Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less is fun, it is full of plots, has humor, irony, good characterizations and interesting characters, and is a great read as well. However, the writing style is a little mechanical and simple, and not quite as good as in Jeffrey Archer’s later books. However, even today it provides great entertainment and is a book you should not miss out on.

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less was televised in 1990 by the BBC.

(Order Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer from amazon UK (clicking the picture takes you to amazon US).

See more reviews of Jeffrey Archer’s books!

©2012 NekkidBlogger Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Seventy-nine-year-old Reidar Folke Jespersen, who sells antiques in Oslo, is one day sitting in a restaurant, looking at his wife entering an apartment on the other side of the street, where her lover lives. He leaves the restaurant to meet his brothers. Next morning he is found murdered, sitting naked in a chair in the window of his antique shop.

The case is assigned to detective Gunnarstranda and his assistant, Frank Frolich. The clues are few and difficult to interpret. A red string is tied around his neck, and three crosses and a number – 195 – has been written across his chest. Some items from WWII are missing. Also, clearly, several people are quite pleased that Jespersen is dead.

The Man In The Window is an intricate and thrilling detective story about love, loyalty, guilt, desire for revenge and shadows from the past. These questions consume the investigation, just as they fill the private lives of the investigators. What they uncover is a country where victims, perpetrators and even police officers are haunted by the past, and are still trying to cope with the dark memories of the Nazi occupation of the country.

K O Dahl has a sharp eye for dialogues, he elaborates detailed portraits, he creates surprising relationships and he is excellent at creating tension and atmosphere. This book is one of his best, and highly recommended.

You can order it from amazon UK: The Man in the Window or from amazon US: The Man in the Window.

©2012 NekkidBlogger Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

The reason I read it is that I like books. I assume that’s the reason most people read it. And I like to be informed about good books. And assume that New York Times Book Review will do that – inform me of new, good books.

But perhaps I read it out of habit? Perhaps I shouldn’t be reading it? Perhaps I am wasting my time? Perhaps I should go elsewhere?

The US of A has less than a tenth of the population of the world. And, perhaps – if you want to be nice to America and the New York Times Book Review – 15% of the writers of the world. Then, in addition there are a few writers in the UK.  Even so, in today’s New York Times Book Review, there is not a single review of a foreign book from the world outside the US and the UK! Not one! And, what’s more, there are no advertisements for foreign (translated) books either. So, 85% of the world’s literature is not covered.

So, what is wrong, New York Times Book Review? Are you ignorant? Are you incompetent? Are you blind? Are your eyes shut? Is quality literature – fiction, crime fiction, non-fiction – produced only inside the US and on rare occasions the UK? What about the rest of the world? Don’t you see it? Have you at least heard about it? Or do you only suspect it might exist, but have no real proof that it does?

Or do you really mean that there are no good writers that US readers ought to be informed about from Latin America? From Asia? From Africa? From Australia? Or from continental Europe – Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, the Scandinavian countries or other countries in Europe? That there is nothing worthwhile going on in those countries, in the rest of the world? Despite the fact that most Nobel prizes in literature are from countries other than the US and the UK? How strange! Are you lacking in knowledge or is it so hard to admit that there is more to the world than what goes on inside the US?

Has New York Times Book Review and the American publishing industry closed its eyes to the rest of the world? That’s what I think is the case. It is very, very sad! And it is obviously not American readers that have closed their minds – after all, Stieg Larsson is on all the bestseller lists in that very same New York Times Book Review. And he is not from the US or the UK. Even so, he “owns the bestseller lists, as one blogger put it. So American readers are more than willing to read good fiction from outside the US/UK.

I will probably continue to read the New York Times Book Review. It is, after all, an institution. Sadly, Americans tend to believe it is a quality publication. I am not so sure. I’ve doubted it for a long time. To my mind, you simply can’t produce a high quality magazine about books if your mind is closed. Or, as in the case of the New York Times Review of Books – when the mind is limited by geographic boundaries – lines on a map.

Even so, I’ll continue to read New York Times Book Review. And hope. Probably against hope.

©2012 NekkidBlogger Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Set over a period of twenty-four hours, Run takes us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, Tip’s favorite hangout, to a home for retired Catholic priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other, and how family can include people you’ve never even met. I loved the book most of the time while reading it, and I loved the characters. Especially I loved little Kenye, the running girl.

As in her bestselling novel Bel Canto, Ann Patchett illustrates the humanity that connects disparate lives, weaving several stories, each with surprising twists, into an endlessly moving narrative. It is a strange tale of odd coincidences, and suspenseful and stunningly executed, Run is ultimately a novel about secrets, duty, responsibility, and the lengths we will go to protect our children.

A fabulous book!

Other books by this increadibly talented American writer available at amazon US: Bel Canto (P.S.), Taft, and the marvelous The Magician’s Assistant).

Read what the New York Times book review writes about Run! Also, see the review of Bel Canto at World of Books.

