Recent retiree--35 year's experience teaching reading, English, adult basic education and volunteer leadership skills. Started this blog to exchange ideas and commentary with friends and others having an interest in joining the discussions. Greatest life accomplishments include:
1.organized my 3rd grade class to check out library books for me to get around librarian's weekly limit--Amazon.com, the Mullins Elementary 3rd Grade Class of 1956 is still waiting for "thank you" notes;
2. volunteered in the Peace Corps, island of St. Kitts, West Indies; 3.taught adults to read, earn their GEDs., and speak English as a second language; 4. bought a border collie puppy for $6, got evicted rather than give him up, and began a life-long love affair with all things "Dog"; 5. joined a physical fitness boot camp in my mid-50s--don't mess with someone who's been doing regulation pushups in wet grass at 5:30 a.m.; 6. walked across Northern England with best friend Sally--over 80 miles from the Irish to North Seas; and 7. travelled to many foreign countries for pleasure and work.
Today I'm grateful for books --stacks and stacks of them all over the house mean hours of reading pleasure. I read from many different genres from historical fiction to police procedurals. Especially fond of Scandinavian crime fiction from Sweden's Stieg Larsson (Girl with Dragon Tattoo series) to Iceland's Arnaldur Indridason (Inspector Erlendur series). Click on mosaic middle row to see some of the Nordic Noir that I read last year and favorite authors. Also, when I discover new--for me--authors I like to read everything they have written. Right now I'm working on Daniel Silva's novels about Gabriel Allon, Israeli spymaster and art restorer. To date, I've read about 100 books in 2013.
Until a few months ago I ordered books from Amazon. The UPS guys made regular stops at Summit Court with those Amazon boxes. Then I discovered our excellent public library. Now I keep a running lists of books on order. About the only message that I like getting on the answering machine is "This is the Louisville Free Public Library. You have four items on hold. Please pick up as soon as possible." On my way!
Finally, you can tell just how much we love books around here. Instead of a man cave, Chet has a book cave! He loves to snooze under this bookstack.
This week I've been deep into a new Danish crime writer who is giving the likes of Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell some great competition--The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (mouse over the book on my Shelfari shelf to the left here for a synopsis if you like a good police mystery). Anyway, the police department is right in the middle of Copenhagen and they keep making references to looking out over Tivoli Gardens, the Danish equivalent to Disneyland. So I found this little fence running along the stream walkway in Tivoli. Got the photos walking for dinner one evening there (2011).
And a couple of guys too cute not to show you. Along the walkway there were bread "gumball" machines. You put a coin in and got a handful of crumbs to feed theses eager birds and quackers:
Here's a fairy lit show of the grand hotel on the Tivoli grounds and another little night view of the water.
Now first thing this morning I'm going to Amazon to order the next installment of Chief Inspector Carl Mork's Copenhagen crime solvers, but before I do that will be checking out all the Friday Fences at Janis' place, Life According to Jan and Jer .
(Spoiler alert! You may not want to read anything other than the book quotes for The Scottish Prisoner if you are still reading the first three books in Diana Gabaldon's wildly popular Outlander series: Outlander , Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager.) It is 1760. At Helwater in England's Lake District, James Fraser, a paroled Jacobite prisoner of war, spends his days in relative peace working with horses on the Dunsany estate. He is content to be able to be close to a small son that he can not acknowledge and grieve for his wife from whom he was separated just before the battle of Culloden. Then the Irishman Tom Quinn comes to Helwater and tries to involve him in a scheme to resurrect the lost Jacobite Cause.
Meanwhile in London, Lord John Grey is enlisted by his brother Hal, Earl of Pardloe, to recover a corrupt army officer from Ireland and bring him back for court martial in London. The only problem is that the documents detailing this crime are written in "Erse", the language of the Scottish Highlanders. The one person who can help them is the Scottish prisoner, James Fraser. Will he do it in light of the complicated relationship (prisoner-jailer-friend) Fraser has with Lord John Grey?
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host, Miz B over at Should Be Reading ,as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules. " He is still at Helwater, is he not? Will you go and ask him about Siverly?" Hal said mildly. "No." "No?" "I would not piss on him was he burning in the flames of hell," Grey said politely. One of Hal's brows flicked upward. . . "Just so," he said dryly. "The question, though, is whether Fraser might be inclined to perform a similar service for you." "Only if he thought I might drown, " Grey said. p 22
Book description: This book is one of several off shoot stories that Gabaldon writes to expand the characters and plots of the seven books in the Outlander series. She calls it a Lord John Grey novel because it is set in the time when there was the most interaction between Lord John and Fraser. We also get more of stories of other characters, such as Fraser's young son William, who will be in all the upcoming novels. Fans of Gabaldon love all her characters and enjoy reading about them, in addition to the Jamie and Claire love story around which all the novels are written. In addition, these novels between the main Outlander books, give fans a "fix" while waiting for the next one (3-4 years) to come out!
