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Fantasy Book Critic

Fantasy Book Critic Spotlight on August Books30 Juli 2011 9:47This month we are featuring 36 books. There are probably twice as many new sff and related releases this month in traditional publishing not to speak of the countless indies from Amazon and Smashwords but we are limiting ourselves to books that will be reviewed here or are similar with such. For the full schedule of August 2011 titles known to us, you can consult the Upcoming Releases page. The release dates are US unless marked otherwise, though for books released in the UK and US in the same month but on different dates we use the earliest date without comment and they are first edition unless noted differently. The dates are on a best known basis so they are not guaranteed; same about the edition information. Since information sometimes is out of date even in the Amazon links we use for listings, books get delayed or sometimes even released earlier, we would truly appreciate if you would send us an email about any listing with incorrect information. Sometimes a cover image is not available at the time of the post and also sometimes covers change unexpectedly so while we generally use the Amazon one when available and cross check with Google Images, the ultimate bookstore cover may be different.************************************************************************ “Steelhands” by Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett. Release Date: August 2, 2011. Published by Bantam Spectra. (FAN).“Prince of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence. Release Date: August 2, 2011. Published by Ace. (FAN).“The Whitefire Crossing” by Courtney Schafer. Release Date: August 2, 2011. Published by Night Shade Books. (FAN). “Cold Vengeance” by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Release Date: August 2, 2011. Published by Grand Central. (MISC). “Circle of Fire” by Michelle Zink. Release Date: August 3, 2011. Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. (YA).“A Blight of Mages” by Karen Miller. Release Date: August 4, 2011. Published by Orbit. (FAN). ************************************************************************ “The Last Four Things” by Paul Hoffman. Release Date: August 4, 2011. Published by Dutton. (MISC / US Debut).“The Crown of the Conqueror” by Gav Thorpe. UK Release Date: August 4, 2011. Published by Angry Robot. (FAN).“Reality 36” by Guy Haley. UK Release Date: August 4, 2011. Published by Angry Robot. (SF).“Awakening” by William Horwood. UK Release Date: August 5, 2011. Published by Tor UK. (FAN).“Final Days” by Gary Gibson. UK Release Date: August 5, 2011. Published by Tor UK. (SF).“The Magician King” by Lev Grossman. Release Date: August 9, 2011. Published by Viking. (FAN). ************************************************************************ “Isles of the Forsaken” by Carolyn Ives Gilman. Release Date: August 15, 2011. Published by ChiZine Publications. (FAN).“The Omen Machine” by Terry Goodkind. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by Tor. (FAN).“The Moon Maze Game” by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by Tor. (SF).“The Tempering of Men” by Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by Tor. (FAN).“The Unincorporated Woman” by Dani Kollin & Eytan Kollin. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by Tor. (SF). “Low Town” by Daniel Polansky. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by Doubleday. (FAN). ************************************************************************ “Ready One Player” by Ernest Cline. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by Crown. (SF).“Autumn: Purification” by David Moody. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by St. Martin’s Griffin. (HF).“Legacy” by David L. Golemon. Release Date: August 16, 2011. Published by Thomas Dunne. (MISC).“The Edinburgh Dead” by Brian Ruckley. Release Date: August 17, 2011. Published by Orbit. (MISC).“By Light Alone” by Adam Roberts. UK Release Date: August 18, 2011. Published by Gollancz. (SF). “The Third Section” by Jasper Kent. UK Release Date: August 18, 2011. Published by Bantam UK. (MISC). ************************************************************************ “Bringer of Light” by Jaine Fenn. UK Release Date: August 18, 2011. Published by Gollancz. (SF).“A Long, Long Sleep” by Anna Sheehan. UK Release Date: August 18, 2011. Published by Gollancz. (YA).“Ravensoul” by James Barclay. Release Date: August 23, 2011. Published by Pyr. (FAN / US Debut).“Mayan December” by Brenda Cooper. Release Date: August 23, 2011. Published by Prime Books. (FAN).“The Measure of the Magic: Legends of Shannara” by Terry Brooks. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Del Rey. (FAN). “With Fate Conspire” by Marie Brennan. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Tor. (FAN). ************************************************************************ “The Recollection” by Gareth L. Powell. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Solaris. (SF).“Countdown: M Day” by Tom Kratman. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Baen. (SF).“Roil” by Trent Jamieson. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Angry Robot. (Steampunk).“Regicide” by Nicholas Royle. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Solaris. (HF).“Awakenings” by Edward Lazellari. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Tor. (FAN).“The Postmortal” by Drew Magary. Release Date: August 30, 2011. Published by Penguin. (MISC).

Kimberly Menozzi and... Water Makes Rust

As one might suspect, family dinners are a huge part of my Italian life. These happen an almost-monthly basis, marking the important events on the family calendar: holidays, birthdays and the occasional "Just Because" meetings. In the last eight years, there are certain things I have come to expect and look forward to each time we meet.

A typical dinner usually goes like this:

Unless there is a storm of some kind, my husband, Alle and I walk the three or four blocks to his father, Paolo's place. I enjoy this most in autumn or winter, my favorite seasons, as the quiet and calm of our neighborhood is especially noticeable then. A walk in the cold tends to increase the appetite, after all – and it keeps the bottle of wine we bring along that much colder, too.

