#Nora Hahn

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Angry Neighbors 2022

[jolieeason]

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with My Favorite Color on the Cover

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every Tuesday, a new topic is assigned from the schedule below. Then, you take that topic and fly free with it. You can do as little or as much as you want to (I have…

[mistysgardenn]

about me

arrow • 18 • lesbian • she/her

i write fanfics sometimes! my ao3

fandoms american horror story, the undoing, the hunger games, the fall of the house of usher, the haunting of hill house, agatha all along

favorite characters misty day, mary eunice mckee, cordelia goode, wilhemina venable, nora montgomery, billie dean howard, shelby miller, sally mckenna, sylvia steinetz, grace fraser, xandra terrell, johanna mason, katniss everdeen, camille l'espanaye, verna, madeline usher, olivia crain, theodora crain, agatha harkness, rio vidal, amy dunne

favorite people lily rabe, sarah paulson, lady gaga, carla gugino, kate siegel, nicole kidman, aubrey plaza, kathryn hahn, rosamund pike, jena malone, jennifer lawrence, stevie nicks, taylor swift

favorite ships foxxay, bananun, hotgomery, shaudrey, freinetz, joniss, vernaline, poppyliv, agathario

[heartsbreaking]

i'm (probably) making anther ill informed self indulgent oc (which is my favorite variety because i am simply pushing myself past the fear of looking silly or being judged

thoughts on fcs for miss eleanor nora scratch ? im thinkin magical clone of nick scratch (marvel not caos)

trying to go for dark hair, dark eyes but looks like kath.ryn hahn. lookin for witchy vibes here

[stupendouspizzacomputer]

INSANITY (Hellaverse x isekai male reader) Winners (Part 2):

•Adrian Newey (F1/Formuala 1/oscar piastri/Ferrari/Austin gp 2024)

•Black Widow (Florence Pugh)

•Haruka Sakura (Wind Breaker)

•Danny Phantom (Danny Phantom)

•Wonder (autism/neurodivergent)

•Donald Trump (Us politics/Presidential debate/United States/election/American politics/Us elections/Election day/Presidential election/2024 Presidential election)

•Joe Biden (Us politics/Presidential debate/United States/election/American politics/Us elections/Election day/Presidential election/2024 Presidential election)

•Kamala harris (Us politcs/Presidential debate/United States/election/American politics/Us elections/Election day/Presidential election/2024 Presidential election)

•Matthew Domick (nasa/space/astronomy/science/Astrology)

•Elen Musk (Science/physics)

•Beyonce (Beyonce)

•Ponyboy Curtis (The outsiders)

•Aurora (Witchcraft/Witchblr)

•Malefica (Witchcraft/Witchblr/Witch/Wicca/Witchcore)

•Bojan Cvjetićanin (Joker out)

•Kris Guštin (Joker out)

•Jan Peteh (Joker out)

•Nace Jordan (Joker out)

•Jure Maček (Joker out)

•Jannik Sinner (tennis)

•Galadriel (Rings of power/Lord of the rings/Lotr/Tolkien/The rings of power/Gigolas)

•Ranboo (Youtuber)

•The passengers of the AA 11 (9/11)

•Regan (Inside job)

•Brett (Inside job)

•Kai (Exo)

•Byun Baek-hyun (Exo)

•Suho (Exo)

•Sehun (Exo)

•Park Chan-Yeon (Exo)

•D.O. (Exo)

•Chen (Exo)

•Kris Wu (Exo)

•Huang Zitao (Exo)

•Xiumin (Exo)

•Luhan (Exo)

•Lay (Exo)

•Jere Mikael Pöyhönen (Käärijä)

•Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5)

•Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez)

•Aabria Iyengar (Critical role)

•Marisha Lay (Critical Role)

•Furbys (Furby/r/196)

•Kirie Goshima (Uzumaki)

•Nora Sakavic (All for the game)

•Owen (I saw the TV glow)

•Dark Cacao Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run kingdom)

•Golden Cheese Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Chili Pepper Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run kingdom)

•Hollyberry Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Pure Vanilla Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Stardust Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•White Lily Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Crimson Coral Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Elder Faerie Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Moonlight Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Mystic Flour Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Stormbringer Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Wind Archer Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Angel Cookie (Cookie run/ Cookie run Kingdom)

•Black Pearl Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Frost Queen Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Pitaya Dragon Cookie(Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Sea Fairy Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Sherbet Cookie (Cookie run/Cookie run Kingdom)

•Fox Mulder (Txf/The x Files)

•Dana Scully (Txf/The x Files/Gillian Anderson)

•Agatha Harkness (Agatha all along/Kathryn Hahn/Agathario/Disney)

•Haruspex (pathologic)

•John (Outer banks)

•Jack O'Malley (Chris evans)

•Cady Haron (Mean Girls/Lindsay Lohan/october/october 3rd/october 3)

•Areala of Cordoba (Warrior Nun)

•Stede Bonnet (Ofmd/Our Flag means Death)

•Liam Gallagher (Oasis)

•Noel Gallagher (Oasis)

•Paul Arthurs (Oasis)

•Tony McCarroll (Oasis)

•Gem Archer (Oasis)

•Andy Bell (Oasis)

•Chris Sharrock (Oasis)

•Paul McGuigan (Oasis)

•Alan White (Oasis)

•Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh penguins)

•Kate McKinnon (snl)

•Travis Kelce (Kansas City Chiefs)

•Keith (Voltron/vld)

•Shiro (Voltron/vld)

•Pidge (Voltron/vld)

•Lance (Voltron/vld)

•Hunk (Voltron/vld)

•Princess Allura (Voltron/vld)

•Vex'ahlia Vessar (Vox Machina/Critical Role/Dimension 20/Misfits and Magic)

•Vax'ildan Vessar (Vox Machina/Critical Role/Dimension 20/Misfits and Magic)

•Percival de Rolo (Vox Machina/Critical Role/Dimension 20/Misfits and Magic)

•Pike Trickfoot (Vox Machina/Critical Role/Dimension 20/Misfits and Magic)

•Keyleth of the Air Ashari (Vox Machina/Critical Role/Dimension 20/Misfits and Magic)

•Scanlan Shorthalt (Vox Machina/Critical Role/Dimension 20/Misfits and Magic)

•Grog Strongjaw (Vox Machina/Critical Role/Dimension 20/Misfits and Magic)

•Alice Oseman (Heartstopper)

•Al Pacino (60s/Cinema)

•King Arthur (Merlin)

•Merlin (Merlin)

•Goodtimeswithscar (Trafficblr/Traffic smp/mineblr/Solidaritygaming/Wild life smp)

•Grian (Trafficblr/Traffic smp/mineblr/Solidaritygaming/Wild life smp)

•Mumbo Jumbo (Trafficblr/Traffic smp/mineblr/Solidaritygaming/Wild life smp)

•Skizzleman (Trafficblr/Traffic smp/mineblr/Solidaritygaming/Wild life smp)

•Bdoubleo100 (Trafficblr/Traffic smp/mineblr/Solidaritygaming/Wild life smp)

•Tangotek (Trafficblr/Traffic smp/mineblr/Solidaritygaming/Wild life smp)

•Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine)

•Isabella Summers (Florence and the Machine)

•Robert Ackryod (Florence and the Machine)

•Hazel Mills (Florence and the Machine)

•Tom Monger (Florence and the Machine)

•Loren Humphrey (Florence and the Machine)

•Tom Moth (Florence and the Machine)

•Aku Orraca-Tetteh (Florence and the Machine)

•Cyrus Bayandor (Florence and the Machine)

•Dionne Douglas (Florence and the Machine)

•Chris Hayden (Florence and the Machine)

•Mark Saunders (Florence and the Machine)

•Rusty Bradshaw (Florence and the Machine)

•Samantha White (Florence and the Machine)

•Roz (The wild robot)

•Hayley Williams (Paramore)

•Ichigo kurosaki (bleach)

•Bjork (Bjork)

[horizon-forbidden-sheesh]

Hey, here’s a nifty reference tool that’s been sitting in my drafts for over a year!! 

Location key & more notes on distances and travel below the break.  

*Locations aren’t always exact, but were chosen to determine approximate distance & travel times.

NORA (Blue)

- Mother’s Watch = Colorado Springs, CO  

- Hunter’s Gathering = Montrose, CO 

BANUK (Teal)

- Stone Yield = Yellowstone, WY

- Song’s Edge = Moran, WY

- Banuk Encampment = Hahns Peak Village, CO

OSERAM (Orange)

- Free Heap = Green River, UT  

- Hidden Ember = Las Vegas, NV

- The Claim = ???, ID

CARJA (Red)

- Dawn’s Sentinel = Grand Junction, CO

- Daytower Gate = Gateway, CO

- Gatelands = Canyonlands, UT

- Meridian = Red Mesa, AZ

- Sunfall = Bryce Canyon

- Chainscrape = Big Water, UT

- Barren Light = Page, AZ

UTARU (Green)

- Plainsong = Dixie Forest, UT

- Riverhymn = Frisco Peak, UT

- Stone’s Echo = Fredonia, AZ

THE BASE (Nora Blue)

- Wheeler Peak, NV

TENAKTH (Clan Colors)

- Arrowhand = Caliente, NV

- Scalding Spear = Duckwater, NV

- Memorial Grove = Silver Peak, NV

- The Bulwark = Yosemite Valley, CA

- Thornmarsh = Bakersfield, CA

QUEN (Coral)

- Legacy’s Landfall = San Francisco, CA

OLD ONES (Grey) 

- Maker’s End = Salt Lake City, UT

- The Greenhouse = Sacramento, CA

- Zenith Lab = Los Angeles, CA

TRAVEL SPEEDS

Jogging (6mph / 10mph sprint)

*half travel day: 4 hrs (25 mi.)

*full travel day: 8 hrs (50-60 mi.)

*through the night: 12 hrs (100 mi.)

