Book Review: Three Sisters Inn Trilogy

Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry
A Christmas to Die For by Marta Perry
Buried Sins by Marta Perry

Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
 
Year: 2007


Category:  Romantic Suspense

As I said in my TSS post this was a bunch of fluffy books that I won't re-read but they were what I needed or could cope with this week (first week back after the break).

The books tell the story of three sisters: Andrea, Rachel and Caroline. Hide in Plain Sight focuses on Andrea, who comes to Lancaster County after Rachel has been in a hit and run accident. Rachel and the girls grandmother are trying to turn the grandmothers house into an inn. Andrea is skeptical to the enterprise but is forced to help out as Rachel has broken both legs. To make matters even worse she comes into conflict with Cal, the handsome carpenter who rents the barn from her grandmother, and someone seems to be intent on stopping the inn from opening.

A Christmas to Die For focuses on Rachel. A handsome stranger shows up at the inn. Turns out he has inherited the property neighboring the inn. The property belonged to the man's grandfather who died under mysterious circumstances. Circumstances he is hell bent on finding out, even if it means ruin for Rachel and her family. To make matters worse someone seems to want to kill Rachel.

The final book Buried Sins follows the youngest sister, Caroline. Caroline has always been the rebellious younger sister, who runs away from her problems. When her husband dies and someone threatens her, she runs back to Lancaster County to be with her sisters. But is her husband really dead? And why does the local Police Chief Zachary Burkhalter dislike her so?

My biggest problem with these books wasn't the predictability of them (I mean one does expect that from romance books :D) but rather the in your face religiousness. I don't mean that the characters were religious, that I have no problem with, I mean one of my favourite heroines is an Episcopalian Priest, but the way their religion was presented, especially in the first and last book.

In both these books it was presented as if you couldn't possibly be a good person if you weren't Christian. Chief Burkhalter doesn't want Caroline near his daughter because he thinks she is trouble. Fine. Except then he goes on to emphasise that any woman he loves MUST be Christian, not share his values, but be Christian. I get this a lot on a message board where I post occasionally and although I might not be the best person in the world I do think I am a fairly decent human being, as are many of my family and friends, even those who aren't professing Christians. It just grates.

In Hide in Plain Sight I also found Andreas praying to be jarring from a purely stylistic point of view. It was almost as if Perry had been writing and then gone "gosh, it has been 7 pages since I mentioned God, must mention God" and then she had Andrea pray. Maybe I find the talking to God praying to be a bit uncomfortable. Or...

This was better done in the middle book where for example Perry showed Rachel's beliefs by having her help out at church. Maybe it is more natural around Christmas, but I also felt that Perry didn't fall prey to the "oh dear, must throw in God" device as often. And I did find Caroline's lukewarm belief and her movement towards belief to be a lot more believable. 

On the whole they were actually quite suspenseful and with a romantic-ish end. They were okay reads but I won't be re-reading them.

Copyright ©2014 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Magician's Book A Skeptic's Adventure in Narnia

The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventure in Narnia by Laura Miller 

Publisher: Back Bay Books

Year: 2008

Category: Non-fiction Literary Criticism

Growing up I really loved the Narnia books that feature the Pevensie children (I thought the Silver Chair was gloomy and even as a child I had big problems with the fact that dark people were always the bad guys (something Miller discusses at length)) and so when I saw Ana at Things Means A Lot's review a few years ago I really wanted to read it. And then it sat on my shelf. I finally picked it up last year. I wanted to enjoy it, I really did. I mean it talks about books I love and I do love books about books, but I just couldn't. I had to big objections to some aspects of the book.

Firstly, Miller has a superior tone where she seems to think that she knows the TRUTH. It is hard to point to any specific instance of this but to me it was the overall tone of the writing at times. She is also very condescending towards certain people. Quotes such as the one below makes me think that Miller can only see these people as losers who have nothing better to do, rather than very complex individuals who LIKE their lives.

"Of course, neither Narnia nor Middle-earth are real countries, even if some of Tolkien's most fanatical readers seem to know more about the history of his invented world than they do about the one they actually inhabit" (199).

Secondly, I am to much of an English teacher to be able to like a non-fiction book where the chapters lack thesis statements and where they end up going off on rabbit tales and never finding their way back. I found it very difficult to follow along with what her point of several chapters were. I don't know if it was the fact that points seem to carry over from different chapters or what, but I often felt confused as to what the point was she was trying to make.

