Last Post

I have decided to close this blog in favour of the blog focusing on my writing.
If you want to come along on my journey to (hopefully!) become a published author, please come and join me in my writing chair and watch me getting to the end.
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The Portugese Empire

I did not know much about the Portuguese empire, which is really a shame, considering how interested I am in other great empires in the world. The condition on the small islands of Sao Tomé and Principe was delicate to say the least during the late 19^th and early 20^th century. Slavery was abolished all over the world. Portugal together with the other great powers had signed treaties to that effect. Still it seemed as if slavery existed on these tiny islands in the Atlantic, why was otherwise so few people returning to their birth place in Angola.
In the Equator by Miguel Sousa Tavares, Luis Bernardes is sent out as the new governor to the islands, to convince the English that slavery did not exist, except he can't really lie about what he sees, can he?
The story is well researched and well balanced between fiction and fact and I felt I'd learnt something new when I finished the book.
Josefine

Title: Equator Author: Miguel Sousa Tavares ISBN: 978-0-7475-9662-2

Hunting and gathering - The book or the film?

I find it interesting with books that are made into films (that's why I bring it up so many times here) but I try to read the book first, as most of the time I find the book is better.
In my last post, I wrote about the book Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda and the evening I finished the book I also saw the film (with the same name). The film stars one of my favourite actresses Adurey Tautou and had I seen just the film, I think I would have liked it more, but as always with making films from a book, cuts are made.
Unfortunately the film lost so many of the small nuances Gavalda is so good at portraying that make the three main characters more complex. What I missed the most were Camille's painting, there was so much more emotions in her paintings and I would have loved to see Mamadou's full outfit when she finally comes to sit for Camille.
Josefine

Title: Hunting and gathering Author: Anna Gavalda ISBN: 978-91-0-010605-4

Hunting and Gathering

Oh, these French authors, they have a way of playing with language, words and sentences. I wish my French was better because I suspect there are nuances that doesn't quite make it through the translation.
Hunting and gathering by Anna Gavalda (The title in English does not sound as poetic as the French Ensmble, c'est tout loosely translated Together, that's all, or in Swedish, Tillsammans är man mindre ensam, loosley translated Together you're less alone) is my first book of this writer, but I am already looking forwards to read more from her.
I am also looking forward to see the film with Audrey Tautou, but more about that in the next post.
Josefine

Title: Hunting and gathering Author: Anna Gavalda ISBN: 978-91-0-010605-4

Lives of a quiet desperation

Revolutionary Road – Book or Film?

Richard Yates book Revolutionary Road was one of the best books I read last year and I can't believe I'd missed that there is a film based on the book with Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet. So of course I had to rent it.

Where the book fails to capture April Wheeler's all emotions, I think the film highlights 1950s women loneliness better, watching the film, it felt as I was as reading  Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique again. The quiet desperation of many women's lives in the 1950s.
It's a difficult choice to pick the book or the film,they are both exceptionally well executed and I don't think you'd be disappointed picking up either of them.
Josefine

Title: Revolutionary Road Author: Richard Yates ISBN: 978-0-413-75710-4

Juliet, Naked

I read Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby in the beginning of summer, but haven't gotten around to write about until now. I think it is the kind of book that needs to sit for a while in my brain and sink in to really appreciate it. What drew my first to this book was the cover art, which reminds me a bit about the opening scenes to one of my favourite films, Juno.
It's a story about obsession and what it can do to you. How it changes your life, a slightly sad and depressing book, but somewhere in it there is also happiness.
Josefine
Title: Juliet, Naked Author: Nick Hornby ISBN: 978-0-141-02064-8