When we arrive at the palazzo, we call on the citofono to let him know we're there. He buzzes the door open and we take the elevator up to the top floor, where the door to Paolo's flat is already open, waiting for us to enter. The smell of whatever is cooking wafts out to us, filling the small entryway when we step inside and start to remove our coats and hang them up in the small corridor where the bedrooms are.

We go into the living/dining room, where the TV is usually on, the sound low while everyone talks or plays with Mia, the littlest member of the family. The chit-chat continues, sometimes in a mix of Italian and English. My sister-in-law, Roberta and her English husband, Andrew let us know what's new with them (even though we just saw them the night before at their place, in the flat right below our own).

A few minutes pass while Paolo and his girlfriend, Tamara, bustle about in the kitchen, one or the other of them popping out to put some sort of appetizers out on the table. Various types of bread and sliced meats frequently feature in this part of the dinner, and I allow myself a few bites only, so I won't spoil my appetite.

It isn't long, however, before we're encouraged to sit for the meal we've come to share, and that's when it happens. You see, there's a little ritual my Italian father-in-law undertakes each time we gather for a meal; at least, it happens whenever I'm there. Sometimes it's before we sit down to eat, sometimes it's after, but it always happens.

Paolo takes care to show me that he's purchased at least one or two 1.5-liter bottles of Coca-Cola (or Pepsi). One is placed on the table amongst the bottles of mineral water – both still and sparkling – and vino, the other left out on the balcony (in winter, of course) to chill along with the other, unopened bottles of wine. Then, he points out the one or two bottles of Lambrusco amabile – which he doesn't much care for, but he purchased just for me, because I once let him know I could drink it.

You see, I'm not much of a wine drinker. I never developed a taste for wine or other alcohol (aside from Bailey's Irish Cream – which tastes like candy to me), and this was something which puzzled Paolo from the start. For what it's worth, my husband isn't a big drinker, either: the occasional glass of wine with friends, a sampling of bitters with Andrew after a dinner and he's satisfied.

At one dinner – one of the first I can recall – Paolo offered me some wine. When I refused as politely as I could, my husband explained that I didn't drink it, and everything was fine. At the next dinner, Paolo offered again, and Alle explained once more that I'm not a wine drinker. Soon enough, this happened at every meal, until at last Paolo insisted that I try a particularly sweet dessert wine. I liked that one well enough (it was, I believe, a fragolino, or strawberry-infused wine).

In time, I realized he was on a quest. Every meal brought with it another bottle of wine, selected with me in mind. Whether it was dessert wine (dolce) or something simply a little less dry, Paolo brought out another glass for me to sample. If I tried it and didn't like it, that was okay: but I had to try it.

On occasion, when I tried to refuse altogether, Paolo would resort to pouring a splash into my empty water glass (the other glass would usually have some sort of cola in it). This made me laugh, as it was done playfully, and I would drink a little and then give the rest to my husband.

As I sat at one dinner drinking my water after refusing the wine yet again, Paolo shook his head with a half-grin and poured himself another glass. "Kim, Kiiim..." he said, making sure I looked his way. "L'Acqua fa la ruggine," he said, toasting me. I looked at my husband, puzzled, as everyone laughed.

"What did he say?" I asked, and my husband laughed again.

"He said, 'Water makes rust'," Alle explained, and I had to laugh, too.

Clearly, I was part of the family if my father-in-law was so willing to work so hard to protect me from rusting.

"Italy in Books" - July reviews

Thanks again for joining the "Italy in Books” reading challenge 2011! What? You haven't joined yet? No worries, there is time to sign up until the very last day of the year...

Below you can find a list of all the book reviews submitted in July (via this link). I am sure that everyone will find it useful to learn about new and interesting reading ideas - in fact, I suspect that as a result of this challenge my TBR list will expand dangerously!

Whether you know the books that are being discussed or have never heard of them, I strongly encourage you to leave comments below and on the blogs themselves. I want to hear your voices! Despite its name, the reading challenge is not a mere competition, rather an opportunity to share ideas and bond over common interests!

Let's begin!

01. Barbara read and reviewed Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon.
02. Maggie read and reviewed The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato.
03. Gretchen read and reviewed Caesar's Legions by Stephen Dando-Collins.

And remember, two July reviewers are in for a chance to win a copy of Inspector Cataldo's Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi, courtesy of Hersilia Press. Buona fortuna!

LGBT reading challenge - July reviews

Thanks again for joining the LGBT reading challenge 2011! If you haven't joined yet, don't worry: there is still time.

Below is a list of all the book reviews that have been submitted in July (via this link). Hopefully you will all find new and interesting titles to explore - I, for one, am sure to gather another few books to add to my TBR list!

Whether you already know the books that are being discussed or not, I strongly encourage you to leave comments below and on the other blogs. I want to hear your voices! Despite its name, the reading challenge is not simply a competition, more of an opportunity to share ideas and bond over our common interests!

Let's begin!

01. Juliet read and reviewed The Mammoth Book of New Gay Erotica edited by Lawrence Schimel.
02. Lucy read and reviewed All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West.

