National Blog Posting Month # 16: So many books and so many people

I went to the Copenhagen Book Convention yesterday. Thousands of people were there, all checking out books, book talks and book offers. Chatting with authors, listening to authors, getting their books signed by authors and much more. I took a few pics there, which is what I will blog today for the NaBloPoMo-challenge.This is my post # 16 in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.
Kerrie from Mysteries in Paradise also went to a book convention recently. In Singapore though and I guess it was a liiiiitle bigger than the one I went to in Copenhagen ;o)

National Blog Posting Month # 15: Book Convention

Today I am off to the Copenhagen Book Convention. I have no special events that I am going to see or hear. I am just going to shop around with my sister, looking for cheap deals on books and maybe find some comicbooks on sale as well. Maybe we will meet some friends to hang out with for a while. A lot of Scandinavian crime-writers are represented on this year's Copenhagen Book Convention - something which has sparked a lot of discussion in the large, national papers. But, like I said, I am not going to anything special and am just looking forward to hang out. Apart from the masses of people who usually go there, I think it is going to be good fun. I'll bring my camera and will hopefully be able to blog some photos tomorrow.
NB. The image with the books covered in whipped cream was used last year on the poster for the Book Convention. This year they use another image, I just liked this one better.

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

National Blog Posting Month # 14: Bookworm Award

Beth from Beth Fish Reads has tagged me in this Bookworm Award. That is so great and I really want to thank you. It is a fun little thing to do and also, I really needed something to blog about today for the NaBloPoMo-challenge. Great!

Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following there.

Okay. The book nearest me is Egypt after the Pharaohs by Alan K. Bowman. It is a book I use for my MA thesis, but it is not too intellectual!

The fifth sentence reads (and I only write out the fifth sentence because it is so long):

The administration was staffed by a host of officials and bureaucrats, recording and regulating the activities and obligations of the king's subjects, down to the last detail of the requisitioned labour and surveillance of irrigation works, cultivation and transport which was drafted in order to ensure maximum efficiency of production and profit.

The persons I tag next are:

Rebecca at Rebecca Reads.

Softdrink at Fizzy Thoughts.

Callista at SMS Book Reviews.

Nille at Nilles Litteratur (a Danish book blog).

Birthe at Newyorkerbyheart (a Danish food blog, where the blogger also talks about her books).

This is my post # 14 in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

National Blog Posting Month # 13: Sunstorm by Asa Larsson

Actually, I first read # 3 in the Swedish series by Asa Larsson about counselor Rebecka Martinsson. And after having read that, # 3 which is called The Black Path, I wasn't so sure that I would read the two previous ones. I did like The Black Path, but I also found it a bit too dark, and at that point I had had it with Swedish female authors and needed a break. But now I have also finished Sunstorm, which is book # 1, and it wasn't too bad. Not at all. Asa Larsson is a very good writer, the plot is tight and the characters descriptions are excellent. You feel sympathy with the good guys and the complete opposite for the bad guys.

In Sunstorm, Rebecka, who works as a top counselor in Stockholm, is called to Kiruna, her childhood town. Rebecka has some very dark memories from her youth, so she is not too thrilled by the thought of going back to Kiruna. The charismatic priest in one of the popular churches in Kiruna has been killed and his sister, who used to be one of Rebecka's friends, calls Rebecka and asks for help. The sister is under suspicion for having killed her brother and she has to go hiding. She hides out in Rebecka's house - a house Rebecka inherited from her grandmother. The house where Rebecka herself grew up.

The Kiruna police, led by sympathetic and pregnant Anna-Maria Mella, are looking into the case and in the beginning, everything seems to lead directly to the sister, Rebecka's old friend.

Reluctant, Rebecka starts investigating and finds herself also taking care of her friend's two daughters and dog, while she is also haunted by memories from her youth. Memories about how the popular church meant everything to her. But it is definitely not just sweet memories and while the winter darkness descends over Kiruna and the case of the killed priest become more and more complicated, Rebecka's own soul turns darker and darker.

Yep. I was slightly annoyed with the dark atmosphere. But it was nevertheless a pretty good read, and I am looking forward to see the movie based on this book.

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

National Blog Posting Month # 12: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

I am lucky that I have a "back catalogue" of books I haven't reviewed here as I do not have any ideas for today's NaBloPoMo-post. I hope I am feeling more inspired tomorrow. So today I am going to write a little about Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I read it years ago.

Angela's Ashes is young Frank McCourt's childhood memories. Frank grows up in Ireland: a poor, cold, damp, ugly, depressed Ireland. The Irish blames a lot on the English, Frank's family is dysfunctional to say it the least and life is not just tough - it is very tough. The lives of Frank and his family seems doomed from the beginning And still, Frank McCourt manages to write an inspiring, heartwarming, funny and touching story. But also a story that will make you very sad, a story which, at some points, seem utterly hopeless. Between the lines you are able to read the humor, the humor that must have kept Frank McCourt (and his family) alive, even during the worst of times. All in all, you get the feeling that Frank and his family really want life, as ugly and meaningless as it sometimes seem. I liked this book a lot, and look forward to read other books by Frank McCourt.

This is my 12th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

National Blog Posting Month # 11: Five good ones

I am broadening my blog-horizon every day. I mainly read book blogs or blogs related in one way or the other to books, but the blog can be of anything really if I find it interesting. I would like to be able to read all the blogs on my blogroll every day, several times a day, but I don't have the time....

With this post I want to highlight 5 good blogs that I try to check every day, even if there are no new posts. Some of those blogs has large archives and I so enjoy clicking around seeing if we have read the same books, have the same tastes and so on.

The blog are (in totally random order)

Literary Escapism - Jackie writes a blog with tons of interesting stuff about books, mainly fantasy. A fabulous blog with so much well written info. I enjoy that blog every day.

Sophisticated Dorkiness - where journalism student Kim blogs about journalism, books and other things. So well written.

The Hidden Side of a Leaf - Dewey blogs about books, hosts Weekly Geeks (which I love by now although I have only done three of them) and have a lot of other activities going on.

Life at the Roger's House - Tiffany blogs about life with husband Bradley and daughter Ava and spends a lot of time photographing as well, so the blog is filled with beautiful images. I have known Tiffy from an online book club since 2002.

Mysteries in Paradise - Kerrie from Australia has a great blog with many reviews of books in one of my favorite genres, mysteries.

This is my 11th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

The Blood Spilt by Aasa Larsson

I finally finished number two book, The Blood Spilt, in the series by Aasa Larsson about counsellor Rebecka Martinsson. It feels like I have been reading it forever. And it shouldn't have been so because it is both well written and entertaining. But it was just like it didn't really grab me from the beginning. But now I am done!

Rebecka is still licking her wounds from the things that happened in book one, Sunstorm. She is not really working yet, but sometimes she is helping out with a case or two.

When she and a colleague has to go to Kiruna, her childhood city where Sunstorm also took place, because of a case, Rebecka ends up staying for a while, even though her feelings are very mixed about Kiruna.

Policewoman Anna-Maria Mella and the other cops from the police station in Kiruna are working on the beastly murder of the female priest Mildred, and much to her annoyance, Rebecka is drawn into the case.

Because nothing is as it seems, up there to the utmost north, close to the Polar Circle. Beneath the surface it is boiling with evil, craziness, hidden desires and repressed memories.

The reader is introduced to a lot of characters, and the character building is eminent. Both the descriptions of the good and the bad guys. And in between chapters about the case, a lone female wolf acts as a main character. What the wolf precisely is about I don't know. I have some thoughts about it, but revealing those thoughts here will mean revealing too much of the plot.

Which is well written and exciting.

But I am still glad I do not have more Aasa Larsson books on the TBR-pile right now.

National Blog Posting Month # 10: A Caress of Twilight by Laurell K. Hamilton

Well, I am an Anita Blake fan, and enjoy that series (also written by Laurell K. Hamilton) a lot. I liked A Kiss Of Shadows, the previous novel in this series about faerie princess Meredith NicEssus, aka Merry Gentry, and I also liked this one, A Caress of Twilight. No doubt the Anita Blake series is the best one though. In this one, Princess Merry finds herself back from faerie-land, in her apartment in Los Angeles, where she is working as a private eye. But Merry has other things on her mind, and her detective skills are put somewhat on hold in this one. Her more or less evil aunt, the Queen of the Unseelie Court, has named Merry heir to the faerie throne IF she produces as child before the queen's own son, Prince Cel, does. The Queen has given Merry a handful of men from her royal guard, and they take turns trying to impregnate Merry. Her goblin-pet Kitto also turns out to be something else in this book, and even though there is a little mystery, it is other things this story revolves around. I still haven't found out if Sidhe, Fey, Slouagh, Seelie, Unseelie etc are real words in the English language (I cannot find Danish translations for them), but the book is entertaining and easily read. There are some (toned down) sexual scenes in the book, but it is not as 'weird' as in the previous novel. I did not love this book, but I am nevertheless looking forward to read the next one.

This is my 10th post in the NaBloPoMo-challenge. See my page here.

