My to-do list around the house is getting shorter as I’m crossing projects off my list. It’s fun to make a few changes around the house. Still a couple of bigger tasks to get to but I’ll have them all finished by the end of the month (fingers crossed).
If you haven’t visited in a bit, you definitely need to stop by my Etsy store. I’ve added a number of new items including hand-burned wooden bookmarks, a new collection of mugs. I’m also offering some digital downloads including some wall art options and templates to create your own reading journal. I hope you’ll pop in and look around MapleStreetStudioHRS.
Given all my other projects, my reading list is on the shorter side this week.
I have two interesting sounding titles from Meryl Zegarek Public Relations. The first is a thriller set in Iceland, Kalmann by Joachim Schmidt. I visited Iceland a few years ago and look forward to revisiting such an interesting place through this story. The second is Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight. This one sounds like something of a murder mystery set in Tokyo. And finally, I’ve seen film adaptations but have yet to tackle Tolstoy’s masterpiece, Anna Karnina. So this week, I’m enjoying the audiobook edition narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I enjoy her work as an actress and look forward to hearing her reading of this beautiful book.
Join the conversation! Tell me what you’re reading this week in the comments.
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This atmospheric crime thriller laced with humor—described by some as an Icelandic Fargo—is set in the village of Raufarhöfn in the far north of the country. Kalmann Odinsson is the self-appointed Sheriff of his town. Day by day, he treks the wide plains which surround the almost deserted village, hunts Arctic foxes and lays bait in the sea — to catch the gigantic Greenland sharks he turns into the Icelandic fermented delicacy, hákarl. There is nothing anyone needs to worry about. Kalmann has everything under control.
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Inside his head, however, the wheels sometimes spin backwards. One winter, after he discovers a pool of blood in the snow, the swiftly unfolding events threaten to overwhelm him. But he knows that his native wisdom and pure-hearted courage will see him through. There really is no need to worry. How can anything go wrong with Kalmann in charge? He knows everything a man needs to know about life – well, almost.
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Set in Tokyo over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro have decided to be together one last time in their shared flat before parting. Their relationship has broken down after a mountain trek during which their guide died inexplicably. Now each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over. Who is the murderer and what really happened on the mountain?
In the battle of wills between them, the chain of events leading up to this night is gradually revealed in a gripping psychological thriller that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.
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A new edition of Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel, considered by many to be the greatest novel of all time. A magisterial novel spread over eight parts and with more than a dozen major characters, it deals with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and rural vs. city life. The plot centers on an extramarital affair between Anna and dashing cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky that scandalizes the social circles of Saint Petersburg and forces the young lovers to flee to Italy in a search for happiness. After they return to Russia, their lives further unravel. This edition is based on the Constance Garnett translation originally published in 1901 and in print ever since.
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