In the High Peaks
















Friday, April 17, 2020

Bookshelf Travelling for Insane Times #5: My New Books Stack

We'll be having at least two inches of snow tonight, so Ken is not out of the woods yet (re: my header photo.)

I have had a lot of fun purchasing quite a few books this year thus far, and I seem to show no sign of stopping. My stack of new books is perched on one side of the double bed in the loft, where I sometimes read, especially in the summer months. Because it sits up a flight of stairs from the living room, it's well air-conditioned. On frigid winter days, I also retreat to read here, because my bedroom reading spot is quite exposed to our coldest winds from the northwest.

I won't wax on about new books you know and have heard about, but I will mention that Hilary Mantel's The Mirror in the Light is waiting patiently for me to turn to it.

I won't be reading it in the next month because I'm dying to tackle one of my very new "old" books, Gulag by the American Russian scholar Anne Applebaum. This work of history made a huge splash when it first appeared in 2004, because Applebaum was one of the first scholars to produce a major work of Soviet history after the opening of archives in Russia following the demise of the Soviet Union.
Gulag was a Pulitzer Prize Winner, a National Book Award Finalist, and it received high acclaim from English and American Russian historians. In 1952, approximately 2.5 million Soviet citizens were shipped to the gulags in the hinterlands of the Soviet Union, many in Siberia, but loads of them in provinces elsewhere. And that was not an unusual year. In 1953, the year  of Stalin's death, more than this number were shipped to the gulags. In the mid-late 1930s about 1.5 million each year. And so on. With the ascendancy of Nikita Khrushchev in 1954-55, many imprisoned in the gulags started to be released and started to make their way home.

My next book in the stack is an exciting new novel, Greenwood, by Michael Christie, a Canadian author. I was stunned by the 4.4 Goodreads rating for this novel. (Were these reviews submitted by frustrated book marketers desperately disappointed by their inability to promote this book the way they'd like?) Just wondering. Most reviewers gave it a "5." This does not often happen when I search for info on Goodreads. This novel, set in the future of 2038, is set on an island off the coast of British Columbia, and revolves around the near-legendary existence of very old, old-growth trees there. Definitely check out the link for more info. Michael Christie won awards for his previous novel, published in 2015.

For all of us crime-novel devotees, I did some more research about the books by the Icelandic crime author Ragnar Jonasson. I know some of you have read Snowblind.  I really, really liked it, and have contemplated reading another in that series of books, but it is difficult, because they were translated and published in English out of the order in which they were published in Iceland. This is what has been reported that I've read. If I am wrong, or if you have updated info, I beg you, please do set me straight.
Because I'm desperate to return to Iceland with Jonasson, I landed and purchased The Darkness: A Thriller, which is the first novel in the Hulda series. It's set partly in Reykjavik and partly in the "Icelandic Highlands." Yrsa Sigurdardottir said, "The Darkness is a true masterpiece of a crime novel, introducing an original protagonist, a plot full of twists and turns, and an ending that leaves you gasping for air." Hulda is supposed to be retiring, but she is allowed one last cold case. Doesn't that tempt you?

One last teaser: Quite frankly, I have four books ongoing at the moment. After reading another 50 pages in Stalin's Daughter today (it's so good-reads like the best page-turner novel), I continued reading an ARC I happily received and am now so sucker-punched into it. omg.
I'm delighted by Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas, to be published on May 12th by William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins. It is deeply gothic, a coming of age novel but NOT YA, with many sci-fi genre elements to twist and turn it. Very cleverly written by a young writer in her 20s, who is a graduate of Yale, a resident of Brooklyn, and who works as an archivist at a modern art museum. I will be saying much more about this one... HELP! I think I should stay in bed all day tomorrow and finish it. That good.

14 comments:

  1. Wow! The Catherine House does sound amazing. Let us know your final verdict! Gothic and Sci-Fi? I need to know more! :D

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    1. I will positively, absolutely report my final verdict on The Catherine House here. I'm really enjoying it. Such fun and more important, a wonderful ESCAPE!

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  2. I have been buying too many books lately. I read and liked Snowblind by Jonasson and want to read more in that series. Greenwood sounds very interesting, I will be eager to hear what you think about it.

    I am pretty sure I could not keep four books going at the same time. Occasionally I can do two at a time.

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    1. Tracy,
      Ordinarily I would not be able to keep four books going and the only reason I can at this moment is because they are all startlingly different in every way imaginable. I usually can only do a nonfiction and a single fiction title at a time.
      And I will report on Greenwood when I'm able to get to it.

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  3. Some fantastic books showcased there, Judith. I'm hoping someone might reply and tell us the right order to read the Snowblind books in because, so far, I think I've seen as many as three different opinions. *Sighs* I enjoyed The Darkness but er... well I'm not going to say any more. Intrigued by Greenwood so will go and investigate.