The Peach Keeper

Ok I promise this will be the last chick-lit post for a while now. But I can't help but to mention the latest book I've read from one of my favourite authors, Sarah Addison Allen.
Sarah Addison Allen is an author I come back to again and again. Her two previous books The Sugar Queen and Garden Spells left me with such a nice fuzzy feeling so I had high expectations of The Peach Keeper and as always Addison Allen delivered.
To me, that is what makes a favourite author, you can go back to them over and over again, and they always deliver.
Josefine
Title: The Peach Keeper Author: Sarah Addison Allen ISBN: 978-1-444-70667-3

Reliability

Sheila O'Flanagan's Bad behaviour is what I think of as an ordinary chick lit book. You pick it up at the airport, train or petrol station before leaving for your holiday. You know what to expect and O'Flanagan delivers just that. There are no surprises, good or bad, it is just a consistent, entertaining, well written book throughout. And sometimes that is exactly what you need!
Josefine
Title: Bad behvaiour Author: Sheila O'Flanagan ISBN: 978-0-7553-3218-2

Coleman's best so far

I go through periods when I read much from the same genre and a couple of weeks over the summer, it was chick-lit. This time there was a mix of authors I've read before and some new. First Cally Taylor's début novel Heaven can wait, then there were books by Rowan Coleman, Sheila O'Flangan and Sarah Addison Allen all authors I've read before.
Lessons in laughing out loud by Rowan Coleman is the third book I've read from her and I must say I think it is the best of her books so far. It had a bit of a dip towards the end, but then it picked back up again in the last chapters to end quite well.
I am still waiting for my library to purchase her newest book Happy home for broken hearts.
Josefine
Title: Lessons in laughing out loud Author: Rowan Coleman ISBN: 978-0-09-955126-3

Can heaven wait?

I've read much about Cally Taylor's first novel Heaven can wait, following her path to publishing through her blog and was prepared for an uplifting chick-lit book. What I was not prepared for, was it to be so sad. Some parts of the book are funny and witty, then there are so many parts that are heartbreakingly sad. However, the best features of the book, is that Taylor nails each and everyone of the emotions. I can sense what each and everyone of the characters are feeling and that makes me care about them and their stories, turning the pages wanting and needing to know how it ends.
In short, it is a wonderful book. It took me a long time to get to this novel (my list of books I want to read, never seems to shorten) but when I read it, I was a bit gutted I had waited so long to get to it. Her second novel Home for Christmas is on my to read list as well, and hopefully I'll get to it sooner, I might just bump it up a bit.
If you want to see what Taylor is up to (including being a new mum) you can find her website here.
Josefine
Title: Heaven can wait Author: Cally Taylor ISBN: 978-1-409-10323-3

A case of TELLING not SHOWING

The first few pages of Grace and Disgrace by Susi Osborne started off really well. The pace was high, something was constantly happening and I felt as if I was in the kitchen with the family, taking part in their chaotic life. Then it started to slacken off and slowed down further and further, until it finally came to a grinding halt. And that's where I stopped caring about the characters.
I soon discovered the problem with the book, why it slowed down so much. It was because Osborne had gone from SHOWING the characters to TELLING me what they were doing. It can really put a break to any great plot line.
Another part of the book that was really disturbing were the sex scenes. It is almost as they were put in afterwards to spice up the book. Two sentences of TELLING of heavy thrusting could have been made into a paragraph of SHOWING loving and caring.
Am I being to harsh about the story? After all I didn't even bothered to finish the book. Perhaps. I do think however, the book helped me realise a lot with my own feeble attempts at writing fiction. Not even a good plot line can rescue bad writing.
Josefine


Title: Grace & Disgrace Author: Susi Osborne ISBN: 978-1-84624-463-6

Good Crime

I am not the biggest fan of the crime genre. I think many of the books become static and uninteresting, where the same team of protagonists solve the same type of crime in book after book, with some personal stories thrown in to give the characters some “heart and soul.” I know I don't like them, and therefore choose to stay away.
However, after listening to an author talk by Dan Waddell at my local library, I decided to try his book The Blood Detective. Waddell manages to write a crime story with a different twist, combining his knowledge about genealogy (he was one of the researchers for the BBC programme Who do you think you are?), with a great crime story. And of course, living close to the scenes of the crimes, and following him along the streets of Notting Hill and Notting Dale, appeals to me even more.
The Blood Detective is a really good book that I would recommend to everyone who's looking for something different from the crime genre.
Josefine

