Göteborgsvarvet

I'm running today, a half-marathon in the beautiful city of Gothenburg Sweden. When I've reached the finish line I might pick up one of these:

What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murukami

or perhaps

The loneliness of the long distance runner by Alan Sillitoe

Josefine

Changing society?

I recently read two books that through fiction set out to tell the story of a society in change. The Help by Kathryn Stockett talks about the American south in the 1960s where discrimination and racism are everyday occurrences. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas takes us to today's supposedly multi-cultural Australia, and even though the book cover talks more about picking sides when it comes to disciplining children, I do think that there are many similarities with The Help. 
Racism is strife in both countries coming from all directions and it influences how people act and what they do. The fifty or so years of time passing, has still not changed the perspective of many people. It is still US v THEM. Them, still being different, strange, unknown.
Josefine

Title: The Help Author:Kathryn Stockett ISBN: 978-0-14-193001-5
Title: The Slap Author: Christos Tsiolkas ISBN:978-1-84887-356-8

Unsympathetic characters

The problem I had with The Accidental Wife by Rowan Coleman, was the lack of sympathy I felt for the two main female characters Cathy and Alison. Instead it was the third female, minor character, Kirsty who got my vote. When Cathy and Alison were both trapped by the action of the men around them, and unfortunately I don't think Coleman manages to turn it around, which makes it for quite an unsatisfied book, which is a pity because I really liked The Baby Group.
Josefine

Titel: The Accidental Wife Author: Rowan Coleman ISBN: 978-0-09-949307-5

When a book surprises you

I don't know exactly what I had expected when I picked up The Private lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller, but it was nothing like I could ever imagine. The book reminds me of the writing of Richards Yates and Paul Auster, two writers who are not very similar in their writing, at the same time, Miller has managed to combine the two to get one well written, interesting début novel.
Josefine

Title: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Author: Rebecca Miller ISBN: 978-1-84767-249-0

Early Summer Read

I am a bit early with my summer reads this year, because I just couldn't resist the temptation to pick up The Beach Café by Lucy Diamond when I saw it at the library the other week, it's a book that has been on my reading list for a while.
I like Diamond's way of getting straight to the point. In the first couple of pages you find out that Evie's aunt has died suddenly and she has left her cherished café in Cornwall to her. This part of the story is all on the back of the book anyway, so it is better to get it out of the way right away and we can then enjoy to learn something new about the characters.
It's a feel good story and I will definitely pick up some of Diamond's other books as well.
Josefine

Title: The Beach Café Author: Lucy Diamond ISBN: 978-0-330-52053-9

Ice cream Girls

The Ice cream girls by Dorothy Koomson is one of the best books I have read in these last couple of months, she has such a beautiful voice that shines through the pages. The book is divided in to the perspective of the two main characters Poppy and Serena, and Koomson has managed well to keep them both alive on the page. The story builds up page after page until you reach a powerful crescendo.
The book explores a powerful theme of power and love that is always important and worthy to discuss.
Josefine

Title: The Ice cream Girls Author: Dorothy Koomson ISBN: 978-0-7515-3982-0

Stockholm Noir

The language in Never Fuck Up is an improvement on Jens Lapidius first book Easy Money (recently released in English as part of the Stockholm Noir trilogy), also the book itself has a better plot line, it seems as if Lapidius are more assured of where the book is heading. Despite this, the subject for me is not interesting and exiting. Even though I appreciate that he is trying to portray the events very close to the truth, the actions becomes more important than the characters and I prefer it to be the other way around.
Something I do appreciate in both Never Fuck Up and Easy Money is that the ending is not rosy, happily ever after, some get caught, other looses their life whereas other again move on as if nothing has happened, which gives the story a more truthful picture.
Josefine

Title: Never Fuck Up Author: Jens Lapidius ISBN: 978-91-43-50478-1