tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8335523667825485052024-03-05T18:56:27.583+02:00Bookish RealmPrejudices are permafrost.
--David MitchellRivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.comBlogger194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-12243785793939017252016-07-09T19:14:00.001+03:002016-07-09T19:14:57.250+03:00Read in 2016: Non-Fiction books<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thank you for the kind welcome back comments in the end of the last post, friends! It's good to see you guys still around. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, to ease back into the swing of things, here are five out of 12 books I've read this year - non-fiction. I never used to be a big non-fiction reader, but this has changed vastly in the past few years' time, largely thanks to the other book bloggers. Looking at this selection of books, I realise there is nothing random here. Once I stopped eating meat, my focus also shifted to the other areas of human consumption, and I sought out some reads that seemed interesting. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at all the tasty non-fiction :) </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1845.Into_the_Wild"><b>Into the Wild</b></a>, <i>Jon Krakauer</i> - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had been planning to read some Krakauer for a long time, but didn't actually get to it until last year after seeing the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2719848/"><b>Everest</b></a>, in which Krakauer is one of the characters and which depicts the same events as Krakauer in his book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1898.Into_Thin_Air"><b>Into Thin Air</b></a> (which I <b>inhaled</b> right after I watched the movie - pun intended). So I bought two more of his books, this one and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1897.Eiger_Dreams"><b>Eiger Dreams</b></a>, the latter is a selection of essays about mountain climbing. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Into the Wild was not a new story for me, as I had seen <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/?ref_=nv_sr_1"><b>the movie</b></a> a long time ago. Still, the book was enjoyable and poses some very interesting questions/dilemmas about what it means to be an individual in a society. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11797414-overdressed"><b>Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion</b></a>, <i>Elizabeth L. Cline </i>- 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Much like the recent documentary made on the same topic, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3162938/"><b>The True Cost</b></a>, Overdressed offers a look into where our clothes really come from, how the cycle of a year in fashion has changed, and the catastrophic consequences it has had. Even without learning about this topic I never felt comfortable buying a nearly-for-free piece of clothing from H&M or some other fast fashion chain - not because I'm a snob but because I realised this price has to be paid by someone. Overdressed and The True Cost introduce you to the people who pay for many people's overconsumption tendencies. (For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Savar_building_collapse">the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6937345-no-more-dirty-looks"><b>No More Dirty Looks</b></a>, <i>Siobhan O'Connor, Alexandra Spunt</i> - 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The better part of the last year I was struggling with an allergic flare, mostly on my face (fun times!) It was a <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">face wash </span>triggered allergy, which is what led me to read this book about <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">the very dirty beauty industry. Some parts feel a bi<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">t dated by now (first published in <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2010<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">), but nevertheless it is a good introduction to the topic. I've since bought a few more books on this. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1097.Fast_Food_Nation"><b>Fast Food Nation</b></a>, <i>Eric Schlosser</i> - 5/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Best B<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ook so far this year. It had been sitting on my shelf for at least a year until I decided to pick it up. <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This book is <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">so thorough and so</span> well researched. I usually do not add an<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">ything on the G<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">o<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">odreads once I finish the book (aside from the rating), but <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">this I wrote after finishing Fast Food Nation:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextContainerreview1105335886">Don't
expect this to be anything like Super Size Me. This is a very serious, a
very matter-of-fact, a very well researched book. More depressing than
American Psycho, In the Miso Soup & Requiem for a Dream combined.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="readable reviewText"><span id="freeTextContainerreview1105335886"> </span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25020794-swallow-this"><b>Swallow This</b></a>, <i>Joanna Blythman</i> - 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">..<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. and continuing with <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">where our food really comes from". <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sufficient to say it's also pretty eye-<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">opening, somewhere in the middle I had the thought that soon I will not dare to eat anythin<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">g... G<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">o<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">od thing - it has completely cured me from the bad habit of getting some pre-processed foods from the store, ever. <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cos it's not food, really. And I <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">don<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">'t want to eat no-food.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span><br />
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Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-82840699737405367052016-07-07T13:45:00.002+03:002016-07-07T13:45:40.502+03:00The prodigal daughter returns<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's been almost a year! *virtual hugs to all the bookish people*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As usual, I didn't PLAN to stop writing, these things just seem to happen, the mojo goes away... But lately I've been really, really missing my good old book blog so here I am again. Now probably for longer, more regular time. And there might be some changes in the blog, but then again maybe not... I haven't got an elaborate action plan, I just miss reading and writing about books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yes, I haven't been reading a lot for this past almost-a-year. It's been weird, last I had such long gaps between reading were in uni days. I've read a whopping 12 books in 2016. A point of perspective - in 2014 I finished 100 books... Not that the numbers matter. It might sound strange but I have started to read slower deliberately, to get more out of each book and not just rush through. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In other spheres of life, no major changes have taken place, except that I changed workplace. Well I did and didn't, I am still a media analyst and do exactly what I did before, but I just moved over to the Finnish branch in the same firm. That was one of my Big Goals for this year, so it's great to have it done. Still live with my hobbit and two furballs, still in the same place. I embrace the peaceful routine at this point of life, I do.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Oh and I also went vegetarian last autumn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I think to catch up I'll make a little overview of the 12 books I've read this year next. It's been non-fiction heavy and interesting half a year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Say hello if you are still lurking around these corners, please :) </span><br />
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<br />Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-50206480195868271412015-08-09T12:59:00.001+03:002015-08-09T12:59:14.195+03:00Summer Holiday Reading vol 2<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here come digital books I plan to read during my summer holiday. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OdslwKEYYTfETpDUT8ft-8LCG4-jf_aEAcs4kVthaV7KNwQPbRBn7OE8OfOkpDxjh4FMQ8pzCuchyOWL8LYrdRJHwGGboeuzQqyjFly-vPou0eiO0L2ZjbiPAU_xOzOOfagsUTzUNOA/s1600/TBR1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9OdslwKEYYTfETpDUT8ft-8LCG4-jf_aEAcs4kVthaV7KNwQPbRBn7OE8OfOkpDxjh4FMQ8pzCuchyOWL8LYrdRJHwGGboeuzQqyjFly-vPou0eiO0L2ZjbiPAU_xOzOOfagsUTzUNOA/s640/TBR1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/944073.The_Blade_Itself?ac=1"><b>The Blade Itself</b></a>, <i>Joe Abercrombie</i> - to be finished (90% done). I think Abercrombie is a good pick for the folks suffering from Song of Ice and Fire-withdrawal. Won't make my all-time favourites but it's decent escapism with some very interesting characters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6597651-the-windup-girl"><b>The Windup Girl</b></a>, <i>Paolo Bacigalupi</i> - to be finished. This is a buddyread I'm doing with Michael from <a href="http://www.knowledgelost.org/">Knowledge Lost</a>. The world has gone pear shaped and the remaining population lives in constant fear of mutating plagues. Lovely beach read. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22590.Ubik?ac=1"><b>Ubik</b></a>, <i>Philip K. Dick</i> - I think everyone should have more Philip K. Dick in their lives. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23295033-wastelands-2---more-stories-of-the-apocalypse?ac=1"><b>Wastelands 2</b></a>, edited by <i>John Joseph Adams</i> - anthology on the apocalyptic themes. I've always had a healthy interest (:p) in apocalypse narratives. I have ordered Wastelands 1 in print but it might take a while to arrive. The authors of the stories in this collection make me feel all kinds of excitement. Another lovely beach read. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2lbC7709QHdBJpFf_Bd2FSLRMd3kSKQh3FFT7tYjbojVXPMAdjoMiO4v1RiD4OLRfhtUh4zNyuPNs2JkpV7NNLIK9U7VyhqcVJ-rV3PMgdZ0ilBezXKA6NA9ffw6gWL9Skv0VorH6Ric/s1600/TBR2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2lbC7709QHdBJpFf_Bd2FSLRMd3kSKQh3FFT7tYjbojVXPMAdjoMiO4v1RiD4OLRfhtUh4zNyuPNs2JkpV7NNLIK9U7VyhqcVJ-rV3PMgdZ0ilBezXKA6NA9ffw6gWL9Skv0VorH6Ric/s640/TBR2.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10693803-breaking-stalin-s-nose?ac=1"><b>Breaking Stalin's Nose</b></a>, <i>Eugene Yelchin</i> - one of the first books on my Kindle, a very short read, yet I haven't got to it yet. The title is entertaining and I'm happy to give it a go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14891.A_Tree_Grows_in_Brooklyn?ac=1"><b>A Tree Grows in Brooklyn</b></a>, <i>Betti Smith</i> - one of the great American books. I don't care much for all things American, but I have a soft spot for some of their literature, and I think this would be a good pick as a holiday read. </span><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767052-the-hunger-games?ac=1"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767052-the-hunger-games?ac=1"><b>The Hunger Games</b></a>, <i>Suzanne Collins</i> - two words: low expectations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15745753-eleanor-park?ac=1"><b>Eleanor & Park</b></a>, <i>Rainbow Rowell</i> - I have no idea how this book got to my e-reader. But there it is and I suppose there won't be a better time to give it a go. Might be an actual, sarcasm-free beach read for a change.</span><br />
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-39729645974522995772015-08-08T15:37:00.001+03:002015-08-08T15:37:57.291+03:00Summer Holiday Reading vol 1<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Context: for the half of last month, I worked 12-hour days. For the rest of the half, I worked 10-hour days. Given that, it's fair to say I am slightly overexcited about the prospect of 3 glorious, summery weeks off from all the editing and translating and arguing with an irrational client and "herding the sheep" (this is a joke, I love my team a lot :) ) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This may also be why I have listed 15 books in my to-read list for three weeks (plus one day... a lot can happen in one day). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here are the print books: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4009.Nine_Stories?ac=1"><b>Nine Stories</b></a>, <i>J.D. Salinger</i> - a collection of short stories. Salinger's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5113.Franny_and_Zooey?ac=1"><b>Franny and Zooey</b></a> is one of my favourite books.</span><br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2890090-the-republic-of-thieves?ac=1"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2890090-the-republic-of-thieves?ac=1"><b>The Republic of Thieves</b></a>, <i>Scott Lynch</i> (about half way through) - the last book of the series was pretty much a miss for me, but this one has been going a lot better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18104725-the-almost-nearly-perfect-people?ac=1"><b>The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia</b></a>, <i>Michael Booth</i> - how is it that so many people seem to possess deep interest in Scandinavia/Nordic region, yet no one really knows anything much about it, not to mention dreams of living here? I'm afraid it might turn out a bit of a shallow read, but no doubt it will be entertaining, and at least semi-educating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10964693-the-marriage-plot?ac=1"><b>The Marriage Plot</b></a>, <i>Jeffrey Eugenides</i> - seems to be bit of a love-or-hate this one? Then again I guess Eugenides is... I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it because if you write like the guy who gave birth to Middlesex, it takes a sort of unimaginable skill to screw up a book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16131032-abaddon-s-gate?ac=1"><b>Abaddon's Gate</b></a>,<b> </b><i>James S. A. Corey</i> - ain't no better combination than summer and space operas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10896743-apteeker-melchior-ja-rataskaevu-viirastus?ac=1"><b>Apteeker Melchior ja Rataskaevu viirastus</b></a>, <i>Indrek Hargla</i> - the smart apotheka owner Melchior continues solving brutal crimes in medieval Tallinn. Bloody love this stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20174424-city-of-stairs?ac=1"><b>City of Stairs</b></a>, <i>Robert Jackson Bennett</i> - so excited for this one! Looks very promising.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And that's about half of it, I will be posting e-books tomorrow! </span>Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-69767564112191791002015-07-24T19:45:00.001+03:002015-07-24T19:45:52.292+03:00Twinkle, twinkle, little five-star...