GingerbreadMan's 1010

I joined LT just before summer, way to late to hop on the 999 train. But this next one I won't miss (he yelled, four and a half months in advance...)! I've been keeping a close reader's journal for almost thirteen years already, and love setting up rules and assignments to help me go in new directions with my reading.

Having a small child at home and a pretty intense workload, 100 books just isn't realistic for me. Instead I'll be going with SquekyChu's briliant countdown version. I tend to end up around 60-65 books per year, so 55 might be on the low side, but I prefer feeling all mighty as I start going for extras in october rather than realising I'm 35 short...

My categories and numbers will be:

1 Nosebreaker (you know those BIG format books on the bottom shelves? The ones about art or photography or geography? I'm going to read one of them, not just look at the pretty pictures)

2 Re-reads (a bit on the low side, to be sure)

3 Nobel Prize winners (that I have or haven't read before)

4 Books by African, Asian or South American authors (because I'm fighting tooth and nail not to settle for a Euro-American canon. An ongoing project)

5 The Moldy Ones (Books that have been sitting on my shelves for at least ten years without being read. Cheap used bookstores will sometimes do that to you...)

6 What I did for my summer holidays (Books in which travel plays an important part, probably mostly fiction)

7 Huh? What hype?? (For some reason I rarely go for those books everyone is talking about WHEN everyone talks about them. I tend to be in the middle of something completely else, and discover them a couple of years later instead. Some books in this category I'll probably be the last person in the northern hemisphere to read)

8 Thrown my way (This will include books I read for work, mostly theatre stuff, and recommendations from friends and LT:ers)

9 Sci-Fi & Fantasy (Actually pretty high for me, but I'm finding a lot of new interesting things in these genres these days. I'm utterly smitten with this thing called New Weird for instance)

10 The rest (everything that doesn't fit anywhere else)

Bonus Blend: Further reading (books I've been inspired to read by books within the challenge), Relegated books (that have been pushed off my lists because newer and shinier things have come along during the challenge) and Graphic novels (because they mess up my page count). I'm aiming for twelve bonus reads in all, representing one a month.

A few more things: I'm swedish, and thus more than a few books will likely be in my mother tongue and not available in english. I'm sorry about that, all you anglophones! This thread will be entirely in english though.

As part of a reading policy of mine, I'm always aiming at reading an equal number of books by male and female authors.

Right. Now I'll just sit and roll my thumbs until january,then...

090812 Changed category 7
090825 Added a bonus category
091210 Swapped places for categories 6 and 7
100303 Changed the bonus category

1 Nosebreaker - Completed!
1. En historia om läsning (A history of reading) by Alberto Manguel, finished feb 27th, ***, #120

2 Re-reads:
1.
2.

Candidates:
Jazz by Toni Morrison
Pappan och havet (Moominpappa at sea) by Tove Jansson

3 Nobel prize winners:
1. Mannen utan öde (Fateless) by Imre Kertész, finished march 2nd, *****,#121
2. Lust by Elfriede Jelinek, finished may 30th, *½, #189
3.

Candidates:
Löwensköldska ringen (The Löwensköld ring) by Selma Lagerlöf

4 Books by African/Asian/South American authors:
1. Vår förlorade heder (Les honneurs perdus) by Calixte Beyala, finished march 12th, ***, #137
2.
3.
4.

Candidates:
De vilda detektiverna (The savage detectives) by Roberto Bolaño
Kafka på stranden (Kafka on the shore) by Haruki Murakami
Ake by Wole Soyinka

5 The Moldy Ones:
1. Vanvettslandet (These demented lands) by Alan Warner, finished jan 13th, **1/2, #72
2. Rövarbruden (The robber bride) by Margaret Atwood, finished april 20th, ***, #158
3. Begrav mig stående (Bury me standing) by Isobel Fonseca (non-fiction), finished june 6th, ***½, #190
4.
5.

Candidates:
Vatikanens källare (The Vatican cellars) by André Gide
Samlade noveller och prosaskisser (The complete shorter fiction of Virginia Woolf) by Virginia Woolf

6 What I did for my summer holidays:
1. Rödöra (Oreille rouge) by Éric Chevillard, finished jan 22nd, ****, #92
2. Ben, in the world by Doris Lessing, finished april 2nd, ***½, #151
3. Expedition L (L) by Erlend Loe, finished april 24th, ****, #165
4.
5.
6.

Candidates:
Dem oss skyldiga äro by Cilla Naumann
Till Patagonien (In Patagonia) by Bruce Chatwin (non-fiction)
Canal dreams by Iain Banks

7 Huh? What hype?:
1. Luftslottet som sprängdes (The girl who kicked the hornets' nest) by Stieg Larsson, finished jan 20th, ***1/2, #81
2. Fröken Smillas känsla för snö (Smilla's sense of snow) by Peter Hoeg, finished march 15th, ***1/2, #138
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Candidates:
Allt är upplyst (Everything is illuminated) by Jonathan Safran Foer
Darkly dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Gomorra by Roberto Saviano (non-fiction)
Över näktergalens golv (Across the nightingale floor )by Lian Hearn
Öster om Eden (East of Eden) by John Steinbeck

8 Thrown my way - Completed!
1. Boneshaker by Cheri Priest (LT buzz), finished jan 9th, ***½, #66
2. Världens lyckligaste folk by Lena Sundström (Work-related) non-fiction, finished jan 31st, ****, #101
3. Metro 2033 by Dmitrij Gluchovskij (present from Dad), finished march 27th, ****½, #147
4. Aniara by Harry Martinsson (Theatre performance), finished march 30th, ***, #150
5. The earth hums in B-flat by Mari Strachan (tip from cbl_tn), finished april 7th, ****½, #155
6. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (tip from clfisha, LauraBrook, CarlosMcRey), finished april 27th, *****, #167
7. Lång dags färd mot natt (Long day's journey into night) by Euegne O'Neill (work-related) Re-read, finished may 22nd, ***½, #185
8. Vad du inte vet om mig by Jonas Fröberg/Catharina Mattsson, finished june 6th, **½, #191

Candidates:
Den oändliga rättvisans matematik (The Algebra of infinite justice) by Arundhati Roy (present from Johanna) non-fiction
Cry, the beloved country by Alan Paton (tip from cmbohn)
The little stranger by Sarah Waters (tip from Flea)

9 Sci-Fi & Fantasy:
1. The Etched City by KJ Bishop, finished feb 10th, ****, #108
2. Cirkus Pilo (The Pilo Family Circus), finished feb 14th, ****, #113
3. Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler, finished march 21st, ****, #142
4. Finch by Jeff VanderMeer, finished may 21st, *****, #182
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Candidates:
Vellum by Hal Duncan
Living next door to the god of love by Justina Robson
Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer
Flow my tears, the policeman said by Philip K. Dick
The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited diseases
Brown girl in the ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Black juice by Margo Lanagan

10 The rest:
1. Kiffe kiffe imorgon (Kiffe kiffe tomorrow) by Faïza Guène, finished jan 1st. ***, #65
2. Sulphuric acid by Amélie Nothomb, finished march 4th, ***1/2, #129
3. Oskuldens minut by Sara Lidman. fisnished may 3rd, ****, #174
4. Båten (The boat) by Nam Le, finished may 26th, ****, #186
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Candidates:
Memento mori by Muriel Spark
Mannen på Trinisla by Jerker Virdborg
In cold blood by Truman Capote (non-fiction)
The brief and frightening reign of Phil by George Saunders
Intet by Janne Teller
Alberte och Jakob by Cora Sandel
Sju bröder by Aleksis Kivi

Bonus Blend:
1. The long Halloween by Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale, finished march 3rd, ****, #128
2. Haunted Knight by Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale, finished march 7th, **, #133
3. Top 10: The forty-niners by Alan Moore/Gene Ha, finished may 22nd, ****, #183

It sounds like fun! I did a global reading category for the 999 and really enjoyed it. Well, mostly. ;-)

My eyes are, of course, drawn to the "mostly". Which, of course, raises the question if you have any "avoid like last week's shrimp" un-suggestions for me?

I *really* hated The God of Small Things. It has some good reviews, but I found it super, super depressing. Cry, the Beloved Country was my favorite from this category.

I read The God of Small Things something like six years ago. I remember being quite happy with the turns it took, mainly that it didn't turn out to be another "tall and colorful family tale" which I was fed up with at the time. This being said, I can't say I remember much about the book.

Paton's book looks interesting indeed. I'll put it behind my ear for later!

Stockholm is a beautiful place. Loved the art museum but didn't get the chance to go into a bookstore. Maybe next time. Thanks for giving us the English version of your thread. I can never tell what my sister-in-law is reading because she doesn't translate the titles for me and I have picked up very few words in Swedish.

I saw the movie Let the Right One In and am wondering if the book is worth a try. Have you read it?

I hugely enjoyed Let the right one in. I'm no horror book coneisseur, but to me it felt like a fresh take on the vampire theme, apart from being a good story. It's fairly compulsive reading, though. One of those "just one more chapter" books. Nothing John Ajvide Lindqvist has written since compares, in my opinion.

As someone who hasn't yet managed to read The Life of Pi, I will be watching your sixth category with anticipation!

@ No 18 Hah! While actually having read The life of Pi, that's exactly the kind of book I'm talking about for that category. I have more than a few of those glaring at me from the shelves. Could also be "must read"-classics of course. I have some shameful gaps there too...

Some very interesting categories and will be interested to see your selections (especially in the middle sections of 4,5 & 6).

Hey thanks, djay666. There's a risk, of course that 4,5,6 and 7 will blur each other a bit. But I'll try to keep them distinct.

After pondering a little bit, it seems to me that a lot of categories 4, 5 and 6 will likely be filled with writers that are new to me. Which makes category 7 kind of blurry. Plus the idea of having a thematic category, like AHS-Wolfy's wolves or englishrose's roses, appeals to me a lot.

After checking my TBR mounds, I'm going to swap "7 writers new to me" to "7 books about travel". Yay. I feel good about this.

LOVE your categories. Btw, I never read Life of Pi either (and don't intend to).

Ha! I just finished Life of Pi! And it was good, really good. So happy I don't have to transfer it over here. There will be others...

I'm actually pondering to start filling out categories, for the heck of it but also to half-commit to my hefty TBR mound. Who knows, there might be other prompts in there? ;-)

@#24, Thank you! You seem very adamant NOT to read Life of Pi :-) Is there a story there, or are you just the same sort of stubborn individualist as I, actually getting put off by the fact that everybody else raves?

I''m less driven off by the hype, than by the idea that the book is worthy, or it comes along when I'm not in the mood for that sort of book and by the time I am, something new or shinier has come along.

@#24 should be @#25. I was reffering to the "(and i don't intend to)" from jhedlund. Sorry for the mix-up.

Couldn't help myself, but started listing a little bit. I'm just adding from my TBR mound so far. Hopefully I'll bring the read/unread ratio up a little bit next year!

You know, I kept trying to get myself to read it, and I had it on my shelf for a long time. Every time I picked it up I'd put it right back down again. I guess the idea of this kid and a tiger on a boat for nearly a year just wasn't appealing. I'm sure this is an absolutely unfair comparison, but I HATED the movie "Castaway" (where Tom Hanks ends up stranded on an island for however many years). The premise of the book seemed too similar, though. Eventually, I told the little voice inside my head saying, "you SHOULD read it," to shut up and I gave it away on bookmooch to keep it quiet for good.

Sometimes you just have to accept that a book isn't for you even if it seems to be for everyone else. :-)

@#30 I know that feeling and that voice really well, jhedlund. There are very few simularities between Castaway and Life of Pi (and yes, I liked it!), but when the spark just isn't there it isn't. Good for you that you listen to that!

Pondering a bonus category, just to put a little pressure on. Possibly "Further reading", books I've been inspired to read from the books in the challenge (continuation of series, other books by the same author, or on the same subject).

But how to do that without breaking the 10 structure? Hmm.

#32 Cyderry added a bonus category, but I can't remember just how she structured it...

I didn't add a bonus category but (at the moment) I have a books inspired by other books category to be filled in (as and when I get inspired). I really should be organising but 2010 seems like a long way off! :)

Cheli and I both added bonus categories. I think we both are making it 20, for the 20 in 2010.

