Littlegreycloud's "all good things are three" in '13

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Littlegreycloud's "all good things are three" in '13

Tämä viestiketju on "uinuva" —viimeisin viesti on vanhempi kuin 90 päivää. Ryhmä "virkoaa", kun lähetät vastauksen.

1littlegreycloud
tammikuu 14, 2013, 2:06 pm

I have decided to mix things up a bit this year, while still reading books off my shelves. The idea is to read at least three books off my shelves each month, and to give the undertaking a bit of structure, I will be reading backwards by year bought, backwards by year published and (just to be different) forwards by alphabet.

So in January, I will read one book bought in 2012 (done), one book published in 2012 (done) and one book by an author starting with A. In February, I will read one book bought in 2011, one book published in 2011 and one book by an author starting with B. And so on.

By the end of the year, I should thus be down to 2001 and up to the letter L. I can continue next year and maybe even add a 4th category for 2014.

2rocketjk
tammikuu 16, 2013, 11:10 pm

Interesting idea. Good luck! Wish I could commit to three books per month.

3amysisson
tammikuu 17, 2013, 11:30 am

Fun idea!

4katrinasreads
tammikuu 20, 2013, 6:16 am

Great idea, though I would have no idea when I brought a book

5littlegreycloud
helmikuu 3, 2013, 2:16 pm

>2 rocketjk:

It only works because I read between 75 and 100 books a year, so committing to three a month leaves me plenty of space for impulse reads and other books. If I read fewer books, I'd probably have trouble with the commitment.

>4 katrinasreads:

I usually write the month and the year when I bought a book in pencil on the first page (e.g. 01/13) and also when I read it (if I keep the book). I haven't done it consistently but I could go back to 1993 at least.

6littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 3, 2013, 2:34 pm

January was a good reading month for me. I got the number of books I'm currently reading down to a manageable six (and there are good reasons for each -- e.g. one being a chapter-by-chapter group read where I don't want to race ahead, one is an audiobook, one is the book that lives in my bag for subway rides etc.). I finished the three books I was planning on:

Book bought in 2012: Was zusammengehört, by Markus Feldenkirchen
Book published in 2012: Voll streng, Frau Freitag, by Frau Freitag and
Book by author starting with A: Tauben fliegen auf, by Melinda Abondji

I only just noticed that all three of these are in German -- that's rather unusual as I mostly read English books. But since the point of this exercise was to read books I would otherwise neglect, I guess it's a good sign.:)

Of these three, the Abondji was the most interesting one. The protagonist (and the author) is a Vojvodina Hungarian who grows up in Switzerland during the Balkan wars and thus describes the immigrant experience from a rather unusual angle. The book won the most prestigious book prize in both Switzerland and Germany in 2010.

I also read (or finished) four additional books in January.

7littlegreycloud
helmikuu 3, 2013, 2:38 pm

In February, I'm moving on to the year 2011 and the letter B, and so I've started reading The Daughter She Used to Be by Rosalind Noonan as "book published in 2011".

8littlegreycloud
helmikuu 7, 2013, 2:35 pm

I finished The Daughter She Used to Be (and listed it on a swap site already) but haven't moved on to the other books for February yet. Instead, I am reading Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym for a book group and Efterskalv because it had been a while since I read the previous one in that series (forgot how good the series is, possibly because the previous book was one of the weaker volumes -- Efterskalv has pulled me right in, however).

And then last night I had a craving for something "very British" (in addition to the Pym, of which I'm only reading a chapter a day so as not to race ahead), so I got started on The Masters.

I will wait until I finish one of these before I start on my other two "commitment books" so I don't end up reading too many books at once again. I've had Efterskalv since April 2010 and The Masters since May 2011, so am still reading "off my shelves", as it were.

9littlegreycloud
helmikuu 17, 2013, 2:22 pm

I finished my "impulse book" The Masters a couple of days ago and if you think a novel set among the professors of an English college in the 1930s cannot be a page-turner, you are mistaken. Loved it and will definitely buy another volume in the "Strangers and Brothers" series. (That these come in attractive paperbacks by House of Stratus does not hurt, of course.)

For my "book bought in 2011", I have moved on to something completely different -- Der Erste is a report by an East German writer about four weeks in the life of an East German party official, written in the late 1980s. The book caused a bit of a sensation at the time because a lot of problems in the East German economy were named rather openly. Of course, just a couple of years later, the building basically collapsed under its own weight. It's fascinating to read this book with the benefit of hindsight...

10rainpebble
maaliskuu 1, 2013, 3:51 am

I find it very interesting how you have your reads set up. I think we all have our little plans that help us along and yours certainly seems to be working for you cloud. You're doing great.