Riding (25mph / 45mph sprint / 3x Jogging)

**half travel day: 3 hrs (80 mi.) /= 1.5 days of travel by foot

**full travel day: 6 hrs (150 mi.)  /= 3 days of travel by foot

**through the night: 12 hrs (450 mi.) /= 1-2 weeks of travel by foot

Flying (80mph / 10x Jogging / 3x Riding)

***half travel day: 3 hrs (250 mi.) /=  1 week of travel by foot

***full travel day: 6 hrs (500 mi.) /=  1 week of travel by charger

DISTANCES

Base to Scalding Spear = ~100 mi (on foot: thru night / on charger: 4hrs / on sunning: 1hr)

Base to Memorial Grove = ~300 mi (on foot: 3-5 days / on charger: 1 day / on sunwing: 2hrs)

Base to Bulwark = ~450 mi (on foot: 1 week / on charger: thru night / on sunwing: 4hrs)

Base to Thornmarsh = ~500 mi

Base to Legacy’s Landfall = ~700 mi (on foot: 2-3 weeks / on charger: 2 days / on sunwing: 6hr)

Base to Plainsong = ~80 mi (but assume you can glide most of it and get there in half a day) 

Base to Barren Light = ~250 mi

Base to Chainscrape = ~300 mi 

[goalhofer]

2023 In Memoriam Part 16

Bill Butler, 101

Cedric Henderson, 57

Leon Levine, 85

Lt. Gen. Bennett L. Lewis, 96

Hobie Landrith, 93

Bishop Nei Paulo Moretto, 86

Jim Caldwell, 80

Nora Forster, 80

Kent C. Nelson, 85

Norman Reynolds, 89

TECH1 Howard E. Wasdin, 61

Ben Ferencz, 103

Billy Hahn, 69

Tracy Johnson, 56

Antonio Tarín, 47

Lasse Wellander, 70

Michael Lerner, 81

Kenneth McAlpine, 102

Edward L. Rissien, 98

Milton Slaughter, 81

Bishop James Timlin, 95

Fr. Huub Oosterhuis, 89

Paul Hinrichs, 97

Donald W. Ernst, 89

Fred Pancoast, 90

Tom Yurkovich, 87

Al Jaffee, 102

Raymond Sawada, 38

Frank Lasky, 81

Jim McManus, 82

[showtoonzfan]

There are literally SO many Central Park songs that I like. I could fill a library with just my “favorite” ones, but for now, I feel like sharing one I really liked from the recent episode, season 2 episode 14, “The Ballad of Johnnie Lee”.

In this episode, Cole (the son of the family) has an embarrassing moment at school, accidentally revealing his bottom to everyone on stage when his belt buckle wouldn’t work. After that, Cole didn’t want to go to school at all, even wanting to change his name. The episode then showcases his family telling stories to him about who he wants to be, but why he should have gone back to school. In the final song, his mother Paige tells the story of her mother, and how she met her father when he accidentally led the football team to lose. Paige and Owen then sing a beautiful duet to their son, about how he needs to go back and own up to it, and not let anyone bring him down for a mistake.

https://youtu.be/cbwsDGCHd2A

The song is titled “When the Bottom Falls Out”, and even though this story is very small and simple, I still love how Paige and Owen convince their son to to back. When they hear about the fiasco, they don’t go “this is ridiculous, you’re going back to school”, instead they tell stories to make him feel better, and then comfort him in this song. Despite the song being easy to get what the message is, it’s STILL a good message, and it warms my heart how kind parents Owen and Paige are. The song has a soft beautiful melody that I love, and this is one of the MANY MANY Central Park songs stuck in my head. 🧡

[gwendolynlerman]

Graded readers in German

Books marked with an asterisk (*) are not graded readers and therefore may not exactly correspond with the level under which they are listed.

A1

Adel und edle Steine by Felix & Theo

Anna by Klara & Theo

Anna, Berlin by Thomas Silvin

Claudia, Mallorca by Thomas Silvin

David, Dresden by Thomas Silvin

Der 80. Geburtstag by Theo Scherling

Der Superstar by Klara & Theo

Detektiv wider Willen by Klara & Theo

Die Neue by Leo & Co.

Donauwalzer by Felix & Theo

Ein Hundeleben by Leo & Co.

Ein Mann zu viel by Felix & Theo

Eine spezielle Band by Sabine Werner

Elvis in Köln by Felix & Theo

Erich ist verschwunden by Regine Böttcher and Susanne Lang

Eva, Wien by Thomas Silvin

Franz, München by Thomas Silvin

Gebrochene Herzen by Leo & Co.

Hamburg - hin und zurück by Felix & Theo

Julie, Köln by Thomas Silvin

Lara, Frankfurt by Thomas Silvin

Nora, Zürich by Thomas Silvin

Oh, Maria ... by Felix & Theo

Oktoberfest by Felix & Theo

Ruf der Waldgeister* by Ulf Blanck

Tina, Hamburg by Thomas Silvin

Vera, Heidelberg by Thomas Silvin

A2

Albert Einstein by Sabine Werner

Ausgetrickst by Klara & Theo

Barbara by Felix & Theo

Bild ohne Rahmen by Felix & Theo

Das fliegende Klassenzimmer* by Erich Kästner, Kurt Vethake, and Heinz Schimmelpfenning

Das Gold der alten Dame by Felix & Theo

Das Haus an den Klippen by Achim Seiffarth and Adalbert Stifter

Das Idealpaar by Leonhard Thoma

Das letzte Hindernis by Klara & Theo

Der Fall Schlachter by Felix & Theo

Der gestiefelte Kater. Das tapfere Schneiderlein by Jacob Grimm

Der Jaguar by Leo & Co.

Der letzte Kuss by Volker Borbein, Christian Baumgarten, and Thomas Ewald

Der Mond war Zeuge by Volker Borbein and Christian Baumgarten

Der Schützenkönig vom Chiemsee by Roland Dittrich

Der Tote im See by Charlotte Habersack

Die doppelte Paula by Klara & Theo

Die Loreley lebt! by Roland Dittrich

Die Rache des Computers by Regine Böttcher, Rosi Hinz, and Susanne Lang

Die Spur führt nach Bayern by Volker Borbein

Ebbe & Flut by Felix & Theo

Ein Fall auf Rügen by Felix & Theo

Einer singt falsch by Felix & Theo

Einstein und das tote Kaninchen by Klara & Theo

Faust by Franz Specht

Freude, Liebe, Angst by Volker Borbein and Christian Baumgarten

Gefährlicher Einkauf by Volker Borbein and Christian Baumgarten

Grenzverkehr am Bodensee by Felix & Theo

Haus ohne Hoffnung by Felix & Theo

Jeder ist käuflich by Volker Borbein and Marie-Claire Wieders-Lohéac

Kalt erwischt in Hamburg by Cordula Schurig

Lea? Nein danke! by Friederike Wilhelmi

Leipziger Allerlei by Felix & Theo

Liebe bis in den Tod by Volker Borbein and Christian Baumgarten

Mord auf dem Golfplatz by Felix & Theo

Müller in New York by Felix & Theo

Sicher ist nur eins by Franz Specht

Siegfrieds Tod by Franz Specht

Spuk im Nachbarhaus by Klara & Theo

Tatort Frankfurt by Felix & Theo

Tatort: Krankenhaus by Volker Borbein and Marie-Claire Wieders-Lohéac

Till Eulenspiegel by Jacqueline Tschiesche

Timo darf nicht sterben! by Charlotte Habersack

Tod in der Oper by Volker Borbein and Marie-Claire Wieders-Lohéac

Tödlicher Cocktail by Volker Borbein and Marie-Claire Wieders-Lohéac

Tödlicher Irrtum by Volker Borbein and Christian Baumgarten

Tödlicher Schnee by Felix & Theo

Tor ohne Grenzen by Christian Gellenbeck

B1

Besserwisser by Franz Specht

Das Herz von Dresden by Cordula Schurig

Das Mädchen, mit dem die Kinder nicht verkehren durften* by Irmgard Keun

Das Wunschhaus und andere Geschichten by Leonhard Thoma

Der Hundetraum und andere Verwirrungen by Leonhard Thoma

Der Passagier und andere Geschichten by Brigitte Braucek

Der rote Hahn by Franz Specht

Der Taubenfütterer und andere Geschichten by Leonhard Thoma

Die Angst und der Tod by Franz Specht

Die Blaumacherin by Leonhard Thoma

Die Fantasien des Herrn Röpke und andere Geschichten by Leonhard Thoma

Die Fälle des Kommissar Wagner by Uwe Plasger

Die ganze Wahrheit by Franz Specht

Die schöne Frau Bär by Franz Specht

Faust: das Volksbuch by Achim Seiffarth

Heiße Spür in München by Stefanie Wülfing

Schöne Augen by Franz Specht

Veronikas Gehimnis by Friedhelm Strack

Verschollen in Berlin by Gabi Baier

Wiener Blut by Gabi Baier

B2

100 Karten, die deine Sicht auf die Welt verändern* by Katapult

100 Karten über Sprache* by Katapult

Der Ruf der Tagesfische und andere Geschichten by Leonhard Thoma

Der Tote und das Mädchen* by Martina Bick

Herr der Diebe* by Cornelia Funke

C1

Atlas der verlorenen Sprachen* by Rita Mielke

Brigitta* by Adalbert Stifter

Das Feuerschiff* by Siegfried Lenz

Das Parfum. Die Geschichte eines Mörders* by Patrick Süskind

Der Besuch der alten Dame* by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Der Hund. Der Tunnel. Die Panne* by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Der Sandmann by E. T. A. Hoffmann

Die Bergwerke zu Falun* by E. T. A. Hoffmann

Die Physiker* by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Die Verwandlung* by Franz Kafka

Effi Briest* by Theodor Fontane

Kleines Kuriositätenkabinett der deutschen Sprache* by Duden

[fictionfromafar]

Crime Fiction Novels In Translation due in 2022

This list will be added over the coming months so look out for additions. Dates given relate to physical edition release dates in the UK, these dates and indeed occasionally book titles may vary in other territories. USA releases only also shown in brackets.

4th January

Phenotypes by Paulo Scott, translated by Daniel Hahn, And Other Stories BRAZIL

Federico and Lourenço are brothers. Their father is black, a famed forensic pathologist for the police; their mother is white. Federico – distant, angry, analytical – has light skin, which means he’s always been able to avoid the worst of the racism that Brazilian culture has to offer. Lourenço, on the other hand, is dark-skinned, easy-going, and well-liked. Federico is called home as his niece has just been arrested at a protest carrying a concealed gun. And not just any gun. A stolen police service revolver that Federico and Lourenço hid for a friend, decades before. A gun used in a killing.

Dead of Winter by Anders de la Motte, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Zaffre SWEDEN

With her aunt's death, Laura inherits the cabin village Hedda used to manage and is forced to return to the town she hasn't set foot in since the tragedy. Laura's presence stirs up repressed emotions in the small community and it isn't long before a series of arson attacks casts suspicion on her.

The Wanderer by Luca D'Andrea, translated by Katherine Gregor, MacLehose Press ITALY

Out walking his St Bernard, Tony Carcano is confronted by a girl on a motorbike who shows him a photograph from his past. Of him posing with the body of a young woman. Smiling. "Why were you laughing?" It's not the last Tony sees of Sybille Knapp, an orphan whose mother drowned herself in Kreuzwirt lake in 1999.