@#35 75 is too much for me next year, I think. And 20 bonus books would make the whole thing a bit unbalanced since I do the stepped version. The easiest way would just be to keep the bonus category open end, I suppose.

I've also been thinking about what else to do with the step challenge - for me, 55 books isn't very many. Your mention of an open-end bonus category might be a good place to simply list all those books that fall outside the scope of the challenge - either because they don't fit in a category or because the category is already full. That might just work....

Med risk för att skrämma våra Engelsk-talande vänner, så ville jag bara säga hej till en landsman! :) Välkommen!!

(Just a greeting from a fellow countryman!)

@#37 I'm doing a lot of fat'uns next year, so 55 might be realistic for me. But it's fun to push things a little, of course. The problem for me in just having an open open-end bonus category is that it kind of makes my 10th category of "everything else" pretty useless... I think I'll go for a bonus category of "further reading" with twelve books - like, one for each month of 2010. That'll bring me up to 67 total. A good challenge for me for where I am in life at the moment (that is: work, small child).

@#38 Hej hej! Vad kul att ha en svensk till ombord. Ska omedelbart ta mig över till din tråd och kolla vad du gör 2010! (~Good to see a fellow swede. I'll go check your thread immediately.)

Finally (or, well...) decided to go with the "Further reading" bonus category, consisting of twelve more books.

Beginning to populate my lists....Does anyone but me feel a slight dizziness at trying to do several challenges at once? Ten categories, equally divided between men and women (WHY don't I have any books involving travel written by women, grmbll??), set in american states and European countries not yet ticked off my lists, preferably already in my TBR piles...

I'm guessing this is an LT disease, right?

A highly contagious one at that.

>Does anyone but me feel a slight dizziness at trying to do several challenges at once?

I have the 999/1010, the European one, the Alphabet ones and the Around the World one. It's actually fun - changing the focus now and then :)

PS: A history of reading is highly readable and enjoyable (at least I thought so when I read it).

@43 Oh great! I've been oogling it for a few years, but the format (about one and a half times as high and wide as a "normal" hardback) has deterred me. But I'm looking forward to reading it!

Guess they publish it in a strange format everywhere... Here it was in a oversized paperback/hardback but at least they published in the same format all books from the same series (publisher series for non-fiction) :)

Hi, I have The Library at Night on my TBR so will be interested in what you think of A history of reading .

#41/43 I think LT challenges are addictive but currently I am doing only 2.. time will tell.

#41 I have all sorts of LT challenges but the one that is the key one, that is my main focus, this year, is the 999 challenge. Next year, it'll be the 1010 challenge.

I try to read the other books insofar as I can fit them into 999.

@46 I will try to read it fairly early in 2010, I think. I review everything I read here.

@47 Oh, I consider this the main challenge also. But I can't help trying to tick a few boxes more if I can.

It would probably help if I'd make books set in Europe or books set in U.S. states a category but do I do that? No.

At least I am making progress on the American Presidents Challenge.

Hi, just popped by to check out your interesting categories. I like that you are suggesting "candidates" to read as we all know how things can change. I hate to commit to a book only to change my mind later. I'll be back to follow your progress.

@50, yes that's exactly my thoughts on "candidates". It's only september - but I can't help starting just a tad bit.... This semi-committing makes a lot of sense to me. And since everything is from my TBR mountain range (haven't dared counting them, but it's in the several hundreds...)it actually helps me to keep my compulsive book-buying under control. For the time being, at least.

Been fiddling a bit with the lists today, and I think I'm beginning to have my challenge set. Category 8 will be kept more open, to have some room for plays and stuff that I need to read for work (I read about ten plays a week, but I've long since decided not to count stencilled copies).

It's sobering and a little scary realising how many books from Mt. TBR now officially won't be read until 2011 (at the earliest). A certain self deception is revealed, even if I'll very likely cling to the idea of a bonus category like a drowning man. As it is, with this mixture of big'uns and slender books, I DO expect to exceed 55 books. A twelve book bonus category (one more book a month, so to speak) for a total of 67 is a challenge, though. Haven't read that many in a year for at least four or five years.

I oogle my fellow 1010:ers who have already started with a little envy. Are you having as much fun as it seems?

#52 Yes we are. :)

>52 GingerbreadMan:. Indeed! You could start..... ;)

@54 Tempting, but that would mean I had to rearrange my lists a lot. I have about six more books I hope to read before the new year. So I'm sticking to january. (Also, I've already found two or three more books on Mt. TBR I want to try and fit into the challenge. I'm bound to fiddle with this until the very end...)

Yes, the downside of filling in the categories with books pulled from your shelves is the harsh reality that that means that other books will languish unread for another year. It also means I should stop accumulating books, but I'm going to ignore that insight.

Ok, I've just realised I won't read all the books I was hoping for until new year's. And rather than postponing Virdborg's Mannen på Trinisla to beyond the horizon (freaking 2011!) I rearranged a little bit, swapped places for categories 6 and 7, moved a title or two and presto! Now I'm really good to go, I think. I even have some room for a christmas book or two in category 8.

What was that? Well yes, I suppose it is possible I'm just fiddling around because I'm eager to get started. No, I perhaps don't think it's necessarily in everyone's interest to follow my process of juggling titles before I've even actually started. Thank you ever so much for asking.

Status report:
- Moved some titles around again, trying to make some room for some actual work-related reading in my "Recommendations and work-related reading" category. Kit Whitfield won't happen until the bonus category, at the earliest.

- Tempted to start populating my twelve book bonus category too. I am aware I'm being ridiculous however, and has managed to refrian for now.

- As I'm decided to start january 1st and no sooner, I'm now trying to find the ideal reading for the nine days remaining of 2009. Preferably I finish my last book before the challenge on New Year's Eve. So, do I go for a big one or as many thin ones I can fit in? Christmas time is tricky planning for reading nowadays - with the house full of relatives and a two year old running around, reading time is not like it used to be. I'm not complaining though :)

- This might be the last time I'm in before Christmas (Christmas Eve is the big one in Sweden, rather than Christmas day), so I'm taking this opportunity to wish all my fellow LT:ers a happy one (or hanukka or kwanzaa or midvinter!) It's minus fourteen degrees celsius here in Stockholm and lots of glittering snow, so it looks like a white christmas for the first time in years!

Have a great Christmas, GingerbreadMan. I will be celebrating on Vancouver Island and look forward to a mild, probably wet, green Christmas.

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!!!

My mum just left for Stockholm to celebrate the holidays with my brother, so I'm happy to hear they are getting a white Xmas!

See you on the "other side!" :)

Happy Holidays, GingerbreadMan! No snow here in the American South, but relatives did get stuck in the snow as they crossed the Appalachian mountains on their way to us.

Thank you, all of you. Hope you had great holidays!

I'm reading short books and magazines now, eagerly awaiting my 1010. Oh, and I've added a page count ticker, estimating my average book is around 270 pages long. Just to keep from fiddling my thumbs, I 'spose...

Hi GingerbreadMan. I find that I am also eagerly awaiting Jan 1 to start my challenge though I have plenty to read that won't be on my lists. My TBR pile is heavy on SF/F/Mystery and I'm using the challenge to go beyond those categories. Doesn't mean I eliminated them though; can't do without my fixes. My categories are fixed, but I haven't figured out all the books that will go into them yet. I'll probably continue to add as I discover more here on LT. Just started in Nov and loving it. Happy New Year! By the way, just got Life of Pi for one of my cat. and glad to hear you and Ridgeway liked it.

I'm the designated driver to tonight's party, so I might be in shape to read a few pages when we come home in the wee hours. Got Kiffe kiffe tomorrow on my bedside table, which I expect to be a quick read to start with.

Going away on a trip january second through sixth, and will bring along Boneshaker which I've been petting since I bought it three weeks ago. Great finally getting started on my first annual challenge!

Happy new year everybody!

After staying up til waaaay too late at yeasterday's party, my 2 1/2 year old son has taken a three hour afternoon nap today. Snuggle up to read time for Flea and me, and quite enough time to finish my first book for this challenge. It was exactly the quick and easy read I expected it to be.

1. Kiffe kiffe imorgon (Kiffe kiffe tomorrow) by Faïza Guène.
Category 10. The rest, 169 pages.

Written almost, but not quite, in diary form, Kiffe Kiffe tomorrow follows fifteen year old Daria for a year in Paris slum/project suburb "Paradise". She's born of Moroccan parents, but her dad has left the family and remarried in the home land. Daria's mum can't read or write and works as a hotel cleaner.

This book is very similar to many other european tales from the rough suburbs, frontlines of the failure of intergration. There's a fair bit of poverty (including heartbreaking little episodes like getting laughed at at school because your second hand t-shirt turns out to be a pyjama top), a bit of well-meaning but stupid authorities, a bit of islam, a bit of drugs, some oppression of women, a bit of reluctant love (with the most obnoxious boy ever, of course), a fair bit of anger and frustration and a hefty dose of humour and self irony. It's cute, well-written, young and fast. But I think it could have done with a little more structure. And above all, a little more teeth so to speak. If you haven't read this story many times before though, it's a good YA novel. As 3 stars as they come, I'd say.

Didn't get much reading time during our trip to Gothenburg after New Year's, and even had to look to find my own thread! High time to post my second book!

2. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.
Category 8. Thrown my way, 416 pages.

Steampunk, pirates in air ships, a mad scientist AND zombies! This was one of those books I just knew I had to read when I started seeing it's title pop up in various LT threads. Add the fact that it's an incredibly good looking book (brown letters on sepia paper, even!) and it's no wonder it quickly wandered to the top of my TBR mountain range.

"Boneshaker" is set in 1880 in a warped Seattle, a town that began to swell rapidly as a result of the Klondike craze but in this version was brought to a sudden and pretty definite halt. Genious inventor Leviticus Blue was appointed by the Russians to build a huge machine, a drilling and mining device to investigate the Klondike mountains under the permaforst. On it's first testrun, however, the Boneshaker got out of control, caving in half of Seattle downtown. Worse: it managed to release a poisonous underground gas, the Blight, which turns people into "rotters", living dead, when inhaled. Seattle was sealed off behind giant walls, it's inhabitants now huddling in miserable existance on the outskirts, while the Blight-ridden town is infested with rotters. But since the poison gas can be distilled into a lethal drug, there are still people going in and out of Seattle proper, and also a small huddling population of criminals and outcasts still living there - relying on gas-masks, sealed off air pockets and huge ventilation furnaces for their existance.

Into this dangerous world enters fifteen year old Zeke, son of Leviticus Blue, adamant to find out about his father's role in the destruction of Seattle. And after him, to find her son and protect him from the real truth about his dead father comes Briar, Blue's widow and the town scapegoat. They travel different paths through the dangerous town, alternating as main characters, until the story comes together in an inevitable crescendo.

The premise is improbable (this is steampunk, people!), but Priest builds a neat and well-designed world. I really like the fact that she keeps the setting small-scale. And I've not read much zombie literature, but the scenes with the rotters work really well for me, suspenseful escapes through dark streets with a band of slobbering undead on your heels.

Overall, the storytelling is fast, actionpacked and exciting. But unfortunately, when Priest is going to bring the whole book together, she falls into some sad clichés. I would happily have done without the villain in a mask and flowing cape snarling things like "Ignorant fool! I would have given you everything!", and the book's conclusion seems like a little bit of an anticlimax.

I really wanted for this book to blow me away. The last quarter does bring it down a notch, though. Even though I had fun all the way through and most definitely will look for more books by Priest, I'm left with a slight feeling of disappointment. Still, a recommended and high-paced read. 3 1/2 stars.

That's a real shame, still sounds like it's still worth hunting down.

Oh, it is! It's just a shame it isn't all it could have been. First half of it turned my expectations up a little too high, I guess.

Now dusting off These demented lands by Alan Warner for my Moldy Ones category!

Steampunk and zombies? I love genre-benders and sometimes I like my villains over-the-top, so it might work for me. Thanks for the review!

Well, you've convinced me to try Boneshaker as the first in my "genreblending" category, and I've added it to my requests from the library. It will definitely be different from what I normally read, but it sounds fun!

@70 Very cool, bell7. Branching out is seldom a waste of time. I hope you like it!