Thirdly, although it is important to talk about Tolkien and Lewis in relation to each other, I expect the author to make a point about his relationship. She also launches into a long discussion of how Lewis and Tolkien are like Coleridge and Wordsworth but again this turns  into a rabbit trail about Coleridge. What is the point?!

This isn't to say that this book was a complete waste of time, there were some interesting points, and I learned some things about C. S. Lewis that I did not know before. However, on the whole, this was not a book for me.

Book Review: Hjärnkoll på värk och smärta

Hjärnkoll på värk och smärta (Understanding Pains and Aches) by Martin Ingvar och Gunilla Eldh

Publisher: Natur och Kultur

Year: 2012

Category: Non-fiction: Medicine

I often read books and think “I really should recommend this to so and so, they will love it!”. Rarely do I read books and think “Everyone MUST read this book NOW"!” And even more seldom do I feel this way about a non-fiction book, because lets face it, a lot of people look at you like you are nuts when you recommend a non-fiction book to them (I am putting biographies to one side here). This book I put out facebook and tweets about saying that EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK! Why do I feel this way about a rather slim non-fiction book? Well first I should tell you something about me:

Right now I start every single day in pain. I am lucky, I don’t start every day in pain, 365 days per year. In fact I had been moderately pain free since December. But about a week ago it was as if I had walked into a wall, been hit by a bus and run over by a train all at once. There wasn’t a single joint, bone or muscle in my body that did not ache. I should have know the signs were there, the stress (5 weeks left of term, grades are due and national tests are looming), the dizzy spells and the headaches, yet I was surprised when the pain hit all at once. What does this have to do with the book I just read? Well it is a book about pain management. It is written for both pain sufferers, their loved ones and those who come into contact with them, both privately and professionally. And boy do I wish more people had read it.

It is based on research, but written in a very accessible way. It goes through both the causes of chronic pain and some of the therapies that exist to deal with it. It recommends how you should prepare for a doctors visit. It also takes Swedish medical care to task. The authors talk about a situation that has become much to common in Sweden in the past few years, many doctors surgeries are staffed by locum doctor and they are different every single time you go. The doctors have very few minutes for every patient and what is important for chronic pain sufferers is conversation, that someone takes them serious. The book points out the importance of not having to tell your story every time you go to the doctor. This takes energy. Being met by a doctor who dismisses you as someone who is whiny takes energy. And when you only have a minimum of energy this is stressful.

The book points out the connection between anxiety, depression and pain. This is something I have been treated for with KBT and for me that worked to a certain degree. At least it stops me from wallowing to much. It also taught me to plan. For example this weekend. I really needed to do a deep clean of my apartment, with the fibro hitting last weekend and work being crazy and the weather bad (I needed to take the recycling to the end of the road) I had let things go. Luckily this was a four day weekend so I planned it so that I have a day to recuperate. I’m not sure I need it, but planning for it is a better idea than not. 

In many ways this book confirmed the things I already knew about my own pain and how to best manage it. I haven’t missed a day of work this year because of pain, because I can manage it and because I have understanding students, colleagues and boss. My students are fantastic in that if I tell them that I am having a “dumb” day they respect that it might take me longer to reply to them. They can be my arms and hands and write on the white board when the pain is to bad. My colleagues check in on my class if I need to lay down for a bit. My boss encouraged me to make use of the company health care. I’m lucky.

The last chapter in the book was interesting to me from a different perspective. It talks about pain management in the elderly, especially those with dementia. My mother is a geriatric nurse and I used to work at a nursing home. Here I also got some of my previous knowledge confirmed, I also learned some new things. My mum encouraged me to touch my residents. She has always pointed out the importance of human contact in caring for others. This book also emphasizes this. This is something I’ve taken with me to my teaching career. I know that there has been a lot written about how you have to be careful when touching a student, but I firmly believe that patting someone on the shoulder, or hugging a girl who is devastated because her boyfriend has broken up with her, is something that we SHOULD do. So there. Anyway back to the pain management of the elderly. The book points out that many of those who suffer from dementia might also be in pain and that this pain manifests itself as increased “dementia behavior”. The patient appears restless and disturbing, but it might actually be pain, or lack of stimulation. To me this is fascinating because I have listened to my mom preach this for years. She is a strong believer in less medication is better and that stimulation is necessary.

