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Frankie reads 2016


frankie

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I'm going to steal your review format for the year if you don't mind. :giggle:

 

It's so generic that there's really nothing original there to steal :D 

 

 

It's interesting you give Koch's books lower ratings at first, but they tend to go up for you in time. It's a shame this wasn't your favourite by him, but I'm glad you liked some of it at least. Hopefully you'll grow more fond of it with time. I intend to read this one at some point too, I'll let you know what I think when I get to it.

 

I'd be happy to know what you think of the book when you get to it. And I remember pontalba liking SHwSP very much. I think she may have preferred it to The Dinner

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I went to a job interview on Wednesday and long story short, I got the job! :smile2: I will start work as a care worker / personal assistant on 1.2. This means that I will need to buy a monthly travel card, and it also means that I can afford one. And this will mean that on my free-time, I'm able to travel as much as I like in the city of Helsinki. :smile2: As the monthly travel card costs a pretty penny, I haven't afforded it before and I've really had no need for it before, and it's always a struggle to remember how much money I have loaded on my card, and if I can afford to use that money for a single ticket. In the future I don't have to worry about that!

 

As soon as I realized this, I thought of a great book-related challenge for the year: I'll try to visit all the libraries in Helsinki!! I love libraries, and visiting all the different ones in Helsinki means that I will take a tram or subway or bus to different parts of Helsinki, where I would normally have no business in. I'll visit places I've never been to before and which I might never visit otherwise! I'm really excited about it :smile2:

 

Edit: There are a lot more libraries in Helsinki than I thought! :lol:

1. Arabianranta

2. Etelä-Haaga

3. Herttoniemi

4. Itäkeskus

5. Jakomäki

6. Jätkänsaari

7. Kallio

8. Kannelmäki

9. Kirjasto 10

10. Kontula

11. Käpylä

12. Laajasalo

13. Lauttasaari

14. Malmi

15. Malminkartano

16. Maunula

17. Munkkiniemi

18. Myllypuro (media library)

19. Oulunkylä

20. Paloheinä

21. Pasila

22. Pikku Huopalahti (children's library)

23. Pitäjänmäki

24. Pohjois-Haaga

25. Puistola

26. Pukinmäki

27. Rikhardinkatu

28. Roihuvuori

29. Sakarinmäki (children's library) 

30. Suomenlinna

31. Suutarila

32. Tapanila

33. Tapulikaupunki

34. Töölö

35. Vallila

36. Viikki

37. Vuosaari

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Congrats on the job Sari. I like your plan, it's always really nice to discover places that you otherwise wouldn't have visited.

 

What Brian said - it's a great idea, and congratulations on the new job!

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Congrats on the job Sari. I like your plan, it's always really nice to discover places that you otherwise wouldn't have visited.

 

Thanks Brian! I've been really, really stressed about not having been able to find work (or, rather, get work) before, and now I'm just so thrilled that I have a job!! :smile2: And now that I will be working in Helsinki, I will have more of a connection with Helsinki and that means it's about time I started working out what the city's about and where everything is :)

 

 

What Brian said - it's a great idea, and congratulations on the new job!

 

Thanks Ian! :smile2: I'm really thrilled. Thrilled to bits! I've felt so bad being unemployed so long (just doing 4h clubs on an on-and-off basis and a temp job), that this is just brilliant news for me .smile2: 

 

 

Congratulations Sari! Great news on the, will it be far from where you are living? Is it full time? :)

 

How big is Helsinki, that sounds like a lot of libraries, but then I have no idea how big Helsinki is! :D

 

The job is a full time job, only it's for 6 hours a day, not the 'full' 8 hours. I was a bit disappointed when I heard it was only 6 hours, but when I figured out my pay check and the bills and all that stuff, etc etc., I figured out how much I'm left with each month and it's totally manageable. I mean I will live and be just fine. I'm used to having very little, not having had a full time job in ages etc. 

 

The woman I'll be working for lives about a 35 minute bus ride away. This is probably an average commute time in Helsinki for some people. I'm lucky in that the bus that takes me to the place where I'll take another bus is just a block away from me, and the bus I'll be arriving at work is only 5 minutes away from the woman's apartment. Also, she seemed very flexible in that if I should be late because I missed a bus or something, she wouldn't be mad about it :smile2: She's actually the neighbor of a friend of mine, and I got word of the job through that friend. Not nepotism as we're not related, but it's about connections. 