Just fininshed my third book of the year, review below. No real hit there either. Even if I thought Boneshaker was above average, I have yet to be really wowed by anything. Hopefully Luftslottet som exploderade (The girl who kicked the hornets' nest) is going to spice things up a bit. I liked the first two books (the first more than the second though) when I read them a few years ago, but somehow never picked up the third part. (I'm reading it for my "books I missed when everybody else read them" category, by the way. I know the english translation is brand new, but here in Sweden, the Millennium trilogy is sooo 2007... And I missed it, nose in some other book. As per usual.)

3. Vanvettslandet (These demented lands) by Alan Warner
Category 5. The moldy ones , 329 pages

This was a sequel I guess I would perhaps rather have done without. Taking up the thread right where the first book about Morvern Callar left off, this is still a book with a very different flavour. Too different, in my opinion. These demented lands is written in a style only loosely resembling the first book. Oh, the tall tales and frantic drinking and drugging are all there. But where that in the first book contrasted with poetic attention to detail, here it's not really contrasting with anything. Things are frantic, flipped and - worst - abstract throughout. I also kind of miss Morvern herself. In the first book she's this quiet, strange girl that still is relateable, even when making some pretty weird choices. Here I mostly get the feeling of an empty vessel, someone things are happening to, but with very little real personality. I don't care much about the power triangle plot either.

Redeeming features are due to Warner's twisted imagination. All kind of weird stories told around campfires and drunken shananagans (and there are a lot of those) are still fun in a way that, despite all, feels warm and almost gentle. But I think I would have preferred to leave Morvern walking on that railroad track where she left off in the first book, rave baby in her tummy, stolen manuscript, glittering kneecap and all. 2 1/2 stars.

Warner is a pretty special writer. But it doesn't quite show here. Read Morvern Callar instead, and skip this. Or go for Warner's best book, the dirty and cheery The sopranos!

I was toying choosing The sopranos for my choral/music category but I shied away from it (mixed reviews, wasn't sure of the subject). Its nice to see a recommendation of it I might hunt down a library copy.

I say go for it. And congrats on finsihing your first book for the challenge!

I read Nobel winner One Hundred Years of Solitude for my 1001 category. Have you read it? It was my first "magical realism" and I enjoyed it very much, after I got over my intimidation. I am interested to read your reviews of other Nobel books. Excellent review for Boneshaker. I think I my try it, a new type of fantasy for me. Thanks again for the Curious Incident push.

I had a fling with Marquez in my late teens, and read One hundred years of solitude and a few other titles then. I remember I liked it a lot back then. Haven't read Marquez in many years now, and Love in the time of cholera is still sitting unread on my shelf. I was pondering it for my category 4, but in the end went with Bolaño as my south american representatvie. I'm really curious about him! The savage detectives will very likely be my fat july read though, so it's not up for some time yet. And who knows, if I manage to get to my bonus reads, Marquez might be up.

I'm not taking any credit for the curious incident. I was merely on of many pushers!

I also have a Nobel category, and have just added Selma Lagerlof to it.

Enjoyed Love in the Time of the Cholera - quite a light read.

Touchstone!

Hi GingerbreadMan - I also have Darkly Dreaming Dexter on my list! I have no idea when I'll be reading it, although it's a pretty thin book so it should be easy to squeeze in somewhere.

@77 I guess Selma Lagerlöf falls under the headline "forgotten nobel winners" in most of the world - especially since her prize stems form the old days when the Academy thought it was proper to give it to their own members on a semiregular basis (The number of swedes awarded the prize is way out of proportion, meaning that it'll be loooooong before we see another swede get it, no matter how deserving they may be). But in the Swedish literary canon she's very much alive. A writer like John Ajvide Lindqvist, for instance, often points her out as a big influence. I find her very readable, too!

@78 Since I supidly didn't leave room for series continuation anywhere in the challenge, I'm guessing I'll save Darkly dreaming Dexter to fairly late in the year. That way I might squeeze a sequel or two into my bonus category.

I've been meaning to read 100 years and life in the time of cholera for years now. maybe this is the year. we'll see.

4. Luftslottet som sprängdes (The girl who kicked the hornets' nest) by Stieg Larsson
Category 7. Huh? What hype?, 704 pages.

Like I wrote earlier, while the translation into english is just published everybody in Sweden read The Millenium trilogy in 2007 and 2008. I listened to the first two parts as unabridged audio books during a period when I travelled a lot for work, but somehow never got around to reading the third book - the one I had on paper - then. Since planning to read it for this challenge I've been a little worried to pick up the rather complex plot lines almost two years later, especially since I've seen one or two people here on LT claim that they had a hard time after a break of even just a few months. I found it easy to get back in the saddle however and that the book, while picking up where The girl who played with fire left off, gave good repetition to help out. Mind you, I could be helped just by being familiar with Swedish names though.

Each book in the Milennium trilogy explores a different crime novel genre. After puzzle and police procedural, this concluding part, is part political spy thriller, part juridical novel. And I think Larsson pulls it off. This is a highly addictive page turner that, for lack of a better word, delivers. Larsson writes a clear, transparant prose with good attention to detail without losing pace. And though extraordinary, he manages to present the plot as believable.

Among the things I really like is that the book refrains from mushing up Lisbeth. She stays true to her complex and none-too-pleasant character throughout. I also like the political dimension of the books, with their constant relation to the patriarchy and opression of women in different shapes and forms.

But a few things brings this book down a notch for me. Firstly, while I (like everybody else) love Lisbeth, Mikael strikes me as pretty flat as a character, even annoying. Seems that the things definining him are primarily his very straightforward charm visavi women and his stubborn refusal to quit, and it isn't quite enough for me.

Secondly, Larsson's obsession with friends having uncomplicated casual sex (Lisbeth with Miriam Wu, a german business man and Mikael, Mikael with anything in a skirt basically) gets irritating after a while. The understated, matter of fact dialogues that lead into the sack here, there and everywhere leave me cringing in a corner.

And thirdly, the dramaturgy in the end limps a bit when the bad guys suddenly cannot do one single thing right or make one correct assumption.

That being said, this book, like the earlier in the series, is virtually impossible to put down. 3,5 stars.

Fixing a few typos

On a side note, this books deals so much with the Swedish legal, police and political system (even using an actual old prime minister as a minor character), I'm a little curious about it's international best seller status. Would be very interested to hear how you readers from other countries related to that. Was the book stuffed full with translator's notes? Or were those parts self-explanatory? Or did you just shrug and read on?

Some good questions, GingerbreadMan and I can't wait to see the discussion. I hope to read the latter two books this year.

#81 This book won't be available here (at least not at my library) until mid-June. After reading your comments, I don't want to wait that long!

Glad to see your comments about the casual sex thing, though. That made me cringe a bit in the first 2 books, too. That behavoir seems like something right out of the '60s and '70s - no mention of protection, either, as I recall. I'm hoping that this was just the author's fantasy and not widespread reality in present-day Sweden (or anywhere, for that matter).

Great review. Anxiously waiting to read it for myself!

Thank you both!

@84 I personally have no moral issues with casual sex. Like Larsson I guess, I think consenting adults are free to do what they want. I just thought the pattern became pretty tired and repetitive, and that he greatly overstates his point on the matter. (And yes, it does very much feel like the author's fantasy.)

#85 Moral issues aside (I'll admit to being a bit of a prude, but I try to keep that to myself), I was thinking of it as more of a health/safety issue. I certainly have no objections to fantasy! ;-)

I think Manguel is brilliant - loved his the library at night and the history of reading has been on my wish list for a while - await your review with bated breath :-)

we share some TBR I see - wasn't sure you saw my reply to the post on finch in my post - I couldn't wait and ordered it from the States - hope you can get hold of it...

@87-88. Looking forward to A history of reading and will likely pick it up in february or march (have a few other titles I want to get to first). The book is in a silly format though (big and unpractical), so I'm likely to read it paralel with something else, more suitable to bring on my daily commute to work.

I picked up Finch from Stockholm's excellent Science fiction-bokhandeln yesterday! Still haven't decided where to fit it, but I'll likely read it as part of my category nine, instead saving Veniss Underground for my (hopefully) bonus reads later in the year.

I was interested in your comments about These Demented Lands. I don't think I knew there was a sequel to Morvern Callar - it certainly didn't need one - I thought its open ending was the perfect ending to it.

@90 I agree! And the fact that the sequel picks up directly where the first one left off kind of...well, sits heavily on the first book a little bit. A shame, really.

5. Rödöra (Oreille rouge) by Éric Chevillard
Category 6. What I did for my summer holidays, 126 pages.

French writer Éric gets an invitation to spend time in Mali. At first he's adamant not to go. "Africa is clearest at a distance", he thinks. "Why go there and risk losing touch with the essence of it?" But then he gets a rush from the reaction he gets when he begins to drop his "Oh february, I might be in Africa then" in conversations. Things spiral a bit, and before he knows it he can't really back out anymore. He has to go.

But Mali, the river Niger and indeed Africa as a whole turns out to be a disappointment. He doesn't get to see any exotic animals - despite numerous Hippo safaris. The wild and strange soul of the Dark Continent annoyingly eludes him. He takes pathetic pride in every dent and stain on his moleskin notbook (what else!) or the fact that he doesn't get an upset stomach ("My body belongs here"), and he looks with contempt at tourists. But the most exciting thing that really happens to him is getting sunburned ears (hence the title, Red ear) and a native nickname from the tribesmen of a village. What he doesn't know is that Maïga means Where is he?, alluding to the fact that he rarely leaves his room... Even walking across the savannah, he's too occupied with thinking about the fact that he's walking across the savannah (being the kind of traveller that doesn't stick to any touristy hike trail) to really experience anything.

What a humourous little gem of a book this is! It deconstructs the classic travel literature and the vagabond myth in a way that makes me blush, realating to my own backpacker days. But it also, in it's gentle understated way, pokes a hole in the whole western exoticism towards Africa as a continent and, not least, as a literary landscape. It's clever, witty and full of gentle irony. It had me giggling on almost every page. It's a crying shame it doesn't seem to be translated into english! 4 stars.

Ah sounds good, if only my linguistic skills weren't appalling. I have always wanted to go to Mali too.

#82 I am only half way through The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so it's going to me a while to get the 3rd one! Although I am already irritated with women throwing themselves at the main protagonist which doesn't bode well!

Just finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest and read right through the complicated Swedish politics thinking that they weren't quite enough to hang the plot on, but best not to quibble. There were explanatory notes at the end of the book.

I was entertained by Blomkvist's irrresistibility to women, and agree that it was wish fulfillment on Larsson's part. Very pleased for Salander that she showed so few ill effects from a bullet in the brain.

@94 We'll never know what Larsson was planning for later books, but getting shot in the head DOES look a little too easy, doesn't it? (On the other hand, she was pretty fond of that mathematical proof ;-)

I'm having a terribly slow reading week. Lots to do at work (some of very not fun indeed), leaving me too tired to do any reading in the evenings. I'm really enjoying The etched city, but am not progressing like I had hoped at the moment. Which means I'll need to put it on ice for a week or so. We are arranging a seminar at the theatre with the writer of Världens lyckligaste folk (no touchstone), a book about the rise of xenophobia and right wing populism to political power in Denmark - a trend we are beginning to see in Sweden as well. I'm moderating, and therefor need to make the book a priority. Doesn't feel like a chore at all, though! First hundred pages flew by, leaving me worried, disturbed and a little wiser.

Forced to read, eh? I'll be looking forward to what you have to say about the book on xenophobia in Scandinavia.

>94 pamelad: & 95: I read somewhere a while ago that Larsson had plans, outlines and notes for 7 books (I think that was 7 total, not 7 additional), but that his estate had decided not to do anything with them. Does anybody know if that's true?

@97, There were originally plans for 10 books but only part of the 4th book was written before he died. There is a write up about what's been going on about it here. Hopefully something can get sorted in the not too distant future especially now that the first three books have garnered so much praise not just in Sweden but around the world.

Just watched the first two movie adaptations and I've got to say they weren't too bad either. Obviously lots of stuff missed out from the books but still pretty decent films.

>98 AHS-Wolfy: Thanks for the info, Wolfy.

It seems to me that the books could lead to marvellous movies, if they're done well.

Världens lyckligaste folk sounds like a book I'd be really interested in reading, but I have no idea where I could get a copy. Could you suggest an online retailer?