This book has only been published in Swedish and in some instances it is geared towards Swedish conditions, however many of the conclusions drawn are applicable in other countries too.

Copyright ©2012 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen

Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen – utifrån Pippi, Emil och Madicken (Astrid Lindgren and Christianity – from Pippi, Emil and Madicken) by Werner Fischer-Nielsen

Category: Literary Criticism

Language: Swedish

This book rather disappointed me. It seemed way to contrived. The author had decided that Lindgren’s books had biblical parallels and by golly he was going to make them fit.

I definitely agree that the books have moral and ethical themes but I think that this is rather typical for children’s books. Last year I read but didn’t review another book of literary criticism with regards to Astrid Lindgren’s books. This book dealt with her folk tale/fairy tale books and the author there discussed the fact that the children’s stories that Lindgren grew up with often had a moral to them. I am not disputing the fact that Lindgren grew up with biblical tales but I do find it hard to see that she has consciously included biblical themes into her stories. Instead this book has made me more convinced that many of these stories are universal in their appeal, no matter what religion you confess.

This book further deepens my belief that we humans create belief systems in order to make sense of the world. These systems and stories change little over the centuries, however their familiarity isn’t a bad thing.

I do like that Fischer-Nielsen highlights one of my favourite Lindgren characters, Madicken. As he points out this is a character that is often forgotten when one analyses Lindgren’s work and I think this is a shame. Madicken and Lisabeth have much to offer girls who live in stable families. I also, as Fischer-Nielsen points out, think these stories have a good discussions on class systems in society. Although these systems are seemingly gone from Swedish society, I think that they are still there in some respects. I think that one of the stories that is highlighted in this book could lead to some very good discussions with children.

Overall I think this is a book that although it is a quick read one could give a miss if one is studying Lindgren’s body of work.

Copyright ©2012 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Astrid Lindgren–En levnadsteckning

Astrid Lindgren – En levnadsteckning (Astrid Lindgren-A portrait of a life) by Margareta Strömstedt

Category: Biography

Language: English

Astrid Lindgren’s books have a special place in the heart of most Swedes. As Strömstedt in this book points out the phrases from the books have entered the general vocabulary of most Swedes (373). To use her figures as examples means that everyone will understand the reference. This book explores where these figures come from.

The book is divided into three parts with a post script. The first part tells of Lindgren’s family and childhood. Strömstedt maintains that her childhood was her biggest inspiration for her books, and makes a very compelling case for this. She shows how events in Lindgren’s own childhood, as well as in the life of her parents and grandparents have been incorporated into the different books. The regular, old-fashioned life is one of the things I absolutely adore about one of Lindgren’s series, the one in called “Bullerbyn” in Swedish or “Noisy Village” in English. Although I grew up in a cul-de-sac in a big city I had some similar experiences. And boy did I dream of the exact experiences that Lisa and her friends had. My friends and I often played games that were based on the different adventures in Lindgren’s books (our imaginary horses bore a striking resemblance to those of Mio and Jumjum and there is a game based on that played by Mästerdektektiven Blomkvist). I found it fascinating to read about how Lindgren’s own childhood informed her writing.

The second section in the book deals with Lindgren’s adulthood, when her books were published. Although little of the information in this part was new to me, I loved to read Lindgren’s own comments on events and issues. For example I was gratified to see that she had made a conscious decision to make the teachers in her books nice people. As a teacher myself I am all to aware of the fact that teachers are often portrayed as either not very nice people or as pretty absent characters with little understanding of the children placed in their care. In addition I was glad to see her view on women both through her books and through some writing she had done. Amongst other things she severely criticized the priests in the Diocese of Lindköping when none of them voted to allow female priests. In a rather snarky (yay) letter she pointed out that although Paul had written about women in church we now lived in a completely different world and perhaps we should not listen so much to him.

The third part of the book deals with Lindgren’s old age and her political activism. Lindgren became involved in several political debates during the later years of her life. These debates were primarily concerned with the rights of children and animals (although she is also well known here for a contribution to the debate around taxes). Her work for children’s rights and environmental issues is something for which she continues to be admired for here, as well as something that you can see had a clear connection to her early life where she lived close to nature.

