Books I've read this autumn/winter - Larsson, Indridason, Theorin and Cotterill

i got a bit behind with my reading of Scandinavian crime fiction. So this autumn and winter I've been playing catch up. The highlight was the last installment of the Millennium series by Steig Larsson The Girl who kicked the Hornets' Nest. As good if not better than the first two books, a real pleasure to read. The third book continues immediately after the conclusion of The Girl who Played with Fire. Lisbeth is in hospital recovering from her injuries and Kalle finds himself having to save her from powers within the Swedish secret service who need her dead. The plot , more so than the previous books in the series, reflects Larsson's life long interest in politics and in particular how the establishment exploits power. An excellent series that every crime fiction fan should read.

Theorin's second novel "The Darkest Room" is set on the Baltic island of Oland. The plot is too complex to explain in a paragraph, but Theorin is a superb writer. His novels are full of atmosphere, menace and suspense. Cleverly playing on everybody's fear of isolation and the unknown. Place is extremely important in these novels, Oland is wild, beautiful, isolated and extremely dangerous when the weather turns. When things go wrong help is a long way away. Highly recommended.

Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason continues the series featuring the Icelandic Inspector Erlendur. Since the stunning debut Jar City the series has got better and better and Arnaldur more than anybody can be compared to Mankell for the quality of his writing and story telling. This novel revolves around the death of a woman who everybody, except Erlendur , believes to have committed suicide. A novel that explores the idea that a crime can be psychological not just physical. Simply brilliant.

Finally and away from Scandinavia. The Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill, set in Laos, is a much lighter crime novel with wonderful characters. Less twee than MacCall-Smith and a good choice if you want something that is well written but not too taxing or disturbing. An excellent series

The Complaints - Ian Rankin

In his first police procedural novel, since retiring Rebus, Rankin introduces a new character Malcolm Fox. Fox works for "The Complaints" the police department that investigates other police officers.Fox is less of a loner than Rebus and less bad tempered but like Rebus he is cerebral cop with a strong sense of justice.For those who are still mourning Rebus Fox is an interesting new character who I'm sure Rankin will flesh out and develop.Another success for one of crime fiction's most literary writers, highly recommended

Chess Nomads v Radcliffe & Bingham 21.9.09

Sandeep Dhir - White
Steve Baker - Black

1 d4 d5
2 h3 Bf5
3 a3 e6
4 g4 Be4
5 f3 Qh4
6 Kd2 Bg6
7 Bg2 Bd6
8 e3 Qf2
9 Qe2 QxQ
10 Nxe2 f5
11 Nc3 Nf6
12 Ke1 a6
13 b4 Nd7
14 Rb1 f5xg4
15 f3xg4 Bxc2
16 Rb2 Bg6
17 Nf4 Bxf4
18 e3xB o-o-o
19 Re2 c6
20 Rxe6 Rd8e8
21 Rxe8 Rxe8
22 Kf2 Be4
23 Nxe4 Nxe4
24 Kf3 g6
25 h4 Nd6
26 Be3 Nc4
27 Bc1 Re4
28 Rd1 Nb6
29 Kg3 Na4
30 BxR Nc3
31 Re1 Nxe4
32 Kg2 Kd7
33 h5 Ke6
34 h5xg6 h7xg6
35 Kh3 Kf6
36 Kh4 b6
37 Kh3 Draw

Jo Nesbo - The Dark Star

A couple of people have told me that if I like Scandinavian crime fiction, and I do, then I should try Jo Nesbo. So as i'm giving a talk "Wallander and Beyond" I thought I had better catch up with this Norwegian writer.

Nesbo's main character is Harry Hole a Detective with a drink problem (why do fictional detectives always have a drink problem are all real detectives alcoholics as well?). Harry is bit old school unashamed of acting on hunches and intuition but he is extremely intelligent and joins dots that his colleagues don't even realize are dots.

The Devil's Star, on the face of it, is the story of the hunt for a serial killer but it is in fact much deeper and cleverer than that simple premise suggests.

Nesbo is very good storyteller and I would highly recommend this series.

I've read a few Norwegian writers now and unlike Swedish writers they don't seem to place a great emphasis on a sense of place and atmosphere. These stories are set in Oslo but it could be London or Paris or any European city. For Norwegian writers the story rather than the place seems to be the important element.

On to the second one in the series now

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin a review

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin has a very simple storyline. Eilis is the youngest daughter of a widow living in 1950's Cork. Work is hard to come by and the family is supported by Eilis's older sister Rose. So when a job opportunity comes up Eilis sets of to Brooklyn. The story has three phases the build up to leaving home, then adapting to life in NY and then the return home when tragedy strikes.

The book has has many themes family, hardship, loneliness, love and class. But this isn't a book that's held together by it's storyline or even it's themes but by it's characters. The characters are beautifully drawn, real people you can identify with and care about, especially Eilis.

Colm Toibin is an author that I've never got around to reading before. From the blurb I expected a worthy, slow and rather dull book, but it was the opposite. I was engaged from the first chapter and it never felt like a chore.

Information strategy etc.

Saturday morning and it is glorious, makes a change this summer. The grass is somping so I can't mow it but I will spend some time in the garden tidying up and relaxing after a busy week. Could watch England v Australia day 2 but I think that may be more frustrating than relaxing.

In library world, we spent the end of the week working on our Information Strategy to improve the current service and develop it. The agenda that it sets for the next 12 months + is huge and from my point of view will be the first real test of the new structure. I need to get into a position where I can get ahead of the team and spend more time directing so I can get the best out of them. At the moment I feel like I'm spending too much time dealing with the present rather than moving the service forward. But as we keep saying it's "early days"

IT and Libraries

For a Librarian to deliver a quality service they need not only to have the skills and ability to use IT but also the equipment to put those skills into practice. Poor and dated hardware, out of date applications and inadequate line speeds are at best a hindrance and at worse a serious handicap to both good customer service and productivity.

IT costs a lot of money and when you are talking about providing adequate IT for a whole service the figures can be frightening. But you have to balance the cost against the benefits, just like any business has to. It's too easy to save money by deleting IT projects, however the losses, although often hard to measure, are significant . Reduced productivity, frustrated staff and often loss of customer.