11littlegreycloud
maaliskuu 1, 2013, 5:24 pm

Thank you, rainpebble -- looks like we both have weather in our names.:)

Meanwhile, I have finished Der Erste and will definitely read Landolf Scherzer's following books where he accompanies politicians through much the same region shortly after the German reunification. What I would really love for him to write would be a book revisiting the people he talked to in Der Erste twenty-five years later.

There was a whole week in February when I did not get any reading done due to a workload so heavy that I barely got enough sleep, and the month was also a couple of days short, so I have not yet finished my third "set" book for the month (author starting with B). For this, I have picked Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker, a book that has been languishing on my shelves since 2007. I actually started reading it once before but it was one of these "wrong book at the wrong time" situation. So now it's getting a second chance and it's going well (and fast). so I expect I'll be able to move on to March's choices soon.

Other than that, I finished listening to Collusion by Stuart Neville, which was ok but not nearly as good as The Ghosts of Belfast. I guess I just really liked the character of Gerry Fegan, who is not as prominent in the second volume.

How is everyone else doing?

12rainpebble
maaliskuu 2, 2013, 11:43 pm

I am still with The Children's Book. It is a real chunkster and I have been ill the past couple of weeks so not much reading time but I do get a bit in every day. (I read a couple of pages and fall asleep.) This one is so good that it will go back on my shelf when I DO finish it.
March will go better for me. I have faith.

13littlegreycloud
maaliskuu 3, 2013, 10:50 am

>12 rainpebble:: Glad to hear you like it -- it's still sitting unread on my shelves.:)

I have great hopes for March -- it's started with *sunshine* here and after a winter with the lowest amount of sunlight since the start of recording (a third below the average, which is not much to begin with), sun is badly needed. Once it gets just a leeeeettle bit warmer I'll drag sleeping bags and blankets out to the terrace and do some reading there...

Get well soon!

14littlegreycloud
maaliskuu 3, 2013, 11:01 am

Meanwhile, I've finished Quartet in Autumn, of which I read a chapter a day, following a book group. A sad and quiet book, apparently written when Pym was ill and had no hope of it ever being published. Lots of "almost" connections never quite made. I've enjoyed it less than Excellent Women, which I read some months ago, but it did grow on me over time. Will read another Pym at some point, but for now I need a break.

15littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 15, 2013, 4:38 pm

Yesterday, I finished Once Upon A Crime by Brian Azzarello. I have been reading the 100 bullets series for over a hear now but it is drawing to a close, just two volumes left. It has been my first really sustained foray into graphic novel territory and I have been enjoying the ride.

16littlegreycloud
maaliskuu 9, 2013, 8:57 am

Finished one of my "indulgence reads" -- Efterskalv by Arne Dahl and started another Defending Jacob. But I'll get back with the program soon.:)

I've also finished listening to The Dive from Clausen's Pier, which I've first listened to about ten years ago but felt like again the other day.

17littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 15, 2013, 4:34 pm

I finished Defending Jacob, which did not quite live up to my expectations -- I could see the "shocking ending" (cover blurb) coming from miles away. It's possible that I'm not quite fair to this book -- the level of hype might have raised my expectations too much and it probably did not help that my husband and I watched We Need to Talk About Kevin one evening during the time I read it, which reminded me very vividly of Shriver's much stronger book, even thought it's been years since I read that.

I also -- finally -- finished my "letter" book from back in February, Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker. I'm sorry to say that it did not grab me more than at my first attempt, which is the main reason it took so long. While I enjoyed the main conceit -- two young men invent an eccentric old lady who then becomes real and hard to get rid off -- I somehow did not connect with the narrator and his doubts and hesitations. I guess I couldn't see why he didn't just imagine a comfortable existence for Miss H. _elsewhere_ -- problem solved.:) I'm almost certainly missing the point here but I suspect this book is best enjoyed if you're a fanciful very young man yourself.

High time to move on to the Cs, which will be The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain.

18rainpebble
maaliskuu 20, 2013, 11:14 am

I didn't realize that they had produced a movie of We Need to Talk About Kevin. What a compelling read!

19littlegreycloud
huhtikuu 7, 2013, 1:23 pm

>Yes. It also works surprisingly well as a movie. Tilda Swinton does a great job.

20littlegreycloud
huhtikuu 7, 2013, 1:43 pm

I have been in bed with a nasty flu for the past week or so and had all kinds of computer trouble before that, so there is a bit of a backlog.

