Finally got going with my reading again. It feels great! Here just a few short lines on the latest books that I have read.
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler - the book was nominated for the Man Booker prize, and rightly so. I really loved this low toned, matter of fact story of a man who does not have much going for him. In spite of that he accepts life as it comes, makes the best of it and never venture into dreams he can not fulfil. A magically, wonderful book of a life without few expectations. Although I find the book very sad, Seethaler manages to keep it on a high level and does not venture into self pity for his character.
Grymhet (Cruelty) by Birgitta Lindqvist - she spent time working in China and the book contains short stories from her experience there. As the book title indicates it is often a cruel life she meets, but she manages to write magic into the stories and they leave you with a wow experience and a greater understanding of a different culture.
Skrivandets sinne by Elisabeth Rynell - a book a read for my studies in creative writing. Small stories on the mind of writing, thought worthy and poetic at the same time. She relates to her own writing and what has inspired her.
The Hour Glass Factory by Lucy Ribchester - I bought this book when the author visited Brussels. She told us about using real events to make a fictional story. The times are fascinating (London beginning of the 20th century) but I could not really get into the book or the characters. The story tended to drag out and a lot of details which, to me, was not entirely relevant.
Porto Francos väktare (Porto Francos guardian) by Ann Rosman - an audio book I listened to during my trips to and from Sweden. I have read another book by Rosman which I really loved. Historical fiction at its best. This book is written in a similar way, meaning a present day murder mystery and a parallell historical story. Very exciting and well researched for the turbulent times of the west coast in Sweden.
Croissant till frukost (Croissant for Breakfast) by Annika Estassy - I have read good reviews of her feel good novels, and this is the first one I read. An easy read, feels good (!) and keeps it rather real. Meaning not going into too much romantic tendencies. The ending was quite a surprise, which kept it up all the way.
Kidnapped by R.L. Stevenson - a classic tale that I read for the Brontë Reading Group. A young boy get kidnapped (being arranged by his rather evil uncle) but manages to escape together with a Scottish freedom fighter. It is one of his most famous and popular books and I rather liked it.
The Black Moon by Winston Graham - downloaded books 5-7 of the Poldark series, just to keep ahead of the wonderful TV adaption by BBC. Just saw the last episode yesterday and are awaiting the filming of the next couple of book. This book is written 23 years after book number 4. It continues the story of the Poldark family as if nothing had come in between! Wonderful historical fiction.
Cirkeln (The Circle) by Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren - I started this book already in 2014 and somehow it disappeared. I have been looking for it forever and only found it recently when I cleared out my house to move a few things to our flat in Sweden! It is a YA fantasy and it is really well written. It tells the story about 7 young witches in a small village in Sweden. They discover that they have power above normal, but also find it difficult how to handle it. When two of them are killed they have to thread a dangerous path to be able to discover what evil forces want to hurt them. Quite fascinating. It is the first in a series of three, of which I have the second and will buy the third. Nice to find such good fantasy novels written by Swedish writers. The genre is not very common in Sweden but is on the rise.
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