Title: The Blood Detective Author: Dan Waddell ISBN: 978-0-14-104098-1

Stereotypes - The American South

Back again. Master Thesis is handed in and the Olympics is over for another quadrennium. I have not been idle during the time I have been off and in the coming weeks, a selection of the books I have read will be discussed. Join in the discussion in the comment box below.
I have recently read two book about the American South and some of the stereotypes that exists about that part of the USA. The books, A redbird Christams by Fannie Flagg and Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson are both very well written and the stereotypes are not as noticeable unless you look for them. Both books have shown me that just because it highlights some of the stereotypes doesn't necessarily mean that the book in itself becomes a cliché, it is possible to write a good book anyway.
Josefine

Title: A redbird at Christmas Author: Fannie Flagg ISBN: 978-0-099-49048-7

Title: Gods in Alabama Author: Joshilyn Jackson ISBN: 978-0-340-89668-6

Summer Holiday

The blog's on summer holiday until I have finished my Master's Degree and work at the London Olympics.
See you sometime in September again.

Eat, Pray Love - Success??

It's difficult for me to understand the fame and success the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has gained around the world. I do not agree with its fame at all. I'm in Italy and I am bored, how does that happen? I agree with Gilbert and her love for Italy and everything Italian that's why I am so confused with being bored. To me this should be a tale of a beautiful language, good food (after all Italy symbolises the Eat in the title), living La Dolce Vita. How can I possibly be bored? But I am.
The book is an autobiography and my moral conscious tells me to be sensitive about the author's feelings. After all she has been very brave, opening her heart and soul to the world. But it is just not to my taste, too much whining. She's in Italy, fulfilling her dream, a dream most people could just dream about and still she spend most of the time dwelling in her past.
I am curious about the film of the same name, based on the book, however, hopefully Julia Roberts can lift the story.
Josefine

Title: Eat, Pray, Love Author: Elizabeth Gilbert ISBN: 978-1-4088-0866-5

Yet again seduced by a title and a cover

I was walking in to the library, and there on a shelf it sat, begging me to look at it, with its dark pink seducing cover and wonderful title, How to climb Mont Blanc in a skirt. I just had to have it. No matter that I have a mountain of books at home that I don't want to try to climb in a skirt.
Anyway, the book slides into my bag and I am off to a new adventure.
Josefine

Title: How to climb Mont Blanc in a skirt. A handbook for lady adventurer Author: Mick Conefrey ISBN: 978-1-85168-841-8

The Duchess of Devonshire - The book and the Film

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened up The Duchess by Amanda Foreman. I had received it from a friend years ago and it had ended up on the bookshelf without me actually having looked through it. I just assumed that it was a novel based on the life of the Duchess of Devonshire, I also had a vague recollection that it had been made into a film. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a very well-written and researched biography of the Duchess Georgiana of Devonshire. As with many other biographies, The Duchess is riddled with names and if you're not familiar with the period, it is difficult to keep them all straight, but I also think that is part of the genre of biographies and you have to take what you can get out of it and not be to uptight about remembering everything, especially if it's a book read for pleasure and not for an assignment.
Now it's on to watch the film as well and I hope it is as good as the book.
Josefine

Title: The Duchess Author: Amanda Foreman ISBN: 978-0-00-728575-4

The Marriage Bureau

The reviews told me that The Wedding Wallah by Farahad Zama is a feel-good story and I can only agree. Even though I haven't yet read the two first books in the series, The Wedding Wallah is a welcoming, well-written distraction after a few so, so books (see previous reviews). I enjoyed it a lot.
The book is set in modern India and portrays well the clashes of old and new. The traditions of an arranged marriage and the modernity of a castless society. Urban and rural traditions co-mingling on the pages. Now I can't wait to read the first two books in the series as well.
Josefine

