Reading in Reykjavík

Here is series that may or may nor have been inspired by Lilian Jackson Braun’s Cat Who… series: the Mrs. Murphy books. The similarities are several: the cosy small town setting, the close-knit community full of colourful characters, and a smart cat that helps its owner solve mysteries. But this is not to say that this is clone of the Cat who… series, not at all. To start with, the reader is actually allowed to see into the mind of the animal characters, who have conversations that are often more sensible than those of the humans around them, thus firmly anthropomorphising them for the readers. The most obvious difference is that the sleuths are female and by no means rich like Braun’s Qwill. Additionally, the cats appear to be moggies rather than purebreeds, and several other species of animals are involved in the solving and resolution of the mysteries. Series detective: Mary Minor Haristeen (“Harry”) and Mrs. Murphy, a tabby cat Type of mystery: Murder Type of investigator: Ama

Can someone please explain to me how I managed to lose a book the size of 2 bricks? I’m sure I’m not that disorganised, but I managed to lose it anyway. The book in question is my copy of the collected works of Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales being my classic of the month. I only found it (under my bed, if you must know) on Wednesday the 23 of April. “Fine” I thought, “I’ll have the holiday (April 24 was the Icelandic 1st day of summer and a bank holiday) and the weekend to read it”, but it was not to be: my parents arrived and on Thursday we visited relatives and the weekend was spent on quality time with my mother, something I wouldn’t have missed for any book, however important. Therefore, I will be reading 2 classics in May: The Canterbury Tales and a Saga I have yet to choose (probably one of the shorter ones). April was a busy reading month for me, even if I didn’t get round to more than the prologue and first three Canterbury tales. I read 15 books, 3 of which were rereads: Geo