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Correlations Trilogy #1
JULEBORD (The Holiday Party) - Book II : A Story about Recent Events - CORRELATIONS TRILOGY
Should chief investigator James Wiley Redding of the Norwegian Police suspect that any of the doctors working in the small rural hospital of Godshus, located where a fjord meets the North Sea, might be linked to the gruesome discovery made on a December morning after their annual Julebord (holiday party)? Much more whodunit than a diversified nordic noir novel, Julebord: The Holiday Party is laced with what life is like to work in a small rural hospital, where things and humans occasionally get dirty. Not merely a piece of - at times - a bit upmarket crime fiction, the story brings to the realization that in today’s small global village we are linked to each other in some way - whether we want to be or not and cannot hide from the events that affect us all.
Inspired by Julio Cortázar's Rayuela (Hopscotch) for the experimental aspect allowing the reader to choose their own reading path, D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover for explicitness, and social/political criticism of the current world, Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express for the plot of the mystery element and Alejandro G. Iñárritu's movie Babel for the interconnectedness of the multiple protagonists, Julebord: The Holiday Partytakes place between August 26th, 1960 and December 23rd, 2019 and is the first published stand-alone volume of the Correlations Trilogy.
Inspired by Julio Cortázar's Rayuela (Hopscotch) for the experimental aspect allowing the reader to choose their own reading path, D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover for explicitness, and social/political criticism of the current world, Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express for the plot of the mystery element and Alejandro G. Iñárritu's movie Babel for the interconnectedness of the multiple protagonists, Julebord: The Holiday Partytakes place between August 26th, 1960 and December 23rd, 2019 and is the first published stand-alone volume of the Correlations Trilogy.
- GenresMysteryMystery Thriller
Kindle Vella Story
First published July 13, 2021
6 people are currently reading
4746 people want to read
About the author
David Øybo
1 book37 followersWhen not busy either with his family, or working nights as an internal medicine doctor in hospitals on islands, the author is trying to finish the two remaining stories of the CORRELATIONS TRILOGY.
Should there ever be enough time and space, he would get one more cat besides Maša. A male Russian Blue. He would be named Vladimir Vladimirovich (VV). As Maša is a lady, VV would need to be castrated.
The locale this scribbler has chosen to call home on the dreary third planet of our solar system is the only city that truly deserves that designation: New York.
Apart from here on GOODREADS the author can be found on INSTAGRAM under correlations_trilogy - www.instagram.com/correlations_trilogy .
As he scribles and doesn't tweet (or does any 'x-ting') you will not really find him on Twitter/"X". He also doesn't like showing his face too much and therefore no Facebook.
At the moment he is really passionate about SPOUTIBLE - https://spoutible.com/correlations_tr... , but will be staying away from Threads.
Should there ever be enough time and space, he would get one more cat besides Maša. A male Russian Blue. He would be named Vladimir Vladimirovich (VV). As Maša is a lady, VV would need to be castrated.
The locale this scribbler has chosen to call home on the dreary third planet of our solar system is the only city that truly deserves that designation: New York.
Apart from here on GOODREADS the author can be found on INSTAGRAM under correlations_trilogy - www.instagram.com/correlations_trilogy .
As he scribles and doesn't tweet (or does any 'x-ting') you will not really find him on Twitter/"X". He also doesn't like showing his face too much and therefore no Facebook.
At the moment he is really passionate about SPOUTIBLE - https://spoutible.com/correlations_tr... , but will be staying away from Threads.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 22, 2025
I read a couple chapters of this. it's an interesting book just wasn't for me. I won it in a giveaway.
February 24, 2022
My favorite genre is the ‘whodunit’ mystery, particularly those that educate, discuss current and historical events and explore important social issues. There are so many positive elements to this book, it’s hard to know where to begin.
This cleverly plotted, multi-layered mystery starts off with a bang – the discovery of the chief physician of a small hospital dead on a beach in the isolated rural town of Godshus, Norway the morning after the annual Julebord. Dr. Boisen-Jensen’s body is quite mangled with limbs missing and gashes apparent. Most likely a victim of a shark attack, the police have no reason to suspect any of his physician colleagues may have been responsible when he convenes with them the following day to share the news of Jensen’s death.
So begins a deep global dive into the backstories of the six doctors (seniors, juniors, interns) who are currently employed at the hospital. With a timeline beginning in 1960, all of them by the Julebord of 2019 somehow end up in this Norwegian hinterland, some of them from Scandinavia, others from much farther away. Some of their paths happen to cross years before they ultimately make the decision to move to Godshus. Although doctors, who we tend to put on pedestals as the cream of society’s crop, these are still human beings with indiscretions and impulses. They are athletes, racists, homosexuals, sex addicts, mothers, fathers, cheaters, and victims too. Their individual backstories are all quite unique – both tragic and triumphant – but what they do share in common is a hatred for the chief physician and perhaps a motive for murder.
There are a number of ways to explore this novel and I decided on the ‘click’ or hopscotch method which had me bouncing back and forth between each of the doctor’s timelines. This kept things fresh and interesting because the element of exposition (i.e. information reveal) helps drive the excitement in the story. You are keen to find out what happens next in each of their lives. I read this rather long novel in less than 2 days which proves it’s quite the page-turner.