    Love hearing about where you read. You're due two inches of snow? Gosh. We've had a couple of days of rain which was very welcome after 4 weeks of no rain. We have seeds up in the veggie beds and I'm sure they were very grateful.

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    1. Cath,
      If you look below, Tracy has given us the info we need, and exactly the facts I've been looking for--in what order were the books published in Iceland?
      I'm so comfortable reading on a bed with a good solid bolster pillow against the headboard. I am so incredibly drawn to my escape zone, from 2-5 pm everyday. It is my happiest time of day. I can just lose myself in the books. And they're all four of them so great at the moment.

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  4. Earlier I had found this information on the Ragnar Jonasson series at the author's website:

    http://ragnar-jonasson.squarespace.com/snowblind-the-dark-iceland-series

    Original publication order of the series in Iceland:

    Fölsk nóta (2009)*
    Snjóblinda (Snowblind) - 2010
    Myrknætti (Blackout) - 2011
    Rof (Rupture) - 2012
    Andköf (Whiteout) - 2013
    Náttblinda (Nightblind) - 2014

    But... that does not agree with the dates on WorldCat. Which confuses me.

    I had planned to get Blackout next. Still not sure, though.

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    1. Hi Tracy,
      The pub dates of books published in Iceland helps tremendously, because they reflect the order in which his books were published in Iceland, which is exactly the info I've been searching for. Even so, the Iceland-ordered publications still may not have reflected the order in which he wrote them. I realize I must keep that in mind.
      I would not be troubled that the WorldCat dates are out of sync, because the English translations of his books are well known to have been out of order. That's what's been reported.
      Thank you so much for reporting this info!!! Exactly the data I was looking for. Kudos!
      So I think I'll look for Folsk Nota, if it stars the same characters as Snowblind. If it's another, standalone book I'll wait on it.

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  5. Cath,
    It's so hard to imagine England with four weeks without rain. Can't quite get my head around it!
    I'm so glad you're garden is starting off well.
    And ah! You've read The Darkness. Perhaps we can compare notes when I've finished.

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  6. I've read the second book in Jonasson's Hulda series and have the third waiting to be read. I haven't read any of his Dark Iceland books, although I have Snowblind on my Kindle waiting to be read. I looked on his website and see that has listed the original publication order of the series in Iceland on his website:

    Fölsk nóta (2009)*
    Snjóblinda (Snowblind) - 2010
    Myrknætti (Blackout) - 2011
    Rof (Rupture) - 2012
    Andköf (Whiteout) - 2013
    Náttblinda (Nightblind) - 2014

    Your other books all tempt me!!!

    Here's my Bookshelf post - two days late! https://booksplease.org/2020/04/19/bookshelf-travelling-for-insane-times-3/

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    1. Hi Margaret,
      Thanks so much for the publication info about Jonasson's series. I really, really grooved on Snowblind. And, largely, it was due to the setting--northernmost Iceland, eternal darkness in winter and all the travails that environment brings on the area's inhabitants.
      Will now visit your post and will write my reply attached to this comment. Thanks!

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    2. Margaret,
      I'm so taken by the selections on your bookshelf! I MUST read Alison Weir's The Princes in the Tower, because I'd love to weigh the evidence she has collected. Must get it soon!!
      And, I own a hardcover first edition of this biography of The Brontes. I have delved into it over the past many years as I've searched for information about Anne Bronte, in particular, but haven't read it from
      many years as I've searched for information about Anne Bronte, in particular, but haven't read it from cover to cover. But from my research and understanding, it is the definitive biography of the family.
      I'm very interested in Slipstream, and actually borrowed an ebook copy from the New York Public Library last month, but did not end up getting into it. I have so many more of her novels to read, and the thought is overwhelming! I recently read Falling by Howard.
      I have also been intrigued by the book about Agatha Christie and the 11 Missing Days.
      I also have this Eric Clapton biography in my Audible audiobook queue. I enjoyed his autobiography that came out a number of years ago. I haven't listened to the biography yet.

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  7. Is Ken okay? I tried looking back but, I don't see anything. Lovely header, is that where you live? My reading has slowed so I admire your 4-books at one time efforts.

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    1. Hi Diane,
      I was in the no-reading zone late last year and in the first month of this year. Then the virus hit and I desperately, desperately need to be swallowed up by the stories in books!
      Ken is fine. He is confined to the house and our isolated outdoor wilderness neighborhood because his MS meds make him immuno-compromised.
      But he is fine and I would love to keep him that way, which is why I feel I must be very careful as well when I go out to shop. Minimal trips, etc.
      I really needed a blast of spring for my header right now. We are very, very far from a view as spring-like as this one. This image does appear to be one that could be located in the northeastern U.S., that's for sure, but not of the Adirondacks. Our lake views appear much more wild with less cultivation. I got this from wikiviews.net, which offers public domain photos for people to use as they like. My next header photo will be an Adironack view.

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