Sunday Salon November 9, 2008: Trying to Study

This week I have mostly been reading books for the MA thesis I am trying to finish as soon as possible. I am trying to obtain my MA in Egyptology and the thesis is about "The Mysterious Fayum Portraits. I use a long list of publications, both scholarly and not so scholarly like museum catalogues and popular books, which often have better images.

The portraits in question are (mainly) from the place in Egypt called Fayum, which is an oasis (well, actually it is not a true oasis, as it gets water from the Bahr Yusuf canal, which is one of the side-arms of the Nile) southwest of Cairo. The portraits are from the Roman Period in the history of Ancient Egypt (circa 30 BCE - 400 AD), and I am captivated by the artistry and the look of some of those people portrayed. I have borrowed some images from Lenka, whom I know from flickr:

Some of the books I have used/read in this week are:

1. Egypt from Alexander to the Copts by Roger S. Bagnall and Dominic W. Rathbone (eds.)

2. Mumienporträts. Chronologie und kultureller Kontext by Barbara Borg

3. The Mysterious Fayum Portraits by Euphrosyne Doxiadis

4. Ancient Faces by Susan Walker (ed.)

The front-covers of two of the books I've been reading this week.

I am still reading The Blood Spilt by Swedish author Asa Larsson. It has taken me forever and I still have about 100 pages left. It is not because it is a bad book, because it certainly isn't. Its good and it was awarded Sweden's best crime novel in 2004. But honestly it cannot grab me for real and I only manage about 5-10 pages each night before I go to sleep. But I have other books waiting to be read, so I will finish it asap. Check out my other post about the author Asa Larsson and her series about counselor Rebecka Martinsson.

Weekly Geek # 24

The Weekly Geek assignment is a lot of fun to do. This week Dewey has the participants doing this:

1. Choose a writer you like.
2. Using resources such as Wikipedia, the author’s website, whatever you can find, make a list of interesting facts about the author.
3. Post your fun facts list in your blog, maybe with a photo of the writer, a collage of his or her books, whatever you want.

Being Danish, I want to write about Astrid Lindgren, although she was Swedish and not Danish. Her fairytales and stories has been translated to almost all the languages in the world and are still being read over and over and over again. My favorite Astrid Lindgren-stories are:

1. Brothers Lionheart. This is the story about two brothers who both die young and what happens after they are dead and meet each other in the land of Nangijala.

2. Pippi Longstocking. I just love Pippi. She is the original girlpower-girl. And imagine living in your own villa and owing your own white horse with black spots.

3. Emil's Pranks. About naughty boy Emil, who cannot help himself and always end up making pranks, even when he is trying to do something good.

4. The Children of Noisy Village. Oh how I wanted to be a part of the children in Noisy Village and all the fun they had.

Astrid was named the world's best known Swede and she said: You have given this award to a person who is ancient, half-deaf, half-blind and completely nuts. We better hope no one finds out :o)

I do have some facts about Astrid Lindgren as well. Actually, I have more than I think I will write here, because there is a lot about her on the net.

November 14. would have been Astrid Lindgren's 100th birthday. She died in 2002 and was buried, as per her own request, on March 8., the International Women's Day. Astrid got pregnant when she was 18 years old and had to leave her son, Lasse, with a foster family in Copenhagen. A few years later, she was able to take him back home to Stockholm. Astrid Lindgren used to lie down in her bed with a pad of papers and write from early morning, 5-6 AM and until midday. Evenings were spent thinking about what to write next morning. It was her daughter Karin, who turned 10 in 1944, who invented the name Pippi Longstocking. For Karin's 10 year birthday, Astrid Lindgren wrote the first Pippi-story. And when she met Sonja, Karin's classmate, who had red hair and freckles, she decided, that that was what Pippi was going to look like. Later on, child actress Inger Nilsson played Pippi in a much loved series.

Top is Pippi with her monkey Mr. Nilsson and bottom is actress Inger Nilsson who played Pippi and what she looks like today.



The images from left to right: Astrid Lindgren and son Lasse, her funeral in 2002, Astrid Lindgren writing in bed and last image is the front cover of the first Pippi-story. All four images are from the book 'Astrid Lindgren's life in pictures' by Jacob Forsell, Johan Erséus and Margareta Strömstedt (I know it is available in Swedish and Danish, but not if it can be found in English)

I recommend all Astrid Lindgren-stories for both kids and adults. The are wonderful.

This is also my post # 9 in the NaBloPoMo-challenge.

Casual Classics

I just signed up for another reading challenge for 2009. Its not that I think that I am not reading enough. And it is not that I think that I am not reading enough book or that I think what I read is not good enough. And actually, it is not because I think I HAVE to read classics if I don't feel like it. But I do feel like it. And I thought, that perhaps this challenge is the push I need to get started. Usually I do not plan my reading. I like just grabbing what I want from the shelves. But this challenge is not hard at all - you only sign up for reading 4 classics in a year. Even I should be able to manage that. The hostess of this challenge is MizB. Read more or sign up yourself here.

