Review 735: On the Calculation of Volume IV

On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvej Balle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is the fourth installment of this series. Next one is due out in November. Maybe it too will be released on November 18th, the day that is repeated for the characters in this series. In this one we have many more people. Coordination and organization seem to fill this book. The progression of days that are counted seem to jump forward frequently, another hundred here and there.

A couple of philosophical points came out at me while reading these books about how the need to work is no longer there. What do you do with your time if suddenly you have everything you need, whatever you want? What do you do with your days that repeat over and over?

I found that enjoyed this installment slightly less than the previous books in the series, but I’m fully invested and cannot wait for the next books to come out. I want to see how this all plays out.

Previously Read books in series:

• Book 1: On the Calculation of Volume I
•  (5 stars) July.28-Aug.03.2026
• Book 2: On the Calculation of Volume II
• (5 stars) Aug.04-10.2026
• Book 3: On the Calculation of Volume III
• (5 stars) Aug.10-16.2026

Review 727: On the Calculation of Volume III

On the Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book is the third in the series, and following the pattern begins just after the previous book. I still feel like these books would have been better in one longer work instead of splitting these into smaller parts.

Tara Selter is still repeating the same day of November 18, but now she is not alone. She writes about how they met and what they spoke about when they first met, and much more. There is quite a lot going on in this volume.

There is a section here that repeats part of her pattern in the first book. I thought this lagged the story slightly, but it was entirely understandable.

It's hard to describe what the content is without spoiling the plot, and the discovery of what happens is one of the main draws for me in reading these books. I cannot help but wonder what will happen next.

I have noticed that the translator had changed with this third book from Barbara Haveland to Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell. The quality of the writing is similar, and I could not really tell there was a change other than it was stated in the book. Although, I cannot help but wonder why there was this change.

Previously Read books in series:

• Book 1: On the Calculation of Volume I
•  (5 stars) July.28-Aug.03.2026
• Book 2: On the Calculation of Volume II
• (5 stars) Aug.04-10.2026
• Book 4: On the Calculation of Volume IV
• (4 stars) Sept.01-06.2026 

Review 726: On the Calculation of Volume II

On the Calculation of Volume II by Solvej Balle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book is the second in the series and picks up right where the first book ended. Tara Selter is counting the days that have repeated November 18. In this book she tries to recreate a year of seasons. She visits her family for Christmas, then travels north for a winter. Then later south for spring and summer, staying in Europe. She is trying to trick herself that a year is passing instead of repeating the same day with the same weather.

In this book Tara becomes very interested in Roman history. With this she tries to navigate how to retain the items. A computer will erase all of her searches and saved documents. Things can disappear overnight, going back to where they were on November 17. Tara needs to train items to stay put by having them under her pillow or on the bed. In the case of a chair, she slept in it for several days. But things are not consistent either, just an oddity of this repeating of the same day.

This book ends with another surprise, and so I just keep reading. I love the details and the writing. The books are so short they go quickly, somewhat wish for a longer book instead of being broken into so many parts.

Other Read books in series:

• Book 1: On the Calculation of Volume I
•  (5 stars) July.28-Aug.03.2026
• Book 3: On the Calculation of Volume III
• (5 stars) Aug.10-16.2026
• Book 4: On the Calculation of Volume IV
• (4 stars) Sept.01-06.2026 

Review 723: On the Calculation of Volume I

On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Seeing this book cover around made me intrigued. I hadn’t read anything about the book, other than it is a translation and knew there are several in this series. I was pleasantly surprised by the book.

Tara Selter was on a book buying trip for her business with her husband Thomas. During this time away somehow, she got stuck in November 18. The day keeps repeating itself. Tara doesn’t end up doing the same thing over and over, at least that is not the description in the novel.

One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the descriptions, the level of detail. It reminded me somewhat of Karl Ove Knausgård and his autofiction series My Struggle. However, this is entirely fiction.

The book is short, too short really. It ends with a little cliffhanger of sorts where I had to know what happened next. Happily, I had the next book, volume II, with me as I was travelling. I’ve already finished that and well into volume III. I find this series of short books intriguing and a bit addicting. Unfortunately, not all are translated into English just yet so after the fourth I am going to have to wait.

Later Read books in series:

• Book 2: On the Calculation of Volume II
• (5 stars) Aug.04-10.2026
• Book 3: On the Calculation of Volume III
• (5 stars) Aug.10-16.2026
• Book 4: On the Calculation of Volume IV
• (4 stars) Sept.01-06.2026 

Review 632: Neither Here nor There

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Bryson goes to many different countries across Europe, mostly revisiting places he had been to before with a friend of his several decades earlier.

He tries for humor, it mostly doesn't work with me. The exaggeration for comedic effect was overdone. All that is okay. My main gripe with his writing is how the exaggeration was often done as a way to denigrate the place, or generalize the people. Of course, there is also the suffering of Bryson.

As I was nearing the end of the book I was starting to wonder if I will ever read another of his books. Maybe. The last couple places he visits had tipped in his favor. So often he was describing his everyday experiences, mostly complaining, but with the last couple of places he visited, there is a small amount of history.

These locations were part of the USSR that broke up when the soviet communism collapsed. When Bryson was in Sofia, a city in Bulgaria, the people were struggling; inflation was rampant and there was practically no food to be found, except for the few tourists in the only hotel in the city. This chapter he treated with a bit more humanity than I would have expected based the previous 90% or so of the book. But it did take him a minute to get there. It’s hard to be a comedian when faced with such dire circumstances.

I’m not unhappy I read the book. Bryson visited many countries I visited while on a brief European tour of my own a couple decades ago and this book reminded me of my own experiences, which does improve my impression.

Review 407: The Employees

The Employees by Olga Ravn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This short novella is heavy with ideas. It is a series of responses by employees, workers on the Six Thousand Ship. As we quickly find out, some are human, and others are humanoid. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

I found it interesting that each response is numbered, but not necessarily in order, yet generally moves forward. It makes me wonder about what is missing from the record.

It’s a fascinating book. Short enough to read in a day.