On July 16-17, 1942 over 13,000--including 4,000 children--Parisian Jews were arrested by the French police in what became known as the Vel' d'Hiv' Roundup (code name Operation Spring Breeze). Entire families were dragged from their homes over the two days and held in the Velodrome d'Hiver, an indoor cycling arena, without water, food, sanitation, or medical attention. This German Gestapo plan to reduce, or rather exterminate,the Jewish population in occupied France was ruthlessly carried out by policemen and civil servants of the French Vichy government. Parents were forcibly separated from their children and shipped by cattle rail cars to Auschwitz for extermination. Followed by the children. Only about 900 Jews survived the roundup to tell the horrendous stories of the French government, police and ordinary citizens' turning their collective backs on fellow French citizens.
For this week's Tuesday Teaser I've chosen the riveting Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay which, she says, is her tribute to the children of the Vel' d'Hiv'. This was a hard book to read, but I won't forget it--nor should anyone else who reads it.
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host, Miz B over at Should Be Reading ,as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
" She woke at night, trembling, thinking of him in the cupboard. She took out the key and stared at it with pain and horror. p. 70
Book description from cover:Paris, July 1942-Sarah, a ten year old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they went door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard--their secret hiding place--and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.
Sixty Years Later-Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the Vel' d'Hiv' Roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles on a trail of secrets that link her and her husband's family to Sarah. These secrets change Julia's life dramatically and give her the courage to make some hard life-changing decisions.
I'm always glad when a well-loved book is adapted to film. That's the case with Sarah's Key. Here's the official film trailer and is scheduled for summer 2011 release:
In 1995 French President Jacques Chirac made a public apology to French Jews for the complicit role of the French policemen, civil servants and citizens in the roundup: "These black hours will stain our history forever and are an injury to our past and our traditions. . .France committed that day the irreparable. Breaking its word, it delivered those it protected to their executioners."
Recently I wrote about The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg for the Teaser Tuesday reader's meme. This week will carry on looking at Lackberg's crime fiction withThe Preacher, only the second of her novels to be translated into English. Lackberg lives and writes in Fjallbacka, a small fishing village/tourist location in northern Sweden. In these two novels Lackberg uncovers some bleak and sinister secrets of some of the most prominent families in the village. As with other Scandinavian murder mysteries we get to observe the local police as they struggle to solve increasingly violent crimes, sometimes involving their own neighbors and acquaintances. Teaser Tuesday is described by its host, Miz B over at Should Be Reading ,as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.
The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg
" 'May you burn in hell, Gabriel Hult, along with your father.' She whispered the words and left as abruptly as she'd come. . .Then Gabriel and Laine were alone. . .They exchanged a complicit look. They both knew what it meant that old bones had resurfaced." p. 87
Book description from cover: In the fishing community of Fjallbacka life is remote, peaceful, and for some, tragically short. Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young campers, but their bodies were never found. Until a young boy, playing on the rocky outcropping of the sea, discovered the body of a young woman--and, underneath this victim, the skeletons of the two missing campers.
Young Patrik Hedstrom, detective for the local police, ( character from the Ice Princess and expecting a baby with his companion writer Erica Falck) is put in charge of the investigation into the three murders. With his impending fatherhood, he is keenly aware of the pain of the parents over the loss of their daughters and their need to know, finally, what happened to them. This urgency increases when a second girl goes missing from a local caravan camp site. Hedstrom focuses his attention on the Hults, a feuding clan of misfits, religious fanatics, and criminals. The suspect list is long, but time is short for the detective to find the killer (s) before the missing girl suffers the same fate as the other three women.
Fans of Scandinavian crime fiction/police procedural writers such as Stieg Larsson (Girl with Dragon Tattoo trilogy) and Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander mysteries) may appreciate a feminine voice in this very popular genre. Camilla Lackberg adds this perspective in The Ice Princess, set in Fjallbacka, a once thriving fishing village in northern Sweden since the 1800s. Now the town is a favorite tourist destination and Lackberg's hometown.
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host, Miz B over at Should Be Reading ,as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.
The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg
"Erica hadn't been in this house for a long time, but she had once known it well, and she knew where the bathroom was. She shivered in the cold despite her warm clothing. The door to the bathroom swung slowly inward, and she stepped inside." p. 8
Book Description: Writer Erica Falck leaves her life in Stockholm on hold temporarily to return to her hometown Fjallbacka. Erica's parents had recently died in a car accident and now she and her younger sister must settle their parents' estate.
Immediately, on arrival in Fjallbacka, Erica is faced with the shocking discovery of her childhood friend Alex, dead of an apparent suicide. The writer in Erica senses that something is not right. She teams up with local police detective Patrik Hedstrom. They uncover shocking evidence of dysfunctional families, adulterous affairs, domestic violence and other secrets set against scenes of domesticity in this tranquil fishing village. The sins of the fathers--and mothers--destroy the lives of the present generation. Who must answer for these crimes?