Title: The wedding Wallah Author: Farahad Zama ISBN: 978-0-349-12268-7

A library bargain

I went to the library today to return a book, I had promised myself not to borrow more than one book (after my well thought out strategy of returning one book and lending one new). I return home with three borrowed books plus four I bought from the for sale shelf, to my defence I will say that you can't say no when you get four books for only a Pound. I am not very often at this library and every time I go, there's something new at the for sale shelf that looks interesting.

These were the books I bought this time:

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow - an author that becomes a bigger favourite the more I read of him.

Marshmallows for breakfast by Dorothy Koomson - I read The Ice Cream Girls and has been looking forwards to read more from her.

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth by Alexander McCall-Smith - The latest in the series about Isabelle Dalhousie.

A Short history of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka - the fourth book and the best of what was left on the shelf.

Josefine

Libraries

After reading The Library Book, I got inspired to find a blogg I wrote in 2007 but still rings true today. So here it comes one more time.

Libraries, what a great concept

A library is such a wonderful place. To whom ever came up with this idea I am grateful. Just take a moment and think of the concept. You can go there and borrow almost as many books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and newspapers that you want. And all this for free. Or, you can sit there all day reading and no one would bother you.

Wherever I live I go to the library for some peace and quiet, being a student, it almost feels like a second home.

In Washington DC I loved the Library of Congress. The tranquillity of the large marbled rooms combined with the vast amount of books to borrow there were amazing.
In Honolulu the design of the library, just fit the climate perfectly. It was built around a courtyard, sprinkled with palms and greenery. On the hot balmy days, which are typical for Hawai’i, I sat outside in the cool shadow studying.
When I lived in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA they remodelled the library and when it was done, it looked sleek, modern and fresh. An extra bonus was the books and DVDs you could borrow from other libraries in the county sent to your local library at your convenience.
Of course you can borrow e-books online and never have to set your foot in the library, but it won’t beat the feeling of going to the library and browse the many bookshelves and pick out just the one that looks great. Go visit a library and enjoy the free access to a wide variety of reading material.
Josefine

Title: The Library Book Author: The Reading Agency ISBN: 978-1-78125-005-1

A Pretty Cover doesn't make for a Pretty Book

A Vintage Affair by Isabelle Wolff is just OK, it's nice if you like clothes, most of it went way over my head, but I assume Wolff is well researched on the topic. What did bother me about the book was Wolff's desire to put ever tiny bit of research she did into the book. Details about the clothes business is understandable, that's part of what the book is about, but the passage at the vineyard read straight out of a book on wine making and not necessary to add in such detail as it wasn't essential to the plot.
Then without revealing too much, I can't quite see the parallel between giving up your friend to the Nazis in France and getting into a relationship with your best friend's love interest. Despite it's beautiful cover and great reviews it was not a book to my taste.
Josefine

Title: A Vintage Affair Author: Isabel Wolff ISBN: 978-0-00-7245826

A lovely reunion

To read Alexander McCall-Smith's books on Isabelle Dalhousie always feels like coming home to a dear old auntie. The Lost Art of Gratitude was no exception.
The Sunday Philosophy Club is definitely the best of McCall-Smith's series. Every book is a small philosophical wonder in itself, a philosophic bubble with Isabelle in the middle.
Josefine

Title: The Lost Art of Gratitude Auhtor: Alexander McCall-Smith ISBN: 978-0-349-12054-6

A Journey

It was interesting as I read The journey of Ibn Fattouma by Naguib Mahfouz to try to figure out what countries he was talking about in the different stories, was the land of Halba for example really the U.S. Or perhaps Great Britain or France? There were many things that fit all three countries and some things that fitted none. It was a true journey of society and knowledge and Mahfouz ease of storytelling made the journey all worth while.
Josefine

Title: The journey of Ibn Fattouma Author: Naguib Mahfouz ISBN: 978-0-385-40361-5

Harry Potter moves on

It was more than a year since I read the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and marvelled over J.K. Rowling's talent for telling a story.

