Mike's Book read 2011

I will really try to read a lot of different books this year.

The first one I've read 2011 is Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters.

It's quite a fascinating story, but I was troubled by the jolly tone in it. Even when Nancy was at the bottom of the society as a prostitute it was like la-di-da, everything is alright.

Welcome aboard! I've heard great things about Sarah Waters and want to get to Fingersmith this year.

Fingersmith has a place in my bookshelf, too. As well as The Little Stranger. I think I will read the first mentioned soon.

I have just read the famous Cyrano de Bergerac's science fiction story The States and Empires of the Sun. It was really an amusing story with a large amount of social satire built into it.

After a large amount of will I have finally finished Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Julie, or the New Heloise. Quite a tedious read, but it was interesting in a idea historical way. Rousseau's thoughts of educating children seems rather modern, in my point of view.

Hi Mike, I have had Confessions, Jean-Jacques Rousseau sitting on my book shelf for ages. Congratulations on getting through Julie.

baswood: So have I, but it will probably wait there for a couple of years more, or so ;)

Today I have finished Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It was an easier read than Julie, but I do think it is also on the 1001 Books List.

I thought at first that it was quite a bore, until that about halfway through it became very fascinating. About a boy diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome and his special way to look at the world.

Another one has been finished. It's Horace's ode The Epistle to the Pisones which didn't take a lot of my time. Next read will be a little bit more contemporary ;)

Very enjoyable language but so hard to follow. Yes, I'm talking about The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel Gárcia Márquez. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, where every piece makes the picture more complete.

I have just finished a classical swedish childrens book. And it's Astrid Lindgren's first Pippi Longstocking book, of course. It is also on the swedish 1001 Books List.

I have read a couple of books since last time. First A. Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet. Fascinating about the first meeting of Holmes and Dr. Watson.

After that did I read John Fante's self-biographical novel Ask the Dust. A novel which later influenced Charles Bukowski.

Then I had to "fight" me through Ovid's Amores. After that I searched plain pleasure by reading Reginald Hill's A Cure For All Diseases, another Dalziel & Pascoe crime novel.

Erlend Loe is a very popular norwegian author, writing contemporary novels. I read his debut novel Naiv. Super. some days ago.

Did you enjoy the Reginald Hill? I think I am all caught up. The last one I read was Midnight Fugue, which comes after the one you just read. It was excellent, as always.

Seems one of the Swedish crime writers I read sets his novels in the city you live in...is it Åke Edwardson? He's another crime writer I enjoy. Unfortunately, I have to wait until they are translated into English.

And I reread Pippi Longstocking recently! It's still as great as ever, it's just that I've gotten much older!

Hi avaland, I have Midnight Fugue standing in my book shelf. Just waiting for the right opportunity to read it.

I am amazed that you knew about Åke Edwardson. It's true that his novels are set in Gothenburgh (Göteborg). Do you read other Swedish authors?

I have read Midnight Fugue now, and it didn't appeal to me as much as A Cure For All Diseases did. Though the struggle between Pascoe and Dalziel of whom to be in charge was interesting.