Cry Wolf by Hans Rosenfeldt, translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel, Harper Collins SWEDEN

Hannah Wester, a detective in the remote northern Swedish town of Haparanda, finds herself on the precipice of chaos. When human remains are found in the stomach of a dead wolf, Hannah knows that this summer won’t be like any other. The remains are soon linked to a bloody drug deal that went down just across the border in Finland. But how did the victim end up in the woods outside Haparanda? And where have the drugs and money gone?

11 Jan

Buried in Secret by Viveca Sten, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Amazon Crossing SWEDEN

When two cold case disappearances are reopened, a decade of deadly secrets is unearthed on Sandhamn Island. A woman’s skeletal remains are excavated on an uninhabited island in Sandhamn’s archipelago, and Thomas Andreasson is called to officially investigate. But his best friend, Nora Linde, can’t help but get involved.

13 January

My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura, translated by Sam Bett, Soho Crime JAPAN

What transforms a person into a killer? Can it be something as small as a suggestion? Turn this page, and you may forfeit your entire life. With My Annihilation, Fuminori Nakamura, master of literary noir, has constructed a puzzle box of a narrative in the form of a confessional diary that implicates its reader in a heinous crime.

Silver Pebbles by Hansjoerg Schneider, translated by Mike Mitchell, Bitter Lemon Press SWITZERLAND

A hunt for drug gang diamonds is keeping Basel Inspector Hunkeler on tenterhooks. Basel, nestled at the border of Switzerland with Germany and France, has been hammered by a huge snowstorm, cars and trams can barely move, trees are groaning under the weight of the recent snowfall, the cathedral and city roofs are smothered.

18 Jan

The Night by Rodrigo Blanco Calderon, translated by Daniel Hahn and Noel Hernández, Seven Stories VENEZUELA

Recurring blackouts envelop Caracas in an inescapable darkness that makes nightmares come true. Real and fictional characters, most of them are writers, exchange the role of narrator in this polyphonic novel. They recount contradictory versions of the plot, a series of femicides that began with the energy crisis. The central narrator is a psychiatrist who manipulates the accounts of his friend, an author writing a book titled The Night; and his patient, an advertising executive obsessed with understanding the world through word puzzles.

20 Jan

The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier, translated by Adriana Hunter, Michael Joseph FRANCE

Winner of the Goncourt Prize and now an international phenomenon, this dizzying, whip-smart novel blends crime, fantasy, sci-fi, and thriller as it plumbs the mysteries surrounding a Paris-New York flight. An ingenious, timely variation on the doppelgänger theme, it taps into the parts of ourselves that elude us most.

21 Jan

Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett, Orenda Books NORWAY

Varg Veum has returned to duty following a stint in rehab, but his new composure and resolution are soon threatened when three complex cases arrive on his desk in quick succession. A man is found dead in an elite swimming pool and a young woman has gone missing. Most chillingly, Varg Veum is asked to investigate the ‘Camilla Case’: an eight-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of a little girl, who was never found.

3 Feb

We Know You Remember by Tove Alsterdal, translated by Alice Menzies, Faber & Faber SWEDEN

A missing girl, a hidden body, a decades-long cover-up, and old sins cast in new light: the classic procedural meets Scandinavian atmosphere in this rich, character-driven mystery, awarded Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year, that heralds the American debut of a supremely skilled international writer.

Land of Snow and Ashes by Petra Rautianen, translated by David Hackston, Pushkin Press FINLAND

Finnish Lapland, 1944: a young soldier is called to work as an interpreter at a Nazi prison camp. Surrounded by cruelty and death, he struggles to hold onto his humanity. When peace comes, the crimes are buried beneath the snow and ice. A few years later, journalist Inkeri is assigned to investigate the rapid development of remote Western Lapland. Her real motivation is more personal: she is following a lead on her husband, who disappeared during the war.

10 Feb

Winter Water by Susanne Jansson, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, Hodder & Stoughton SWEDEN

Martin, who has always been drawn to the ocean, moves his wife Alexandra and their two young children move to his family's idyllic summer cottage in the picturesque island village of Orust, on the west coast of Sweden. Martin begins to cultivate a mussel farm, where he soon runs into trouble with the locals.

17 Feb

Unhinged by Thomas Enger & Jorn Lier Horst, translated by Megan Turner, Orenda Books NORWAY

Investigator Sofia Kovic has uncovered a connection between several deaths and murder cases in Oslo over the last year and a half. She tries to call her closest superior, Alexander Blix, not yet wanting to involve anyone else in the police, but before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim.

Wild Shores by Maria Adolfsson, translated by Agnes Broome, Zaffre SWEDEN

Though Detective Karen Eiken Hornby returned to her homeland, the island nation Doggerland, from London some years ago, she has largely avoided visiting the northernmost island where her father's wayward family reside. But when a man's body is discovered in a flooded quarry on Noorö and with illness preventing any of her colleagues attending, Karen has no choice but to head north to investigate.

Lady Joker Vol 1 by Kaoru Takamura, translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press JAPAN

One of Japan’s great modern masters, Kaoru Takamura, makes her English-language debut with this two-volume publication of her magnum opus. Tokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his race; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who has died suspiciously after the revelation of a family connection with the segregated buraku community, historically subjected to severe discrimination.

22nd Feb

Even the Darkest Night: A Terra Alta Novel by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean, MacLehose Press SPAIN

When Melchor goes to investigate the horrific double-murder of a rich printer and his wife in rural Cataluña nothing quite adds up. The young cop from the big city, hero of a foiled terrorist attack, has been sent to Terra Alta till things quieten down. Observant, streetwise and circumspect, Melchor is also an outsider. The son of a Barcelona prostitute who never knew his father, Melchor rapidly fell into trouble and was jailed at 19, convicted of driving for a Colombian drug cartel.

24 Feb

The Harbour by Katrine Engberg, translated by Tara Chace, Hodder & Stoughton DENMARK

When fifteen-year-old Oscar Dreyer-Hoff disappears, the police assume he's simply a runaway - a typically overlooked middle child doing what teenagers do all around the world. But his frantic family is certain that something terrible has happened. After all, what runaway would leave behind a note that reads: "He looked around and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward."

3 March

When Women Kill by Alia Trabucco Zerán, translated by Sophie Hughes, And Other Stories CHILE

Corina Rojas, Rosa Faúndez, Carolina Geel and Teresa Alfaro all committed murder. Their crimes not only led to substantial court decisions, but gave rise to multiple novels, poems, short stories, paintings, plays, songs and films, produced and reproduced throughout the last century. In When Women Kill, we are provided with timelines of events leading up to and following their killings, their apprehension by the authorities, their trials and their representation in the media throughout and following the judicial process.

The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim, Canongate Press KOREA

At sixty-five, Hornclaw is beginning to slow down. She lives modestly in a small apartment, with only her aging dog, a rescue named Deadweight, to keep her company. There are expectations for people her age—that she'll retire and live out the rest of her days quietly. But Hornclaw is not like other people. She is an assassin.

Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza, translated by Thomas Bunstead, Harvill Secker ARGENTINA

In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she specializes in canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentinean high society

On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation

5 March

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chace, Swift Press DENMARK

It’s early September in Copenhagen, the rain has been coming down for weeks, and 36-year-old journalist Heloise Kaldan is in the middle of a nightmare. One of her sources has been caught lying, and she could lose her job over it. And then she receives the first in a series of cryptic and ominous letters from an alleged killer.

17 March

Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein, translated by Alison McCulloch, Grove Press UK NORWAY

Mariam Lind goes on a shopping trip with her eleven-year-old daughter, Iben, who angers her mother by asking for a magazine one too many times. Mariam storms off, leaving Iben in the shop and, expecting her young daughter to find her own way home, heads off on a long calming drive. Detective Roe Olsvik is assigned to the case of Iben's disappearance; he has just turned sixty and is new to the Kristiansund police department. As he interrogates Mariam, he instantly suspects her—but there is much more to this case and these characters than their outer appearances would suggest.

River Clyde by Simone Buchholz, translated by Rachel Ward, Orenda Books GERMANY

Mired in grief after tragic recent events, State prosecutor Chastity Riley escapes to Scotland, lured to the birthplace of her great-great grandfather by a mysterious letter suggesting she has inherited a house.

In Glasgow, she meets Tom, the ex-lover of Chastity’s great aunt, who holds the keys to her own family secrets – painful stories of unexpected cruelty and loss that she’s never dared to confront.

22 March

A Harmless Lie by Sara Blaedel, translated by Mark Cline, Dutton (USA) DENMARK

Detective Louise Rick is on a beach in Thailand when the panicked call from her father comes through. Louise′s beloved brother, Mikkel, has attempted suicide. His wife, Trine, left him days earlier, walking out the door one day with no warning and leaving Mikkel devastated.

23 March

Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sarah Hughes, Fitzcarraldo Editions MEXICO

Inside a luxury housing complex, two misfit teenagers sneak around and get drunk. Franco Andrade, lonely, overweight, and addicted to porn, obsessively fantasizes about seducing his neighbor--an attractive married woman and mother--while Polo dreams about quitting his grueling job as a gardener within the gated community and fleeing his overbearing mother and their narco-controlled village. Each facing the impossibility of getting what he thinks he deserves, Franco and Polo hatch a mindless and macabre scheme.

29 March

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten, translated by Alexandra Fleming, Macmillan (USA) SWEDEN

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer—a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, the anxiety of having come so close to a killer--and not knowing if they’d be back—overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

31 Mar

For the Lost by Lina Bengtsdotter, translated by Agnes Broomé, Orion SWEDEN

In Karlstad, nine-month-old Beatrice is missing from her pram. Her parents are in shock and the media is in a frenzy. DI Charlie Lager is struggling with her own demons when she's called to investigate, forced to push them aside as the case intensifies. As lead after lead goes nowhere, Charlie starts to feel like nobody actually wants the truth to come out about Beatrice as reluctant locals shut down in the face of her questions. And with each passing hour, the chance of finding Beatrice alive becomes less and less likely...