After finding the third book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at a bargain price at the library sale, I felt I needed to read the second book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret first.

The Chamber of Secret did not impress me in the same way as the Philosopher's Stone did. This might have to do with the pleasant surprise I got when I first read the Philosopher's Stone, compared to what I already knew about Rowling's storytelling talent when I picked up the second book. But I did think that the story and plot in itself was not as good in the Chamber of Secrets, it didn't keep me as captured and involved as the Philospoher's Stone did.

However, I also have to remind myself that when you read the books as an adult, you need to remember that in its essence it is a children's book, written for children to enjoy.

Josefine

Title: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Author: J.K. Rowling ISBN: 978-0-7475-

3848-6

Göteborgsvarvet

I'm running today, a half-marathon in the beautiful city of Gothenburg Sweden. When I've reached the finish line I might pick up one of these:

What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murukami

or perhaps

The loneliness of the long distance runner by Alan Sillitoe

Josefine

Changing society?

I recently read two books that through fiction set out to tell the story of a society in change. The Help by Kathryn Stockett talks about the American south in the 1960s where discrimination and racism are everyday occurrences. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas takes us to today's supposedly multi-cultural Australia, and even though the book cover talks more about picking sides when it comes to disciplining children, I do think that there are many similarities with The Help. 
Racism is strife in both countries coming from all directions and it influences how people act and what they do. The fifty or so years of time passing, has still not changed the perspective of many people. It is still US v THEM. Them, still being different, strange, unknown.
Josefine

Title: The Help Author:Kathryn Stockett ISBN: 978-0-14-193001-5
Title: The Slap Author: Christos Tsiolkas ISBN:978-1-84887-356-8

Unsympathetic characters

The problem I had with The Accidental Wife by Rowan Coleman, was the lack of sympathy I felt for the two main female characters Cathy and Alison. Instead it was the third female, minor character, Kirsty who got my vote. When Cathy and Alison were both trapped by the action of the men around them, and unfortunately I don't think Coleman manages to turn it around, which makes it for quite an unsatisfied book, which is a pity because I really liked The Baby Group.
Josefine

Titel: The Accidental Wife Author: Rowan Coleman ISBN: 978-0-09-949307-5

When a book surprises you

I don't know exactly what I had expected when I picked up The Private lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller, but it was nothing like I could ever imagine. The book reminds me of the writing of Richards Yates and Paul Auster, two writers who are not very similar in their writing, at the same time, Miller has managed to combine the two to get one well written, interesting début novel.
Josefine

Title: The Private Lives of Pippa Lee Author: Rebecca Miller ISBN: 978-1-84767-249-0

Early Summer Read

I am a bit early with my summer reads this year, because I just couldn't resist the temptation to pick up The Beach Café by Lucy Diamond when I saw it at the library the other week, it's a book that has been on my reading list for a while.
I like Diamond's way of getting straight to the point. In the first couple of pages you find out that Evie's aunt has died suddenly and she has left her cherished café in Cornwall to her. This part of the story is all on the back of the book anyway, so it is better to get it out of the way right away and we can then enjoy to learn something new about the characters.
It's a feel good story and I will definitely pick up some of Diamond's other books as well.
Josefine

Title: The Beach Café Author: Lucy Diamond ISBN: 978-0-330-52053-9

Ice cream Girls

The Ice cream girls by Dorothy Koomson is one of the best books I have read in these last couple of months, she has such a beautiful voice that shines through the pages. The book is divided in to the perspective of the two main characters Poppy and Serena, and Koomson has managed well to keep them both alive on the page. The story builds up page after page until you reach a powerful crescendo.
The book explores a powerful theme of power and love that is always important and worthy to discuss.
Josefine

