Pacific Rim Noir

PACIFIC OCEAN/ASIA, 1595. - Map of the Pacific Ocean and South-East Asia from the 1595 edition of Abraham Ortelius' atlas "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.". Fine Art. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/140_1645068/1/140_1645068/cite. Accessed 8 Jul 2017.

...there is no single landscape of crime around the edges of the Pacific. From darkness-shrouded mean streets through neon nightmares and on to bodies on beaches, crime novels set near the Pacific don't look as much like one another as, say, mysteries set in Chicago do. Still, if in Chicago, there's always an El train rumbling by in the background, on the Pacific Rim, there's always that behemoth of an ocean somewhere nearby doing its own kind of rumbling...you're like to hear in the sounds of the surf what Matthew Arnold called "the turbid ebb and flow/Of human misery."  
~Bill Ott, "A Hard-Boiled Gazetteer to the Pacific Rim"


A remote Australian bush town. Laos 1979. Political corruption in modern China. A Buddhist Thai policeman. The hills of Bali. The south Australia coast. Singapore's high society. North Korea's Ministry of People's Security. A Hong Kong mansion. A gritty police procedural set in Queensland. South Korea in 1974. The mean streets of Sydney. Manila's Quezon City. Violent robberies in Auckland City. A sidelined police inspector in Communist Shanghai. The wild mountains at the Lao-Vietnam border. These are just a few of the people and places you'll find in the noir set in the Pacific Rim, for those who like their reads dark and and gritty and with an Asian flair.

Blood Junction by Caroline Carver [large print]

The Broken Shore by Peter Temple 

Chain of Evidence by Garry Disher 

Crucifixion Creek by Barry Maitland 

Cambodia Noir by Nicholas Seeley 

Good Death by Christopher R. Cox 

I Shot the Buddha by Colin Cotterill 

The Ghost Shift by John Gapper 

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly 

Shanghai Redemption by Qiu Xiaolong 

The Wolves by Alex Berenson 

Black Water by Louise Doughty 

A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church

Mr. Kill by Martin Limón 

Only the Dead by Ben Sanders [eBook]

Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan 

The Singapore School of Villainy by Shamini Flint 

Bangkok Haunts by John Burdett 

The Fear Artist by Tim Hallinan    

 

        

The Worlds of the New Norse

You could say we are fans of Norse mythology. We've watched both Thor and Thor: The Dark World, and we checked out the gender-bending Thor: Vol. 1, The Goddess of Thunder! But there are many other tales of Thor in the library catalog that we haven't read, because he's not our favorite Norse deity. Want to learn more about the Norse pantheon? Try Edith Hamilton's Mythology or, for kids of all ages, Treasury of Norse Mythology: Stories of Intrigue, Trickery, Love, and Revenge.

We have enjoyed Neil Gaiman's most entertaining Norse Mythology. Neil's pleasant narrative style and witty turn of phrase made this a fun read which discusses more of the Norse pantheon. We'd like to recommend the eAudiobook which is read by the author - Gaiman is a great reader. Consider giving his Odd and the Frost Giants a try, too, though it's technically a children's book, and of course American Gods. The library catalog also features Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, which was a primary source for Gaiman.

Want to see more of the Norse gods and goddesses explored, besides the ones touched on by Gaiman? One of our favorite television series is New Zealand's The Almighty Johnsons, wherein 4 brothers (and other relatives and various people they meet) discover on their 21st birthdays that they are the living incarnations of Norse deities. It's a great way to learn the stories behind Norse mythology (though this series is aimed at an adult audience), and features goddesses more prominently than some other tales - we were completely smitten with Iðunn,the keeper of the magic apples of immortality, and happy to learn to pronounce Sjöfn and Snotra.The library catalog features Season One.


Still want to immerse yourself in more Nordic culture? Here's a mixed bag of some other items you might enjoy - as refreshing as dipping your toe into the waters of a fjord, but definitely not  hygge, for those of you following Scanditrends. 