Authors are told to write what they know. As a doctor, Oybo obviously has a good grasp of the medical field (and it was enjoyable to read all the descriptions of medical terms and maladies at the end of each segment) but it’s also clear he is interested in global/current events, and he infuses his characters into so many of these high-profile disasters of the last half-century (the tsunami of 2004, 9/11, etc.). While educational, this manner of story-telling also helped to give great depth to each of the characters. Some of the criticisms of this book I found to be its strongest qualities.
I congratulate the author for experimenting with new ways in which to experience the novel. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as a straight read-through. I would highly recommend the click method, jumping between characters leading up to the final chapter where Jensen’s cause of death is finally revealed. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
This cleverly plotted, multi-layered mystery starts off with a bang – the discovery of the chief physician of a small hospital dead on a beach in the isolated rural town of Godshus, Norway the morning after the annual Julebord. Dr. Boisen-Jensen’s body is quite mangled with limbs missing and gashes apparent. Most likely a victim of a shark attack, the police have no reason to suspect any of his physician colleagues may have been responsible when he convenes with them the following day to share the news of Jensen’s death.
So begins a deep global dive into the backstories of the six doctors (seniors, juniors, interns) who are currently employed at the hospital. With a timeline beginning in 1960, all of them by the Julebord of 2019 somehow end up in this Norwegian hinterland, some of them from Scandinavia, others from much farther away. Some of their paths happen to cross years before they ultimately make the decision to move to Godshus. Although doctors, who we tend to put on pedestals as the cream of society’s crop, these are still human beings with indiscretions and impulses. They are athletes, racists, homosexuals, sex addicts, mothers, fathers, cheaters, and victims too. Their individual backstories are all quite unique – both tragic and triumphant – but what they do share in common is a hatred for the chief physician and perhaps a motive for murder.
There are a number of ways to explore this novel and I decided on the ‘click’ or hopscotch method which had me bouncing back and forth between each of the doctor’s timelines. This kept things fresh and interesting because the element of exposition (i.e. information reveal) helps drive the excitement in the story. You are keen to find out what happens next in each of their lives. I read this rather long novel in less than 2 days which proves it’s quite the page-turner.
Authors are told to write what they know. As a doctor, Oybo obviously has a good grasp of the medical field (and it was enjoyable to read all the descriptions of medical terms and maladies at the end of each segment) but it’s also clear he is interested in global/current events, and he infuses his characters into so many of these high-profile disasters of the last half-century (the tsunami of 2004, 9/11, etc.). While educational, this manner of story-telling also helped to give great depth to each of the characters. Some of the criticisms of this book I found to be its strongest qualities.
I congratulate the author for experimenting with new ways in which to experience the novel. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it as much as a straight read-through. I would highly recommend the click method, jumping between characters leading up to the final chapter where Jensen’s cause of death is finally revealed. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
January 6, 2022
Not quite Nordic noir
Julebord is billed as a whodunit, and tries to be an example of Nordic noir, but that's not what it is. At its core, it's a very detailed character study of six doctors working in a small hospital in Norway. During the holiday season, one of them turns up dead on a beach after a holiday party known as Julebord. The book then chronicles episodes in the life of each doctor, leading up to that fateful evening.
When reviewing, I usually start every book with five stars then deduct stars. In Julebord, the author includes copious endnotes in each chapter, detailing definitions of unfamiliar words, translations of passages written in languages other than English and other things the author deemed noteworthy. To his credit, the citations in the text were linked to the notes at the end of each chapter in the electronic version of the book that I read, making the notes easy to access, but I still found them jarring for the most part, taking me out of the flow of reading. For this, I deducted a star.
The story was structured as a prelude; i.e., events leading up to the incident on the beach; then six individual chapters detailing incidents in the life of each doctor, from childhood till present day; and finally, a seventh chapter that provides a denoument. The author tried to exploit the e-book format by providing multiple ways to read the book; by swiping the reader to read the chapter page by page as a traditional book, or by clicking links in the text to read about incidents in the lives of the various doctors in a chronological fashion, or by allowing the reader to choose some blend of the two. I chose to read in the traditional manner. The author also indulged in creative formatting of the text in a fashion seen in contemporary poetry, by varying fonts and the positions of words on the page. Again. like with the endnotes, I found this broke my reading flow, so I deducted a star.
But I had to add a star back for the tremendous detail of the character studies. I must say that I wasn't that interested in the life histories of most of these characters, but I could appreciate the tremendous amount of work and sheer brainpower that the author put into creating these characters in such vivid detail. The book also provided a glimpse into the culture of the far North, so it was back to five stars again.
I deducted the final star because I couldn't regard the book as a mystery as it was billed, but rather as a slice of life, albeit expertly done.
I think there is something in this story for everyone, and that in itself is praise that few books are worthy of.
Julebord is billed as a whodunit, and tries to be an example of Nordic noir, but that's not what it is. At its core, it's a very detailed character study of six doctors working in a small hospital in Norway. During the holiday season, one of them turns up dead on a beach after a holiday party known as Julebord. The book then chronicles episodes in the life of each doctor, leading up to that fateful evening.