 

A good thing is that when I come home from work, I will stop at Itis (which is like the third biggest shopping mall in Helsinki and Finland, in general), where I can go shopping for food and go to the pharmacy and there's also a library and all I could need, and I'll be able to do errands there and then take a bus home. It's so great! Also, it's in the eastern part of Helsinki, and so I can take a bus to my aunt and visit her more often if she's okay with that :)

 

Oh and guess what!!! The woman, S, for whom I'll be working, asked me if I was possibly okay with one thing: she loves Spain and has been there on a few occasions, and she asked me that if she and her hubby would want to go and live there for a few months, would I be okay to go with them?  Oh yeah, hell yeah!!! :D

 

Helsinki is small in that there's not that much square footage, but it's very well populated. I'm not going to wiki, but I'd say about half a million people live in Helsinki, which is a lot, bearing in mind that there are a bit over 5 million people living in Finland. My home town Nurmes is sooooo much bigger than Helsinki, according to the actual size when it comes to geometry, but there are way more people living in Helsinki :D

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Congratulations on your new job :smile2: :smile2:!! It sounds great :)! And Spain!! S. sounds like a friendly person :).

 

And wow, that's a lot of libraries for one city. It'll be so great to visit them all. I love visiting libraries, I wish you lots of fun :).

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Congrats on nabbing the job, Frankie! Sounds ideal! And wow, that is a *lot* of libraries. I think my city has maybe 5 or 6?

 

 Thanks! :smile2: I honestly had no idea there'd be that many. I thought there might be 15 libraries, tops! 

 

Congratulations on your new job !! It sounds great ! And Spain!! S. sounds like a friendly person. 

Thanks! :smile2: Yes, she seems friendly and nice. And what's more, she seems to have a sense of humor, too, so that bodes well! :D Oh and she has been an avid reader in the past. Nowadays she told me she doesn't have the concentration for it, but she does love reading poetry :smile2: 

 

And wow, that's a lot of libraries for one city. It'll be so great to visit them all. I love visiting libraries, I wish you lots of fun.

 

 Thanks, I'm sure I will! :D It'll be interesting to see how many are more modern, more tech-savvy and tech-invested, and how many libraries are 'good old book libraries' :) 

 

Congratulations on your new job sounds brilliant 

 

Thanks! :smile2: Still very happy about it :D 

 

I loved hearing about all of that!  I am so happy for you!

 

And hell ya to Spain!! 

 

Hell to the yeah! :D I know absolutely nothing about Spain and have never studied the language, so it's very much a foreign country and culture to me, but I wouldn't mind the sun and the warmth :D 

 

Congratulations!!!   

Thanks! :smile2: 

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Oh my giddy aunt, what a day! I thought I was supposed to supervise a 4H club, and so took the tram to the school, only to see that there were two girls there and they had it all under control :D I'd gotten the days wrong... I'm supposed to go tomorrow and Wednesday, not Monday and Wednesday... Well, as it meant that I had a free day, I thought I'd go and visit the library in Pasila, as it was close to where I lived and the tram I would take home would continue to Pasila and I could just stay on the tram. 
 
The library was bigger than the others I've been to in Helsinki! It was rather ugly on the outside, but very nice on the inside. I would definitely like to spend more time there! :smile2: I'm somewhat tempted to change it into my 'home' library where I could get all my reservations... 
 
I knew that the big, communal old books library storage was in the Pasila library and so I took advantage of that, and got the first novel in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton. I also found an English copy of the first book in The Famous Five series which I've never read before, so I'm really happy about that! :smile2: 
 
The library is close to a Lidl, so I did some grocery shopping on my way back home. Very convenient. The tram I wanted to take, though, was late... It was probably because of the snow or the cold or something. I stood there, waiting for the tram, for at least 30 minutes :D I knew there was a bus stop only two blocks away, and I could take a bus, but whenever I thought I'd go and take a bus instead, I feared that the tram would get to the stop right then and I'd miss it. :rolleyes::D But when I started to freeze my lower half, I decided I didn't care if the tram came in three minutes, I was taking the bus. Good choice! 

 

The libraries in Helsinki 

 

1. Arabianranta
2. Etelä-Haaga
3. Herttoniemi
4. Itäkeskus
5. Jakomäki
6. Jätkänsaari
7. Kallio
8. Kannelmäki
9. Kirjasto 10
10. Kontula
11. Käpylä
12. Laajasalo
13. Lauttasaari
14. Malmi
15. Malminkartano
16. Maunula
17. Munkkiniemi
18. Myllypuro (media library)
19. Oulunkylä
20. Paloheinä
21. Pasila
22. Pikku Huopalahti (children's library)
23. Pitäjänmäki
24. Pohjois-Haaga
25. Puistola
26. Pukinmäki
27. Rikhardinkatu
28. Roihuvuori
29. Sakarinmäki (children's library) 
30. Suomenlinna
31. Suutarila
32. Tapanila
33. Tapulikaupunki
34. Töölö
35. Vallila
36. Viikki
37. Vuosaari

 

Crossing Pasila off the list, which means 5/37. Still long ways to go! 