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Been a bit of an odd reading year, this one. I've completed 37 books and given maximum score to only four. While normal for some, this is definitely a tad negative outcome for me, I'm not the type to "save" my fivers for the Life Changing Books :p Most of the books I've read have been 3-stars, there are a few ones among them (*cough* Not This Kind of Girl *cough*) It's been a mess, really, but on the other hand - those best books really stand out in the crowd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkFINezTRi89oJWZOYhGJJ6SxZ303Lik6WoZENNC9EXp06wba-ThgA5uB3GkQoDFbqYXQ5bdH92s-jXJ7hkG2TEqmYA4lt_jQ3lDAgv1Y836bsaDMFkZmQCuxeGuOVNb7xB9JyjSwzU4/s1600/Best2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkFINezTRi89oJWZOYhGJJ6SxZ303Lik6WoZENNC9EXp06wba-ThgA5uB3GkQoDFbqYXQ5bdH92s-jXJ7hkG2TEqmYA4lt_jQ3lDAgv1Y836bsaDMFkZmQCuxeGuOVNb7xB9JyjSwzU4/s640/Best2015.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8184433-the-age-of-innocence"><b>The Age of Innocence</b></a>, <i><b>Edith Wharton</b></i> - so back in the day (May 2013) I read <a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2013/05/review-innocents-by-francesca-segal.html"><b>The Innocents</b></a><b> -</b> a book that was said to be a retelling (gosh how I hate this word and what it represents!) of The Age of Innocence -<b> </b>and had some problems with it (of course I did...). So what do we learn from this situation? <b>Don't fix it if it ain't broken</b>. The Age of Innocence definitely ain't broken, and I recommend you read it if you at all like classic/American lit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17851646-apteeker-melchior-ja-pirita-k-gistaja"><b>Pirita kägistaja</b></a>,<b><i> Indrek Hargla</i></b> - keeping this one short since it is Estonian - this series by sci-fi author Hargla, in which chemist/druggist/apotheka owner Melchior solves mysteries in medieval Tallinn is getting better by each book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12591698-caliban-s-war"><b>Caliban's War</b></a>, <b><i>James S. A. Corey</i></b> - what's summer for if not reading <strike>chick lit</strike> space operas? The first in the series, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8855321-leviathan-wakes"><b>Leviathan Wakes</b></a>, was <strike>okay</strike> very decent, but this one really added some gears. I'm planning to read the third book soon - even if they say it's gonna go all downhill now. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7082.Do_Androids_Dream_of_Electric_Sheep_"><b>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</b></a>, <b><i>Philip K. Dick</i></b> - you know that movie Blade Runner? Of course you do. Well, even if it is very much the matter of taste, and apples and oranges, this book is so much better. Let's just say it made a whole lotta more sense. And the whole topic of animals is just so close to my heart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But Riv, I hear you say while counting fingers on your left/right hand - you said you read four five-star books this year and yet there are five covers on this very amateurish Picmonkey collage photo? Very observant! Because technically, I have given </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17903275-tiny-beautiful-things">Tiny Beautiful Things</a>, <i>Cheryl Strayed</i> </b>- four stars on Goodreads. However! As this year is going as it is going, meaning not very generously star-wise, I realised this is definitely a top read as well. Especially considering it has kinda stuck with me, and it was the very first book I read this year. To say I was skeptical about Tiny Beautiful Things (<i>What Dear Sugar?? I ain't that kinda girl...</i>) is ... well, I was very skeptical. But dear heavens, that lady can write! Don't be skeptical. It's good stuff if you feel like being a little bit emo about all sorts of relationship issues. </span></div>
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<br />Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-46024000036067927302015-07-18T21:23:00.000+03:002015-07-18T21:23:23.911+03:00[insert those *Comfortably Numb* lyrics]<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hello (hello... hello... helloo..... yep, it echoes around here :p)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well. Ain't it just convenient where I left off with this blog - the last post was made on 31st of December, 2014. I can honestly tell you it was not a planned disappearance - but it happened anyway. I ain't even gonna attempt to say anything other than if you feel like blogging - blog; if you feel like not blogging - don't. Clearly I've been feeling like not blogging for seven months now, and obviously I, at least somewhat, feel like blogging again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I had a blog slump, I had a major reading slump in the beginning of this year, it can even be said I had a life slump (HI, <b><a href="http://www.knowledgelost.org/">M</a></b>!) - it was pretty bad, let me tell ya. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I miss my book blog. I don't miss struggling with Blogger, though, but I miss writing about bookish stuff. I miss my bookish buddies (if there is anyone still around, HELLO!). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It is a bit ironic that I am writing this post and planning the return while having major workload and 10-hour days (at least) - but there are people who get more done the more they have things to get done with, and I am clearly one of them people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's summer, I still live in Helsinki, with a hobbit and two cats, I still read books. I shall leave you guys with that for now, and cross all my fingers to still feel like book blogging tomorrow. </span></div>
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Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-6149339610932504332014-12-31T13:12:00.000+02:002014-12-31T13:12:29.574+02:00The Best and Worst of 2014<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In 2014 I read a hundred books. I read tons of science fiction, and not enough classics. I read more non-fiction than I usually do. I finished the Harry Potter series. I read three David Mitchell books, and loved them all. I had slumps and sprees. It was a good year ^^</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here are my favourites of 2014, described in one sentence (as usual, best if not be taken too seriously):</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u>Best in Fiction</u></span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8dKFUriDRZkrTXJ-K0VjPfJQFFKWiXGZm6FCxr6PJ5YXJfFC6kLqUASvHqZ9bHoTd2IwCyMOK0Xc6E8RMOta8eKqXsD53CSSoYzRYRKM_OLsWcX_3cnV44q6_pb3khlNZgdB4FdTo7w/s1600/Fiction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8dKFUriDRZkrTXJ-K0VjPfJQFFKWiXGZm6FCxr6PJ5YXJfFC6kLqUASvHqZ9bHoTd2IwCyMOK0Xc6E8RMOta8eKqXsD53CSSoYzRYRKM_OLsWcX_3cnV44q6_pb3khlNZgdB4FdTo7w/s1600/Fiction.jpg" height="318" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet</strong>, David Mitchell </span></div>
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<a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/05/the-thousand-autumns-of-jacob-de-zoet.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">my ramblings</span></a></div>
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<a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/01/the-thousand-autumns-of-jacob-de-zoet.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jan's review</span></a></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Quiet tension, sad fates, oriental setting, beautiful writing.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Middlesex</strong>, Jeffrey Eugenides</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Epic family story, peels like an onion, beautiful writing.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves</strong>, Karen Joy Fowler</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Humans are awful animals, beautiful writing.</span></em></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u>Best in Science Fiction</u></span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpxscPVTBwMY1X-l6mrRZuAPMI-t4D07gNRyrTyEXr7lvZ_AXb8CQttvxdqLiQGJmcXVnfnVxGC4VO7diCeItVYkMJLPUa9gRtQDLhIAFle8PTySxJp-WirCO4bF75yF4A4lAilmY4iY/s1600/scifi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitpxscPVTBwMY1X-l6mrRZuAPMI-t4D07gNRyrTyEXr7lvZ_AXb8CQttvxdqLiQGJmcXVnfnVxGC4VO7diCeItVYkMJLPUa9gRtQDLhIAFle8PTySxJp-WirCO4bF75yF4A4lAilmY4iY/s1600/scifi.jpg" height="246" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Hyperion</strong> and <strong>The Fall of Hyperion</strong>, Dan Simmons</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strike>Great sci-fi books</strike> Great books.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Ready Player One</strong>, Ernest Cline</span></div>
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<a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/03/ready-player-one-my-brief-gaming-history.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">my extensive ramblings</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Every nerd's comfort read.</em> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Ancillary Justice</strong>, Ann Leckie</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Gender is overrated.</em> </span></div>
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<strong><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Best in Fantasy</span></u></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Yq_SxLOxdWNt6fSGITi74m09oTD8SLBF4zsrxoHhXiJuuApFyfcBxxDzh0LuaySEgDYS6bJFsOaMMueEejEL-u5QmmzgJAZeF4gW9_gsqKS2rZDn9MLEj4B2gcnFzEop5DQEvajxkRs/s1600/Fantasy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Yq_SxLOxdWNt6fSGITi74m09oTD8SLBF4zsrxoHhXiJuuApFyfcBxxDzh0LuaySEgDYS6bJFsOaMMueEejEL-u5QmmzgJAZeF4gW9_gsqKS2rZDn9MLEj4B2gcnFzEop5DQEvajxkRs/s1600/Fantasy.jpg" height="327" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Among Others</strong>, Jo Walton</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Less is more - very quiet, subtle, and thought-provoking book.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Lies of Locke Lamora</strong>, Scott Lynch</span></div>
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<a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/01/review-lies-of-locke-lamora-by-scott.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">my ramblings in bullet form</span></a></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cleptomaniac & co, commotion & banter, cool sidekick.</span></em></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u></u></span></strong> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u>Best in Non-Fiction</u></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8lOt22cHsbS6V5Y7Hg5BSI-YuT1UZwEAXINQJ-LTMRaoauNpie50mCT6TEFcw2P04i9IEuwtXe2V3fiVj1A-_rWaDXToyygj4bX0dczP5Vnj5kR0pAxWMhIgAk2EHqwqNLxnPAGi0u8/s1600/Nonfic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB8lOt22cHsbS6V5Y7Hg5BSI-YuT1UZwEAXINQJ-LTMRaoauNpie50mCT6TEFcw2P04i9IEuwtXe2V3fiVj1A-_rWaDXToyygj4bX0dczP5Vnj5kR0pAxWMhIgAk2EHqwqNLxnPAGi0u8/s1600/Nonfic.jpg" height="318" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth</strong>, Chris Hadfield</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Inspirational - that is all.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Nothing to Envy</strong>, Barbara Demick</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The real lives of North-Koreans are shocking.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Packing for Mars</strong>, Mary Roach</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Funny, daring, will possibly gross you out.</em> </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u>Best in Classics</u></span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUQl00XBH2R2Zu2W6cvmcLRaBm8Lq_4sbSszy7BAUHG8r1Wt_qpYuGK0PgHZisfNniddbkpxRaFM8tClehTRK6ByvE6ed88jrBP0FAp7HDumls-lRlfQ6ur-oCPUAVrXSxvUxcpmtKXA/s1600/classics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRUQl00XBH2R2Zu2W6cvmcLRaBm8Lq_4sbSszy7BAUHG8r1Wt_qpYuGK0PgHZisfNniddbkpxRaFM8tClehTRK6ByvE6ed88jrBP0FAp7HDumls-lRlfQ6ur-oCPUAVrXSxvUxcpmtKXA/s1600/classics.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Jude the Obscure</strong>, Thomas Hardy</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Life is a bleak piece of hell, and then we die.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Rebecca</strong>, Daphne du Maurier</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Melodramatic, atmospheric, dislikeable, unputdownable.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><u></u></strong></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><u>The Biggest Disappointment</u></strong></span></div>
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<strong><u><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"></span></u></strong> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> I am aware that these are highly popular books. I personally didn't like them. I maybe *got* them, but still didn't like them. Tastes are different. The fact that you enjoyed them and I didn't does not mean we still couldn't be friends. Happy new year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Name of the Wind</strong>, Patrick Rothfuss</span></div>
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<a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/02/the-name-of-wind-by-patrick-rothfuss.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">ramblings (with a chart!)</span></a></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nothing special, a mega annoying female character.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Kite Runner</strong>, Khaled Hosseini</span></div>
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<a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/07/the-kite-runner-by-khaled-hosseini.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">more ramblings</span></a></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Plain characters, uninspiring, relying too much on shock value.</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>American Gods</strong>, Neil Gaiman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Confusing, too long, I don't click with Gaiman's writing.</em> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Fault in our Stars</strong>, John Green</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Teenagers don't talk like this; John Green does.</span></em></div>