6. Världens lyckligaste folk by Lena Sundström
Category 8. Thrown my way, 320 pages.

In the early 90ies, Sweden had a far-right-wing-populist-blame-everything-on-the-immigrants party in parliament. Thankfully, Ny demokrati proved to be extremely incompetent, and not only lost their seats in parliament by the next election, but also in a way "closed the market" for buffoons like that for many years in Swedish national politics.

For this autumn's election, however, the barely reformed racists in Sverigedemokraterna, after many years of success on a local level stand a very real chance of getting in. Which makes Lena Sundströms book a pretty worrying read. A very sturdy type of alarm clock, if you will.

Sundström, columnist at one of the big Swedish tabloids, returns to Denmark, our southern neighbour country, where she studied in her youth. She does so in order to try and figure out what the heck has happened there in the last ten years. How did cozy, happy (happiest in the world, according to UN statistics), never-take-yourself-too-seriously Denmark turn into a nation with an extremely nasty anti-islamic public rhetoric and one of the toughest immigration policies of the world?

What this book describes is how a small populist party, Dansk Folkeparti manages to tilt the public debate completely, making immigration and (lack of) integration top of everybody's political agenda and bringing all the other parties with them. Soon everybody seems to be outbidding each other in whipping up anti-immigration tension, with talks of "mass rape", "danishness being under threat" and "they hate us and breed like rats". And soon the happiest nation of all is passing laws that:
make it virtually impossible for a dane to marry a non-european and stay in the country;
an immigrant, in order to become a citizen, need to pass tests that most danes couldn't manage;
state that Denmark won't accept war refugees (from the UN quota) unless they are literate and un-traumatised;
And even more strange: this new wave of blame, fear and hatred is starting during an economic boom!

Sometimes I think Lena Sundström is making things a bit too easy, simplifying complex issues. She also overvalues the interest of her own re-aquaintance with Denmark a bit. But this is one important book, for Swedes not least. I'll be following the election campaign closely, with a slightly new set of glasses. 4 stars.

@100 Try at adlibris.com, for instance: http://www.adlibris.com/se/product.aspx?isbn=9173432474 (sorry, can't do links...) For you who's spent time there, I'm sure it's a both interesting and frightening read. Funny too, mind you!

Now picking up The etched city again! Looking forward to see where it goes!

101 - really interesting - Here in the US, I never hear of Danish politics

101/104 I agree a really interesting review. I am quite ignorant of Danish politics so I must to be confused* to the recent turn of events, it's a pity the book doesn't seem to be translated.

*Mind you I get confused why people vote for UK parties like BNP and UKIP. :)

I get confused as to why people vote for UKIP and BNP and I lived there. Maybe the incredible charisma of Kilroy-Smith or Nick Griffin? At least European nations have a claim to having indigenous populations, for what that's worth, unlike that nation of immigrants, the USA.

I reckon you could call most of us in the UK immigrants though - just many of the ancestors arrived a long time ago. Romans, Angles, Saxons and Normans - most people in the UK are descended from them :0>

Been having work up over my ears, and have been too tired to read in the evenings. Took me waaaay longer than I thought to finish my 7th book for the year!

7. The etched city by K.J Bishop
Category 9. Sci-fi & Fantasy, 467 pages

Bishop's first (and only) novel was among the first titles I picked up after reading China Miéville's Bas Lag books and getting really interested in trying to find books like them. I enjoyed KJ Bishop's short story in Vandermeer's anthology on The New Weird, and I kept seeing it referred to as a portal work of the genre. Since then I've (for some reason) put it on hold, while exploring Vandermeer's Ambergris books, Ford's Well-built City trilogy, Swainston's Fourland books, more Miéville, Viriconium...and so on and so forth. Now I can't really understand what took me so long. For this is a good book, with a pretty unique flavour.

The attempted revolution in Copper Country has failed. Gwynn the killer and Raule the doctor were both on the losing side. After spending years on the run from the victors' hunter squads, they stumble on each other again. They make a final run across the great salt desert, they travel on the steep railway up the Teleute shelf - and end up in a very different world indeed.

In the city state of Ashamoil they are separated almost immediately. Raule, not being allowed to practice medicine because she's a woman, is forced to take up a position as a healer of the poor in the slums. Gwynn begins to work as a henchman for a slave merchant, something Raule detests and which causes her to break all contact with him. Their paths cross from time to time, but the friendship that was is dead.

When Gwynn meets Beth, a talented but disturbing artist, his grounded, mundane, material existance is soon sent spinning. Weirdness creeps into Ashamoil's underbelly, and Beth is right at the centre of it.

This is a very unusual fantasy novel in many ways. It creates a world that is different but still "normal", where fantastical things does NOT tend to happen (indeed, our main character doesn't even believe in magic, spirit or the divine), making it confusing, scary and life-changing when they do. Also, it borrows it's imagery from surrealism, creating a dreamlike ambience where a lot of things are not explained or just hinted at. The magic of this book has nothing to do with your stapleware wands and fire bolts. Here it's an axe that leaves wounds full of growing flowers, a priest spawning locusts from his palms, a man with a lotus growing from his navel and the slow and painful process of turning into a mythological beast. It's not quite like anything I've read, but the above mentioned Well-built City trilogy by Jeffrey Ford springs to mind, as does Michael Ende's Der Spiegel im Spiegel.

The last fifty pages or so are perhaps a little abstract for my taste (except for the epilogue which is beautiful!), and it's a shame Bishop couldn't quite take proper care for her other main character. Raule's storyline is so much thinner than Gwynn's it kind of tilts the book's balance a bit. But if you are okay with your fantasy leaving open ends and unsolved riddles, I recommend this strong and original book. 4 stars.

Now making my first detour from my planning, being in the mood for some killer clowns: Starting The Pilo family circus!

#108 you almost make me want give [The Etched City] a 2nd chance! I fell in love with the 1st part but never really enjoyed change to Ashamoil. Partly I guess because I didn't like where Gwynn's character went and Raule's failed to counter balance that. I agree though a very interesting fantasy book.

and I hope you enjoy [The Pilo Family Circus], I loved its energy.

[The etched city] has been on my TBR for a loooong time, it may make it onto the challenge due to this recommendation :-)

[pilo family circus] is a very cool book - if you can, also track down the authors autobiography (its the only other book he's written) as thats a fascinating read too

@110-111 I shared your initial slump in enthusiasm with the beginning of part 2 of The etched city, claire, but found it to get more and more intricate and weird (in good way) as it progressed. Right up to the ending, as I wrote, when it lost it a bit for me. Hope you both enjoy it if and when you decide to check it out!

8. Cirkus Pilo (The Pilo Family Circus) by Will Elliott
Category 9. Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 310 pages.

Living with a bunch of drug addict slobs in a run-down house, working as a door man and not even daring to speak to the woman of his dreams - Jamie's life just isn't good. But things are about to get so much worse. When accidently stumbling upon Circus Pilo's clown division on one of their "outside world jobs" of complete mayhem, and even more accidently leaving the encounter with a bag of their wishing powder, Jamie is forced to audition for a place among the clowns. Passing the audition means saving his life, but life at the bizarre, hellish Circus Pilo might even be worse than death. This is a nightmare carnival world of overly bright colours, set on harvesting it's visitors, where feuds and hidden dangers are everywhere. And when smearing the Matter Manipulator's special clown paint on his face, Jamie discovers his inner clown - and JJ the clown is a very very nasty pice of work indeed.

What a high paced and horribly fun read this was! I loved the weird and twisted carnival world Elliot presents: full of deadly practical jokes, homicidal magicians, Born Again demons, freaks and lethal, androgynous acrobats with bulging jock straps. The first half of the novel, that sets the rules and presents the comic style/horrorshow cast, is just brilliant, like a twisted soap opera. It's safe to say I've never read anything like this.

Unfortunately, that Elliot's building a world that is not really mysterious, but rather logical in it's own strange way, becomes this book's weakness. When almost everything gets an explanation, I get frustrated with the threads left hanging in a way I'd never have been if the ambience had been more dreamlike. As it is, I find myself thinking about stuff like Georgie's place in the Pilo family, about who the Matter Manipulator really was, and about Gonko's pants (yes, really!). Also, the plot wears just a little thin and strained towards the end, making the closure of the book feel rather constructed.

For originality and freshness, this book should have full marks. But it's flaws brings it down a bit. 4 stars.

Now starting A history of reading at home, and, choosing not to bring such a clumsy tome with me on my daily commute, also Kertész Fateless.

We're having the coldest winter since 1856 or so up here. Today was pretty mild at minus 13 degrees celsius, compared to yesterday's minus 22...Tons of snow, collapsing roofs, all trains in the country more or less standing still for several days. And the Stockholm Underground doesn't travel any of it's above ground distances, making commuting a chaotic affair. I have a car, and work out of the city (which means skipping the traffic jams both on my way to and from work), so I can get there alright. But I miss my daily bus and tube rides! That's the only real time I get just for myself, and that's where I do most of my reading.

Hopefully the trains will be up and running again by the end of this week. Until then I progress painfully slowly with my two books.

>114 GingerbreadMan: OMG. That kind of weather will pretty much wreck your day and concentration, that's for sure.

We're also having a fairly heavy (by our standards) winter in the UK. At one point we had snow on the ground for near 3 weeks, and half the country stayed home on snow days! Lots of reading done then I think.

I moan when it drops below zero :-) Hope the weather has improved!

Do you think The Pilo Family Circus will exacerbate my coulrophobia? It sounds really interesting!

@114-117 We're back up close to zero now. Today it was even possible for me and my son to build a snowman!

@118 Ponder the image of an obese clown having intercourse with a potted plant, while making noises like a boiling kettle. If you can stomach that, you're good to go, I think. It IS interesting, believe me.

Reading tons these days, since I'm in the jury for a playwrighting contest. Which - again - means I'm not finding time to read my books for this challenge. February won't be very triumphant, I'm afraid...

Finished my first book in weeks yesterday! Which also concludes my first category (admittedly a one book category, but still! Where's my champagne?). I'm slightly underwhelmed, and won't miss the a-bit-too-big-to-be-readable-on-the-back format of this one. Yep, it's:

9. En historia om läsning (A history of reading) by Alberto Manguel
Category 1. Nosebreaker , 309 pages. Category completed!

Not at all organised as a straight chronological history of reading, this is rather a series of essays, following Maguel's associations around the subject. It's divided into two parts, where the first part focuses on different aspects on the act of reading (learning to read, reading loudly or quietly, reading the last page of a book and so on), the second on aspects of the postion of the reader in relation to the text (translators, readers of forbidden books, the image of the bookish fool etc.). A typical chapter centers on one or two prominent historical readers as examples of a phenomenon, but makes lots of detours, following a loose chain of association.

I personally much prefer the earlier part. Here Manguel draws more examples from his own reading life, making the essays personal and vivid. To me the second half of the book instead sadly focuses on a lot of namedropping, a drier and less interesting way of talking about something as engrossing as reading.

I know many love this book, but for me it doesn't quite live up to the hype. I guess I wolud have preferred a more Fadimanesque approach for the whole book. The Borgesian ending chapter however, is brilliant. (Yep, that's two adjectives derived from author names in a row.) 3 stars.

10. Mannen utan öde (Fateless) by Imre Kertész
Category 3. Nobel prize winners, 207 pages.

This is one of those books it just never seemed the right time to read. I’m sure we all have them – books of undeniable importance that we know we’ll want to read someday. Need even. Just not…today. And besides, what if it don’t like it? Worse, what if it doesn’t affect me? So despite being a slender volume and coming with strong recommendations from people I trust, despite reading other books dealing with the holocaust in the meantime, Fateless stared at me from my shelves for close to seven years before I finally picked it up.

This slim novel, drawing from the author’s own experiences, is telling the well known story of the concentration camps in the simplest way possible. The boy Györgi, already used to the limitations to his everyday life that comes with being a jew in Budapest in 1944, is asked to get off the bus on his way to work one day. After being rounded up in a house, in a mellow and almost friendly fashion, he and his friends are put on a train “to go to work in Germany”. Only when arriving at his destination he comes to realise that the stories of the death camps he’s always dismissed were true. The book then deals with Györgi’s prison life in Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Zeitz, right up til the liberation and his return home.

