NaBloPoMo # 30: Done!

I am happy to say that I have posted one post each day for a month during the NaBloPoMo-challenge. I also participated last year, but found this year to be much easier. I haven't used as many back doors as last year (recycling old reviews, just posting photos etc) and have managed to keep most of the posts on a book related level. Looking at posts from last year same time, the ones from this year are much better. I've said that before, I know, but I was actually a bit surprised when I realised it.

I have learned that I struggle to find anything meaningful to say EVERY single day. It would indeed be very hard for me to feel obliged to write a post a day. I love the experience of doing it each November, and I will most likely do it again next year. But now I am happy not to feel too stressed because I must post, no matter what. Like we always say, blogging should be fun, and I have found out that blogging each day simply interferes too much with life. Not that I am such a VIP that my calendar is bursting at the seams, but I have been feeling obliged to post every day, and not quit. But in 9 out of each 10 days, it has been a lot of fun.

I am looking forward to another month of great posts, but I am positive I will not be posting every day through December.

I am deeply thankful for all your comments and am looking forward to visit your blogs much more through December.

This is the 30th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.
Button created by Tracey Delaney.

NaBloPoMo # 29: Sunday Mini Review: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

I liked almost everything in this book. The meeting of Digory and Polly, the strange passageway between their houses, the 'mad' uncle Andrew and his aspirations to become a magician, his magic rings and the making of Narnia by strong and brave Aslan, the lion.
I was also in awe of the description of the doomed kingdom Charns, where the evil queen/witch Jadis ruled.

I wonder  if Narnia is still magical?!

This is the 29th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 28: To Have and To Hold or Spellbound by Jane Green

I wrote this review on British Amazon early in 2004. The book is called Spellbound in Europe and To Have and To Hold in the US.

Spellbound is a disappointing novel from Jane Green, who usually writes enjoyable "modern fairytales" like Bookends and Jemima J. In Spellbound we meet Alice and Joe, married for 5 years. Alice was the little mouse who was saved by the love of her life, Joe, who turned her into a fashionable trophy-wife. On the very first pages, it is clear that theirs is not a happy marriage. Alice is feeling insecure about everything, most of all her husband Joe, who is a serial adulterer. Alice does not know about Joe's affairs, and she ignores all the typical signs of adultery.

When Joe takes it one step too far, he is transferred to USA, and Alice, who does not know why her husband is being transferred, comes along. In USA they start all over again complete with Manhattan flat and Connecticut weekend house, and for a while they seem happy. Pretty soon they start drifting apart, and after a year of keeping himself on a tight leash, Joe once again falls into the arms of a woman other than his wife. The question is,m how much more can Alice take? Is she perfectly happy in her Connecticut house, without Joe? And what about her English best friend Emily and her boyfriend Harry?

The plot is thin in this book. Alice is an annoying woman, and more than once, I found myself having more sympathy with Joe and his girlfriends than with Alice and her friends. I know it is supposed to be the other way round, but the "good guys" in this story are more often than not unbelievably good and perfect, while the "bad guys" seem much more human. I would have rated this only one star, but ended upgiving it two, as I, after all, did finish it, and also recognizes Ms. Green's effort and work. It is a looong book, and not overly enjoyable.

This is the 28th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 27: Going to be away for the weekend. And a little cry for help...

I am going away for the weekend, so I am not going to be able to join the Thankfully Reading read-a-thon. I am a bit miffed by that, but on the other hand I am going to visit family and I am sure it is going to be much fun and cosy as well. So I'll probably only be around to post the NaBloPoMo-posts and maybe visit some blogs.

As some of you will have noticed, I am reading John Marsdens Tomorrow-series. This series consists of seven books in total, I've read the first four. Since they are not that readily available from Danish libraries, I have bought them one at a time. Which I do not mind at all, because I am going to force people I know to read them after I have finished the series myself, and then they can borrow my copies. Last night I decided to buy the last three books so that I was sure that I had them all for the Seriespalooza in December. So off to Amazon.co.uk to spend some money. And to my horror I discover that Book Six - The Night is for Hunting - is unavailable!!! Okay, it is not exactly unavailable, but I can only get it used. Which neither is a problem at all - if it wasn't for the price which is high! Much higher than what I want to spend on a used book.

So I try The Book Depository. I check eBay. I even check a Danish online bookseller. Same result. I can get it used, but the price is very high. Why on earth is it this particular book in the series which is apparently sold out and not re-published? So I am asking you: Where should I look for it? Do you have any online places where you know you can get anything you want? Because I need this book :-D HELP...

This is the 27th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.
The photo is from flickr and is by Poems of a selfish record player.

NaBloPoMo # 24: A couple of used book finds

Some months ago a small used books book store opened only a single block from where I live. I have passed by this little shop many times, but either I haven't had time to drop by or else I haven't had any cash on me  (they only accept cash) or I haven't been able to spot something interesting or some other excuse - like not buying any books. So it has taken some months before I actually went in there. A young guy, a student I think, runs this little shop complete with free coffee whether you purchase anything or not. All books are used, some more than others, and while there are expensive things among the shelves, most are really, really cheap. Last week I went in there for the first time, and this past Sunday, I sort of happened by again. I came out of there both times with one book. On my first visit I found one which I have been meaning to read for ages, ever since it was recommended to me in an online book club I used to be a member of. I found it in it's Danish translation, but that will not matter much, hopefully. Have you read it? The book I am talking about is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

On Sunday I was back in there, not looking for anything in particular, just browsing. While I browsed around I found The Faber Book of America, and while it looks very interesting, it also looks like a book where one can only read a few of the essays in it at a time. But now I have it, and can get to it whenever I like. Its not like it was a book I knew about, it just looked intersting and a bit challenging and I just had to have it. Synopsis from Mary Ward Books: Gathering together poetry and memoirs, speeches and letters, fiction and reportage, the editors of this book present the world of the American dream, of American nightmares, and of American days.

I am sure I am going to visit that little shop again very soon. The owner told me that he gets new (old) books down there often, and that he is right now trying to find old copies of books in their original language, mainly English. Hooray for that.

This is the 24th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 23: Upcoming Happenings in Book Blog Land and an award

There are always lots of fun things going on in Book Blog Land: Read-a-thons, challenges, memes, weekly features, giveaways and much more. This post is written in order to highlight a few of those happenings which I plan to take part in myself. Some of them I already talked about like the Thankfully Reading Weekend, The 2009 Virtual Advent Tour and the Book Bloggers Holiday Swap. And also, lets not forget the Women Unbound Reading Challenge.

But there are also exciting new stuff which I would like to present and for which you can still sign up. The first event is GalleySmith's Seriespalooza. Head over to her page and have a look at what that is all about. Another challenge which looks like a lot of fun is Darren's TwentyTen Reading Challenge on Bart's Bookshelf. I haven't signed up for this yet, but as soon as I get some free time to compile a reading list, I think I will.

I was also honored with the One Lovely Blog award by Esme of the wonderful blog Chocolate and Croissants. Thanks Esme, it means a lot and I really appreciate it.

This is the 23rd post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 20: Blog Improvement Project: Guestblogging

About a week ago I wrote this post about my hesitation concerning guestblogging. Writing a guestblogger post and also having someone guestblogging on your page was the current Blog Improvement Project task. I asked for advice and received some very valuable comments from bloggers around the book blogging world. I was not writing the post to have bloggers fall over themselves to invite me to their blogs guestblogging away, but I nevertheless received invitations from some, and since this is my first time doing such a thing, I was indeed grateful. Within an evening of mailing back and forth, Dorte of DJ's Krimiblog and I agreed that I should post a guestblogger's post on her blog this week. The subject was up to me. Since Dorte's blog is mainly about thrillers and mysteries, I decided to write about a series of mysteries set in Ancient Egypt. You can read that post here.