When reviewing, I usually start every book with five stars then deduct stars. In Julebord, the author includes copious endnotes in each chapter, detailing definitions of unfamiliar words, translations of passages written in languages other than English and other things the author deemed noteworthy. To his credit, the citations in the text were linked to the notes at the end of each chapter in the electronic version of the book that I read, making the notes easy to access, but I still found them jarring for the most part, taking me out of the flow of reading. For this, I deducted a star.
The story was structured as a prelude; i.e., events leading up to the incident on the beach; then six individual chapters detailing incidents in the life of each doctor, from childhood till present day; and finally, a seventh chapter that provides a denoument. The author tried to exploit the e-book format by providing multiple ways to read the book; by swiping the reader to read the chapter page by page as a traditional book, or by clicking links in the text to read about incidents in the lives of the various doctors in a chronological fashion, or by allowing the reader to choose some blend of the two. I chose to read in the traditional manner. The author also indulged in creative formatting of the text in a fashion seen in contemporary poetry, by varying fonts and the positions of words on the page. Again. like with the endnotes, I found this broke my reading flow, so I deducted a star.
But I had to add a star back for the tremendous detail of the character studies. I must say that I wasn't that interested in the life histories of most of these characters, but I could appreciate the tremendous amount of work and sheer brainpower that the author put into creating these characters in such vivid detail. The book also provided a glimpse into the culture of the far North, so it was back to five stars again.
I deducted the final star because I couldn't regard the book as a mystery as it was billed, but rather as a slice of life, albeit expertly done.
I think there is something in this story for everyone, and that in itself is praise that few books are worthy of.
December 20, 2021
Think Grey’s anatomy: set in Norway.
When the chief doctor at the small Godshus general hospital in the middle of nowhere is found dead in the sea after the traditional Christmas office party, the inspector has no suspicions: an accidental death. But when he tells his colleague doctors face to face, something seems off. There’s no sadness on their faces, but rather… guilt.
Then we dive into the lives of the few doctors working at the hospital, starting from their childhoods up to the night of the office party(Julebord).
I particularly enjoyed the backstories of the doctors, because it made them very three-dimensional to me.
Usually when one reads a backstory, it’s about some character already well explained in the present moment. But in “Julebord” we get to know the characters before the culminating night.
The “villain” back story was not what I expected, but in a good way, just proving not to judge a book by its cover. There is more to people’s actions than we can see on the surface.
I enjoyed the author’s explanations of medical conditions, it was such an unexpected delight. Being a doctor myself, it’s always enjoyable to read literary explanations of illnesses for the reader to understand.
Choosing a favorite character would be hard, because the intimate way we get to know the doctors at the Godshus hospital makes it hard not to love them. Even their flaws are so well-written that you understand why they do the things they do.
I loved the overlap in the past of some of the characters, especially between Pia and Faiza.
It was so chilling to read about the last patient mentioned, the one with the covid-like symptoms in December 2019.
The unawareness of what is to come is well-written.
At first I was a bit put off by the number of pages, but in the end it was worth it! This book managed to grab my attention and keep it from start to finish. I like taking my time when reading, but I couldn’t do that here, since I was anxious to find out what happens next.
Highly recommend.
When the chief doctor at the small Godshus general hospital in the middle of nowhere is found dead in the sea after the traditional Christmas office party, the inspector has no suspicions: an accidental death. But when he tells his colleague doctors face to face, something seems off. There’s no sadness on their faces, but rather… guilt.
Then we dive into the lives of the few doctors working at the hospital, starting from their childhoods up to the night of the office party(Julebord).
I particularly enjoyed the backstories of the doctors, because it made them very three-dimensional to me.
Usually when one reads a backstory, it’s about some character already well explained in the present moment. But in “Julebord” we get to know the characters before the culminating night.
The “villain” back story was not what I expected, but in a good way, just proving not to judge a book by its cover. There is more to people’s actions than we can see on the surface.
I enjoyed the author’s explanations of medical conditions, it was such an unexpected delight. Being a doctor myself, it’s always enjoyable to read literary explanations of illnesses for the reader to understand.
Choosing a favorite character would be hard, because the intimate way we get to know the doctors at the Godshus hospital makes it hard not to love them. Even their flaws are so well-written that you understand why they do the things they do.
I loved the overlap in the past of some of the characters, especially between Pia and Faiza.
It was so chilling to read about the last patient mentioned, the one with the covid-like symptoms in December 2019.
The unawareness of what is to come is well-written.
At first I was a bit put off by the number of pages, but in the end it was worth it! This book managed to grab my attention and keep it from start to finish. I like taking my time when reading, but I couldn’t do that here, since I was anxious to find out what happens next.
Highly recommend.
August 2, 2022
Julebord is like nothing I've read before. It begins with a mysterious death and then immerses you into the lives of six of the most fascinating doctors working at a rural Nordic hospital. Each has an interesting backstory, having been shaped by significant historical events and/or more personal struggles. The character development is meticulously detailed, and while I typically would find this to be a bit of overkill, David's writing style and firm grasp of the human spirt left me wanting more.
