2011 Global Reading Challenge: An Update (15/21)

Last year, respected book blogger and Danish author Dorte Jakobsen created the Global Reading Challenge, a terrific initiative that had dozens of book reviewers and bloggers from around the world stretching themselves reading-wise, by encouraging them to read far more broadly.

I am very pleased to say that following the success of the 2010 Global Reading Challenge, Dorte (with the assistance of Kerrie of Mysteries in Paradise fame) has brought back the GRC for 2011. By early March almost 100 people had already signed up, and now that we are over a third of the way through the year, the reading is well and truly underway.

You can read about the challenge, the three levels (easy, medium, expert), and sign up for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge (I recommend it) here.

I have signed up, and will be aiming for Expert Level (which is the equivalent of Extremist from last year, with the adjustment being that the 'seventh continent' doesn't have to be Antarctica):

The Expert Challenge
Read three novels from each of these continents in the course of 2010:

• Africa


• Asia


• Australasia


• Europe


• North America


• South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)


• The Seventh Continent

Select novels from twenty-one different countries or states if possible. (For Australasia, selecting a different state for your last book will be acceptable).

I have already read more than 30 crime novels this year, and I'm now 15/21 done in terms of the different countries/areas/regions needed for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge. I have completed four of the seven continents, and have 1, 2 and 3 books remaining for each of the other three continents. Except for my final Africa-set books, I've already sourced/chosen my remaining books to complete the challenge.

Here's my 2011 Global Reading Challenge line-up thusfar:

Africa

1. MIXED BLOOD by Roger Smith (South Africa)


2. tbc


3. tbc

Asia

1. BANGKOK HAUNTS by John Burdett (Thailand)


2. PHNOM PENH EXPRESS by Johan Smits (Cambodia)


3. PAYBACK by Simon Kernick (Philippines)

Australasia

1. THE CRIME OF HUEY DUNSTAN by James McNeish (New Zealand)


2. FOLLOW THE MONEY by Peter Corris (Sydney, Australia)


3. FRIENDLY FIRE by Michael Wall (Wellington, New Zealand)

Also read: A POLITICAL AFFAIR by Andrew Porteous (Dunedin, New Zealand), BOUND by Vanda Symon (Dunedin, New Zealand), SMILING JACK by Ken Catran (New Zealand)

Europe

1. BORDERLANDS by Brian McGilloway (Northern Ireland/Ireland)


2. SHADOW SISTER by Simone van der Vlugt (The Netherlands)


3. THE TROUBLED MAN by Henning Mankell (Sweden)

Also read: SHATTER THE BONES by Stuart MacBride (Scotland)

North America

1. HOLLYWOOD HILLS by Joseph Wambaugh (Los Angeles, USA)


2. STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens (Vancouver Island, Canada)


3. IN PLAIN SIGHT by CJ Box (Wyoming, USA)

Also read: LAST CAR FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS by James Lee Burke (Louisiana, USA), THE TIN-ROOF BLOWDOWN by James Lee Burke (Louisiana, USA), BURIED ALIVE by Jack Kerley (Kentucky, USA), CITY OF BONES by Michael Connelly (Los Angeles, USA), THE FIFTH WITNESS by Michael Connelly (Los Angeles, USA), BLACK WATER by T. Jefferson Parker (Orange County, USA), DROP SHOT by Harlan Coben (New York, USA), THE PROMISED LAND by David Hewson (USA), THE SENTRY by Robert Crais (Los Angeles, USA), THE EXECUTIONER by Jay Bennett (USA), YOU’RE NEXT by Gregg Hurwitz (California, USA), LIVE WIRE by Harlan Coben (Northeast USA), LOVE YOU MORE by Lisa Gardner (Massachusetts, USA)

Latin America (South and Central America)

1. HAVANA GOLD by Leonardo Padura (Cuba) - TBR


2. EVERY BITTER THING by Leighton Gage (Brazil) - TBR


3. THE BOOK OF MURDER by Guillermo Martinez (Argentina) - TBR

The Seventh Continent

For this final continent, I have chosen 'history', specifically crime novels written in modern times but set in historic times (ie this won't include the likes of Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, or Conan Doyle, who wrote about their contemporary times, but whose work is now 'historic' or 'period' in nature). I've decided (on something of a whim) that since New Zealand was founded in 1840, I would focus on crime novels set prior to that date.

1. THE JANISSARY TREE by Jason Goodwin (1830s Turkey)


2. THE ATHENIAN MURDERS by Jose Carlos Somoza (Ancient Greece)


3. SHARK ISLAND by Joan Druett (1830s Pacific Ocean sea voyage) - TBR

So I have three South American, two African, and one historic novel left to complete the expert level of the 2011 Global Reading Challenge.

Are you participating in the 2011 Global Reading Challenge? Do you enjoy reading crime novels from a wide variety of countries/settings? What are some of your favourite recent non-UK/US reads? Comments welcome.

