This month, which started out rather slowly from a reading point of view, I read 9 books. Four of them are short stories by Agatha Christie which I got as a present from a friend. Here are the books
The Unbreakable Alibi by Agatha Christie (short story)
Death by Drowning by Agatha Christie (short story)
The Blue Geranium by Agatha Christie (short story)
The Horses of Diomedes by Agatha Christie (short story)
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Pakten by Gunnar Svebring
Orden som formade Sverige by Elisabeth Ã…sbrink
Back Spin by Harlan Coben
A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré
I enjoyed the short stories. One of them The Blue Geranium was turned into a Miss Marple mystery. I have just bing watched all of the Miss Marple seasons. Is there anything better to watch than an Agatha Christie when you are a little bit down and out?
Lessons in Chemistry I read with a new book club I have joined. I really liked the novel, and its satirical take on a time which was difficult for women. Not all of us did enjoy the Elizabeth Zott character, but I did. I tend to enjoy characters who do what they want, without thinking all the time what other people will think. I see it has been made into a film with Brie Larson and she would be able to do a good thing out of this character.
Pakten and Orden som formade Sverige are only in Swedish. The first one a psychological thriller which I enjoyed, as it also took place in areas close to me. The Words that formed Sweden is from a favourite author Elisabeth Ã…sbrink. She highlights historical aspects that has made Sweden into what it is. A sort of history lesson. I was thinking that this should be an obligatory read for Swedish schools. Young people tend to know so little about our history. And certain traditional aspects we take for granted, but we don't know where they come from and what made them into our ordinary lives. Excellent read.
I found Back Spin on the shelves in our garbage room. Yes, we have a book shelf there for the enjoyment of neighbours. Instead of throwing the books away you leave them on the shelf. Corban is a favourite. I am reading a lot of nonfiction for the time being and felt I needed something easy to read in between. This turns out to be one of several books about Myron Bolitar, a sports agent turning detective on the side. This story is about a kidnapping, or is it?
A Most Wanted Man is a typical Carré and as such very enjoyable. Here Carré is using modern migration problems as a background to his story of intelligence and police services, throwing in a human rights lawyer, a private banker and an old money contract. Carré is making nothing wrong in this story.