fantasy convention, where he runs into all sorts of weird and weirder members of the “fen” (slang for “fans”). When the other featured author and star of the con, the miniature and malicious Appin Dungannon, author of a series about viking hero Tratyn Runewind, is murdered and Jay is asked to be Dungeon Master in a game of Dungeons and Dragons featuring Tratyn, he sees an opportunity to draw out the murderer whom he has decided must be either one of the many who hated the dead author or a rabid fan out to rescue Tratyn from being killed off by the author, who hated his creation more with every published book (don’t you just love long sentences?).

Icelandic folklore: Finnish Breeches

2011-07-22T19:00:00.006Z

Time for a bit of folklore for a change.

Dead Man’s Pants or Finnish Breeches were believed to be a useful item for a person who wanted to always have money. To make them, you had to make a deal with someone you knew, allowing you to flay off their skin when they are dead. When the person in question had died, you had to go by night to the cemetery and dig up the body. Then the whole of the skin between ankles and waist had to be carefully flayed off in one piece and put on like a pair of pants over bare skin. The skin had to come from a man because the money would be drawn into the scrotum.

In order for the pants to work their magic, the owner has to steal a coin during mass on one of of three big Christian holidays (Christmas, Easter or Whitsun), in the time between the reading of the epistle and the gospel, and put it in the scrotum of the pants. The coin will draw in more coins and the scrotum will never be empty when one needs money, but the original coin must not be removed or the magic will fail.

Dead Man’s Pants are difficult to get rid of, because it is impossible to be rid of them unless you can find someone else to take them and wear them. The wearer must slip his leg out of the right pant-leg and the new owner must put it on while the other still has his left leg in the left pant-leg. Once the new owner has put his right leg into the pants, the left will follow automatically. In this way, the pants can be passed on indefinitely.

Quotation for today

2011-07-22T09:00:00.000Z

Forgotten books, stacked into a sculpture at the Reykjavík city library.

"Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered."

W.H. Auden (1907 – 1973)

Links galore: Romance book covers and titles

2011-07-21T10:10:00.004Z

I have sometimes mentioned book covers how important they are. I may also have mentioned the standardised covers found in genre literature, and especially romance novels. As individual artwork, some romance covers are beautiful and evocative, but taken as a whole, the genre suffers from some terribly cheesy artwork that occasionally makes one wonder if the artists are all copying each other's work. I have especially noticed this in traditional Regency romances, serial romance and historical bodice-rippers. Sometimes the covers really invite you to have fun with them, and that is just what these people have done:

These cover artists were really just asking for it: Longmire does romance novels.
Some of the comments are funny, some not so funny, but this blog showcases a lot of bad romance covers: Uncle Walter's Bad Romance Novel Covers.
There are some wonderful comments here, and the repetitive element is really brought to the fore:The Smart Bitches snark romance covers.
Here the Smart Bitches and friends play around with both ridiculous artwork and ridiculous titles: The Smart Bitches' romance cover caption contests.
This one is about book covers and titles in general, but features enough romance covers to warrant inclusion here: Judge a Book by its Cover.
Finally here is a bonus random romance title generator. There are actually several in existence and they cover all kinds of titles, not just romances.

I am thinking about bringing back to life an old feature of this blog: the cover snark/analysis/discussion. Actually, I would like to do more than just criticise bad covers. I want to discuss covers in general and showcase some examples I have come across. I have started updating three posts I made on the subject on my ancient book blog and I have a number of covers lined up for discussion. We shall have to see what happens after that and whether I have the stamina to keep it going.

Wednesday night video: Obsessed with mysteries

2011-07-20T21:00:00.000Z

Disclaimer: Although this video is a Barnes & Noble production, I would like to state that I am in no way affiliated with them and the video is here merely because it shows a pair of really serious book lovers who concentrate on one of my favourite genres: the mystery.

List love: Another 10 bookish pet peeves, travelogue and ex-pat memoir edition

2011-07-19T09:16:00.000Z

If you are a regular visitor to this blog you will know that I love reading travelogues and count them as my favourite non-fiction genre. Having read so many, I have naturally discovered things that I like and dislike about them, so here is a list of 10 things that annoy me in travelogues. Not all of them are annoying enough to make me stop reading, but some of them have sufficed to make me never want to read another book by a particular author:

Authors who went on long trips to find themselves and then wrote at length about the process, disguising it as a travelogue. I much prefer the ones who travel because they're curious or because they love travelling or adventure or who travel “because”. Got-to-find-myself books tend to be too much about the author's internal struggles and feelings and not enough about the places they visit and the people they meet. Such books should really be shelved as self-help or general memoirs rather than as travelogues.
Authors who write patronisingly about the natives. This includes waxing lyrical about their innocence, quaintness or simplicity.
Hypocritical authors. For example, an author who writes disapprovingly about the rapacity and greed of, say, Indian street merchants, and then turns around and boasts about how their haggling skills saved them a few paise when dealing with them. Those paise could well be the difference between a meal and no food at all for a small businessman. One travel author, who shall remain nameless, would go on for paragraphs about how evil and useless the Catholic church was, but then didn’t hesitate to seek help from the very same church when she was in trouble in a foreign country. In the following passages I searched in vain for any sign of gratitude for the help rendered.
Those who judge a whole gender, tribe, race or nation on the basis of a few bad or good individuals.
Those who come across as overly smug about their lovely life and home abroad in expat memoirs.
Authors who moan about how tourism is going to spoil some particular place and then go on to contribute to its ruination by telling the world about its wonders in their writing.
Quirky is fine, but don’t overdo it.
Books that read like a long version of a “what I did on my [dead-ordinary] holidays” essay.
Those who clearly consider themselves to be above the people they meet, on grounds of nationality, race, gender, education or perceived moral superiority. British writers of yesteryear were particularly prone to this.
Authors who clearly didn’t travel with an open mind. How are you going to learn anything if your ideas and opinions are carved in stone before you set out?