Currently reading: SHADOW SISTER by Simone Van Der Vlugt

As I said last week, in 2011 I am once again participating in the Global Reading Challenge. , created by writer, reviewer and blogger Dorte Jakobsen of DJ's Krimiblog and CANDIED CRIME fame.

This year have already read more than the three European novels needed for the Expert level, and from at least three countries (Scotland, Ireland, England, Sweden). However I've decided that I will try to expand my European choices to include more translated fiction, so I am currently reading SHADOW SISTER by Simone Van Der Vlugt, who is dubbed "Holland's Queen of Crime".

SHADOW SISTER was originally published in Dutch in 2005, but has recently become Van Der Vlugt's second psychological thriller to be translated into English. Here is the blurb for the English-language version (pictured):

"Lydia and Elisa, twin sisters, identical in appearance, different in every other way. When Lydia is threatened by one of her students, her sister is the first person she turns to. But Elisa is powerless to stop what follows: threatening letters, smashed windows. How far will this student go? Or is someone else taking advantage of the situation? And what part does Elisa play in all of this? Twins are close… aren’t they?"

I am about 60 per cent of the way through, and enjoying it thusfar. There's a creeping sense of unease, and the way the story shifts between the perspectives of the two twin sisters, the reader is very well aware from the start that something horrific has happened. We just don't know why, or by who, or exactly what, yet.

Have you read SHADOW SISTER or any of Van Der Vlugt's other novels? Have you read any other Dutch crime fiction? Do you like trying translated crime novels? Are you participating in the 2011 Global Reading Challenge? Thoughts welcome.

Currently reading: MIXED BLOOD by Roger Smith

I've been doing a lot of reading the first three months of this year, but I am a little behind in my reviewing. And my reading choices have been a little constrained too - along with reading new New Zealand books and upcoming or recently released books for some newspaper columns and in preparation for feature interviews with the likes of Robert Crais, Peter Corris, Michael Connelly, and Henning Mankell, I am also participating in Dorte Jakobsen's excellent 2011 Global Reading Challenge.

For one of my 'Africa' crime novels for the expert level of the challenge, I have now started reading a book from a 'new-to-me' author, Roger Smith. I've heard some very good things about Smith's writing, so when I saw a new copy of MIXED BLOOD on a discount table at Whitcoulls a couple of weeks ago, I couldn't resist grabbing it.

Here's the short blurb for MIXED BLOOD: "An American, hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, after being blackmailed into a bank heist back home, is building a new life for his pregnant wife and young son, when an incident of random violence sets him on a collision course with street gangs and a rogue cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ."

Smith was born in Johannesburg, and now lives in Cape Town. Before becoming a crime writer, he was a screenwriter, producer and director. MIXED BLOOD was his debut novel, and was published in the US and Germany in 2009. It won the Deutschen Krimi Preis 2010 in Germany and has been nominated for a Spinetingler Best Novel award. His second book is WAKE UP DEAD. According to Smith's website, GreeneStreet Films (NYC) is developing the movie version of MIXED BLOOD – scheduled to start shooting in Cape Town in 2011 – starring Samuel L. Jackson, with Phillip Noyce directing.

Have you read MIXED BLOOD or WAKE UP DEAD? Do you like South African-set crime fiction? Are you participating in the 2011 Global Reading Challenge? If so, what African novels have you chosen? Thoughts welcome.

The 2011 Global Reading Challenge

Last year, respected book blogger and Danish author Dorte Jakobsen created the Global Reading Challenge, a terrific initiative that had dozens of book reviewers and bloggers from around the world stretching themselves reading-wise, by encouraging them to read far more broadly.

I signed up for the Expert Level (14 novels, 2 from each of seven continents, each by a different author and set in a different place, preferably new-to-you authors too) and completed that in early May 2010 (you can read my summary and reviews of each of the 14 novels here). Dorte then added a fourth, 'Extremist', level for those ultra-keen global readers amongst us.

Unfortunately I must confess to failing to achieve that level in the remaining eight months of 2010 - I read more than 70 crime novels over the course of last year, and completed several of the continents many times over, but fell one book short of the Extremist Level: I only read two novels from South America. I did read another novel or two that were partially set there, but for me it would kind of feel like I hadn't really earned the level if I included those (rather than a novel by a local author, translated) in order to complete the Extremist Level. To be honest once I'd achieved the Expert Level in early May I started directing my crime fiction attention elsewhere, like the many author interview features I wrote in the second part of 2010, and the organisation of the inaugural Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel.

However, I am very pleased to say that following the success of the 2010 Global Reading Challenge, Dorte (with the assistance of Kerrie of Mysteries in Paradise fame) has brought back the GRC for 2011. Almost 100 people have already signed up, and the reading is well underway.

You can read about the challenge, the three levels (easy, medium, expert), and sign up for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge (I recommend it) here.