Don't forget, one June reviewer is in for a chance to win a copy of Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas, courtesy of Serpent's Tail!

Book review: Faithful Place

By Tana French
Reviewed by Natazzz

There are crime novels that you read to pass the time and crime novels that you truly enjoy. Faithful Place (2011) by Tana French is one of the latter. Having already read her previous two novels - In the Woods and The Likeness - which I thought were both great, I was eager to get started on this one. Luckily, it did not disappoint.

Faithful Place tells the story of Frank Mackey, an undercover cop in Dublin (who was also a main character in the previous novels). Twenty years ago he planned to run away with his then girlfriend Rosie, but she didn't show up and he never heard from her again. He decided to leave home anyway and hasn't looked back since. That is, until he hears that Rosie's suitcase has been found. Frank is forced to return to the place where he grew up and get reacquainted with his dysfunctional family. Back home, Frank is soon to discover exactly what happened all those years ago.

It is your typical crime novel, but with a difference. The difference being that it is narrated really well. Just as in her previous novels, French makes you identify with her main characters and you end up feeling what they are feeling and even rooting for them. The novel is fast paced and doesn't waste pages on unnecessary details, which is always a plus. It also scores pretty good on the suspense factor, as for most of the novel I was not aware, yet very curious, as how the story would unfold.

To sum it up, Faithful Place is everything I look for in a good crime novel. It's got a good storyline, it's fast paced, suspenseful, with likeable main characters you can identify with and an outcome that it not too predictable. If you enjoy a good crime novel, you will enjoy this one!

Win Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy!

To celebrate the start of my summer reading challenge, MacLehose Press has been so kind as to offer one set of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy for one of you lucky readers!

What do you have to do to win?

Not much!

You just need to sign up for the reading challenge via this link and sit back. On July, 31st I will randomly select a winner, who will then be contacted by e-mail.

Good luck!

LGBT challenge - Link for July reviews and prize draw

It’s July and the LGBT reading challenge 2011 continues!

This month, courtesy of Serpent's Tail, one of you will have the chance to win a copy of Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas.

To participate in the prize draw, all you have to do is:

• Read a book - fiction or non-fiction - whose author is LBGT, whose topic is LGBT and/or whose characters (even minor ones) are LGBT
• Share your review (or opinion, if it sounds less intimidating!) by clicking here

Easy, isn't it?

IMPORTANT! Please note that you need to have signed up for the challenge to be eligible for the prize draw. If you haven't signed up yet, you can do it here (full instructions here). If you can't remember whether you have or haven't signed up, you can check whether your name is listed here.

Happy reading!

"Italy in Books" - Link for July reviews and prize draw

It’s July and the “Italy in Books” reading challenge 2011 continues!

This month, courtesy of Hersilia Press, two of you will have the chance to win a copy of Inspector Cataldo's Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi.

To participate in the prize draw, all you have to do is:

• Read a book set in Italy or about Italian culture & language
• Share your review (or opinion, if it sounds less intimidating!) by clicking here

Easy, isn't it?

IMPORTANT! Please note that you need to have signed up for the challenge to be eligible for the prize draw. If you haven't signed up yet, you can do it here (full instructions here). If you can't remember whether you have or haven't signed up, you can check whether your name is listed here.

Buona lettura!

LGBT challenge - June winner

5 book reviews this month!

Did you miss them? Don't worry, follow this link and catch up with all the bookish goodness!

And if you’ve just come across the LGBT reading challenge 2011, you can find all the information you need by clicking here. Joining couldn’t be easier!

And now, the long-awaited moment of the prize draw!

The lucky reviewer who, courtesy of Little Island, will receive a copy of Flick by Geraldine Meade is:

Lucy, who read and reviewed Carol by Patricia Highsmith.

"Italy in Books" - June winners

20 reviews: people seem to read more in summer!

Did you miss the reviews? Fear not, follow this link and catch up with all the bookish goodness! And if you’ve just come across the Italy in Books reading challenge 2011, you can find all the information you need by clicking here. Joining couldn’t be easier!

And now, the long-awaited moment of the prize draw!

The lucky reviewers who, courtesy of Constable & Robinson, will receive a copy of Roma by Steven Saylor are:

Dorla, who read and reviewed The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi & Juliet, who read and reviewed The Passion by Jeanette Winterson.

Help! My wish list #29

One more title from my ever-expanding reading wish list.

** The cover image is for illustrative purposes only. If you are a publisher and would kindly like to offer me a copy of this book for review, I will change the cover so as to reflect the edition received. **

Seven Days in the Art World
By Sarah Thornton

Amazon's product description: The art market is booming. Museum attendance is surging. More people than ever call themselves artists. Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description and a kind of alternative religion for atheists. Art receives the sort of breathless media attention that was once reserved for celebrities and royals. But the art world is still opaque to outsiders. In Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton takes us on an unusual journey, exploring the most puzzling aspects of buying, selling, creating and exhibiting contemporary art. In a series of beautifully paced, fly-on-the-wall narratives, we witness the drama of a Christie's auction, the high jinks of Takashi Murakami's studios, life in a notorious art school seminar, the elite at the Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the back rooms of the Turner Prize and the watery wonderland of the Venice Biennale. Thornton's exceptional access never compromises her critical eye, making this book more than just a glancing survey or a simple gossipfest. Instead, she offers a rigorously researched and often funny account of the global marketplace-cum-playground of an ever-expanding number of artists, collectors, dealers, curators, and critics.