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5. Tyttö vailla nimeä by Gunnel Beckman  


 


This book is about Sara who is 9 years old and doesn't get to go and spend her summer holidays with her favorite relatives, and the strange girl who doesn't know her own name and who comes to live next door to Sara. The new girl is dark and pretty and an orphan, and she's from Iran... 


 


Thoughts: Such a lovely children's book :smile2: I would have loved to read this sort of thing as a kid, and even though this was a new read for me, it made me nostalgic :D I only wish the book had been longer so there would have been more to read. 


 


3/5


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Last year I read 7 books off my TBR. Only 7 books! This year I've already read 3 :exc: And it's only January! :smile2:

 

I'm feeling so good about this year and reading... I've read books off my TBR list and I've already read two books that have been given to me as presents from friends. I'm so bad at reading books that I got from friends because they know my tastes and they get me the best books and I tend to leave the best till last. :(  I did a lot of thinking at the end of last year when I was planning my reading log and one thing I decided was that I wasn't going to wait till I'd read all the 'less deserving' books off my bookcase (because that would take years!) before getting to the better books, and instead I'd just go for whatever I really felt like reading :smile2: And 2 out of the 6 books I've read this year have been book presents :smile2:

 

(What's more, now that I'll start a steady job, I don't have to stress about money and finding a job, and I'll be more relaxed about everything, and that will certainly help me with my mojo... I hope nothing drastic happens this year! Last year was a crazy year  :roll2:  )

 

Edit: Also, all the ratings so far have been 3/5 - 5/5, so no bad reads for me so far this year! :D

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Wow, you are doing well :smile2:! I hope this year will be less stressful for you in terms of money and finding a job, and of course that your mojo will be good.

 

I am like that too, I also tend to 'save the best for last'. Like you, this year I'm also going to read what I feel like. I hope it works out, for the both of us :).

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I am like that too, I also tend to 'save the best for last'. Like you, this year I'm also going to read what I feel like. I hope it works out, for the both of us :).

 

I'm glad that there are others who've been this way too, because I'm sometimes afraid that people don't understand the way I've been operating :blush: It's really not fair nor fun for the people who've been given me books when I haven't then gotten to reading them, and they may have gotten the wrong impression about it. It's most certainly not that I don't want to read them! It's just a long habit of saving the best till last. But this year I'm going to try and break that habit!! :smile2: I wish you luck with breaking the very same habit! May the force be with us :D 

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I'm glad that there are others who've been this way too, because I'm sometimes afraid that people don't understand the way I've been operating :blush: It's really not fair nor fun for the people who've been given me books when I haven't then gotten to reading them, and they may have gotten the wrong impression about it. It's most certainly not that I don't want to read them! It's just a long habit of saving the best till last. But this year I'm going to try and break that habit!! :smile2: I wish you luck with breaking the very same habit! May the force be with us :D

Thanks, Frankie :smile2:!

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You can read your books in any order you like, frankie.  If I've given a book as a present, I don't mind when the recipient reads it, I just hope they get some enjoyment from reading it, although I don't even mind if they don't as you can never be 100% sure of your prediction of what someone will like, and at least if they try it and don't like it, it adds to their reading experience and makes the next book they enjoy even more of a joy to read, knowing what the bad experiences are like! :D

 

Sounds like a very promising start to the year, with plenty to look forward to as well. :yes:

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I definitely know what you mean about reading books given as gifts. I tend to read a wide variety of books and that means that at certain times I only feel like reading certain genres. When I have a gift that isn't one of these genres I feel like I must read it right away even if it isn't what I fancy right at that moment.

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I always read what I want when I want to, and if I get a book as a present, I don't force myself to read it immediately if I'm not feeling it. Janet sent me her copy of Longbourn ages back, and because it's quite dense historical fiction and I was in the mood for lighter YA reading, it took me an age to get to it. But when I did, it was a 5 star read. I think all of us readers understand not necessarily being in the mood for something, even if its something you'll ultimately like.

 

I hope 2016 is a happy and peaceful year for you, without anything drastic happening!