Kertész tells us this heart-wrenching story in style that’s laconic and completely understated, free of sentiment. Györgi treats the daily horrors of the camps as if they were inevitable, even natural, which gives the writing a form of held back force that is impossible to guard oneself against. The image the reader gets is that of complete disillusion and detachment as survival strategy. And when our narrator after returning home one single time describes what he’s feeling -“hate”- that simple word stands out as something extremely powerful.

This book is full of images and little descriptions that seem profound statements of life under such extreme circumstances. Such as the illogical will to prove yourself as a good worker to your tormentors. Or the utter boredom of life in the camps. Or the disappointment when you realise you still want to cling on to life despite being seriously ill. Or being worried at the ruckus of liberation if this means they’ll forget to serve evening soup. Or the strange sting of homesickness that hits you when thinking back on the camps.

This is a quick and easy read. And very difficult. And utterly thought-provoking. I can’t recommend it enough. This years first 5 stars!

That was an excellent review, GingerbreadMan. I've given it a thumbs up.

#121 I totally understand what you're saying about wanting - needing - to read a but, but not today. This is exactly the kind of book that I would be putting off, too. Excellent review. Thumbs up from me, too. I'm even adding it to my own wishlist so that I, too, can begin to delay reading it! :-)

@121, agree an excellant review, plus it gives me hope I might actually get round to reading some of my must reads!

Agreeing with the great-review-comments! And, I'm guessing you read it in Swedish and liked the translation, so I've snagged a Swedish copy on BM. Looking forward to reading it!

@122-124 Thank you so much!

I've just finished this year's first graphic novel, and after pondering the matter at ridiculous length and with ditto seriousness, I've decided not to add it to this challenge. This is partly because it messes up my pag count. And partly because I'll likely read a good handful of graphic novels this year and won't want to pick that many titles off my lists of candidates above.

Instead, graphic novels will be included in my All New And Much Improved bonus category (yes, I'm adding books to my bonus category in february...) Like so:

Bonus Blend: Further reading (books I've been inspired to read by books within the challenge), Relegated books (that have been pushed off my lists because newer and shinier things have come along during the challenge) and Graphic novels (because they mess up my page count). I'm aiming for twelve bonus reads in all, representing one a month.

@125 Thank you! I liked the swedish translation, yes. It also had a really good preface, actually.

Bonus Blend:
The long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, 371 pages.

Me and a colleague had a pretty interesting discussion a few weeks ago, about Batman as a potential myth. We came to the hypothesis that a thousand of years from now, the story of Batman could well be one of the classic archetypes of the 20th century. The story of the man who dresses up like a bat to avenge the death of his parents, the dark hero constantly battling the similarities between himself and the ones he's sworn to fight, has already been told and reinvented many times. It's proven to lend itself to such different retellings as the early detective stories, Warhol's 60ies clown show, Miller's gritty and dark realism and the dirty grotesque of the latest films. And with lots of interesting sub-myths to boot!

(Then we went on to debate our favourite villains.)

I was so inspired I went out and picked up this stylish graphic novel, one I haven't read in many years. And it was really nice visiting Loeb's Gotham again. The long Halloween is a "Year Two" story, taking place early in Batman's career. His more notorious foes are just beginning to appear, and one of the themes of this book is the dawning of a new era of crime in Gotham, where the classic gangsters are losing ground to the freaks. One interesting question brushed on in this book is if there's a connection between Batman's appearance and the arrival of the new strand of masked psycho. Is Batman in fact bringing them out, by being who he is?

Above all however, this is a nice, dark, crime mystery about a serial killer striking at different holidays. And a retelling of one of the more interesting sub-myths mentioned above: Harvey Dent's journey from struggling DA to the unpredictable Two-Face. A pleasant and stylish read all the way through, this. I'll be sure to check out more of Loeb's and Sale's work. 4 stars.

Making some progess now - mostly due to short reads :)

11. Sulphuric Acid by Amélie Nothomb
Category 10. The rest, 127 pages.

Amélie Nothomb has blown me away several times, and I always want (and half expect) her books to be bittersweet little gems with endings that give me goosebumps. But here I must admit I was pretty darn sceptical at first. She ventures into was must be considered very close to a dystopian cliché, especially in the genre's more recent years. In a near future France (of which we learn almost nothing) a reality TV show is rounding up random people, putting them in a concentration camp and televising their every move (Hoo-hum). The TV audience is voting who will be taken off the show and killed each day (Sigh). Not the freshest of ideas, is it? (And reading this almost directly after a real account from the holocaust didn't help either).

But then she almost pulls it off! The psychological power struggle between the prisoner Pannonique (beacon of hope amongst the prisoners, which she struggles to cope with) and the guard Zdena (who becomes obsessed with learning Pannonique's real name) also feels worn at first, but Nothomb manages to twist and turn this theme until it seems fresh, exciting and full of nerve.

She even finds a fresh take on the viewing public, by letting them not be bloodthirsty sadists, but rather appalled and full of empathy with the prisoners. It's precisely those feelings that make them tune in every night... The relationship between the viewers and their unknowing heroine Pannonique is the most interesting one in the book.

Unfortunately, the ending disappointed. It feels to me in turn strained, constructed and overly distorted, and drags the book down with it. It stays (just) clear of being mediocre, but I expect (there it is!) more from Mme Nothomb. If you haven't read her, I heartily recommend checking out Fear and trembling or Antichrista instead. 3 1/2 stars.

@128 although I really dislike the superhero genre I think Batman is one of the best, partly as you say is he is so versatile that creators can play with him to some extent. I mean I adore the silly 70s series as much as I love Frank Miller's The Dark Knight or even the latest xbox game. All good fun. :-)

Excellent review of Fateless. I read it several years ago and agree that it is well worth reading. There are 6 million plus Holocaust stories out there, and every one deserves to be told, even if we can't read them all.

I've always wanted to read Amelie Nothcomb, so I guess I will try one of the two you recommend, even though I do like dystopian fiction.

@130 "Really dislike" is a strong sentiment. Elaborate! (I can think of a thousand reasons myself, and most of it is just bad, but then there's a Watchmen, an Astro City, a Top Ten - or indeed The Dark knight or The long Halloween)

@131 I heartily recommend either of those titles! This, however, was not a representative first read, IMO.

Bonus Blend:
Haunted Knight by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, 190 pages.

My second book by Loeb/Sale, and pretty disappointing after the elegant The Long Halloween. This feels stressed and so much more conventional, and pretty much just what one would expect from just hearing mention of the combo "Batman/Halloween special". Fails to capture the creepiness (or the corniness) of both Scarecrow and The Mad Hatter, and lacks the complexity that makes the Batman mythos occasionally interesting. I guess I need longer narratives when it comes to Gotham. 2 stars.

Soon finished with Calixte Beyala's Vår förlorade heder, a novel set in Kamerun and Paris. Looking forward to fourteen hours on trains this weekend - expect to do some reading :)-

Well maybe I should of said generally really dislike, I mean I love Watchman :)

I just find the premise dull: that a super powerful being can save/create all your problems. I concede it can be done well but as you say there is a lot of bad stuff out there and I think the premise itself makes it too easy to write the same bad story, one with a simple 2 side morality, a plot consisting of saving the world/city/girl and relying on power top trumps to make it "exciting". The comic genre doesn't help either with its endemic sexism, the non existent concept of time (with long running superheroes) and silly outfits ;)

It is getting a tiny bit better but its still pretty poor, the only superhero stuff I have liked recently is the Misfits TV series.

Ahem, I will get off my soapbox now and go and read something about zombies.. I never tire of zombies :-)

My husband loves Loeb/Sale books. I'll have to ask him what he thought between The Long Halloween and Haunted Knight. My favorite of theirs is Catwoman: When in Rome. Have you read it?

@134 I agree, for the most part. When it IS interesting though, it is often precisely because the narrative manages to complicate the whole putting on a costume and fighting crime thing. Or indeed the concept of having super powers in itself. As for the sexism, you're absolutely right. I still react with happy surprise every time I see a female hero/villain who is not sporting a D-cup and flying, rich hair...

@135 Nope! I'm a little bit wary of Catwoman for the reasons stated above. But I'll keep an eye out. Thanks!

12. Vår förlorade heder (Les honneurs perdus) by Calixthe Beyala
Category 4. Books by African, Asian or South American authors, 352 pages.

Saïda grows up as part of an arab minority in the trench town "Couscous", outside the city of Douala in Kamerun. In the disappointment that she isn't a boy, her father gets in a fight with a neighbour, accidently poking his eye out. This event receives a hefty fine from the local chieftain, and puts a mark on Saïdas upbringing. Somehow she never quite gets in the marrying circus, and before even realising it herself she's getting too old. When finally touching on relations with the opposite sex, she inadvertedly causes a scandal and it becomes impossible for her to stay in Couscous. Well over forty, with nothing more than an adress to her ex-fiancée's cousin and a medical certificate guaranteeing her virginity (valid for ten years), then flees to Paris.

Here the cousin quickly tire of supporting Saïda, leaving her on the streets of slum suburb Belleville. But when she moves in with "princess" Ngaremba, the local letter writer for all Belleville's analphabets, and her matter-of-fact-daughter Loulouze, things slowly begin to change. First she gains a huge reputation for being the 50 year old virgin. And then, slowly, she begins to take her life, and her quest for love, into her own hands.

I don't quite know what to make of this book. It's pretty funny in a cynical sort of way, with a clever sense of disrespect. It's interesting to see an african writer looking at Africa in a comical light. But the narrative is too loose for me, and I don't really care about any of the characters. The book looks at them from without, it seems. And when Beyala then, at last, gets emotional and expects us to care for real, she's lost me at least. All in all, an alright read, but why it was getting selected novel of the year by the French Academy is beyond me. 3 stars.

13. Fröken Smilla's känsla för snö (Smilla's sense of snow) by Peter Hoeg
Category 7. Huh? What hype?, 445 pages.

Like everybody else with cultural aspirations in Scandinavia I was reading Peter Hoeg in the mid-nineties. Post-modernism gone accessible was the thing, and the way I recall it I spent a lot of those years reading Auster or Coe or Hoeg in bad light in smoke-filled cafés. And, pretty typical of me at the time, I read every book of Hoeg's, except the one everybody else read...

As I'm likely the last person in the northern hemisphere to read this, I'll keep the plot summary to a bare minimum. Smilla, of half inuit origin, is a stubborn, angry, hot-headed woman in her mid-thirties, intelligent but ever unable to deal with authority long enough to keep a job. When the neighbour boy Esajas falls of the roof of their Copenhagen project house, the investigation clearly states it was an accident. Smilla doesn't think so. She knows Esajas was terrified of heights, and she also knows snow. The footprints at the edge of the roof shows her something isn't right. She thinks Esajas was murdered, and sets out to discover who did it. What starts out as a murder mystery is then unveiled to be something rather bigger, and in order to punish the guilty, Smilla needs to return to Greenland, working undercover on a very secret expedition.

For me, what will stay from this novel are the descriptions of inuit life, culture and mentality. I can't know how it looks to a native, but for me this was a fascinating glimpse into a culture nurtured under extreme circumstances - and all but destroyed in the meeting with the west. The settings are very special. And Smilla is a cool heroine, and I feel I get to understand her way of thinking.

I'm a little less treated by the thriller structure. I'm the first to admit this is not my genre, but there's too much of rummaging through old offices, reading old newspapers, and meeting with people hinted at seventy pages ago for my taste. It also seems to me that this book uses an unusual amount of odd coincidences, chance meetings and people deciding to go to lenghts to help Smilla for no apparent reason, which flaws it's machinery a fair bit.

That being said, I loved the big pretentions of this book - in the end it proves to be something else and more than your standard crime thriller. Be warned however, if you need your books to neatly add up at the end, this is not for you. The rating is a close call for me with this one, but I'm keeping it cheap and staying at 3,5 stars. Another day it might had been 4, mind you!

#138 I only discovered Scandinavian authors about 18 months ago and have been captivated by most of them ever since. I was so excited about Smilla's Sense of Snow that I couldn't wait to read it. Once I finally got started, it was a huge let down and I gave up somewhere in the middle. I enjoy thrillers, so I fully expected to love this book. I guess my expectations were just too high. I'll try it again, but maybe you can suggest another Hoeg book that is better?

@139 Like I wrote, my Hoeg period was something like 15 years ago. But my definite favourite back then was Borderliners. It's also the only one I've been pondering to reread.