Why I want to read this book: I love art and this sounds like a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes...

Book review: Why Girls Are Weird

By Pamela Ribon

Reviewed by Natazzz

A few years ago I discovered the blog Pamie.com by writer Pamela Ribon, which I have been reading ever since. Here she shares personal accounts of her life as a writer, as well as what she gets up to in her spare time. The blog is quite popular and was already around ten years ago, when having a personal blog was still something unique. During those early years Ribon decided that her blog and the traffic it created might be an interesting topic for a novel and that's when Why Girls Are Weird was born.

Why Girls Are Weird (2003) tells the story of Anna Koval, who decides to start a personal blog. To make it more interesting, and mainly to entertain herself, she starts making things up. For example, that she is still together with her ex-boyfriend, whom she broke up with ages ago. Little does she realize that thousands and thousands of people are reading her blog every day, and believing her every word. She soon starts to receive tons of e-mails from her followers, whom she gets into complicated correspondence with. After all, it's not easy trying to remember what is her real life and what is her blog life. This only gets more complicated when she decides to meet a few of her readers, not to mention when her ex-boyfriend finds out she's been writing about him.

This novel is a collection of blog posts and e-mail correspondence, connected and brought to life by an accompanying story of Anna's daily life. I thought it made for a very interesting read. I love the different formats that were used, the general topic of the story behind one girl's blog and her online life versus her real life. It also helped a lot that both the Anna in the blog and the Anna behind the scenes are interesting, funny characters. She gets up to lots of stuff that seemed very recognizable. Not that I have ever made up a blog and spread lies about people, but some of the things she worries about and the trouble she gets into because of her blog are things that anyone can relate to.

After reading this novel I haven't figured out just exactly why girls are weird, although weird is a label that can certainly be applied to the main character. If you are looking for a modern themed novel, that will make you laugh as well as cringe, you should definitely check this one out.

My favourite quotes

We need only observe that, however vast any person’s basic reading may be, there still remain an enormous number of fundamental works that he has not read.

From the essay "Why Read the Classics?" by Italo Calvino

What are your favourite quotes? Send them in and I'll share them with the readers of Book After Book!

Book review: Italian Neighbours

By Tim Parks
Published by Vintage Books

As an Italian who has been living in the UK for several years I have developed an ambiguous relationship with my home country: I have little praise for Italy but will defend it with fervent national pride if foreigners say anything negative about it. Unless the negativity is aimed at the current leadership of the country… but that’s another story.

So, when I decided to read Tim Parks’s Italian Neighbours – An Englishmen in Verona as part of the Italy in Books reading challenge 2011, I thought that I’d have to sigh and tut frequently at all the clichés I was sure to find. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I grinned, I chuckled, I laughed out loud and not one single frown crossed my face.

In Italian Neighbours we follow the writer and his wife during the difficult months of being the new people in town, which in this case is an Italian village nestled among the hills of the beautiful Veneto region. A witty and inquisitive observer, Parks’s descriptions of people and places are a pleasure to read and wonderfully evocative.

The characters that populate the pages of this book – from the local greengrocer to the lady who every morning sweeps the street in front of her house with a twig broom – are vividly portrayed. They are not caricatures but I am sure that anyone who grew up in a village with strong ties to its rural past will know someone just like that. I know I do!

Tim Parks does not offer an idyllic picture of Italy but certainly an endearing one, even when talking about potentially inflammatory topics such as public sector employees, taxes and private healthcare, which, in a different kind of book, would be at the centre of heated discussions.

A sort of survival manual, Italian Neighbours is an excellent read for both people who don’t know the country that well and for those who think they know it inside out.

Help! My wish list #28

One more title from my ever-expanding reading wish list.

** The cover image is for illustrative purposes only. If you are a publisher and would kindly like to offer me a copy of this book for review, I will change the cover so as to reflect the edition received. **

We Are a Muslim, Please
By Zaiba Malik

Amazon's product description: For Zaiba Malik, growing up in Bradford in the ‘70s and ‘80s certainly has its moments – staying up all night during Ramadan with her father; watching mad Mr Aziz searching for his goat during Eid; dancing along to Top of the Pops (so long as no-one’s watching). And, of course, there’s her mother – whether she’s writing another ingratiating letter to the Queen or referring to Tom Jones as ‘Thumb Jone’. But Zaiba’s story is also one of anxiety and seemingly irreconcilable opposites. Growing up she is constantly torn between two identities: ‘British’ and ‘Muslim’. Alienated at school and confused at home, the racism she encounters as a child mirrors the horrors she experiences at the hands of Bangladeshi interrogators as a journalist years later. Five years after the 7/7 attacks galvanized debates about Muslim-British identity, We Are A Muslim, Please is a stirring and enchanting memoir. We see, through Zaiba’s childhood eyes, the poignancy of growing up in a world whose prejudices, contradictions and ambiguities are at once distressing and utterly captivating.

