Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Mirror Shoulder Signal
Mirror Shoulder Signal | Dorthe Nors
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
Kazzie
Mehso-so

Very strange. Good writing, but often difficult to understand the bigger story. The protagonist was irritating at times. But I think her character development improved

review
lauraisntwilder
post image
Pickpick

This ticked all the right boxes for me. I don't think I'm very much like Sonja, the main character, and I've certainly made different choices with my life. Still, the way she remembers the wilderness she grew up in and the way she feels somehow separate from everyone were extremely relatable. I read the last page in tears. I loved it.

review
Redwritinghood
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image
Mehso-so

This was a deep dive into a character that was quirky at times, but always very human and real. A woman in her forties tries to learn to drive. During this time, she thinks on her past when she was an odd child to the time when she is an odd adult. I liked that she didn‘t feel bad about herself, but was accepting of her strangeness. The book is meandering and somewhat plotless, though, which doesn‘t work for me. Good narration. #hoopla 3⭐️

61 likes1 stack add
review
saresmoore
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image
Pickpick

I really enjoyed my first read of 2020. This introspective, mostly plotless novel about a middle aged woman in #Denmark is a sort of melancholy delight. The writing is lovely and the main character‘s loneliness is balanced by her self-awareness. Her reminiscences and musings are in turns witty, poignant, and highly relevant. I appreciate most how relatable it is and how connected I felt to the setting.

#ReadingEurope2020

BarbaraBB This sounds real good. @Kalalalatja Do you know this writer? (edited) 5y
saresmoore @BarbaraBB It made me want to visit Denmark! Maybe not Copenhagen, so much, though. 🤔 5y
Christine You had me at “melancholy delight.” 😁 5y
See All 16 Comments
readordierachel Oh good! This is on my list. I really enjoyed her short stories 5y
emilyhaldi This sounds like my jam 5y
Librarybelle Sounds really good! 5y
saresmoore @Christine We‘re kindred spirits! 5y
saresmoore @readordierachel I‘ll definitely be getting that one. I love me some short stories and I could see Nors thriving in that medium. 5y
Kalalalatja @BarbaraBB I do know her, but haven‘t read this book by her. She is pretty popular in Denmark, so definitely a good pick! 5y
Reggie Lol, this has @Suet624 written all over it. Stacked!! 5y
Suet624 @Reggie Aww, Reggie, how right you are! Stacked. 😃 5y
batsy I've had this on my radar for awhile! 5y
LeahBergen Ooo, I‘M plotless and middle-aged, too! It sounds great! 5y
AMohamed Very good book review 😊 5y
98 likes12 stack adds16 comments
quote
saresmoore
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

“Folke‘s leaning over his desk. He‘s a tall man with a bald pate and a striking beard. His face is alive, open, and he‘s made a concerted effort with the beard. From his chin it tapers to a point, but elsewhere it‘s thick and bushy. It‘s as if the hair he once had atop his head has slid down under his chin, where it now points toward his other male hair...” 👇

saresmoore ”He extends his legs under the desk. They‘re long, and his driving-instructor gut bulges out beneath his hooded sweatshirt. Folke resembles a fat stork when erect and a happy pagan Viking when seated. Or else he just looks like himself, and Sonja likes that.” 5y
61 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
Well-ReadNeck
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image
Pickpick

This short novel in translation was surprisingly funny and deep. Completely devoured this one. #MountTBR

93 likes3 stack adds
blurb
Well-ReadNeck
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

#BookHaul

I‘m a few days late in posting this book haul. The last of the 2018 book buys - a book depository post-Christmas purchase. I‘m on a hiatus from buying (or at least buying more consciously - picking up my book club picks, etc). Focusing on reading down Mount TBR for a while!!

readordierachel Nice! I really liked Nors' short story collection 6y
sarahbarnes I‘ve been wanting to read this one! 6y
rwmg I got Diary of A Bookseller as something of an impulse buy 6y
108 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
andrew61
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

#nofemmeber #debbiedowner
I had absolutely no idea who this character is so had to check on line. So whilst i don't think sonja necessarily fits the bill as Sonja is a middle age woman suffering from anxiety who is learning to drive but i fought I'd just mention it as a book of translated fiction that i really enjoyed this year.

Billypar I really like the title! And the character sounds like an interesting one to spend a novel with. 6y
26 likes2 stack adds1 comment
quote
Lindy
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

It‘s tough in traffic not to think of death.

