Author: Henning Mankell

This is a Young Adult novel, although I found it on the shelves with the other Mankell books. Henning Mankell is better known for his Wallander series and, until recently, I didn’t know he wrote anything else.

To be honest, I enjoyed this book more than I did the previous non-Wallander book. Although it is clearly aimed at a younger audience, the story was interesting. Joel’s mother left shortly after Joel was born; he and his father lead a rather sparse life in a small Swedish town. Joel’s father gave up life as an able seaman when Joel was born, and they both dream of returning to the sea.

This is the first in a series of three books where Joel is the central character.

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Author: Henning Mankell

When I was at the library picking up a book I had on order, I decided to see if they had any books by Mankell. I’ve liked both the Wallander books and TV movies but there were no books from that series available. This one was on the shelf so I decided to bring it home.

I didn’t care much for the book. The story didn’t really go anywhere and it wasn’t much of a mystery. I’m sure the author wanted to say something about the state of immigration in his country. At least one of the characters was based on a real person, and I’m sure the stories told by these three immigrant women were typical of others in their situation.

For me though, I’ll stick to the Wallander books (except for the other Mankell book I’m reading right now).

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Author: Kate Alcott

An interesting book about how a small group of survivors from the Titanic were able to put their lives back together after reaching shore.

Tess, a young maid, manages to secure passage on the Titanic when she convinces Lady Duff Gordon, a world-famous clothing designer, that she can work as her maid. After their rescue from the ship, and during the hearings that ensue, Tess becomes less enamoured by her wealthy employer and makes friends with a reporter covering the hearings and a young man who is also a survivor.

The facts of the sinking and subsequent rescue attempts are based on transcripts given at the U.S. Senate hearings.

This book, by Kate Alcott, is not to be mistaken for the novel that was the basis for the movie of the same name.

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Author: Philip Roth

We saw the movie before I had a chance to read the book; I generally like to do it the other way around.

The previews of the film emphasized the part the Korean War played in the plot, and it was certainly more prevalent in the book than it was in the movie. The writing was excellent and I often went back over a sentence because it sounded so good. It was an easy read, it filled in a few gaps from the movie, and I might have been disappointed in the film had I read the book first.

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