Why I want to read this book: It sounds like a witty and truthful account of what it means to grow up with two apparently opposing identities.

Kimberly Menozzi and... Italian Summers

The only time my life in Italy seems to come close to the usual images most people have of it is in the summer. Though I spend most summers away – my teaching work ends for the season and I usually go to the US to visit my family – I still carry the memories of the summers I've spent in Italy. One memory in particular stands out:

One a.m. on a mid-summer night. I lay sprawled atop the bed, alone. My husband was asleep in our other bedroom because his proximity in our bed seemed to increase the temperature of the room. The heat was too intense, the fan blowing on me providing precious little relief from the all-enveloping warmth. The zanzare – the mosquitoes – tormented me, buzzing past my ears whenever sleep beckoned, alighting on my too-sensitive, exposed skin until I was forced to take shelter beneath a bed sheet in spite of the heat.

Facing toward the wide-open window, desperate for some sort of breeze, I found myself distracted anew. A bright light shone in my direction in spite of the late hour, coming and going – not only flickering, but interrupted regularly enough to be noticeable. The light originated from a flat two buildings over, catty-cornered to my own. In the middle of such a restless night, it was more than enough to keep me awake. Without my glasses, I opened my eyes and squinted into the light as it came and went yet again.

With my imperfect vision, I could barely make out the shape of someone on their balcony, moving to and fro. Curious in spite of myself, I sat up and squinted harder, trying to see what they were doing. It seemed that they were doing chores – mopping floors or ironing clothes – and passing in front of the television from time to time. That seemed to explain everything.

And still, I was even more curious. I got my glasses and put them on, then turned to watch my neighbor once more. Now that I saw clearly, I spied a middle-aged woman, clad only in her bra and a gauzy slip, ironing clothes on her balcony. The light from the television would be blocked when she passed in front of it to hang the freshly-ironed clothes up on the edge of the living-room door frame. Sometimes she folded them and stacked them neatly on her sofa, always passing in front the television, always blocking the light for a brief moment as she did so.

I was both embarrassed at having seen her in such a state of undress – I am American, after all, and such things are not the norm where I'm from – and pleasantly surprised by her cleverness. Of course, she probably didn't expect that anyone would see her there, and she was just doing what she needed to do to get that unpleasant chore done.

Still, I admired her ingenuity. What better time was there to do the ironing, anyway? It was a chore I hated with a passion, because of the heat and the sweating and discomfort it brought me. Maybe it was the same for her, too? At any rate, I knew I'd probably never be able to do that. The idea might occur to me, but I doubted that I'd have the nerve to go through with it. I'm too reticent, too shy and frankly, too insecure about my physical appearance to risk being seen that way.

I made a point of lying down again, taking off my glasses and trying to sleep. The effort was futile for some time. It wasn't until she was done, the clothes ironed and the television and lights of her flat switched off, that I was able to find something close to slumber. The middle hours of the night passed, cooled slightly, and then around four-thirty a.m., the birds began to sing and the sky started to lighten.

A slight breeze blew through my flat, making the air from the oscillating fan seem a degree or two cooler as the mosquitoes ceased their fly-bys. I drifted off to sleep at last.

Stieg Larsson summer reading challenge - Book III

First of all, thank you for joining the Stieg Larsson summer reading challenge!

If you are not familiar with it, you can find all info here. You can sign up until September, 10th 2011!

To qualify for the prize draw, please answer at least 3 out of the following 10 questions, courtesy of Random House Inc.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest

1) Have you read the two previous novels in the trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire? Which of the three did you find the most compelling, and why?

2) What is the “hornet’s nest” of the title?

3) Each part of Hornet’s Nest begins with a brief history lesson about women warriors. What was Larsson trying to say? Is Salander a modern-day equivalent of these women? Is Berger?

4) After everything that happened in the first two novels, why does Salander still distrust Blomkvist? How would you describe their relationship?

5) Can you imagine a group like the Section operating in this country? Why, or why not?

6) On Berger’s first day at her new job, the departing editor in chief offers his theory about why she was hired. Do you agree with his assessment?

7) Larsson writes about Salander, “She wondered what she thought of herself, and came to the realization that she felt mostly indifference towards her entire life.” What has made her feel this way? Do her feelings change by the end of the novel?

8) Again and again, men underestimate Salander because of her size. Why do they make these assumptions? How does she turn this into an advantage?

9) What is the significance of the subplot about Berger’s stalker?

10) If she’s not in love with Miriam, why does Salander go to Paris?

Please send your answers via this link. Thank you!

Stieg Larsson summer reading challenge - Book II

First of all, thank you for joining the Stieg Larsson summer reading challenge!

If you are not familiar with it, you can find all info here. You can sign up until September, 10th 2011!

To qualify for the prize draw, please answer at least 3 out of the following 10 questions, courtesy of Random House Inc.

The Girl Who Played with Fire

1) Discuss the prologue. What did you think was going on? At what point did you fully understand it?

2) Think of the treatment of Salander, Erika Berger, Miriam Wu, Sonja Modig, and the trafficking of Eastern European women. What do you think Larsson was trying to say about the role of women in society?

