Sweden’s leading newspaper Dagens Nyheter has chosen Ulf Lundell’s Weekdays as one of their Best Books of 2018. Literary critic Björn Wiman calls it “indubitably the best that [Lundell] has written in many years. /…/ Spellbinding.”
Sofia Lundberg’s The Red Address Book has been chosen as a January 2019 LibraryReads title in the US. Based on the nominations of librarians all across America, the LibraryReads list highlights the most highly anticipated books coming out that month. Brenda O’Brien of Woodridge Public Library, Illinois, gives the following motivation for her choice of Lundbergs’s debut novel:
“A compelling, charming, and ultimately heartwarming read. For fans of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and The Japanese Lover.”
Lars Kepler’s Lazarus claims the No. 1 spot on the e-book bestseller list for the seventh week in a row in Norway. Jørn Lier Horst’s The Innermost Room likewise stays put on the official list, coming in No. 3 also this week.
Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes, Jo Nesbø and Bobbie Peers are three of the most sold authorships of children’s fiction in Norway during the past decade. Jørn Lier Horst & Hans Jørgen Sandnes succeed in the impressive feat of claiming ten out of fifty positions on the list, which includes both translated and domestic titles. All ten books are from the author and illustrator duo’s popular Detective Agency No. 2 series. In order, the titles are: Operation Thundercloud, Operation Summer Island, Operation Sunset, Operation Shadowman, Operation Windblast, Operation Plastic Bag, Operation Ghost, Operation Bronze Square, Operation Daffodil, and Operation Circus.
Jo Nesbø likewise lays claim to multiple positions, featuring four times on the list with his Doctor Proctor series. Doctor Proctor’s Fart Power, book one, comes in at No. 4. A bit further down on the list it is joined by Doctor Proctor and the Time-Travel Bath Bomb, Doctor Proctor and the End of the World. Maybe, and Doctor Proctor and the Great Gold Robbery.
Bobbie Peers too makes an appearance on the 2008-2018 list with his children’s book debut William Wenton and the Luridium Thief.
Hans Rosenfeldt’s Swedish-Danish crime TV series The Bridge has not only gained great success in Scandinavia, but become hugely popular around the globe and received several awards.
The latest in the line of tributes is one from The New York Times. The newspaper listed The Bridge as the second best foreign series of the year and describes the fourth season as “complicated,” “spine-tingling,” and “occasionally quite funny.”
The British newspaper The Observer’s critics have compiled a list of their must reads of 2018, and one of the ten titles in the Thriller category is Jo Nesbø’s Macbeth. Literary critic Alison Flood writes the following about Nesbø’s retelling of the classic:
“Macbeth by Jo Nesbø (Vintage) […] transport[s] Shakespeare’s tragedy to a poverty-stricken, drug ridden Scottish industrial town, turning the protagonist into a Swat commander and leaving the reader delighting in discovering how the Norwegian author has transposed everything from Hecate to Lady Macbeth.”
Arne Dahl’s Hunted has been shortlisted for the Dutch Thrillzone Awards 2018 in the category ‘Best Translated Thriller’. The winners will be announced on December 24th.
To see the list of nominees and to cast your vote, click “Read more” below.
Fredrik Backman’s Britt-Marie Was Here is the winner of a LiveLib Readers’ Choice Awards in Russia, taking home the prize for ‘Best Translated Fiction’. This means that the novel has qualified for the super final, in which the winners of all categories compete for a final award. The last day of voting is December 19th.
Click “Read more” below to cast your vote.
On the official bestseller lists for November, Lars Kepler and Lazarus come in at No. 1 in the hardcover, audio and e-book categories. Hjorth & Rosenfeldt’s A Higher Justice is No. 2 in the same three categories, and Jonas Gardell’s In Memory of an Unconditional Love is No. 4 in hardcover. Niklas Natt och Dag’s The Wolf and the Watchman comes in at No. 2 in paperback, and Anders de la Motte’s Dead of Winter is No. 4 on the e-book list.
The official bestseller lists for the last week of November have been announced, and Lars Kepler’s Lazarus is back at No. 1 in hardcover and audio. Kepler also places second on the e-book list. Hjorth & Rosenfeldt’s A Higher Justice appears at No. 4 on the hardcover list, additionally claiming the fourth and fifth place on the audio and e-book lists. Last in the hardcover category’s top five is Jonas Gardell and In Memory of an Unconditional Love, at No. 5.
The paperback list sees Stina Jackson’s The Silver Road shoot to No. 2. Jackson’s debut novel comes in fourth on the e-book list. Niklas Natt och Dag’s The Wolf and the Watchman also features on the paperback list, claiming the No. 3 spot.
Finishing this week’s bestseller list roundup is Ulf Lundell’s Weekdays, No. 3 in the audio category.
Denmark, Modtryk
Closed by Josephine Oxelheim
The Netherlands, House of Books
Three-book deal closed by Federico Ambrosini
North Macedonia, Antolog
Closed by Emma Granberg
Norway, Cappelen Damm
Two-book deal closed by Tor Jonasson
Slovenia, HKZ
Two-book deal closed by Emma Granberg
Germany, HarperCollins
Closed by Tor Jonasson
With impressive brilliance, Jørn Lier Horst ties together the two plot lines of a breathlessly thrilling criminal drama. It doesn’t get any better than this.
– Aftonbladet
A wonderful reunion with the crime hero. /…/ The playful language complements the great intrigue. (…) A crime novel that will excite many this summer. All of these will, just like the undersigned, be hoping for new sequel novels.
– Adresseavisen
A clever and engaging book, filled with warmth and spookiness.
– Smålandsposten
The Ghost Detectives and the Case of the Lost Treasure is an exciting adventure that won’t disappoint the loyal readers of The Ghost Detectives.
– BTJ
Beyond the Bridges may be a work of literary fiction and not a crime novel, but being the driven author she is, Kristina Ohlsson can’t resist crafting an intricate and gripping plot…
– DAST Magazine
‘Elizabeth the Third’ is a contemporary novel infused with suspense, delving into family relationships, the search for belonging, and a toxic friendship that changes everything.
