A while back I ran into the web site A celebration of Women Writers where you can read free books online. There are a plethora of books to read. I stopped at Queen Liliuokalani’s Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen. But there are plenty, plenty more to read. To my surprise, this is just an extension of the more extensive site of the Online Books Page.
I am not a big fan of reading off the computer screen in long texts, but this extensive source of books are really worth it. This might not be such a surprise for many, but this, to me it was like Christmas came early this year. Now I will spend the next days (perhaps weeks) to further explore these sites for more books to read and enjoy.
Josefine
My recommendations: Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Homo homini lupus
I recently recommended the book A woman in Berlin by Anonymous. Since I finished it a couple of days ago, I felt the need to tell you about it. It is an incredible book that touched me.
The book is a diary, written by a German woman at the end of World War II when the Russians occupied Berlin. She tells the story of what happened to her and the people around her in the days before the Russians came and during the occupation.
When I read the first chapters of the book, my stomach hurt. The Russians drew closer and closer to Berlin and I knew what was about to come. My history teacher in ninth grade told us how her mother-in-law and sister-in-law had experienced the horrors of revengeful Russians.
Then I had to put the book down for a while, I could not continue. The Russians arrived to the city, and all the rumors there had been around them were true.
When I picked up the book again, the Russians occupied the city and people began to talk about what would happen next. The writer had travelled much before the war and she knew some Russian. This gave her a bit of an advantage. The Russians she bumps into are surprised that a German speaks their mother tongue, but most of the time it doesn’t affect their ravaging.
But it is not only the Russians she writes about, there is also another enemy. An enemy they live with every day - hunger. The writer realizes that a human being becomes awful when she doesn’t get enough to eat. She mentions the phrase, Homo homini lupus – Humans are wolfs towards humans.
She also talks about all the new words they start to use, perhaps to make their experience feel somewhat normal. It is no longer wrong to sell your body to a Russian for some food. How many times did it happen to you? Becomes a question to ask when you meet friends from the past.
The reason I like the book the most is not only the writer’s direct way of describing things, but also the objectivity she keeps. She knows that the German soldiers did the same to the citizens when they were the winners of the war.
When reading this book, the author doesn’t feel like a victim and I don’t think she sees herself as a victim. Perhaps a casualty of war and of Hitler’s government, but not a victim. That is what makes this book very real.
Josefine
My recommendations: Anne Frank’s diary. Another perspective of Hitler’s war.
The book is a diary, written by a German woman at the end of World War II when the Russians occupied Berlin. She tells the story of what happened to her and the people around her in the days before the Russians came and during the occupation.
When I read the first chapters of the book, my stomach hurt. The Russians drew closer and closer to Berlin and I knew what was about to come. My history teacher in ninth grade told us how her mother-in-law and sister-in-law had experienced the horrors of revengeful Russians.
Then I had to put the book down for a while, I could not continue. The Russians arrived to the city, and all the rumors there had been around them were true.
When I picked up the book again, the Russians occupied the city and people began to talk about what would happen next. The writer had travelled much before the war and she knew some Russian. This gave her a bit of an advantage. The Russians she bumps into are surprised that a German speaks their mother tongue, but most of the time it doesn’t affect their ravaging.
But it is not only the Russians she writes about, there is also another enemy. An enemy they live with every day - hunger. The writer realizes that a human being becomes awful when she doesn’t get enough to eat. She mentions the phrase, Homo homini lupus – Humans are wolfs towards humans.
She also talks about all the new words they start to use, perhaps to make their experience feel somewhat normal. It is no longer wrong to sell your body to a Russian for some food. How many times did it happen to you? Becomes a question to ask when you meet friends from the past.
The reason I like the book the most is not only the writer’s direct way of describing things, but also the objectivity she keeps. She knows that the German soldiers did the same to the citizens when they were the winners of the war.
When reading this book, the author doesn’t feel like a victim and I don’t think she sees herself as a victim. Perhaps a casualty of war and of Hitler’s government, but not a victim. That is what makes this book very real.
Josefine
My recommendations: Anne Frank’s diary. Another perspective of Hitler’s war.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Back again
Time flies when you are having fun, or in my case, working a lot. It is now several days since I wrote anything here and to be honest I have not had the time to read much this last week. I did finish A woman in Berlin though and when I have the time to sit down and collect my thoughts about that book I will write about it here.
For fun last night, I also started to put together a list of the books I read in the last couple of years. I’ll see how many I can remember, too bad that I am terrible at remembering names.
Josefine
My recommendations: Pick up a book from a writer or a genre you’ve never read before and let it surprise you.
For fun last night, I also started to put together a list of the books I read in the last couple of years. I’ll see how many I can remember, too bad that I am terrible at remembering names.
Josefine
My recommendations: Pick up a book from a writer or a genre you’ve never read before and let it surprise you.
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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