For my "C" book, I read The Postman Always Rings Twice, which is a very fast read and could be summarized as "karma will come to get you, buddy". And there is no postman. I am looking forward to reading the other novels in my omnibus, Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity.

For "Book written in 2010", I have started on The Breaking of Eggs, a novel about a Communist travel writer who has to come to terms with his family history -- and the 20th century -- having turned out very differently from the way he had arranged them in his head.

21littlegreycloud
huhtikuu 7, 2013, 1:59 pm

I'm a bit behind in my scheduled reads but I have also read two Chalet school books by Elinor Brent-Dryer (these are my go-to books when I'm feeling poorly), a Rebus mystery by Ian Rankin; Aller Tage Abend by Jenny Erpenbeck, which was good, but not as wonderful as Heimsuchung, another volume of Landolf Scherzer's reports, in which travels much the same landscape as in Der Erste but a couple of years after the German reunification. (I have just ordered the next volume, Der Letzte, which takes place some years after that.)

Oh, and I have also finished Drottningoffret, a book I have been reading for several months -- not because it was boring but because it lived in my "Tuesday night class" bag and only got read on the way to and from that class. Term starts again this Tuesday and I thought I should be ready to greet it with a new book. Drottningoffret was the final volume in a trilogy that I have been reading on and off since 2010, so I will be missing the characters. It's been made into a Swedish miniseries, however, which I'll try to get the husband to watch with me.

I think that's it.:) Now I have to go and list all the books that have come in in the mail lately...

22littlegreycloud
huhtikuu 11, 2013, 3:01 pm

I noticed that I forgot to mention Dirty, the penultimate volume in Brian Azzarello's 100 Bullets series, which I also finished in March. I am currently reading the last volume, Wilt. Does anyone get the connection between "wilt" and "thirteen"? It's easy with "Dirty" and "dozen" but the wilt thing has me stumped.

At any rate, I really enjoyed my foray into graphic novel territory, although I will have to reread the series at some point and make a character chart to keep everyone straight.

23littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 11, 2013, 3:13 pm

I also finished The breaking of eggs, my "book written in 2010". As some other reviewer on the book page said, I enjoyed the first part of the book more than the second. I think the concept of a Communist -- excuse me, leftist -- travel writer who has to witness the world he always defended falling apart was strong enough without all the family connections thrown in. Still, glad I read it and will be keeping an eye on the writer.

For my "book bought in 2010", I will be reading Stjärnor utan svindel by Louise Boije af Gennäs.

24littlegreycloud
huhtikuu 12, 2013, 9:54 am

This morning I finished angerichtet by Herman Koch (an impulse read due to all the hype), a fairly disturbing read which left me a bit nonplussed. It seems to be wanting to say something about society but then basically reduces the issue to mental illness running in families, admittedly with the (not blood-related) wife the most intriguing character. Won't be wanting to reread this but will keep an eye out for the author's other books as they get translated.

25littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 30, 2013, 5:23 pm

Haven't had a good reading month somehow but that just means things can only get better, right?

I did eventually finish my "book bought in 2010" and I think it's been one of the reasons for my readings lump. Stjärnor utan svindel is a (thinly disguised?) novel about an upper-class writer in her thirties who suddenly falls in love not only with a woman but also a fairly leftist-radical one and has to decide if she wants to give up her settled life (married to a banker, nice house, invited to all the right parties) for her.

This could have been interesting but would have needed a good editor as the writer apparently never has heard of "show rather than tell" and so the protagonist is constantly and endlessly either telling us exactly what high an opinion she has of herself and her opinions or having unlikely dialogues with others about her opinions. The books is 500+ pages long with extremely small print (about 400 words a page). I've finished it but am definitely passing this one on.

Other than that, I've finished volume one of The Complete Library of Bloom County (on my shelves since 2009) and have already bought and started on vol. 2. If you want to take an entertaining trip (Opus the Penguin included) to 1980s America, this could be for you.

Also, three audiobooks: Nothing to lose by Lee Child (silly but fun although not one of the stronger Jack Reacher books); Verbrechen by Ferdinand Schirach (an uneven collection but a few really good stories); and Suspect by Robert Crais (a rather weak mystery about a cop whose partner got killed in a shooting but fun if you like dogs -- I adored Maggie the German Sheppard).

26littlegreycloud
toukokuu 22, 2013, 12:03 pm

Have finished Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes this morning (an impulse read, not part of "the plan"), a 1941 novel about an English academic couple acting as amateur spies in Nazi Germany. A fast-paced read I enjoyed, although ultimately a bit too one-dimensional: the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad and you can easily tell them apart by nationality. I guess I'm spoilt by the "many shades of grey" ambiguity of a George Smiley, although that was a different time, of course.