3) Think of the arrangement agreed to by Berger, Blomkvist, and Gregor Beckman. How does this benefit each of them? Does it hurt them?

4) When Dag Svensson and Mia Johansson were murdered, what was your first response? Who did you think was the killer? Who did you think was Bjurman's killer?

5) Why does Blomkvist give Salander the benefit of the doubt, when so many others don't?

6) When newspaper articles begin to appear featuring interviews with long-ago acquaintances of Salander, did it change your perception of her character? Discuss the nature of truth in these instances: is it possible both sides were remembering accurately?

7) Blomkvist calls Salander “the woman who hated men who hate women.” Is this an accurate assessment? How did she end up this way? How does it affect her behaviour?

8) In what ways is Salander like her father and half brother? In what ways is she different?

9) Toward the end of the novel, does Blomkvist do the right thing by having Berger deliver only part of the story to Jan Bublanski and Modig? What do you think he should have done?

10) If Stieg Larsson were still alive, what one question would you most like to ask him?

Please send your answers via this link. Thank you!

Stieg Larsson summer reading challenge - Book I

First of all, thank you for joining the Stieg Larsson summer reading challenge!

If you are not familiar with it, you can find all info here. You can sign up until September, 10th 2011!

To qualify for the prize draw, please answer at least 3 out of the following 10 questions, courtesy of Random House Inc.,
About.com and Barnes & Noble.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

1) Who do you consider the novel's protagonist, Lisbeth or Mikael? Why?

2) What function do the sex-crime statistics on each section's title page serve?

3) Henrik tells Mikael, "If there's one thing I've learned, it's never engage in a fight you're sure to lose. On the other hand, never let anyone who has insulted you get away with it. Bide your time and strike back when you're in a position of strength—even if you no longer need to strike back." Over the course of the novel, who puts this advice to the best use? How, and why?

4) Lisbeth says her new tattoo is "a reminder." Of what?

5) Several times in the novel, Mikael's journalistic ethics are challenged. Do you consider him to be ethical?

6) Blackmail is used several times in the novel, for different ends. Who uses it most effectively, and why?

7) Why do you think Blomkvist decided not to publish the truth about Martin Vanger? Do you think he did the right thing?

8) What did you make of the final scene of the book, where Salander saw Blomkvist with Erica Berger? Had you hoped that Salander and Blomkvist would stay together?

9) In Swedish, the title was Men who Hate Women, but it was changed to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when it was translated to English. Which do you think is a more fitting title?

10) The narrative contained a number of plot twists. Who did you imagine sent the framed flowers to Vanger each year?

Please send your answers via this link. Thank you!

Book review: Teach Us to Sit Still

By Tim Parks
Published by Harvill Secker

In Teach Us to Sit Still - A Sceptic's Search for Health and Healing, British novelist, essayist and translator Tim Parks describes his difficult path to wellbeing – both physical and mental.

Page by page, Parks details a long series of hospital tests and discussions with doctors and specialists both in Italy and in the UK, he takes us to India for a consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor and, after sleepless nights of Internet research, he shares his enthusiasm for finding a book that seems to promise an end to his pain.

The authors of this book, two Californian doctors, suggest that the discomfort in the pelvic area might be caused by muscle tension. Having found nothing wrong with his bladder or prostate – but still in excruciating pain - Parks is willing to believe this new possibility and the more he thinks about it, the more he realises that he’s been thinking too much his whole life. He’s hardly ever felt thoroughly relaxed.

He thus embarks on a journey of mental rediscovery. He starts a programme of breathing exercises in the comfort of his home. Still relatively sceptic about anything remotely “New Age”, he then goes on to see a shiatsu practitioner and, in the end, he gives in to meditation and joins those retreats that he had always sneered at.

It is a winding path of taking one step forward and three steps backwards but it is a path, nonetheless, that allows Parks to find a balance between the daily needs of his working and family life and the equally important necessities of his mind and body.

This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting but I extremely enjoyed it. Though I can see now that this was the most logical approach, I thought that Parks would concentrate on different kinds of alternative therapies without including his experience with Western medicine. I think I was sidetracked by the book cover!

A journey that starts in the middle wouldn’t be that much of a journey. And I feel almost guilty but I did find the description of the medical staff and their attitudes funny – despite, of course, sympathising with the fact that, in the grip of his pains, Parks might not have found them amusing at all. Perhaps I could have done with knowing less about the writer’s bowel movements and similar, rather intimate, details but, hey, writing is an intimate experience, right?

I had to chuckle and completely empathise with the account of Parks’s first attempts at meditation. Who hasn’t been sitting there, trying to empty their head of any thoughts and ending up having a silent but verbose fight with themselves to achieve that, only to fail? What makes this book such a pleasure to read is that Parks is not trying to show us the way, he doesn’t portray himself as an enlightened and holier-than-us person who we can only look up to. He’s simply sharing his experiences. It’s up to us if we want to learn something from them.

