Apologies for the fact that I haven’t posted, or indeed finished, the review of Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days which I said I would. Work has been rather bonkers and I have also been spending the evenings watching the final episodes of the second series of The Bridge which I have been obsessed by. Anyway this weekend is a nice three day weekend thanks to the one of the many lovely Bank Holidays we have in the UK and fingers crossed I can catch up on some blogging but most importantly some READING!
This weekend is extra special and needs to be extra relaxing and fruitful because it is my last free one for the next two and a bit months as my job goes operational, eek. Speaking of work, after a particularly rubbish morning this morning I decided to cheer myself up and so stomped headed to my local bookshop to just breathe in the air of books and calm myself. There is nothing like it is there?
And would you guess what happened when I was in there? Well, strangely I decided that I needed to treat myself to some books, just a few *coughs*. Yes, I know I mentioned I had lots but as I also mentioned we always want more…
Now all these books had very valid reasons for coming home with me, well via the office, today. Dead Snow by Georges Simenon is a book I have been hunting for for ages and ages as I am possibly going to be on a book podcast that isn’t mine talking about it. It hasn’t been in stock until now, so that was snapped up, hoorahs. I have no idea how good or not this would be but as it is a NYRB edition I am assuming it will be amazing, I have always wanted to try him. The Iraqi Christ by Hassan Blasim has just won the Indie Foreign Fiction prize, I need to read more translated fiction and short stories, in the basket it went.
Camila Lackberg is about to become part of a Swedish crime obsession I am about to have as I have been (through this very blog) invited to Sweden by its tourist board to go on a cold crime tour, starting in Fjallbacka where these are set. I am starting at the beginning. The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker was the book I mentioned the other day I have been wanting to gte for a few weeks as people either love it or hate it and it sounds different being described as Twin Peaks meets Atonement meets In Cold Blood… ok!!! Finally I blame Rob of Adeventures with Words for making me buy the filthy sounding Sex Criminals. He mentioned this on Hear Read This recently and the idea of a couple who have sex, stop time and rob banks to save a book shop (or a library) sounds too odd and bizarre to resist. Plus I could do with a laugh. I left the shop on a high.
So I am planning on spending a lot of the long weekend reading some of these and just escaping into the pages. What are your plans? What have you recently bought and will be spending the weekend devouring?
Savidge Reads 
I shall be dividing my time between The Surprise of Cremona by Edith Templeton and The Fictions of Bruno Schulz. Enjoy your weekend!
Currently reading The Merman by Carl-Johan Vallgren to be followed by Linda Castillo – Gone Missing and then backed up with Bird Box by Josh alderman but knowing me I will be in Waterstones tomorrow and get easily persuaded to pick up something else! Happy reading.
I have a nice handful of new Canadian novels to sink into…though our long weekend was last weekend. Two days of intensive reading will have to do for me 😉
Well, I’ll be spending a lot of my weekend painting African children and one-legged dogs (don’t ask – the joys of illustrating kids’ books!) but I’m also currently immersed in Joyce Carol Oates’ latest, ‘Carthage’ – as ever it is hypnotically readable – so I hope to get that finished over the weekend. I’ll probably finish Cate Kennedy’s ‘Dark Roots’ too, an Australian short story collection.
What have I recently bought, you ask? Too flippin’ much!
Just placed my first big order of the year from Amazon Canada (I know you’re not a fan, but it is the only way to get hold of a lot of Canadian titles) so next month will probably be an impromptu CanLit month – I ordered the new books by David Adams Richards (and if you haven’t read him, you should – he is one of the great Canadian writers but seems to be largely unknown here), Miriam Toews (actually cheaper than waiting for the UK edition), Alexi Zentner (loved ‘Touch’ so can’t wait to read ‘The Lobster Kings’), Shani Mootoo, Barry Dempster, Ray Robertson and Kate Pullinger (haven’t read those last four before), and the debuts by Krista Foss (‘Smoke River’ which sounds fantastic), Claire Battershill and Eufemia Fantetti.
I’ve bought quite a few Australian books too, mostly ‘older’ novels, including ‘Clean Straw for Nothing’ the sequel to George Johnston’s ‘My Brother Jack’ which I’ve just read (and loved), as well as books by Kylie Tennant, Eleanor Dark, Xavier Herbert and Kenneth Mackenzie, and some new fiction by Emily Bitto and Maxine Beneba Clarke.
And a load of America short story collections (mostly the Harper PS imprint) for two or three quid each – a great way of discovering writers I’d otherwise never heard of.
Phew!
Cate Kennedy, Miriam Toews, Shani Mootoo… You have some great reading there!
Here in the US we also have a three day weekend to honor our veterans of the military….I am immersed in The Likeness by Tana French to be followed by We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. After a book club required read I want to get into the second Camilla Lackburg. I read The Ice Princess after Gav mentioned her in The Readers and am insanely jealous if your upcoming trip ( not to mention my parents just returned from vacation around there and I will be regaled over breakfast tomorrow). Happy Reading!
Dividing my holiday time between reading Embers by Sandor Marai, stuffing my face with burgers, Diet Coke and several bottles of wine. Ulysses. Oxford World’s Classic, is casting its spell on me from the top bookshelf.
Dead Snow is wonderful. Hope you enjoy it – very dark!
I’m going to a wedding tomorrow, so today is all about primping in readiness.
Oh wow, what a haul! Dead Snow has been on my wishlist for ages, and I think I may have to add the Harry Quebert book to said never-ending list too – can’t resist a Twin Peaks comparison.
I can’t describe how jealous I am of your cold crime tour. I love the Camilla Lackberg books, but would have to say that The Ice Princess is a bit of a slow start to the series. It’s good, but if you find yourself underwhelmed at all it’s worth remembering that books two and three are much better.
I’m dividing my time between finishing the audiobook of Julian Barnes’ Love etc. and the short story collection “Love in a bottle” by Hungarian writer Antal Szerb (in a lovely Pushkin Press edition)
Recently finished Sex Criminals and I found it hilarious! I’m interested to hear or read your thoughts!
Ah, I’m so glad I’m not the only one who uses bookshops as a lunchtime technique for going to hide and calm down a little in preparation for the afternoon (Waterstones Deansgate is a godsend for this as it’s only across the road).
Am reading my first proper proper bit of Swedish crime fic this bank holiday weekend for the book club. Sjowall & Wahloo’s ‘The Laughing Policeman’….one of the Martin Beck series. Have you read any? Massive pageturner so far but I still can’t say it’s making me feel too bothered about the genre….what’s wrong with me!?
The book written by Joel Dicker is so good !
You bought Sex Criminals! I’ve read the first three issues and am really enjoying it. It treads just the right line between treating sex like a proper normal grownup fact of life and being a story that’s a lot of fun!