Fiction

Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt

Iron Axe by Steven Harper

Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson [YA eBook] 

Runemarks by Joanne Harris [YA] 

Triple Moon : Summer on East End by Melissa De la Cruz [YA]

Hammered by Kevin Hearne 

Vikings: The Complete First Season  [DVD]  

Valhalla Prophecy by Andy Mcdermott

Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo   

Northmen: A Viking Saga  [DVD]

Non-Fiction 

Gods of Asgard: A Graphic Novel Interpretation of the Norse Myths adapted and illustrated by Erik Evensen

Vikings [DVD]

Exploring the Northern Tradition: A Guide to the Gods, Lore, Rites, and Celebrations From the Norse, German, and Anglo-Saxon Traditions by Galina Krasskova 

Nordic Gods and Heroes by Padraic Colum

The Volsunga Saga translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson [eBook]

Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch  [eBook]

Viking Knits and Ancient Ornaments: Interlace Patterns From Around the World in Modern Knitwear by Elsebeth Lavold 

An Illustrated Viking Voyage: Retracing Leif Eriksson's Journey in an Authentic Viking Knarr photographs by Russell Kaye; text by W. Hodding Carter 

Beyond the Northlands : Viking Voyages and the Old Norse Sagas by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough 

The Book of Runes: A Handbook For the Use of an Ancient Oracle, the Viking Runes commentary by Ralph H. Blum

D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire [J]

Viking War: The Last Battle of the Vikings [DVD]

Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Woman Who Made Them by Nancy Marie Brown
 

Read Harder Challenge: Central or South American Author

Back in February, we posted about Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge. Anyone still working on it? We've hit some stumbling blocks on a couple of the tasks - if you've checked out the discussions on the Goodreads challenge page, you'll see a lot of chatter, particularly on Task # 21 (read a book published by a micropress). We're still working on that one, so we'll concentrate on Task # 4 - Read a book set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author.

We were slightly confused at first, as a couple of the links Book Riot posted to help with finding titles for this task listed Latin American authors, which includes authors from Mexico and Cuba - not, according to Wikipedia, considered part of Central or South America (except Mexico, in one UN geoscheme). We are going by the letter of the law, as it were, for the purposes of this task, and sticking to fiction by authors from South and Central America only. Researching the titles to make sure they are also set in South or Central America has added another wrinkle to the process, as some of the authors have relocated - to Spain or the United States, primarily - and also write based on experiences not in their country of origin.

We feel pretty confident that readers will be familiar with some of the most famous authors of Central and South America - Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, Roberto Bolaño, Paulo Coelho spring to mind - but how about some you might not have heard of? Here's a list of some we hope might surprise you, from Nicaragua, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Titles are translated works unless otherwise noted.  


Thus Were Their Faces: Stories by Silvina Ocampo

Delirium by Laura Restrepo [Spanish]

El lugar sin límites by José Donoso [Spanish]

Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra 

The Scroll of Seduction by Gioconda Belli [Spanish]

Men of Maize by Miguel Ángel Asturias

El mañana by Luisa Valenzuela [Spanish]

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands: A Moral and Amorous Tale by Jorge Amado

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez  [Spanish]

Savage Theories by Pola Oloixarac 

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin [eBook]

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector 

A Crack in the Wall by Claudia Piñeiro [eBook]

El beso de la mujer araña by Manuel Puig [Spanish]
 

  

Salaam Reads

In 2017, Simon & Schuster will launch the first set of children’s and young adult literature from its new imprint, Salaam Reads. Salaam means “peace” in Arabic, and the goal of the imprint is to highlight literature with a focus on Muslim experiences in the U.S. and around the world...  Salaam Reads will publish books that include well-developed, complex characters; themes of identity negotiation and ordinary kid issues; and narratives that are poignant as well as funny—all of which are intended to affirm a wide range of experiences that are specifically Muslim as well as universally appealing.
~Amina Chaudri, "Books and Authors: Talking With Zareen Jaffrey" 

We are very interested to check out books from this new imprint! Zareen Jaffrey, the executive editor of Salaam Reads, is interested in sharing the "richness of diversity within the Muslim community that is rarely seen in pop culture," but via stories - books from this imprint "will not contain Islamic education as they’re not a vehicle for teaching Islam; the only requirement for the books on this list is that they have a Muslim main character." There will be about nine releases a year, ranging from picture books to young adult fiction. As Simon & Schuster put it in their press release announcing Salaam Reads, "Children’s books are a fantastic way to get to know our local and global Muslim neighbors." We couldn't agree more, and hope you will take advantage of the new titles in the system, as well as some other Muslim-themed reads recommended by Jaffrey and by library staff.

Salaam Reads Titles

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Related Materials - Picture Books & Juvenile Fiction

The Night of the Moon by Hena Khan 

Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye

Dear Malala, We Stand With You by Rosemary McCarney with Plan International   

Deep in the Sahara by Kelly Cunnane  

The Garden of My Imaan by Farhana Zia 

Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai

The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye

The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney

It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas 

The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour  

Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq - Inspired By a True Story by Mark Alan Stamaty

Read Harder Challenge: Southern Asia

Last year some library staff participated in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge. This is a fun way to get yourself to read books out of your comfort zone! It's also a fun challenge to participate in with friends - you can plan to read the same books, or compare the books you chose to read. But no pressure! The folks at Book Riot, who have been featuring this challenge for the past couple of years, want to reassure you that

We encourage you to push yourself, to take advantage of this challenge as a way to explore topics or formats or genres that you otherwise wouldn’t try. But this isn’t a test. No one is keeping score and there are no points to post. We like books because they allow us to see the world from a new perspective, and sometimes we all need help to even know which perspectives to try out. That’s what this is – a perspective shift – but one for which you’ll only be accountable to yourself.