I have signed up, and will be aiming for Expert Level (which is the equivalent of Extremist from last year, with the adjustment being that the 'seventh continent' doesn't have to be Antarctica):

The Expert Challenge
Read three novels from each of these continents in the course of 2010:

• Africa
• Asia
• Australasia
• Europe
• North America
• South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
• The Seventh Continent

Select novels from twenty-one different countries or states if possible. (For Australasia, selecting a different state for your last book will be acceptable)

I will post some updates soon - I've already read 20+ crime novels in the past three months, set in several countries, including many 'new-to-me' authors, so I've made some good progress on several continents. Latin America will once again be my bugbear - it's the only continent I can't complete to the Expert Level solely from my TBR bookshelves at home. So it will be off to the library and bookstores I go...

Are you taking part in the 2011 Global Reading Challenge? What books have you read thusfar? Do you like to read globally? Are such challenges a good way to introduce yourself to authors and settings you might not otherwise have tried? What were your favourite books from last year's challenge?

Currently reading: BORDERLANDS by Brian McGilloway

Well, as predicted I raced through the very, very good STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens on Friday night and Saturday, and am now onto another 'new to me' author, and another country for the 2011 edition of Dorte Jakobsen's fantastic Global Reading Challenge (highly recommended - information available and register here).

Scanning my bookshelves again, I decided to go green, so to speak, and head to Ireland with Brian McGilloway's debut BORDERLANDS. I've heard good things about this author, but hadn't yet come across his novels in New Zealand - but while I was in Hanoi at New Years, I picked up a copy of BORDERLANDS from the excellent Bookworm store (a must-visit if you're ever in the Vietnamese capital).

Here's the blurb for the first Inspector Devlin book, which was shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger: "The corpse of local teenager Angela Cashell is found on the Tyrone- Donegal border, between the North and South of Ireland, in an area known as the borderlands. Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin heads the investigation: the only clues are a gold ring placed on the girl's finger and an old photograph, left where she died.

Then another teenager is murdered, and things become further complicated when Devlin unearths a link between the recent killings and the disappearance of a prostitute twenty-five years earlier - a case in which he believes one of his own colleagues is implicated.

As a thickening snow storm blurs the border between North and South, Devlin finds the distinction between right and wrong, vengeance and justice, and even police-officer and criminal becoming equally unclear. A dazzling and lyrical debut crime novel, Borderlands marks the beginning of a compelling new series featuring Inspector Benedict Devlin."

Certainly sounds intriguing, and I like the prospect of a crime novel set on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland (seems particularly apt for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge).

You can read more about McGilloway at his website here.

Have you read BORDERLANDS, or any of McGilloway's other Devlin tales? If so, what did you think? Do you like reading 'globally' when it comes to crime fiction? Who are some of your favourite Irish crime writers? Comments welcome.

Currently reading: STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens

Having finished THE SENTRY by Robert Crais, I looked up on my creaking bookshelves last night to decide what to read next. So many choices, so many good recommendations, so many new-to-me authors to try...

Having read US (several states/regions), Scottish, Cambodian, Thai, New Zealand and Australian crime fiction in the past few weeks, I thought I should give another country/region a go now - especially as I have signed up once more for the 2011 edition of Dorte Jakobsen's excellent Global Reading Challenge (highly recommended - information available and register here).

For whatever reason, I felt like something Canadian. There are many terrific Canadian crime writers out there - like New Zealand authors they are often overlooked, in favour of lesser but more publicised authors from bigger markets, by many readers and reviewers. I have a few 'new-to-me' ones waiting on my TBR shelves, and after a bit of mulling, decided to give STILL MISSING, a debut thriller by Chevy Stevens, a go. I'd heard very good things about this book, but hadn't yet got around to it. Time to fix that.

It's set on Vancouver Island too, which is a bonus. For those who aren't familiar with Vancouver Island, it's a lovely, rugged setting off the west coast of British Columbia. I really enjoyed spending a couple of days there when I was in Canada in 2008. Several crime writers actually live on Vancouver Island or the Gulf Islands (an array of smaller islands in the area) off the Canadian coast, including the iconic William Deverell, who I had the pleasure of meeting in Vancouver, and Ngaio Marsh Award judge Lou Allin. I can understand why - it's a terrific place.

Here's the blurb for STILL MISSING: "On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two year old Realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever- patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor of the day pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.

Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive of a sadistic psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered spirit back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

The truth doesn’t always set you free."

The book is written as a series of 'shrink' sessions where Annie recounts both what is happening to her now, and what happened to her back then. After starting the book late last night, I'm already well-hooked, and am flying through it. There's a nice 'narrative voice' to Annie's first-person narration - some personality and interesting ways of looking at things. The intrigue and mystery is building nicely too - which is a great effort by Stevens considering it's obvious from the first page that Annie survived the abduction. But there are many other important things to answer... I wouldn't be surprised if I finish this compelling tale sometime later today.

I will share my thoughts in due course, but in the meantime you can read more about Chevy Stevens and her writing at her website here.

Have you read STILL MISSING? If so, what did you think? Do you like reading 'globally' when it comes to crime fiction? Who are some of your favourite Canadian crime writers?