The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

How was your Christmas weekend? Merry, I hope! And I hope Santa brought you all the books you wished for. 

Please share the opening sentence (or so) from one of your new books with us here on Book Beginnings on Fridays. Or share from the book you are reading this week, or from a book that caught your fancy. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

"Just like a fucking cuckoo."

-- The Pale Criminal by Philip Kerr. 

Oh my! Excuse me. I didn't remember the opening sentence uses the f-word right off the bat like that. Like most litigation lawyers, I swear continuously. And I'm married to another litigator. So between the two of us, I'm so inured to profanity, I probably didn't even notice this opening sentence!

The Pale Criminal is the second book in Kerr's mystery series set in WWII-era Germany, featuring Bernie Gunther, a former police inspector turned private detective. I started it after Christmas since a hard-boiled crime book didn't strike me as how I wanted to commemorate the birth of my Lord. But this is one of the many, many series I want to tackle because the books have been lingering on my shelves and in the back of my mind for too long. 

I plan to move straight on to the next book in the Bernie Gunther series, which will count as my German book for the 2023 European Reading Challenge. If you want to join in and read books (of your own choosing) from different European countries, click through to the main challenge page for details. I've hosted the European Reading Challenge here on Rose City Reader for 11 years!

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS

Please leave a link to your Book Beginnings post, not the main page of your blog. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag.

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THE FRIDAY 56

Another fun Friday event is The Friday 56. Share a two-sentence teaser from page 56 of your book, or 56% of the way through your e-book or audiobook, on this weekly event hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

From The Pale Criminal:

Reinhardt Lange’s letters were written on the heavier weight of paper that only people in love bother to buy – the kind that costs so much it has to be taken seriously. The hand was neat and fastidious, even careful, which was more than could be said of the contents.

2023 European Reading Challenge -- MY SIGN UP POST & WRAP UP POST

2023 EUROPEAN READING CHALLENGE

COMPLETED

MY SIGN UP POST

This is my sign up post for the 2023 European Reading Challenge. If you want to join me -- and I hope you do -- please go to the main challenge page, here. You will find details and a Linky box to add a link to your own sign up post. You can play along through your own blog, a social media profile, or just in the comments on the Challenge pages. Join us to take the Grand Tour of Europe in books!

2023 is the 11th year of the European Reading Challenge and the 11th year I am signing up for the Five Star (Deluxe Entourage) Level to read five books set in different European countries or written by authors from five different countries. I have not been good about reviewing the books I read, but that may change as things slow down a bit for me at work (knock wood) and I have a little more time to play with this blog. 

MY ERC BOOKS

I haven't picked the books I am going to read for this challenge. The books in the photo above are some possibilities. As I read qualifying books, I will list them here. 

UPDATE: I finished the challenge by reading books set in 12 different European countries or written by authors from different countries. Four were books in translation, which is better than usual for me but I'd still like to read more books by non-American, UK, or Irish authors. 

1. The Big Four by Agatha Christie (UK)

2. A German Requiem by Philip Kerr (Germany)

3. Even the Dead by Benjamin Black (Ireland)

4. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (Sweden)

5. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (France)

6. April in Spain by John Banville (Spain)

7. The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade (Holland)

8. Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher (Czech Republic)

9. The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier (Italy)

10. Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (Poland)

11. Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery by Wendy Lesser (Norway)

12. War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Russia)

2023 European Reading Challenge -- WRAP UP PAGE

WRAP UP PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE, OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR POST

When you complete the 2023 European Reading Challenge at whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media profile.

A wrap up post can be very simple. You can do a separate post on your blog or social media platform. Or, if you participate in the challenge on your blog and just update your original post without doing a separate wrap up post, that's OK too. Just post a link to your updated post here. If you participate on social media, please do some kind of wrap up post listing the books you read and link it here.

OR LEAVE A COMMENT

If you want, you can also simply leave a comment below listing the books you read. Please include your name, the names of the books, the authors of the books, and the countries of the books.

WANT THE PRIZE? WRAP IT UP!

Without some kind of wrap up post, I don't have any way to know if you finished the challenge. I like to know so I can visit everyone. But it is more important if you are competing for the Jet Setter Prize. If you want to compete for the prize, you have to leave a wrap up post or I will have no way to know if you visited more countries than the other people competing with you. This is also why you need to identify the country of your book. I don't want to guess and I don't want to research. 

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries (but not as many as the winner), with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

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NOTE ABOUT DATES

You now have to finish reading all books by December 31, 2023. You have until January 31, 2024 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner as soon as possible after January 31, 2024.

2023 European Reading Challenge -- REVIEW PAGE

REVIEW PAGE

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please add links to your review posts in the Linky box below. Please put your name and/or the name of your blog or social media handle, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: Gilion at Rose City Reader, War and Peace, Russia.

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LINKS

When you review a book for the 2023 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog or social media account.

You do not need a blog to participate. If you review books on Instagram, Facebook, goodreads, or some other platform that generates a URL, you can add link to the review in the Linky box above the same as a link to a blog post. Please link to the review, not your profile page. If you have questions about how to find the URL for a social media review post, leave a comment to ask me, email me at gilion at dumasandvaughn dot com, or DM me on Instagram @gilioncdumas.

REVIEWS

You do not have to review books to complete the European Reading Challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. But if you do review books, please link your reviews here so other people can find them.

Also, if you want to win the Jet Setter Prize, you have to review the books. Only books reviewed count for the prize. If you are competing for the prize, definitely link your reviews here. You can link all your reviews, but only one book per country counts towards the prize.

WRAP UP

If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge. If you do not do a wrap up post separate from your sign up post -- you just update your original post -- that's fine! But please, please, please link to the updated post after you finish the challenge. It is too hard for me to count all your reviews to figure out if you finished the challenge or not.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

You have to finish reading all books by December 31, 2023. You have until January 31, 2024 to finish your reviews and your wrap up post. I will announce the winner(s) as soon as possible after January 31, 2024.

Christmas!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, King James Version:

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.