The day was gone The night came on The monks and the friars, they searched till dawn When the sacristan saw On crumpled claw Come limping a poor little lame jackdaw (legend of the Jackdaw of Reims, the bird that stole the Bishop's ring)
"Exactly fifty (English) women were sent into France as secret agents by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. Of those, thirty-six survived the war. the other fourteen gave their lives. This book is dedicated to all of them." Preface -Jackdaws by Ken Follett
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host, Miz B over at Should Be Reading ,as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.
"Paul had heard of Felicity Clairet. She was something of a legend among the small group who knew the secret of the Allies' clandestine war. . .survived undercover in France longer than anyone. . .code name Leopardess, and people say she moved around the streets of occupied France with the silent footsteps of a dangerous cat. They also said she was a pretty girl with a heart of stone. She had killed more than once." p. 57
Book Description: On the eve of D-day in WW II, a ragtag gang of all-female British agents parachuted behind German lines in occupied France. Code named Jackdaws (for the jackdaw and Bishop of Reims legend), the saboteurs were sent by the SOE to blow up a key telephone exchange and Gestapo stronghold in the Cathedral at Reims. Their aim was to cripple vital communication lines between the Nazi forces before the D-day landing of the Allies. Even though led by the fearless Major Flick Clairet, could six relatively untrained women escape German capture, interrogation and death--and complete their mission?
(Image credit: jackdaw by http://www.hampshirecam.co.uk)
Hairpin curves on narrow winding roads in the Cevennes Mountains of southeast France--such as these-are just some of the many challenges facing Catherine Parkstone, the heroine of Rosy Thornton's A Tapestry of Love. Equal parts romance and travelogue, Thornton tells her story with a warm, engaging voice. Not long into the book began thinking: I really love this story, especially the main character, the French farmers and villagers and their way of life. For this reason I chose The Tapestry of Love for this week's Tuesday Teaser.
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host, Miz B over at Should Be Reading ,as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.
The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton
"The things we think we want," he said softly, "sometimes it turns out they're not what we really want at all." "No." It was all she could manage, a simple acknowledgement, though it might just as well be taken as denial. p. 265
Book Description: After her divorce Catherine. already in her late 40s, sells her home in England and moves to a small hamlet in the Cevennes Mountains. She leaves behind two grown children, an ailing mother, a lawyer sister, and an ex-husband with whom she's on cordial terms. Catherine rents a house just outside the village with a garden, out buildings--enough land to make her neighbors think she wants to farm. Catherine has other work in mind. She does needlework and sews "soft" furnishings enough, she hopes, to earn a living from sales to her neighbors and people in surrounding villages. Her color and theme inspirations come from the mountain views around her. Catherine very soon is involved in the lives of her neighbors, including the mysterious Patrick Castagnol. Will she be able to maintain her famous common sense with him around?
For several years I have been a blog friend with Debs Carr of Deb Carr's Daydreams . Debs writes women's fiction in the U.K. and is a member of the Romantic Novelist's Association. Every week she shares her latest reading and does reviews for many of the books she features on her blog. Rosy Thornton's a Tapestry of Love was one of the many she reviewed that I wanted to read--enough to track down on Amazon from the U.K.
Book one of Ken Follett's Century Trilogy begins on June 22, 1911, coronation day for King George V at Westminster Abbey in London. To the northwest of London in the mining town of Aberowen, South Wales, 13 year old Billy Williams went down in the pit for the first time. On nearby Ty Gwyn (Welsh for White House) estate, Earl Fitzherbert and his family live in wealth and priviledge by licensing the mineral rights to rich coal seams beneath the Fitzherbert farm lands. Fall of Giants is the story of five families--American, German, Russian, English and Welsh-- intertwined and conflicted by class, ideology, nationality,and world views in the leadup to World War I and its initial conflicts. ("Barmouth Evening" by Welsh artist Christopher David Williams, 1873-1934)
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should Be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
December 24, 1914, battle trenches near Ypres on France and Belgium border, Welsh Major Earl Fitzherbert:
"He spotted two sergeants, one British and one German, deep in conversation. He tapped the Brit on the shoulder. 'You!' he said. 'What the devil are you doing?'
The man answered in the flat guttural accent of the Cardiff docks. 'I don't know how it happened,sir, exactly. Some of the Jerries got up on their parapet, unarmed, and shouted, ''Happy Christmas,' then one of our boys done the same, then they started walking towards one another and before you could say chips everyone was doing it.' " p. 384
Book Description: As with this description of the WW I Christmas Truce of 1914, Follett tells the stories of five very different families as they live through the drama and separations of the First World War and the corresponding fight for worker rights and women's suffrage. Follett commented in an interview that his approach to historical fiction was to not take liberties with historical facts for the sake of advancing the story. In actuality, he had eight historical scholars of the period fact check his writing before publication. This attention to detail adds great richness and believeability to the stories of individual characters.
When I came to this Christmas Truce account in Fall of Giants, I was delighted. It reminded me of the 2005 Academy Award-nominated film Joyeux Noel which tells the powerful story of other soldiers who spontaneously decided to lay down their arms--for just one night--and walk out to meet each other in No Man's Land between the trenches and wish each other a "Merry Christmas." Here's the trailer:
Another example of how literature, art, music, and drama ties all the great stories together and helps us make sense of it all.