I really enjoyed this book and learning more about one of my favourite authors. I highly recommend this book to others.   

Copyright ©2012 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Karin Larsson och blommorna i Sundborn (Karin Larsson and the flowers at Sundborn)

Karin Larsson och blommorna i Sundborn (Karin Larsson and the flowers at Sundborn) by Christina Högardh-Ihr

Publisher: Prisma

Category: Non-fiction

Challenges: Nordic Challenge

My Thoughts: Growing up I had two favourite painters: Claud Monet (thanks to Linnea in Monet’s Garden  by Christina Björk) and Carl Larsson (thanks to the book Spadarvet by Carl Larsson himself). I remember the first time I saw some original Carl Larssons, and not the reproductions that every house in Sweden has. It was in 1992 and I was 11 years old. The art museum in Gothenburgh were having a big exhibit and my parents took me. We got to see a very controversial painting called “Midvinterblot”. At the time it was owned by a private Japanese collector, now however it is hanging where it was commissioned to hang, at the National Gallery in Stockholm. Back in ‘92 I was awestruck. However the book I am going to review today isn’t about Carl, but rather his wife, Karin, who was also a very talented artist. Once she met and married Carl she changed her artistic focus towards the home. Karin became a talented textile designer, as well as an interior decorator. The home she created in Sundborn village is intimately connected to the Scandinavian design. As a matter of fact, some of Karin’s designs can be found in that temple of Swedish design, IKEA (or at least they look very much alike)

The picture to the right here is one, if not the, most famous of Carl Larsson’s paintings. It shows one of the rooms at Lilla Hyttnäs, the name of the house that the Larssons made into their home. The painting also features the thing that the book I’ve read is about: Karin’s flowers. I enjoy flowers, but I really don’t have a green molecule in my body. I love looking at them but I can’t make them grow and I don’t know all that many different types. But the story is also very much about Karin. And Karin loved her flowers. This is evident both from how Lilla Hyttnäs looks now, from her own textiles and from Carl’s paintings. Paintings that , as Högardh-Ihr points out, often feature different flowers and plants.

This book does full justice to the life at the Larsson family home. The book is peppered with pictures, reproductions and extracts from letters to and from Karin. I don’t live that far from Sundborn village and have been there a couple of times over the last few years (and am always happy to go back) and I really enjoyed learning even more about this place and the woman who built it. The guides at the house are always really knowledgeable and happy to answer questions, and I know I will have some next time I go. The house itself is somewhat of a rabbit warren, where the Larssons built on more space as the family grew. And every single room has unique decorations, paintings by Carl and textiles by Karin. Karin also designed furniture, amongst other things a rocking chair that is very like one that you could buy at IKEA. Although to us today it might seem like Karin gave up on her own dreams of becoming an artist, but I really don’t think she did. She put her artist soul into the home. This home was always open to friends and family. Karin worked hard to decorate the house, make it warm and welcoming, and functional. And in doing so she broadened her artistic talents. Through the home she came into contact with weaving and textiles, something she hadn’t touched before. She grew up in a well to do home and had before marriage not been involved in cooking, now she became an adventurous cook who tried ingredients that wouldn’t make it into most Swedish kitchens for another 50 or 60 years.

The book is a very nice introduction to Karin, it isn’t that meaty in itself, but it gives some really excellent starting points for further study of both Karin and Carl.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Hunger Games [audiobook]

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Narrated by Carolyn McCormick

Publisher: Scholastic Audio

Category: Dystopian YA

Challenges: R.I.P. VI Challenge

Synopsis: 16 year old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, Panem. Every year each of the 12 districts have to send two tributes to the Capital to take part in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a fight to death for the entertainment of the inhabitants of Capital. At the annual Reaping Katniss younger sister’s name is called. Katniss, who has done everything in her power to limit Prim’s chance of being called, volunteers to go in her stead. The other Tribute from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a young boy who has loved Katniss for many years. And so begins the 74th Hunger Games.

My Thoughts: Oh. My. God. Why did I wait so bloody long to “read” this book?????!!!!!!! It is awesome!!! I’ve been listening to it every chance I’ve gotten over the last few days. Stupid work coming between me and my listening!

This book is so perfectly balanced between the scary-monsters, scary-psychological, scary-being-a-teen-is-just-plain-scary. Katniss for all she is the primary breadwinner in her family, is so very much a teenager.

