Mine Till Midnight, by Lisa Kleypas
Filed under: Fiction, Lisa Kleypas, book review, erotic fiction
Mine till Midnight is about romance! When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, 
Mizusmama says: “It almost goes without saying that Kleypas is superb romance author. You’ll find well drawn characters, sizzling sexual tension and engrossing plots in almost all of her books. This one is no exception.”
You may want to check out Sugar Daddy
The White Lioness, by Henning Mankell
Filed under: Henning Mankell, International bestseller, Kurt Wallander, Swedish writer, book review, crime book
The White Lioness may well be the best
There are many ingredients to the plot in The White Lioness. First, a happily married woman disappears in southern Sweden while going about her business as an estate agent. There is no explanation and no motive. Inspector Kurt Wallander and his team are called in to investigate this case of a missing person.
As readers, we know right from the beginning what is going on: she was at the wrong time at the wrong place. However, Wallander does not know this. Inspector Wallander has a gut feeling that the victim will never be found alive, but he has no idea how far he will have to go in a search of the killer and the origin of the crime.
The case turns out to be much more complicated that it appeared to be. The search for the truth behind the killing eventually uncovers an assassination plot, and Wallander finds himself in a tangle with both the secret police and a ruthless foreign agent.
It turns out that it all started in South Africa. A pro-apartheid conspirator has sent a gaunt, steel-eyed former KGB assassin and a black hit man to Sweden to train for a unnamed killing. When their hideout is destroyed in a fireball and the remains found in the ashes – a precision firearm, a sophisticated, high-powered radio, and a severed human thumb – the clues lead Wallander back to South Africa.
Combining compelling insights into the sinister side of modern life with a riveting tale of international intrigue, The White Lioness keeps you on the knife-edge of suspense. Some may find the book a little long-winded in the passages about South-African politics, but it is a wonderful book even so!
You can read more Henning Mankell reviews at ScandinavianBooks.
The White Lioness has been filmed as well. You can order the DVD from amazon (US): The White Lioness
Or, order from amazon UK: The White Lioness (book)
The Devil’s Star, by Jo Nesbo
Filed under: Harry Hole, Jo Nesbo, Norwegian writer, Prize winning novel, book review, recommendation
Jo Nesbo (Norwegian name Nesbø), author of the best-selling series featuring Detective Harry Hole, has won many prizes for his novels, including the Glass Key, 
The key character in Nesbo’s books, introduced in The Devil’s Star, is detective Harry Hole. Harry Hole is an angry, hard-drinking, near alcholic, and off-the-rails detective who wants to play the game by his own rules. He is not very likable, but still charming in his own way.
It’s a sweltering summer in Oslo when a young woman is found murdered in her flat. One finger has been cut off, and beneath her eyelid is a tiny red diamond in the shape of a five pointed star. Otherwise, clues are few and far between.
Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case with Tom Waaler – a colleague the somewhat paranoid Harry suspects of running an arms smuggling gang and of having murdered his partner – and initially Harry Hole refuses to become involved. But he is already on notice to quit the force and is left with no choice but to drag himself out of his alcoholic stupor and go to work.
Five days later, a man reports his wife missing. When her severed finger is found wearing a ring mounted with the same star-shaped red diamond, it seems Oslo has a serial killer on its hands. The case in The Devil’s Star revolves around a riddle of fives: five points to the star, five fingers on the hand, and every fifth day a new victim to be counted. In his pursuit of the truth behind both mysteries, Harry Hole unwittingly finds himself on the run from the police and forced to make difficult decisions about his future as a detective.
The Devil’s Star is an exciting and entertaining book, a great crime novel by an exciting new author! The plot is superb, the action intriguing, inspector Harry Hole has plenty to deal with, and the story is told in a fascinating and appealing manner as well. This is the first book in a great series I suspect you will not want to miss out on!
You can read more about Jo Nesbo and his books at ScandinavianBooks.
Order Jo Nesbo’s The Devil’s Star
Don’t Look Back! – Karin Fossum
Filed under: Inspector Konrad Sejer, Karin Fossum, Norwegian writer, Prize winning novel, crime book
In a sleepy little village at the foot of a Norwegian mountain, a child — 6 year old Ragnhild — goes missing. It is a village where the children run in and out of one another’s 
houses and play unafraid in the streets. Yet the search for her reveals the naked body of the well-liked local schoolgirl. Why would anyone want to murder Annie Holland? The investigation of this question is in the hands of Inspector Konrad Sejer and his young colleague Jacob Skarre.
