Month: September 2020

  • The Girl With All the Gifts

    During the corona lockdown there are two types of readers. Those who want to indulge in end of the world stories (possibly caused by some sort of pathogen) and those who want to stay away from them as far as possible. Me, I don’t mind reading them even now. Still, it was mainly because I… →

  • Circe and the Cyclops

    I think it is great that stories like the Odyssey have survived for this long and are still so well known. The pieces about the Cyclops and Circe are among the best known parts I think. I read these in class but it was a couple of years ago, so it nice to revisit. I… →

  • How I Read – tag

    I came across this tag over at Lost Girl’s Books, and it looked a lot of fun, so I wanted to give it a try as well. I do not know where it originated though. Do you have a certain place at home for reading? There isn’t really a place where I wouldn’t read. I… →

  • The Night Circus

    Why have I never read The Night Circus before? I’m officially way too late to the party. I remember everyone raving about The Night Circus some time ago, but never got around to reading it myself somehow. Only now, with reawakened interested due to the release of The Starless Sea, I was reminded that I… →

  • I Love and I Hate

    We didn’t read this in school, so it was the first of Catullus that I read. It’s another poetry collection. The title sums up quite well the problems that Catullus faces with the woman he loves, since it is clear that love and hate are not so different after all. While the poems feel rather… →

  • Daisy Jones & The Six

    Three little things loosely related to Daisy Jones & The Six: * I don’t think there is book that I have had in my hands so many times before actually buying it (the Kindle edition that is) as this one. There always was a pull towards it, but it never seemed hard enough. I’m very… →

  • The Robber Bridegroom

    This was an interesting edition, which featured some well-known and some lesser known fairy tales from the Grimm Brothers. The titular story tells of a young girl who finds out her intended is not all that great and figures out a way to defeat him. Another one, the six servants, I only knew from the… →

  • Bloodchild

    Bloodchild was my introduction to the works of Octavia E. Butler. After I was recently told I should really try her books, I came across this short story which has won all the prizes and was free on Amazon. Since it was short, I immediately squirmed it in with my other readings. Two things that… →

  • It was snowing butterflies

    I have never read On the Origin of Species. However, I was glad that some of Darwin’s writing had made the Little Black Classics. These are a part of his notes that he took while on Beagle trying to prove the evolution theory. As such it provides not only biology, but also remarks on exploring… →

  • Riot Baby

    I first came across Riot Baby last year when it was all over my feed. Somehow I still missed out on what it actually was about. Fast forward to this week, when it was the Tor.com Ebook club selection, and despite it not being on my weekly TBR for #BoutofBooks, I decided to sneak it… →

  • A Pair of Silk Stockings

    I had not heard of Kate Chopin before I started reading this. A Pair of Silk Stockings contains five short stories and overall it was a really nice read. That’s what I have been reading these little books for, finding new-to-me authors. In the title story, a woman has 15 dollars to spend on nice… →

  • WWW Wednesday #4

    I feel like I start these posts every week with the same message. It’s been a very busy week and I didn’t get much reading done. These words also perfectly described last week. The last couple of days were particularly busy, with very long hours. Besides I think I might have to admit to myself… →

  • The Congress of Rough Riders

    I’m a big fan of John Boyne, and this was one of the last books I hadn’t read yet. So, I didn’t mind the fact I really don’t like cowboys and just started reading. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed cause it turned out that I minded the cowboys after all. It was not bad,… →

  • The Voyage of Sir Francis Drake Around the Whole Globe

    This was horrible! One of the worst in the collection, of that I am sure. When reading historical accounts it is always difficult, because their actions have to be put in the historical context rather than how we would judge these actions today. However, The Voyage of Sir Francis Drake Around the Whole Globe, is… →

  • When A Child Is Born

    #TimeTravelTuesday When A Child Is Born takes place on Christmas (though it is not that child that is born). Max and her team end up being sidetracked while they are hiking towards William I’s coronation. It’s short and sweet and it fits perfectly in the holiday season. While I enjoyed it thoroughly, all 20 or… →

  • The Night is Darkening Round Me

    My first venture into the works of the Brontë sisters contains poems by Emily, although it says that one of the poems included is now rather assigned to Charlotte. These poems are very dark. Death is the one recurring theme. As such it feels very 19th Century, but it didn’t make for very enjoyable reading.… →

  • Manga Classics – Anne of Green Gables

    I have memories of watching some kind of screen adaptation (I don’t remember exactly which one) of Anne of Green Gables when I was a kid. I haven’t seen Netflix’s Anne with an E and neither have I read the original book. But I have been following Manga Classics for a while, so when I… →

  • Lips Too Chilled

    Poetry has always been somewhat of a hit or miss with me. Lips Too Chilled collects Haiku, and I am not really experienced reading them. So, maybe that is why I quite liked these, some were very nice in their short simplicity. I am usually not one for the very strict formats that different poem-styles… →

  • If only I could finish a book – Halloween Bingo Update

    It might be clear by now that my September and October reading is dominated by Halloween Bingo. We are about two weeks in and my reading is not really what I had hoped. I feel like I have a light reading slump. Still finishing some books, but it takes much more time than usual. I… →

  • Djinn City

    The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday (find the review here) was my first book this year and it was such a nice surprise. After I finished it, I wanted to get Djinn City, since it was also set in the same world with the Djinn, although a millennium earlier. It was quest to get… →

  • The Old Man of the Moon

    Penguin describes this edition as a Chinese official’s account of his all-consuming love for his wife, and that pretty much sums up the book. It is also an account of life in China in the 18th century of course, but it is the love story which is at the center of it. There were some… →

  • I am about to start a 5 year project…

    I like myself some reading projects, and with the Little Black Classics finished, and the Little Mint Classics waiting for next year, I felt I was up for another regular reading project. It was at that time that I got an invitation to the Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration over on GoodReads. It is hosted by… →

  • Dead Wicked

    2nd read for the #ReverseReadathon So, it is only three days since finishing Dead Wicked during the Readathon and I have finally some time to write down my thoughts. However, I found I had to strain myself recalling who the bad guy was and why. I think that sort of sums up rather how forgettable… →

  • Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime

    I started collecting Penguin’s Little Black Classics, and my random reading pilot drew this booklet. (I believe this was the first LBC I’ve read) I was never really crazy about The Picture of Dorian Grey. I read it and it wasn’t bad but not as good as I expected it would be (based on raving… →