Dolly Cool photo. The earth seems to be swallowing the vehicle. 6y
Lindy @Dolly Thanks. I saw this old car when I was in Keno City (Yukon) in May. The place only has about 17 residents now that large mining operations have closed. 6y
batsy I've been nodding my head to all the quotes you've been posting from this Nors book! 6y
Lindy @batsy I think you would like this book. 😊 6y
44 likes4 comments
review
Lindy
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image
Pickpick

Clever, witty & surprising. ✔️
A deep dive into character and emotion. ✔️
Powerful & evocative. ✔️
No real plot. ✔️
Themes of urban isolation, anxiety and longing. ✔️
This novel translated from Danish is definitely my jam. Also, the MC has BPPV, a kind of vertigo I experienced for the first time earlier this year. #WIT

saresmoore Great review, Lindy! 6y
47 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
Lindy
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

“Your energy field is impaired. You have to let energy in through the crown of your head,” she added, and showed Sonja how to use her hands to form a funnel over her head. The energy was supposed to drip down into Sonja like boiling water through a coffee filter.

quote
Lindy
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

…she saw a display of snow globes, big ones. Inside the globes there were castles & landscapes of such majesty such as you would only encounter in America. Sonja stood arrested before the shop window. She laid her forehead against the glass. How her hands yearned to touch the spheres, to take them home, keep them secret in her cabinet. To shake them. Yes, to shake them & ascertain that reality could turn into fairytale with just a little jiggling.

Tanisha_A I like this write-up! 👌 6y
37 likes2 comments
quote
Lindy
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

It‘s hard to find clothes to fit the body you have, and it‘s hard to find words to fit the people you love.

52 likes1 stack add
quote
Lindy
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

Sonja‘s busy editing Gösta, so that the blackbirds he‘s conjured on page 10 don‘t turn into great tits by page 14.
“It‘s also important for a novel that a character have the same name throughout the entire work,” Sonja says. “Unless the name change has something to do with the plot, that is.”

blurb
Manieschaef
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image

I devoured this book - sooo good.

review
Booksnchill
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal | Dorthe Nors, Misha Hoekstra
post image
Mehso-so

Swedish author- short book about a translator of Danish crime fiction who has vertigo, no close relationships and is just trying to get her driver‘s license. 3⭐️ this was short listed for the Man Booker International Prize and I usually love those books but this one was flat on story for me.

Kalalalatja I didn‘t really enjoy it either, but I find this is often the case with literary Danish novels (Nors is Danish, take it from a Dane 😉). There‘s a minimalist trend in Danish literature, that to me often just feels superficial and flat 👎 6y
Booksnchill @Kalalalatja oops- Danish! Thanks for the insight! 6y
53 likes2 comments
blurb
Booksnchill
post image

Next library book up on deck- cannot remember where I heard the recommendation but I put it on hold then and here we are!

SandyW Impulse borrow.... My library had this available on overdrive, so there it does on my iPad, up 4th. 6y
charl08 Like your cover better than mine! 6y
Booksnchill @SandyW hope we both enjoy it! 6y
Booksnchill @charl08 where is yours from? 6y
charl08 UK. (Pushkin Press) 6y
58 likes2 stack adds5 comments
review
andrew61
post image
Pickpick

This is a curious book which grew on me as i slowly read about Sonja's, a forty something translator of sewdish crime fiction lonely life in Copenhagen as she tries to learn to drive. Saying much about life and its various meanderings i took a lot from this gentle story. Sad but rewarding and i hoped as i put the book down that my take on the end was positive.

21 likes2 stack adds
quote
charl08
post image

She wants to get free, utterly free, and so she has to take flight... Sonja pressed an elevator button in her mind. The doors opened and then Sonja departed skyward. While Jytte was grinding out her first butt under her shoe, Sonja disappeared from the picture unnoticed...

26 likes1 stack add
review
Abailliekaras
post image
Pickpick

I really liked this. Sonja navigates driving lessons & a lonely life in Copenhagen with a singular outlook, perseverance & dry humour. She‘s not where she is supposed to be, in more ways than one: the book is about her having the will to find herself. I had no expectations, but enjoyed the arthouse sensibility, strong writing & off-beat characters. It‘s not fast-paced, but is original & unsentimental. Amelie Nothomb meets Murakami?