Karin Fossum is one of my favorite Norwegian crime writers. Karin Fossum was born November 6, 1954 in Sandefjord. She now lives in Oslo. Karin Fossum’s Inspector Sejer novels are masterfully constructed, psychologically convincing, and compulsively readable.
This is a wonderful book with great characters, and it is very carefully written. The dialogue is realistic. It is also a book that gives a strong sense of community and that makes you feel and know that, yeah, this is how is could really have happened in a small community in Norway. As well, the police work is interesting and well described. The book is highly recommended to anyone who likes police-procedural novels.
And, so that you know that this really is a high quality book, I should mention that Don’t Look Back! received The Riverton Prize and The Glass Key (for the best Nordic detective novel).
Read an excerpt of the book at the Hardcourt publishers’ site. We have more reviews of Karin Fossum’s books at ScandinavianBooks!
Aftenposten’s reviewer said the book “has hit the bull’s eye. It has scored a direct hit and is an exceptional top score! This is a dazzling writing in the crime genre”.
“Don’t Look Back! shows just how well Fossum deserves her continental fame.” — Sunday Times
You can order books by Karin Fossum
The Joy of Sex, new edition!
Filed under: Non-fiction, The Joy of Sex, book news, book review, recommendation
The Joy of Sex, originally released in 1972, was parked on the New York Times bestseller list for the longest time. As Washington Post says, “It scintillated, it titillated, it taught French you never learned from Madame Cousin. But most of all, it normalized. In the boudoir, everyone was okay, and everyone could be taught.”
The Joy of Sex is subtitled “A Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking,”, and has chapter headings like Starters, Main Courses and Sauces & Pickles.
The revised version of the book deals with an array of modern topics like Internet pornography, AIDS and Viagra, and features photographs (and drawings, when things get too graphic) of a couple. And it has been thoughly revised and updated. It reflect the latest research about the biology of sex. There is new material on the arousal cycle, hormones, pheromones, the clitoris, the relevance of the nipples, how erections work, aphrodisiacs, and more. Also, in addition to the elusive G spot, there is material about two other spots women can also enjoy, should they be lucky enough to locate them: the A spot, deeper inside the vagina than the G spot; and the U spot, between the clitoris and the vagina.
So, there it is. It’s a beautiful book, still fresh, and a great book to read to learn more or get som new ideas.
The new Joy of Sex available both in England and the U.S. It is highly recommended. Check it out!
| Amazon US | Amazon UK |
See also the bestselling books (links to amazon US): The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Amazing Sex, Third Edition
Rising Sun, by Michael Crichton
Filed under: John Connor, Michael Crichton, Thriller, book review, technothriller
Rising Sun was filmed in 1993 (starring Sean Connery): Rising Sun
Rising Sun is the chronicle of three days of investigation into the murder of a young woman during a business party. Detective Peter Smith finds himself investigating a foreign culture as well as a crime.
The murder of Cheryl Austin should be easy to solve, as it was videotaped by security cameras at the Nakamoto building. Nakamoto officials, however, obstruct the investigation from the beginning. The tapes of the murder and what they actually show prove to be a separate mystery. It is not only the tapes that lie: Most of the people questioned by the detectives have their own motives for concealing the truth. Very little is what it seems at first glance.
Rising Sun is a very fascinating detective novel, full of surprises and fast-paced action. A superb read!
You can read more Crichton-reviews at Leserglede!
Also, you can order the book and movie Rising Sun, Michael Crichton
-
The World of Books- Blackwater, by Kerstin Ekman
- The Vivero Letter, by Desmond Bagley
- The Day Trader, by Stephen Frey
- War and Remembrance, by Herman Wouk
- So Near So Far, by C. Northcote Parkinson
- Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D. H. Lawrence
- The e-book scene: Fight over rights, new e-book readers
- P.D. James on Detective Fiction!
- Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift
- Detective Inspector Huss, by Helene Tursten
- Euro bookblog
- The Man with the Iron Heart, by Harry Turtledove
- HMS Saracen, by Douglas Reeman
- The Golden Keel, by Desmond Bagley
- The Temporal Void, by Peter F. Hamilton
- Mother’s Elling ( Mors Elling ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2]
- Web Standards Solutions: The Markup and Style Handbook, Special Edition, by Dan Cederholm
- David Sklansky: The Theory of Poker
- E-book readers: More choices
- A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore
- First Family, by David Baldacci