First there was Kabul Beauty School, Deborah Rodriguez's factual account of moving from the U.S. to Kabul, Afghanistan as an almost middle-aged woman looking for a new life challenge and work other than that of mother to grown sons. In the U.S. Rodriguez was a beauty salon owner and operator. Once in Kabul she was drawn into the plight of Afghan women--their struggles to support their families and enjoy some independence from husbands, fathers and brothers. She also saw that Afghan women loved and enjoyed being beautiful even though their famous beauty must be hidden behind the veil in public. Through trial and error--and sometimes plain bravado--she was able to establish the Kabul Beauty School where women could train to be beauticians and offer the Afghan style of beauty treatments as well as learning to be good business women. Now in A Cup of Friendship, Rodriguez turns to fiction with a twist. Still in Kabul, but now it's a coffee shop.
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should Be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may by your meme. To play, just click on Miz B's link above for the simple rules.
A Cup of Friendship, a Novel by Deborah Rodriguez
"Yazmina began to sob--for the baby that was doomed before it was born, and for Halajan and how, as independent as she was, she could not move mountains, after all. . .With sadness and optimism she wept for all the daughters of Afghanistan." p. 140
Book Description: Sunny, a 38 year old American who's made her share of bad choices and mistakes, has finally found her niche operating a very popular coffee shop for the wide variety of expatriate civilians and military, as well as local Afghans, who live and work in Kabul and surroundings after the war. Sunny operates the shop with the help of several Afghans including her landlady Halajan, a daringly independent woman, and her son Ahmet who is locked in the traditional Muslim male head of the family role. And then a beautiful young , pregnant widow Yazmina ends up on their doorstep after escaping a couple of war lords to whom she was sold by her uncle for his drug debts. Her plight and the efforts of the coffee shop patrons to help her challenges the established beliefs of everyone involved. Will the bonds of friendship be stronger than a culture that accepts violence and subjugation of its women as the norm?
If, like me, you are fascinated by the Middle East and all its contrasts, Kabul Beauty School and A Cup of Friendship will give you a revealing look behind the scenes at the culture and day to day life of Afghanistan. In particular, you will learn to appreciate the daily struggles of Afghan women and their determination to survive in a sometimes unspeakably violent culture.
HenningMankell, one of Sweden's most prolific crime writers, has delivered the final Kurt Wallander mystery. In this tenth novel following the career of the brusque, effective and, at times, controversial police inspector in the small coastal town of Ystad, Sweden. In this series finale, Wallander is 60 years old, in poor health, lonely, and worried about his future. He struggles to maintain good relationships with family as always. He is in frequent conflict with colleagues in the Ystad police department. Even with all his shortcomings, he still knows how to get to the bottom of the most challenging case. In reading this novel, the question is: who is "The Troubled Man"? The main suspect in the crime? Wallander himself? Or, both?
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme. If you want to play, just click on Miz B's link above for the very simple rules.
The Troubled Man by HenningMankell
"The only thing that struck him right now as being an incontestable fact was that HakanvonEnke had stood face-to-face with him in a side room during a birthday party on Djursholm and seemed to be deeply troubled. That's where it all began, Wallander thought. It began with the troubled man." pp. 207-8
Book Description: In Stockholm a retired, high ranking naval officer disappears on a routine daily walk. Soon thereafter, the officer's wife disappears also. The investigation falls under Stockholm police jurisdiction. Wallander is on vacation/sick leave at his home outside Ystad. In typical Wallander fashion he becomes involved in this case because the presumed victims are his daughter's future in-laws. The investigation leads back to Sweden's involvement in the Cold War and suspected espionage activities involving submarine maneuvers within Sweden's maritime borders.
Mankell's Kurt Wallander mysteries were first adapted into a Swedish television series. This highly acclaimed production was then adapted into a PBS Masterpiece Mystery series starring Kenneth Branagh as Wallander. From the beginning, I was drawn to the series theme song "Nostalgia" by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo. Here she performs the song in one of the setting for "Sidetracked" from the first season. The song captures the Wallander character.
Alice Howland is at the top of her game. At just fifty years old she is a highly respected and accomplished professor of cognitive psychology and linguistics at Harvard University. She and her husband, also a researcher at Harvard, enjoy busy professional lives and the satisfaction of watching their three grown children get established in their own careers.