Title: The Ice cream Girls Author: Dorothy Koomson ISBN: 978-0-7515-3982-0

Stockholm Noir

The language in Never Fuck Up is an improvement on Jens Lapidius first book Easy Money (recently released in English as part of the Stockholm Noir trilogy), also the book itself has a better plot line, it seems as if Lapidius are more assured of where the book is heading. Despite this, the subject for me is not interesting and exiting. Even though I appreciate that he is trying to portray the events very close to the truth, the actions becomes more important than the characters and I prefer it to be the other way around.
Something I do appreciate in both Never Fuck Up and Easy Money is that the ending is not rosy, happily ever after, some get caught, other looses their life whereas other again move on as if nothing has happened, which gives the story a more truthful picture.
Josefine

Title: Never Fuck Up Author: Jens Lapidius ISBN: 978-91-43-50478-1

The Battle of Stalingrad

Stalingrad was the first Antony Beevor book I bought, in Gothenburg 2002 as I duly noted on the first page, since then I have bought most of Beevor's books on the Second World War, which I now have unread in my bookshelf. It took me ten years to get to Stalingrad but now I have finally arrived.
The book is filled with detailed reconstructions of what happened during the prolonged battle, but what Beevor succeeds with the best is to balance the information from both the Germans and the Russians.
There are some parts where I think Beevor's conclusions are too widely drawn especially concerning the feelings of the people involved. However, for the most part this is a good book rich in details and facts.
Josefine

Title: Stalingrad Author: Antony Beevor ISBN: 978-91-89442-36-9

Writing characters

I read a lot of chick-lit, where one of its most prominent feature, is the character driven narrative. However, I have just finished two books, Last Christmas by Julia Williams and An Absolute Scandal by Penny Vincenzi, where there are several main characters and the authors jump between their narratives that sometimes intertwine and sometimes work in parallel.
I do think it is more difficult to make a story believable when using several main characters that not necessarily always interact with each other. With An Absolute Scandal I definitely think it has become too much and half the characters are not necessary. Vincenzi could have made the book half the length and still got the point through. I find that you spend such a short time with each character that you feel you never get to know them.
In Last Christmas I found an other problem where Williams sometimes repeat events to put the reader up to speed on the characters feelings, which become repetitive as it doesn't bring enough to the table to bring the story forward.
Neither of the books were written to my taste, even though I did appreciate Williams plot more than I did Vincenzi, and it does makes me reluctant to pick up another of their books.
Josefine

Title: Last Christmas Author: Julia Williams ISBN: 978-1-84756-086-5

Title: An Absolute Scandal Author: Penny Vincenzi ISBN: 978-0-7553-3680-7

St Patrick's Day

In honour of St Patrick's Day, my plan was to recommend some books set in Ireland or by Irish authors, but then I realised that Irish books are all so sad. Its troubled history, mainly with Britain and the effects thereof has really coloured the books I have read about Ireland not green, but rather black.
That's when I turned to the always reliable Marian Keyes to cheer me up, so today I am drinking Guiness, eating potatoes and re-reading Sushi for Beginners and leave the sad books to another day.
If you still want to tackle the sad stories from Ireland, these are some of the ones I have read.

The Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor
Frank McCourt's autobiographical trilogy Angela's Ashes, 'Tis, The Teacher

and one that is on my To Read list:
The Speckled People by Hugo Hamilton

Enjoy!

Can he possibly improve more?