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Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-15707589010253316712014-12-22T20:57:00.000+02:002014-12-22T20:57:07.061+02:00Wine upon my lips* - most memorable quotes from 2014<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If there is something I want to improve, it's keeping the track of beautiful quotes I come upon when reading. I am very inconsistent; some I mark down in some of my gazillion notebooks; some I type into the Goodreads as I'm reading. Therefore, in the end, I don't really have one place where they all exist, but in this case, I kind of remembered very vividly </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">the books that were beautifully written. I am one of them people who enjoy the written word for its aesthetic value - willing to admit the language is more important for me than the plot or any other aspect of a story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Out of curiosity, I went and checked my <strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2013/12/top-5-most-memorable-quotes-book.html">favourite quotes from 2013</a></strong> - they were still beautiful :)</span> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"How do you smuggle daydreams into reality?"</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">asks David Mitchell in <em>number9dream</em>. It is the question that still keeps haunting me.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In addition to the usual aspirin and endorphins, I saw stims, tranks, Flashback tubes, orgasm derms, shunt primers, cannabis inhalers, non-recom tobacco cigarettes, and a hundred less identifiable drugs.</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This describes contents of a lady's medicine cabinet in Dan Simmons's <em>The Fall of Hyperion</em>. Not sure I would want to get intimately acquinted with the aforementioned medicine cabinet, but I have to admire the author's creativity. His books are full of such little pearls. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"Mum said I'd learn betrayals come in various shapes and sizes, but to betray someone's dream is the unforgiveable one."</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Holly Sykes rings the truth in Mitchell's <em>The Bone Clocks</em>. Handling other people's dreams is a dangerous business indeed.</span> </div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But the appetite for sophisticated ruin was already there.</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Middlesex</em> by Jeffrey Eugenides, a highly quotable book. Moreso than the quote itself, I was stricken by the concept of "sophisticated ruin" - I think there is a certain group of people who are more prone for the sophisticated ruin, and I think I might be a member of this group.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There may be stranger reasons for being alive.</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are books. There's Auntie Teg and Grampar. There's Sam, and Gill. There's interlibrary loan. There are books you can fall into and pull up over your head. There's the distant hope of a karass** sometime in the future.</span></strong> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Among Others</em></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Jo Walton - and what a beautiful thought it is to have. Though I'm still searching for my Real Life karass - I think I found a form of it via the book blogging ^^</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>"And so we constantly infer someone else's intentions, thoughts, knowledge, lack of knowledge, doubts, desires, beliefs, guesses, promises, preferences, purposes, and many, many more things in order to behave as social creatures in the world."</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The cynic in me rejoiced, writing down this piece of truth from Karen Joy Fowler's <em>We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves</em>. A human can be such an ugly herd animal. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Gulls wheel through spokes of sunlight over gracious roofs and dowdy thatch, snatching entrails at the marketplace and escaping over cloistered gardens, spike-topped walls, and triple-bolted doors. Gulls alight on whitewashed gables, creaking pagodas, and dung-ripe stables; circle over towers and cavernous bells and over hidden squares where urns of urine sit by covered wells, watched by mule drivers, mules, and wolf-snouted dogs, ignored by hunchbacked makers of clogs; gather speed up the stoned-in Nakashima River and fly beneath the arches of its bridges, glimpsed from kitchen doors, watched by farmers walking high, stony ridges. Gulls fly through clouds of steam from laundries' vats; over kites unthreading corpses of cats; over scholars glimpsing truth in fragile patterns; over bathhouse adulterers; heartbroken slatterns; fishwives dismembering lobsters and crabs; their husbands gutting mackerel on slabs; woodcutters' sons sharpening axes; candlemakers rolling waxes; flint-eyed officials milking taxes; etiolated lacquerers; mottled-skinned dyers; imprecise soothsayers; unblinking liars; beavers of muds; gutters of rushes; ink-lipped calligraphers dipping brushes; booksellers ruined by unsold books; ladies-in-waiting; tasters; dressers; filching page boys; runny-nosed cooks; sunless attick nooks where seamstresses prick calloused fingers; limping malingerers; swineherds; swindlers; lip-chewed debtors rich in excuses; heard-it-all creditors tightening nooses; prisoners haunted by happier lives; and aging rakes by other men's wives; skeletal tutors goaded to fits; firemen-turned-looters when occasion permits; tongue-tied witnesses; purchased judges; mothers-in-law nurturing briars and grudges; apothecaries grinding powders with mortars; palanquins carrying not-yet-wed daughters; silent nuns; nine-year-old whores; the once-were-beautiful gnawed by sores; statues of Jizo anointed with posies; syphilitics sneezing through rotted-off noses; potters; barbers; hawkers of oil; tanners; cutlers; carters of night soil; gatekeepers; beekeepers; blacksmiths and drapers; torturers; wet nurses; perjurers; cutpurses; the newborn; the growing; the strong-willed and pliant; the ailing; the dying; the weak and defiant; over roof of a painter withdrawn first from the world, then his family, and down into a masterpiece that has, in the end, withdrawn from its creator; and around again, where their fight began, over the balcony of the Room of the Last Chrysanthemum, where a puddle from last night's rain is evaporating; a puddle in which Magistrate Shiroyama observers the blurred reflections of gulls wheeling through spokes of sunlight. <em>This world</em>, he thinks, <em>contains just one masterpiece, and that is itself.</em></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet</em>, David Mitchell. Congratulations to those who actually got through this last quote - you guys are troopers. This is my favourite quote of the year. This one page holds the reasons why I read. I am not the cryer when it comes to art, but I can say with all honesty, I almost wept when I got to the end of this paragraph after the first read, out of sheer happiness that there is a person in the world who is able to write like that. And that is why I love Mitchell - not because of his clever plot structures or relatable characters. I love him because he is the virtuoso of text, the master with words, the lord of the language. </span></div>
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* From a Virginia Woolf quote - "Language is wine upon the lips"<br />
** <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/karass">Kurt Vonnegut</a><br />
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-35637710621164357572014-12-20T12:16:00.000+02:002014-12-20T12:16:14.167+02:00Crème de la crème of 2014 - the best characters and villains<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Are you tired of all the Best Ofs already? I'm not, so from hereon to the end of the year I'll publish a few "cream of the cream" lists of my own. This first one features my favourite fictional <strong>boys</strong>, <strong>girls</strong> and <strong>villains</strong> of the year 2014 - a wonderful year of reading it was. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>The best female character</strong></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgAnPJoAQknBGWVtDmxvMtDYfFDTA9JxkrK2IIoHkKjip1-ZdUu4-ipjmt2TLlJTR6Rat6fqrybrq8MG7OJFhlOWUVfvaDK_DtVksWVlHGAB6y5QPj6pbn50RC8Bdbk0uLisGeHHykKug/s1600/bestgirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgAnPJoAQknBGWVtDmxvMtDYfFDTA9JxkrK2IIoHkKjip1-ZdUu4-ipjmt2TLlJTR6Rat6fqrybrq8MG7OJFhlOWUVfvaDK_DtVksWVlHGAB6y5QPj6pbn50RC8Bdbk0uLisGeHHykKug/s1600/bestgirls.jpg" height="322" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jessica Atreides courtesy of </span><a href="http://samc-art.deviantart.com/art/Lady-Jessica-351238411"><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">SanC-Art</span></strong></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Holly Sykes</strong> from <em>The Bone Clocks</em> (David Mitchell) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Holly, Holly... At first you were this and then that, and also a little hidden in between. Thank you for showing that an awesome character does not need to be in the spotlight throughout. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Jessica Atreides</strong> from <em>Dune</em> (Frank Herbert) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I admit being slightly allergic to the phrase "kick-ass female character" (I much prefer my girls to be normal human beings, thank you very much), but it kind of fits the bill in your case. It was all kinds of wonderful to follow your inner monologue. If Bene Gesserit training was available in our world, I would not need to be taking anti-depressants. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Morwenna (Mori) Phelps</strong> from <em>Among Others</em> (Jo Walton) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dear Mori, let me give you a hug. I know how it feels. I was you once, long ago. Your mind is a wonderful thing - don't ever let it become narrow and let people tell you "SF? What are you - a kid/nerd/trekkie?" I love you.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The best male character</span></strong></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4lVmXdqWYY9MuZWwZ2jrKccFbspQaM-8wvK2ACYj6m_vRs4UhFXP2bNFPeKuWeq4B9WGrmi1g6KFy0okH1Cx3V7yS9Di9xkF86VO284Nyi7lCXzlyWcdeuj_akg6rFdfret1GduUqkE/s1600/Boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4lVmXdqWYY9MuZWwZ2jrKccFbspQaM-8wvK2ACYj6m_vRs4UhFXP2bNFPeKuWeq4B9WGrmi1g6KFy0okH1Cx3V7yS9Di9xkF86VO284Nyi7lCXzlyWcdeuj_akg6rFdfret1GduUqkE/s1600/Boys.jpg" height="314" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Locke Lamora & Jean Tannen courtesy of <strong><a href="http://botanicaxu.deviantart.com/art/GENTLEMEN-BASTARDS-Locke-Lamora-Jean-Tannen-341337742">BotanicaXu</a></strong>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Jacob de Zoet</strong> from <em>The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet</em> (David Mitchell)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ah... how tragic be you, life. Jacob is a beautifully written character, thus the title should go to Mitchell instead. He is charming in his naivety and courage (always the winning combination). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Jean Tannen</strong> from <em>The Lies of Locke Lamora</em> and <em>Red Seas Under Red Skies</em> (Scott Lynch)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jean is the character I would have dated in high school. Must be the glasses and the bookishness. Though it's pretty okay, in my book, how he constantly saves Locke's skinny ass. (Who's the main character of these books, again...?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Homer Wells</strong> from <em>The Cider House Rules</em> (John Irving)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I don't have an easy reasoning to love Homer Wells. He is a bit of a broken soul, and no hero. Most people would consider him a coward I suppose (right on, Melony), but I prefer to think some people simply struggle with more complicated inner conflicts. He does the right thing, in the end. Truth is, I just love Irving's male characters (OWEN MEANY). Right? Right. </span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The best villain</span></strong></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6n7o5niy6cyuevkeyhDUC2KjD6G-w8R3a4nFwr-JyBd8Z_xHdMfFoBicMO75eoLYZWTZ8VUNqz_-UscoTGRFmmhAekqEqU1QMNfiJO-hL-pAcz8BWrrgW8vH3KlagoyRGcR1XAMQCSE/s1600/villains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6n7o5niy6cyuevkeyhDUC2KjD6G-w8R3a4nFwr-JyBd8Z_xHdMfFoBicMO75eoLYZWTZ8VUNqz_-UscoTGRFmmhAekqEqU1QMNfiJO-hL-pAcz8BWrrgW8vH3KlagoyRGcR1XAMQCSE/s1600/villains.jpg" height="276" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/417920040395523822/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">William Hamleigh</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Baron Vladimir Harkonnen courtesy of <strong><a href="http://fedain.deviantart.com/art/Dune-redesign-Vladimir-Harkonnen-478482902">SimonDubuc</a></strong>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Arabella Donn</strong> from <em>Jude the Obscure</em> (Thomas Hardy)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Arabella, you are in the top of the list of despicable human beings I have ever met in fictional world. That is all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Dolores "hem, hem" Umbridge</strong> from <em>youknowwhatbooks </em>(too lazy to check which numbers they were) (J.K. Rowling)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The favourite "love to hate" villain in the world, most likely. Despite my pacifistic views, I would have liked to punch her in the face. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>William Hamleigh</strong> from <em>The Pillars of the Earth</em> (Ken Follett)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">William, though I hate you from the bottom of my heart, I also pity you. What a miserable life it must have been, filled with hate and stupidity from being a little boy to being an old man. Also, you are a perv.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Baron Vladimir Harkonnen</strong> from <em>Dune</em> (Frank Herbert)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dear Baron, you are a member of my favourite category of villains - The Fat Wiseass. Maybe you don't even belong here because I do admire your intelligence and cunning mind.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The next c<em>rème de la crème</em> edition - Best Quotes of 2014.</span> Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-75244246123914525632014-12-15T10:32:00.001+02:002014-12-15T10:32:16.504+02:00It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 15.12.2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNW4j-e4t09F6RJfUHnT7YkILKMJ-VHvTDUPneP07HFuToPFVAI0NQATXC44MlHkDO5nX8vjinvjenc_dbrnw1JDQlUUAJoe01FO9nY48rlKaiWCb3AFJmNY4-qzhhClOCpLkHePR2rJ0/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNW4j-e4t09F6RJfUHnT7YkILKMJ-VHvTDUPneP07HFuToPFVAI0NQATXC44MlHkDO5nX8vjinvjenc_dbrnw1JDQlUUAJoe01FO9nY48rlKaiWCb3AFJmNY4-qzhhClOCpLkHePR2rJ0/s1600/14.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hello! Happy new week! I didn't post last Monday, because I was reading pretty much the same stuff (gotta love 'em big books...) and I figured maybe the Monday posts will work better for me twice a month instead of every week. I'll see how that goes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I've finished off some good stuff meanwhile, and also some <strong>excellent</strong> stuff. <strong>Station Eleven</strong> and <strong>The Cider House Rules</strong> (yes, the 900+ page John Irving tome) were good, and <strong>Among Others</strong> was bloody brilliant. I also finished a young adult fantasy book <strong>The Girl of Fire and Thorns</strong>, which was meh. Okay. Nothing special. <span style="font-size: x-small;">I really should quit reading YA books altogether... </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I would like to finish all these off before the end of the year, but we'll see how this goes. Ideally I would start the new year with the new reads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>Endymion, Dan Simmons</strong> - about half-way through, taking it slow. Simmons writes good, but I kind of miss the intricacy of the previous two books - this one is way too linear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>Deadhouse Gates, Steven Erikson</strong> - half-way through as well. Just like the first book in the series, it is a challenging read. The plot has picked up though and I am drawn to the bleakness of the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls</strong> - I have to admit I am having difficulties with this one. Mainly because I can't seem to decide what it is that I am reading. I have hard time taking it as non-fiction; however, the narrator is still in the age of a child and I am rather curious to see what changes in her attitude will occur once she gets older.