Dorte is also going to guestblog on my blog, but due to her hectic schedule (in addition to her day job as an English teacher and taking care of her family, Dorte is also an avid reader, writer and blogger in both Danish and English) Dorte's guestpost will not be up until sometime in December. I am already looking much forward to see what Dorte choose to blog about.

I was also invited by Aarti of BOOKLUST to do a guestblog on her blog in the near future. Aarti runs a weekly feature called Rosie's Riveters, and that feature is, in Aarti's own words: Rosie's Riveters is a weekly posting written by Booklust readers about riveting females in literature. I am looking much forward to do that guestpost as well, although I haven't figured out exactly what riveting female I will blog about.


All in all I think this Blog Improvment Project task was fun. I was hesitating and reluctant at first and I agree that it was all made very easy for me when readers of this blog sort of offered their blogs to me without me having to ask, but perhaps I have a bit more guts now to ask people. And one thing is sure, I will definitely ask people to guestblog at my pages, because I think that a new voice from time to time can only be a good thing.


Blog Improvement Project is hosted by Kim of Sophisticated Dorkiness.

This is the 20th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 19: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

SPOILER ALERT. Do not read this review if you haven't read The Knife of Never Letting Go - the first book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy - since there will be spoilers.

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I simply loved The Knife of Never Letting Go which left me rather breathless and which was a truly unputdownable book. I loved the speed with which it moved and I was looking much forward to read the sequel. The difficult Book Two. And sadly I was rather disappointed.

We begin the story exactly where Book One ended. Viola has been shot and is carried away by Mayor Prentiss' men, and Todd is brought to an office of the Mayor where he is interrogated and beaten up. Only thing on Todd's mind is where is Viola, is she dead or alive? He does not receive any answers and is instead being locked up in the cathedral tower. Mayor Prentiss of Todd's old town which he ran from in Book One, has taken over all of New World and has proclaimed himself President. Peaceful times are over, and while it all looks good on the surface, not all are happy with the new self-proclaimed President and his new rules and regulations. Anxiety and anger is brewing beneath the surface.

Todd is kept a prisoner, but is also being sent to work on different projects with the President's son Davy, while Viola is being hospitalized in a so called healing house, where only women work. This particular house is being run by the strict Mistress Coyle, who takes a special interest in Viola. Viola's only thought is where is Todd, is he dead or alive.

Side by side the story unfolds told in part by Todd, part by Viola. Days become weeks, weeks become months, and Todd and Viola move in very different directions, both not really knowing what the other is doing. One thing they know though is, that they somehow need each other. But as the days, weeks and months go, it becomes harder and harder for them to re-connect.

I didn't feel the fast pace of the first book in this book at all and Todd and Viola's stories simply did not grab me. I found the dialogues to be very long and long parts of the book bored me. The character development of all characters is well done though, and the friendships developing between unlike parties were also very well thought out. There is discussion material enough in this book for any YA reader (and adult reader as well) to last many hours (father/son relationships, friendship, love, war, segregation because of sex or color of skin and much more) and in the back of my mind it might have been laid on too thick in places. But then again, I am an adult reader and this book is aimed at a younger targetgroup. I am happy I read this book. It wasn't THAT bad. And the end holds promise of a great Book Three, which I am certain I will read.

The Ask and the Answer cannot really be read as a stand alone book. You need to read The Knife of Never Letting Go first. Otherwise this book will not make much sense.

This book is read as a part of the YA Dystopian Reading Challenge hosted by Bart's Bookshelf.

This is the 19th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 18: Today I'm guestblogging!!!

Yeah - today I am guestblogging at Dorte's blog DJs Krimiblog. So head over there and check out my post about the Lord Meren mysteries.

I will write a longer post later about my guestblogging experiences for the Blog Improvement Project.