Which scandinavian writers do you like in particular? I might be able to toss some tips your way :)

#140 Oh, let's see - Arnaldur Indridasson was the first Scandinavian I read, and still my sentimental favorite. I've also read Per Pettersen (I liked his writing, but Out Stealing Horses could have used a little more action for my taste), Karin Fossum and Steig Larrson (loved them both), Peter Hoeg (well, half a book of his, anyway), and Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Unset.

On my "be sure to read someday soon" list, I've got books by Henning Mankell, Anders Roslund, Vilhem Moberg, Kerstin Ekman, Tove Jansson, Mikael Niemi, Haldor Laxness, and Maj Sjowall.

So, what "essential" Scandinavian writers am I missing?

14. Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler
Category 9. Sci-Fi and Fantasy, 310 pages

When Shori wakes up in the cave, badly burned and with a broken skull, she doesn't remember what's happened to her, or who lived in the torched houses nearby. She looks like an 11 or 12 year old little black girl, but is really a 53 year old vampire, genetically altered to be able to cope with sunlight. And as she rediscovers her past and the circumstances of her family's death, she's faced with bigotry from her own kind as well as the subtleties and complexities of human/vampire relationships.

This is my first book by Octavia E. Butler, but will not be my last. Written in a clear, straight, simple prose, this is a vampire story stripped of all horror elements - but also of the tiresome "predator with a soul" clihé. Admittedly, the racism angle is not new by a long shot, and the plot itself is straight as an arrow (this is no whodunnit, rather a willtheygetawaywithit). But what makes this book interesting and gripping is Butler's take on Ina (vampire) society and culture. Especially the realtionships between the Ina and the people she feeds from! Far from a soulless predator, in this world the Ina surrounds itself with a number of human symbionts, people who willingly give their blood for the narcotic substance in the Ina's saliva, which is both extremely pleasureable and helps prolong life. This creates an interesting metaphore in which Butler explores both the matter of free will, sexuality and even love. It's cool how she unflinchingly presents a form of polyamorous, gender-insensitive symbiosis as just another way of being a family (with it's unique set of problems), and I find myself caring for the characters in ways I didn't quite expect.

A well-built parable this, commenting on several issues, as well as a neat, original take on the vampire genre. 4 stars!

Oh, and stuff that only happens when you read in a language not your first: Only several days after finishing the book I realised I had no idea what the title actually meant. I literally found out about the bird ready to fly ten minutes ago...

@141 A lot of the best stuff is not available in english, sadly...For crime, check out Inger Frimansson or Karin Alvtegen. For more literary fiction, Per Olov Enquist, Monika Fagerholm or Torgny Lindgren. For fun and a bit of weirdness, Erlend Loe. For sci-fi and post-apocalypse, PC Jersild. Some really readable classics are Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Söderberg and Hunger by Knut Hamsun. Just to start you off :)

Really like several of the writers already on your list too!

142 - I've never read anything by Butler, but this sounds really different. I'm not sure if it's too weird for me or not!

>142 GingerbreadMan: Interesting! I think vampire blood can also be turned into a drug for humans in Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt series. Have you read any of those? I think the first is Already Dead.

#143 What a great-looking list. Unfortunately, even though all these writers may be translated into English, they aren't all readily available to me here in the American midwest - at least not from the public libraries. I've added 4 books to the wishlist, though, by way of introduction, and will search farther afield if I want more. Thanks for the recommendations!

15. Metro 2033 by Dmitrij Gluchovskij
Category 8. Thrown my way, 463 pages.

You can probably divide people into two groups. Those who get triggered by a map of the Moscow Metro divided into city-states and federations, with legends like "biohazard" and "Station occupied by mutants". And those who don't. I'm clearly part of the first group.

To me, the premise for this high-paced post-apocalypse adventure is about as good as they come: After neo-aggressive Russia engaged in a nuclear war the entire surface was wiped out. Now the last surviving humans are living in the Moscow metro, growing fungus and albino pigs for their survival. The stations are forming city-states, some independent and some part of federations and alliances (The communist Red Line, fascist Fourth Reich and the capitalist Hansa circle line, to name but a few). The only way of getting from station to station is walking the dark and dangerous tunnels, and the metro is constantly under threat from the hostile mutants and monsters now inhabiting the surface. Stalkers, people with the skills and equipment to venture up there, provide the metro with fuel, scraps of technology and knowledge.

Artiom is just old enough to have been born on the surface, but has lived his whole life at VDNCh, an insignificant independent station mostly known for it’s mushroom tea. They are at the northern border of the civilization however, and lately a new threat has begun emerging from the tunnels. A strand of jet black mutant with eerie psychic powers are trying to force their way into the metro – and much to his surprise Artiom is getting chosen by the investigating stalker to deliver an important message if he shouldn’t return. Which of course, he doesn’t. Artiom is forced to make his way through the scary tunnels of the metro, and underway discovers that perhaps he wasn’t chosen randomly after all.

My experience with Russian Dystopia and Post-apocalypse is that the books tend to spend less energy building scientific plausible worlds, and more toying around with metaphors, satire and fairytale elements. This is no exception. The origins of the numerous strands of murderous mutants might not be addressed – but on the other hand there is a lot of debate on metro politics and the spiritual side of the tunnels. The plot is action packed to say the least (no such thing as an uneventful journey here!), with a couple of really nice twists to it.

I loved every page of this book. The only thing keeping it from a full five stars is that with the all the people Artiom meets, Gluchovskij has managed to write a book without a single female character of any importance whatsoever. It’s not that it shows women as passive or victims or inferior – they mostly don’t seem to be around at all, other than far in the background. It’s stale and annoying.

Apart from that, this is post-apocalypse at it’s absolute best. The fact that it doesn't seem to be available in english yet is nothing short of baffling. Fans of the genre need to start picketing outside publishing houses immediately. (Apparently a video game based on it is forthcoming, so maybe it's on it's way even without rioting). 4½ stars.

@144-145 I'm not really that familiar with vampire books as a genre, and haven't read Joe Pitt. What was really interesting with this book was that there was really nothing destructive about the human/vampire relationship. It was a mutual symbiosis with strong sensual overtones. So it didn't really feel that weird (even if I can understand it sounds like it would...). It was actually a pretty tender book!

@146 Glad to be of some help :) Best of luck with whatever titles you end up with!

#148 thanks, I'll call you out as I read them.

16. Aniara by Harry Martinsson
Category 8. Thrown my way, 218 pages.

Saw a stage adaptation of this science fiction epic poem a month ago, and decided to finally come around to reading it. As a lover of dystopia and post-apocalypse, it's really quite strange I haven't read it before. Written in the mid-fifties, this is a real modern classic in Sweden. Few have actually read it, but everybody knows it, and my parent generation can usually quote a few stanzas shoved down their throats in school.

This book has the form of an epic poem in 103 songs, usually in pentameter, and tells the story of the goldonder Aniara in a distant future. On a trip to Mars with 8000 refugees from earth, it's navigation systems gets destroyed by asteroids and it loses it's course. Instead it heads into blank space without the possibility of turning. To make matters worse, about ten years into their hopeless journey into nothingness, the people on Aniara get the news humanity has destroyed itself in a whopper of a nuclear holocaust back home. So: void ahead, void behind. In snapshots and scenes we follow the inhabitants as they fall into decadence, fanatism, hopelessness, madness and finally oblivion. Bleak? A bit.

I think the first half is often really good, with it's inventive language and effective images (like the tickler cult, desperately trying to evoke some joy). But the second half becomes too static and repetetive for me, and the last fifty pages I read mostly out of duty.

Undoubtedly a portal work of Swedish modernism, I kind of wanted to like this book more than I did. But as a whole it doesn't amount to more than 3 stars in my humble and subjective opinion.

17. Ben, in the world by Doris Lessing
Catergory 6. What I did for my summer holidays, 178 pages.

I've seen a fair amount of Lessing-bashing here at LT. But I've been quite happy with the two titles I read so far (The good terrorist and The fifth child, both strong, lingering books in different ways), and if I hesitated picking this up, it wasn't because of Lessing.

Rather, the idea of writing a sequel to The fifth child wasn't necessarily all that appealing to me. What was so haunting about the first book was that Lessing didn't take the easy way out - making Ben a victim always easy and pleasant to relate to. Instead the reader is forced to deal with this enigmatic, brutish, cat-killing little troll, having to think about the difficult question: what would I have done?

Letting Ben himself lead the story in this book that takes up the thread more or less directly after The fifth child is risky. To make him too likeable and starry eyed would have felt out of tune and awkward, and might have sat heavily on the first book.

I think Lessing pulls it off, mostly. I'm with Ben every single step of the way in this book. He remains a bit of a mystery to me, and I don't always like him. But the injustices and abuse he's exposed to here still bring tears to my eyes several times, and some of the scenes will stay with me for a long time. At times I feel slightly manipulated though, when Lessing kicks poor Ben around for me to suffer with him.

A good sense of locations in this book (read it for my travel category, after all), with vivid descriptions of southern France, Rio de Janeiro and the Andes. But more than anything, the travel here is a sad journey of self-discovery and longing. 3 ½ stars.

Right, I've seen more than a few of you who go for the full 100 books doing monthly recaps. Which makes sense if you slug down 10-15 books a month (cmbohn is expecting finishing her first set of 100 BY THE END OF APRIL!), but would seem a little silly for a step-ladderer, with a reading rate of about five books a month. Soooo, a quarterly recap it is!

Progress:
Nosebreaker (1/1) - Category completed!
Re-reads (0/2)
Nobel Prize winners (1/3)
Books by African, Asian or South American authors (1/4)
The Moldy Ones (1/5)
What I did for my summer holidays (1/6)
Huh? What hype? (2/7)
Thrown my way (4/8)
Sci-fi and fantasy (3/9)
The rest (2/10)
Bonus blend (2 out of a wishfully planned 12)

At 16 books and two bonus reads (Lessing's book above was finished in april) I'm progressing quite nicely, I feel. March was a good month, compensating for a february when work consumed a lot of my reading time. Have some hopes of actually reaching my 67 book goal for the year! Looking at my page count also confirms my suspicion I'm reading thicker books than usual this year. Well over a third into the estimate already. That being said, I've read pretty few heavy or slow-going titles so far this year. Upcoming books by Woolf, Kivi, Soyinka and Jelinek will likely slow me down a little bit.

Not surprisingly, it's my combined work and recommendation category that seems to be filling the fastest. That was a silly combination. For 2011's challenge, I'll make sure to leave more room for stuff I hear about here on LT. Beginner's mistake! Will put some focus on my middle categories 5,6 and 7 in the months to come, so I don't end up with just those left at the end of the year.

Best reads of the year so far:
Fateless was a powerful and important book in a deceptively simple form, giving an unique perspective of the holocaust. Metro 2033 was post-apocalypse just the way I want it. Oreille rouge was a gently hilarious deconstruction of the European view on Africa.

Worst reads of the year so far:
No REAL stinkers so far this year. But Haunted knight was a run-of-the-mill Batman by a team that can do much better. These demented lands was a sequel I would have preferred not to have read, as it kind of made the first book a little worse. Kiffe kiffe tomorrow was my first read of the year, and I can already say I hardly remember anything about it.

Onwards and upwards!

@147 Well I was just about to go into angry letter writing mode but luckily its literally just been published in English :)

Oh, good! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

18. The earth hums in B flat by Mari Strachan
Category 8. Thrown my way, 327 pages.

Life is not easy for twelve year old Gwenni Morgan. She has inherited not only the flaming red family hair, but also the family nose. Her best friend seems to have forgotten that they hate boys, and is now too grown up to want to be seen with her. Her Mam is always cross with her for no apparent reason. And she has forgotten how to fly, except in her sleep. When her schoolteacher's nasty husband goes missing, and is then found floating in the town reservoir, Gwenni decides to solve the mystery. But in her efforts to do like the real detectives do, she stumbles onto secrets of her own family. The kind of secrets that tear families apart.