It's clear that the author has a wealth of life experience--being a medical doctor, I can imagine he's experienced much of what he writes about firsthand. I happen to love reading about science/medicine in general, but what truly blew me away was how he wove these historical events into the lives of his characters. I found myself pausing while reading to learn more about events I'd only had a surface knowledge of and others I hadn't been aware of at all. Not only is David's knowledge of history and politics impressive, but he has a unique ability to see significant events from different perspectives via his characters, and that was a pleasant surprise. The story was also edgy enough that the history and medical parts weren't overwhelming.
The only thing preventing me from giving Julebord five stars is that the ending was...well, a little anticlimactic. I expected something bigger and felt a bit let down, but this could be because the rest of the story was disproportionately good. Either way, Julebord is a solid read for readers across many genres--history buffs, armchair doctors, travel fans, and mystery lovers, and I'm happy to have stumbled across it.
It's clear that the author has a wealth of life experience--being a medical doctor, I can imagine he's experienced much of what he writes about firsthand. I happen to love reading about science/medicine in general, but what truly blew me away was how he wove these historical events into the lives of his characters. I found myself pausing while reading to learn more about events I'd only had a surface knowledge of and others I hadn't been aware of at all. Not only is David's knowledge of history and politics impressive, but he has a unique ability to see significant events from different perspectives via his characters, and that was a pleasant surprise. The story was also edgy enough that the history and medical parts weren't overwhelming.
The only thing preventing me from giving Julebord five stars is that the ending was...well, a little anticlimactic. I expected something bigger and felt a bit let down, but this could be because the rest of the story was disproportionately good. Either way, Julebord is a solid read for readers across many genres--history buffs, armchair doctors, travel fans, and mystery lovers, and I'm happy to have stumbled across it.
December 5, 2024
Oh my, this was a really good book. Unexpected and unlike anything I ever read.
One of my Nordic Noir fan groups on Facebook alerted me to this free download on Kindle for one day only. I told my Nordic book group about it and had them download it. Then I felt the need to read it to report back. It seemed like a good time to read this, before Christmas.
The book starts out with the suspicious death on a beach in rural Norway. Come to find out the dead body was a doctor at the local rural hospital and he was last seen at the doctor’s Julebord the night before.
So the local police go to talk to the remaining 6 doctors about what happened the night before.
What ensues next is you can find out about each doctors life and what got them to the rural hospital. Or you could follow the timeline of each doctor by leapfrogging through the book. The kindle had helpful links to do this. At first, I was going to read the book in its traditional form, but decided to join in on the fun and read it by leapfrogging around as the author intended.
That made it confusing because I (A) didn’t know where I was in the novel. I like to see how close I am to being done. Hard to do when going forward and backwards through the book. Also (B) you had to remember to click the links at the end of each chapter to leapfrog your next point and not just turn the page. I had wondered if I forgot to do this and missed out on some information. And (C) once I dropped my iPad and lost my place in the novel, which was quite a disaster as I didn’t know where to pick the story back up. I eventually found my way.
After learning about all the characters and find out each person’s reasoning for hating the dead guy, the book concludes as normal with no hopscotching.
This book shows how the characters are all somehow interconnected and not just from working at the same hospital. And how we are all citizens of the world.
This is a first book in a trilogy. I have no idea how the story will continue. But I already know I’d like to read this book again to see if I missed pervious clues and maybe to make one of those interconnected charts to link characters with string!
One of my Nordic Noir fan groups on Facebook alerted me to this free download on Kindle for one day only. I told my Nordic book group about it and had them download it. Then I felt the need to read it to report back. It seemed like a good time to read this, before Christmas.
The book starts out with the suspicious death on a beach in rural Norway. Come to find out the dead body was a doctor at the local rural hospital and he was last seen at the doctor’s Julebord the night before.
So the local police go to talk to the remaining 6 doctors about what happened the night before.
What ensues next is you can find out about each doctors life and what got them to the rural hospital. Or you could follow the timeline of each doctor by leapfrogging through the book. The kindle had helpful links to do this. At first, I was going to read the book in its traditional form, but decided to join in on the fun and read it by leapfrogging around as the author intended.
That made it confusing because I (A) didn’t know where I was in the novel. I like to see how close I am to being done. Hard to do when going forward and backwards through the book. Also (B) you had to remember to click the links at the end of each chapter to leapfrog your next point and not just turn the page. I had wondered if I forgot to do this and missed out on some information. And (C) once I dropped my iPad and lost my place in the novel, which was quite a disaster as I didn’t know where to pick the story back up. I eventually found my way.
After learning about all the characters and find out each person’s reasoning for hating the dead guy, the book concludes as normal with no hopscotching.
This book shows how the characters are all somehow interconnected and not just from working at the same hospital. And how we are all citizens of the world.
This is a first book in a trilogy. I have no idea how the story will continue. But I already know I’d like to read this book again to see if I missed pervious clues and maybe to make one of those interconnected charts to link characters with string!
May 25, 2022
I gave this book five stars for two reasons. One, it’s a very good book. Two, the author tried to do something different. Create an interest, something unique. An experiment and he let us theh readers be a part of it.
The book is quite an impressive nordic crime mystery novel split into several points of view with quite incredible details. The author obviously worked hard and that’s commendable. And the more you keep reading, the more curious you get.
