Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Jo Nesbø
Last year we read Redbreast by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø, the first book featuring police detective Harry Hole to be translated into English. Now, Nesbø's latest release, The Snowman, has become his first novel to become a bestseller in the United States even though he is a household name in most of Europe. For a complete list of the Harry Hole series, visit the author's website.Trailer for The Snowman.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
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| Jackson Brodie #1 |
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| Jackson Brodie #2 |
Join us on June 22 at 6:30 pm for a discussion of Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, the first book in the Jackson Brodie series. Copies of the book are available for checkout at the Newark Library. Visit Kate Atkinson's website for more information about her books.
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| Jackson Brodie #3 |
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| Jackson Brodie #4 |
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
Seventeen of us met this week to discuss Dog On It by Spencer Quinn. This is the first book in the series featuring a canine narrator (Chet), who partners with his human (Bernie Little, P.I.) to solve crimes.
We have been meeting for 9½ years and until now we have avoided the whole talking cat and dog mystery genre, but the many positive reviews of this book prompted us to add it to our reading list.
From our discussion, it was clear that the book's appeal is not limited to just dog lovers, or animal lovers of any kind (with a few exceptions!). We all agreed that the author's ability to translate Chet's doggy thoughts and behavior was absolutely uncanny.
Most of us thoroughly enjoyed the book as a nice change of pace and found it to be a funny, quick read--an ideal beach book. Only a few book group members knew prior to the meeting that Spencer Quinn is the pseudonym of New York Times' best-selling author Peter Abrahams.
A few members thought the plot was the weakest part of the book. Involvement of the Russian mob seemed overdone. As adorable as most of us found Chet to be, a few members did not relish reading his thoughts for an entire book and thought his musings were repetitious ("Don't get me started on . . .") and -- for one cat lover at least -- insulting to cats. :) For the record, the majority of the group loved Chet's insights.
This book did not inspire the impassioned discussion that we have with more serious titles and social themes. However, the evening ended very nicely with members sharing anecdotes about some of the special dogs in their lives.
Book Rating: 3.8
Using our group's voting system on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best possible.
We have been meeting for 9½ years and until now we have avoided the whole talking cat and dog mystery genre, but the many positive reviews of this book prompted us to add it to our reading list.
From our discussion, it was clear that the book's appeal is not limited to just dog lovers, or animal lovers of any kind (with a few exceptions!). We all agreed that the author's ability to translate Chet's doggy thoughts and behavior was absolutely uncanny.
Most of us thoroughly enjoyed the book as a nice change of pace and found it to be a funny, quick read--an ideal beach book. Only a few book group members knew prior to the meeting that Spencer Quinn is the pseudonym of New York Times' best-selling author Peter Abrahams.
A few members thought the plot was the weakest part of the book. Involvement of the Russian mob seemed overdone. As adorable as most of us found Chet to be, a few members did not relish reading his thoughts for an entire book and thought his musings were repetitious ("Don't get me started on . . .") and -- for one cat lover at least -- insulting to cats. :) For the record, the majority of the group loved Chet's insights.
This book did not inspire the impassioned discussion that we have with more serious titles and social themes. However, the evening ended very nicely with members sharing anecdotes about some of the special dogs in their lives.
Book Rating: 3.8
Using our group's voting system on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best possible.
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