27littlegreycloud
kesäkuu 2, 2013, 12:48 pm

I've finished my D book Wir wollten ein anderes Land by Barbara Dalichow and Karsten-Uwe Heye. This non-fiction account of an East-German family turned out to be much more readable than expected and I was fascinated by the conflict between the parents -- who belonged to the country's "founding generation" and were grateful for all the opportunities it had granted them that they would have never had otherwise -- and the daughter, who just wanted to leave it. Lots of references to events I want to read up on. (On my shelves since January 2012 and staying.)

I also finished A Small House at Allington. I like to read at least one Trollope novel a year and I'm sorry to be nearing the end of the Barsetshire novels -- but then, there is always the Palliser ones to look forward to. The touchstone will only link to a boxed set for some reason but my copy is a two-volume edition from 1906 -- souvenir from a romantic weekend in London with my husband in March 2011 (where we also saw Edward Fox read from Trollope at the theatre). Not going anywhere but back on my shelves, of course.

28littlegreycloud
kesäkuu 8, 2013, 9:51 am

Finished The Old Contemptibles by Martha Grimes -- one of the better Richard Jury novels imho. Jury sends Melrose Plant off on his behalf to investigate the murder of Jury's lover. I really enjoyed meeting Lady Cray and Adam Holdsworth -- and, of course, Sorcerer the cat.

On my shelves since October 2011.

29littlegreycloud
kesäkuu 21, 2013, 3:07 pm

Finished Der Letzte, the last volume in Scherzer's exploration of politics in the East-German state of Thuringia. This one covers the year 1999 and while I was reading, I was following up on the people mentioned via Wikipedia et al.

30littlegreycloud
kesäkuu 25, 2013, 3:14 pm

Finished Konsten att vara otrogen på Facebook (The Art of Being Unfaithful on Facebook) -- a bit of chicklit about a not-all-that-young-anymore woman who gets a bit bored with her marriage and decides to contact an old flame. The characters didn't seem all that credible to me -- they're all in their late 30s but often act all of 22 while bemoaning that they can't actually live as they did at 22 anymore. Don't think I would have finished it except that I was interested in the every-day vocabulary.

On my shelves since January 2012 and now passing it on.

31littlegreycloud
kesäkuu 29, 2013, 4:19 pm

Finished Nicht die ganze Wahrheit by Dirk Kurbjuweit, a reflection of politics and what it does to politicians and unfaithfulness and what it does to wives as told from the perspective of a private eye hired by a politician's wife in order to find out with whom her husband is having an affair.

I got this from a swap site and basically started reading it when entering it here. I liked it more than expected at the beginning but less so towards the end... hm. For now, it will get to stay on my "recently read" shelf -- will decide whether to keep it when it gets bumped off there.:)

Also finished listening to Absent friends by S. J. Rozan, a story about friendship and lies, set in New York in the days and weeks after 9/11 and Staten Island in the 1970s. Very atmospheric (particularly the childhood chapters). It's gotten mediocre reviews on LT but I think that's because people expected something more along the lines of the author's crime series. While this book does have two "whodunnit" elements, they're not actually very important, so if you're reading for plot, you'll be disappointed. Personally, I rather enjoyed it.

32littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: heinäkuu 2, 2013, 11:05 am

Decided to reinstate my "random reading" lottery (basically means reading one of the books that are shown as random books on the LT Profile page) and the winner was Erzähl mir von der Liebe, a short novel set among disillusioned models. I enjoyed the setting and the contrast with the protagonist's rural background but I must admit I'm getting rather tired of the "beloved pet ends up dying" device and I wasn't too convinced of the resolution (possibly one isn't meant to be). The supporting characters -- the protagonist's friends and her grandfather -- were interesting and I would have liked to read more about them.

All in all, a quick read to while away a sleepless morning. On my shelves since 2010; will be listing it on a swap site.

33littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: heinäkuu 8, 2013, 9:42 am

Finished Die Häuser der anderen (The Houses of Others) a collection of interconnected stories about the inhabitants of a wealthy street. Interesting and perceptive, but all in all a bit too negative for my taste -- including the last story which I think was meant to be hopeful.

The book came from my "recently acquired" shelf and will go back to the swap site whence it came.

34littlegreycloud
elokuu 2, 2013, 2:42 pm

Haven't finished a book in a while -- both due to work and to the fact that I'm reading about nine at a time again. But they're all very different, so it's ok.)

