MY LIBRARIAN ASTRID – Batavia Public Library

My Librarian Astrid

If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book. — J.K. Rowling

Reading book review journals for my job ensures that my “To Read” list keeps getting longer every day. I read mostly fiction, though I’ll read nonfiction if it is something that interests me. I’m generally perceived to be the “quirky books” reader, and guilty as charged. I like weird and snarky, if it’s written well. Loved Rowling’s Casual Vacancy, Ramsland’s Doghead, and Good Omens by Gaiman/Pratchett. I will read anything contemporary or historical (literary or genre) if I like the writing and mood, especially books taking place in colder climates (quirky!) A vacation in either Bali or Finland? No contest, I’d head north every time. I also like mysteries (I’ve read everything by P.D. James and Louise Penny) and psychological suspense, with the odd thriller thrown in. I love the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly and I enjoy the occasional ghost/horror novel, but have my standards—no zombies, boring and devoid of personality! Dark and gloomy I like, a la Karen Maitland. Not much one for chick-lit or romance and I rarely read fantasy or science fiction (unless required to by work), but I never say never.

On Astrid's Bookshelf

The Good Killer by Harry Dolan

Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza

Exile by Denise Mina

Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Sanjay Gupta

Astrid's Top 10

Author Wilkie Collins writing about his friend Charles Dickens who is slowly going insane, or is it Collins who is going insane from all the laudanum consumed? At 777 pages, a literary door stopper but very suspenseful.

Beautiful lyrical prose and interesting characters populate this novel about the founding of a utopian commune in late 60's NY state,told through the eyes of Bit, aka Ridley Sorrel Stone, born and raised in Arcadia.

A novel told through interconnected short stories, involving crotchety old Olive Kitteridge and assorted denizens of Crosby, Maine. The book won a Pulitzer Prize and the HBO adaptation won six Emmy awards.

Wacky story of three generations of a quirky, dysfunctional Scandinavian family. Rambunctious, absurd, and hilariously funny at times, it won the Danish Best Novel award. Requires an off-beat sense of humor.

Wildly imaginative, Pulitzer Prize-winning coming of age tale and family saga that spans continents and generations from Turkey to Detroit to San Francisco to Berlin during much of the 20th century.

The tale of miserable Quoyle, moving back to Newfoundland with his two daughters and newly discovered aunt, hoping for a better life. Great sense of place and of the majestic force of nature. Deserving Pulitzer Prize winner.

The locations are Portugal and Iceland in the 16th century, with the Inquisition in full swing. Isabela's father, the Royal Falconer, is imprisoned on false charges and only the procurement of two rare white falcons from Iceland will free him. A dark and brooding tale which contains a strong touch of the supernatural.

The Pope is dead and now 118 cardinals must convene to choose a new Pope in the world's most secretive election. Reveals the inner workings of the Catholic Church with dramatic, thrilling suspense.

The four motorcyclists of the apocalypse are raring to get said apocalypse going, but years ago baby Satan was misplaced and the representatives of good and evil kind of like life on earth as is. What to do?

There's a vacancy on the Pagford Parish Council and war breaks out between the various factions. Harry Potter it most certainly is not; snarky, dark (some might say depressing), and tragicomically funny it most indubitably is.

Favorite Books in Series

Department Q, the cold case unit, was established to find and solve cold cases, in this intricately plotted, action- packed, and sometimes violent Scandinavian crime series. Start with: The Keeper of Lost Causes

By her own account, Northumberland DI Vera is fat, ugly, and drinks too much. A loner by nature, complex and flawed, she is known by all for her abrasivde manner, but she gets results. Also a great TV show with Brenda Blethyn as Vera. Start with: The Crow Trap

Dishy vicar Max Tudor - formerly MI5 - solves murders in this modern British village cozy that features witty dialogue, memorable characters, and a leisurely pace. Start with: Wicked Autumn

Character-driven, lyrical and leisurely paced series featurning Chief Inspector Gamache and the denizens of the idyllic Three Pines, Canada, where life is usually sweet but can be a killer. Read volumes in order. Start with: Still Life

A combination of mystery, police procedural, and psychological suspense that is complex and compelling, offering a glimpse of modern Ireland. Titles can be read independent of each other. Start with: In The Woods

Featuring richly detailed writing and disturbing psychological suspense & horror aspects, PI Parker works on cases that often detour into the supernatural. Great supporting characters. Start with either: Every Dead Thing or Dark Hollow

Fast-paced and darkly humorous but also violent and disturbing, this series showcases teenage John Cleaver's obsession with serial killers and his attempts not to become one. Start with: I Am Not A Serial Killer.