Killing Happiness by Friedrich Ani, translated by Alexander Booth, Seagull Books London Ltd GERMANY

Happiness is extinguished completely one cold November night when eleven-year-old Lennard Grabbe fails to return home. Thirty-four days later, he is found to have been murdered, and former inspector Jakob Franck, the protagonist of Friedrich Ani’s previous novel The Nameless Day, is entrusted with delivering the most horrible news

4 Apr

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker JAPAN

Suzuki is just an ordinary man until his wife is murdered. When he discovers the criminal gang responsible he leaves behind his life as a maths teacher and joins them, looking for a chance to take his revenge. What he doesn’t realise is that he’s about to get drawn into a web of unusual professional assassins, each with their own agenda. The Whale convinces his victims to take their own lives using just his words. The Cicada is a talkative and deadly knife expert. The elusive Pusher dispatches his targets in deadly traffic accidents. Suzuki must take each of them on, in order to try to find justice and keep his innocence in a world of killers.

7 Apr

The Missing Word by Concita De Gregorio, translated by Clarissa Botsford, European Editions ITALY

Based on a true story, an urgently told psychological thriller and the fierce portrait of a woman in all her frailty and courage. Irina’s life with her husband and her twin daughters is orderly. An Italian living in Switzerland, she works as a lawyer. One day, something breaks. The marriage ends without apparent trauma, but on a weekend seemingly like any other, the girls’ father takes Alessia and Livia away with him. They disappear. A few days later the man takes his own life. Of the girls, there is no trace.

14 Apr

The Dark Flood by Deon Meyer, translated by KL Seegers, Hodder & Stoughton SOUTH AFRICA

One last chance. Almost fired for insubordination, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido find themselves demoted, exiled from the elite Hawks unit and dispatched to the leafy streets of Stellenbosch. Working a missing persons report on student Callie de Bruin is not the level of work they are used to, but it's all they get. And soon, it takes a dangerous, deeply disturbing turn.  As Griessel and Cupido intensify their search, real estate agent Sandra Steenberg confronts her own crisis: state corruption has caused the real estate market to crash, exacerbating the dire financial straits facing her family.

22 Apr

Vanda by Marion Brunet, translated by Katherine Gregor, Bitter Lemon Press FRANCE

Set in Marseilles, this the story of Vanda, a beautiful woman in her thirties, arms covered in tats, dark luxuriant hair in heavy curls, skin so dark that some take her for a North African. Devoted to her six-year-old son Noe, they live in a derelict shed by the beach, a mother surrounding and defending her child like a lioness. Everything changes when Simon, the father of her son, surfaces in Marseilles. He had left Vanda seven years earlier, not knowing that she was pregnant. When Simon demands custody of his son, Vanda's suppressed rage threatens to explode. The tension becomes unbearable, both parents fully capable of extreme violence.

28 Apr

Outside by Ragnar Jónasson, translated by Victoria Cribb, Michael Joseph ICELAND

When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge. It is in the middle of nowhere and there's no way of communicating with the outside world. They are isolated, but they are not alone...

Young Beasts At Play by Davide Longo, translated by Silvester Mazzarella, MacLehose Books ITALY

September 2008. Commissario Arcadipane arrives at the scene of a macabre discovery: the bones of twelve men and women buried in the countryside near Torino. By the next morning, a task force specialising in mass graves from WWII is already in place. But something doesn't feel right: one of the femurs shows signs of an operation that couldn't have taken place before the seventies.

Cigarette by Per Hagman, translated by Elinor Fahrman, Nordisk Books SWEDEN

Stockholm. Early summer, 1989. Johan is a young waiter working at the Hard Rock Café. His nights are filled with parties, drugs, booze and MTV. An endless chase of the next girl, the next high... the next music video.

4 May

Expect The Unexpected by Vicente Raga, Addvanza (USA) SPAIN

Two stories narrated in parallel. The first one is about the Holy Inquisition in Spain, where the main characters are the European humanists Luis Vives, among Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More. All the characters lived in their time period, and every narrated fact occurred in reality. The second story stars a group of friends from the actual Valencia that discover that the mystery they thought was solved, in reality, has just started.

Death In Summer by Lina Arkelew, translated by Tara Chase, Canelo SWEDEN

When murder comes to a secluded island, the ghosts of he past will resurface. As a young boy, Frederk Froding survived one of Europe's worst ferry disasters. The tragedy haunts him and he refuses to give up hope that his brother Niklas also lived.

5 May

This World Does Not Belong to Us by Natalia Garcia Freire, Oneworld Publications ECUADOR

Lucas was just a child when his father sold him to another farmer as a laborer. Years later, Lucas returns, full of resentment and burning for revenge. After years away, Lucas returns uninvited to the home he was expelled from as a child. The garden has been conquered by weeds, which blanket his mother’s beloved flowerbeds and his father’s grave alike. A lot has changed since Eloy and Felisberto were invited into the family home to work for Lucas’s father, long ago.

11 May

The List by Florian Dennisson, Bloodhound Books FRANCE

A man confesses to four murders—but will tell the police nothing more—in this stunning psychological crime thriller. I killed them all. The stranger who walks into the police station says it again and again, but the only information he will provide is a list of the victims’ names. Yet when officers go in search of the bodies, they find only empty rooms, forensic traces of blood, and more questions than answers.

19 May

Kalmann by Joachim B Schmit, translated by Jamie Lee Searle, Bitter Lemon Press SWITZERLAND

The book is narrated by Kalmann, a thirty-four-year-old neurodiverse man, who often has an innocent and literal interpretation of events and relationships. The author uses a combination of simple language and rather stilted, formal expression which skilfully and successfully conveys his unconventional way of seeing the world. When Kalmann finds a pool of blood up in the hills outside the small village of Raufarhöfn and local bigwig Robert McKenzie goes missing at the same time, the hunt is on to find McKenzie’s body and his murderer.

22 May

The Silence by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, translated by Victoria Cribb, Hodder & Stoughton ICELAND

Detective Huldar and child psychologist Freyja are now working in the same police building, on the same team. Freyja believes that personal and professional relationships must remain separate, however hard that may be. But when a woman's dismembered body is found in a deserted car, her head missing, and Freyja and Huldar find themselves working on the same case, the secrecy around their affair threatens to crack. And when Freyja is accused of a serious breach of police protocol, will Huldar be able to help her?

Little Drummer by Kjell Ola Dahl, translated by Don Bartlett, Orenda Books NORWAY

When a woman is found dead in her car in a Norwegian parking garage, everyone suspects an overdose ... until a forensics report indicates that she was murdered. Oslo Detectives Frølich and Gunnarstranda discover that the victim's Kenyan scientist boyfriend has disappeared, and their investigations soon lead them into the shady world of international pharmaceutical deals.

26 May

Trapped by Camilla Lackberg & Henrik Fexeus, translated by Ian Giles, Harper Collins SWEDEN

It’s a case unlike anything detective Mina Dabiri has seen before. A woman trapped inside a magician’s box, with swords pierced through. But this time, it’s not a magic trick. It’s murder. Knowing she has a terrifying killer on her hands, Mina enlists the help of celebrity mentalist, Vincent Walter. Only he can give her an insight into the secret world of magic and illusions. Mina and Vincent soon discover that the murder victim has the roman numeral III engraved on her leg. The killer is counting down. There are going to be three more murders. And time is running out to stop them.

The Mirror Man by Lars Kepler, translated by Alice Menzies, Zaffre SWEDEN

Detective Joona Linna is on the trail of a kidnapper who targets teenage girls and makes their worst nightmares a reality. Sixteen-year-old Jenny is abducted in broad daylight and taken to a dilapidated, isolated house where she is chained and caged along with several other girls.

16 June

Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda, translated by Alison Watts, Bitter Lemon Press JAPAN

This gripping psychological thriller takes place in a desolate apartment in a Japanese city. The protagonists, Aki and Hiro, fell in love at university before becoming convinced that they were brother and sister, separated when young after Aki was adopted. After living together platonically for some years they went on a trek in the mountains, where their guide—their estranged natural father—died inexplicably. Each believes the other to be the murderer and are determined to extract a confession.

23 June

The Lover by Helene Flood, translated by Alison McCulloch, MacLehose Press NORWAY

Rikke is deceiving them both. When their upstairs neighbour Jørgen is found dead, she's questioned alongside her husband Åsmund. How can Rikke admit in front of Åsmund that Jørgen and she were having an affair? Or explain to the police the complexity of her feelings for Jørgen? The hint of relief that he's dead. And, as the investigation closes in on the neighbourhood, how long can she conceal the affair from her neighbours, her husband and her teenage daughter.

Impossibe by Erri De Luca, translated by NS Thompson, Mountain Leopard Press ITALY

Without evidence, an experienced hiker is held in solitary confinement under suspicion of murdering a man who fell to his death on a mountain path. In a series of tense, metered interviews, the political causes of the suspect's past emerge. The men knew each other decades earlier, were brothers-in-arms against a greater social injustice until the victim turned state’s evidence and the accused was sent to prison.

Sweet Revenge by Camilla Läckberg, translated by Ian Giles, Harper Collins SWEDEN

Two gripping novellas from the No.1 international bestselling author, Women Without Mercy & Truth or Dare

30 June

Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Translated by Bryan Karetnyk, Pushkin Vertigo JAPAN

Detective Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news--the son of one of the island's most important families has died, on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. But Kindaichi has not come merely as a messenger--with his last words, the dying man warned that his three step-sisters' lives would now be in danger. The scruffy detective is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious prophesy, and to protect the three women if he can.

Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, Penguin Modern Classics JAPAN

In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime...

4 July

The Hitchhiker by Gerwin van der Werf, translated by David Colmer, Text Publishing (USA) NETHERLANDS

Tiddo plans a holiday to Iceland, travelling the tourist circuit in a rented campervan. On their trip, they pick up a hitchhiker named Svein, who is tall, handsome and covered in tattoos of ancient runes. When Svein offers to guide them off the beaten track, Tiddo is conflicted. Does Svein pose a threat or offer salvation? Is there wisdom in his stories? What power do his tattoos hold?

Farewell Fountain Street by Selcuk Altun, Translated by Mel Kenne & Nilgun Dungan, Telegram TURKEY

Ziya Bey has six months left to live. From his mansion on Farewell Fountain Street, the Ottoman aristocrat plans to tie up some questionable business affairs and say goodbye to the people he cherishes. He hires Artvin, a disillusioned professor with a troubled past, to assist him. Intrigued by his employer's mysterious household, Artvin spends the days uncovering Ziya Bey's turbulent life story. The two men become bound together as they reveal dark elements from their pasts. But when Ziya Bey releases Artvin from his duties sooner than expected, Artvin inherits a spiral of violence he cannot control.

