The Dogs of Riga, by Henning Mankell (Kindle)
Fuelled by the gripping 20-part Danish TV thriller, The Killing, buoyed with a fascination for the sort of books that come out of Scandinavia (Mankell's Swedish), and always on the look-out for a detective to follow (Kurt Wallander in this case), I started reading one or two of Mankel's crime novels in the past year. I embarked upon this one before Christmas 2011 and while it was suitably engrossing, it was bleak, and too intense for a truly frantic time of the year. I wanted more frivolous, simple, escapist stuff, so I have not yet finished this. Love the title, though.
Love All, by Elizabeth Jane Howard
This provided the more comfortable read for which I had abandoned Mankell (above). Set in in the 60s, a bit of London, a bit of the country, reasonable characters, and graceful writing. Ending not too predictable. The perfect read for relaxation.
Falling, by Elizabeth Jane Howard (Kindle)
I was on to a good thing so I stuck to it, by now well into holiday mode and recharging. I had loaded this on to my Kindle and got a few chapters in when it dawned on me I'd read it years ago. Still loved it though. It has a really slimy, ghastly lead character. He'll make your flesh crawl and you'll want to yell at the vulnerable woman who succumbs to his prowess in the sack and his thoroughly no-good charms ... I think that's dramatic irony working pretty well.
Me before You, by Jojo Moyes (Kindle)
Like the bloggers at The Women's Room, where I first learnt of this, lots of people are raving about this book. It truly is un-put-downable. I rarely get so engrossed in a book that I will cast aside everything to lie on the couch and read it, but I did this one, on a hot (heatwave) Saturday when I had the house and the air-con all to myself. Lots of tea and tissues essential. Young woman from low-rent side of town goes to work as carer for former world-conquering business dynamo who's wheelchair bound after an accident. Unlikely premise for a startlingly good read? Try it.
The Last Letter from Your Lover, by Jojo Moyes (Kindle)
I am very author-loyal when I find one I like (so long as there's plenty of material available on Kindle!). This one also revolves around the effects of a serious accident - but completely different from Me before You (above). Very clever premise: woman coming round in hospital after some serious trauma that has wiped her memory. So she has to rediscover who she is, and trust that the people around her are who they say they are – though she has no knowledge of them whatsoever. And that includes her husband. She slowly but surely finds out all sorts of stuff about the life she led and the person she was ... and as she does so, she discovers she had a lover who wrote her the most beautiful letters. But who is he? Where is he now, and what happened?
Another thoroughly absorbing read that I can recommend. Loved it.
The Pure in Heart (Simon Serailler No.2), by Susan Hill (Kindle)
The Risk of Darkness (Simon Serailler No.3), by Susan Hill (Kindle)
The Vows of Silence (Simon Serailler No.4 , by Susan Hill (Kindle)
The Shadows in the Street (Simon Serailler No.5), by Susan Hill (Kindle)
I've clearly been enjoying a Susan Hill festival here!
These books have not been available in book form in Australia, though that may well change soon as Susan Hill is the author of The Woman in Black, which was dramatised for TV in 1989 and was released as a film last month (March), starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe.
I saw this on telly about 20 years ago and it remains the most terrifying, scariest horror/ghost tale/thriller I have ever seen. Apparently, the book is even scarier ... and I have not dared to read it!
Anyway, I found The Various Haunts of Men, and The Pure in Heart, the first two novels in Hill's series of Simon Serailler novels in a second-hand bookshop some years ago. That introduction to Hill's rather goody-goody, disconcertingly white-blond-haired, rather confused detective got me hooked, oddly enough ... that and the setting, a middle-sized English cathedral city rather like the one of my own childhood.
They were unavailable as e-books when I first got my Kindle, but I'm happy to report there's a lot more UK material available through the amazon.com Kindle store right now (like Nigella's books, which were also unavailable untl recently).
There are more in the series, and I will return to them eventually.