©2012 NekkidBlogger Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

A historical novel about the British opium trade. The British wanted to buy Chinese tea, silk and porcelain but China wasn’t interested in buying anything from the British. They refused to trade unless the British paid in silver. The British regarded this as a block on free trade. Since opium could grow well in British India, the British hit on the idea that the Chinese should buy Indian opium, paid for with trade in Chinese goods. The fact that opium is addictive made this arrangement all the more brilliant.

The Other Queen, Philippa Gregory

Philippa Gregory presents a new and unique view of one of history’s most intriguing, romantic, and maddening heroines. Biographers often neglect the captive years of Mary, Queen of Scots, who trusted Queen Elizabeth’s promise of sanctuary when she fled from rebels in Scotland and then found herself imprisoned as the “guest” of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his indomitable wife, Bess of Hardwick.

The Whiskey Rebels, by David Liss

Liss is a wonderfully literate writer, even more so than Iain Pears, and he effortlessly transports you in time and space to the period he wishes to evoke. In this case the year is 1792 and Liss crafts a tale which alternately follows two protagonists until their stories merge near the end of the novel. The first is Captain Ethan Saunders, a spy for the Americans during the revolutionary war, friend of Washington, Hamilton, and other worthies, who found himself disgraced and cashiered at the end of the war when accused of being a double agent.

This book has it all. Lively action, intrigues within intrigues, daring adventure, taut writing, sparkling dialogue, incredible plotting, depth of characterization, a sense of humor, and a sure hand at the literary tiller. It is so deeply atmospheric that you feel like you are in 1792 Philadelphia.

©2012 NekkidBlogger Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Benoni and Rosa by Knut Hamsun is a double novel, the first is Benoni, and Rosa the second and continuation. The books tell the story of Benoni Hartvigsen, a local mail man, who becomes rich more or less over night. The local big-shot, Ferdinand Mack, makes him a partner in his business, and helps him court the daughter of the local priest, the very lovely and attractive Rosa.

Benoni and Rosa are two of the “lighter” stories written by Knut Hamsun. They are concerned with the changes in the character of Benoni, as well as in the people knowing him, that result from the radical change in circumstances that Benoni Hartvigsen experiences. To a large extent the description of this character and how he changes, resembles a book by another Norwegian author, Johan Falkberget, entitled “Bør Børson”.

In both cases sweet innocent men who suddenly become rich, change into what may best be described as megalomaniacs. Rapid changes in circumstance is a theme that has attracted much attention both in classical and more modern literature, and Hamsun’s take on this theme is among the more interesting ones. The twists and turns in the odd relationship between Benoni and Rosa along with the “rags to riches” motif provide the dynamics of the story.

Thus this is a rich tale of personal change, rivalry in love and business, social and personal change, as well as love, courtship and passion. It is a story about the basic ingridients of life itself, told by a master storyteller and keen observer. Both as a love story and as a study of changing circumstances, Benoni and Rosa are excellent.

Benoni and Rosa tell an entertaining story, with lots of humor and irony. The language is outstanding; clear and concise, and a treat in itself. Benoni and Rosa definitely are among Hamsun’s best!

You can order these books by Knut Hamsun at amazon US: Benoni, Rosa (Sun and Moon Classics) or Hamsun’s marvellous Hunger (see review of Hunger).
Or, if you prefer, you can order Hamsun’s books from amazon UK: Benoni., Rosa, or Hunger.

©2012 NekkidBlogger Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.

Her third novel Grace was published in 2002 and won the prominent literary award “The reader’s prize” in Norway, and was named one of the ten best novels of that year by the prestigious newspaper “Weekendavisen” in Denmark.
In 2007, Grace was long listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in the UK.

Grace tells the story of Johan Sletten, a man whose life has not been the greatest success story: an unhappy first marriage, an estranged son, and an undistinguished career as a journalist. An ordinary life, like most lives. However, his second wife, Mai, has graced his life with love.

When told that he is terminally ill, with possibly only a few months left to him, Johan makes Mai promise to help him die “when the time comes”. But is this the true measure of love – to give the gift of death? And who decides when the time is right? Johan himself or his wife Mai? Death may come as a release, but to whom?

Linn Ullmann’s novel Grace portrays a passionate love affair and asks difficult questions about life, love and death. With cool precision, deep insight, and dark wit, it illustrates how the most ordinary of lifes can, in the end, be touched by grace.

Praise for Linn Ullmann’s Grace:

“Linn Ullmann masterfully manages to fill even the spaces between the lines. With only a small number of flashbacks and events making the text a convincing story, she succeeds in creating an incredibly dense and intense atmosphere. Tension builds, leaving the reader almost breathless, even though nothing really happens. Yet something does take place. The reader feels the spark.You are drawn in by the tension between the two spouses: their anxiety, their insecurity and their hopes. The stirring and dramatic ending of Linn Ullmann’s empathetic novel Grace is surprising.”

NDR (Germany)

See also author page on Linn Ullmann at leserglede.com.

Order books by Linn Ullmann from amazon US: Grace: A Novel or A Blessed Child.
Order from amazon UK: Grace or A Blessed Child.

©2012 NekkidBlogger Bookblog. All Rights Reserved.