Wallen

In this book Hardy proves he is one the really great writers that the English language has. Hardy's literary style is clearly 19th century, but it is really readable today. I thought that his style would be a little too heavy for an audiobook, but I found that the opposite is true - just like Dickens', his style lends itself well to the audiobook format.

I don't understand the hype around this book. It is neither original, nor very well written. Sort of a diary of a guy visiting a dying teacher. I get the feeling this is a book written by a loser for losers, because the message is "don't do things, sit down and think about them instead". The narration is good, though.

The most revealing and interesting part about this book is how the Republican party supported and encouraged organized crime in Atlantic City. The ties between republicans and gangsters gave rise to this city of bars, casinos and brothels. But as it is said in the books: "People want bars, casinos and brothels, so we give it to them. If they had wanted bible studies, we'd had given them bible studies".
The story is interesting, if a little too exhaustive with too many details about what happended several generations ago. But still worth listening to. Well read as well.

This is the story about a rather obnoxious person - a handyman or dayworker who seems to do his best to destroy his own life, but always comes out on top. Life is full of people like him, but very few are as stable and humourous as this person. I grew very fond of him. In fact, I'd like to read more about him, and this as good a grade as a writer can get from his reader.

In this book professional historian Dick Harrison shows that he can write interesting and good books about histrorical events. His research is so thorough you could call it almost over the top. But very good.

It is very scary to read how the Republican Christian Right-wing decided to conquer the Supreme Court - and succeeded. A less known - and quite dirty - part of American history is here brought to light. It is somewhat of a scary science fiction novel to read how ultra-conservative people can influence our daily life. But it is true. Apart from how that swing in majority in the Court was made possible, this is a very good analysis of the Court and how it works. Even the legal parts are well written and analyzed (says this legally trained reader.) Highly recommended!

Dick Harrison is a renowned historian in Sweden. His non fiction books are well written and thorougly researched. This one, however, is not good. The story is of the type that many writers of historical fiction make: they let their protagonist be the one who possesses insight in the future and "guesses" what will happen. Or the writer puts words in his protagonists's mouth which are very un-historical. A professional historian should know better - he should know how people acually thought in this time, and not let them think like 20th century people. Also, the author decided to be the narrator of this book - very bad decision. His dialect is not suited for reading to the whole Swedish-speaking nation.

I liked this book, which tells the story of a group of immigrants to the US (Hawaii) and how they are frowned upon by so called better people (ordinary Americans and other immigrants). How they fight for their lives and how they survive and finally suceed (in a way) by sheer perseverance and doggedly hard work is a very good story, not lacking in suspense. Well told and well worth listening to.

Michael Connelly shows in this book he is the master of suspense. From the first minute listened he captures you, all the way to the last minute. Not great literature, but he balances the story well, and does not branch out in florid language like many modern authors who seem to have forgotten the delete buttom on their keyboard. The story is told in short sentences and is brought forward by each new turn of events.

A good book, truly recommended. The story is set an alien environment, Indians living in Ethiopia. This is a novel, but it seems very close to real life and the truths. Events occuring in the book appear too real to not have happended in real life. The personal portraits are very good, not only of the protagonist, but all people appearing here appear truly alive. The story is heart-breaking, and the two brothers and their sister have a very complex relationship, shaped by events beyond their control.

I liked this book, maybe because it is a bit crazy. What do zombies have to do with Jane Austen? Do zombies really exist? Of course not! I never liked Pride and Prejudice, but this book gives the rather boring P&P a nice comical twist that I believe P&P needs. My husband, who is likes the ordinary P&P, hated this book.