Being between books to review at the moment, I asked my 70-something Mum what she’s reading. She probably reads more books than I do, and every time I see her she borrows a bagful or two. She always returns them with sticky notes on telling me what she thought. She reads widely, and dare I say it, has similar tastes to me, although I can’t see her reading P&P&Z – see post below!
So over to Mum:
- The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller. I enjoyed this and found it quite absorbing. Reminiscent of the Kennedys, Clinton and other womanising US Senators etc.
- The Minds Eye and The Return by Hakun Nesser. Swedish detective sagas and quite impressive. Van Veeteren is funnier, more outrageous and even grumpier than Wallander whom I like very much. The court scene in The Minds Eye is particularly good.
- The Martin Beck novels by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. I have now read the first two and they are growing on me . The first one, Roseanna, seemed rather dry and factual in the beginning but improved. The second, The Man Who Went up in Smoke, set partly in Budapest, was a good read. Of course they are set in the sixties. Much earlier than the other Swedish detective novels I have read.
- So far my favourite of all the Nordic detective books are the Stieg Larsson ones. Sadly he died so there are no more after the final one in the trilogy which is coming soon.
Thanks Mum!