As this is an Enlish challenge I am waiting to hear if Danish classics are "allowed" or if they must be English. Usually the rules for such challenges are not overly strict. But first and foremost, my reading is almost always for fun and not because I have a need to read a lot of books I may find boring.

I have already found two books I want to read and they have been sitting on my shelf for ages:

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I have a copy of this one in Danish and it looks like it is an easy read.

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. This one I have in English. And I did try reading it way back...it most definitely wasn't easy, but I am willing to try again ;o)

National Blog Posting Month # 8: Countdown to Copenhagen Book Convention

In the week to come Copenhagen has a lot to offer those of us loving books. Yesterday the book celebration "Copenhagen Reads" was opened with 100 librarians handing out free books in the Copenhagen Metro. All week there are dozens of different book related happenings and arrangements.

COPENHAGEN READS is an annual, 7-day celebration of literature with events and readings taking place all over Copenhagen: in cafés, bookshops, museums, shopping centres and libraries.
The programme is varied and includes interviews, readings, theater performances, discussions, children's concerts, city walks, etc.

The whole Copenhagen Reads Week has it's climax at the annual Copenhagen Book Convention (sorry about the link being in Danish, there was no English site) which is running on it's 14th or 15th year now. It has definitely grown since the beginning back in the early 1990's and is a fun - and a bit tiring - event to visit. And usually there are loads and loads of books on special sale. I just received to free passes to the event, so I am definitely going. The convention is visited by a lot of authors, but mostly from Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries. I am looking forward to go there and blog about it afterwards. Lots of Danish bookbloggers go there, so the net will be filled with posts from this event, which is a huge thing in literary Denmark and which attracts all sorts of readers.
This is my 8th NaBloPoMo post. See my page here.

National Blog Posting Month # 7: Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton

The Anita Blake series just keeps getting better and better. This is book # 5 in the series. And Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of the City (St. Louis) is back in business. Anita has to leave her werewolf-boyfriend Richard and her vampire-boyfriend Jean-Claude (In a previous novel she agreed to date both of them to find out who she wants (to have sex with)) back in St. Louis, when she is asked to travel to another part the country and raise a whole cemetery. A builder wants to use some land, but a local family is agaist him, because they say that the old cemetery beneath the ground is their family-burial ground. Anita has to raise the dead and ask them exactly what their family relations are. All is well, until something starts killing young boys in the woods, and a teenage girl dies from a vampire bite in her room. Anita has to look into a lot of stuff, being helped by her assistant, vampire-hunter-in-spe Larry. She is away from her usual turf, and the police in this part of the country are not too happy about the famous vampire-hunter doing what they think is their job. Anita has to call for help, and the only one who can help her is Jean-Claude, the gorgeous vampire who wants Anita as his lover and human servant. Anita has resisted him for a long time, and she is not so sure what she feels. There is a lot of drama, a lot of bad vampires and the fey are introduced in this book, which make for some new and exciting ways to cheat, do magic and much more. Great vamp-read.

This is my 7th. post in the NaBloPoMo assignment.

National Blog Posting Month # 6: I am Charlotte Simmons

I just bought I am Charlotte Simmons (Danish title Jeg er Charlotte Simmons) by Tom Wolfe. The book was published in 2005 and as soon as it came out, I got it from the library and began reading it at once. I don't remember what else I was reading at that time, but I never really got into it and then I had to return it to the Library. Later I got it again from the library and the exact same thing happened. I ended up never getting around to read it, which I was actually a bit annoyed with. On the other hand I quickly read Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (Danish title Klasse), which may be seen as a "I am Charlotte Simmons light". The Danish copy of Prep has one of the coolest covers I have seen, way more interesting than the original cover.

In reality I cannot really compare the two books as I have never read anything by Tom Wolfe. But that is about to change. I will read I am Charlotte Simmons soon and now I cannot be excused because the library wants it back. I got my own copy now. I got it for a couple of English Pounds Sterling off of eBay. Both the Tom Wolfe book and Prep takes place on an American college campus and both er rather critical and ironic. Or at least Prep is.

Tom Wolfe had his breakthrough as a literary author (and debut I think) with The Bonfire of Vanities , which is about the 1980's in New York. That book was later made into a movie starring Tom Hanks - and I haven't seen the movie either.

Below are the Danish covers for the two books

This is the 6th. post in the National Blog Posting Month challenge. See my page here.