I would recommend this book for the two reasons I mentioned above – one, it’s a very good story, and two, it’s something different. Try it.
The book is quite an impressive nordic crime mystery novel split into several points of view with quite incredible details. The author obviously worked hard and that’s commendable. And the more you keep reading, the more curious you get.
I would recommend this book for the two reasons I mentioned above – one, it’s a very good story, and two, it’s something different. Try it.
May 29, 2022
This is the only book I’ve ever read (aside from academic tomes) that begins with detailed instructions for how to read it. The instructions are necessary because the author gives the reader a choice of reading order. Links within the text allow the reader to jump from character to character while moving through the book’s timeline. Ignoring the links and reading in page order takes the reader through each main character’s personal timeline, travelling each time from the 1960s to the fateful event of December 20th, 2019. And that isn’t the only way the author breaks all kinds of writing “rules.” The text is full of “footnotes” (actually links), which, although useful and sometimes interesting, interrupt the flow of the plot. Each scene is anchored to a specific real-world event, which is in some way relevant to the point of view character of that scene.
The preceding may be off-putting to some readers, but it mostly worked for me. The opening scenes present a dramatic and intriguing situation. A man is found dead in the ocean with part of one leg missing. A group of his colleagues react with apparent guilt. This is followed by biographical sketches of six individuals. Those chapters contains clues and shocking revelations that more or less explain what happened.
The dead man is the chief physician of a hospital in a small, remote community in Norway. The other main characters are also doctors, and therefore his colleagues. The author’s personal knowledge of and experience with medicine shows on nearly every page and enriches the plot. As does his knowledge of languages, cultures, and histories. I am in awe of the research and planning that went into constructing this book (not to mention formatting the text!).
Through the biographical chapters, the reader becomes intimately familiar with the six characters. Too familiar, in some cases. I found some of the characters more relatable than others. The first two “biographies” show scenes from childhood to middle age, in which individuals make career choices, meet their life partners, practice their professions, and deal with various life challenges. However, the focus in two other chapters is mainly on the characters’ sex lives, with the other stuff squeezed in around their sexual encounters, which are described in clinical detail. I was surprised by how boring these parts became. Those two characters were almost reduced to caricatures.
Despite this reservation, I found the plot gripping, especially when I began to notice how details in the various life stories linked up. There are many “aha” moments, some of which rely on unlikely coincidences. The author’s intent, though, is to show how people all over the world are linked in surprising ways, and the book certainly demonstrates that.
The preceding may be off-putting to some readers, but it mostly worked for me. The opening scenes present a dramatic and intriguing situation. A man is found dead in the ocean with part of one leg missing. A group of his colleagues react with apparent guilt. This is followed by biographical sketches of six individuals. Those chapters contains clues and shocking revelations that more or less explain what happened.
The dead man is the chief physician of a hospital in a small, remote community in Norway. The other main characters are also doctors, and therefore his colleagues. The author’s personal knowledge of and experience with medicine shows on nearly every page and enriches the plot. As does his knowledge of languages, cultures, and histories. I am in awe of the research and planning that went into constructing this book (not to mention formatting the text!).
Through the biographical chapters, the reader becomes intimately familiar with the six characters. Too familiar, in some cases. I found some of the characters more relatable than others. The first two “biographies” show scenes from childhood to middle age, in which individuals make career choices, meet their life partners, practice their professions, and deal with various life challenges. However, the focus in two other chapters is mainly on the characters’ sex lives, with the other stuff squeezed in around their sexual encounters, which are described in clinical detail. I was surprised by how boring these parts became. Those two characters were almost reduced to caricatures.
Despite this reservation, I found the plot gripping, especially when I began to notice how details in the various life stories linked up. There are many “aha” moments, some of which rely on unlikely coincidences. The author’s intent, though, is to show how people all over the world are linked in surprising ways, and the book certainly demonstrates that.
October 7, 2021
I love the way this was written. It was as if the author was not only giving us a story but an experience. Bonus too, we got a chance to learn about Norway and other cultures in subtle but surprising ways. The writing is well done and exquisitely detailed. The story is fast-paced and it might be confusing if you venture to take a crazier ride than I did. I decided to just read straight through. I'm sure if I read the story differently my experience of it would have been different, which is much of the fun in reading a story like Julebord.
The only downside to reading a story in this way (and why four stars and not five) is that it doesn't let you really marinade with the characters and their stories as they pertain to the plot. Instead, Julebord is like a ride or an experience where you only get flashes and glimmers of the whole thing and in reading it this way, too you only are allowed fragments of the characters and their stories. It's as if the constant shifting makes it hard to stay on course. Fun...but harder.
I liked the medical elements, they were interesting as a curtain was pulled back on a career I knew little of, so if one likes medical dramas this would be an exciting read. It was also sort of a mystery where the reader is constantly wondering how and why? Was the death a murder or an unfortunate accident? Were the doctors in a rural town involved? No one is innocent of indiscretion and bad judgment...these elements keep you guessing the whole time.
If you read the story the way I did you get each character in time jumps that piece together parts of their lives and their work that bring them to the night of the Julebord. The writing is very realistic and emotional, taken from a human perspective, not a dramatic one.