There are 24 "tasks" for the year, but you can use one book to fulfill a couple of tasks or aim to read 24 books total. Tasks for 2017 include "Read a book about sports," "read a travel memoir," and "read a book you've read before." The task list for 2016 included "Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia," and in the spirit of better late than never, we'd like to suggest a few titles of note. Check out these books set in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and by members of the Southern Asia diaspora which were suggested by Book Riot - they will even work for a couple tasks from this year's challenge!

Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia [YA]

Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy 

The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad 

A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam 

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders: Connected Stories by Daniyal Mueenuddin 

Odysseus Abroad by by Amit Chaudhuri 

The Hope Factory by Lavanya Sankaran 

This Divided Island: Life, Death, and the Sri Lankan War by Samanth Subramanian  

The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota 

She Weeps Each Time You're Born by Quan Barry

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng 


Here's staff member Alysa's 2016 challenge form - completed!

Download the PDF of this year's challenge from Book Riot! Take it to the next level - join the Read Harder group on Goodreads! Share your challenge on social media with the the hashtag #ReadHarder! Are you going to try to read harder in 2017? Let us know in the comments!

 

 

Have a Hygge New Year

Winter is the most hygge time of year. It is candles, nubby woolens, shearling slippers, woven textiles, pastries, blond wood, sheepskin rugs, lattes with milk-foam hearts, and a warm fireplace. Hygge can be used as a noun, adjective, verb, or compound noun, like hyggebukser, otherwise known as that shlubby pair of pants you would never wear in public but secretly treasure. Hygge can be found in a bakery and in the dry heat of a sauna in winter, surrounded by your naked neighbors. It’s wholesome and nourishing, like porridge; Danish doctors recommend “tea and hygge” as a cure for the common cold. It’s possible to hygge alone, wrapped in a flannel blanket with a cup of tea, but the true expression of hygge is joining with loved ones in a relaxed and intimate atmosphere.
~Anna Altman, "The Year of Hygge, The Danish Obsession With Getting Cozy"

Lately, it's been cool to be Scandinavian. The past couple of years, we've heard a lot of talk about Norway's "slow TV" sensation, in which shows feature someone knitting a sweater, a 7-hour train journey, an evening's discussion of firewood, and the like. We've been reading books by Scandinavians that are not "Nordic noir", like Karl-Ove Knausgaard's multi-volume My Struggle and the works of Per Petterson and Fredrik Backman. And it's not the first time Scandinavian culture has crossed the pond - we have them to thank for some modern furniture design and saunas, for instance. Now, the Danish word hygge (pronounced "HOO-gah") was on the shortlist for Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year 2016.

"Danish winters are long and dark, and so the Danes fight the darkness with their best weapon: hygge, and the millions of candles that go with it," explains the website Visit Denmark. "Hygge is a philosophy; a way of life that has helped Danes understand the importance of simplicity, time to unwind and slowing down the pace of life." Hygge is usually summed up in English as "cozy," but many would argue that there's more layers to it than that.Why the sudden fascination with hygge? Well, Denmark is usually at the top of the World Happiness Report (the USA is usually #13), and hygge is considered to be a contributing factor, though the concept certainly has its detractors.

According to many pundits, hygge will be to 2017 what "tidying up" was to 2015. Are you ready to get hygge with it this winter? We've created a list of items from the library catalog to introduce you to hygge and other interesting slices of Scandinavian culture (for the purposes of this post, we're considering Finland and Iceland as members of Scandinavia, which is debatable) and bring a little Scandinavian flavor into your life. How do you hygge? Let us know in the comments!