This is the 18th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

**Edit: It seems like I have posted this a day too early. I am not guestblogging over at Dorte's blog until tomorrow, November 19 ;o)

NaBloPomo # 17: More than halfway there

This past Sunday, we were halfway through the National Blog Posting Month, where the aim is to post (at least) one post a day. I also participated in this last year as a tool to get back into blogging again after not having been very active for a year. And it proved a great thing to do, although on some days, specially around this time, it was very hard to come up with something borderline meaningful to write. Last year I did post a lot of older reviews written pre-blogging times on other sites. You can say that I had a little back catalogue of texts I could use for those days where blogging was not what I felt most inspired to do. This year I only have a very little number of old reviews I can use, so most days I am trying to find something to post about. Usually if I do not think I have anything to say, I just refrain from writing that day - or week. But not during November. I WILL post every day. Not to prove myself, but because I enjoy it 9 out of 10 days. I can live with few days where blogging feels like an obligation instead of fun.

One thing I have noticed is that when I compare the posts I wrote last year during the NaBloPoMo and the posts written this year, then it is clear that this year's posts are better! Perhaps because I have been blogging regurlaly through the year, perhaps because I feel more at ease now in the book blogging community, perhaps because I have to write most of the posts from skratch this year, and because I do not have such a back catalogue I can grab texts from so often.

I don't know, but I know that it is much fun and that I enjoy it a lot. It is a great excercise for me having comitted myself to it, so I expect the next 13 days to be as much fun. Only regret is that I do not feel that I have enough time to visit other blogs and do as much commenting as I would've liked. The day need more hours!

This is the 17th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here. The NaBloPoMo button is made by Tracey Delaney.

NaBloPoMo # 16: More Holiday fun in the blogiverse

This time last year I had reconnected with my English blog after a year of absence. I began making my way round the first few book blogs I happened upon, one of which was Marg's ReadingAdventure. From Marg I learned about Kailana's The Written World, because Marg and Kailana were hosting The Virtual Advent Tour. At that time I had already been making a few Weekly Geek's posts and was finding out just how valuable it is to get to know your fellow bloggers and to interact with them on their pages. So I thought why not sign up for this as well. And so I did. It was a great month of Advent reading and posting. I so enjoyed reading the day's Advent Posts and my google reader and blog roll grew each day. I also enjoyed writing my own Advent Post, but it was definitely as much fun to read others.

I was thrilled to see The Virtual Advent Tour is going to roll this year as well, and have immediately signed up. Its hosted by Marg and Kailana again this year (4th year in a row), and we take off December 1. There is still time to sign up. Also, who can NOT sign up when seeing those pretty buttons?!

This is the 16th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 15: Sunday Mini Review: Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie

Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie takes place in Ancient Egypt, and is about love and murder in a dysfunctional family around the year 2000 BCE. Its a fine and cosy mystery, and the scene set in Ancient Egypt shows us that when it comes to murder - and love - not much has changed since then.

This is the only book Christie wrote taking place in Ancient Egypt, but she wrote several with a Middle Eastern Scene, such as the well known Death on the Nile (legend had it that she wrote this while vacationing on the Old Cataract hotel in Aswan in Egypt. It is a fabulous hotel, closed these days for refurbishment, so the link goes to google image search) and Murder in Mesopotamia [Iraq] which centers around an archaelogical dig in Iraq. This is not so strange, considering that her husband was the world famous Near Eastern archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, whom Christie followed around the world on archaeological expeditions.

Don't forget to check out the Agatha Christie webpage, its full of great info and links.

This is the 15th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 14: Thanksgiving and read-a-thon-fun

I am Danish and we do not celebrate Thanksgiving. But that does not mean that I cannot post a little heads-up about what is going on the world of book bloggers during the Thanksgiving-weekend and later one. I read about the Thanksgiving Reading Event on BethF's blog Beth Fish Reads. The idea of this reading event sprung up between Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelf, Jen of Devourer of Books and Beth. I am not sure that I am at home during that weekend, but if I am, I am going to join in on the event, which is, in Beth's words:  

'completely casual. No rules, no prizes, just a way to connect with others who are thankful to have a quiet weekend to read.'

