Monday, July 30, 2007

Lazy reading Sundays

My perfect Sunday starts when I make a big pot of coffee and then go back to bed and spend the whole day in bed reading. No matter the weather outside or piles of unanswered emails unwritten stories, dirty laundry and all other obligations, I can spend a full day in bed. Disappearing into the wondrous adventures of a heroine in need of an adventure or a hero struggling to believe in himself. The books at my nightstand are screaming for me to be read. “Stay in bed, read me, read me. I have something important to tell.” I really should stay in bed.
Or at least, the library calls and want their books back. I am such a hoarder of books. I keep them way past their due date and I keep renewing them. I still have to figure out that I can actually borrow one, return it when I am done with it, then borrow a new. Instead I have to have at least three different books at my nightstand. Depending on which mood I am in, I pick the right one. Except on my lazy Sundays when I try to finish them all.

However, these Sundays don’t come very often. Or rather, I don’t let myself enjoy these Sundays very often. There is too much that have to be done before next week starts. Why are there so many obligations? I should really apply for more free time. Where do you do that?

Yesterday was not a Sunday like that. Even though I wish it were so. This week is the first week back from my vacation therefore there was too many things to prepare. There simply was no time for me to lie in bed all day. But soon, when things are getting back to normal at work, I’ll have a lazy reading Sunday. Can’t wait. Make the coffee pot ready and fluff those pillows. Better stack the chocolate hideout as well.
Josefine

My recommendations: Tea Bag by Henning Mankell

Friday, July 27, 2007

Impulse shopping

Like I already told you in an earlier post, paperbacks are a must in summer Sweden. I have tried to resist it all summer but yesterday I fell for the temptation.
I picked up my sister at the train station and suggested to her that we go to do the bookstore before going home. Since she said she needed a book, I fast invited her to split a "take four for three" paperback book deal with me. As we strolled through the shelves I was soon standing with four book of my own, while my sister had picked out her two. This is why I can’t go to the bookstore very often and why there are so many unread books in my room. I always find so many good books that I just MUST have. Well, nothing else for me to do than chose two and leave the other two, (which I still intend to pick up the next time I am there).
Anyway, the books I got were the Plot against America by Philip Roth and the Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

I was very lucky too, and got a free sample from Peter James and Dan Hansén & Jens Nordqvist. It was books and authors I have never read anything of before and I let you know if they are any good.
Josefine

My recommendations: The plot against America by Philip Roth. I can never resist a good “what if” book.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

New Technology II – e-books

Last post I talked about CD books, I have now moved on to the next technological advances in the book world. E-books. Lately there seems to have been an increase of interest in e-books. An example is the libraries in Sweden, where you can borrow e-books. Also, there are publishers who only give out their books as e-books, meaning there is no official printed version of the book.

Despite the advantages of technology, I am a bit old school when it comes to books. I like to hold the book in my hand while I read.
There is however, one place where I think e-books can be very useful, at universities. As it is now textbooks are unnecessarily expensive and the book will be used for one semester only. Yes, you can resell it and someone else can use it, but I do think that e-books have better features than your printed textbook. Not only would it cost less, but you can also more easily search within the text to find the passage you need. At the end of the semester, you simply save the chapters you need and delete the rest (of course there are restrictions concerning copyright but as e-books become more common, this will be more clear)

Now to a somewhat different subject.
One of the most printed books in the world has gone online – The Bible. You can find it on voxbiblia.com. Here you can listen to the whole thing or for a fee download verses to your i-pod. It is not really an e-book, in the traditional version but I still think it is worth mention for those who like technology. I wonder if there is anything like that in other religions? Can you get the Koran or the Veda books online?
Josefine

My recommendations: Go to your library and see if they offer e-books, if not persuade them to do so!

Monday, July 16, 2007

New Technology – CD Books

Despite declining user statistics at libraries, there is one product which is increasingly sought after – Books on tape. People have become hooked on CD books, and so have I. Technology has taken us from the old large cassettes to the more compact CDs and MP3 files. They have become so popular that in some cases, they are now released at the same time as the printed version.

I bike and use public transportation a lot, and for those times, instead of listen to music in my old portable CD player I listen to a book. I am sure that there are several commuters who can relate to this. It is so easy and it makes the time pass quickly.
Right now I read/listen to Wilhelm Mobergs classic epic Emigrant. It is a series I have wanted to read for many years, but there never seems to be any opportunity to do it. This is why I was so happy to find it on CD at my local library.
But there are also times when I regret that I borrowed the CD instead of the printed version. One time I borrowed Patricia Cornwells book Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed. It was a book that was difficult to comprehend when only listening, I wish that I could have seen the words to actually get a grip of what she meant and how she came to the conclusions she did.

I believe CD books are just another transition away from printed books, which brings good and bad things. Next thing is the e-book and the P.O.D. (print on demand), which by the way something the Rejecter discusses in her blogg. Please send me you comments, on CD books vs. printed books and where you think this is going. I love to hear from you.
Josefine

My recommendations: Michael Shaara. The Killer Angels. The CD book narrated by George Guidall who does an awesome job.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Bookcrossing

I am now on a three-week vacation from one of my jobs. Wonderful. I hope this I will give me some time to go through the pile of books laying on my nightstand waiting to be read.

I am always interested in finding out what other people read. This is where you often get the best suggestions. I often ask family and friends. Another thing I do is to look at the return shelf at my local library. There are usually a lot of crime novels, which is not really my favourite genre to read, but during the school year there is always a lot of great nonfiction.

Another great concept is bookcrossing, which is a way to find and send out books into the world. The word even has its own entry in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. “the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise," Concise Oxford English Dictionary. At Bookcrossing.com you can even track the books you find or the books you released.
When I backpacked trough Europe last summer, my friend and I did our own bookcrossing. We both started with several books. On the road, we left the ones we had and picked up new at hostels, cafés and at other places. I once picked up a paperback from a trashcan at a train station in Spain. I was desperate for something to read and my friend spotted it. Without thinking twice I reached into the trashcan and grabbed it. People at the station starred at me like I was crazy but I didn’t care much. I was desperate for some new reading material and I thought it was a waste to throw away a perfectly good book. No worries, the trashcan was empty except for the book and an empty pizza box.
Josefine

My recommendations: The return of the dancing master by Henning Mankell.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Summer reading

It’s been a little while since I wrote the last time. It is like this when it’s summer and there is much to do during a short period. Summers in Sweden are not very long and the days of really nice weather are easy to count and there is so much you want to cram into those days. Visits to the beach, picnics, running and most of all read. Reading in the summer for me consists of two occasions, the beach during the day and the garden in the evening. What and where do you read in the summer?

For the book industry, summer is the time when paperbacks are sold the most. In almost every bookstore in Sweden, there is an offer to buy four paperbacks and pay for three. There are definitely advantages to paperbacks, they weigh less than their hardcover sisters and they cost less, much less. Nowadays most books come out in a paperback version as well, sometimes even at the same time as the hard cover editions. Paperbacks are great for those lazy days on the beach when you grab a book just before you head out the door with your bath towel and flip-flops. Some of my favourite beach reads are Sophie Kinsella, Marian Keyes and Philippa Gregory. They are funny, easy read books that don’t require you to think too much. Another thing I like about them is that you can put them down between swims in the ocean and chats with your friends without getting lost.

During the long light evenings of Sweden I like to sit outside, when the weather allows it, and read in the evening. This is when I take out the more “heavy” books. The ones that are too mind wrecking to read in the heat and sun on the beach. Right now I am reading Winston Churchill’s history of England, which is quiet interesting. There are four volumes and I am only at the first, The Birth of Britain. It is certainly not objective, but it is an interesting read from one man’s perspective of the building of the great British Empire.
Josefine

My recommendations: For the beach: Sushi for beginners by Marian Keyes, for the evening: Eine frau in Berlin (A woman in Berlin) by Anonymous.