I finally got around to listening to this book because it came up in a discussion at work the other week. We were talking about ordering books for English and some of my colleagues wanted suggestions for books. I suggested The Giver  and this lead to a discussion if our students could handle the themes (don’t let me get into this discussion ever again, I might actually pop a vein). The discussion climaxed in me pointing out that “kids these days” WANT to read dystopian novel. They LIKE dystopian novels. They can HANDLE dystopian novels. And I presented The Hunger Games as exhibit A. Since I hadn’t read it myself my colleague took over the baton at this point, and I realized that I had to read it. I am now even more convinced that this is a book we need to buy in for the school. A book we can definitely discuss in class (and since the first movie is out later this year we can actually also in years to come watch it, which was one of my colleagues requirements).

I think that our students will be able to identify with Katniss. Although we don’t have any Hunger Games here I think they can identify with her lack of power. Although our students have a choice in what they study in school, it is limited. We expect them to make choices but we don’t really give them any choices in their choices. They can definitely identify with the general level of powerlessness that Katniss feels. I think they can also identify with the theme of trust in the book. Who can you trust? Our students aren’t required to kill each other, but I’m sure some days, for them, high school feels much like the Arena. In addition Katniss has no idea who she is or who she wants to be. We are now two months into the term and I still have kids changing programs/classes almost daily. They just don’t know.

I have a love/hate relationship with Katniss. On the one hand she strikes me as incredibly admirable. She takes care of not just her sister but also others in the Seam. She is resourceful. At the same time she is a whinny teenager, and I spend my days with them . Yes there are some mitigating circumstances. I would probably also whine a bit if I was sent to die. However, I also don’t like the way she treats Peeta. She is sooooo suspicious. She cannot believe that someone would love her. And that is sad. And it makes me wonder what life would be like in that society. Or actually in any society where you cannot trust anyone. And perhaps that is the scariest part of the book. The total lack of trust that the citizens of Panem have for one and another.

From a suspense perspective this book was very well written. I don’t know how many times I thought “just one more chapter” and “BUT YOU CAN’T END IT THERE I REALLY REALLY NEED TO SLEEP NOW!” Collins seems to leave every single chapter on an incredible cliffhanger.

I think the “just one more chapter” feel was enhanced by listening to it in audio. Carolyn McCormick captures Katniss fear and frustration very well and she manages to leave the cliffhangers with an audible cue that keeps causing me to hold my breath. And disregard my bedtime. The voice takes some getting used to, but I think this is true for any book you read. However the voice was believable.

I highly highly highly recommend this book.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand [audiobook]

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Narrated by Peter Altschuler

Publisher: Random House Audio

Category: Lit

Synopsis: The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition? (Synopsis from www.helensimonson.com)

My Thoughts: Every review I’ve read of this book has been glowing. Everyone seems to love it. Maybe I had my hopes up to much but I was a bit disappointed. I was bored. I figured out the twists and turns long before they happened. That said, towards the end of the book I did like it.

Ultimately for me this book is about people. Meeting people. Moving on. And that despite the fact that we may be from different cultures we aren’t necessarily that different. It is also about life in a small town (something I am ALL to familiar with).

I’m not one who needs a whole lot of action in my books, to tell the truth I often skim the actual ACTION scenes in the In Death books. Or at least they don’t stick with me. But this book was just a little bit slow for me. To much of Major Pettigrew thinking and not enough of him actually acting on his thoughts. And I think this is what was frustrating for me. I get that he is a “stiff upper lip British gentleman” one who might not want to or be used to acting on feelings. But sometimes I just wanted to shake him. I don’t like having to shake my main characters.

I also thought that the actions of many of the characters were far to stereotypical to actually be believable. The fact that the golf club dance went the way it did wasn’t exactly a surprise and that was frustrating for me. Why didn’t they see it?! Why didn’t they prevent it long before it went the way it went? Yeah frustrated is the way I felt.

All that said, I felt that the characterization of the main characters was spot on. Although I worked with elderly Swedish gentlemen, and not British ones, I still recognized him. He felt very familiar, not because he was a stereotype, but because he was real. And so was Mrs Ali. They felt like real people, which is why I continued to listen to the book, even when I felt frustrated. In addition there were some instances where I laughed out loud. Absolute belly laughs, it was a good thing that I listened to most of this book in the car driving so that no one else could hear me.