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens</strong> - I have read three chapters, Dickens is wordy as usual and requries some effort from a modern time reader. There have been some chuckles, though, and illustrations are nice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong>Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey</strong> - 'cos space opera is my chick lit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by </span><a href="http://bookjourney.net/category/its-monday-what-are-you-reading/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Book Journey</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, check out the blog to see other fantastic Monday reads.</span> Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-54069082687906451222014-12-04T09:04:00.000+02:002014-12-04T09:04:19.809+02:00Remember, Remember, the Month of November...<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">November was a great reading month. I am pretty close to a 100 books on my Goodreads reading challenge, even though my initial goal was to read 75. Given how many big books I read, and how my graphic novel count is (still!) zero, I am very impressed with myself! /modesty mode *ON*</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There were two clear highlights in November for me. Since I am a self-proclaimed cynic with heart of cold, who is not moved easily by anything, I was pretty astonished by the chaos that the book <strong>"We Are Completely Beside Ourselves"</strong> and the movie <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/?ref_=nv_sr_1">"Interstellar"</a></strong> managed to cause on my mental landscapes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">(Feel free to skip the next few paragraphs if movies ain't your thing - if there are people like that out there...) </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.intellihub.com/interstellar-2014-secret-revelation/">Photo source</a>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I don't think I've ever gone to see a movie twice in the movie theater (some of them legendary <strong>The Lord of the Rings</strong> films <strong>might</strong> have been an exception - I don't remember), but I'm planning to see Interstellar again. I have been a fan of Christopher Nolan's works for a long while, but his films always were intelligent, clever, thoughtful, unexpected, challenging - not necessarily emotionally touching. Well, that has changed now. Interstellar is a <strong>very</strong> emotional film and I can't get it out of my head. A few films have moved me this way - Sofia Coppola's <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335266/">Lost in Translation</a></strong> (2003) probably comes the closest so far, but while Lost in Translation is quite confined in its scope and setting, Interstellar is hugely epic, covering time, space and matter, all less in three hours of time. It is a clear proof that science fiction does not equal trash or sub par. It is not a great sci-fi movie; it is a great movie, period. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">As a side thought - if there are any other weirdos out there who can't stand the pointless-mindless snogging and making out in their movies, space films are a great choice - space suits make for a challenging situation when it comes to the compulsory kissing scenes. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/997354.The_Pillars_of_the_Earth"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Pillars of the Earth</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Ken Follet (historical fiction) - 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Yes - who would have thought the 1000-page about building a church could be so addictive. It is a long and tasty book, and I want to read the sequel too. The only problem I had was somewhat two dimensional characters, but otherwise a great read. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17934530-annihilation"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Annihilation</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Jeff VanderMeer (science fiction) - 3/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I don't know about this book, maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind, but it was a tad hard to connect. It's short and not exactly character driven, but it is very intriguing in its setting - if there was the term "magical science fiction", this one would fit nicely. I'll still be checking out the next two because - short reads. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9809.Invisible_Cities"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Invisible Cities</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Italo Calvino (fiction) - 3/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Very interesting concept and beautiful language, but I found it a bit difficult to follow at times. I am not that fond of fully descriptive prose. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239399.The_Ghost_Brigades"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Ghost Brigades</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, John Scalzi (science fiction -> space opera) - 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">John Scalzi is a very fun author, I'd recommend him to people who kinda sorta want to try out sci-fi but are concerned about the science-y parts. Especially the first one in this series, Old Man's War, was so funny. The Ghost Brigades is funny too, but also focuses on deeper aspects of humanity.</span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18275020-alas-babylon"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Alas, Babylon</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Pat Frank (science fiction -> post apocalyptic) - 3/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Post-apocalyptic America after nuclear explosion. The fact that it was written back in 1959 kind of shone through for me. Definitely an interesting take, but overall nothing that special. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16218778-coming-clean"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Coming Clean</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Kimberly Rae Miller (non-fiction -> memoir) - 2/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Hoarding as a condition has always intrigued and terrified me. One of my biggest fears is the compulsion to have too much stuff in my life. I wanted to understand the minds of hoarders better through this book, but I didn't find what I was searching for. Miller focuses on herself and when it comes to her parents (the hoarders), this is more descriptive than analytical work. Writing was mediocre, the book could have benefitted from some skillful editing, and some things I just didn't get - like if someone in your family has a condition that is clearly not normal and completely destroys most of your life, howcome getting professional, psychiatric help is not the first thing that comes to everyone's mind? </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16176440-we-are-all-completely-beside-ourselves"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Karen Joy Fowler (fiction) - 5/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The human is the savagest animal, no? What a wonderful, wonderful piece of fiction. Heart warming, emotional, but not in a manipulative manner <span style="font-size: x-small;">(*cough* Jodi Picoult *cough*). <span style="font-size: small;">The best way to approach this book is to not know <strong>anything</strong> about it.</span> </span></span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18684832-gulp---adventures-on-the-alimentary-canal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Gulp</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Mary Roach (non-fiction) - 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mary Roach makes me laugh. Laughing while learning about how food goes through human body, how pythons eat their breakfast or the perks of human saliva, is the best. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13602426-the-round-house"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Round House</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Louise Erdrich (fiction) - 3/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Interesting book with unique setting and prose, but I didn't connect with Erdrich's text. I wanted to like it more than I did. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12000020-aristotle-and-dante-discover-the-secrets-of-the-universe"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe,</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Benjamin Alire Saenz (young adult) - 3/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I feel it's unfair to even say anything because clearly, I am unable to take young adult for what it is. This is probably one of the better examples of the specimen, but still I can't get over the simpleness of the genre (is it a genre? I don't think it actually is, but for the lack of a better universally agreed term...) The very short and abrupt dialogue style annoyed me to no end. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60931.Kindred"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kindred</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Octavia E. Butler (fiction [with time travel elements]) - 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">What a surprise! Kindred is a rough ride, and I am hesitant to call it SFF because really the only SFF element it has is the time travel. Otherwise it's more of (historical) fiction. But very interesting book that explores deep racial issues. Definitely will read more Butler in future. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8551322-nothing-to-envy"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nothing to Envy</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Barbara Demick (non-fiction -> North Korea) - 5/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Nothing to Envy is the best piece of non-fiction on North Korea I've read so far. My reads have all been very different - <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11797365-escape-from-camp-14">Escape from Camp 14</a></strong> focuses on life in concentration camps; <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7818223-somewhere-inside?ac=1">Somewhere Inside</a></strong> is a very journalistic/American take on North Korean bureaucracy machine. I very much missed a glimpse on the life of simple North Koreans, and I got it. There were answers to some of the questions I've had for a while - like, do they really live in total lack of knowledge about the rest of the world (some don't); how deep does the whole brain-washing thing go; how do North Korean defectors act once they settle somewhere else (usually China or South Korea); why do they agree to live like this? Highly recommended. </span></div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-19222092004606411572014-12-01T15:30:00.001+02:002014-12-01T15:30:38.588+02:00It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 01.12.2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm here again, with the Monday reads. I managed to finish both <strong>Nothing to Envy</strong> and <strong>Kindred</strong> last week, great reads and highly recommended both.</span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20170404-station-eleven?ac=1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Station Eleven</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Emily St. John Mandel - I'm about half way through and so far, hooray to hype monster for not ruining the reading experience. I'm especially smitten with Miranda. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3977.Endymion"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Endymion</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Dan Simmons - did I say I think Dan Simmons is a genius? I'm about 1/5 through and feel like I've arrived home. These books will be one of the highlights of this year for sure. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10429092-the-girl-of-fire-and-thorns"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Girl of Fire and Thorns</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Rae Carson - a little while ago I bought a bunch of dollar-smt YA books for e-reader to be able to make my occasional YA-pick. The beginning of this was very promising, but now I've gotten a bit bored. Still I'm curious to see what will happen.</span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7445.The_Glass_Castle?ac=1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Glass Castle</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Jeannette Walls - I decided to start this as my next non-fiction read, I haven't read a memoir in a while. I only checked first few pages and I suppose this lady's life is going to be VERY eventful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Aside from that, I'm still reading the chunksters from last week, <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4687.The_Cider_House_Rules">The Cider House Rules</a></strong> and <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55401.Deadhouse_Gates">Deadhouse Gates</a></strong>. Both are good, I just prefer not to make huge books my focus reads.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by </span><a href="http://bookjourney.net/category/its-monday-what-are-you-reading/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Book Journey</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, check out the blog to see other fantastic Monday reads.</span> Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-22835964503957641642014-11-25T12:12:00.001+02:002014-11-25T12:38:00.123+02:00The Ten Books I Really Want to Read This Winter<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What is this madness? The third day and the third post? I didn't plan to make a post today (I've been working on my post on 2015 TBR Challenge instead), but seeing today's topic on my blog feed I simply couldn't resist. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So here are the ten books I <strong>really</strong> want to read this winter (winter = December - March). Hopefully I can cross these all out by the beginning of March. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Edit:</em> after I typed the list, I discovered it's pretty... gloomy? Horror, post-apocalyptic, poor starving orphans and creepy non-fiction. It was not deliberate, but I don't really mind. #holidayspirit, eh ;) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3977.Endymion?ac=1">Endymion</a></strong>, Dan Simmons (<em>science fiction</em>) - follow up to Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion. Will be reading this one in December, I'm beyond excited. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20170404-station-eleven?ac=1">Station Eleven</a></strong>, Emily St. John Mandel (<em>science fiction -> dystopia/post apocalyptic</em>) - this one seems to be everywhere right now, and since my reading is very much not about current trends, I decided to pick a few just to catch up with all the fuss. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18254.Oliver_Twist?ac=1">Oliver Twist</a></strong>, Charles Dickens (<em>classics</em>) - Dickens feels somehow winter-appropriate. This is one of the last books I have left to complete my 2014 TBR challenge, so I better get it done. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8706185-among-others?ac=1">Among Others</a></strong>, Jo Walton (<em>fantasy</em>) - a Hugo and Nebula winning novel, I've heard it described as something "different" - well, why not. Colour me intrigued.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">5. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6288.The_Road?ac=1">The Road</a></strong>, Cormac McCarthy (<em>science fiction -> dystopia/post apocalyptic</em>) - The Road has been on my to- read list for a while. I haven't read any other McCarthy, though I own a nice copy of All the Pretty Horses. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">6. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18498558-bird-box?ac=1">Bird Box</a></strong>, Josh Malerman (<em>horror</em>) - also this year's release. I don't really know anything about it except for the fact that it's supposed to give you the creeps. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">7. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6080337-the-year-of-the-flood?ac=1">The Year of the Flood</a></strong>, Margaret Atwood (<em>speculative fiction</em>) - it is <strong>about</strong> time. I read Oryx and Crake years ago, and have the both sequels on my shelf, so I really don't know why I haven't already read them. Also, it's been a while since my last Atwood, I think I'm having withdrawal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">8. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15852479-we-need-new-names?ac=1">We Need New Names</a></strong>, NoViolet Bulawayo (<em>fiction</em>) - one of the Man Booker Prize nominees this year. I am always willing to give Man Booker books a go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">9. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21996.The_Devil_in_the_White_City?ac=1">The Devil in the White City</a></strong>, Erik Larson (<em>non-fiction -> true crime</em>) - I went over my non-fiction collection and this one jumped out as a potentially good winter read. It was either this or Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking - although who says I cannot read them both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">10. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7445.The_Glass_Castle?ac=1">The Glass Castle</a></strong>, Jeanette Walls (<em>non-fiction -> memoir</em>) - I think this will be a tough read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">If you have read any of those or are planning to, feel free to leave your thoughts :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by <strong><a href="http://www.brokeandbookish.com/">The Broke and the Bookish</a></strong>.</span> </div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-1651299898415876982014-11-24T13:08:00.000+02:002014-11-24T13:08:03.424+02:00It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 24.11.2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I decided to start doing Monday reading posts, in which I'll show my current reads and add occasional chit-chat on topics that my current reads trigger. (Did I tell you I tend to ramble? I tend to ramble. I'm a ramblerer.)</span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8551322-nothing-to-envy"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Nothing to Envy</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Barbara Demick (2009) - this seems to be one of the better written non-fiction pieces on North Korea. I'm on page 74 and totally sucked in. Demick is a journalist who describes lives of regular North Korean people who later escaped the country. Through that she also introduces the highlights of the history of North Korea. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55401.Deadhouse_Gates"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Deadhouse Gates</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Steven Erikson (2000) - this is the second book in The Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I was craving for a big fat fantasy book for colder evenings and decided to continue with these. I actually started <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7235533-the-way-of-kings?ac=1">The Way of Kings</a></strong> as well, but it's on hold right now. Sadly it seems that Sanderson is not an author for me. His books seem to be too calculated, and lacking something specific that I personally look for in fantasy, the writing feels too clinical. I don't know how to explain it. For example, I don't think Robin Hobb's books are the pinnacle of fantasy lit, but they contain heaps of that Special Something that works well for me. Hell, even though I didn't like Rothfuss's <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186074.The_Name_of_the_Wind?ac=1">The Name of the Wind</a></strong>, his writing does more for me than Sanderson's, there is a lot of life and spark in his characters. I gave <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68428.Mistborn?ac=1">The Final Empire</a></strong> four stars right after reading, but I will lower it to three because it hasn't really stuck with me, and I don't feel the urge to pick up the sequel. Ok, rant over. Here's to hoping I won't become an outcast in book blogging world now :)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRHPIh09ChI10hYA0_c9b1zIm09Fydv0kK4o4kPTS-4aSBvHyiYPM2NJEWOwnp_pCmkC7Q_hGOnRZXzUgT2ZiTlnpLcWh_LWFKIz8y236A6pS2bVnqhIi_hQcfIfAsjVSahEI3a7Ni0o/s1600/Monday2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRHPIh09ChI10hYA0_c9b1zIm09Fydv0kK4o4kPTS-4aSBvHyiYPM2NJEWOwnp_pCmkC7Q_hGOnRZXzUgT2ZiTlnpLcWh_LWFKIz8y236A6pS2bVnqhIi_hQcfIfAsjVSahEI3a7Ni0o/s1600/Monday2.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4687.The_Cider_House_Rules"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Cider House Rules</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, John Irving (1985) - talking of adjusting ratings, I think I will have to pump my rating to <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4473.A_Prayer_for_Owen_Meany?ac=1">A Prayer for Owen Meany</a></strong> from four to five - this book has <strong>definitely</strong> stuck with me. This being my second Irving novel, I found that his writing is very unique and recognisable, there is a lot of quirk and whimsy added to the story, and he makes excellent, detailed character studies. </span></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60931.Kindred"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Kindred</span></a></strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, Octavia E. Butler (1979) - I am not sure what I expected this book to be - or if I expected anything at all - but it's definitely something else, and kind of a rough read. Rough in its story, not readability. I'm almost done, so hopefully will finish this one very soon.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by </span><a href="http://bookjourney.net/category/its-monday-what-are-you-reading/"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Book Journey</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">, check out the blog to see other fantastic Monday reads.</span> Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-3977813982385791402014-11-23T13:11:00.002+02:002014-11-23T13:13:52.222+02:00Chronicling: What I Read from August to November<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here's something I haven't done before, and will hopefully never do again: I've read so many books from August to November, and not written about them, that for the sake of chronicling while not letting this post go mile long, I am simply going to list them month by month and add a rating (and maybe a few words for some).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I've been thinking about the blogging and where I want to go with it lately (looks like I am not the only one, I've seen others reorganising their mental fields before the end of the year as well), and I'm planning to get back into writing more actively as of the new year. I think I'll do some changes as to what I write about, and how, and for how much, so that the book blogging experience was more customized for my personal taste. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But let's get on with this post. I was in a major slump for the end of summer-beginning of autumn, after which I got into a MAJOR reading spree (that should explain 28 completed books in October - and by completed I mean I finished off <strong>everything</strong> that I had ever started before and books that had been next to my bed for months; in the end I felt extremely liberated). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u><strong>August 2014:</strong></u></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPbjpvoHXc4OKfxnRCw9ZnBPKznvmJBMpATOVxdN_f442QWy4Isf7veVfBDVssG-y_FulUFWH_BujMpevJaBr1songUoheqm2VfNOpZ62Ae0hrBMVLlp3uVUo3XL2rIB7VnXPGf7blpc/s1600/August.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPbjpvoHXc4OKfxnRCw9ZnBPKznvmJBMpATOVxdN_f442QWy4Isf7veVfBDVssG-y_FulUFWH_BujMpevJaBr1songUoheqm2VfNOpZ62Ae0hrBMVLlp3uVUo3XL2rIB7VnXPGf7blpc/s1600/August.jpg" height="238" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/820665.The_Bluest_Eye">The Bluest Eye</a></strong>, Toni Morrison - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6122137-murder-on-the-orient-express">Murder on the Orient Express</a></strong>, Agatha Christie - 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15811545-a-tale-for-the-time-being">A Tale for the Time Being</a></strong>, Ruth Ozeki -<strong><span style="color: red;"> 5/5</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;"> - so so good. Pick it up if you crave for some violence-zen combo in your life.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12810834-172-hours-on-the-moon">172 Hours on the Moon</a></strong>, Johan Harstad - 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> - a bit of a missed opportunity there. Or maybe I'm just not the target group...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><u>September 2014:</u></strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh15TeXtv97loTuFdIzO7bbbJvl52jDYTmbhzT3ycjP6HMwSPkEkU_TxUPluE1I1YOMpi4HP4HEssAqMBZzPPB4j_QwhtYxLkx99H_dK_doCNWF7kB8TbGbQw-QsQLSfCk7SYLUrQF3uas/s1600/Sept.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh15TeXtv97loTuFdIzO7bbbJvl52jDYTmbhzT3ycjP6HMwSPkEkU_TxUPluE1I1YOMpi4HP4HEssAqMBZzPPB4j_QwhtYxLkx99H_dK_doCNWF7kB8TbGbQw-QsQLSfCk7SYLUrQF3uas/s1600/Sept.jpg" height="242" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1009709.Death_on_the_Nile">Death on the Nile</a></strong>, Agatha Christie (for RIP) - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18949650-the-bone-clocks">The Bone Clocks</a></strong>, David Mitchell - <strong><span style="color: red;">5/5</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;"><strong> </strong><span style="color: black;">- do I even need to comment? I'm soon done with everything Mitchell has written, and then what? *dreads the day*</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17347380-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince">Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince</a></strong>, J.K. Rowling - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17347379-harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows</a></strong>, J.K. Rowling - 4/5</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><u>October 2014:</u></span></strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmvlr-I1T-T1HakOhYD-dCv3wh8yevlRAbvo9YUHIktQhRFOIYAX-GEEFwnaxZGzsrbjrEPavXvsHmrZC322OWtHsx-mM8AYEzlZALGECXZ5k37Y5Hf7hsM92y2ugmez7_uUvdNH9B0E/s1600/Nov1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmvlr-I1T-T1HakOhYD-dCv3wh8yevlRAbvo9YUHIktQhRFOIYAX-GEEFwnaxZGzsrbjrEPavXvsHmrZC322OWtHsx-mM8AYEzlZALGECXZ5k37Y5Hf7hsM92y2ugmez7_uUvdNH9B0E/s1600/Nov1.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18170143-an-astronaut-s-guide-to-life-on-earth">An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth</a></strong>, Chris Hadfield - <span style="color: red;"><strong>5/5 </strong></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;"><strong> </strong><span style="color: black;">- I think this book can have two possible outcomes, depending on a person: you either 1) feel like the worst, most depressed under-achiever in the world or 2) inspired to the moon and back and ready to take on the whole earth.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8493755-the-stars-my-destination">The Stars My Destination</a></strong>, Alfred Bester - 2.5/5</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17263602-andeka-kingsepa-surm">Andeka kingsepa surm</a></strong>, Vaclav Erben - 1/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9118135-state-of-wonder">State of Wonder</a></strong>, Ann Patchett - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">5. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7818223-somewhere-inside">Somewhere Inside: One Sister's Captivity in North Korea and the Other's Fight to Bring Her Home</a></strong>, Laura & Lisa Ling - 3.5/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> - one of my favourite non-fiction topics; I felt the content was good, but it was so obvious the book was written by journalists, and often I felt like things could have been edited out for the sake of smoother narrative flow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">6. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19288239-colorless-tsukuru-tazaki-and-his-years-of-pilgrimage">Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage</a></strong>, Haruki Murakami - 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> - I think this was disappointment mainly because I have read <strong>so</strong> much Murakami in my life. He tends to write about the same people all over, and it can get a bit too much.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">7. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7761406-the-beekeeper-s-apprentice">The Beekeeper's Apprentice</a></strong>, Laurie R. King (for RIP) - 4/5</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFT_iA40_sZZ3wj-yusndKc3rKF_DjmqAGCf11mfiku51hH8qDtrto9nyQOX-NCvmakaZRLsFKRWxfMcrN87GDpYTVEe_1KkF00_-daGubCEd8DFNJiJf_2fLRL5Z4TSnFfIgSsl4g6A/s1600/Nov2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYFT_iA40_sZZ3wj-yusndKc3rKF_DjmqAGCf11mfiku51hH8qDtrto9nyQOX-NCvmakaZRLsFKRWxfMcrN87GDpYTVEe_1KkF00_-daGubCEd8DFNJiJf_2fLRL5Z4TSnFfIgSsl4g6A/s1600/Nov2.jpg" height="412" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">8. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13597728-asylum">Asylum</a></strong>, Madeleine Roux (for RIP) - 2/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">9. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12873.Rebecca">Rebecca</a></strong>, Daphne du Maurier (for RIP) - <strong><span style="color: red;">5/5</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;"><strong> </strong><span style="color: black;">- a bit of a soap opera, granted, but so well done I could not stop until it was over. Very atmospheric read. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">10. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8688485-northanger-abbey">Northanger Abbey</a></strong>, Jane Austen (for RIP) - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">11. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15955773-charlotte-markham-and-the-house-of-darkling-michael-boccacino">Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling</a></strong>, Michael Boccacino (for RIP) - 2/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">12. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8909.The_War_of_the_Worlds">The War of the Worlds</a></strong>, H.G. Wells - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">13. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18308767-the-luminaries">The Luminaries</a></strong>, Eleanor Catton - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> - not sure I'd recommend this book to anyone, but it was certainly and interesting and mind-provoking read. If you like(d) <strong><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348914/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Deadwood</a></strong>, you <strong>might</strong> connect well with the setting in The Luminaries. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">14. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12475141-the-brief-wondrous-life-of-oscar-wao">The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao</a></strong>, Junot Diaz - 4/5</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ygCENcYTW8zR71c7j5aMrklmKrftydTL99pjMqYoIewyD5eMq9yMM6ELhoMBp80I6Tl5XdE2Ae6T5Sw291bf6ZloCVLuowRPTXE0qM0GP1oIX4jMIq7He93_dSVua52sNGs2Zjl1gpA/s1600/Nov3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ygCENcYTW8zR71c7j5aMrklmKrftydTL99pjMqYoIewyD5eMq9yMM6ELhoMBp80I6Tl5XdE2Ae6T5Sw291bf6ZloCVLuowRPTXE0qM0GP1oIX4jMIq7He93_dSVua52sNGs2Zjl1gpA/s1600/Nov3.jpg" height="420" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">15. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11588.The_Shining">The Shining</a></strong>, Stephen King (for RIP) - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> - the hedge animals!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">16. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6746018-the-distant-hours">The Distant Hours</a></strong>, Kate Morton (for RIP) - 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">17. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21747642-what-i-talk-about-when-i-talk-about-running">What I Talk About When I Talk About Running</a></strong>, Haruki Murakami - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">18. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40440.The_Thirteenth_Tale">The Thirteenth Tale</a></strong>, Diane Setterfield (for RIP) - 2/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"> - I feel like I should get into defence mode, this book is well loved. I didn't connect to the prose at.all. Just wasn't my thing. Mainly I waited for it to be over. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">19. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8520610-quiet">Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking</a></strong>, Susan Cain - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">20. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15729539-nos4a2">NOS4A2</a></strong>, Joe Hill (for RIP) - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">21. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6451669-altered-carbon">Altered Carbon</a></strong>, Richard K. Morgan (for RIP) - 3/5</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvLTZcsK_dAX4Dzd9BJWIivHe7TpCcRZyH7wcv4ixtLSUENgGTC0NWcYZiFMTti-Q4mYquMcdGJtMbCbIzrGckNdAVtQZaEj7kUjA1NV2mT6COTjhn-PvESIUS93aIdceycOEnw86Ugs/s1600/Nov4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvLTZcsK_dAX4Dzd9BJWIivHe7TpCcRZyH7wcv4ixtLSUENgGTC0NWcYZiFMTti-Q4mYquMcdGJtMbCbIzrGckNdAVtQZaEj7kUjA1NV2mT6COTjhn-PvESIUS93aIdceycOEnw86Ugs/s1600/Nov4.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">22. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8197391-the-one-hundred">The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own</a></strong>, Nina Garcia - n/a</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">23. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/335061.The_Name_of_the_Rose">Roosi nimi (The Name of the Rose),</a></strong> Umberto Eco (for RIP) - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">24. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6218281-the-sweetness-at-the-bottom-of-the-pie">The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie</a></strong>, Alan Bradley (3.5/5)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">25. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6491437-dreamcatcher">Dreamcatcher</a></strong>, Stephen King (for RIP) - 3/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">26. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1503758.Nana">Nana</a></strong>, Émile Zola - 4/5</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">27. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17333324-ancillary-justice">Ancillary Justice</a></strong>, Ann Leckie - <strong><span style="color: red;">5/5</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong> </strong><span style="color: black;">- the book that won all possible SF awards, as well as my heart.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">28. <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50798.Jude_the_Obscure">Jude the Obscure</a></strong>, Thomas Hardy - <strong><span style="color: red;">5/5</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> - the world is a bleak place and human efforts go unrewarded; shallowness and deception will reign. Recommended to all the cynics and those who wish sunshine and happiness in the end of their e-mails. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So I read 12 books for <strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/09/rip-ix-reading-event.html">RIP IX</a></strong> - not too bad at all, considering my initial aim was to complete two. :)</span> Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-79994370454668976252014-11-01T12:41:00.001+02:002014-11-01T12:41:09.172+02:00Best of the Best of Book Titles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm not a massive cover whore, but I can be a bit of a title whore. The titles I tend to gravitate towards are usually on the longer side, there is something playful or poetic about them. I've had thoughts about such post for some time, so in order to bring myself from the blogging slump, here it is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">These titles are only out of the books I've read and completed - looking at this mixture, there are a few favourites, a few "very good" books and some "OK/meh" ones. An awful book can of course have a very awesome title, but this usually does not happen for me. I will add my own ratings after each title just so that everyone can see what I mean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">10. <strong>The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao</strong>, Junot Diaz (4/5) - there is something tragic about "brief" and "wondrous" being used in the same sentence. Having read the book last month, the title feels even more poignant. I loved this title before reading the book, and kept loving it afterwards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">9. <strong>Brave New World</strong>, Aldous Huxley (3/5) - this one falls to the "less is more" category. This is the title that always makes me smile inside. It contains all the hope in the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">8. <strong>The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet</strong>, David Mitchell (5/5) - I love autumn(s). I love the name, and the character, of Jacob de Zoet. I love David Mitchell. Lots of love all around!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">7. <strong>One Hundred Years of Solitude</strong>, Gabriel García Márquez (4/5) - I read this book in Estonian, but the title is better in English. I think it suits the novel so well, what with its huge extent of time combined with the abstract notion of solitude. If you have read the book you know how mind-fuckish it is most of the time :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">6. <strong>Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?</strong>, Jeanette Winterson (3/5) - indeed? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">5. <strong>The Sisters Brothers</strong>, Patrick deWitt (4/5) - this title I didn't really get until I read the book. It's a very playful one, again, all the inner smiling in the world. Excellent match with the contents of the book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. <strong>In Watermelon Sugar</strong>, Richard Brautigan (2/5) - can you feel the sticky sweetness? CAN YOU?? SWEET OVERDOSE. Not recommended for children (and speaking of that, this one definitely requires a re-read). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. <strong>For Whom the Bell Tolls</strong>, Ernest Hemingway (4/5) - I wasn't sure about Hem until I read this book. He's a poet in a very minimalist way. Very nice title, and one of my all time favourite quotes also comes from this book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. <strong>Smilla's Sense of Snow</strong>, Peter Høeg (5/5) - can we all take a moment and appreciate all the alliteration in this title. It's a book by Danish author, and I haven't seen people talking about it at all, which is a bit sad. Snow, Greenland, and general feeling of kaamos (<em>= the polar night; period of darkness north of the Arctic Circle when the sun does not rise over the horizon - Wikipedia</em>) that we Nordic folk have to deal with the most of the year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. <strong>The Unbearable Lightness of Being</strong>, Milan Kundera (5/5) - one of my favourite books ever with the best title in the world. The unbearable lightness of being is a state of mind, and I know what it feels like, very intimately. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If you also have strong feelings towards certain book titles, feel free to write/talk about them, I'm VERY curious! Are there other booktitle-weirdos out there?</span> </div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-46144109009022335312014-09-02T19:00:00.001+03:002014-10-22T21:55:32.607+03:00R.I.P. IX reading event<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dear blog, sorry to have neglected you for forever... etc. etc. Summer is over and it's time to get scoring, I mean reading, right? I'm afraid I've forgotten how to read more than 4 pages a day, so taking part in the wonderful R.I.P. seems like as good opportunity to ease myself back into my favourite hobby.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The event is hosted by Carl at <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/"><span style="color: #3d3741;">Stainless Steel Droppings</span></a>; visit <strong><a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/r-eaders-i-mbibing-p-eril-ix"><span style="color: #3d3741;">this post</span></a></strong> to learn more about the event (and possibly join in). The event takes place during September and October. We read from the following genres:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Mystery.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Suspense.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Thriller.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Dark Fantasy.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Gothic.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Horror.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Supernatural.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><em>Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">There are different levels of participation available, but in my current mental state I am incapable of dealing with such a detail, so please go check out the boss post if you got curious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2013/08/rip-viii-reading-event.html">Here's my post about R.I.P. VIII.</a></strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2013/10/spooky-success-rip-viii-has-ended.html">Here's my wrap-up on R.I.P. VIII</a></strong>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The list of things I plan to choose from:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9v8bs9ir6CamsFbhN-yYqvnNk0otYZGX1KkI3tESn_79evFdHWFUgU09CT3IWQVGq5i-10GW7chrmc_rESGhxSTVPcTl37F0kkcOML3mVGY8mmlNHiH3U-fykgd1gnlhr14Z7E3Yv3mM/s1600/rip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9v8bs9ir6CamsFbhN-yYqvnNk0otYZGX1KkI3tESn_79evFdHWFUgU09CT3IWQVGq5i-10GW7chrmc_rESGhxSTVPcTl37F0kkcOML3mVGY8mmlNHiH3U-fykgd1gnlhr14Z7E3Yv3mM/s1600/rip.jpg" height="400" width="332" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">1. <strong><strike>Northanger Abbey</strike></strong> by Jane Austen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">2. <strong><strike>The Distant Hours</strike></strong> by Kate Morton.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">3. <strong><strike>The Beekeeper's Apprentice</strike></strong> by Laurie R. King.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">4. <strong><strike>Rebecca</strike> </strong>by Daphne du Maurier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">5. <strong><strike>The Name of the Rose</strike></strong> by Umberto Eco.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">6. A story from Lovecraft's <strong>Great Tales of Horror</strong>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">7. <strong><strike>NOS4A2</strike></strong> by Joe Hill.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">8. <strong><strike>Death on the Nile</strike></strong> by Agatha Christie - I need to finish this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">9. <strong><strike>Altered Carbon</strike></strong> by Richard Morgan - a sci-fi mystery!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">10. <strong>Dreamcatcher</strong> by Stephen King.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">11. <strong><strike>The Shining</strike></strong> by Stephen King</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">12. <strong><strike>The Thirteenth Tale</strike></strong> by Diane Setterfield.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">13. <strong>The Road</strong> by Cormac McCarthy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I'll be happy to finish as many as 2 books, that is one per month. Aiming low! </span></div>
