On A Mission

On A Mission

Nightstand November 10, 2013

germanbooksWe had coupons for Half Price Books so this weekend we had to make a little stop at our local store. I had a list of authors I was looking for, mainly German authors to find some other titles for potential reads for German Literature Month. My husband didn’t find any books but I quickly found two on my list.

The Dark Monk by Oliver Pötzsch is the follow up to The Hangman’s Daughter, which I read for my mystery book group last year. I remember thinking the mystery was a bit uneven but it was very atmospheric. It’ll be interesting to go back to 17th century Bavaria and see what happens next.

Of course I was sort of looking for a shorter book but if it’s anything like the first one, it’ll be quite a page-turner.

The other book find was Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus. I’m always lamenting the fact that my German language knowledge is limited especially when I go to German bookstores. I see tons of Krimi books on the shelves and I would love to read more crime novels by German authors but those just don’t get translated very much. So this is one that I was very excited about when I heard about it earlier this year. I love police procedurals and I look forward to reading about the German detectives in this story.

Anyway, that’s about it. The weekend flew by in a whirlwind of errands, yoga, and bike riding but I’m looking forward to this week because I’m taking a crafty class. I’ll tell you more about that soon.

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Look What I Got

Look What I Got

Nightstand November 8, 2013

goldfinchThursday I was at BookPeople for a reading and book signing by Donna Tartt. There was a good turnout for the event and had to wait in line for quite a while before I got my book signed but it was a real pleasure to hear her read a bit from her latest book,The Goldfinch. I’m definitely looking forward to this even though it’s a bit of a chunkster at 784 pages. I may save it for some holiday reading.

Speaking of chunksters, I’m reading The Blind Side of the Heart by Julia Franck for German Literature month. I’m barely past page 50 and I think this is a book that’s going to take me a while to finish. The story begins with Peter being left behind at the train station by his mother.

I’m not sure why I thought this was going to be an “easy” read compared to some of the other books I have for German Literature month but it’s definitely not. What I mean is that this book is set during war time and for the most part I have a very hard time reading books with this setting. But, I do plan to continue my read and we’ll see how it goes.

Now the weekend is here, thank goodness, and I’m ready to enjoy it. One of my best friends is in town so I’m looking forward to some good girl talk. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and more book talk soon!

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The Healer

The Healer

Book Reviews November 5, 2013

thehealer“Ongoing wars or armed conflicts in the European Union: thirteen, mostly in border areas. Estimated number of climate refugees planet-wide: 650-800 million people. Pandemic warnings: H3N3, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, plague. Light piece at the end: the recently chosen Miss Finland believed that everything would be much better in the spring.”

The Healer
By Antti Tuomainen

Rain has been continuously falling in Finland for months and neighborhoods are damaged or deserted with people moving further up north in hope of some normalcy, or at least somewhat better conditions. There is looting, civil unrest but there is also life going on. Security businesses are on the rise, the media is still focused on bringing the news and people still have to make a living.

It’s in this world that Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, lives. As if this wasn’t already hard to endure his wife is now missing. As a newspaper journalist she’s been on the trail of a politically motivated killer, known as The Healer. Did she perhaps get too close?

Tapani goes through the streets of Helsinki in search of his wife. He meets with friends and co-workers to get a picture of the last whereabouts of his wife, every time finding out a bit more not just about his wife’s work but of her life before him.

For a book about a serial killer it was interesting that I found the chaos of this dystopian future much more chilling than the Healer. Often times in dystopian novels, which I do enjoy quite a bit, are so out there in the future that it’s easy to think well that’s not going to happen now but this novel made everything feel more imminent and real that is frightening.

So as a mystery the novel didn’t live up to my expectations but the atmosphere was superb. I felt Tapani’s desperation in finding his wife and the city’s desperation of society as we know it coming to an end.

Source: Library copy

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