Dark and bleak but compelling and intricately plotted series about Detective Aector McAvoy who just wants to do his job and then come home to his family - but life always intervenes. Start with: The Dark Winter

Jimmie Perez solves crimes in the Shetland Islands in this plot- driven, atmospheric and suspenseful series that features well- developed characters and a harsh but beautiful environment. Start with: Raven Black

J.K. Rowling writes this fast-paced and intelligent series about Cormoran Strike who lost a leg in Afghanistan and now runs a struggling detective agency with his assistant Robin. Start with: The Cuckoo's Calling

A Little of This, a Little of That...

So, you have to have a sense of humor and take this as just good storytelling. Mary Magdalen was actually born Maeve, from Ireland. She has been kicked out of "Druid College" because she had a thing going with this Galilean guy Esus, he of the beautiful feet. Long story short, she ends up in Rome and the story goes from there...

Dysfunctional families, mothers and daughters, the Soviet Union, and a Germany where "they wash the streets with shampoo there" make up this irreverent novel. For those who can take their stories dark and quirky, with a twisted sense of humor thrown in.

Making the original murder here just a spring-board for telling a story that involves a group of senior citizens as the main characters, Rendell once again proves that psychological fiction was her forte; she excelled at it.

An ill-fated 1937 scientific expedition to the Arctic is relayed in journal entries in this excellent and unusual ghost story. You can feel the cold and desolation of the place and you keep turning the pages to find out what lurks in the darkness.

A hushed, moving, occasionally melancholy novel about two long-time neighbors--a widow and a widower--who become close friends and astonish the residents of their small Western town. A short, understated novel that packs an emotional punch.

Psychological suspense at its best. A woman is kidnapped and kept hostage in a medieval cage; there are rats involved, a diminutive cop, and the plot zigs when you think it will zag. Deserved all the awards it received.

Wolf Hadda has it all, then loses it all when thrown in jail. Revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold, however, and the suspense here never lets up.

Not very nice people doing not very nice things to other not very nice people. Not for the easily upset, this is from the author of the equally nasty The Dinner and features a very inventive murder.

A group of misfits is trying to outrun the advance of the "pestilence" in 14th century England. Very interesting story line and good historical fiction about the conditions during that time period. Creepy and suspenseful.

Early 1800's Massachusetts is the setting, the town is in decline with its dwindling population of cast-offs and semi-feral dogs. Their stories are told in a melancholy tone and there are no happy endings in this profoundly moving book.

Nonfiction Titles I Enjoyed

Gorgeous pictures of ancient trees in various countries. Makes you feel like a young whipper- snapper, compared the the age of these majestic specimen.

Promotes the benefits of a plant-based diet. This book is often very funny, as in the author's description of the fruit durian; it's laugh-out-loud. Very few recipes, but the author competently and authoritatively gets his point across.

Did you know that tea had far-reaching effects on British foreign policy and that beer was used thousands of years ago to pay wages?

Written by a confessed introvert who used to work in a decidedly extrovert environment, the reader gets a thoughtful examination of the often second class status that introverts hold in these not-so-quiet times of take-charge extroverts.

Great plant-based, easy to make recipes, delivered with an extreme potty mouth on the part of the authors. You have been forewarned!

Just look at that face! The book is full of pictures of dogs that lack a pedigree, but these common canines have more personality and interesting looks than dogs with papers.

An informative and entertaining read about the source of the color that turned cloth a glorious red and was once one of the most precious commodities. Beware, it involves bugs!

