Thursday, June 16, 2011

Spotted: The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

On a Scale of 1 to Striking, this cover is: quite.
And the innards? Likely just as striking. Redbreast has earned quite a bit of praise since its publication in 'Ought 4 and was honored with the Glass Key award for the best Nordic crime novel. The NYT Book Review called it "An elegant and complex thriller."
In case you were wondering... It's about a recovering alcoholic detective whose investigative forays into Neo-nazi subculture shed light on WWII-era Nazi activity in Norway.
Where: Q-train
Who was reading: Nobody. The book was affixed with yellow twine to a clownishly large piece of rolling luggage. A lot of other things were affixed too, with the book nesting comfortably among several bulbously bulging Whole Foods totes.
But who was toting those totes? Was it man, woman or beast? Man. It was all man. He was tall and manly and stuff, wearing all black clothing made out of this lightweight material that was probably designed to dry quickly on account of extreme exposure to masculine musk. And then he had on these weird yellow shades, which weren't that cool really, but they made you think.
Think? Think of what? Of the many wonderful bird books that roost oh so pleasantly in my brain, chirping melodically to one another. Ka-KA! Now to put them in order.
Top 5 bird books that immediately come to mind:
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
  • Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
  • Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott
Could Redbreast be book the sixth? Only time will tell . . . among other things (like whether it's any good).

4 comments:

  1. Katherine, Called Birdy is one of my perennial favorites. Yet another book to revisit ;).

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  2. I recommend "Song of the Dodo."

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  3. "Birdy" by William Wharton

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  4. Also, I can't believe I neglected "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Murakami.

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