This morning I finished Zensurspiele, a collection of newspaper columns about books that got in trouble with the East German censorship authorities, detailing both what was objectionable about them and the brave fights and subterfuge editors and would-be-publishers employed to get them printed after all. sometimes after a delay of decades. Both entertaining and fascinating, this book has a major flaw: it made me buy or wishlist tons of new books. Sigh.

35littlegreycloud
elokuu 5, 2013, 7:32 am

Finished Murder on the Orient Express yesterday, another winner in my "random reading" lottery -- and time, too, since this book has been sitting unread on my shelves since the year 2000.

A murder mystery of the type I like best -- a group of people stuck somewhere (on a train in a snowdrift, in this case*), and since nobody can come or leave, one of them has to be the murderer. Or does he?

Hercule Poirot figures it all out with the usual aplomb.

*Lovely to think about when it's 35 °C where you are.

36littlegreycloud
elokuu 11, 2013, 8:49 am

Finished The Other Elizabeth Taylor, a biography of a not-so-well known known 20th century English writer and my "book published in 2009". It started slowly (let's face it, people's childhoods are never that interesting) but rather grew on me. I have nine books by ET on my shelves (four unread), and the biography made me rather keen to get back to her. (Surely that's a good sign.)

On my shelves since May 2009; going back to hang out with the works by the book's subject.:)

Now off to choose a "book bought in 2009" (for which this one would also have qualified).

37littlegreycloud
syyskuu 6, 2013, 3:41 pm

Finished Himmelsöga by Arne Dahl, the tenth volume of an over-the-top Swedish crime series I've been reading on and off since 2010 and really enjoyed. There's one more volume of short stories which is out of print and doesn't seem to be available second-hand in paper form for love or money. The logic behind the Swedish publishing industry continues to escape me.

Also finished listening to The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer -- a story about a group of people who met in summer camp in the 1970s and remained friends ever since. It's one of those books that work really well as audiobook -- you get to know the characters over time, they way they change and yet remain the same over the decades. You see how there choices affect the course their lives and wonder how easily (or not) they could have made different ones. And you can wonder about your own choices, and inasmuch you fulfilled the potential you and everyone thought you had at twenty, and whether you would be quite as filled with raw envy as one of the characters in the book if one of your friends had struck it really lucky.:)

38fundevogel
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 6, 2013, 7:32 pm

I'm not sure if it serves your locale, but I've had luck tracking down hard to find books on Alibris. Sorry, no link, for some reason LT is reading my markup wrong. It's really weird.

39littlegreycloud
syyskuu 16, 2013, 8:41 am

>38 fundevogel:: No luck on Alibris, either -- but I've since managed to get at least the audio version. But thanks!

40littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 16, 2013, 8:57 am

In the last few days, I've finished So sehe ick die Sache, a book of tape protocols collected among workers in the East German agricultural industry in 1980. The book never got published in East Germany, and the editor eventually left the country and now lives in the U.S. Reading these, I once again grew frustrated at the shortsightedness of the powers that were. None of the people speaking in the book is really critical of the political system -- sure, there are some grumbles about not being allowed to travel, and some of the older people mentioned how hard it was for them to give up their property and join a collective -- but their main criticism was all about fixable things, things that could have and should have been corrected, e. g. being made to plant apple trees on soil not suitable for the purpose etc.

If books like this could have been published, the country would have been a better place, and there would have been less of the discontent that eventually brought it to its knees. As it is, the book makes for an interesting historical document.

On my shelves since October 2010 and going back there.

41littlegreycloud
syyskuu 16, 2013, 4:35 pm

For contrast, I also finished Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse (I'm always interested in books other people loved as children), the last volume in a boxed set of four I have. Cherry now acts a Chief Nurse on a remote island, nursing the soldiers hurt in attacks by the Japanese on the neighbouring islands. All very patriotic (the "boys" are forever grateful to see "real American girls" and even the curmudgeonly superior Cherry has frequent run-ins with is a true hero under fire), while straining credulity (Cherry and her brother -- who just happens to fly missions from the very same island where her makeshift hospital is located -- solve another mystery that nobody else could figure out).

Out of the four volumes I read, I liked the very first one best, mainly because it was the most realistic and relatable one -- a young girl leaving home for the first time in order to go to nursing school. enjoyed the others but not enough to read the remaining 23 (!) others, so am putting the boxed set (bought in Dec. 2009) up for swapping.