What I also wasn’t expecting – but then, I wasn’t familiar with Parks if not only by name – were his reflections and musings on authors, politicians, art and, generally, culture. A very educated man, Tim Parks is able to draw the most interesting conclusions and ask the most curious questions, linking subjects that you would not normally associate with each other, such as a painting by Velázquez and the prostate!

This book has the potential to teach a number of things. Sitting still is only one of them!

Tomorrow Pamplona Blog Tour 2011, Gig 4

Jan van Mersbergen and Laura Watkinson, respectively author and translator of Tomorrow Pamplona, are on a blog tour organised by Pereine Press.

Here is what I asked them...

To what extent was Jan involved in the translation process and what do you both feel has been gained and/or lost during the transition from Dutch to English - both linguistically and culturally? Perhaps you could give us an example of a particularly successful solution or of a compromise that had to be reluctantly made.

Jan:
In the first place I think a translation is wonderful, because readers now can read the novel in English. My English isn't good enough to write a novel, that would be a disaster, so I only can write in Dutch and our language is really small. I guess about 25 million people read Dutch (Holland, Belgium, Surinam, Antillen). English is big!
It's hard for me to judge if the translation is ok. When I read my novel now it's like reading an English novel. It feels English. That's a good thing.
Laura did a great job and worked on her own for most of the time. She had some clever questions about the story, about the boxer, about the conversations in the car. I really gave her my Dutch novel and hoped for the best. I've heard writers can stick to their book and their language. I didn't. Dutch is my language and I know how to say things in Dutch. In English, millions and millions of people can do a lot better... and a few can turn my book into an English book. Thanks Laura!

Laura:
Jan was the perfect writer for any translator. He made it clear that he was available to answer any questions I might have, but that he was going to leave it up to me to get on with the job. I worked through the book until I’d reached a point where I had just a few points I wanted to talk through with Jan and then we met up in a café in Amsterdam to discuss them. I’m sure he thought that some of my questions were pretty odd! When you’re translating, you sometimes get hung up on tiny details. The meaning seems perfectly obvious to the author, but when you start to put something into English, you might find that you’re not quite sure of the tone of voice, for example, or you can’t exactly picture how a particular conversation or sequence of actions works or if perhaps there’s more significance to a certain line than just the literal meaning. The answers might have no impact on your final translation, but sometimes it’s just good to know for yourself. It was great to be able to talk through those points with Jan and some of the queries resolved themselves quite simply as I was talking to him. Jan also read the translation before publication – I was really relieved to hear that he was happy with it.
Meike from Peirene Press was also a great help, as we had a number of useful chats and exchanges of emails. Translating can be quite a lonely experience, so it’s great to be able to talk things through with someone you trust.
As for whether anything has been gained or lost during the translation, I can’t really judge that, as I think I’ve been buried too deeply in the words to have an overall picture. On a very micro level, I will say that the English text has gained a ‘please’ where the Dutch had none. Conversely, it lost a low metal bar or guardrail along an Amsterdam canal. Any Dutch reader knows these guardrails, but when I found myself starting to explain what they were in the English translation, I decided that the guardrail didn’t in fact need to be there. Oh, and the waffles that Danny eats right at the end of the book? They are in fact ‘gevulde koeken’ in the original text, a Dutch treat that the Van Dale Dutch-English dictionary describes as ‘almond paste cakes’. Mmm, tasty! So, rather than explain, I turned them into waffles, something that’s just as likely as a snack in the Netherlands, but which is also recognisable to English-speaking readers.

Click on this link to follow Jan and Laura on their tour!

Help! My wish list #27

One more title from my ever-expanding reading wish list.

** The cover image is for illustrative purposes only. If you are a publisher and would kindly like to offer me a copy of this book for review, I will change the cover so as to reflect the edition received. **

The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy
By Rachel Cusk

Amazon's product description: When prize-winning author Rachel Cusk decides to travel to Italy for a summer with her husband and two young children she has no idea of the trials and wonders that lie in store. Their journey leads them to both the expected – the Piero della Francesca trail and queues at the Vatican – and the surprising – an amorous Scottish ex-pat and a longing for home – all seen through Cusk’s sharp and humane perspective. Exploring the desire to travel and to escape, art and its inspirations, beauty and ugliness, and the challenge of balancing domestic life with creativity, The Last Supper is a wonderful travel book about life on the most famous art trail in the world, from one of Britain’s most pre-eminent writers.

Why I want to read this book: I'm always interested in seeing my country through the eyes of foreigners, even in writing.

My favourite quotes

Writing is a concentrated form of thinking...a young writer sees that with words he can place himself more clearly into the world. Words on a page, that's all it takes to help him separate himself from the forces around him, streets and people and pressures and feelings. He learns to think about these things, to ride his own sentences into new perceptions.

Don DeLillo

What are your favourite quotes? Send them in and I'll share them with the readers of Book After Book!

Book review: Sing You Home

By Jodi Picoult
Published by Hodder & Stoughton

Being a fan of Jodi Picoult’s novels – and having always received positive feedback from friends whom I had recommended them to – I couldn’t wait to read her latest work, Sing You Home. Now that I have, I remember all that makes her a great writer: an elegant style, thorough research, tri-dimensional characters and, last but not least, a good story.

Always thought-provoking, Sing You Home is no exception.