6 July

Of Saints and Miracles by Manuel Astur, translated by Claire Wadie, Peirene Press SPAIN

An unconventional thriller laced with lyrical nature writing, Of Saints And Miracles is a sensuous portrayal of an outcast’s struggle to survive in a changing world and a seamless blend of the tragic and the majestic. Marcelino, a gentle outsider who flees into the mountains after a moment of anger changes his life forever.

7 July

The Whisperer's Game by Donato Carrisi, translated by Katherine Gregor, Little Brown ITALY

The phone call to the police arrives at dusk from an isolated farmhouse, fifty miles from the city. A terrified woman's voice pleads for help. But a violent storm rages in the area and the first available patrol only succeeds in reaching her hours later. It is too late. Something perturbing has happened, something which leaves the investigators in the dark.

The Final Nail by Stefan Ahnhem, translated by Agnes Broome, Head Of Zeus SWEDEN

He has extorted. He has abused. He has raped. He has sacrificed souls as a means to reach the very top. In every way, he is a despicable man. His name is Kim Sleizner and he works as a police chief in Copenhagen. Dunja Hougaard has gone underground to covertly investigate her former boss, Sleizner. For months, Dunja and her team have been gathering information. When a high-ranking man within the Danish intelligence service and an unknown woman are found dead at the bottom of a lake outside Copenhagen, the trap is finally ready to close.

Of Fangs And Talons by Nicolas Mathieu, translated by Sam Taylor, Sceptre FRANCE

When a factory that employs most of a small town is scheduled to close - to the despair of the workers and disdain of the overlords - things start to fall apart. The disenfranchised factory workers have nothing left to lose. Martel, the trade union rep with innumerable tattoos and Bruce, the body-builder addicted to steroids resort to desperate measures. A bungled kidnapping on the streets of Strasbourg goes horribly wrong and they find themselves falling prey to the machinations of the criminal underworld.

A Grain of Truth by Christian Unge, translated by George Goulding, MacLehose Press SWEDEN

A woman is found wandering the corridors of Nobel Hospital in Stockholm, accompanied by a young boy. She appears to be looking for a man who was involved in a car accident earlier that day. Meanwhile, in one of the emergency rooms, Tekla Berg is fighting to save a patient who was seriously injured in the same incident. The resulting chaos goes beyond anything anyone could have predicted, leaving hospital staff, police and everyone else involved equally shocked and perplexed.

14 July

Mothers Don’t by Katixa Agirre, translated by Kristin Addis, 3TimesRebel Press BASQUE COUNTRY

A story that highlights he primal guilt that comes with becoming a mother. Halfway between a thriller and a journalistic chronicle, in Mothers Don’t a mother kills her twins while another woman, the narrator, is about to give birth. How could a woman be capable of neglecting her children? How could she kill them?

Dead Lands By Núria Bendicho, translated by Martha Tennent and Maruxa Relaño 3TimesRebel CATALONIA

A rural drama in which a violent death unleashes the story of a cursed lineage. Featuring thirteen characters and thirteen different points of view, the novel is a kaleidoscopic narrative that unfurls an atavistic universe where characters are burdened by brutal origins, two deaths, and a dark secret.

22 July

Night Shadows by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, Translated by Victoria Cribb, Orenda Books ICELAND

Icelandic detective Elma faces mortal danger as she investigates the death of a young man in a mysterious Akranes house fire, and a Dutch au pair’s perfect placement turns deadly. The small community of Akranes is devastated when a young man dies in a mysterious house fire, and when Detective Elma and her colleagues from West Iceland CID discover the fire was arson, they become embroiled in an increasingly perplexing case involving multiple suspects.

26 July

Blood Ties by Ruth Lillegraven,  translated by Diane Oatley, Amazon Crossing NORWAY

Norway’s newly appointed minister of justice, child-rights advocate Clara Lofthus comes home from work to make a terrifying discovery: her sons have been kidnapped. Clara’s search leads to her hometown in Western Norway, where she learns that her mother has been released from the mental hospital she has been living at for the past thirty years.

26 Jul

The Forgery by Ave Barrera, translated by Ellen Jones, Ellen & Robin Myers, Charco Press MEXICO

A failing artist turned forger, an architectural masterpiece hidden behind high walls, an impish vagabond, and some very resourceful, very intimidating twins-Forgery pays homage to greats like Juan Rulfo and Luis Barragan, traversing late 20th Century Guadalajara with the exuberance and eccentricity of an 18th Century picaresque.

2 August

The Shadow Lily by Johanna Mo, translated by Alice Menzies,  Penguin Books SWEDEN

Small-town police detective Hanna Duncker has a past. Her deceased father was convicted of murder and arson long ago, and she has taken up residence and resumed her police career in her hometown after his death. She and her partner Erik Lindgren are called to investigate the disappearance of a father and his infant son from their home while his pregnant wife was away on a weekend trip.

4 Aug

Bad Kids by Zijin Chen, Translated by Michelle Deeter,  Pushkin Press CHINA

One beautiful morning, Zhang Dongsheng pushes his wealthy in-laws off a mountain – the perfect crime. Or so he thinks. Even though the murders were as carefully choreographed as a play, he did not expect that three teenagers had caught him in the act. But Zhang Dongsheng seriously underestimates them . Dark, murky and violent, Bad Kids is the Chinese suspense thriller about the inner lives of teenagers that has taken China by storm.

The Ice Fisher By Anna Ihren, translated by Emma Ericson, SAGA Egmon SWEDEN

When the research vessel "Idun" arrives in Smögens harbour one early winter morning, the head of research, Kaj Malmberg, is found murdered in his cabin. For the university's rector, Regina Löfdahl, the tragedy is leaving her short, because Malmberg is supposed to present the research elite's top prize in marine research at Smögens Havsbad that same evening.

Wake Me Up at 9:00 in the Morning By A Yi, translated by Nicky Harman, Oneworld Publications CHINA

A thrilling journey through China's dark criminal underworld, from a celebrated voice in Chinese literature. When Hongyang is found dead after a night of debauched drinking, it looks as if his reign of terror has finally come to an end. Few in this insular community have much reason to mourn his passing: Hongyang is an infamous mob boss, a man with plenty of enemies. But now it seems that his years of crime have also earned him some very dangerous friends.

18 Aug

Punishment by Ferdinand von Schirach, Translated by Katharina Hall, Baskerville, GERMANY

A young lawyer puts aside her sense of justice to succeed at her new firm. A man who values silence is driven to murder by his noisy neighbours. A cheated wife seeks revenge. How do you decide what punishment fits the crime? Our narrator is a man you'd never want to meet unless you really needed him. A nameless criminal defence lawyer, he coolly narrates the fate of twelve characters who cross his path. In spare, gripping prose, he tells their stories, uncovering the loneliness and alienation, desire and desperation which drive their choices and shape the consequences they face.

Whisper of the Seals by Roxanne Bouchard, translated by David Warriner, Orenda Books CANADA

Detective Moralès takes on a chilling case set on the icy seas of Quebec’s remote Magdalen Islands, in the midst of a brutal seal hunt. An atmospheric, race-against-the-clock thriller set on the icy seas in the midst of a brutal seal hunt, where nothing is as it seems and absolutely no one can be trusted.

Conviction by D A Mishani, translated by Jessica Cohen, riverrun ISRAEL

Two investigations began on the same day. One seemed domestic, almost banal: a newborn is found in a bag outside a hospital and the woman who left it there is captured after a few hours. The second investigation appeared stranger and more intriguing: a Swiss tourist disappeared from a beach-hotel near Tel-Aviv, and a quick inquiry showed he had been using a fake passport and at least two names. Can he be a Mossad agent like his daughter claims? And is he in danger?

The Guilty One by Anna Karolina, translated by Lisa Reinhardt, Thomas & Mercer SWEDEN

Is he guilty or innocent? Even he doesn't know... On the eve of their thirtieth birthday, twins Jasmine and Nicolas Moretti celebrate late into the night. But when Nicolas wakes several hazy hours later, Jasmine is dead--and he is covered in her blood.

Emma Tapper, an ex-cop driven to drink by a tragedy she's devastated she couldn't prevent, is recruited by defence lawyer to help with this high-profile case.

The Red Notebook by Michel Bussi, translated by Vineet Lal W&N FRANCE

Leyli Maal is a beautiful Malian woman, mother of three, living in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Marseille. Her quiet life as a well-integrated immigrant is suddenly shaken when her beautiful eldest daughter, Bamby, becomes the main suspect in two murders linked to a lethal illegal immigration racket. Is Bamby really involved? And why is everyone desperate to get their hands on Leyli’s mysterious red notebook?

Dark Music by David Lagercrantz, translated by Ian Giles, MacLehose SWEDEN

Professor Hans Rekke is a world authority on interrogation techniques, Micaela Vargas is a street-smart police officer, the daughter of Chilean political refugees. Micaela needs Hans’s unique mind to help her solve the case of a murdered asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. Hans needs Micaela to save him from himself. Together, they need to find the killer before they’re both silenced for good.

25 Aug

There Are No Happy Loves by Sergio Olguín, translated by Miranda France, Bitter Lemon Press ARGENTINA

Haunted by nightmares of her past, Veronica is soon involved in a new investigation. Darío, involved in a car accident that supposedly killed all his family, is convinced that his wife and child have in fact survived and that his wife has abducted their child. A lorry, searched in the port of Buenos Aires on suspicion that it is carrying drugs, is revealed to be transporting human body parts. These seemingly separate incidents prove to be tied in a shadowy web of complicity involving political, medical and religious authorities

Ghost Town by Kevin Chen, translated by Darryl Sterk, Europa Editions TAIWAN

Keith Chen, the second son of a traditional Taiwanese family of seven, runs away from the oppression of his village to Berlin in the hope of finding acceptance as a young gay man. The novel begins a decade later, when Chen has just been released from prison for killing his boyfriend. He is about to return to his family’s village, a poor and desolate place. With his parents gone, his sisters married, mad, or dead, there is nothing left for him there. As the story unfurls, we learn what tore this family apart and, more importantly, the truth behind the murder of Chen’s boyfriend.

1st Sept

Cruel Tides by Maria Adolfsson, translated by Agnes Broome, Zaffre SWEDEN

Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby is not the only person to have returned to her native Doggerland after years abroad. Following a ten-year hiatus, Luna has chosen to secretly record her comeback album where she was born and raised. Spirits are high among her team at the wrap party, though Karen is less than impressed with the simpering singer. The next morning, Luna is nowhere to be found.

