"The Devil's Star" by Jo Nesbo

Of all the books I've read by Jo Nesbo, this was the best so far. He's obviously improving with practice. It also helps that I've become used to his style. There are always red herrings, and some of the descriptions continue to be tricky to understand or place in time. I read this book as a hardcover instead of an ebook, just to make sure I wasn't missing something due to formatting errors. I wasn't. The plot revolved around an apparent serial killer. I was pleased that I had no idea the guilty party was the grief-stricken producer. And, of course, the subplot, the downfall of the evil Mark Waller, was satisfying. Unfortunately, (and to his credit), Nesbo somewhat humanized Waller at the end of the book, so that I felt very very very slightly sorry for him.

"Midnight Crossroad" by Charlaine Harris

This was a fun, light read. I enjoyed most of her "True Blood" books so I already knew that Harris can entertain me. And I find her even more likeable due to her strong moral values that include treating all people with respect regardless of their differences. This is quite obvious in stories that include vampires and werewolves. I decided to read this book because I enjoyed the junkie NBC series that was based on it. The book is missing my favourite tv character, Manfred's dead grandma Zylda, but that's life, I guess.

"Nemesis" by Jo Nesbo

Another typical Harry Hole story. As usual, I'm not always sure what emotion/fact the writer/translator is trying to portray, but it doesn't bother me. I think the fact that the books do not seem to be slickly written somehow makes them more appealing to me. .. Another technical issue is that the ebook version does not indicate the beginning of new sections clearly. I can't wait until they nab Tom Walker, that nasty piece of police work. As always, Harry Hole is well written.

"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski

As I was finishing this book, I realized it fit in quite nicely with David Lynch's "Twin Peaks the Return", which ended last night. I think both belong in the category "post post modern" due to their totally bizarre and non-linear nature. (I saw this term when reading about this book, and must admit that I feel rather than know how to explain its meaning.)

This book is about much more than a home with infinite corridors. It contains multiple points of view and personal stories and is so studiously pedantic, that the end result makes it difficult to feel much of anything. It does, admittedly, give quite an accurate feel for a descent into madness.

I don't even know precisely where this comes from, I put down the book determined to look for the joy in life around me.

"Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond

Ray gave me this book to read after I took a course on Norse mythology, which included some history. And I did, in fact, find the section on the medieval Norse settlement in Greenland to be very interesting. Many parts of the book were, in fact, interesting, and gave me new insights into the relationship between society and environment. After awhile, though, it became repetitive, and I totally skipped the last section, dealing with the present, which contained the motivations behind the mining, forestry, etc industries. Apparently there are some reasons for optimism, but I just couldn't take reading another sentence about self-interest outweighing the greater good.