42littlegreycloud
lokakuu 10, 2013, 9:57 am

I've once managed to get myself into a situation where I was reading too many books at once (10) and then suddenly felt like something completely different. C. P. Snow's The Light and the Dark may not sound like much of a page turner but I basically abandoned all else and just read this for the past few days It's the story of the friendship between Lewis and Roy Calvert (characters I already knew from The Masters, which I read in February) and the tragedy of a brilliant mind doomed by mental disease. I also enjoyed the college setting (as in The Masters), the time-frame (Britain before and during WWII, with an excursion to prewar Berlin) and the lovingly described and often hilarious minor characters (Lady Muriel! Lord Boscastle!).

So this will go back on the shelves and I'll also buy another volume in the Strangers and Brothers series, probably The Affair. (These don't need to be read in order -- in fact, The Masters and The Light and the Dark take place concurrently -- so I've decided to read the strongest volumes first and stop buying them whenever I run out of interest.)

I've also just bought three extra boards to squeeze into the hallway bookshelves.;)

43littlegreycloud
lokakuu 30, 2013, 2:48 pm

Finished Call for the Dead a few days ago -- a quick but very rewarding read. This is where we first meet George Smiley, my favourite spy character of all times. Oddly enough, I don't recall ever reading this first volume in the Smiley saga before. I think I had an audio version many years ago that must have been abridged because I remember the story not making much sense ... Glad to have (re)discovered the book. On my shelves since March 2010, going right back as I'm sure I'll reread this one some time.

44littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 30, 2013, 5:25 pm

Also finished Ruey Richardson -- Chaletian. Like all the Chalet School books, these are nice escapist reading. Girls Gone By republishes about two or three of these a year, which is about par with my reading of them. In this 1960 instalment, the school reintroduces lacrosse and considers a new school uniform, while newcomer Ruey has a hard time figuring out why she has attracted the intense dislike of a fellow student. Of course, everything ends well.

On my shelves since September 2012.

45littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 4, 2013, 4:02 pm

I also read Double Indemnity by James M. Cain, the story about a man who loses his head over a beautiful woman -- or is it about his phantasy of committing the perfect murder? You certainly have your plan all ready, Mr Hoff, and all it takes is the appearance of beautiful, if sociopathic, Phyllis to set things in motion.

Double Indemnity is the second novel in the James M Cain omnibus I mentioned earlier in this thread. It was the October read in an online book group where I mostly lurk, so I thought it was a good opportunity to contribute for a change. I liked this one better than The Postman ..., mainly because it had an interesting minor character (Keyes) and the plot depended on a detail specific to 1930s insurance policies. (Cain had worked as an insurance agent while trying to make it as a singer of all things, so knew his stuff.)

The husband and I then also watched the movie, which rather simplified matters and made the main character a bit one-dimensional but was beautifully filmed.

The omnibus going back on my shelves as it still contains Mildred Pierce and selected stories -- but I can handle only so much noir at a time.

46littlegreycloud
marraskuu 4, 2013, 4:16 pm

Last but not least in my little reading spurt was A Murder of Quality, by John le Carré. This is the second Smiley book but it's more of a "conventional" murder mystery than a spy novel. Smiley gets asked by an old friend to investigate the murder of a magazine subscriber who had written to the magazine for advise on what to do if your husband wants to kill you ...

Not a bad setup, and of course, things are not as they seem -- but this book has nowhere near the depth and intensity of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, George Smiley's next outing, which I'm looking forward to rereading soon.

47rabbitprincess
marraskuu 4, 2013, 5:52 pm

Double Indemnity is my favourite Cain novel, and the movie is great too. Glad you liked it :) Also, thanks for the reminder re A Murder of Quality; I read it years ago but could do with a reread.

48littlegreycloud
marraskuu 13, 2013, 2:27 pm

> 47: I thought it was funny how the male lead in the movie was all manly-man, constantly addressing Phyllis as "baby" and being all strong and handsome and the "leave it to me" type, while she happily pulled the strings. I guess they had to soften it a bit by changing the ending to make her more female and adhering to stereotype ...

49littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 13, 2013, 2:41 pm

Finished listening to Expats by Chris Pavone -- an entertaining thriller, which I actually preferred to the much-hyped Gone Girl. My only quibble is that the female protagonist keeps going on about how she and her husband are each others' best friends, while the entire plot hinges on the fact that they lie to each other until the cows come home. She cannot tell him that, he doesn't tell her this, she hides the fact that she knows that he hides the other fact, while wondering if he figured out what she's not telling him and what happens when he figures out that she did this, that and the other.

