Joan's Picks: The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons and Would that be Funny?

The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons by Karin Smirnoff: This is the latest book in the Millennium series which was started by Stieg Larsson who wrote the first three books, before he died. The estate then commissioned David Lagercrantz to do three more in the series and now there’s the next one, the first to be done by a woman. It’s more of that very gritty Scandinavian crime. Millennium magazine has finally hit the dust and Mikael Blomkvist is licking his wounds, trying to reconcile himself to a modern world of podcasts rather than the printed version - and travels north to see his daughter who’s about to get married to a very shady civil servant who’s involved in some shady goings on about the development of a new wind farm and what it will take to win the locals over and to persuade some landowners to sell to the developers. Turns out Lisbeth Salander is also in the area, having been asked to take on the care and protection of her niece, which is a job she’s entirely unsuited for and unwilling to perform. Really nice to be reading about her again.  Would that be Funny? by Lorin Clarke. Lorin is John Clarke’s daughter and has written a memoir about what it was like growing up with someone who was not only so very famous but also so incredibly funny, all the time. As many families do, they had their own language for things, some of which is hilarious - she gives lots of  words and the Clarke family definitions of them, it’s a bit like a secret society. John wrote his own book a few years ago, called Tinkering, but to read about him from someone who knew him intimately and has inherited his love of words and humour is really lovely. It’s a great tribute to him.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.