OUTRAGEOUS BLURBS

Maxine of Petrona very kindly sent me an uncorrected proof copy of Arnaldur Indridason’s new Erlendur novel, Outrage. I was going to leave my comments about the cover blurb until I had read the book and reviewed it, but I could not restrain myself.

Why do the people in the publishing industry act like a rabbit caught in car headlights when they blurb? They throw Stieg Larsson stickers around like confetti, and compare authors as disparate as Enid Blyton and Val McDermid providing both material and amusement for bloggers. 

On the cover of Outrage we are told “Crime’s best kept secret ….Until now…”

But we are informed by Harlen Coben that Indridason is “An international literary phenomenon”, and on the back cover “Over 6 million books sold worldwide”.

 Obviously that best kept  secret must have leaked out. 

MID YEAR 2011

I have managed to read 25 books in the first half of the year, which is good considering the events that have occurred.

Of the 25 only 7 were originally written in English, and 18 were translated. 9.5 were written by female authors, and 15.5 written by male authors.

Unsurprisingly Sweden lead the way with 6 books, followed by Italy with 4.

The books I particularly enjoyed reading  were:

Devil’s Peak -Deon Meyer  

A Lily of the Field-John Lawton

Mercy -Jussi Adler Olsen

An Uncertain Place -Fred Vargas

The Leopard-Jo Nesbo