At the beginning of the novel we meet Zoe and Max Baxter. They have been married for nine years and have spent the best part of them trying to conceive a baby; naturally at first and then through assisted conception methods. Zoe’s last miscarriage, however, marks a turning point for their relationship. Zoe wishes to undergo a new cycle of IVF treatment, while Max is unwilling to face further stress and disappointment. They divorce.

At this very delicate time in her life, Zoe - a professional music therapist - is asked to help with the case of a suicidal teenage girl by Vanessa, a high school counsellor. Vanessa quickly becomes a trusted friend. One that Zoe doesn’t seem able to spend a single day without. One that makes her laugh when she most needs it; one that is always there for her; one that she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

And that’s how Vanessa Shaw, former business acquaintance-cum-best friend, becomes Zoe’s wife in the best of happy endings.

The only thing that would make this beautiful couple even more perfect would be the addition of a child to their family. Suddenly, Zoe remembers the three frozen embryos left over from her last IVF cycle: having had a hysterectomy after complications arising from her last miscarriage, her only chance to becoming a biological mother is to have Vanessa carry her baby. All she needs is the authorization of her ex husband to use the embryos.

In the meantime, Max has been going through some radical transformation. Following a spiralling descent into the depths of alcoholism and an alcohol-induced car accident, Max decides to join his brother’s church and follow the leadership of Pastor Clive. The conservative Eternal Glory Church couldn’t be more set against the “deprivation” of the “homosexual lifestyle” and does all that it can to persuade Max that giving his consent to have his “pre-born children” raised by a lesbian couple would be a mistake.

All this leads the way to court, where Max and Zoe will be at the centre of a history-making legal battle for the custody of the frozen embryos.

I have tried to be brief but Sing You Home is such a richly structured novel that it is hard to not want to disclose more. Narrated from the alternating points of view of Zoe, Max and Vanessa, readers will have a full understanding of all the emotions and circumstances that make each character think and behave in a certain way. While reading this book I cheered, I felt contempt, I got angry, I cried. Picoult deals with a number of contemporary issues – from IVF to same-sex relationships – that are unlikely to leave you indifferent.

Ultimately, Sing You Home is a novel about passion, be it for the freedom of being who you are or for the belief that you can control who you are.

Tips for aspiring writers – part 5

Amanda Sington-Williams on: The first chapter.

***
Right, so - you’ve got your main character(s) and you’ve decided which is the best type of narrator to tell your story. You’ve either got a chapter by chapter plot with a detailed plan written out with military style precision or you’ve got an idea running round your head that you want to explore. Perhaps your novel plan exists somewhere in between: notes on the back of an envelope or a spidergram.

Anyhow, there you are with a blank screen/paper in front of you and you’re trying to think of that winning first line. But the time spent in this task might be better spent writing. So just write. Let the words flow and imagine that you are the character. This will be the first of many drafts so there is plenty of time to think of the opening sentence and it’s always a possibility that once you’ve finished the first draft of the novel, it will be apparent that it needs to start either earlier or later in the plot.

So, how to start? Firstly, locate your main character, somewhere in the first page, if not the first paragraph. Your reader will then be able to create a picture in their mind of where the story opens. Location refers to anything from the grander scale of a particular country or to the box room in a terraced house. It also refers to time. If the novel is set during a particular period this should probably be clear by the end of the first page.

Locate the character and where possible, without using adjectives and too much description and through the voice of the narrator, tell the reader a little about the main character. This can be done through their body language, how they view the world, what they are thinking and how they communicate.

Without giving the story away, seed clues about what lies on the pages ahead so the reader will be compelled to find out what happens next. What is the dilemma? How will the character deal with the issue that the narrator is hinting at? This is what you want the readers to be asking themselves and this is why they will keep reading.

As a rough guide, it is a good idea to have introduced all the main characters by the third chapter. But there are no hard and fast rules in writing fiction. If you want to introduce another main character in Chapter Eleven, for example, that’s fine as long as you know the reasons behind the decision.

***
Amanda and I would love to hear your views so please feel free to leave your comments below. And don’t miss the next instalment on August 11th: Dialogue.

Summer reading challenge: Stieg Larsson

Do you avoid reading challenges because you find a year-long commitment quite daunting? Are you always looking for good summer reads? Look no further!

Welcome to Book After Books’ summer reading challenge!

1) The challenge will run from June, 21st 2011 to September, 21st 2011.

2) Participants are requested to read Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, which comprises The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

3) For each of the three books, participants are requested to answer at least three out of ten questions. I believe that, rather than having participants post reviews of the same books, discussing the same topics will make for interesting and stimulating dialogue!

4) One lucky participant who will have answered at least five questions for each of the three books will win a copy of Stieg Larsson, My Friend by Kurdo Baksi, courtesy of MacLehose Press.

How it works

1) Click here to register. Registration is open until September, 10th 2011.

2) On June 21st, 2011 I will post the list of questions for each of the three books and links for your answers.

Easy!

So, who’s in?!

01. Starlight from Slovenia
02. Doria from the USA
03. SigmaRue from the USA
04. Misha from India
05. Nola from the USA
06. Emma from the UK