After my first Yates, Revolutionary Road, I looked forward to read Easter Parade as well, a book I'd been recommended by friends and I must say that I think Easter Parade was even better than Revolutionary Road. The characters are beautiful described and very believable, while the language flows.
It's a book well worth reading.
Josefine

Title: Easter Parade Author: Richard Yates ISBN: 978-0-413-77345-0

Consequences of the Spanish Civil War

The text on the back of Guernica by Dave Boling, is filled with sadness, pain and tragedy. Despite this, in the book I also found humour and happiness, which made it easier to take in what was really important in the book.
I knew very little about specific events during the Spanish Civil War and the air attack on Guernica, so it was interesting and valuable to see it from the perspectives of the civilians on the ground and inspired me to read and learn more.
That it was Boling's first book and you could see that in some places, especially where he felt the need to over-explain the character's feelings. Sometimes it is better to say less and let the readers interpret what the characters feel.
Josefine

Title: Guernica Author: Dave Boling ISBN: 978-0-330-46066-8

Lines in a book

Sometimes when I read, there are lines that stand out more than others. Lines the author really has nailed. Sometimes it's the content I like, sometimes the flow of the words, sometimes what the words implies, what memories they evoke etc.

I came upon one of these lines when reading The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Sparks.

"anecdotes which needed an audience hilariously drunken, either with alcohol or extreme youth, to give them point” (103).

What lines from a book are your favourites?
Josefine

Title: The Girls of slender means Author: Muriel Sparks ISBN: 978-0-14-002426-5

No reading!

No reading on my birthday, too busy unpacking flat, square gifts!

When dating becomes Real. Serious. Business

Imagine having the opportunity to date your way around the world to find your soul mate, 80 dates to be exact, would you do it?

Well, Jennifer Cox did, and then wrote a book about it.

I thought it would be fun and quirky to read about someone else's dating stories, but after her 24th Date (Ede in Berlin) I struggled to care about Cox and her dates. It became very repetitive, new country, new man, but the same old story, with a lot of “feel sorry for me” waffle in between. However, I did feel the need to read on to see if she would meet the ONE her Soul Mate. But I won't tell you if she did or not!
Josefine

Title: Around the world around in 80 dates Author: Jennifer Cox ISBN 978-0-09-946028-9

Valentine's Reading

Proposal for sweet readings on the day of love

The history of love by Nicole Kraus – to know the big secrets
The Perfume by Patrick Süskind – for the perverted love
Surf, sea and sexy stranger by Heidi Rice – for the sexy, hot love
Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger – for the one with bling
The ancient garden by Hwan Sok-Yong – for love under oppression

Happy reading!
Josefine

Supernatural excellence

If Sugar Queen left me with a craving for all things sweet, Garden spell definitely left me with a craving for a cosy, magical garden complete with a magic apple tree. I am always wary when it comes to stories about a magical world, so many times it can become childish and nothing more than a fairy tale. However, Sarah Addison Allen manages so well to keep it a natural, cosy, family story with strong emotions so that the supernatural elements comes naturally in the story rather than being forced.
A splendid read.
Josefine

Title: Garden spell Author: Sarah Addision Allen ISBN: 978-0-340-93574-3

Moldavians playing tennis

Tony Hawks likes an adventure and a bet to prove his worth, combined he founds himself in Moldova trying to persuade the National football team that he is going to play them in tennis. Loosing would mean humiliation and a naked rendition of the Moldavian national anthem.
Playing the Moldavian at tennis is funny. Hawks is a funny guy and I love his theory of optimism, it's something this world needs, but I can't get away from thinking that it is all a silly game made up by someone with too much time on his hands.
I did however, lean something new about the break away state of Transistrian an interesting development little known in western Europe.
I have read others of Hawks tales before, and so far his adventures buying a house in France, is his best, perhaps because it wasn't based on a strange bet.
Josefine

Title: Playing the Moldavians at tennis Author: Tony Hawks ISBN: 978-0-09-192035-7

A myth revisited

Binu and the Great Wall by Su Tong is part of the Myth Series. Previously I have read Alexander McCall-Smith's take on Scottish myth of Dream Angus. It's an interesting concept taking old myths and re-energise them, taking traditional storytelling taking to a new level.