I guess my definitions of friendship and a good marriage are somewhat different -- but then, the whole book would have been 2 rather than 14 hours long if the two of them would have managed to have one open conversation at some point.:)

50littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 13, 2013, 2:54 pm

I also finished Black Orchids by Rex Stout. I bought three of his books some years ago on someone's strong recommendation. Having now read the third, I'll just have to admit that these are not for me. I like the overweight detective Nero Wolfe well enough (what's not to like about a man who is passionate about orchids and food?) but I'm afraid I don't care for his side-kick Archie Goodwin. And since Goodwin is unfortunately the narrator of the books ...

Black Orchids actually contains two mysteries, "Black Orchids" and "Cordially Invited to Meet Death", of which I preferred the second one, about a high-society party organizer who shares her home with assorted assistants, relatives and wild animals. At one point, in flight from an orangutan (or rather chimpanzee) called Mister, Archie stumbles over what he thinks is a log but turns out to be an alligator called Moses -- but this is fortunate as his fall later provides an important clue about the untimely death of their owner.

On my shelves since August 2009; will be listing it on a swap site.

51littlegreycloud
marraskuu 13, 2013, 3:10 pm

I also finished Die Erbschaft (The Inheritance) by Rolf Floß, a book about an East German functionary who unexpectedly comes into a lot of hard currency and attempts to use his newly acquired wealth to improve matters in his little socialist corner of the world. I loved the idea and enjoyed some of the complicated wheeling and dealing that goes on between the officials who want to keep this source of dollars flowing and the brand-new benefactor (complete with secret service minder) who has his own ideas, but something about this satire rubbed me the wrong way.

On my shelves since December 2009; headed for the swap site.

52littlegreycloud
marraskuu 28, 2013, 5:39 pm

Another bit of a reading bout. I had dental surgery a couple of weeks ago and was feeling less than wonderful once the anaesthesia wore off -- a perfect opportunity to retreat to bed with Excitements at the Chalet School. In this 1957 instalment of the series, the school prepares for a "coming of age" i.e. 21st anniversary celebration of the institution, there's an outing to Solothurn and the usual coming round of a girl who needs her head straightened out. But a perfect book for the occasion. (On my shelves since September 2011.)

I also (finally) finished Burley Cross Postbox Theft I rather liked the concept of this novel -- a postbox being broken into and the local police attempting to find out who did it by reading the letters that were dumped in an alley. Of course, if you wanted to be logical about it, you would assume that the postbox was burgled to extract a letter, which then, obviously, would not be among the ones found -- but that's not really the point of the book anyway. Instead, we find out about the various inhabitants of the village by means of what they themselves and, more importantly, what others write about them.

As I said, an enjoyable concept, and I particularly liked the "denouement" but, and this is a big but, the book could have done with a bit of ruthless editing. I realize that many of the letters were _meant_ to be rambling but just as you might just skim the 20-page letter from your crotchety old uncle, I found myself skimming a number of the letters in the book. On my shelves since March, going onto the swap site.

53littlegreycloud
marraskuu 30, 2013, 10:44 am

I also read The Case of the Abominable Snowman which I admit I bought mainly for the title. It's the kind of mystery I like -- a limited number of suspects (the Restorick family plus assorted friends and hangers on) in a remote location (Easterham Manor in the depths of winter) and an amateur detective (Nigel Strangeways) trying to figure out whodunnit.

The problem (for me) with this particular book is the fact that everyone's motivations struck me as rather outlandish. To give an example that is not a spoiler: The old lady who gets Strangeways involved in the first place cares about the family because she used to be in love with the deceased pater familias, and when he went on to marry someone else, she bonded deeply with the children he had with that other woman. Uhm, okay, very romantic, but people on my planet don't really behave that way. I would not have had a problem with this in an "ordinary" novel (after all, we read to explore foreign worlds, in a way) but to me, a mystery suffers when everyone acts for reasons I don't find particularly compelling. What was amusing was that the (in modern eyes not very shocking) "shocking stuff" needed to happen in America, where, clearly, children are not safe even at school.

The book will go off to the swap site -- but I might try another Blake at a future date.

54littlegreycloud
joulukuu 1, 2013, 8:48 am

I also read Du ska vara spännande och varm ("You should be exciting and warm"), a book about a no-longer-quite-so-young woman's adventures with online dating. This was amusing (at times in a "rather you than me" way) and a quick read, not least because because the 150 pages also contained a lot of illustrations -- a bit of a picture book for grown-ups, if you will.

On my shelves since October 2009 -- I'm going to offer this to a friend (and fellow LT member) with whom I swap Swedish books.

