However, it has been translated poorly, not smoothing over any of the stylistic aspects that seem awkward or tedious to English-speaking readers. (The translator's goal should be to make sure that the translation reads as if it had been written in English originally, and this one fails.) I am considering writing to the publisher and offering my services. That's my bedside book.

My purse book is The One You Love, by Paul Pilkington. It's part of a trilogy that starts when a London woman's fiancé vanishes a week before their wedding--and each time she gets close to a clue, a new fact comes out of left field. This seems to be more of a plot-driven than character-driven novel, but it's a good read.

Glad you liked The Black House. Peter May has two other series, one that takes place in China and one, which I haven't read any examples of, that is about a Scottish pathologist who lives in France.

I know you've done other sorts of Japanese/English translation, have you translated novels before?

This morning I finished Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Hannah is a brilliant writer. She did her research so thoroughly.

I kept hoping for a different outcome. I didn't know for certain the fate of Agnes until the end. I hoped she would somehow escape her sentence. It's little wonder Iceland abandoned capital punishment.

What a tough existence they lived in 19th Century Iceland. The things we now take for granted would be unimaginable luxuries. Thank you for the recommendation, scarletwoman.

I haven't started a new book yet. I'll have to pick one later this evening.

Mrs. Enthusiast just finished Outrage by Arnaldur Indridason. She liked this one very much. She has started Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. I predict she will be blown away.

I think you would LOVE the book I just finished reading, The Blackhouse, especially since you have family ties to the Hebrides! It was totally fascinating and brilliantly written.

Yes, Burial Rites certainly packs a punch, doesn't it. Even though I DID know that the execution happened, it was impossible to not hope for a different ending while in the midst of reading the book - your emotions override what you already intellectually know. And you're so right about the "tough existence" in 19th century Iceland! I've lived fairly rough at times; spent a winter in a tiny cabin in northern Minnesota with no electricity, wood heat only, and a hand pump for wash water (drinking water had to be hauled), but at least I didn't have to make my own clothes by hand, hunt and gather and process all my food, and mind a flock of sheep.

We got hit with the Derecho storm a few years ago here in Ohio. We were without power for three days. We honestly thought we would lose our minds. We are so spoiled, lol.

The Blackhouse sounds like a winner.

I'll have to order a copy.

I believe I'm starting Broken Harbour by Tana French.

Thanks to dear scarletwoman. I finished Burial of Ghost by Ann Cleeeves Friday and picked up the Scott book and my library. Both are very good.

I downloaded Sultana's Dream by Roquia Sakhawat Hussain from www.feedbooks.com a free download. It is a short story and quite interesting here is a feminist in a place and time we would think could exist. It's a quick read.

http://www.feedbooks.com/book/6719/sultana-s-dream
Sultana's Dream is a classic work of Bengali science fiction and one of the first examples of feminist science fiction. This short story was written in 1905 by Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain, a Muslim feminist, writer and social reformer who lived in British India, in what is now Bangladesh. The word sultana here means a female sultan, a Muslim ruler.

Sultana's Dream was originally published in English in The Indian Ladies Magazine of Madras (1905), and is considered part of Bengali literature. It depicts a feminist utopia in which women run everything and men are secluded, in a mirror-image of the traditional practice of purdah. The women are aided by technology which enables laborless farming and flying cars; the female scientists have discovered how to use solar power and control the weather. Crime is eliminated, since men were responsible for all of it. The workday is only two hours long, since men used to waste six hours of each day in smoking. The religion is one of love and truth. Purity is held above all, such that the list of "sacred relations" (mahram) is widely extended.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Wow! That sounds amazing! I don't have any sort of device for downloading electronic books, unfortunately - but just knowing that such a work exists is wonderful! Bravo to you for finding it!

And I'm delighted to know that my own recommendations have brought you pleasure!

I find Adobe reader a bit annoying especially in long pieces but it will do. I think I will post about Sultana's Dream in the feminist forum.

I'm on dial-up at home, so sometimes PDFs take a damn long time to load, but I can probably sneak it in at work and send it to the printer.

I just started. It's okay so far.

I see that there are three books in the series published in Swedish, but only two translated into English, so far.

I like the book so far.

Have you read any of her books?

I also like Camilla Läckberg quite a lot.

I hadn't heard of Åsa Tråff and Camilla Grebe before, so I appreciate having new names to add to my list of Scandinavian authors.

It's hard to describe, but so far quite fascinating. The first fifty or so pages take place sometime in the near future, and Britain seems to have become an Islamic Republic. There's chaos and war around the world, and climate change has only gotten worse.

The second section, so far, seems to take place during WWI.

I know this will all tie together.

One of his earlier titles, Affirmation caught my eye, so I looked up the reader reviews on GoodReads.

Anyway, his stuff certainly sounds intriguing. It's not the sort of thing I'm likely to read, but I'm glad to know about this author - never know when I might be in the mood for something completely different!

simply gets more interesting.

I think I'll be reading more of his novels.

It was a best seller in 1906, about the rise of a New England political boss and the girl he loved.

Is it any good?

about the time Winston got home from being captured by the Boers. I'm reading along thinking to myself 'howinhell does a 30 year old English aristocrat write such effective Yankee dialect and know so much about American politics?' I think Wikipedia has raised my IQ 20% in the last 10 years. There is indeed an American Winston who wrote novels and ran for governor of New Hampshire. I'm well into this one and it's keeping me entertained. I found this on Project Gutenberg so you need a computer to get at it. I doubt it's available anywhere in print form. I have been finding plenty interesting reading at Gutenberg, but I am not a discriminating reader. I will read the back of the mayonnaise jar if that's all that's available.