Broken Summer by Jung-Myung Lee (J M Lee), translated by An Seon Jae, Amazon Crossing KOREA

Lee Hanjo is an artist at the peak of his fame, envied and celebrated. Then, on his forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his devoted wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon-to-be-published novel she’d secretly written about the sordid past and questionable morality of an artist with a trajectory similar to Hanjo’s. It’s clear to him that his life is about to shatter and the demons from his past will come out. But why did his wife do it? Why now?

The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner, Orenda Books FRANCE

Queen of French Noir, Johana Gustawsson returns with the first in a startling new series – a dark, horrifying, powerful historical thriller with an extraordinary mystery at its heart and three women pushed so far beyond breaking point, they have only one way out…

The Axe Woman by Håkan Nesser, translated by Sarah Death, Mantle SWEDEN

Sweden 2012. When Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti returns to work after a terrible personal tragedy his boss asks him to investigate a cold case, hoping to ease him back gently into his police duties. The Axe Woman is the fifth and final Inspector Barbarotti novel from bestselling author Håkan Nesser.

15 Sep

The Enigma Of Room 622 by Joël Dicker, translated by Robert Bononno, MacLehose Press FRANCE

It all starts with an innocuous curiosity: at the Hotel Verbier, a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps, there is no Room 622. This anomaly piques the interest of the writer Joël Dicker, Switzerland’s most famous literary star, who is staying at the hotel to recover from a bad breakup, mourn the death of his longtime publisher, and begin his next novel. Before he knows it, Joël is coaxed out of his torpor by a fellow guest – Scarlett, a captivating aspiring novelist with a nose for intrigue, who swiftly uncovers the reason behind Room 622’s deliberate erasure: an unsolved murder.

Good Reasons to Die by Morgan Audic, translated by Sam Taylor, Mountain Leopard FRANCE

A haunting thriller set in the radioactive Chernobyl exclusion zone, Good Reasons to Die will keep readers hooked to the last page. In a village close to Chernobyl, detectives Joseph Melnyk and Galina Novak uncover a man's mutilated body hanging from a building. All clues left at the scene of the crime point to a double homicide that took place on the very night that the nuclear power plant exploded. Doubtful of the abilities of the Ukrainian police, the murdered man's father, a Moscow mafia boss, summons Rybalko, a Russian police officer of dubious morals, to conduct a parallel investigation to find and execute his son's killer.

Harm by Sólveig Pálsdóttir, translated by Quentin Bates, Corylus Books ICELAND

When wealthy doctor Ríkharður Magnússon goes to sleep in his luxurious caravan and doesn’t wake up, Guðgeir and Elsa Guðrún travel to the Westman Islands to investigate what looks like murder. The obvious suspect is the victim’s young, beautiful and deeply troubled girlfriend – but that would be the easy option, and they begin to uncover a trail of enemies the man had left behind him. Family feuds, disgruntled friends and colleagues, a bizarre group of acquaintances, a bitter former wife and a drug cult all leave them wading through the wreckage of the man’s life as they search for his killer. Harm is Sólveig Pálsdóttir’s third novel featuring soft-spoken Reykjavík detective Guðgeir Franssson to appear in English and she again weaves a complex web of intrigue that plays out in the Westman Islands and Reykjavík, while asking some searching questions about things society is not prepared to tolerate and others it accepts without question.

Femicide by Pascal Engman, trranslated by Michael Gallagher, Legend Press SWEDEN

When 25-year-old Emelie is found murdered in her Stockholm apartment the same week her ex-partner is released from prison, it feels like an open and shut case for Detective Vanessa Frank. Who else would launch such a frenzied attack on the young woman? But Frank suspects there is something they’re missing. Could the killing be linked to the rising online movement of men who want to punish women, the so-called ‘incels’?

Sweet Dreams by Anders Roslund, translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel, Vintage Publishing SWEDEN

Two little girls go missing on the same day in Stockholm. Their disappearances are never explained. In time, the investigations are abandoned. A chance discovery puts Detective Ewert Grens back on the trail five years later. His own personal trauma makes him determined to find out what happened to these children who were snatched from a supermarket and a car park and never seen again.

27 Sept

The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by William Frost, Quercus DENMARK

On her sixtieth birthday, a woman commits suicide. When the case lands on Detective Carl Mørck’s desk, he can’t imagine what this has to do with Department Q, Copenhagen’s cold cases division. It’s a tragedy to be sure, but the cause of death seems to be clear. But his superior, Marcus Jacobsen, is convinced that this is not in fact a suicide, but a murder related to an unsolved case that has been plaguing him since 1988.

29 Sep

Ashes in the Snow by Oriana Ramunno, translated by Katherine Gregor, Harper Collins ITALY

A young Jewish prisoner... Auschwitz, 1943. It's snowing outside and Block 10 looks even bleaker than usual. Gioele Errera, a young Jewish boy imprisoned in the camp, finds the body of an SS officer. A detective with everything to prove... Hugo Fischer is sent to investigate the unexplained death of the renowned Nazi. But Hugo is hiding a secret

4 Oct

Cocoon by Zhang Yueran, translated by Jeremy Tiang, World Editions (USA) CHINA

In this literary thriller, two friends, born in the 1980s, seek to understand the experiences of their parents and grandparents during one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history and the terrible crime that connects their families.

Cruz By Nicolás Ferraro, Translated by Mallory N. Craig-Kuhn, Soho Press ARGENTINA

Tomás Cruz swore he would never be like his father, an abusive cocaine junkie whose gangland exploits are notorious throughout the underbelly of northern Argentina. When Samuel Cruz is sentenced to thirteen years in prison, he leaves a laundry list of unfinished cartel business. Seba, Tomás’s revered older brother, has no choice but to abandon his straight life and take over his father’s underworld debt.

The Winners by Fredrik Backman, trranslated by Neil Smith, Simon & Schuster SWEDEN

Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them?

6 Oct

The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Tagaki, translated by Deborah Boehm, Pushkin Press JAPAN

Kinue Nomura survived World War II only to be murdered in Tokyo, her severed limbs discovered in a room locked from the inside.  Gone is the part of her that bore one of the most beautiful full-body tattoos ever rendered. Kenzo Matsushita, a young doctor who was first to discover the crime scene, feels compelled to assist his detective brother, who is in charge of the case. But Kenzo has a secret: he was Kinue’s lover, and soon his involvement in the investigation becomes as twisted and complex as the writhing snakes that once adorned Kinue’s torso.

13 Oct

1794: The City Between the Bridges by Niklas Natt och Dag, translated by Anna Stina Knapp, Baskerville SWEDEN

In 1794, the second installment of Niklas Natt och Dag's historical noir trilogy, we are reunited with Mickel Cardell, Anna Stina Knapp, and the bustling world of late eighteenth century Stockholm from The Wolf and the Watchman. The city is about to see its darkest days yet as veneers crack and the splendour of old gives way to what is hiding in the city's nooks and crannies.

Deeds of Autumn by Anders De La Motte, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Zaffre SWEDEN

Five lifelong friends gather for a last farewell to their childhoods and each other at an abandoned quarry. The mood is effervescent, but under the surface tensions run deep as not everyone is ready to let go - or be left behind. When dawn breaks, only four remain alive. The police rule the death a tragic accident, but not everyone is convinced, and the incident remains an open wound in the community. When the old chief of police is replaced by Anna Vesper, a newly arrived detective from Stockholm, whispers and rumours about that night can no longer be silenced.

Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, translated by Quentin Bates, Orenda Books ICELAND

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed. Forbidden from contacting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.

18 Oct

Lady Joker Vol 2 by Kaoru Takamura, translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press JAPAN

This second half of Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, the Grand Dame of Japanese crime fiction, concludes the breathtaking saga introduced in Volume I.

27 Oct

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston, Orenda Books FINLAND

Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to You Me Fun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears–and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands.

30 Oct

Deceit by Jonina Leosdottir, translated by Quentin Bates, Corylus Books, ICELAND

Reykjavík detective Soffía finds herself struggling to cope with a single-handed investigation into a spate of malicious acts taking place across the city, and enlists help from an unexpected direction. Her psychologist ex-husband Adam has advised the police before, but with Covid raging in the city, would prefer to stay holed up in his basement flat as he deals with challenges in both his working and private life.

3 Nov

Urgent Matters by Paula Rodríguez, Translated by Sarah Moses, Pushkin Press ARGENTINA

A train crashes in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, leaving forty-three people dead, including two unidentifiable bodies. Hugo, a homicide suspect wanted for a body found dumped on the outskirts of the city, is on the train. Unharmed, but trapped, he is left holding his phone and a prayer card of Saint Expeditus: the patron saint of urgent causes. To evade the police, Hugo must pretend to be one of the dead bodies. But the police get wise to the trick, and their leads begin unravelling at a furious pace, whipping through Buenos Aires’ cartels and criminal rings to reveal widespread corruption that reaches into the suburbs and beyond.

8 Nov

The Collector by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chase, Crooked Lane Books (USA) DENMARK

When 10-year-old Lukas disappears from his Copenhagen school, police investigators discover that the boy had a peculiar obsession with pareidolia—a phenomenon that makes him see faces in random things. A photo on his phone posted just hours before his disappearance shows an old barn door that resembles a face. Journalist Heloise Kaldan thinks she recognizes the barn—but from where?

10 Nov

Breaking Point by Olivier Norek, translated by Nick Castor, Maclehose Press FRANCE

Coste has been sent to see a police psychologist after a case that saw him kill a suspect in self defence and witness the death of a member of his team. But what comes next will be more testing still. Five hardened criminals - a murderer, a paedophile, a Serbian ex-soldier, a kidnapper and a robber - are all caught up in the same case, and Coste is prepared to enter this nest of vipers no matter what the consequences for his colleagues and those closest to him. Lost souls, crimes of passion, cops like fallen angels: redemption is sometimes reached through revenge.

You Are Next by Arne Dahl, translated by Ian Giles, Harvill Secker SWEDEN

Detective Inspector Sam Berger's life has been turned upside down. He is suspected of murder and his partner, Secret Service agent, Molly Blom, is in a coma. Meanwhile, a terrorist attempt is threatening Stockholm and a wanted murderer is on the loose. Berger escapes to the Stockholm Archipelago while he waits for orders from the Swedish Security Service's chief executive. But is he the solution or is he part of the problem?

The Other Sister by Peter Mohlin and Peter Nystrom, translated by Ian Giles, The Overlook Press SWEDEN

Alicia Bjelke has always been the "other sister," the foil to her beautiful sister Stella—people turn their backs when they see Alicia's disfigured face. So she created a life in the background, becoming a coding genius and founding a groundbreaking dating app company. With Stella as the face of the company, Alicia has found success. Until one day, when Stella is found dead and Alicia’s life takes the wrong turn. Soon, she realizes that she is the next target.