55littlegreycloud
joulukuu 1, 2013, 8:57 am

Last but not least (and then I will be all caught up for now), I finished listening to Double Down by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, the 2012 version of Game Change. I'm not entirely sure why I'm so fascinated with American politics (possibly because German politics is so -- comparatively -- consensual and boring) but I suppose there are worse vices. And for a book whose outcome and main chapters are already known, Double Down is quite the page-turner. You know what happens next but you still want to know (or at least I do). It was a good decision to get this as an audiobook (read expertly by Robert Fass) as it made me take a number of long walks despite the cold weather. Will be keeping this in mind for the 2016 volume.

56littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 8, 2013, 1:47 pm

I finished Im Stein by Clemens Meyer, which I have been reading on and off since September. It's a big novel, combining a multitude of voices, all related to the development of prostitution in East Germany after the wall fell. I haven't quite made up my mind what I think about his one -- I found some of the characters fascinating: the women, the father on his endless search of the daughter he lost to trade many years ago (her story is connected to a real-life political scandal a while back), even some of the owners of the "facilities". But some of the passages are weaker (e.g. the Japan one, not sure I even "got" that) and I'm not sure it all comes together.

Unsure what to do with the book -- don't think I'll reread it any time soon but I bought it "instead of a souvenir" on a lovely short trip my husband and I took, so am reluctant to part with it for that reason. I think I'll put it on my "recently read" shelf for now and then reconsider when it's time to take it off there.

57littlegreycloud
joulukuu 15, 2013, 5:12 pm

Continuing with this year's C.P. Snow addiction, I read The Affair, another volume in the Strangers and Brothers series. Eliot returns to the college we know from The Masters in order to help sort out an "affair", in which an unlikeable Fellow has been dismissed from the college for scientific fraud -- possibly innocently so. As with the two other of Snow's books I've read so far, this study of why people do what they do is an unexpected page turner.

It will go back on the shelves to join its friends, and I'll make up my mind which one of Snow's books to buy next. I've learnt that it's good to always have one at the ready for these sudden Snow cravings of mine.

58littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 21, 2013, 2:52 pm

Finished Tusenskönor by Kristina Ohlsson. This is the second volume in a series about investigators in Stockholm. An elderly priest and his wife are found dead in their apartment. Everything points to the husband having shot his wife and then himself -- there is even a suicide letter -- but something does not seem quite right. Some of the priest's friends insist it's not something he'd ever do, while others seem a bit too eager to claim it's in character. And where are the couple's daughters, anyway? And what about the refugees the couple used to hide?

I liked this volume somewhat better than the first one in the series -- mainly because the investigators seem less cartoonish this time around. (I had bought both books at the same time -- would not have picked this one up on the strength of the other.) People's motivations are still a bit to "out there" to be credible imho, however. Will be passing this one on to the friend to whom I gave the first one (she liked it better than I did). Won't be actively pursuing this series any further but may read another if I come across one.

59littlegreycloud
maaliskuu 24, 2014, 4:03 pm

Just noticed that I had not actually finished this thread properly at the end of last year. Book 70 in 2013 was California Fire & Life by Don Winslow, written in 1999 and on my shelves since 10/2012.

Jack Wade is an arson investigator at California Fire and Life Mutual, and when he gets called to the pile of ashes that was formerly a house with a lot of expensive furniture and a beautiful woman in it, he suspects foul play -- not just because the woman's estranged husband files an insurance claim right away (before, say, comforting his children), but also because the fire and its leftovers tell him a story that does not jive with what he is being told by the humans involved. And if in doubt, Jack believes the fire.

It's been three months and I don't remember each and every one of the many plot twists but I do remember that this was a riveting read. I enjoyed reading about Jack, I enjoyed reading about Nicky Vale (I like my evildoers interesting), I enjoyed reading all the fire science and even enjoyed reading about the insurance aspects.

I'll definitely pick up another Winslow (this was my first book by the author) -- just too bad he didn't turn Jack into the protagonist of a whole series of books.

60littlegreycloud
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 27, 2014, 4:02 pm

One more loose end from last year:

Book 71 (I think this is my lowest total ever, '13 was a strange year) in 2013 was The Cuckoo's Calling by J. K. Rowling.

I think I like everything this woman writes. I loved Harry Potter at the time and I also enjoyed The Casual Vacancy, even though apparently not many people did. (I found it works really well as an audiobook.)

Exactly one year after listening to TCV, I found myself listening to The Cuckoo's Calling and while it possibly wasn't the most riveting mystery I've ever encountered, I rather liked both Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin. I'll listen to their next adventure in the hope that she will dump her fiancé, however. I see the new book will be out in June, so perhaps I'll save this for my last listen of this year and make it a December tradition.:)