Just finished up the Beartown trilogy by Fredrik Backman, who is the author of A Man Called Ove. Really enjoyed it. About a small dying town in Northern Sweden, the people that live there, and their hockey club. The author has a unique writing style which may be grating for some, but I couldn't get enough of the characters and the story.
Reading Challenge 2024
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
Sad news, for anyone else who was a fan..
The "which famous person died today" thread
Just found out about this. A monumental mind. RIP. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/21/daniel-dennett-obituaryforums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk
C J Sansom was the author that kick-started my interest in historical fiction - still the best writer of this genre for me.
I’ve read Dominion, will definitely take a look at Winter in Madrid, the Spanish Civil War fascinates me.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Have you read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon?
Not really about the Spanish Civil War, but a lot of the characters are haunted by it as this book (and it’s three sequels) progress. One of my favourite all-time books and series.
More closely associated with the Spanish Civil War is Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas. Takes a while to get going but I found it fascinating. I read it when my daughter was studying for her Spanish degree and she recommended it.
Thanks for sharing this very sad information. He was a great author, one of my favourites, and outstanding in his main genre.Sad news, for anyone else who was a fan..
The "which famous person died today" thread
Just found out about this. A monumental mind. RIP. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/21/daniel-dennett-obituary
I've read a number of his books, and they are extremely enjoyable. Dissolution was a great opening to the Shardlake series, and I've read a few more in the series since. I've not read Winter in Madrid yet, but I intend to. Dominion was a diversion from his usual Tudor historical fiction, but nevertheless one of my favourite books of recent years. I reviewed it on here.
C J Sansom died from myeloma, a rare type of blood cancer, which he lived with for twelve years. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with myeloma last week. It's causing some serious pain.
I am looking forward to watching the forthcoming TV series, which I was unaware of until reading this news.
(Also posted in the other thread).
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. I hope she is getting the right treatment and at least some decent pain management.
I’ve read all of Zafon’s “Cemetery of Forgotten Books” series a couple of times, best thing about it is you can read them in any order, Zafon’s passing was a real loss to literature. “Soldiers of Salamis” is on my list, just making my way through Roberto Bolano’s “Savage Detectives” about visceral realist poets in 1970’s Mexico, it’s a good read but please don’t ask me to explain what a visceral realist poet is!
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
I’ve read the first 3 twice each, the last run through in preparation for the mammoth final part 5 years ago. It’s that kind of series that you can get so much out of on multiple reads.
Totally agree about Zafon’s death. I was so intrigued about what he’d do next.
1. Unruly - David Mitchell - 9/10
2. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Blackman - 7/10
3. The Book of Doors - Gareth Brown - 8/10
4. Hitler's British Traitors - Tim Tate - 4/10
On audiobook, whilst running, and sometimes whilst ironing. The first traitor covered by the book was narrated whilst I was out on an evening run, recently on holiday in Portsmouth. It caught my attention because the spy being discussed was from Southsea, coincidentally where I was then running.
It is a history of traitors, spies and fifth columnists in Britain, in the lead up and during WWII. Material is drawn largely from declassified files.
Obviously, it only covers known activists, and by virtue of this, most of them didn't get to do much damage to the war effort because they were arrested and interned. There is a stark contrast in how Fascists were treated depending on their social status, with the rich and famous left at liberty, rather than being incarcerated.
It's a well written history, but rather dry, and lacking any excitement whatsoever - hence the low rating. Ben MacIntyre weaves a far superior yarn when it comes to WWII history.
2. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Blackman - 7/10
3. The Book of Doors - Gareth Brown - 8/10
4. Hitler's British Traitors - Tim Tate - 4/10
On audiobook, whilst running, and sometimes whilst ironing. The first traitor covered by the book was narrated whilst I was out on an evening run, recently on holiday in Portsmouth. It caught my attention because the spy being discussed was from Southsea, coincidentally where I was then running.
It is a history of traitors, spies and fifth columnists in Britain, in the lead up and during WWII. Material is drawn largely from declassified files.
Obviously, it only covers known activists, and by virtue of this, most of them didn't get to do much damage to the war effort because they were arrested and interned. There is a stark contrast in how Fascists were treated depending on their social status, with the rich and famous left at liberty, rather than being incarcerated.
It's a well written history, but rather dry, and lacking any excitement whatsoever - hence the low rating. Ben MacIntyre weaves a far superior yarn when it comes to WWII history.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
- Fairy Tale – Stephen King - 5/10
- Wolf Pack – Will Dean - 7/10
- A Small Death in Lisbon – Robert Wilson - 6/10
- A Man Called Ove – Fredrick Backman – 8/10
- Tomorrow's Children – Daniel Polansky – 3/10
- The Mobster’s Lament – Ray Celestin – 8/10
This is the third book in the “Blues City Quartet” series, which tells the tale of the rise of the mob in 20th Century America and intertwines it with the story of jazz through the same period.
This time post-war New York is the scene of the action as mobster Gabriel Leveson sees his secret plans to escape a life of crime come unstuck when his boss sets him the task of recovering $2M in stolen mob money.
Meanwhile, detective Ida Young teams up with retired former partner, Michael Talbot, whose son has been wrongly accused of a killing spree at a house where he’d been staying.
The two storylines run separately but eventually converge and once again, there’s a few appearances Ida’s friend, Louis Armstrong.
A with previous books, Ray Celestin skilfully weaves fact and fiction into an engaging story with well-drawn characters. As he notes at the end of the book, he has moved several real dates by a few days, weeks or months to help with the story flow, but only mob or jazz obsessives would know, and it certainly didn’t affect my enjoyment of what is a very good series.