I also enjoyed the narration of this story. Altschuler had the voice down pat. It was as if he was Pettigrew. And the secondary characters were also well done (no annoying accents, my pet peeve). Despite this not being a favourite of mine, I can’t exactly say I wouldn’t recommend it, just to someone who has a slightly different taste to mine.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: New York to Dallas

New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb

Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)

Category: Crime

Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Challenge, R.I.P. VI Challenge

Synopsis: One of Eve’s first collars manages to escape prison and he fixates on Eve and one of his last victims. Eve must face her past in order to put the criminal back behind bars.

My Thoughts: Eve faces a great deal in this book, she is forced to face a lot of very horrible memories, but as a result I think we see a growth in her that I have missed a bit in the past few books. Yes she has come to accept certain things in the last few books but in this one I think she finally has to face part of her past that she has managed to block out before.

This book definitely focuses on Eve and Roark. The Perp draws the two of them away from New York and they leave their team behind to tie up the investigation there. This does add a certain new dynamic to the book. Personally I really missed Peabody, Feeney, McNabb and the other characters that always add a bit of humanity to the books. Although the secondary characters that are included in this book are interesting I don’t have the same relationship to them as I do to the regular cast. And after having recently read Loyalty in Death where one of the secondary characters I started caring about gets killed off I‘m a bit vary of liking secondary characters in these books right now.

This book deals with how we move on from when something horrible has happened to us, and although I have never been trough anything truly horrible I can understand the victims in this book (Eve included) and how they choose to move on. Even though they choose very different paths. I think many of us choose to hide from things that happen to us in the past, but this book shows us that we cannot always hide, and sometimes it is infinitely more healthy to face what happened to us and then make the best of it all.

Overall this book make me very curious as to where Robb intends to take us in the next few books. There are certain things in this book that make me very curious.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Judgment in Death

Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb

Publisher: Berkley Books

Category: Crime

Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Challenge, R.I.P. VI Challenge

Synopsis: The body of a dead cop is found in one of Roark’s clubs. Eve must work out if the victim died because he was a cop or because someone is after Roark. All while the waters are muddied by IAB.

My Thoughts: Judgment in Death is actually a very sad story about grief and betrayal and what it can do to people.  The victim in the story is ultimately an innocent pawn in a much bigger game, a game with multiple players and not all of them aware of each other.This is a story of corruption and love.

Because of these themes this book leaves me feeling a bit sad. Both for the characters in the book and for the idea that this could happen in our society as well. One of the major Swedish papers has recently been running a series of articles regarding issues within the police in Sweden. Not corruption in the way it is portrayed in Judgment in Death with criminals paying off police officers, but rather systemic issues. But I have to ask myself, can the two not be connected? If we accept that the police count inactive cases as solved, where will it lead?

As far as this book is concerned I have to hope that we have more police officers like Eve and her team.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Witness in Death

Witness in Death by J.D. Robb

Publisher: Berkley Books

Category: Crime

Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Challenge, R.I.P. VI

Synopsis: A man is killed on stage during a performance with hundreds of witnesses, Lieutenant Eve Dallas included. Yet  the question of guilt is not so clear cut.

My Thoughts: Despite the dangers of using a cliché I will say that this book is a delicious romp in the world of theatre. No one is quite what they seem. Actors take any chance to try out a role. No one liked the deceased and everyone has some previous connection to others in the cast.

The play being produced is Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution and, while I’m not a fan of Christie, this book has that cozy murder mystery that her books evoke. No one particularly likes the deceased. And although there is the element of sexual crimes we have come to expect from a murder where Dallas is primary, somehow it fails to have quite the SVU feel that I normally get from the books.

On the whole this is one of the In Death books that I feel you can really cozy up with when the weather outside is frightful and just enjoy.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Loyalty in Death

Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

Publisher: Berkley Books

Category: Crime

Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Challenge, R.I.P. VI

Synopsis: A man is killed by his lover. Should be a fairly easy case to solve, except it becomes clear very soon that it isn’t. There is conspiracy abound and Eve and her gang need to use their smarts to solve this case before thousands more die.

My Thoughts: Not one of my favourite Robbs, despite the fact that we get to meet a family member of one of the major characters, Peabody’s brother Zeke.