Set in a vividly painted little town in Wales in the 50ies, this is one of the most bittersweet stories I've read in a long time. The small town ambience, with it's social control, gossip and community is relatable and alive, down to the character's names: Mrs Jones the Butcher, The Voice of God, Nanw Lipstick. But Gwenni's life is not cute, and Strachan never resorts to mushiness or sentimentality. Rather the opposite, Gwenni considers many things normal that strikes the reader as horrible, creating an understated style that is really effective. Much in the same way, as a reader you sometimes draw other conclusions from her gathered clues than Gwenni herself does. It's skilfully balanced - I find myself knowing just a little more than Gwenni a lot of the time, but the book never ever looks down upon her or her thoughts. And the little uncertainity that remains regarding the truth about her flying, creates a fine streak of magic in there too.

Don't expect a murder mystery (even though there is one in here too.). This is a deeply moving coming of age story, where things said or unsaid have real consequences, difficult to reverse. It's sad, but often funny too. One of the best read of this year so far. 4 ½ stars, and a big thank you to cbl_tn for the tip!

#155

The British cover of that one has tempted me for quite a while - great to know that it's actually good! On the wishlist it goes.

#155 I've had that one of the wishlist for a while, but it's been so long since I've seen anyone comment on it that I'd forgotten why I wanted it. Thanks for the great review - and for the nudge.

Finally chipping into Atwood April. Sadly, I seem to have chosen a different book than almost everybody else:

19. Rövarbruden (The robber bride) by Margaret Atwood
Category 5. The Moldy Ones, 504 pages.

Tony, Charis and Roz have a shameful thing in common. They have all been manipulated by the beautiful, charming and utterly rotten sociopath Zenia. An expert on using weakness, she has played the three women, one after the other, for their money, for academic merits and for shelter. But she hasn’t stopped there. She has also destroyed their relationships by stealing away their men – and then casually discarding them. All three women have secret scars in their childhoods, and it is precisely through these Zenia has gotten to them.

Helping each other picking up the pieces after hurricane Zenia has formed a strong friendship between Roz, Tony and Charis. Well, the fact that Zenia is very dead and and buried helps too. Or so they think. For suddenly the demon returns, as it seems without a scratch, and the three women need to prepare themselves for a final confrontation. Will they stand their ground, getting the answers they need from Zenia? Or will she manipulate them once more?

I liked and felt for the main characters, with all their flaws and horrors from the past. The stories from Tony’s, Roz’ and especially Charis’ childhoods are truly heartbreaking, and the way their actions resonate with their psychology is believable and strong (if sometimes frustrating). Also, it makes a good contrast to the enigma that is Zenia, where we never get to know what is truth and what is lie.

This is a readable book, and the theme of destructive friendship of the worst kind is well developed. But still, this is my least favourite of the five Atwood books I’ve read. I found the constant telling of the same scenario three times slow going and repetitive (And joy, now ROZ discovers that Zenia is a snarling harpy under a thin coating of pleasantness…) and felt that the book never quite found it’s pace. Also, Atwood’s take on the “War of the sexes” theme annoyed me. I’m fine with almost all men in the book being self-absorbed macho bastards, but dislike how Atwood depicts (and almost excuses) them as a simpler sort, slaves under their urges. Of course they can’t resist a pair of inflated boobs, the hopeless oafs! In a book full of complexity in the portrayal of it's main characters, it's sad that Atwood settles for cardboard cutouts when it comes to the supporting cast.

I like and will definitely read more Atwood. But I’m glad this wasn’t my first experience, and won’t re-read it anytime soon. 3 stars.

Hmm I have only tried Oryx and Crake but I sense I am not going to be a huge fan of Atwood (it was ok). Still I want to give her another go and since Year of the Flood is still in hardback any suggestions? (although for some reason I really am not interested in reading The Handmaids Tale!)

#159 Also waiting to see the answer to this. I've never read Atwood before, and am curious to give her a try. Your description of Robber Bride started out sounding very good, and I was ready to declare that THAT would be the one I'd start with. But, you seem to imply that that would be a bad idea. So, suggestions?

@159-160 My absolute favourite Atwood is Oryx and Crake, which I devoured in almost one sitting. The handmaid's tale would be my second pick. And from there, it's a bit of a gap down for me. The Penelopiad was a clever (and necessary) re-telling of the myth, but a times over-stated, and the short story collcetion Good bones I remember as a bag of mixed blessings. Flea (my wife) liked Cat's eye when she read it years ago, but I haven't read it myself. I'll have a go at Alias Grace next, but probably not this year.

In gereral, I tend to find I WANT to like Atwood's books more than I actually do.

Sandy, the last sentence of the review should probably read: But for me personally I’m glad this wasn’t my first experience, and won’t re-read it anytime soon. Very much a matter of taste. If you think it sounds intriguing, I strongly suggest you go ahead. It does deal with interesting themes and handles them well for the most part. To me it was a three star book - meaning average, by no means a stinker. I would hate to put you off a writer you're curious about!

Oh, and one more thing! The "back from the grave" thing is not a spoiler. It happens on, like, page 12.

#161 "In gereral, I tend to find I WANT to like Atwood's books more than I actually do" I find this is the case with several authors. I'll add Robber Bride to my wishlist - I think I already have a couple of Atwood's already there. I'll read whichever one I come across first and then decide whether I'm interested in trying another.

I'm always pleasantly surprised and find that I like Atwood's books more than I'd thought I would. I think it's because she gets mixed up with Joyce Carol Oates in my mind and I'm always a little disappointed with JCO.

I really enjoyed Alias Grace, it might be a good book to begin with.

20. Expedition L (L) by Erlend Loe
Category 6. What I did for my summer holidays, 349 pages.

On the very first page of this book is the following:

You say that the Big Story is dead?
You want small stories?
You’re bloody well going to get it.

Which, in it’s own way, pretty much sums it up. Norwegian writer Erlend, shameful that he’s not done anything to build up his country, suddenly gets a flash while skating across a frozen lake. Inspired by Thor Heyerdahl (I guess it helps knowing a little bit about scientist Heyerdahl and the Norwegian mentality towards this national icon to read this book. Most well known is his daring travel in the balsa raft Kon-Tiki from Chile to Polynesia, in order to prove that Oceania could have been colonized from South America) he gets a bold theory in his head: Perhaps the first human settlers in Polynesia didn’t come on rafts, but rather on skates? The fact that the Pacific Ocean has apparently never been frozen doesn’t deter Erlend – after all, just one or two really cold winters would be enough. He sets out to gather an expedition to look for traces of those skate-wearing settlers.

The first half of this book is absolutely hilarious. Loe’s gathering of his seven man strong group, trying to find the equivalents of Heyerdahl’s sturdy resistance men from WW2 among his slacker friends, his desperate hunt for funding, and the rickety reasoning around his big theory has me laughing out loud on almost every page. The parallels to Oreille Rouge that I read earlier this spring (see #92) are obvious – but where that book poked a hole in the European Vagabond myth, this one deconstructs the classic tale of exploration and adventure. Loe’s style, where irony is hidden behind understated naivety and he never oversells his points, is just so much fun; from his decision to just include men in the expedition (Men are stronger and faster. Women apparently handle pain better. So wouldn’t including women risk sending the wrong signal: that this is going to be an extraordinarily painful expedition?) to his interviews with the members to get an idea how they might handle pressure and isolation.

Once they get to the atoll in the Cook Islands (and apparently they actually went, there are lots of photos included!) however, and it’s too hot to do much research, the book drops it’s momentum a bit. There are great parts here too, such as the experimenting with different forms of government, but it never quite lives up to the first half. In the end though, Loe manages to wrap it up nicely, even giving a feeling that he’s saying something semi-valid about his generation (sic!).

If you don’t find this book funny, there’s not much else to show for it. No plot or style or characters to redeem it. Me, I laughed a lot and smiled even more. Try it! 4 stars!

@163 Seems a very sensible approach!

@164 Nice to hear good things about Alias Grace from someone who's taste I trust :) Pondering a category of Historical fiction for my 1111, a genre I rarely visit.

21. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Category 8. Thrown my way, 146 pages.

Don’t you just love that rare feeling when you read your first book by a writer, and just know: I’m going to have to read every single thing she’s ever written? That feeling of giddy richness, from having a whole authorship waiting? I got it when I read my first Muriel Spark, when I stumbled onto Amelié Nothomb, when I first ventured into Sara Lidman’s northern tales.

And only about thirty pages into We Have Always Lived in the Castle it hits me with full force.

This wonderfully balanced, delightfully disturbed and gently weird little gem of a book is about Merricat and her sister Constance, who live together with their dying uncle and a cat in an ancient mansion. They are the only remaining scraps of the Blackwood family, after a poisoned dinner killed everybody else. Constance was tried for mass murder but acquitted, and now the three live in isolation. Only Merricat ever leaves the house, when she ventures into the village twice a week to shop, where she’s faced with the villagers open fear, scorn and mockery. The rest of the time Merricat spends in the forest, with rituals, protective talismans and home-spun magic. Which doesn’t work as it supposed to. One day Cousin Charles bangs the door, ready to tear Merricat’s carefully constructed rules into shreds.

Jackson does a splendid job in letting us see the world slightly twisted through Merricat’s eyes, and uses the few elements, characters and devices of this simple tale to perfection. Here nothing, even a mundane item, is introduced without having a significance for the story. And while the twists of the plot might not be all that surprising, they are presented with such care and elegance they still give me goosebumps.

It’s one of those books where you anxiously check the page numbers, hoping there is more left than it seems. For heaven’s sake, don’t don't don't miss this!

(If you do read an edition with Jonathan Lethem’s introduction though, I would consider saving that until AFTER you read the book. It kinda gives away the whole plot.)

I cannot thank clfisha, Laurabrook and CarlosMcRey (amongst others) enough for tipping me. This is as 5 stars as they come.

#167 OK, you've convinced me. I'll give it a try.

Hope you love it like I did! :)

Really glad you enjoyed it!

I've just found your thread and you are going to be very bad for my Wishlist!! I'll try to keep up from now on.

The only Atwood I've read is the Blind Assassin, which I loved, but I'm not pulled to any of her other books.

@171 Welcome and thank you! I'll do my darndest to try and keep it up :)

I'll probably keep up Atwood at a pace of a title a year or so. I've never been REALLY disappointed, and a few of them I've loved.

Can't find your thread! What's it called?

It's not here - my main one is in the 75 Book Challenge, and there's a new little one in the European challenge group that you started (I am useless at links. Hang on...)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/89590 - that's the 75 BC one.

22. Oskuldens minut by Sara Lidman
Category 10. The Rest, 223 pages.

This is the last book in a series of seven, not likely to get translated to english anytime soon (as it's written in a very particular language, with strong influences form a northern Swedish rural dialect), so I won't really review it here. But I'm sure you can all relate to the feeling of hollowness and thankfulness you get when closing the last book of a series you've utterly and truly loved. And here it's tinged with a slight sadness - it's so apparent Sara Lidman had more in store, but Oskuldens minut was her last book.

Set in a small village around the decades when the northern railway was built, connecting the inland Västerbotten with "The Real Sweden", this has been a true epic - on a small scale. Basically just regular people marrying, dying, going from rags to riches and back, seeing ghosts and going crazy, all told in Lidman's scarce, exact, understated style where almost every page is like a miniature short story in itself. Difficult, literary books were never ever so exciting and accessable as these!

Thank goodness I have many stand-alone Lidman books left to read. Otherwise this slight emptyness in my stomach would've been much worse. 4 stars.

Well, that almost turned into a review anyway... Now picking up Finch, with sky-high expectations!

#174 You make it sound so appealling that it's a shame we're not likely to see it in English. And it's even more unlikely that many English speakers will learn the "very particular language" that the author wrote in. (Maybe you would consider doing a translation?)

@175 Gee, that's very flattering :). But here, I wouldn't even know where to begin, to be honest. Lidman wrote the Jernbane series with very little regard for punctuation and "good grammar", and with hefty doses of her local dialect thrown in. No easy task to translate, to be sure...I think something of her less rural prose might be available in english. But I don't know exactly what.

I found The Rain Bird and Naboth's Stone on the World Cat system with copies in my state - but not nearby. How do they compare?

Well, that just proves me utterly wrong :). Naboth's stone is the third part of this series. And while it probably works as a stand-alone, it seems reasonable that at least the previous two parts have been translated as well.

My guess is it very much boils down to taste (obviously) but also to the standard of the translation. If it is anywhere near as good as in Swedish, you cuold well be in for a treat!