I really enjoyed the way this was written, the realness and the texture and tone of the story are very engaging and the whimsy of the writing conventions that include emails, schedules, random thoughts, rhythm, and cadence, is a fun way to read a story. I'm curious to read more of this author's work and see where he takes this story as it is a trilogy.
The only thing I struggled with is the story and understanding the characters on a deeper level, I was sort of craving that all the way through, a lot to read and process, but less to truly captivate you.
The only downside to reading a story in this way (and why four stars and not five) is that it doesn't let you really marinade with the characters and their stories as they pertain to the plot. Instead, Julebord is like a ride or an experience where you only get flashes and glimmers of the whole thing and in reading it this way, too you only are allowed fragments of the characters and their stories. It's as if the constant shifting makes it hard to stay on course. Fun...but harder.
I liked the medical elements, they were interesting as a curtain was pulled back on a career I knew little of, so if one likes medical dramas this would be an exciting read. It was also sort of a mystery where the reader is constantly wondering how and why? Was the death a murder or an unfortunate accident? Were the doctors in a rural town involved? No one is innocent of indiscretion and bad judgment...these elements keep you guessing the whole time.
If you read the story the way I did you get each character in time jumps that piece together parts of their lives and their work that bring them to the night of the Julebord. The writing is very realistic and emotional, taken from a human perspective, not a dramatic one.
I really enjoyed the way this was written, the realness and the texture and tone of the story are very engaging and the whimsy of the writing conventions that include emails, schedules, random thoughts, rhythm, and cadence, is a fun way to read a story. I'm curious to read more of this author's work and see where he takes this story as it is a trilogy.
The only thing I struggled with is the story and understanding the characters on a deeper level, I was sort of craving that all the way through, a lot to read and process, but less to truly captivate you.
September 18, 2021
This story was interesting for a variety of reasons. I've not read anything quite like it, really, and it took me a while to gather my thoughts to write a proper review.
It took me some time to get through it, because I spent days exploring the different ways to get from start to finish-the author has it set up to read straight through or to jump around between different times and perspectives in the story with the tap of a link-it all seems very confusing and you wouldn't think it could be done at first, but it all wraps up nicely in the end, and after jumping around and/or reading straight through, you can see how all of the characters and different events come together.
While the story was very wordy and I was lost to details in several places, I found myself wanting to know more about each character's story-it was almost like a collection of small soap operas devoted to each character, and they sort of left me wanting to know more about each one. That was not the way of this story though. It was meant to give insight leading up to the night of Julebord and then explain the mystery that tangled all of the characters.
I have not read a medical book that had quite so many examples of what it was like being a doctor in a foreign country and some of those stories were similar to the main characters' deals, leaving the reader possibly wanting to know more about the patients.
It was explicitly detailed, leaving nothing to the imagination regarding any of the players in the book-sex, some drug use, graphic explanations of patient maladies-lots of stuff that any medical guru would enjoy, I'd think.
4-stars, because the author really devoted a lot of energy into making sure this book was unique and I feel like, it is definitely that.
It took me some time to get through it, because I spent days exploring the different ways to get from start to finish-the author has it set up to read straight through or to jump around between different times and perspectives in the story with the tap of a link-it all seems very confusing and you wouldn't think it could be done at first, but it all wraps up nicely in the end, and after jumping around and/or reading straight through, you can see how all of the characters and different events come together.
While the story was very wordy and I was lost to details in several places, I found myself wanting to know more about each character's story-it was almost like a collection of small soap operas devoted to each character, and they sort of left me wanting to know more about each one. That was not the way of this story though. It was meant to give insight leading up to the night of Julebord and then explain the mystery that tangled all of the characters.
I have not read a medical book that had quite so many examples of what it was like being a doctor in a foreign country and some of those stories were similar to the main characters' deals, leaving the reader possibly wanting to know more about the patients.
It was explicitly detailed, leaving nothing to the imagination regarding any of the players in the book-sex, some drug use, graphic explanations of patient maladies-lots of stuff that any medical guru would enjoy, I'd think.
4-stars, because the author really devoted a lot of energy into making sure this book was unique and I feel like, it is definitely that.
May 12, 2022
David Oybo's tour de force, Julebord, is a book which can be read on many levels.
It’s an experimental, multi-modal text, and an innovation on the traditional Nordic noir whodunnit, where the reader is invited to engage with the first few chapters in a traditional, linear way. But as there is a death at the centre of the plot, and a number of parties who may or may not be involved (no spoilers) the text then moves into the possibility of the reader engaging with some or all of the character-driven storylines, and shifting between characters to enrich the experience and gain alternative perspectives, before finally reverting to a linear denouement. I was interested and engaged by this approach, and even though I don’t have access to Kindle Vella, I found it easy to flick between storylines because of the flawless flagging of links. I imagine the author has a wall somewhere covered in sticky notes and bits of string, to make sure it all works…
Julebord works on other levels, too. The different voices in the piece work together to form a choral kind of commentary on events of the second half of the twentieth century up to today, with different life experiences and real-life events affecting the character’s lives. The characters also move in and out of each other’s lives in a ripple effect which has consequences, both serious and marginal. The presence of history, both personal and world, is felt in the present and presence of the story’s characters.