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Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-55588936523019676052014-08-03T12:41:00.000+03:002014-08-03T12:41:28.038+03:00Done with July - one month closer to autumn<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">July was a strange month but reading-wise, successful - I finished eight books mostly because I had three weeks off from work. Now usually when people talk about all the books they are gonna read whilst on holiday I frown because it doesn't work for me - if I go somewhere, I have huge concentration problems when it comes to reading. However, this time we stayed mostly near Helsinki (Robert fell ill - of course - and I had my own problems with my mental well being because summer is tough time like this) and I read a lot.</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhEf_vg3z6ohcHfp1O5FLcsS5wY4kIylloQHk-bMjNX5SXDNJ13zN44SrjTHWOMIhoivnXs2copxFG3x7_ndbFi4CufWGRWfeorOkpuIvLXrlF7hlBerQ0RHKAys3iPssCBhHb12zEas/s1600/July1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhEf_vg3z6ohcHfp1O5FLcsS5wY4kIylloQHk-bMjNX5SXDNJ13zN44SrjTHWOMIhoivnXs2copxFG3x7_ndbFi4CufWGRWfeorOkpuIvLXrlF7hlBerQ0RHKAys3iPssCBhHb12zEas/s1600/July1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhEf_vg3z6ohcHfp1O5FLcsS5wY4kIylloQHk-bMjNX5SXDNJ13zN44SrjTHWOMIhoivnXs2copxFG3x7_ndbFi4CufWGRWfeorOkpuIvLXrlF7hlBerQ0RHKAys3iPssCBhHb12zEas/s1600/July1.jpg" height="226" width="640" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Dune, Frank Herbert</strong> - it was my second attempt with Dune and this time I finished it, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Amongst the buddy read people, some people didn't finish and the things they said abou this book kind of brought back memories from my own first read, so it goes to show how timing matters. It's a sci-fi classic definitely worth a try. 5/5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>In the Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami</strong> - a short read about an American in Japan, a lot of focus on cultural differences and conflicts they create. I enjoyed the book (and want to read other Ryu Murakami books), but I am careful when recommending this one because of its graphic contents. 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini</strong> - this wasn't the book for me, review <strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/07/the-kite-runner-by-khaled-hosseini.html">here</a></strong>. 2/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons</strong> - I think Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion are among my favourite reads in 2014 so far. Simmons is a genius and this requires at least one more read to absorb as many references and tidbits as possible. I've ordered the third book in the series, <strong>Endymion</strong>. 5/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>When We Were Bad, Charlotte Mendelson</strong> - it was a random buy from the Book Depository sale (not that random though because I think it was shortlisted for Women's Prize), and it was quite a random reading experience as well. It's a family story and it had its humorous moments, but the characters... I mean, I <strong>love</strong> dislikeable characters more often than not, but a few of those were also complete idiots, and this I cannot handle very well. 3/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Truth & Beauty, Ann Patchett</strong> - this must be the first book ever I have been unable to give a rating. It's a piece of non-fiction, written by Patchett about her friendship with poet Lucy Grealy, and it is a beautiful, beautiful, emotional book. However, as non-fiction, I feel conflicted about its contents. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Grealy"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Lucy Grealy's Wikipedia page</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> says that "Her sister, Suellen Grealy, is opposed to Ann Patchett's depiction of Lucy in <i>Truth & Beauty</i>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Grealy#cite_note-5"><span>[</span>5<span>]</span></a></sup> She claims that Patchett and the book's publisher </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Collins" title="Harper Collins"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Harper Collins</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> stole the Grealy family's right to grieve privately." After I had finished the book, it got me thinking that there is no mentioning of Grealy's immediate family at all. I wasn't even aware that she had a sister. Naturally it got me thinking how much else was left out. I understand it is Patchett's take on the relationship, but I felt a bit disturbed in the end. Why did she write it? And how much is this book result of her own feeling of guilt towards Lucy Grealy? So although it was a great read, I cannot possibly rate this book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Totu kuul, Nikolai Nossov</strong> - one of my childhood faves, this book is a hilarious bashing of American society written by a Soviet author. Basically, there is Earth, where life is good, vegetables and fruits are huge and money does not exist. And then there is Moon, where live other kind of creatures - they rip each other off, love violent movies and their vegetabels and fruits are tiny (because everything is greater and bigger in Soviet Russia...) Objectively rating, this book is worth 1 or 2 (maybe 2 because it is funny), but I can never give it any less than 5/5. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters</strong> - my first Sarah Waters book, and unfortunately I am not exactly overwhelmed. The beginning was very promising, but there were major pacing issues in the middle (pacing issues in a spooky novel definitely have a negative effect on the whole experience because you kind of fall completely out of the spook aspect...), but I loved the whole gothic atmosphere and where some of the characters went. 3/5</span></div>
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Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-87470914282887872882014-07-24T15:09:00.000+03:002014-07-24T15:09:08.554+03:00The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4T2TM5UwpvvMYFhU3WFkKiMvhMXkuZAth-4IMc4xlllk_OXTwZ5bYKJn-C0OqeVvBt-GxzYpJw3MSkta4RKhLESyGv4GoDfUo0pOWl3Ru7b9KEghDBrtpZctJJBaKsY0X0-OnhXaFMQ/s1600/the-kite-runner1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4T2TM5UwpvvMYFhU3WFkKiMvhMXkuZAth-4IMc4xlllk_OXTwZ5bYKJn-C0OqeVvBt-GxzYpJw3MSkta4RKhLESyGv4GoDfUo0pOWl3Ru7b9KEghDBrtpZctJJBaKsY0X0-OnhXaFMQ/s1600/the-kite-runner1.jpg" height="320" width="203" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I bought <strong>The Kite Runner</strong> already about a year ago and was hesitant to pick it up because although I saw people love it, I always had this fear that maybe the book will fail to impress me - and unfortunately it was so. But I'm getting ahead of myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The book is set in Afghanistan (among other places - but the focus is definitely on Afghanistan) and granted, it's a book about a culture a regular person does not know a lot about. This book has a bit of a shock value, which also tends to be something that draws readers in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The main character Amir is, most of the time, extremely dislikeable - and this is not something I have a problem with. Although dislikeable, he made human mistakes and human decisions. My biggest beef with Amir was not the fact that he was dislikeable but the fact that I didn't get some of the things he did. Example: Amir's passion in life was supposed to be writing, from the early age he wanted to become an author (regardless of hardships like his father's complete disapproval of such an "unmanly" profession). There is a scene in the book, where another person takes Amir's stories, which he has brought for someone to read, and throws them into a trash bin. Does Amir get defensive about his work, does he get angry, does he do <strong>something</strong>? No, nothing. Based on the book, not a muscle moves in his body. He just leaves. It gave the impression that he is very passionless author; that it is something he does because it's "just a job". It just felt really odd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The rest of the cast was pretty much very flat. The characters felt somewhat shallow and too much either really good or really bad types. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The writing did not grasp me at all. At one point I felt like I was reading a poor translation, only... this book is originally written in English. There were a few chapters where I was simply sighing because it felt like reading a Latin American telenovela (<span style="color: red;"><strong>spoiler territory</strong></span> - <span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: white;">you know the kinds where at some point it becomes obvious in a very blatant way that all the characters are actually each other's fathers, mothers, grandparents and aunts all at the same time</span>). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Khaled Hosseini uses (I believe) Farsi words throughout the novel and although I get that it is supposed to give the text cultural depth, it is a bit of a slippery slope to take. Firstly, I don't think anyone speaks like that - generally in English but a few words here and there in another language. Secondly, the words are not translated in footnotes or separately, so in the end they either remain untranslated or then he just repeats them - an expression in Farsi and then in English. It results in a total hodgepodge, which I personally don't fancy that much. But as said, I get why he did that - I just don't think it came out very well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Kite Runner is hugely popular and I can totally appreciate it in the sense that it gives a glimpse to a culture that your average western reader is not that familiar with. This is definitely a lot better than nothing. However, I have a feeling that it could be done so much better, with a lot more depth and detail, and a lot less cliche involved. I think one reviewer said something along the lines that "this is the book a white American reads to feel better about the state of the world" and although I find this statement offensive and way too generalising, I have to agree to a point. It is the kind of book we read to be more informed, and nothing wrong with that. I would just prefer that the books, which inform me, were also crafted in a skillful manner and had good, 3D characters. The main problem with The Kite Runner, for me, was that if you take away the layer of the subject matter and the foreign setting, nothing much is left - not that good of writing, no deep characters.</span></div>
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Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-14819527193948479782014-07-08T10:39:00.000+03:002014-07-08T10:39:04.704+03:00What I've Been Reading - Spring/Summer<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">New year, same problems. Summer is my time for all kinds of slumping. And let's not even start with how the World Cup has been destroying my life for this past month... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But I've read some books in May and June, and some really good ones among them. Here's what happened.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Hyperion, Dan Simmons</strong> - a gem of a book, new favourite. We read Hyperion with my favourite GoodReads group, <strong><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/123002-booktube-reading-buddies">Booktube Reading Buddies</a></strong>, and I think everyone liked it. This is a really well written science fiction book, one of those I would not hesitate to recommend to people who otherwise are not into the genre. It's not just a good science fiction book; it's an overall great book. 5/5 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie</strong> - Adichie is very popular right now and I can see why. I've taken quite an interest in African literature and wish to read more of it. Half of a Yellow Sun has captivating characters and it focuses on Biafran War. There were parts in book that felt a bit dry, but I am so ready for Americanah. 4/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Cinder, Marissa Meyer</strong> - this wasn't a book for me. More thoughts can be found <strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/05/cinder-by-marissa-meyer.html">here</a></strong>. 2/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides</strong> - this was a buddy read as well, and a very good read. The story covers different continents and generations, and although I dislike the word "epic", Middlesex had a bit of epicness about it. Lots of layers, extraordinary writing. 5/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch</strong> - I loved the first book in the series and this one, a little less. Which is a bit odd because most people love this one more than the first one. Maybe the novelty wore off. I liked the sea scene and the characters were alrigth (which was expected), but ... it just didn't leave me jaw dropped, and I didn't speed through it, like I expected to. 4/5 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Haruki Murakami</strong> - it was the first Murakami's short story collection that I read, and I found it really difficult to get into. When a novel is written in the magical realism key, one has plenty of time to get familiar with all the weirdness going on, but in the form of short story, it was all just big blur. The writing is good and I did like some of the stories, but I would never recommend anyone to pick short stories as the first thing to read by Haruki Murakami. 3/5 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>number9dream</strong>,<strong> David Mitchell</strong> - I think now, after three books, it's safe to say David Mitchell is my favourite author. Mad skill, people, mad skill. This one is set mostly in Tokyo and in modern time. Mitchell writes my kind of endings. Also, in all his books there are little Easter Eggs that refer to his other works, and I LOVE this kind of stuff. 5/5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Horns, Joe Hill</strong> - This was a pleasant surprise. I didn't exactly intend to read Joe Hill but his books were on sale in e-store and so I got a few. Some great characters, easy prose (but not dumbed down), great creepy atmosphere. 4/5</span></div>
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Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-27332096169483433412014-06-18T11:50:00.000+03:002014-06-18T11:50:13.147+03:00Too many books, too little space - a book unhaul<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Too many books, too little space. Here's a bunch of books I'm getting rid of because... I just didn't like them at all. Some were just okay, but I don't see ever reading them again and given there are a few highly popular authors in the mix, I'm sure there are people who would appreciate them more than I do. A few of those will go to my friends, who have offered to adopt (thanks Hagen, special thanks to Julia who is willing to offer new home to the book I absolutely loathe :p), the rest will go to a used bookstore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* <strong>Neil Gaiman, American Gods & Neverwhere</strong> - Neil Gaiman just ain't my jam. I'm unable to connect to his stories on any level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* <strong>Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper</strong> - nyeah. I don't think I will be trying another book by her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* <strong>Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl & Sharp Objects</strong> - I want to like Gillian Flynn, but I don't. Gone Girl was too much of a curveball prose for me, Sharp Objects was just... unappealing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* <strong>Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind</strong> - I don't get the hype. The book felt quite uneven (</span><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/02/the-name-of-wind-by-patrick-rothfuss.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">look at the chart I made</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">) and there wasn't really anything new in it for me. Plus the appearance of a completely unnecessary dragon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* <strong>Stephen King, Needful Things</strong> - I read first 3/4 of this like in 2 days (the book's a beast) and it took me about 2-3 months to read the rest. Not sure what happened there. It's probably me, not the book, though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* Young Adult ones (all the rest) - didn't impress, won't keep any.