An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten

I've had the hardback edition of An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten sitting in my 'to be read' pile for several years now. I am finally happy to report that I read this slim collection of short stories by Swedish author, Helene Turston.

If you’re looking for a quick, deliciously dark read with an unforgettable protagonist, look no further than Helene Tursten’s An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good.

It was absolute perfection in print—compact, elegantly designed, and housing one of the most delightfully sinister leads I've read in a long time.

Meet Maud: Eighty-Eight and Unapologetic

At 88 years old, Maud lives alone in a spacious, rent-free apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden. She travels the world, avoids her neighbors, and cherishes her solitude. But Maud has a low tolerance for people who disrupt her peaceful life—and an exceptionally clever talent for making her problems... disappear.

What makes this collection so enjoyable isn't just the dark humor; it’s Maud herself. She isn't a frail, innocent grandmotherly figure, nor is she a cartoonish villain. She’s calculated, incredibly sharp, and fiercely protective of her peace. Whether dealing with an intrusive neighbor, an unwelcome former flame, or a greedy celebrity, Maud handles obstacles with a quiet efficiency that leaves you equal parts shocked and cheering her on.

The Delights of Short Story Antics

Because this is a collection of interconnected short stories, the pacing moves along at a brisk clip. Watching Maud scheme and execute her various shenanigans without ever raising the suspicions of the local police is pure entertainment. Tursten writes with a dry Swedish wit that keeps the tone light despite the body count, making it the ultimate comfort read for fans of cozy mysteries with a twist.

The hardcover itself feels like a little secret treasure to hold in your hands, making the reading experience even more satisfying.

An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good is a bite-sized, dark-comedy gem. If you love mischievous antiheroes, sharp writing, and stories where older women completely defy expectations, add Maud’s misadventures to your reading list immediately. Just make sure you stay on her good side!

I am giving An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

P. S. I had help from Google Gemini in writing this review.

Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline by Loretta Lynn

 

I've had Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline by Loretta Lynn on my reading wishlist for quite a while. It's the 35th book I've read this year. I'm happy to have finally read Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline.

I remember first learning about Loretta Lynn when I watched the movie, 'A Coal Miner's Daughter', starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones with my parents when the movie first came out in 1980. I'm not a huge country western music fan, but I did enjoy the songs from this movie. 

Later in life, I became quite a Patsy Cline fan. I love her songs/singing to this day. What a beautiful voice Patsy Cline had. She died way too young. When Loretta Lynn wrote a memoir about their friendship, I couldn't resist reading Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline.

Below is the publisher's summary for Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline by Loretta Lynn I discovered on the Goodreads website:

Loretta Lynn and the late Patsy Cline are legends--country icons and sisters of the heart. For the first time ever Loretta tells their story: a celebration of their music and their relationship up until Patsy's tragic and untimely death.

Full of laughter and tears, this eye-opening, heartwarming memoir paints a picture of two stubborn, spirited country gals who'd be damned if they'd let men or convention tell them how to be. Set in the heady streets of the 1960s South, this nostalgia ride shows how Nashville blossomed into the city of music it is today. Tender and fierce, Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust is an up-close-and-personal portrait of a friendship that defined a generation and changed country music indelibly--and a meditation on love, loss and legacy.

I am giving Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust: My Friendship With Patsy Cline by Loretta Lynn a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets

I had We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets on my reading wishlist for quite a while. I finally read the hardback edition earlier this month. This novella is a quick read at 138 pages. I wasn't sure what I was expecting with this novella when I first started reading it. However, it most definitely packs a punch and sends a powerful message about the perils employees face while work in stressful environments.

We Had to Remove This Post highlights the impact of social media in general and the working conditions of social media content moderators, which feels like an important topic to examine. 

The fictional employees featured in We Had to Remove This Post watch videos during their shifts at a company named Hexa. During their shifts, employees decide whether the videos they watch are allowed to be posted online or are taken down due to the video's content. 

The employees view some pretty horrific things while watching these videos. Over time, the employees seem to be effected by post-traumatic stress disorder due to watching videos during their shifts. Some of the employees turn to alcohol and drug use/consumption to cope with stress caused by viewing the views, some deal with insomnia or other sleep disturbances/issues due to watching these videos, and some display other disturbing behaviors.

We Had To Remove This Post is told through the point of view of Kayleigh. Kayleigh works at Hexa and so does her girlfriend, Sigrid. The focus is on Kayleigh's time at Hexa, how working at Hexa effects her negatively, how the work effects Sigrid and their relationship, and the effects on other employees too.

I think the author does a fantastic job describing the horrors of being a social media content moderator for such a social media company! I cannot imagine watching horrific video after video after video for hour after hour after hour over weeks and months. It must wreak havoc on one's psyche.

As much as the author does a fabulous job in describing the horrors of being a social media content moderator, it was all too much. Plus, parts of this novella were boring and felt disjointed. Maybe this is because We Had to Remove This Post is a translated work?

Below is the publisher's summary for We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets from Amazon's website:

Kayleigh needs money. That’s why she takes a job as a content moderator for a social media platform whose name she isn’t allowed to mention. Her job: reviewing offensive videos and pictures, rants and conspiracy theories, and deciding which need to be removed. It’s grueling work. Kayleigh and her colleagues spend all day watching horrors and hate on their screens, evaluating them with the platform’s ever-changing terms of service while a supervisor sits behind them, timing and scoring their assessments. Yet Kayleigh finds a group of friends, even a new love—and, somehow, the job starts to feel okay.

But when her colleagues begin to break down; when Sigrid, her new girlfriend, grows increasingly distant and fragile; when her friends start espousing the very conspiracy theories they’re meant to be evaluating; Kayleigh begins to wonder if the job may be too much for them. She’s still totally fine, though—or is she?

I am giving We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!