32 likes1 stack add
blurb
Abailliekaras
post image

Starting this with a glass of Riesling. 👌📖

blurb
Abailliekaras
post image

I was won over by the blurbs for this book and I generally love everything by Pushkin Press. Also picked up Beloved for #ReadHarder and some books for the kids. #bookhaul #impulsebuy #bookbanfail 📚

bookloo I want it all. 😍 7y
Centique Oh wow! Those Little People Big Dreams books look fab. Must go and research them 😍 7y
JillR The Little People Big Dreams books are fab @Centique , we have the Chanel one :) 7y
See All 6 Comments
Abailliekaras @Centique they were too beautiful to resist (& great stories!). 7y
sisilia Yesss... Pushkin Press published beautiful books 7y
Abailliekaras @sisilia I agree! The covers alone, but great authors too. 7y
41 likes6 comments
review
ReadingEnvy
post image
Mehso-so

I get what the author is trying to do - feature a single woman, approaching middle age, showing her life - but I'm not sure it is successful. Pictured with fish tacos because.

Laalaleighh You never need a reason for fish tacos. 7y
Kboltz The fish tacos are a great addition! 7y
saresmoore And now I'm craving fish tacos! I miss California. 7y
72 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
Simona
post image

Sonja is the one from #allthesingleladies in the world, dissatisfied with her own life ... but eventually, she finds a way how to #beyourself

#junetunz #junebookbugs

Lacythebookworm I need to read my copy of this soon! 📚😊 7y
RealLifeReading Nice multitasking! 7y
Cinfhen Another challenge mashup 😍 7y
See All 6 Comments
Simona @Cinfhen I think, that my challenge could be - connecting all the challenges in the one post 🤔😅 7y
Simona @Lacythebookworm Unfortunately, this was just so-so book for me ... 7y
72 likes1 stack add6 comments
review
Simona
post image
Mehso-so

Introspective, quiet novel, atmosphere in the story is very melancholic, but not sentimental and in fairly simple prose, full of metaphors about unfulfilled life of Sonja, aged forty-something. Sonja is a loner, anxious, unhappy in the city, and she is looking for the meaning, connection with the family and the world. Nice, pleasant red, but unfortunately, as a whole – unsatisfying.

blurb
Simona
post image

I've been waiting for this book for almost two months ... and the longlist for #ManBookerInternationalPrize2017 will be completed ✅

merelybookish Wow! That's impressive. 7y
Simona Thanks, this year list is quite interesting and the majority of the authors were unknown to me. @merelybookish 7y
saresmoore Wonderful! 7y
See All 7 Comments
merelybookish @Simona any in particular you'd recommend? 7y
Vikz Looking forward to seeing what you think of this book 7y
Moray_Reads Oh I need this one! 7y
Simona @merelybookish If you like slow paced stories - Amos Oz, Judas. It's is my winner from this year longlist. And if you like more challenging stories - Yan Lianke - The Explosion Chronicles. It's a satire about growth/development in China. 7y
82 likes1 stack add7 comments
review
Aluciddreamstate
post image
Pickpick

4/5🌟. This is definitely a book for a certain age group. As Sonja tries to come to grips with her current life situation in her 40's, she realizes she has lost her way. Quick and lyrical.

18 likes1 stack add
blurb
Vikz
post image
7 likes1 stack add
blurb
Lacythebookworm
post image

#bookmail 🎉📚

saresmoore Ooh, I'm jealous! 8y
minkyb I ordered this about a month ago. Very excited to read it. I heard the author interviewed on a Guardian podcast. She was fantastic! 8y
readordierachel Dorthe Nors is the jam. Enjoy! 8y
See All 8 Comments
Lacythebookworm @saresmoore Have you read anything by her? 8y
Lacythebookworm @minkyb Oh, I'll have to download that podcast! Thanks for the heads up! 🙌 (edited) 8y
saresmoore I haven't, but I've heard good things about this one, of course. Do you have a recommendation of another from Nors? 8y
Lacythebookworm @saresmoore This will be my first! @ReadOrDieRachel Do you have a favorite? 8y
readordierachel I loved her short story collection 8y
85 likes8 comments
review
Gyldendal
Spejl, skulder, blink | Dorthe Nors
post image
Pickpick

Sonja kan ikke rigtigt finde koblingspunktet. Hverken i livet eller i bilen.

10 likes7 stack adds
review
books_boegerpaastribe
Spejl, skulder, blink | Dorthe Nors
post image
Pickpick

En af de bedste danske romaner, som jeg har læst længe.

2 likes1 stack add