The danger of reading books in a series like this, one after the other, is that any formula will become obvious, and likewise any flaws in the characters. And, sadly, there are a few. But I readily overlook them all because I am, unashamedly, a sucker for a readable English, middle-class domestic novel (loved Joanna Trollope, for instance) which these are, wrapped in crime stories.
How to be a Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson (Kindle)
I adore Nigella. Say what you like about her flirty TV shows (I would flirt big time if I looked like her), her food is delicious and her recipes are sensible, and really, truly work.
Above all, she has a fab brain and can write. I will probably work my way though all her books eventually. I'm just so thrilled that here in Australia they are now available on Kindle.
Ratking, by Michael Dibdin (Kindle)
Rufus Sewell, whom I remember so fondly from the BBC adaptation of Stella Gibbons' classic, Cold Comfort Farm, a few years ago, stars as Inspector Aurelio Zen, in the TV adaptations of these novels, one of which I've seen recently.
I'm a great fan of Italian detectives. Donna Leon's Venetian, Commissario Guido Brunetti, is a huge favourite of mine, likewise Andrea Camilleri's Sicilian detective, Inspector Salvo Montalbano. Both authors are easily available on Kindle.
I've just started reading Ratking, so I'll let you know.
Another thoroughly absorbing read that I can recommend. Loved it.
The Pure in Heart (Simon Serailler No.2), by Susan Hill (Kindle)
The Risk of Darkness (Simon Serailler No.3), by Susan Hill (Kindle)
The Vows of Silence (Simon Serailler No.4 , by Susan Hill (Kindle)
The Shadows in the Street (Simon Serailler No.5), by Susan Hill (Kindle)
I've clearly been enjoying a Susan Hill festival here!
These books have not been available in book form in Australia, though that may well change soon as Susan Hill is the author of The Woman in Black, which was dramatised for TV in 1989 and was released as a film last month (March), starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe.
I saw this on telly about 20 years ago and it remains the most terrifying, scariest horror/ghost tale/thriller I have ever seen. Apparently, the book is even scarier ... and I have not dared to read it!
Anyway, I found The Various Haunts of Men, and The Pure in Heart, the first two novels in Hill's series of Simon Serailler novels in a second-hand bookshop some years ago. That introduction to Hill's rather goody-goody, disconcertingly white-blond-haired, rather confused detective got me hooked, oddly enough ... that and the setting, a middle-sized English cathedral city rather like the one of my own childhood.
They were unavailable as e-books when I first got my Kindle, but I'm happy to report there's a lot more UK material available through the amazon.com Kindle store right now (like Nigella's books, which were also unavailable untl recently).
There are more in the series, and I will return to them eventually.
The danger of reading books in a series like this, one after the other, is that any formula will become obvious, and likewise any flaws in the characters. And, sadly, there are a few. But I readily overlook them all because I am, unashamedly, a sucker for a readable English, middle-class domestic novel (loved Joanna Trollope, for instance) which these are, wrapped in crime stories.
How to be a Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson (Kindle)
I adore Nigella. Say what you like about her flirty TV shows (I would flirt big time if I looked like her), her food is delicious and her recipes are sensible, and really, truly work.
Above all, she has a fab brain and can write. I will probably work my way though all her books eventually. I'm just so thrilled that here in Australia they are now available on Kindle.
Ratking, by Michael Dibdin (Kindle)
Rufus Sewell, whom I remember so fondly from the BBC adaptation of Stella Gibbons' classic, Cold Comfort Farm, a few years ago, stars as Inspector Aurelio Zen, in the TV adaptations of these novels, one of which I've seen recently.
I'm a great fan of Italian detectives. Donna Leon's Venetian, Commissario Guido Brunetti, is a huge favourite of mine, likewise Andrea Camilleri's Sicilian detective, Inspector Salvo Montalbano. Both authors are easily available on Kindle.
I've just started reading Ratking, so I'll let you know.