Walk Me Home by Sebastian Fitzek, Head of Zeus GERMANY

The Walk Me Home telephone helpline service has proved indispensable. Staffed by volunteers, it provides a reassuring voice at the end of the phone, helping to protect lone women as they walk home at night.Jules has only been working for Walk Me Home for a short time and has never had to deal with a truly life-threatening situation.

24 Nov

The Night Man by Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce, Michael Joseph NORWAY

As the media closes in on the biggest story of the year, Wisting's journalist daughter Line receives a tip. Soon, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than anyone thought. A criminal network has lodged itself deep into the roots of the city, and it's up to Wisting to take down the elusive and dangerous Night Man.

Codename Faust by Gustaf Skoerdeman, Zaffre SWEDEN

Who have you spoken to about me?What do you know about Operation Wahasha?What have you told Detective Sara Nowak?These are the last words priest Jurgen Stiller hears before he is executed by a former terrorist known only by the codename 'Faust'. Then the killer begins the hunt for Detective Sara Nowak. Nowak is dangerously unaware that she is a target - until she is shot at in her own home.

30 Nov

The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase, translated by Alison Watts, Scribner UK, JAPAN

Following a devastating earthquake and tsunami, a young man in Japan finds a stray dog outside a convenience store. The dog’s tag says “Tamon,” a name evocative of the guardian deity of the north. The man decides to keep Tamon, becoming the first in a series of owners on the dog’s five-year journey to find his beloved first owner, Hikaru, a boy who has not spoken since the tsunami.

1 Dec

Conspiracy of Blood by Katarzyna Bonda, translated by Filip Sporczyk, Hodder & Stoughton POLAND

A complex and absorbing crime novel which finds Sasza Zaluska, the profiler and former undercover cop first encountered in Girl at Midnight, plunged even deeper into the web of corruption and criminality that has engulfed all levels of Polish society since the fall of Communism.

Hidden In The Snow by Viveca Sten, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Amazon Crossing, SWEDEN

On the day Stockholm police officer Hanna Ahlander’s personal and professional lives crash, she takes refuge at her sister’s lodge in the Swedish ski resort paradise of Åre. But it’s a brief comfort. The entire village is shaken by the sudden vanishing of a local teenage girl. Hanna can’t help but investigate, and while searching for the missing person, she lands a job with the local police department. There she joins forces with Detective Inspector Daniel Lindskog, who has been tasked with finding the girl. Their only lead: a scarf in the snow

15 Dec

A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino, Abacus Books JAPAN

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo the statue of a mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard. Late at night, the body of a murdered man, stabbed in the chest, is found under the statue of the winged beast. However, that was not the crime scene - the man was killed a few hundred feet away and his body moved to that position..

The Missing Man by Anna Karolina, Translated By Lisa Reinhardt, Thomas & Mercer SWEDEN

Was she the billionaire’s lover? His partner in crime? Or his killer? Former cop Emma Tapper and her lawyer boss Angela Köhler are defending shipping boss Anita Spendel, charged with murdering her billionaire husband. Anita insists Martin Spendel is still alive, but his car is soaked in his blood. Emma must clear Anita’s name by finding the missing man—dead or alive…

Now for 2023:

[itsagutthing]

tagged by @agentdanascully <3!!

three ships: i’m gonna take a left turn here and reinterpret this to be mother/daughter-esque relationships i’ve been thinking about lately -- rebecca welton/nora (ted lasso, it COUNTS!), carrie/franny mathison (homeland), elizabeth/paige jennings (the americans)

last song: a carrie manolakos cover of alanis morissette’s forgiven

last movie: afternoon delight w/ kathryn hahn and juno temple

currently watching: slogging thru the david tennant seasons of doctor who, spiraling between episodes of ted lasso, rewatching s2 of gilmore girls

currently reading: long division by kiese laymon

currently craving: alison roman key lime pie

tagging: @greengirlcellist @freetobegrace @carriemathison @abb-yroad @tinyasteroid @maryfuckingwhitney

[maddie-grove]

The Top Twenty Books I Read in 2020

My main takeaways:

I’m glad that I set certain reading goals this year (i.e., reading an even mix of different genres and writing about each book I read on this tumblr). I feel like it really expanded my horizons.

There are a lot of proper names on my Top 20 list this year, which possibly means something about identity? That, or I just tried to read more Victorian novels. 

Be horny, and be kind.

Now...

20. The White Mountains by John Christopher (1967)

In a world ruled by unseen creatures who roam the countryside in tall metal tripods, all humans are “capped” (surgically fitted with metal plates on their heads) at age fourteen. Thirteen-year-old Will Parker looks forward to becoming a man, but a conversation with a mysterious visitor to his village raises a few doubts. This early YA dystopia has gorgeous world-building (notably a trip to the ruins of Paris) and expert pacing. The choices Will has to make are also more surprising and complicated than I ever anticipated.

19. What Happened at Midnight by Courtney Milan (2013)

John Mason wants revenge on his fiancée Mary after she skips town following her father’s death...apparently with the funds that her father, John’s business partner, embezzled from their company. When he tracks her down, though, she’s working as a lady’s companion to the wife of a controlling gentleman who refuses to pay her wages, and John’s fury turns to sympathy and curiosity. This is a smart, well-plotted Victorian-set novella about a couple who builds a better relationship after a rocky start.

18. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (1943)

It’s 1773, and fourteen-year-old Bostonian Johnny Tremain has it all: a promising apprenticeship to a silversmith, the run of his arguably senile master’s household, and...unresolved grief over his widowed mother’s death? When a workplace “accident” ruins his hand and career, though, he must “forge” a new identity. Despite its jingoism and surfeit of historical exposition, I fell in love with this weird early YA novel. It’s a fascinating, heartbreaking portrayal of disability and ableism, and, to be fair, Forbes was just jazzed about fighting the Nazis.

17. Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf by Hayley Krischer (2020)

After universally beloved jock Sean Nessel rapes starry-eyed junior Ali Greenleaf at a party, his queen-bee friend Blythe Jensen agrees to smooth things over by befriending his victim. Ali knows Blythe’s motives are weird and sketchy, but being friends with a popular, exciting girl is preferable to dealing with the fallout of the rape. This YA novel is a complex, astute exploration of trauma and moral responsibility.

16. The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (2017)

Rothstein details how the federal U.S. government allowed, encouraged, and sometimes even forcibly brought about segregation of black and white Americans during the early and mid-twentieth century, with no regard for the unconstitutionality of its actions. He brings home the staggering harm to black Americans who were kept from living in decent housing, shut out of home ownership for generations, and denied the opportunity to accumulate wealth for generations. It’s an impactful read, and I was honestly shocked to learn Rothstein isn’t a lawyer, because the whole thing reads like an expansion of an excellent closing statement.

15. My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf (2012)

In this graphic memoir, Backderf looks back on his casual, fleeting friendship with future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, a high school classmate who amused Backderf and his geeky friends with bizarre, chaotic antics. Backderf brings their huge, impersonal high school to life, illustrating how the callousness and cruelty of such an environment allowed an isolated, troubled teen to morph into something much more disturbing without anyone really noticing. It’s a work of baffled, tentative empathy and regret that stayed with me long after I finished it.

14. Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (1876)

Gwendolyn Harleth, beautiful and ambitious but with no real outlet, finds herself compelled to marry a heartless gentleman with a shady past. Daniel Deronda, adopted son of her husband’s uncle, finds himself drawn into her orbit due to his helpful nature, but he’s also dealing with a lot of other stuff, like helping a Jewish opera singer and figuring out his parentage. I love George Eliot and, although this bifurcated novel isn’t her most accessible work, it’s highly rewarding. The psychological twists and turns of Gwendolyn’s story are a wonder to experience, and Daniel’s discovery of his past and a new community is moving.

13. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (2004)

The Roths, an ordinary working-class Jewish family in 1940 Newark, find their quiet lives descending into fear, uncertainty, and strife after Charles Lindbergh, celebrity pilot and Nazi sympathizer, becomes president of the United States. This alternate history/faux-memoir perfectly captures the slow creep of fascism and the high-handed cruelty of state-sanctioned discrimination, as well as the weirdness of living a semi-normal life while all of that is going on. Also: fuck Herman and Alvin for messing up Bess’s coffee table! She is a queen, and she deserves to read Pearl S. Buck in a pleasant setting!

12. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

Young David Copperfield has an idyllic life with his sweet widowed mom and devoted nursemaid Peggotty, until his cruel stepfather ruins everything. David eventually manages to find safe harbor with his eccentric aunt, but his troubles have only begun. Although the quality of the novel falls off a little once David becomes an adult, I don’t even care; the first half is one of the most beautiful, funny, brilliantly observed portrayals of the joys and sorrows of childhood that I’ve ever read.

11. The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt (2017)

Greenblatt examines the evolution and cultural significance of the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible to the modern day (but mostly it’s about Milton). I can’t speak to the scholarship of this book--I’m not an expert on the Bible or Milton or bonobos--but I do know that it’s a gorgeously written meditation on love, mortality, and free will. Greenblatt brought me a lot of joy as an unhappy teenager, and he came through for me again during the summer of 2020.

10. The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg (2019)

Self-conscious seventeen-year-old Jordan is mortified when his widowed mother hires Max, an outgoing jock from his school, to help out with their struggling food truck. As they get to know each other, though, they realize that they have more in common than they thought, and they end up helping each other through a particularly challenging summer. This is an endearing, exceedingly well-balanced YA romance that tackles serious issues with a light touch and a naturalness that’s rare in the genre.

9. Red as Blood by Tanith Lee (1983)

In nine wonderfully lurid stories, Tanith Lee retells fairy tales with a dark, historically grounded, and lady-centered twist. Highlights include a medieval vampiric Snow White, a vengeful early modern Venetian Cinderella, and a Scandinavian werewolf Little Red Riding Hood. Fairy tale retellings are right up my alley, and Lee’s collection is impressively varied and creative.

8. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster (1908)

Unnerved by an impulsive make-out session with egalitarian George Emerson on a trip to Florence, young Edwardian woman Lucy Honeychurch goes way too far the other way and gets engaged to snobbish Cecil Vyse. How can she get out of this emotional and social pickle? This is an absolutely delightful romance that gave a timeless template for romantic comedies and dramas for 100-plus years.

