Showcase Sunday

Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea hosts a Showcase Sunday which is always quite fun and today I thought that I'd take part. This is what I have bought this week and will be reading in coming days: 

"The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine" by Alina Bronsky (LOVE the title!)

"The Pursuit of Italy" by David Gilmour (non-fiction and an attempt to mend my knowledge gap about Italy)

"Headhunters" by Jo Nesbo (want to see the film, have to read the book first)

What did you get your hands on this week? 

Review: "Disgrace" by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Right, whoever came up with the title "Disgrace" for this book by Jussi Adler-Olsen should be given a prize. "Lamest Title in 2012" perhaps or "The Lack of Imagination Award". The original title directly translated is "The Pheasant-Killers", not an easy title but at least it has punch and imagination. It stands out. "Disgrace" doesn't at all, actually it blends in so well with all the other Scandi crime fiction books that it is enough to make you loose appetite... The American title "The Absent One" is much better and whoever chose to go with "Disgrace" in the UK should seriously find another job because title-picking is not his forte.

Losing your appetite for the book over a lame title would be a shame though because as crime fiction goes, this is pretty good! This is the second novel in the Department Q series, the first one "Mercy" (another lame title) I reviewed some months back. In "Disgrace" we are back in the land of Detective Carl Moerck who is as grumpy as ever. Though Carl's intention is as ever to do as little as possible at work, a case lands on his desk that sends him and his team into the depths of the Copenhagen jetset. A brother and a sister has been brutally murdered in a cottage years earlier and when this old, unsolved case surfaces, it turns out to have ties to some very powerful socialites (hence the title "The Pheasant-Killers" as they go hunting in the weekends).

Meanwhile, a woman named Kimmie is wandering the streets. Ever aware of being under watch she steals luggage from travelers on their way to and from the airport and changes her look often. She lives on the streets, keeping company only with a heroin-addicted prostitute and she lives largely on her memories of the time when she herself was part of the socialite circle.

For Carl Moerck this is a case that takes more than a normal amount of work, skill and intuition. Nothing is as it seems and when the scale of crime and pure bloodlust comes to light, Carl is in the deep end fighting not only for justice and for what is right but also for his own life.

Let me be clear, this is a great book! You like the Millenium series by Stieg Larsson, you like Jo Nesboe? You will like this! For crime fiction this has a depth that you don't see often enough. The subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) comments on wealth, love and the way we choose to live are abundant and it is clear that we are talking about a writer with a mission here. Sometimes it gets a bit much but at the same time it is refreshing that there is an agenda that goes beyond entertainment.

Though the plot is different and imaginative, it is the characters that really bring this story to life. Kimmie with all her demons and memories is very credible and not entirely likeable, Carl Moerck on the other hand is likeable but slightly annoying at the same time and his assistant Assad is entertaining as well as fascinating. They drive the story and are the fuel on the fire of what is (in my opinion) a very good crime fiction novel!

Read it if: You like Stieg Larsson or Jo Nesboe. You are looking for something to take the place of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo". You are planning a trip to Copenhagen.

Top Ten Tuesday: Reading Outside the Comfort Zone

Tuesday = Top Ten. If you don't know what I mean go to The Broke and The Bookish who created this amazing meme. This week's theme is Ten Books That I Read That Were Outside Of My Comfort Zone - doesn't matter if you liked them or not.



10) "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Vampires? As if I'd ever read a book about vampires... well, that all changed post-Twilight.



9) "Londonstani" by Gautam Malkani
English is not my first language and slang and ghetto/East End/London speak was way out of my comfort zone when I read this one. It took me a bit to figure out how to read but it was absolutely worth it!

8) The Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo
Crime fiction is not something that I read a lot of. Actually I more or less never read it unless somebody really recommends a specific book. However, I borrowed some of the Harry Hole books on audio to listen to on the way to work and got hooked on anti-here main character, the classic renegade, alcoholic policeman with a talent for hunting serial killers.



7) "Until The Final Hour" by Traudl Junge
Real life stories is not something that I really read a lot. Just don't find it that interesting but this one is different. It is the story of Traul Junge, the young women who was a secretary to Hitler and who was in the bunker with him until the final hour. A little piece of history.



6)"Just a Girl" and "They Sent a Woman" by Lise NoergaardNot sure that ehse have been translated into English but these were the first biographies I read and I must have been 13 or 14 years old. They are amazing, all about being a girl in a time when boys were worth much more and a girl was... well, just a girl.



5)"The Ice House" by Minette WaltersThis was one of the first adult books I read and definitely the first crime fiction. I found it during vacation time when going through my parents shelves, desperate for something to read. The cover was very artsy with lots of bright colours and I was very taken with it.



4) "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
I thought I didn't like dystopian - actually was quite sure that I hated it - until I read this one. Now one of my fave books ever.



3)"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane AustenThis one figures on almost all my lists! And I do love it so it makes sense... When I read P&P it was the first time I read a real English classic. Totally out of my comfort zone (preferred chick lit) but Colin Firth in a wet shirt had tempted me too much - I had to read it. I am so happy that I did!

2) "Anne of Green Gables" by L. M. Montgomery
When I just starting reading, for years most of what I read was books about horses. There were a few classic contemporarty childrens books as well but mostly I loved the ones with horses. Then the older sister of a friend recommended "Anne of Green Gables" and from then on a whole new world opened to me.



1) "Collected Poems" John Betjeman
I don't actually read a lot of poetry but I go back to the collected poems of John Betjeman again and again and again. Bought the books out of curiosity as it was really cheap and I just fell in love with the words and the style. I even have some of his poems recorded on my ipod. Amazing, amazing artist.

"The Devil's Star" - starring Harry Hole

Have you met Harry Hole? He is a Norwegian crime investigator with alcohol problems, commitment issues and a seriously dry sense of humour. He is also the key figure in "The Devil's Star" by Jo Nesbo.
The book is set in Norway where Harry works as a criminal investigator in the homicide department of Oslo police force. He is suffering after the murder of his colleague Ellen, a murder that he blames on his other colleague Tom. This suspicion has become the driving force in Harry's life and has cost him his girlfriend, his sobriety and now it looks like it will cost him his job as well.
However, then Oslo is horrified by the brutal murder of a young women - the killer has cut off a finger and left a starshaped diamond. And when another young woman disappears Harry's immense investigation talent is needed to find the killer before he takes more lives.
Normally I don't read crime fiction but for Harry I make an exception. He is a fascinating man and I enjoy every moment spend trying to catch the bad guys with him. His dry sense of humour, he contempt for authorities and his ability to get into trouble makes him very good company.
"The Devil's Star" has been my first read in The Scandinavian Reading Challenge" and if you haven't met Harry yet, I suggest you look up Norwegian author Jo Nesbo at your local library.