</span> </div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-62054971875578463742014-05-27T16:45:00.000+03:002014-05-27T16:45:45.720+03:00Cinder by Marissa Meyer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Before I get to the point, I feel that I need to put out a few disclaimers, to level the ground - I don't want to come out as unfair. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">* I am not, and have never been, very much into fairy tales. Except those of Hans Christian Andersen, but this is a completely different topic. Even as a kid, fairy tales were not something that I gave a lot of thought. I read them, heard about them, adults read them to me, I went to see them in theatre (on one memorable occasion even in opera - and coincidentally, that was also an interpretation of Cinderella) and so on; I didn't dislike them, but they didn't really affect my life in any way - once the direct connection with the tale was over, it was pretty much gone from my head. Later on, I remember thinking how both the curse and blessing lie in the simplicity of fairy tales - on the one hand, they are promising, hopeful and in a very generic level, relatable for everyone; on the other, they are totally unrealistic and for me personally, also boring (due to lack of any kind of depth). I won't deny the importance of fairy tales as such in our culture, though; they are definitely influential and a good match for many people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">* So far my experiences with YA lit have been underwhelming (I've read around 10 more recent YA books, or so). I try to keep an open mind when approaching each new one, but I have begun thinking that YA probably just ain't my thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">* I didn't read this book for the pure reason of possibly being able to bash it, though (:p), it's one of the five YA books I left into my <strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2013/11/science-fiction-i-love-you.html">science fiction reading list</a></strong> back in November. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">* I feel uncomfortable when it comes to the whole concept of "retelling" stuff, which seems to be trending right now. I know that hardly anything in the world is completely new, unique and original, but somehow I feel strange about the whole thing of putting it this ... well, blatantly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">That being out of the way, I think I can say that I didn't enjoy Cinder a whole lot. I was hopeful at first though because more than once in my life I had discovered myself from thinking - what if you had a fairy tale, but someone took it and turned all those flat characters into more multi-dimensional ones, added a little bit of spice and personality to the setting and overall, turned it into a quite decent story? I still think that the idea has quite an appeal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So in Cinder (which of course is a retelling *smirk* of the fairy tale Cinderella), the action has been brought to future, Cinder(ella) is a cyborg, and there is life on the Moon. Sounds fantastic! Only, did I get more fleshed out characters and rich setting? I felt like I didn't. Characters are still pretty much only two kinds - the really bad ones, and the really good (albeit at times a bit confused) ones. There is a case of instalove, which, I guess, this book can get away with, being based on fairy tales, which are like the mother of all mothers of instalove. The most disappointing was the setting and the world, though. I was quite excited about the prospect of New Beijing, I mean, all the opportunities! But did I learn anything about New Beijing? Nothing springs to mind when I try to envision it based on how it was in the book. It was just the setting, I can't remember even a single description about the place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Overall, for me, this was the textbook example of a book of missed opportunities. The idea of cyborg Cinderella, Moon Queen and New Beijing - fantastic! And then, nothing happened. I almost felt like I was reading that same old Cinderella fairy tale, only it was about 300 pages longer. Also, the blessing and the curse of this particular book - basically you can see all the "plot twists" from three miles away. Which is okay, because it is a fairy tale, but it doesn't really make a chair-gripping read. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So it was 2/5 for me, but most people it seems have enjoyed the book (and its sequels), so don't let that discourage you. If you have no problem with fairy tales, YA, and the concept of retelling, it's possible you'll like this book. </span></div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-52799795586904325552014-05-20T10:37:00.000+03:002014-05-20T10:37:01.393+03:00Bout of Books 10.0: [Day 7 & Wrap-up]<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Bout of Books is over for a few days now, and I am only typing this post now because I'm a slacker. Well, not really, just yesterday was the first day of my week-long vacation and I was busy doing things like washing <strong>all</strong> the windows (we have 3+ metre high ceilings so yes, window-washing is a project) and mopping <strong>all</strong> the floors, and watching <strong>all</strong> the ice hockey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">So I will make the Sunday short - I read only Cinder, and from 30% to 68% on Kindle (that is maybe like a few hundred pages). I will say right now that this book and me are not the best match and for several reasons, some of which are not the book's fault (but some are). I have multitude of thoughts on Cinder so I will publish a separate post. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Summer arrived on Sunday so we went to park for a while. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRs4LnJV26j-0THdC0JzdLR11AmmG4Xe41XuZ5LKypxJm7kapBf9WTXfiMEO-e5rj6IVamV53t2GEH4gsws4SOTPX4qA6ftm997TOVcVvGRxj0i494pWmUOxNnL2Tz4FlSL7GgUSDg-iQ/s1600/Sunday1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRs4LnJV26j-0THdC0JzdLR11AmmG4Xe41XuZ5LKypxJm7kapBf9WTXfiMEO-e5rj6IVamV53t2GEH4gsws4SOTPX4qA6ftm997TOVcVvGRxj0i494pWmUOxNnL2Tz4FlSL7GgUSDg-iQ/s1600/Sunday1.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loving my Kindle on days like this.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKe2zq45kBMpbegvES_OshPAbk40QvM7nJvQlmn5GWxGCJVzwAtguUpXGRcDD2PAFL_we4vTGqCawHpjMZlD5psmqpreSgTN7__6JBOEJtfpKARz676Ee9C_XQwikdMztmSxff3iBd-g/s1600/Sunday2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKe2zq45kBMpbegvES_OshPAbk40QvM7nJvQlmn5GWxGCJVzwAtguUpXGRcDD2PAFL_we4vTGqCawHpjMZlD5psmqpreSgTN7__6JBOEJtfpKARz676Ee9C_XQwikdMztmSxff3iBd-g/s1600/Sunday2.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our park by the bay.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In conclusion, here's what happened:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTjbpriszWoc2ei96nvNaDR_H38dWf3V5FbF-9KwZSRGI72_jNp51bn-3ZLerin7SeRfNX-qRNU7emGqGtFY_tTES722b6h_BbOiSBbXiO3VN36PdHjR613G0C8Cg5NKWnjZSotu4ATw/s1600/BoB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTjbpriszWoc2ei96nvNaDR_H38dWf3V5FbF-9KwZSRGI72_jNp51bn-3ZLerin7SeRfNX-qRNU7emGqGtFY_tTES722b6h_BbOiSBbXiO3VN36PdHjR613G0C8Cg5NKWnjZSotu4ATw/s1600/BoB.jpg" height="458" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Technically I finished only one book during readathon, and that was <strong>Half of a Yellow Sun</strong> (4/5). A day before Bout of Books I finished <strong>Hyperion</strong> (5/5 - speaks for itself) and a day after I finished <strong>Cinder</strong> (2.5/5). So if we nitpick I completed one book but if we don't nitpick, I completed three. I also read good 200 pages from <strong>Red Seas Under Red Skies</strong>, and that was it for me this time around. I stuck to my TBR pile, although it was a close call because I was so near starting <strong>The Goldfinch</strong> on Sunday. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I didn't take part in any challenges and didn't visit many new blogs (but I visited and commented my already-reading blogs almost religiously) - it was a very low-key readathon this time around. TOP distractions:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">1. Painkiller-induced naps during first half of the week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">2. Diablo III</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">3. Ice hockey world championships</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">4. Warm weather</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">5. Preparing for vacation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Overall I am really happy with the result though. I will continue with Red Seas and <strong>Middlesex</strong> (I read one chapter last night and made a happy sigh, this book is really good). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I hope y'all had good readathon (I know you did!) and have a nice week!</span></div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-64573444618134833412014-05-18T10:56:00.001+03:002014-05-18T10:56:29.117+03:00Bout of Books 10.0: [Day 5 & Day 6]<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hello everybody! It's the last day of Bout of Books, hope y'all have been reading all the books in the world, and having all the fun in the world. As for me, just as expected, Friday was a bit too busy to read a lot. We were out and then there was hockey game, and then it was already night... Last night we played Diablo III one hour too many, with Jan and a friend but I read here and there during day time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm hoping to get a lot of Cinder done today, although there will be hockey and other things to interfere again (it's like summery degrees outside!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here's some #foodporn from Friday:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKEE3FhZZ6aeL52Edsyh94sRtUV48mgwJtVK9hKjjKMVTqY3ToEjODr0vOUuzeY09GNrfqQSTSS1ML8XcojdUPQxQrT6LJUKNoXcg8S_QoXepJZsRaEpdfgxY4BID1TpLtUKHgTixGos/s1600/maya2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIKEE3FhZZ6aeL52Edsyh94sRtUV48mgwJtVK9hKjjKMVTqY3ToEjODr0vOUuzeY09GNrfqQSTSS1ML8XcojdUPQxQrT6LJUKNoXcg8S_QoXepJZsRaEpdfgxY4BID1TpLtUKHgTixGos/s1600/maya2.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paella with annato rice, vegetables, chorizo sausage, tiger prawns, chicken and sofrito.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0nEi3dy6pFalVHaVRRhFrhEhVJagtmTJdlg87D1tdTxkPbSIhACju0xXdjz7_r70PlljX7cxJUH67XNAQb1rE4lCPTO8gfS7BaWspHfZ6AjHx3qMIUpbYC7vACjcpSAI9RdzLQ5IxEA/s1600/maya1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0nEi3dy6pFalVHaVRRhFrhEhVJagtmTJdlg87D1tdTxkPbSIhACju0xXdjz7_r70PlljX7cxJUH67XNAQb1rE4lCPTO8gfS7BaWspHfZ6AjHx3qMIUpbYC7vACjcpSAI9RdzLQ5IxEA/s1600/maya1.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sangria.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOl8kEEy9aNj6kJrjsO4MJwGYBgtVoY1XyagxTLf4gmzCWQrFugps2mLUalA2uMFg3n58EEx0hmHNhDJjjRnUsNPLMEcXgz3gOs1R2ESMTkFT97OhE_iHCjZgiEWL_0KoTMFuIl7qW8c/s1600/may3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOl8kEEy9aNj6kJrjsO4MJwGYBgtVoY1XyagxTLf4gmzCWQrFugps2mLUalA2uMFg3n58EEx0hmHNhDJjjRnUsNPLMEcXgz3gOs1R2ESMTkFT97OhE_iHCjZgiEWL_0KoTMFuIl7qW8c/s1600/may3.jpg" height="370" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chocolate con Churros.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The books I read on Friday and Saturday:</strong> Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch, Cinder by Marissa Meyer</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Pages read:</strong> 40 + 36 + 30% (115) = 191</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Books finished so far:</strong> 1</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>About the books</strong>: I got to the place with Red Seas where a part of story kinda ended, and as it was obvious I'm not going to finish this beast during readathon, I put it aside for a bit and picked up Cinder in hopes of a fast read. Well, it's fast alright...</span></div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-833552366782548505.post-54647347356509355012014-05-17T11:34:00.000+03:002014-05-17T11:34:21.918+03:00The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijoitu1gP1NUMU1vd70EFxzuk5-xhiLhfHuGjH-fhBCUP_FDxaI5SvJ6N439hQTHqX_vIcPCgXyl5FnfHiB1CRTuPjjtJ6ExOcbJZYtAmAk6r9xfRYOVx76IGy6T1UaN5MzQ1XokSnadU/s1600/thousand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijoitu1gP1NUMU1vd70EFxzuk5-xhiLhfHuGjH-fhBCUP_FDxaI5SvJ6N439hQTHqX_vIcPCgXyl5FnfHiB1CRTuPjjtJ6ExOcbJZYtAmAk6r9xfRYOVx76IGy6T1UaN5MzQ1XokSnadU/s1600/thousand.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This post is <strong>so</strong> long overdue that I can't even. If you remember, me and Jan read this book almost at the same time, and he has already posted a guest review on it, which can be found <strong><a href="http://bookishrealm.blogspot.fi/2014/01/the-thousand-autumns-of-jacob-de-zoet.html">here</a></strong>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I just wrote somewhere yesterday that I don't think there are many perfect books in the world, but I think this one is pretty perfect - for me. I loved <strong>Cloud Atlas</strong> to pieces, but in many ways The Thousand Autumns is a more whole book, a story that is better grasped, more round overall. There are no funny timeline constructions here, it flows more naturally, it feels... oriental, a bit zen-like, if you know what I mean. Which is, of course, totally apt, since the story is set in Japan. I mean don't get me wrong - there is so much tension at times it feels like it would easily crush a bug, but it is not obvious, simple or over-done - it's just really well done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will not even try to write something coherent because one thing, several months has passed since I finished this one and secondly, it's like trying to analyse the best cone of blueberry ice cream you ever had. You look at it lovingly, tasting now and then, sigh happily, but trying to put into words what exactly makes this blueberry ice cream better than the next one feels like it would take away from the experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I will say it though, just like with Cloud Atlas, it might be a bit of a struggle to get into this book at first. It starts very, very slowly and the build-up is quite long. I remember I was even disappointed at first and complained quite a lot and asked Jan "when is it getting good", but was I rewarded in the end. At some point I discovered I don't want to stop reading.</span> Again, this is the book from where you can learn so much - about the Dutch East India Company in Japan in 1800s, and through that about the Japanese - their integrity and at the same time, if you are not one of them, no matter what, you will never be. The ending is so good, there is a certain passage towards the end that when I read it I almost wept because it was just so. beautiful. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">When I look at my Goodreads page, I see only one person who has read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, and that is Jan. I know Cloud Atlas is a divisive book and probably discouraged many to read anything else by David Mitchell, but I think in many ways this is, if not better, a more accessible book. Mitchell is one of my favourite authors for sure, the guy has some mad writing skill, and I can't wait to read <strong>everything</strong> he has written so far. </span></div>
Rivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04561804353287763337noreply@blogger.com8