I think Julebord is a fantastically well written, researched, imagined and sustained piece of fiction. I can imagine it being studied by literature students as an exemplar of how new technology and good old fashioned storytelling can be brought together to fantastic effect.
It’s an experimental, multi-modal text, and an innovation on the traditional Nordic noir whodunnit, where the reader is invited to engage with the first few chapters in a traditional, linear way. But as there is a death at the centre of the plot, and a number of parties who may or may not be involved (no spoilers) the text then moves into the possibility of the reader engaging with some or all of the character-driven storylines, and shifting between characters to enrich the experience and gain alternative perspectives, before finally reverting to a linear denouement. I was interested and engaged by this approach, and even though I don’t have access to Kindle Vella, I found it easy to flick between storylines because of the flawless flagging of links. I imagine the author has a wall somewhere covered in sticky notes and bits of string, to make sure it all works…
Julebord works on other levels, too. The different voices in the piece work together to form a choral kind of commentary on events of the second half of the twentieth century up to today, with different life experiences and real-life events affecting the character’s lives. The characters also move in and out of each other’s lives in a ripple effect which has consequences, both serious and marginal. The presence of history, both personal and world, is felt in the present and presence of the story’s characters.
I think Julebord is a fantastically well written, researched, imagined and sustained piece of fiction. I can imagine it being studied by literature students as an exemplar of how new technology and good old fashioned storytelling can be brought together to fantastic effect.
July 31, 2021
This is amazingly written story about a small hospidal staff in Godshus, Norway. Taking place in several medical personel perspectives during the most important moments of their lives up to the incident on December morning.
For me, discovering how each and every character was conected to each other and to the incident on one December morning was the best part of the book. The way this book is set up is unique on its own way and every page is full of new discoveries. All of the medical crises and hospidal scenes are masterfully written, and of course they were, David Øybo is writing through his own ecperience as a doctor and his deep knowledge of the field shows through his writing. It really pulls you in! I don't really often watch the hospidal shows, but I've seen Dr. House and some of the scenes truly reminded me of that series.
Even as the warning lable says the actions of the characters may be disturbing or offensive, the characters themselves are incredibly well written, realistic - they are human and have the basic human needs and motivation and the author has portrayed them all in perfect clarity.
As a bonus, the book introduces many Norwegian customs and treats that I absolutely loved learning about. Being from Northern Europe myself I feel more connected to Norway, Sweeden and Finland than most, but I believe that even if you don't much care for the coutry itself you'll find something intriquing and intresting in the book!
Whether you are interested in a mind blowing mystery, medicine or Norwegian culture, Julebord (The Holiday Party) is a book for you!
PS: I still want to try krumkake!
For me, discovering how each and every character was conected to each other and to the incident on one December morning was the best part of the book. The way this book is set up is unique on its own way and every page is full of new discoveries. All of the medical crises and hospidal scenes are masterfully written, and of course they were, David Øybo is writing through his own ecperience as a doctor and his deep knowledge of the field shows through his writing. It really pulls you in! I don't really often watch the hospidal shows, but I've seen Dr. House and some of the scenes truly reminded me of that series.
Even as the warning lable says the actions of the characters may be disturbing or offensive, the characters themselves are incredibly well written, realistic - they are human and have the basic human needs and motivation and the author has portrayed them all in perfect clarity.
As a bonus, the book introduces many Norwegian customs and treats that I absolutely loved learning about. Being from Northern Europe myself I feel more connected to Norway, Sweeden and Finland than most, but I believe that even if you don't much care for the coutry itself you'll find something intriquing and intresting in the book!
Whether you are interested in a mind blowing mystery, medicine or Norwegian culture, Julebord (The Holiday Party) is a book for you!
PS: I still want to try krumkake!
January 11, 2022
Julebord is interesting in that it tries to be clever in places where it doesn’t really need to be. The choose your own adventure thematic works well with the Kindle format, but unlike the CYOA genre, you don’t come to a grizzly end, you just get extra context and backstory. It’s cool to play around with formats, but the work has to stand on its own. And it does! I appreciated how the writer let you develop some familiarity with the characters before starting the jumping around, but even as a straight read it was engaging. The Norway hospital setting was perfect for a dark whodunnit story (based around an office holiday party) and the environment really came to life in the writing. The dialogue felt natural, and the challenges of living in a small town were brought starkly to the forefront when something unspeakable happened.
Through flashbacks and cutaways, the reader explores the lives of six doctors from the local hospital, always leading up to the holiday party — and the death of one of them. Their lives are vividly told and the attention to detail is breathtaking — explicitly so, in some cases — and it did leave you wanting more.
In some places, the book could have used a stronger edit — while I appreciate notes for words I don’t know, signposting “bro” (among others) is really unnecessary. I also feel some of the joy is reading is that you don’t have to know what a specific surf term is.. the text normally helps you understand what’s happening, so this felt extraneous. I’m excited to see what the author comes up with next!