Eve is supposed to be a homicide cop, and although this book starts with a murder the investigation is never about the victim. It becomes about the terrorists and the bombing and what I love about Eve is that she stands for the victim and I don’t feel like she does in this book. I also have another problem with one event in this book. I hate it when authors make me care about a character and then kill them off. It really puts me off.

There are of course some highlights in this book, especially the Peabody, McNabb, Eve scenes make me giggle quite a bit. And that is probably one of the saving graces of the book. The mysteries are often formulaic but the interpersonal relationships are very real and very funny. None of the characters are perfect but they are real.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Conspiracy in Death

Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb

Publisher: Berkley Books

Category: Crime

Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Challenge, R.I.P. VI Challenge

Synopsis: Someone killed a homeless man. And then took his heart. To top it all of the police officer who first secures the scene seems to have it out for Eve.

My Thoughts: This book really explores how our job can become central to our identity, and what happens when that identity is taken away from us. Because of the unfounded accusations of an individual Eve is taken off the job as a police officer. For her this is devastating as being a police officer is central to, not only who she is, but also to her sense of security. For many years she had no control over her own life, being a member of the NYPD gave her this sense of control.

I find it interesting how often we tie our identity to something, when actually our identity is made up of very many different identities. Eve has a hard time seeing herself as anything but a police officer. She fails to see that apart from being a kick ass police officer she is also a wife, friend, lover. She is valued for things other than her ability to solve murder cases. Of course she is fantastic at this but I think she learns a valuable lesson in that she can be so much more.

Other favourite parts of this book? We meet Troy Trueheart for the first time. I do love Trueheart. Those who read this blog have probably noted my love for the series about Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne, and Trueheart reminds me so much of one of the characters in that series, Kevin Flynn. Both are young, eager police officers who want to learn. Who want to move forward. And who are honest and caring. The world needs more guys like that.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Maybe This Time

Maybe This Time by Alois Hotchnig

Publisher: Peirene Press

Category: Short story

Challenges: R.I.P. VI

Synopsis: A Series of dreamlike short stories.

My Thoughts: This book freaked me out so much that I had to stop reading it at bedtime. In fact, I had to finish it in broad daylight on a buss surrounded by people it was so braintwisty and nightmareish. Not those nightmares that have you waking up in the middle of the night in a sweat but rather the kind where you wake up in the morning with an uncomfortable feeling that stays with you the whole day. Where you ask yourself multiple times “what was that”. You can’t quite remember, but you know you felt very uncomfortable.

This was another beautifully written book from the ladies at Peirene Press. Despite being a translation the English flowed seamlessly, and as somewhat of a translation snob I have to applaud them for their continuously high  standards when it comes to translations.

As I said before this book is seriously braintwisty. It makes you question everything you see. At the start of each story you think you know what is going on, but by the time you get to the end you no longer have a clue, and somehow I can’t seem to shake the feeling that this is a metaphor for life.  We can never quite know what it is we are doing or what it is we are seeing.

Apart from the creepy feeling this book gave me I am having a hard time articulating my feelings on it. I think I need some distance to it, to work out what it was it was trying to tell me. And I think I need to read it again. Read it more carefully. Or perhaps less carefully. Let it speak to me in a way that maybe I didn’t this time.

I do recommend it for anyone who likes books that leave you with a creepy feeling. For me the creepiest story was probably “Then a Door Opens and Swings Shut”. I find the morphing of Karl and the doll to be particularly disturbing.

I would  like to thank Peirene Press for sending me a review copy of this book. It was a very interesting read.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Mina Drömmars Stad (City of My Dreams)

Mina drömmars stad (City of My Dreams) by Per Anders Fogelström

Publisher: Albert Bonniers Förlag

Challenges: Nordic Challenge

Synopsis: Fifteen year old Henning is walking into Stockholm. The city lies before him with all its possibilities. The city however doesn’t quite live up to its promises.

My Thoughts: If you read this blog regularly you probably know by this time that I don’t do to well with assigned reading. I tend to resent them. This was one of my exceptions. I was assigned this book the summer between my junior and senior year in high school and I am pretty sure I read it from cover to cover, and then went out and bought the rest of the books in the series. It is that good.