And then the downward spiral begins. Alice loses her Blackberry constantly, she forgets why "Eric" is on her to do list, she becomes disoriented on a familiar run and struggles to find her way home. At first she blames over scheduling and work demands. Then fears a brain tumor or complications of menopause. In short order she is diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's disease. Still Alice is her story about her day to day struggles to maintain a normal life and cheat this debilitating disease out of one more victim. (Image- Blue Morph's Butterfly by Fran Henig)
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over atShould be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme. If you want to play, just click on Miz B's link above for the very simple rules.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
"Alice placed her fingers on the top of her sternum and rubbed the blue paste stones on the wings of her mother's art nouveau butterfly necklace. . .She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short didn't mean they were tragic." p. 112
Book Description: Of all the books written about Alzheimer's disease, most deal with either treatment or the care giver's issues. Still Alice is different in that it is fiction and the story is told from the perspective of a person who is young enough to share what it means to be diagnosed with a disease of the elderly. We get a fascinating behind the scene look at the steps in diagnosis, the strategies one woman uses to maintain control of her normal functioning for as long as possible. We also witness what it means to gradually lose everything you value--ability to communicate, to work, make decisions for yourself, be in control.
If you are the care giver for a family member or friend who suffers from Alzheimer's, or you fear the disease for yourself, read this book. It's a fast read because you won't want to put it down once started. For sure you'll understand the disease a lot better. Here's a brief comment from the author about why she wrote a work of fiction about a very real disease:
On the surface it looked like an accident. A six-year old boy fell to his death from a snowy rooftop in Copenhagen. Smilla Jasperson, the boy's friend and neighbor, looks at the tracks in the rooftop snow and is convinced that the police are wrong. This is the intriguing opening for Danish crime writer Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow and my selection for this week's Teaser Tuesday.
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over atShould be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme. If you want to play, just click on Miz B's link above for the very simple rules.
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
"The coffin is made of dark wood, it looks so small, and there is already a layer of snow on it. The flakes are the size of tiny feathers, and that's the way snow is, it's not necessarily cold. What is happening at the moment is that the heavens are weeping for Isaiah, and the tears are turning into frosty down that is covering him up." p. 4
Book Description: At first you think Hoeg has written a straightforward crime novel. A boy falls to his death from a Copenhagen rooftop. Police are quick to call it an accident and try to close the case. However, the boy's neighbor is a mathematician and scientist. And like the boy she is a native Greenlander and understands what is possible in snowy, icy conditions. She pushes and is ordered to back off, threatened with events from her past. She suspects a corporate and governmental cover up that ties both her and the boy Isaiah back to an ill-fated geological expedition in Greenland many years ago.
* * * * *
If I enjoy a book, I'm always happy to know that there's a film adaptation of it. For Smilla's Sense of Snow there is a 1997 film by the same name and it stars some heavy hitters such as Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Harris, Jim Broadbent, and Vanessa Redgrave. Even better if it's on Netflix Instant Play and it is. Here's the trailer:
Favorite tools or inventions is the topic for February 21 Fun Monday. Molly over at Return of the White Robin continues with her February hosting duties by asking us to share our favorite tool or invention. A "tool" is defined as a gadget or hand instrument used to accomplish a task. Like many of you, I'm a serious reader so my tool is one that makes this daily task(?) easier. This print,Thursday Night Book Club by Mark Sowa, doesn't relate directly to the topic. Clipped it on here just to give you a laugh on Monday!
My favorite reading tool is called several different things, depending on it's use. First I have the book buddy, a lightweight beanbag square that's perfect for resting a heavy volume--say like War and Peace--at a comfortable prop on your lap for reading while sitting upright or reclining. The sides have ties to hold the book covers in place as you read. I also have a favorite version of the book buddy that has a detachable rigid top so that I can read and take notes at the same time. I use this version every day.
The second book buddy is a bit fancier, but very handy for reading, writing, paying bills, working puzzles from the ease of your sofa. It's called a lap reader and I got mine from Levenger's catalog of overpriced items for serious readers. On this one the foam base comes off so you can use just the wooden lap board alone.
My final handy reading tool is a mini flexi-booklight. When I travel I always bring one along, much handier than the overhead lights on a plane or bus. I also keep one in the emergency storm box at home in case we lose power. All is not lost as long as you can continue reading while waiting for power to be restored.
So Molly, there you have my favorite tools. Use and enjoy them every day!
In the early 1600s Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was the eager student of her father, Italian Baroque painter Orazio. They lived and worked together in Rome with Artemisia serving as one of the many apprentices for Orazio's great works commissioned by the Catholic Church, nobility and wealthy merchants of the city. By age eighteen Artemisia was becoming a talented artist in her own right, especially when it came to depicting the power and beauty of the female form on canvas. (Painting: Self Portriat as the Allegory of Painting, 1630)
Then her father betrays her publicly for his own selfish artistic interests. The Passion of Artemisia is Susan Vreeland's novel of a woman's struggles to become an artist within the confines of a male dominated society.
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme. If you want to play, just click on Miz B's link for the very simple rules.
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeleand "The next morning, I started "Judith Slaying Holofernes". I could barely bend my fingers to grasp the egg-shaped muller to pulverize the pigments on my marble slab. Pain is not important. I had to ignore it, I told myself. Only painting is important. Paint out the pain, Graziela had said."
Book Description: Susan Vreeland's novel is based on the life and work of the first woman to ever be accepted to the famed Accademia dell' Arte of Florence, Italy. Artemisia Gentileschi is a fortunate young woman until 18 years of age, happily working with her father Orazio and learning to paint under his protection. At that age her father engages a tutor, Augustino Tassi, to teach her, among other things, how to show perspective in her works. Tassi ends up raping young Artemisia and her father hauls him before the papal court. Not for abusing his young daughter, but for harming his reputation as a painter. Artemisia is forced to stand before the court and defend her own innocence without her father's support.
Her reputation is ruined in Rome, she is forced into an arranged marriage with another painter from Florence where they go to live. For the remainder of her life Artemisia must struggle to balance her life as an artist, wife and mother. And, at the same time, find acceptance and patronage for her work. Her paintings of strong Biblical women figures such as Judith, Susanna, and Magdalen and historical figures like Cleopatra and Lucretia mirrors her real life struggles and triumphs.
I enjoy films based on books that I've read. Here is the movie trailer from "Artemisia", a 1997 production of the early life of Artemisia Gentileschi. It is somewhat romanticised, but still a fascinating account of painting in early 1600s in Italy.
(Note about Artemisia's damaged hands: when she was forced to testify before the papal court in Tasso's trial, she had to submit to an in court examination to see whether or not she was still a virgin. That was not enough, while on the witness stand she was also subjected to the sibille. Her hands were bound, palms facing each other with cords through her fingers. As she gave testimony a wooden screw was tightened with each question to force her to tell the truth. When they finished with her, Artemisia feared that her hands would be too damaged to paint again.)
It is 1936 Moscow. The Stalinist reign of terror is just beginning in Russia. Religion is forbidden, but the Russian Orthodox Church's great art treasures was being pillaged by the government and its criminal element, for sale to dealers and museums in other countries to fund the revolution.
Kazanskaya, Our Lady of Kazan, a 19th century Russian icon is missing from a "deconsecrated" church in Moscow. A young woman's tortured and mutilated body is found on the altar of a Moscow church. How is her murder, and that of several other people in the same manner, connected to the stolen Russian icons? Who is responsible for both crimes? Those are the questions answered by British writer William Ryan in his excellent first novel, The Holy Thief. Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme. If you want to play, just click on Miz B's link for the very simple rules.
The Holy Thief by William Ryan "Koyla smiled. 'Would you like to know the name of the Chekist commanding the search party? The one who took the icon from us?' Korolev nodded, half suspecting he knew the answer." p. 204
Book Description: This novel is first of all a police procedural. A crime is committed. The local police are called out to investigate and solve the crime. As in any police department there are competent, sometimes even brilliant, investigators, and there are slackers and dishonest cops. And there are commanders with hidden, often political or personal, agendas.
This novel is interesting and original in that the investigation is set against the paranoia, fear, and confusion of a country being overrun by a repressive Stalinist government. Captain Alexei Dimitrivich Korolev of the Criminal Investigation Division (much like Scotland Yard) is the good cop assigned to solve the murders. In doing so, he must maneuver between the political NKVD State Security and the Thieves, a prison based mafia responsible for much of the Moscow crime--with the blessings of the NKVD. Korolev must also deal with a fearful, distrusting public as well. All this intrigue makes for an exciting read.
The main thing that I enjoyed about this book is its consistency. It may have been 1936 in a dictatorship, but good police work is the same as in a modern city--investigate, follow the leads, keep good records, build trust, think of justice for the victim, and try to stay clear of the politics. That's what Captain Korolev did.
Teaser Tuesday is a bookish meme hosted by Miz B over at Should be Reading and is open to all readers who enjoy sharing their current book.
For the past few months I've been spending entirely too much time reading Diana Gabaldon's very popular Outlander series--my first foray into historical/time travel fiction. After reading the seven lengthy novels that tell the great love story of a Scotsman and Englishwoman set in Scotland, France and the American Colonies during the Jacobite Uprising and American Revolutionary War, I wanted more of this genre.
Which led me to Sara Donati's Wilderness Series. There are many similarities between the Outlander and Wilderness series--the love story between a Scots and English, memorable minor characters even with the smallest children, countries at war, strong families, the culture of the times. Sara Donati's Wilderness series begins in New York State, Canada, and Scotland. The conflicts in these six novels revolve around claims on the American wilderness by the colonists and the native American Indians, the prejudices experienced by black slaves, women's rights, and religious intolerance. Also swirling in all this conflict is the struggles for power and trade domination among the colonists, French and English which will lead to the War of 1812.
So far I've read Into the Wilderness and Dawn on a Distant Shore. I've chosen the first novel for this week's Teaser Tuesday. If you'd like to join this meme, the directions are simple:
--open your current read to a random page; --share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on the page, being careful not to give away too much of the story; --share the title and author and, if you like, a brief synopsis so other readers can decide if they want to add your selection to their TBR lists; and --post your link in the comments on Miz B's webpage before checking out other Teaser Tuesday links.
Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati
December 1792 "Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, overly educated and excessively rational, knowing right from wrong and fancy from fact, woke in a nest of marten and fox pelts to the sight of an eagle circling overhead and saw at once that it could not be far to Paradise. All around her was a world of intense green and severe white mountains, a wilderness of deep and bountiful silence, magnificent beyond all imagining. This was not England, that was clear enough." p. 3
Synopsis: in December 1792 Elizabeth Middleton leaves her comfortable English estate to join her father and brother in a remote New York mountain village. She intends to open a school for village children. Her father has other plans for her, a marriage to secure desirable wilderness property. Almost immediately upon arrival in Paradise, Elizabeth gains an unlikely ally and admirer in Nathaniel Bonner, a white man who dresses like and lives among the local Mohawk tribe. This is the story of two strong people and the life they struggle to build together in the wilderness.
I have not read ahead to see where Elizabeth and Nathaniel's story takes me over the six novels. That's one of the great pleasures of a series like this. You meet the characters and want to follow them on their adventures without knowing too much ahead of time about where those adventures will take you.
Teaser Tuesday is described by its host Miz B over at Should be Reading as a "weekly bookish meme" open to any reader who wants to play along. If, like me, you're always curious about what people are reading or always on the lookout for the next great read, then this may be your meme.
The rules are simple:
--Grab your current read, --open to a random page, --share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on the page, --be careful not to include a spoiler, --share the title and author--and a very brief synopsis--so that other Tuesday Teaser participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teaser, and --post your link in the comments on Miz B's webpage.
The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell District Judge Birgitta Roslin: "Long afterward, when the memory of everything that had taken place began to grow dim, she sometimes wondered what would have happened if she had in fact gone on the holiday to Tenerife, then come home and gone back to work with her blood pressure lowered and her tiredness banished. But reality turned out differently ." p. 57
Synopsis from book jacket: January 2006: In the Swedish hamlet of Hesjovallen, 19 people, mostly elderly, were massacred. The only clue was a red ribbon found at the crime scene. Judge Birgitta Roslin is shocked to learn that her grandparents, the Andrens, are among the victims. She also learns that an Andren family in Nevada has been murdered in a similar manner. In trying to find the link between these two murders she discovers the 19th century diary of an Andren ancestor who was a gang master responsible for the brutal treatment of Chinese slave workers forced to work on the American transcontinental railway.
Judge Roslin cannot persuade the local police to pursue the links among these three events. They insist that the Swedish massacre must be the work of a lunatic. So, she sets out to investigate on her own. This dangerous mission entangles her in power plays in modern day Beijing involving the Chinese government as it becomes a political and financial super power.
The Man from Beijing solidifies Henning Mankell's reputation as a great Swedish crime writer that began earlier with his Kurt Wallander mystery series, following the driven career and tortured personal life of Inspector Kurt Wallander in the southern sea coast town of Ystad. Mankell's novels are so much more than standard police investigations because he deals with modern day issues like unchecked immigration, governmental inefficiency, financial and social collapse. This background makes for a very relevant read. Final note: if you enjoy the Mankell novels, you will more than likely want to check out Wallander on PBS' Masterpiece Mysterywhere Kenneth Branagh gives and award winning performance as Inspector Kurt Wallander.
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading . All readers are welcome to play. The rules are simple: 1. open your current read to a random page (well sort of); 2. share two "teaser" sentences from this page, making sure they're not spoilers for the next reader; 3. link your post in the comments on Miz B's website; and 4. try to check out other players' posts and leave a comment--we all love them!
This week I'm a bit late writing my post because I decided to do a teaser for three books--Swedish writer Stieg Larsson's international bestselling thrillers, the Millennium trilogy. Also, I want to tell you about the first movie based on this trilogy. I saw Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before reading the books and was immediately fascinated by the storyline, characters, and heart stopping pace of the film. In about three weeks I read the three books almost in one setting each, staying up all night to see what happens. Now that's a great read!
I was also glad to have seen the "Dragon Tattoo" movie first to help me visualize the Swedish setting for the novels--cold, snowy, watery countryside. More importantly, I had a picture in my mind of Larsson's two central characters--Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Lisbeth Salander is a brilliant computer hacker with a photographic memory who works as an investigator for a security company. Salander is a non-communicative social misfit who strikes out violently at anyone who threatens her. Some reviewers say she may be borderline autistic or suffer from Asperger's syndrome. Her looks--slight boyish figure, fierce physicality, goth appearance with multiple piercings and tattoos--further emphasize her differences from other young Swedish women. Salander has been victimized and brutalized most of her life by people in authority who were charged with protecting her. These violations are the backdrop for all three novels.
Michael Blomkvist is an investigative journalist for the liberal leaning Millennium Magazine and freelancer who takes on corrupt financial and governmental institutions and exposes them to the public. Even if it means being sued for libel, being set up, and sentenced to a jail term for his supposed crime. Blomkvist operates by a strict journalistic code. He gets the story right before he publishes it and he doesn't betray his sources. Most important for his relationship with Salander, he is a fiercely loyal friend who uses his considerable journalistic talents and personal connections to help her. Someone who has her back--a first for Salander.
