Rijsel

If you also like to read about the future people from the past (19th century) were dreaming of, maybe NEWS FROM NOWHERE by William Morris will appeal to you as much as it had to me. People often compare it to UTOPIA by Sir Thomas More. I personally really loved it.

How about Sarah Schulman (for those interested in the post-Stonewall, AIDS era New York approach) or a lighter and less political Sandra Scoppettone (alos in New York, but set in detective plots). There's also one I really enjoyed millions of years ago, it sounded like THE BAR STORIES and I think it was by Donelly (Lisa or Nisa, I don't remember): it's set as a collection of short stories, but as you go along the pages, you realise that each short story is in fact the next chapter in the novel. And finally THE FRONT RUNNER by Patricia Nell Warren, in which the narrator is a gay man.

I'd suggest the Wallander series by Swedish author Henning Mankell, translated into English by Laurie Thompson. The first of the series is Faceless Killers - I'd advise to read it in order of publication, as the main character changes along the books. It's so far the best Swedish author I've read, nothing compared to the overrated Stieg Larsson's Millenium series.

Thanks for the tip ! I might just get that one on my TBR list for later, after I read the whole series then. Is that one as well documented?

But is it a French book or was it translated into French ? Female writer or male ?

Same here !!! I read The Gargoyle while waiting for the other books were shipped to me. Already half-way through Dark Fire I might just read the whole series one after the other to see how characterisation evolves. It was quite difficult to get into another book after The Gargoyle though.

Now, let me think, as I've read Vargas in French, I'm really wondering which one would translate into "Wash this blood clean from my hands".... does the original title stand anywhere in the copy you have? As far as my book activity is concerned, while all the Vargases are piled up somewhere or in boxes on the attic and as the renovation of the house is slowly proceeding, I just DIVED and INDULGED in "The Gargoyle"...wow, that book jumps at you and doesn't let go ! So far one of the best reads of the year in the old farmhouse !

I've just read DISSOLUTION and really enjoyed it, just like I had WINTER IN MADRID. Some of the reviews compare it to THE NAME OF THE ROSE,as it seems impossible to write a detective plot set in a monastery if you are not compared to Eco !!! But strangely enough, DISSOLUTION reads better than the one afore mentioned as it doesn't lavish in a pompous language only Eco understands. It's an interesting historical novel for those who are not particularly familiar with Tudor England and the Reformation; interestingly enough it makes you want to read more about that period.

Now Gax had a great idea when posting that question (good job!!!) and I had a nice time reading all your replies too, as they all seem very wise and rational and based either on financial grounds or logic. When I first read Gax's post I didn't see it that way, I just read it as an impulse based on irrational emotional grounds. Like... how would people respond to "I check more than twice if my door is locked before I leave, what about you?" So well, if we set aside the financial, as well as the rational.... don't many of us prefer good-looking 2nd-hand books to old over-read ones? That is, books that look new and in perfect condition? Great post Gax, really !

Well, that's interesting ! I read and loved (let's put it differently... adored) Little Big Man (the book and the film too) and never never NEVER expected a sequel ! But is that really a sequel? I mean the narrator was already 111 years old in the 1st book.... Have you started it? What's it about so far ? Jeeee.... I'm so curious (and flabbergasted as well)

I loved that book too, characterization and humor were just great ! So of course I read the 2nd one of the series and the 3rd and then.... my interest wore out and I gave up as it seemed too obvious that the 3rd one was calling the 4th which had to be finished in the 5th. My question was, then, was the 1st so good to make you jump into the 2nd immediately afterwards or even worse, was the 2nd one already finished when the 1st was published? (or am I being also paranoid? )

I tend to feel the same . And I also think I'm a bit neurotic because of that (LOL) like, enjoying a book so much, talking about it with my friends and then... finding a million excuses not to lend them the book in case it might never return ! I hardly never borrow books either and have problems taking them from the library, except when I really have to. I'm afraid we have a serious case for Dr Freud here, don't you think ? Now, will I buy a one-century-old book on a "Brocante"..... damn... I do it almost every weekend, and I have no problem with that ! Maybe some scholar might research that case !

I'd say all the Wallander's series by Mankell, as well as THE BLACK DALHIA by James Elroy. Although I have to admit the French Fred Vargas has to be on the list too.

That's exactly what I thought when I read that book, which had been advised to me as, quote, "that guy is really a guide for me". I really had the feeling I was diving into a pot of honey as goodness and so-called wisdom were being lavished upon me. It was too much, too overwhelming, like a creamy sugary cake impossible to digest in the end. Those moralistic guides tend to bore me to death with the universality of their thought, envelopped and wrapped and packaged into religious flavors. It was a short book but a real drag to read till the end.

At university they trained us to be able to not only quote a passage from a book, but also say what page it was ! Therefore my favourite bookmark has been my memory so far.... at least I don't lose my head whenever I go to another room ! Another fun alternative is one thing I found in the US : LastLine Bookmarks !!!! Those little plastic things get trapped in the book, they come in all colours and work like paperclips. They make my books fun and colourful and I don't write in them anymore, I just have to remember what the colours stand for along the pages, and, in addition, it makes people wonder what the hell I wanted to highlight !