It has one of the most compelling opening chapters I have ever read. I read this in Swedish, but it is translated into English by Jennifer Brown Baverstam. Fogelström in the opening of the book makes the city into a character in its own right. He paints a picture of the city as both a protector and an enemy. These are the last few lines of the opening chapter (my translation):

The City waited. For the fifteen year old boy who had yet not seen any of its glory – and for everyone else who sought it out.

It existed in their dreams and invited all possibilities.

But a young boy neither could nor wanted to see that most were dark, that joy and the possibilities of life were much fewer than those of sorrow and death.

The boy dreamed. The City waited.

Isn’t it evocative and foreboding? The story of young Henning and his family also tells the story of the growth of Stockholm. This is the first book in a series of five books that follow the family from 186o until 1968. This first book covers the period from 1860 until 1880 and is very much the story of the horrors of the industrial revolution. How the poor were used. And how this impacts on the individual. Young Henning has no family and at first no friends. He also has no education and no contacts. This means that he ends up with the hardest jobs there are. However the book also shows the love and friendship that grows even in the at first bleak life of the rented bed and work in the harbour. Somehow it is incredibly beautiful. And the end makes me cry every time.

Although this is a work of historical fiction there is a certain amount of realism. Fogelström presents a well researched book where actual events are incorporated into the book. One of the things I appreciate about this series is that the characters are never given an important part in the historical events of the time. Rather we see them through their eyes, the eyes of the normal person. That makes the books more real to me. One criticism of sorts is that the main characters are incredibly good. It can get a bit grating at times but at the same time makes an important point of not giving into your circumstances.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Holiday in Death

Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb

Publisher: Piatkus

Category: Crime fiction

Challenges: Mystery and Suspense Challenge

My Thoughts: This is probably the wrong time of year to read this book. It is set around Christmas, in New York, in the year 2058. A happy, young woman is found strangled by a Christmas garland. Eve Dallas and her crack team (which now includes McNabb (yay)) are faced with a killer who has a time limit and very few concrete leads. Add to that the fact that Eve is just not quite back to full fitness after the last book and you have another romp through the In Death world.

Eve continues the growth that she started in the earlier books in this one. Although she is still not ready to admit that she needs to slow down until she drops, she is now willing to admit after she dropped that Roark taking care of her might not be the worst thing. In addition she realises that she needs some of the people who have somehow manage to worm their way into her life.

This isn’t one of my favourite In Death books but it is another solid addition to the series. If you like L&O: SVU then you will enjoy this book.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Greater Journey [audiobook]

The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough

Narrated by: Edward Hermann

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Category: Narrative Non-fiction

Synopsis: A chronicle of Americans in Paris from 1930 until 1900, touching on both the political, the medical and the artists. These individuals were inspired by what they saw and in turn inspired others in both the US and Paris.

My Thoughts: I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to. I had many of the same problems as Colleen at My Love of Books. I did persist and finish the book because by the time I had the thought to quit there were some stories I was hoping that McCullough would tie up, which he did in a way.

My biggest problem was the fact that he tried too focus on to many people. The story thus becomes fractured, especially when he refers back to people he has already talked about. This is especially tricky when you are listening to it in audio because you can’t go back and refresh your memory about whose who the same way you can in print. I also found the jumping from art, to medicine, to politics, and back to art to be very jarring.

I did have parts I really enjoyed, I especially liked the part about Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent. The impressionists have been some of my favourite painters ever since I was a little girl and for me hearing these peoples stories gave me some great insights. I would have preferred a focus on these two and perhaps some others of their contemporaries. The contrast between the private of Cassatt and the public of Singer Sargent was fascinating to me.

I did like that there was a fairly even balance between men and women who were featured. I’ve already mentioned Mary Cassatt but McCullough also featured a female medical student, Elizabeth Blackwell, which I really appreciated. I also liked how this book tied with the book I had listened to before: At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend this book as a “go out and buy right now”, but rather borrow it from the library to see if you enjoy it first. And perhaps only read portions as they interest you.

Audio production: Edward Hermann does a fantastic job with this book. He has a great reading voice. I would listen to more books narrated by him.

I am not sure if I should comment on this here or not…but I will. I listened to the book on my iPhone using the Audible.com app and I am a bit sceptical. If I looked at the chapter list in the app there were a lot more chapters than there actually was in the book and this really bugged me. I wanted to know the chapters so that I could jump back. But this way it was difficult to get a grip over what was going on.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.