Through flashbacks and cutaways, the reader explores the lives of six doctors from the local hospital, always leading up to the holiday party — and the death of one of them. Their lives are vividly told and the attention to detail is breathtaking — explicitly so, in some cases — and it did leave you wanting more.
In some places, the book could have used a stronger edit — while I appreciate notes for words I don’t know, signposting “bro” (among others) is really unnecessary. I also feel some of the joy is reading is that you don’t have to know what a specific surf term is.. the text normally helps you understand what’s happening, so this felt extraneous. I’m excited to see what the author comes up with next!
September 11, 2021
After starting this book, the author has added a warning page where he tells what to expect from this book after the first few pages. The warning just intrigued me, and I was even more excited to start reading it.
And boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise. The author has written the characters with such excellence that you feel as if you can see these characters while reading the story. This is what I look for in a book to visualize the characters and scene, which offers.
When I started this book, I watched "The Good Doctor," which made reading even more fun as the hospital scenes in the book became so much real for me. I didn't know that the author, David Øybo is a doctor, but once I did, I could understand why the hospital scenes and the medical procedures stand out, as they come from his own experience.
Now coming to the plot. Wow! A mystery mixed with medical drama! It gripped me from the start, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I highly recommend this book by David Øybo.
And boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise. The author has written the characters with such excellence that you feel as if you can see these characters while reading the story. This is what I look for in a book to visualize the characters and scene, which offers.
When I started this book, I watched "The Good Doctor," which made reading even more fun as the hospital scenes in the book became so much real for me. I didn't know that the author, David Øybo is a doctor, but once I did, I could understand why the hospital scenes and the medical procedures stand out, as they come from his own experience.
Now coming to the plot. Wow! A mystery mixed with medical drama! It gripped me from the start, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I highly recommend this book by David Øybo.
October 18, 2021
I really liked this book! I will admit that, the author explained how read the story, and at first, I found it a bit awkward. But, after I got over that hump, I got sucked right in. Even though I followed the story (the way the author suggested) all the way though, afterwards, it was so well written, I went back to discover all the the other way the story could have lead. Doing that actually felt like discovering a Tarantino film in a way, bringing me back to the days when I was a kid reading the chose your own adventure books which I was a big fan of.
Aside from the way I read it, the plot and style of reading is just fantastic. Having been to school and partially in the medical field, a real big fan of the show ER (and others), I could really relate to the story, characters, and plot, of in the medical setting, and enjoyed the realistic approach to the characters and how they react in the medical setting.
Great read, and will look out for the author in the future!
Aside from the way I read it, the plot and style of reading is just fantastic. Having been to school and partially in the medical field, a real big fan of the show ER (and others), I could really relate to the story, characters, and plot, of in the medical setting, and enjoyed the realistic approach to the characters and how they react in the medical setting.
Great read, and will look out for the author in the future!
June 22, 2025
Sort of an adult Choose Your Own Adventure book. The story starts with the mysterious death of a doctor in a small Norwegian town. The other 6 doctors all seem guilty of something. What follows next is up to the reader. - Turn or Flick. If you opt to turn you read a chapter devoted to each of the doctors. If you flick, you proceed in a chronological fashion that spans from 1960’s to the night of the event in December 2019..
I opted to flick which helped me since I could pick up on related incidences and see how the characters lives were intertwined. While I normally like to know where I am in a book and how much longer I have to go, that wasn’t possible with the flick approach. Kind of nice to just get into a book and get caught up in the stories.
It was a bit too coincidental that some of the doctors ended up in this town, but I guess it shows how small the world can be.
I opted to flick which helped me since I could pick up on related incidences and see how the characters lives were intertwined. While I normally like to know where I am in a book and how much longer I have to go, that wasn’t possible with the flick approach. Kind of nice to just get into a book and get caught up in the stories.
It was a bit too coincidental that some of the doctors ended up in this town, but I guess it shows how small the world can be.
August 31, 2024
JuleBord is a unique novel with its multiple POV's and 2 ways to read the book - turn and flick. This offers readers a unique way to read the novel and engage in the story. Simply turn each page and read it in its entirety. Or, read like a "choose your own adventure" so that you can read segments of the story. This provided a unique way to see multiple POV's and build on one's perspective. I really enjoyed this unique styling and found it added to the reading experience. I would recommend having a physical copy for great ease in reading.
June 5, 2024
An interesting format in that you can read the book in one of two ways, namely that you can follow each character one at a time from early on until the crime or you can follow all the suspects at the same time in a chronological order. I liked the footnotes that helped explain some of the elements that were peculiar to Norway. The author apparently believed that the sex was essential to the story but I believe that he went overboard.
September 24, 2025
What a really refreshing read. I read many mysteries, most of them written decades ago (Josephine Tey and Georges Simenon are favs), and I love them. But occasionally it is nice to read something new. And not only is this new, it is really terrific. I won't put any spoilers here, but there is one thing that caught my attention in this book, which brings to mind a device used by Agatha Christie... I would probably give this 4.25 stars.
February 4, 2025
I liked the premise of this book - although I do think a lot of sexual encounters were unnecessary, they did not add to the story. I had wanted to use this type of book (choosing your own path to read the story) for a book club I sometimes host. But the detailed sexual chapters have knocked this out of the book club contenders.
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