Here are my teasers for each book. If you decide to read, they should be read in order because the story builds over the three works:
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo(pub. Stockholm 2005)
"But he does have some secrets?" Frode said. "Everyone has secrets," Salander replied neutrally. "It's just a matter of finding out what they are." p. 50
Synopsis: Journalist Mikael Blomkvist and computer hacker Lisbeth Salander investigate the unsolved disappearance over twenty years ago of a teenage girl of the powerful Vanger family. In the process, they uncover dark family secrets and connections to Blomkvist's journalistic career. Journalist and hacker begin an uneasy partnership.
The Girl Who Played With Fire (pub. Stockholm 2006)
"She lay on her back fastened by leather straps to a narrow bed. The harness was tight across her rib cage. Her hands were manacled to the sides of the bed. It was the 43rd day of her imprisonment. It was her 13th birthday." p. 3 & 6
Synopsis: Blomkvist's Millennium Magazine launches an expose of the Swedish sex trade that proves collusion by a rogue arm of the secret security police. Two staffers involved in the investigation are brutally murdered and the police pursue Salander as a prime suspect because of the secrets she knows.
The Girl who Kicked The Hornet's Nest(pub. Stockholm 2007)
"Rescue Service helicopter coming in. Two patients. An injured man and a young woman. The woman has gunshot wounds." p. 5
Salandar is critically wounded and a prisoner in a city hospital. She is to go on trial for three murders. Somehow she must prove her innocence plus identify and denounce the authorities who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. Blomkvist is her main ally.
Here is the U.S. trailer for The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo film. Warning: it is very intense and, at times, incredibly violent. At the same time it's almost like an art film. Noomi Rapace transforms herself physically into this 24 year old waif. Michael Nyquist is perfectly cast as the older, steady Blomkvist. I think you'll see why it was good to see this film before reading the trilogy. Films based on the other two novels are scheduled for release later this year and early 2011.
After this total immersion in Stieg Larsson, I became interested in Swedish crime writing and drama. Next week I'll be talking about Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander mysteries.
I've chosen an amazing first novel for this week's Teaser Tuesday. There's a lot to recommend in young Julie Orringer's writing--a love story set in Budapest and Paris in the late 1930s as Europe goes to war, a tale of three brothers who stood by each other no matter what, and a family's determination to survive and remain together despite numerous attempts to destroy it. This story rings true because it is based on the experiences of Orringer's Jewish-Hungarian grandparents and great aunts and uncles.
Teaser Tuesdayis a book sharing meme hosted by Mz B at Should be Reading . All book lovers are welcome to play. The rules are simple: open your current read to a random page; share two teaser sentences from that page, being careful not to include any spoilers; share the title, author and--if you like--a brief synopsis of the story so that other players can decide if they want to read your book; and post your link in the comments on Miz B's webpage.
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
Andras Levi: "For years now, he understood at last, he'd had to cultivate the habit of blind hope. It had become as natural to him as breathing. It had taken him from Konyar to Budapest to Paris. . .from the Carpathian winter to Forget-Me-Not Street in the Erzsebetvaros. It was the inevitable by-product of love, the clear and potent distillate of fatherhood." p. 478
Synopsis from the book cover: "Paris, 1937, Andras Levi, a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern. He falls into a complicated relationship with the letter's recipient, a 30+ year old ballet teacher and Jewish-Hungarian who had fled to Paris almost 20 years ago to escape prosecution for a crime she did not commit. Meanwhile Andras' older brother takes up medical studies in Modena, Italy and his younger brother leaves school in Hungary and goes on stage. Europe's unfolding tragedy sends each of the brothers' lives into terrifying uncertainty. At the end of Andras' second summer in Paris, all Europe erupts in a cataclysm of war. The brothers return to Hungary to hopefully safeguard their families and are drawn into the war as forced laborers using the skills they have been learning in school."
A special bonus of this book was the description of the famous architecture of Paris, familiar to any traveler who has been fortunate enough to visit this fabulous city. In his first term at the Ecole Speciale d'Architecture, Andras had to create a model of the train station Gare d'Orsay. He spoke of drawing the arched windows and clock faces and all the stone detailing for this rail station built in 1900 and by the late 1930s becoming obsolete because of its short platforms that would not accommodate the longer trains serving southwestern France. I dug around in my photo albums and found photos that I had taken there in 2002, now an art museum-Musee d'Orsay--housing collections from the mid-1800s to 1914, including works of the great Impressionist painters.
This postcard shows the Beaux-Arts edifice of La Gare d'Orsay as designed by architect Victor Laloux:
When the train station was converted to the modern day Musee d'Orsay in 1977, the Italian architect kept the interior elements and feel of the original structure, including the arched windows, ornate clocks, and stone walls.
If you're just now making your summer reading lists, I highly recommend that you check out Miz B's Teaser Tuesdays. And, if you're looking for a challenging read with memorable characters then don't miss The Invisible Bridge. Plus, it's an economical way to ramble around Paris!