It all takes place from November 27 - 29 and the Twitter hashtag is #thankfulreading, should you decided to join. Read more about it on any of the blogs mentioned above. I think it is a great idea!

This is the 14th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here. The NaBloPoMo button is made by Tracey Delaney.

NaBloPoMo # 13: Guest Blogging?? Any advice? Do's and Dont's?

The Blog Improvement Project just presented the most daunting task (dauting to me anyway). This week and the next, we are looking into the concept of guest blogging and guest bloggers. While I do not mind asking a blogger if they would write a guest post for my blog, I can feel that I am a bit shy (and I am definitely not a shy person normally) offering myself and my fabulous posts to any old blogger...

Some of my reluctance has to do with the language barriers. Yes, you have told me more than once that my English is fine, and I am very thankful for that. But the fact is that it is not my native tongue, and there will always be something making a post in English less lively than one in Danish. So I am a little self conscious about that, although I guess I can overcome it. Another part of my reluctance is because I feel humble (and again, in real life I am actually not as humble as I probably should be) when I compare my blog to other blogs. So many of the blogs seem so pro, and it seems like the bloggers always know what to say, in an interesting way.

Anyway, as you may have guessed, I am just a tiny bit nervous about this whole thing. On the other hand, I would not have made this post, if I had decided NOT to try this out! So perhaps you can help!?

Not by offering that I can come write on your blog. Before we come to that, I am curious to know a bit about your experiences with guest blogging and guest bloggers. Do you blog directly at their blog or do you send your post as an e-mail. What to do and what not to do, how to contact potential strangers? I already know that I will not ask say a politician to write at their blog about political issues etc., but it does not necessarily have to be a book blog about books and reading.

This is the 13th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 12: Which one and why?

Like so many other readers and bloggers, I have a mountain of TBR-books. Some were brought into the house and onto the shelves years ago, others are quite new, although I have been pretty good in that I have recently tried to read the books coming in when they come in, so as not to make the TBR grow any taller.

But I was wondering if you could direct me to one book of the TBR which I MUST read before January 1, 2010. And perhaps you could also explain WHY I should read that one. Just a line or two as to why that particular book is a must-read :o)

This list is not by any means a complete picture of my TBR, its only a selection, and they are listed in completely random order:

William Faulkner: Light in August
Cormac McCarthy: The Road
James Lee Burke: Jesus out to Sea
Tom Wolfe: I am Charlotte Simmons
Siri Hustvedt: What I Loved
Sebastian Faulks: Engleby

Now let me know which one and why.

This is the twelwth post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here. Image on top of post is made by Elizabeth.

NaBloPoMo # 11: Scene of the Blog @ Kittling: Books

Visit my Scene of the Blog at Cathy's blog Kittling: Books. Cahty will be featuring ME today and I am so thrilled. Scene of the Blog was awarded Best Feature or Series during the recent Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and no wonder. It is a great feature, and right now I am just sorry I have not been around to read all the previous Scenes...when they were first posted. I am revisiting some and reading some for the first time just now. Check out Kittling: Books and the place where I blog today.

This is the eleventh post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 10: Book Bloggers Holiday Swap

Have you seen the button in the column to the left of this post? The button about the Book Bloggers Holiday Swap. If not, hurry and either click the button or this link. Both button and link will take you to the site of the Holiday Swap, and I think you should sign up. The swap is international, so all can sign up no matter where you are. But don't worry. If you do not feel like mailing out internationally, you can note that when you sign up, and then the organizers will make sure you are Secret Santa for another national. Also, we are not talking about huge and expensive gifts (although I would not say no should my Secret Santa send me those, LOL) - and homemade gifts are even more welcome. So don't hesitate signing up. Sign ups are taken until November 12, so you still have a few days to do it. I didn't participate last year, but have done Secret Santa swaps with an online book club a number of times, and it is just so much fun and it creates the nicest holiday atmosphere around the Book Blogger Community.

Also, I should not forget to mention the 8 wonderful bloggers who are hosting this event. A huge thank you to
Amanda, Amy, Ana, Chris, Debi, Eva, Jill and Lenore.

This is the tenth post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 9: The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen

Tess Gerritsen has written a serial-killer novel. Other reviewers has said the same thing, and I will repeat it: it is not good enough, it has been done better before! The Apprentice is a rip-off of serial killer/frustrated police-woman/gruesome medical examiner facts-books by Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs and others, who does it much better than Ms. Gerritsen. There is not much new in this book, and it is hard to feel anything for the characters. Even the serial killer is just annoying. Jane Rizzoli, the frustrated police-woman, battling not only with sexist issues at the station but also the mental and physical scars from the same serial killer in a previous book, is trying hard to find him again, when he escapes prison. She cannot admit that she is scared to death, and while we try hard to gain some sympahty for her, the killer is getting closer and also playing gruesome mindgames with her. She is almost too stubborn for her own good. When the story is about to get going, it ends. Too much space in this book is used to descibe Jane Rizzoli's mental health, and her angst and anxiety and it gets boring. I was not impressed with this book, but - will not rule out that I could pick up another Tess Gerritsen book another time.

The above review has been posted on my Amazon.com review-page on June 20, 2004. And I did end up liking her books more, also the ones with Jane Rizzoli. But they will never become "5-star-favorites".

This is the ninth post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 8: Sunday Mini Review: Memories of a Lost Egypt by Colette Rossant

Or Apricots on the Nile: A Memoir with Recipes as it is called in North America. I bought this book when I was living in Cairo, and I adored it even though it is sad in parts. It is about little French Colette growing up in Egypt during the second World War and her very special family. Colette likes to hang out with the cook in the large mansion she lives in, and that is where the recipes come into the picture. It is a small book, but it is beautifully written and it gives an interesting picture of life among Europeans in Cairo back in the day. There was such a special atmosphere in the book that I haven't really dared re-reading it. I truly think that it is well written, but perhaps the magic feeling I felt stemmed from the fact that I was living in Cairo myself at the time of reading?

This book is perfect for the Women Unbound Reading Challenge by the way, since it is a female writer's memoir and since it takes up issues such as mother-daughter relationships.

This is the eighth post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

NaBloPoMo # 7: A few selected posts from the book blogger community

Google Reader, Blogs I Follow, Book Blips, Book Blogs, Blog Catalogue...the list often seems endless, and more often than not, I have to pretend that I've been over it all and mark everything as read. Specially my Google Reader grows every day, and while I enjoy taking out an hour or two of an otherwise hectic schedule, I cannot say that I am able to read all the posts I actually want, let alone leave any comments there.

In honor of Random Acts of Kindness and Blog Improvement Project (see posts below) I am spending the next few days trawling my blog roll and Google Reader, finding interesting posts to read and linking to them here.

Among today's finds (and there were many more than what I link to here) we have posts from:

Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise. Kerrie writes about the American author Karin Slaughter, whose books I've also read. Not all of them were, in my opinion, all that great, but the one Kerrie highlights in her post - Triptych - is a great piece of crime fiction. Easily read with an exciting and chilling plot and good characters. I think you should check out Kerrie's post by clicking here.

Heidenkind of Heidenkind's Hideaway is an art historian reading romances. Although I do not read romances, I am finding myself getting a bit interested, and this one reviewed by Heidenkind recently actually sounds like good fun and something to bring on a vacation for an entertaining read.

Chick with Books - Suzanne - has a great review of The Maze Runner by James Dashner, a book I think is going to make my TBR soon. Suzanne read it in one of the YA Dystopia challenges which are going on these days. See the review here.

You should also swing by Jackie of Farm Lane Books Blog and check out and join the discussion Do leaders make better bloggers?

That is it for now. It goes without saying, that all the book bloggers you can find in my blog roll are worth a visit. The book blogging community is indeed fabulous.

This is the seventh post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.