The rain bird would most likely be Regnspiran, Lidman's third novel, written before this series. It's waiting on my shelf, and I'll probably get to it later this year or early next. I'll be sure to let you know!

Very quiet on the Swedish front lately... The combination of having too little time to read (work and stress and work and travel) and reading something brilliant and complex is typically slowing me down. Just reading snippets, a few pages before falling asleep in the evening, obviously stops me from getting fully engrossed, but also makes me feel I'm not "treating the book right". That I'm losing threads. Which makes me read even slower. Even though I'm loving Finch to bits!

Does this make sense to anybody else?

Perfect sense to me. I do exactly the same during busy / stressful times. I hope your life evens out soon -- busy and travel aren't necessarily bad, but stress is...

@180: Thank you for your concern! I'm really not in the best of places when it comes to my work situation, but I'm beginning to deal with it. And reading remains one of my favourite ways of relaxing :)

23. Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
Category 9. Sci-fi and fantasy, 339 pages.

One of the things that make the books and stories of Ambergris so special to me is how VanderMeer lets the chronology of the city itself be the main character. Through many different incarnations, characters and styles (travel guide, family saga, realistic fiction by writers living in Ambergris and patient journals to name but a few possibilities) he is, though apparently being all over the place, giving us a more or less chronological account of this weird, funny, scary and disturbing place.

In Finch events pick up a hundred years after those of the last book, Shriek: An afterword. But that gap in time is then comfortably filled within the story, which gives answers to at least some of the questions and mysteries posed in the previous books.

VanderMeer, as always playing with style and character, has written this book as a hard-boiled noir. The disillusioned detective Finch is reluctantly working for the new masters in a city he no longer recognises. A place where fungus is taking over, where giant drug-releasing mushrooms are keeping the public in check, where houses are crumbling overnight and where the half-infested Partials are acting as the mushroom dwelling Gray Caps’ eyes and ears everywhere.

Finch gets appointed to investigate a strange double death, and finds himself stumbling over something bigger than he would prefer to handle. Soon he’s a target for both the rebels, the infiltrating spies from the neighbouring states and the Gray Caps, as he starts to find out the truth about the city, his father and the people he trusts. It’s gritty, dirty and weird. And mushrooms were never ever so eerie.

This the third book set in Ambergris gives a clearer and less kaleidoscopic view of the city than the previous ones. And I eat it up with a big spoon. I would probably have loved this book even if the were no plot whatsoever, for it’s ambience and setting alone. But the story, much straighter than VanderMeer usually plays it, works really well too. There is perhaps an explanation or two too many in here (I prefer my Gray Caps incomprehensible, I guess), but all in all, this is a book like no other by a great writer.

I'm reading at way too slow a pace to be talking about being on a roll, but I seem to pick'em right lately! After a 4,5 and 4 streak, here's this year's third 5 star read!

Bonus blend:
Top 10: The forty-niners by Alan Moore/Gene Ha, 112 pages.

This is a prequel to Moore’s Top 10 books, graphic novels about police work in a swarming city where everybody has superpowers. It’s a fascinating place to visit, and this book is no exception. Set in the early days, when Neopolis was just forming, this follows the formula of the other books: a plot line dealing with a mystery while throwing in a hefty dose of everyday life in an unusual city. This is kind of like what Hill Street would be like if everybody wore tights and the crooks shot lightning bolts and rayguns. The best part for me, as always, is how Moore uses Neopolis to toy around with the superhero genre’s clichés (such as it’s sexism, or it’s underage sidekicks) or to comment on social phenomena (such as the racism towards robots). And as always, Ha’s artwork is a delight to watch, full of winks and references to all sorts of popular culture. Here we also get the cute beginning of the love story between Wulf and Jetlad, tenderly told. 4 stars.

#179 That totally makes sense. I admire you for sticking to your complex book. When I get to that point, I usually set the demanding books aside for something lightweight and brainless. When real life has settled back down, then I can come back to reading something substantial.

24. Lång dags färd mot natt (Long day's journey into night) by Eugene O'Neill
Category 8. Thrown my way, 78 pages

We're doing this play at the theatre where I work next spring, and I felt I needed to brush up on it. Was probably fifteen years since I last read it.

There’s of course no denying that this is a play with a massive impact on modern theatre, and that’s it’s very well crafted. But to me, reading it for the third or fourth time, it’s very nature as a portal work is also what stands in my way a bit. There are so many plays inspired by this one, not least in my native Sweden. A number of classic stagings at the Royal Dramatic (which later inherited the rights to the play for O'Neill) kind of created a compass course for our whole theatre climate. Psychological realism is (sadly) to this day dominant on our stages, and several of our biggest writers claim O’Neill as a big influence.

Which means I’ve seen and read more than my fair share of middle-class quartets falling to pieces as family secrets are revealed and turned into weapons. And much as I enjoy the elegance of O’Neills exposition and ability to give just enough information, I can’t help but thinking “Oh, dad’s a drunk and mum’s a looney. How novel”. The legacy sitting heavily on the original, sadly.

So Eugene, it’s not you, it’s me. Let’s be friends anyway?

3 ½ stars.

I found myself in the unusual (for me) position of having a couple of hours reading time (going to and from a theatre performance in a distant suburb - incidentally Blackeberg, where Let the right one in is set, by the way) and not having brought anything to read! Only the big department store in the city centre was still open, and picking were slimmer that I liked. But I had definitely planned to read this sometime, as it's gotten rave reviews in Sweden, if perhaps not right now...

25. Båten (The boat) by Nam Le
Category 10. The rest, 267 pages.

At the risk of sounding boring: It’s very clever what Le is doing here. First, he presents ethnicity and authenticity as important factors to him as a writer, in a story about writing a story about his father’s childhood in Vietnam. Then he completely disarms this position by effortlessly adapting completely different ethnic backgrounds as springboards for other stories with an equally strong sense of authenticity. From New York to Australia, from Bogotá to Hiroshima, all these stories (to me, at least, not a native to any of the places depicted) feel grounded in a personal background. It’s a deception. It’s almost cheeky. But it works.

Although often just a little too meticulous for my personal taste (it’s not illegal in the state of Iowa to write a short story without flashbacks, is it?), Le also manages to find some very interesting twists to his rather basic situations, some extra elements raising the temperature, making them feel fresh: You’re about to get beat up by the nastiest boy at school for messing with his girl (not spectacular so far, huh?) while your mum is dying from MS, making you feel that your problems are not only scary, but sort of pathetic too (bit more interesting now, innit?) There is that little extra hmm factor in almost all of these stories, an angle I haven’t seen before. It’s not breathtaking, but solid and constantly interesting. 4 stars.

Half way through my page count!

Congrats on the halfway mark!

So glad you liked Finch, although I agree it was a mixed blessing on the explanation front. Can't wait to see where he goes next..

Hmm must pickup the Alan Moore comic.. I can cope with Moores version of superheros..

Well, the streak of really good books is officially over:

26. Lust by Elfriede Jelinek
Category 3. Nobel Prize Winners, 218 pages.

It should be said from the beginning: Elfriede Jelinek is not for everyone. If you like your books plot driven and populated with likeable characters, she is not for you. Trust me. Not even a little bit. Me, I’ve sometimes ranted against her plays that I find pretty overrated. But as a novelist I have found her misogynist cynicism and her chilly smirk towards humankind and society to be…well, kind of refreshing. More than once I’ve defended her work against friends who’ve thought her to be merely a shallow provocateur.

But this is just ridiculous.

The position that love is a myth, that men’s desire is only to dominate and that sex is basically invented to degrade women is only the kind of extrapolation I kind of expect from Jelinek. But to use it as she does here, kicking her poor main character Gerti around for 218 pages in a paper thin storyline mixed with endless (and I mean endless. There are literally hundreds of metaphors for the male and female genitals in this book) descriptions of oral and anal rape is just stupid. It’s page after page of overstated, empty gestures, trying desperately to be disturbing but instead boring me to tears. Only Jelinek’s odd but effective style and some somewhat fun snarls at winter sports save this from rock bottom. Worst read of the year so far, and I’ve lost my trust in this writer. 1 ½ stars.

27. Begrav mig stående (Bury me standing) by Isabel Fonseca
Category 5. The Moldy Ones, 421 pages.

Ask yourself honestly: What do you know about gypsies? In my case, the answer was “Not a whole lot, really”. In a time when many parts of eastern Europe are adapting racist laws against this people, when actual pogroms and lynching are happening continuously without the perpetrators getting punished for it, it seemed high time to read this book, collecting dust on my shelf for over ten years now.

Fonseca, an American jewess, lived with gypsies in various countries for four years while writing this book, and it gives good basic insight to a culture and a people who remain kind of hidden in our midst. The gypsies have no promised land, no myths of a glorious past. They are unique as a people in that their nation is not a place (or even the dream of a place), but formed around moving, travelling on the fringes – even now when the vast majority are resident. Most gypsies live in poverty and oppression, but they are also fiercely resisting assimilation, having strict rules for how to interact with gadjo – non Gypsies.

I knew about the prejudice, hate and fear towards gypsies (indeed, I’ve often noted how even liberal and conscious people around me have occasionally made remarks about gypsies that they would never ever direct at jews or arabs or gay or any other minority), but a lot of what this book describes was still news to me. I was shocked to read about how the hundreds of thousands of gypsies killed in the Holocaust were disregarded for a long time. Only 1982 was the systematic killing of gypsies recognized as genocide, and they weren’t represented in the US Holocaust Memorial Council until 1986!

At the same time, it was difficult to read that some of the most common prejudices against gypsises – that they are stealing, and heaping junk around their homes – do have some truth to them. Both are part of traditional gypsy strategies to keep a distance towards gadjo.

Fonseca’s account is very personal and subjective, which is both good and bad. There are many memorable and moving characters here, among the many families she meets. But sometimes Fonseca’s view becomes slightly exotic and down the nose in a way that makes me wish for a more distant approach. Still, this is a book that makes me feel a little wiser. 3 ½ stars.

A very quick read now:

28. Vad du inte vet om mig by Jonas Fröberg and Catharina Mattsson
Category 8. Thrown my way, 87 pages. Category completed!

An independent theatre group has contacted my theatre, wanting us to finince them doing another round of writing workshops with teenagers, based on their own developed method. This book is the result of a previous project. It is what is - texts by teens. They are often brave and sometimes very moving, but mostly pretty bland. Which is, really, beside the point. The purpose of such a project is obviously not the book itself. 2 ½ stars.

This completes my work and recommendations category. Which will very likely turn out to be a real problem...

Getting very long, this thread. I'm following the example of many others and setting up a second one. It can be founde here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/92440#2009261

Hope to see you there!

#190 Bury Me Standing sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't know when I would have heard of it before. It looks very interesting and I'm adding it to the wishlist. Thanks for a great review.

I was actually surprised at how many copies of it there was here at LT. It's well over fifteen years old, and it tells from time to time. Interesting to read her images from the new, poor, struggling democracies of Eastern Europe in the years after the fall of communism. Feels like a very long time ago a lot of the time. Then again, sadly, for the gypsies, little seems to have changed.

Bury Me Standing sounds intriguing. I checked the catalog of the library where I work and we have a copy in our collection. Thanks to your review it's going on my reading list.

@190 Sounds interesting. Be nice to hear about more about their side, they don't have even a remotely good reputation in the UK (although that is mostly Irish & hippy travellers rather than Roma(?)) It's all basically to what you said above. They have a permanent camp alongside the motorway near me and it's just strewn with rubbish.. so I must admit to being a bit biased myself.

->190 GingerbreadMan:

You reminded me of the Katitzi-books, I'll have to look them up when I go home this fall. I had a Romani friend when I was little (but she "vanished" when she got married - at 15!), but other than that my knowledge of Romanis is definitely based on Katarina Taikon's books, as I think most Swedish people's are! I'm putting Begrav mig stående on the ol' wishlist.

->196 clfisha:

Yes, Romani are very different indeed from the tinkers, although the reputation of both is similar...

I would be a little scared of looking up Katitzi again, I think. Quite a few of those classic children's books don't hold up so good when reading them with slightly more politically conscious glasses (Hjortfot, Lille Svarte Sambo, Elsa Beskow...). Then again, Taikon, was romani herself, so maybe..?

And oi, folks! I'm over here now: http://www.librarything.com/topic/92440#2009261