Miscellaneous Culture

The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell 

The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People In the World Know About Raising Confident, Capable Kids by Jessica Joelle Alexander and Iben Sandahl [eBook]

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia by Michael Booth 

Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right - And How We Can, Too by George Lakey  

Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home In the Great White North by Blair Braverman

Tales From the Loop illustrations & texts by Simon Stålenhag

I Am Zlatan: My Story On and Off the Field by Zlatan Ibrahimović with David Lagercrantz 

Names For the Sea: Strangers in Iceland by Sarah Moss


The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen

Nordicana: 100 Icons of Scandi Culture & Nordic Cool by Nordicana with Kajsa Kinsella 
 
Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn From Educational Change in Finland? by Pasi Sahlberg

The Book of Hope by by Tommi Musturi ; translated by Pauliina Haasjoki


Food, Crafts, & Lifestyle

Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, With Recipes For Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats by Anna Brones & Johanna Kindvall

Mind of a Chef: Season 3 - Magnus Nilsson

Scandinavian Home: A Comprehensive Guide to Mid-Century Modern Scandinavian Designers by Elizabeth Wilhide

Northern Delights: Scandinavian Homes, Interiors and Design edited by Emma Fexeus, Sven Ehmann, and Robert Klanten 

The Kinfolk Home: Interiors For Slow Living by Nathan Williams

Scandinavian Classics: Over 100 Traditional Recipes by Niklas Ekstedt

North: The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland by Gunnar Karl Gíslason and Jody Eddy 

Scandinavian Stitches: 21 Playful Projects with Seasonal Flair by Kasja Wikman [eBook]

Scandinavian Feasts: Celebrating Traditions Throughout the Year by Beatrice Ojakangas [eBook]

Northern Knits Gifts: Thoughtful Projects Inspired by Folk Traditions by Lucinda Guy

Music
  

Rough Guide to the Music of Scandinavia 

Polka V by Frigg 

Ice and Longboats: Ancient Music of Scandinavia  

Folk Songs by Trio Mediaeval

DVDs

Babette's Feast 

A Man Called Ove


For Kids

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson 

 

Cities of the Past, Cities of the Future

Cities are where most of humanity’s creative and intellectual ideation, communication, and innovation takes place, so understanding cities is vital to understanding our civilization.
~Maria Popova, "Understanding Urbanity: 7 Must-Read Books About Cities"

We always enjoy a good biography...even if its subject is not a person, but a city! We've put together a list of books about cities around the world, because how urban centers evolve seems very interesting. Each metropolis grew up differently, to meet different needs, with different agendas. To give you an idea of how cities grow, particularly now in the era of green cities, we've included some books about urban planning.

It's also helpful to remember that we live in a city with its own unique history! The City of Albuquerque website is a great resource for finding out how to get around in town, to register your business, learn housing codes, find volunteer opportunities, view the pollen count, get hold of public records, look up city construction projects and city contracts with vendors, find a job, and read essays about the city history during different periods, such as Territorial.

City Histories

Berlin Now: The City After the Wall by Peter Schneider

Paris at the End of the World: The City of Light During the Great War, 1914-1918 by John Baxter

Floodpath: The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th-Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles by Jon Wilkman   

St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street by Ada Calhoun

The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing

Buenos Aires: The Biography of a City by James Gardner

Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation by Anne Sebba

A History of Spirituality in Santa Fe: The City of Holy Faith by Ana Pacheco

The City: A Global History by Joel Kotkin

Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future by Tom Scocca 

Dancing With the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro On the Brink by Juliana Barbassa 

Thrilling Cities by Ian Fleming

 
Genoa, 'La superba': The Rise and Fall of a Merchant Pirate Superpower by Nicholas Walton

The Interior Circuit: A Mexico City Chronicle by Francisco Goldman

We're Still Here, Ya Bastards: How the People of New Orleans Rebuilt Their City by Roberta Brandes Gratz

Los Angeles Plays Itself [DVD]

City Planning & Urbanization

Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier by Edward L. Glaeser

Aerotropolis: The Way We'll Live Next by John D. Kasarda, Greg Lindsay 

Dream Cities: Seven Urban Ideas That Shape the World by Wade Graham 

Atlas of Cities edited by Paul Knox 

Food and the City: Urban Agriculture and the New Food Revolution by Jennifer Cockrall-King

A History of Future Cities by Daniel Brook 

On the Grid: A Plot of Land, An Average Neighborhood, and the Systems That Make Our World Work by Scott Huler 

Radical Cities: Across Latin America in Search of a New Architecture by Justin McGuirk  

Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves From the Automobile by Taras Grescoe 

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt  

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery  

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond  

Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time by Jeff Speck 

Start-Up City: Inspiring Private & Public Entrepreneurship, Getting Projects Done, and Having Fun by Gabe Klein ; with David Vega-Barachowitz  

Small, Gritty, and Green: The Promise of America's Smaller Industrial Cities in a Low-Carbon World by Catherine Tumber 

Where We Want to Live: Reclaiming Infrastructure For a New Generation of Cities by Ryan Gravel 

City by City: Dispatches From the American Metropolis  edited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb