England and USA

The culture I'm going to write about in this post takes place mostly in England or the United States. First off I want to say that Stockholm (Dramaten - Royal Dramatic Theater) does some incredible things. I recently went to see Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night". The performance was as good as they come. The play actually had its world premier in Stockholm (and Swedish) because that was what O'Neill requested (maybe in thanks for the Nobel prize in 1936). An interesting thing about the production I saw was that one of the characters - Cathleen (the maid) - has been written out. Anyway the play was spellbinding.
Back to books - two to pass the time and two I really enjoyed (I am glad that so many people write about books they enjoy in different bloggs). The two time passers were "The Rosary Girls" by Richard Montanari and "At Risk" by Patricia Cornwell (not a Scarpetta, but a stand alone). Montanari has clearly discovered the wisdom of creating characters (Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano) that can continue on in a series. The book following "girls" ("The Skin Gods") is a best seller. Cornwell's non-Scarpetta was more like a short story - I think maybe she is looking for some new characters.
The two books that I read about in bloggs - "The Accidental" by Ali Smith and "The Half Life of Stars" by Louise Wener - were easy to find at the library and enjoyable reads; but both with a certain darkness. Smith's book is the deeper of the two and is rich in language and symbol. It probably needs to be read more than once. Fortunately both of these young writers already have other books out - and because of their youth will certainly produce more in years to come.

Very Long Time No Blogg

Shortly after my last posting I went to the United States to visit family. This did not stop my reading, but it made me very busy and thus I have not written anything for over a month. In that time I have read (not necessarily in the correct order):
"Until I find you" by John Irving - A very long book, that had its moments and was generally well constructed, but I probably won't be rereadin it.
"When the wind blows" and "Lake House" by James Patterson - I don't really know why I read two of these books - they were available at my mom's house and were good as time passers. These books are also presented as children's books, two much "fantasy" for adults I guess.
"Änglarösten" the third book in the series about Erlendur by Arnaldur Indridason from Iceland was as good as the other two. Quite a different "feeling" about these novels compared to your basic everyday American detective novel.
I picked up a book by Ed McBain in the cheap pile. "Fat Ollie's Book" was okay if you like Ed McBain. The novel that Ollie is writing is pretty funny sometimes, but also sad because I bet people write things like that!
A first novel by James Sheehan was okay, it was called "The Mayor of Lexington Avenue" - you can click here for a review!
One of my favorite authors - Robert Crais (do check out the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series!) - has a stand-alone book that has just come out in paperback - "The two minute rule". Not as great as the Elvis books, but definitely a good read.
Tess Gerritsen continues her series from Boston with Maura Isles, Jane Rizzoli, and Gabriel Dean with the book Vanish. Childbirth in the middle of SWAT team action and conspiracy theories is always fun.
My wonderful library has recently bought "Break no bones" by Kathy Reichs. This one was better than "Cross Bones" - all in all I kind of like "Bones" on TV better.
I liked Kate Atkinson's "Case Histories" so I borrowed her first novel "Behind the Scenes at the Museum". I will certain read more by this author.
I'm sure I've missed something - but if that is the case the book didn't make much of an impression.
Another cultural activity for me recently was Midsummer Night's Dream - in Värmland - Stockholms Stadteaters uppsättning var jätte roligt!