In short, Binu and the Great Wall is the story of Binu travelling across China to the Great Wall to give her husband a winter coat where he was conscripted by the King to work on the wall. However, the story behind the story is about sadness and greed that Binu meets on her travels, at the heart she is a traditionalists believing in the good of people but her heart is shattered again and again by the people she meet on the way.
Josefine

Title: Binu and the Great Wall Author: Su Tong ISBN: 978-1-84195-904-7

Amateur orchestra saves the world

La's orchestra saves the world is a different book coming from Alexander McCall-Smith, in so many ways it is more serious than his previous books I have read. It's set during the Second World War in England in Southern England countryside in a small village next door to a RAF airbase. La (or Lavender which is her full name) has moved there from London after her husband first abandoned her and then suddenly passed away. She is doing her lot for the war, working on a farm, taking care of the hens, befriending a military man, when the idea for an orchestra is born.
Despite the title, as often is with McCall-Smith's books, the orchestra is not the dominating feature in the book, rather it is a book about the war and the effect it had on people in all walks of life, even a sleepy village in the back country of England.
Well written as many other of McCall-Smith's books are, I am hoping for a second book.
Josefine

Title: La's orchestra saves the world Author: Alexander McCall-Smith ISBN: 978-0-349-12205-2

The smell of sunshine, sandy beaches and frangipani blossom

Just like I imagine Tahiti to be warm and sunny, so is Célestine Hitiura Vaites book Frangipani which takes place in Tahiti. It's a story about relationships between mothers and daughters, but also about taking chances when they are given to you. It is sad, serious, sweet and funny all bundled into one fast paced, flowing novel.

Read this book for a taste of the flavours of Tahiti and family life in general.
Josefine

Title: Frangipani Author: Célestine Hitiura Vaite ISBN: 978-0-0917-9715-2

And, it's over

I have now finished all three books in the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I must say I like the first book (Girl with the dragon tattoo) best, even though the language left more to be desired.
What I liked with The Girl who played with fire was that you could read it without having read the first book. It shows great talent from an author to write a second book in a series without tying it to the first book.
However, in The girl who kicked the hornet's nest, the same talent was not used, you had to read the second book to understand the plot already from the first page. The book also felt slow, it is difficult to keep up the pace with one of the main characters in a hospital bed. It wasn't until the last pages that I realised what it was the last book lacked and it was the interaction between the characters. There was so much technical writing that the relationship between the different characters disappeared and with that my desire to care about the characters disappeared as well. It's a pity I think.

The three books in the series were good overall and they bring up a serious problem in society about men who does not only hate women but also see people in general as something you can buy and sell as any product and that is frightening.
Josefine

Title: Millennium trilogy: The girl with the dragon tattoo, The girl who played with fire, The girl who kicked the hornest's nest Author: Stieg Larsson

The year is off to a good start

Happy New Year!

It is always nice to start off the new year with a really good book. The Confession by John Grisham has kept me on my toes these first couple of days of the new year. The book has an intriguing, thought-provoking plot and is well written.
Donté Drumm was convicted for a murder on a fellow school mate in East Texas in 1999. Nine years later with all avenues for appeal exhausted, an execution date is set. This is when, several hundred miles away in Kansas, a man walks in to a church office and admits his guilt of the murder to the minister. Reverend Schroeder sees the faintest glimmer of hope, it seems as if Drumm can be saved. If only it was that simple.

It was my first Grisham and with his reputation, I was expecting the best and of course he delivered. It is the kind of book that makes you think not only about the death penalty in the U.S. but crime and punishment around the world as well. It also thought me much about the legal system in the U.S. And the culture of guns in a state where most people own one and see it as their right to use it if they feel threatened. It is a scary thought.
Josefine

Title: The Confession Author: John Grisham ISBN: 978-1-8460-5715-1