Not for the squeamish, this bestseller by a popular science author is an often laugh-out loud funny but respectful and serious book on the important part cadavers have played throughout human civilization. My favorite chapter was "Out of the fire, into the compost bin: and other new ways to end up."

Chef Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia, adopted by a family from Sweden, and later moved to America. Here is the story of his life as an aspiring chef, told with humor and heart.

Lighter Fare (It's All Relative)

A small island government starts banning more and more letters from the alphabet that can be used for communication. 'Z' is the first to go, others follow.When 'U' goes, the "sun" becomes a "yellow sphere." Eventually, an underground resistance movement is formed. Very clever and inventive.

Oy vey! This having been authored by Christopher Moore, it's definitely not for everyone. But if you want to know about "the missing years" of Jesus, Biff can fill you in. Very irreverent, offbeat, and hilarious.

Mild-mannered Jason killed a man over a year ago and buried him in the far corner of his back yard. Now he has some landscaping done and a body is found on the property. Then another, but neither is the one Jason killed. Offbeat, suspenseful, and darkly humorous.

A warm, gently funny story about three African American women and the long-lasting friendship that carries them through tough challenges. Witty, a little bit quirky, and ultimately as comforting as the food at Earl's diner.

Eccentric 50-something fraternal twins run a B&B that includes a cat, a parrot, and a substantial library. It's Canadian, character-driven, thoughtful and witty. Oh, and the parrot spouts the occasional vulgar epithet.

A quirky contemporary romance for people who don't read romances. Warm and witty, with relatable characters, and the hero is a horror novelist. How can you go wrong?

Polly goes searching for her missing brother, enlists as a manly man, and is welcomed into the army, along with a vampire, an igor, a troll, and a werewolf, among others. This being a Terry Pratchett novel, hilarity ensues.

Subtitle: A Sheep Detective Story. That's because said sheep are the ones doing all the investigating here, after their shepherd is murdered. This quirky, orignal, witty story was an international bestseller.

An alien who takes on human form discovers there is much that puzzles and intrigues him about life on earth: clothing, dogs, peanut butter, dead poets and love. A witty and thought-provoking look at the best and worst of humanity.

Crime & Punishment (sometimes)

Five women on a "team building" exercise in the Australian wilderness. Four come back. The one who's missing is a potential witness for a case the Federal Police is building against the women's employer, an accounting firm. Suspense, intrigue, red herrings; so much for company retreats...

Todd and Jodi live an affluent life in their Chicago lakeside condo. Then Todd gets his current girlfriend pregnant and decides to make some changes in his life that don't sit too well with Jodi. Everything snowballs from there and Todd ends up dead. For fans of psychological suspense.

Sophie keeps mislaying things, has blackouts, falls asleep during inopportune moments, and keeps leaving dead bodies behind. To evade the cops, she finally decides to take on a new identity. Told from dual perspectives, this is a devious psychological thriller I couldn't put down.

FBI interrogation specialist Rob Barrett gets a confession out of local drug addict Kimmie Crepeaux in a double murder case. Kimmie helped conceal the murders and accuses local resident Mathias Burke of committing them. Problem is, the bodies aren't where she says they should be. So who's lying? An unpredictable murder mystery.

David Malone starts an affair with a local law student who ends up dead and David becomes a suspect in her murder. Meanwhile, the killer debates if and how he should kill David, who has started to investigate the killing on his own. Intricately plotted and fast-paced, this is a book of well-crafted suspense.

William Heming is a bland, forgettable real estate agent. Little do his clients know that he's saved copies of each and every one of their keys, and he enjoys paying them visits from time to time when they're not home. This enjoyably creepy novel of psychological suspense will leave you wondering, who has the keys to your house?

The author of the internationally best-selling Harry Hole series now gives us an electrifying stand-alone novel set amid Oslo's hierarchy of corruption, from which one very unusual young man is about to propel himself into a mission of brutal revenge.

Crimes relayed by the killer or someone who observed the crime, years after the deed. My favorite: Senior in a cheap retirement home blackmailing his stingy kids into putting him in a much more luxurious home. Priceless.

Email Astrid