7. My Ántonia by Willa Cather (1918)

Jim Burden, a New York City lawyer, tells the story of his friendship with slightly older Bohemian immigrant girl Ántonia when they were kids together on the late-nineteenth-century Nebraska prairie. It was a pretty pleasant time, give or take a few murders, suicides, and attempted rapes. This is one of the sweetest stories about unrequited love I’ve ever read, and it has some really enjoyable queer subtext.

6. Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn (2012)

In 1956 Maryland, gawky teen Nora’s peaceful existence is shattered by the unsolved murder of her friends Cheryl and Bobbi Jo right before summer vacation. Essentially left to deal with her trauma alone, she begins to question everything, from her faith in God to the killer’s real identity. Hahn delivers a beautiful coming-of-age story along with a thoughtful portrait of how a small community responds to tragedy.

5. The Lais of Marie de France by Marie de France, with translation and introduction/notes by Robert Herring and Joan Ferrante (original late 12th century, edition 1995) 

In twelve narrative poems, anonymous French-English noblewoman Marie de France spins fantastically weird tales of love, lust, and treachery. Highlights include self-driving ships, gay (?) werewolves, and more plot-significant birds than you can shake a stick at. Marie de France brings so much tenderness, delicacy, and startling humor to her stories, offering a wonderful window to the distant past.

4. Maus by Art Spiegelman (1980-1991)

In this hugely influential graphic novel/memoir, Art Spiegelman tells the story of how his Polish Jewish parents survived the Holocaust. He portrays all the characters as anthropomorphic animals; notably, the Jewish characters are mice and the Nazi Germans are cats. I read the first volume of Maus back in 2014 and, while I appreciated and enjoyed it, I didn’t get the full impact until I read both volumes together early in 2020. Spiegelman takes an intensely personal approach to his staggering subject matter, telling the story through the lens of his fraught relationship with his charismatic and affectionate, yet truly difficult father. 

3. At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire (2010)

McGuire looks at a seldom-explored aspect of racism in the Jim Crow South (the widespread rape and sexual harassment of black women by white men) and the essential role of anti-rape activism led by black women during the Civil Rights movement. This is a harrowing yet tastefully executed history, and it’s also a truly inspirational story of collective activism.

2. In for a Penny by Rose Lerner (2010)

Callow Lord Nevinstoke has to mature fast when his father dies, leaving him an estate hampered by debts and extremely legitimate grievances from angry tenant farmers. To obtain the necessary funds, he marries (usually!) sensible brewing heiress Penelope Brown, but they face problems that not even a sizable cash infusion can fix. This is a refreshingly political romance with a deliciously tense atmosphere and fascinating themes, as well as an almost painfully engaging central relationship.

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (1814)

Fanny Price, the shy and sickly poor relation of the wealthy Bertram family, is subtly mistreated by most of her insecure and/or self-absorbed relatives, with the exception of her kind cousin Edmund. When the scandalous Crawford siblings visit the neighborhood, though, it shakes up her life for good and ill. I put off reading Mansfield Park for years--it’s practically the last bit of Austen writing that I consumed, including most of her juvenilia--and yet I think it’s my favorite. Fanny is an eminently lovable and interesting heroine, self-doubting and flawed yet possessed of a strong moral core, and the rest of the characters are equally realistic and compelling. Austen really made me think about the point of being a good person, both on a personal and a global scale.

[disneytva]

Apple TV+’s ‘Central Park’: A Musical Tonic for Trying Times

If you are seeking respite from the dire reality around us these days, relief arrives in late spring in the form of Central Park, a brilliant new musical on Apple TV+ from Bob’s Burger creator Loren Bouchard, exec producer Nora Smith and actor-writer Josh Gad (Frozen). The exuberant show — which features the voices of Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Tituss Burgess, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Daveed Diggs and Kathryn Hahn — follows the adventures of a family who lives in Central Park, as the father is the park’s caretaker.

The origins of the project go back a few years ago when Gad’s agent set up a meeting for him with Bouchard, who was looking to expand his company’s creative output beyond the world of Bob’s Burgers (currently in its tenth successful season on FOX-TV). “Nobody’s going to say no to meeting with Loren,” Gad says during a recent phone interview. “So, I met with Loren and his writing partner Nora Smith, and pitched this loose concept to him. Loren and Nora took this idea and infused this with their unique kind of magic, and that’s how we ended up with the concept for Central Park.”

Gad says his plan was to create a truly original musical event, which meant coming up with an animated project that had the American musical theater genre in each and every frame. “Of course there have been many successful shows that have done musical numbers in some of their episodes, including Bob’s Burgers, but I wanted our project to take audiences along on an emotional journey the same way they’d experience with any live musical show, like Hamilton or The Book of Mormon or any other culture zeitgeist-y titles,” he notes.

Four Songs Per Episode?

”That was a very scary prospect because It had never been done before,” Gad continues. “We wanted to do three or four original numbers per episode, and that’s beyond time-consuming. When I first insisted on that, there was a lot of pushback. But Loren understood how necessary it was to go all in if we were going to do this. He and the team, which includes [supervising producer] Janelle Momary, exec producer Nora Smith and show runners Sanjay Shah and Halsted Sullivan, have done an incredible job of creating something that is incredibly difficult to produce and deliver. Now that I have seen it fully executed, I believe it’s a real gamechanger.”

Bouchard says he loved Gad’s notion of creating a musical centered on a family living in Central Park. “He definitely had my attention, and so we started having lunch and coffee dates and slowly grew the idea for the show,” says the Emmy-winning producer and show creator. “The notion was that you have this family who lives in Central Park because he was the general manager of the park, and he lives there with his family, just like how the mayor lives in Gracie Mansion. This bending of reality gave us this fairy tale version, where they live in this faux castle in the middle of the park. We also added this narrator, in the spirit of the rooster in Disney’s Robin Hood, and cast friends and associates of Josh’s because we wanted to put people around him who he wanted to work with. He has this unique ability of making people say yes to things!”

Bouchard, who has been making wonderful animated shows since the days of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1995-2002), Home Movies (1999-2004) and Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil (2005-2007), says he has new appreciation for the American musical comedy. “I really liked learning how to make a musical animated show,” he says. “Anyone who grew up watching old Disney movies knows that animation and music can make a really powerful combination.

He says he also discovered how big a role music had to play in Central Park.

“I learned that a real musical has music at the core of it, and music is more important than any other aspects of the project,” Bouchard says. “It moves the story forward as well as upping the emotional stakes of the story. When I agreed to do the show, I didn’t fully understand this, but Josh, who is a real musical guy, knew everything. He had this idea to use a guest songwriter in every episode, except the pilot. That added a little bit of variety and a fresh take on the composition each week. Our in-house people are fantastic, but I’d love that you have to see the end credits of the show to find out who the songwriter of the week happens to be. We reached out to some amazing people, and we were thrilled that they all said yes.”

Pick Your Favorite Composers!

Gad says that he always envisioned a pool of composers that he could pick from for each episode. “That was always part of my pitch,” he says. “We didn’t want to have a similar sound and energy for the whole show. To have a guest artist per episode was my pie-in-the-sky idea. A year later, now that we are putting the final touches on the show, I can see that the songs are next level. Another goal was to not to treat any of the songs as jokes, which happens a lot in animation where the songs serve as spoofs of musical tropes. Instead, we wanted to embrace all the emotions you may experience from a great musical. That’s not to say that we don’t have hilarious songs on the show — we just take them seriously.”

Kindness and Heart

Both Gad and Bouchard are really excited to share their wonderful handiwork with the world at large in a few weeks. “The thing that Loren and I set out to do was to create a show that is pure joy in these times of cynicism and, obviously right now, much unmitigated concern, fear and dismay,” says Gad. “We hope the show gives you a half-hour worth of smiles each week—a half-hour that people can forget their troubles. We also hope that the show is going to do a lot more than that, and also offer a lot of songs that you’ll have a hard time getting out of your head.”

Bouchard adds, “I didn’t want to make a show where people are rude and mean to each other. That is not worth putting out in the world. Fortunately, we were able to tell a story about a family that love each other and make it funny as well. I love these characters and how they bounce off each other, and we also have a delicious villain, the old heiress voiced by Stanley Tucci! The irony is that you start falling in love with her, too. Of course, we hope we do some good for somebody out there with our show. I also love the show’s big stakes, which is the possible destruction of a huge public place. This family could go on to save Central Park, and maybe the world, so the stakes couldn’t be higher!”

Central Park debuts on Apple TV+ on May 29.

[darrencrissarmy]

Where can you get new music from the likes of Sara Bareilles, Fiona Apple, Meghan Trainor and Cyndi Lauper? In Central Park. No, not the actual Central Park, but the new animated series from the creators of Bob's Burgers and Josh Gad, now streaming on Apple TV+.Central Park, which hails from Gad, Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith, features an A-list voice cast including Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Tituss Burgess, Daveed Diggs and Stanley Tucci. The musical comedy follows the Tillermans, a family that lives in Central Park, with dad Owen serving as park manager.Each episode of the series features three to six songs, with songs from the first two episodes now available.

Here's a rundown of the new music in the series:...  

Episode 6 "First Class Hands" - Darren Criss

[intoxicatingimmediacy]

‘Central Park’ Trailer Teases the New Animated Series from the Creator of ‘Bob’s Burgers’

The new animated musical comedy series from Emmy Award-winning Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, Josh Gad and Nora Smith (Bob’s Burgers) has debuted the first trailer showing off the star-studded voice cast. The series features the voices of Gad, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Tituss Burgess, Daveed Diggs, and Stanley Tucci in a story about a family of caretakers that live in Central Park and the nefarious heiress who wants to pillage the park for profit by turning the iconic NYC location into condos. Central Park debuts on Apple TV+ on May 29 with three episodes available at debut and the remaining episodes of the 10-episode Season 1 release week-to-week.

[dailydaveeddiggs]

Apple Orders Animated Comedy ‘Central Park’ From ‘Bob’s Burgers’ Creator 

Apple continues to grow it series-programming slate, adding its first animated show.

The digital giant has given a two-season series order to “Central Park,” a musical comedy from “Bob’s Burgers” creator Loren Bouchard and 20th Century Fox Television. Written by Bouchard, Josh Gad, and Nora Smith, the series is described as telling the story of how a family of caretakers, who live and work in Central Park, end up saving the park, and basically the world.

Produced by 20th Century Fox Television — where Bouchard is under an overall deal — “Central Park” stars Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Titus Burgess, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Daveed Diggs, and Kathryn Hahn. Bouchard and Gad will executive produce, with Smith serving as a consulting producer. The order is for 26 episodes, split into two 13-episode seasons.

Boy’s on a roll.