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Thanks everyone for your input, it's been interesting reading how you view the 'situation' :smile2: Like you, chesilbeach, I don't mind when a friend reads the book I've given them, because I know fully well what it's like to be a moody reader. And the friends I buy books for have huge TBR piles as it is so I could never be as brazen as to think my gift takes precedence :D It's just odd how one's harder on oneself, rather too frequently... I don't mind other people taking their time to read their gifts, but at the same time I feel like I might come across as an ingrate for not getting to my gifts sooner than later. And it's not really that I would honestly think my friends were particular about when I read their presents to me! I don't have that sort of friends. My friends are all awesome :D It's just all in my own head, unfortunately. One's own head can be one's worst enemy at times. 

 

 

I always read what I want when I want to, and if I get a book as a present, I don't force myself to read it immediately if I'm not feeling it. 

 

What I left out of my previous post is that sometimes there will be moments when I've finished my previous read and I don't really know what to read next. I might just not know what I'm in the mood for. So what I initially meant was that for these moments I'd like to be more aware of all the book presents I've been given, and if I seriously don't know what I would like to go for next, I might give those books a chance, rather than some random books I've bought cheap at a library sale, not even knowing if they might be my cup of tea. 

 

There can also be times when I feel like I'm in the mood for whatever comes next, and this is also a time when I could take advantage of the fact that I have so many wonderful book pressies to dive into :smile2:

 

What's even more: getting into the mindset of possibly reading more book presents this year might make me more aware of all of those books and my mood might tap into that source and then I might just be more in the mood for those particular books.

 

And last but not least: there have been times when I've been in the mood for a particular book gift I've been given, but I've still not picked it up because I've thought I'll leave the best till last. Now if I feel like I'd want to go for a gift book, I don't want to go back into that old habit, I just want to feel free to pick the particular book up and read it. 

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One's own head can definitely be one's worst enemy!! :yes: Well said .. oh wise one! :D

Never worry about the books I send. They are there to be enjoyed (or hated :D) whenever the time and the mood is right. If they are only ever used to stop a table leg from wobbling then I'll still be as pleased as punch!  :smile2:  

 

You have made an awesome start to the year lovely :hug: So happy to hear about your new job and wow .... Spain!! :cows: :cows: :cows: Hell yes!! :D and also it's great that you've made a fantastic start with your reading .. you're knocking books down like ninepins from your TBR! Hope I can follow suit :blush2:  

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One's own head can definitely be one's worst enemy!! Well said .. oh wise one!

:D I was just in your reading log realizing I'm a nimwit. It's a fine balance we have here :D

 

Never worry about the books I send. They are there to be enjoyed (or hated ) whenever the time and the mood is right. If they are only ever used to stop a table leg from wobbling then I'll still be as pleased as punch!   

:lol: And we know how pleased punch can be, and how merry one can get after enjoying it :D I know I shouldn't worry about reading gift books. And I promise to try not to. But I do want to be more aware of them all, which is why I made a separate list of them in the reading plans post on my reading log.

 

You have made an awesome start to the year lovely So happy to hear about your new job and wow .... Spain!! Hell yes!! and also it's great that you've made a fantastic start with your reading .. you're knocking books down like ninepins from your TBR! Hope I can follow suit 

 

Thanks! :smile2: Another thing that threw me off earlier this week is that my new smartphone jammed and got stuck and I couldn't even turn it off, just had to wait till the battery run out :thud: So that stressed me to no end, because it's brand freaking new and I haven't dropped it or anything or let a raccoon wash it for me or anything! I was worried I'd have to take it for 'restoration' :D So I was mighty grumpy this week. More stress!! But then I figured maybe it's all due to me not doing all the updates the phone has tried to alert me to do, and once I did those, I havent' had any problems again... :blush: So now I'm happy again and no stress :D But it's made me definitely realize that the amount of stress is _always_ the same: if you get rid of one stress factor, another one will come along. I guess one just has to learn to cope with stress! Easier said than done.... 

 

(For your viewing pleasure... This is the raccoon that did not wash my phone.

 

 

Poor raccoon... Raccoon only trying to help with the chores.... :wub: )

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7. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella 

 

BlurbAudrey can't leave the house. She can't even take off her dark glasses inside the house.

 

Then her brother's friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly orange-slice smile, and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again – well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do things she'd thought were too scary.

 

Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.

 

Thoughts: I was very keen to read the book because this is Sophie Kinsella's first YA book, and I was also very interested to read about Audrey and what her mental issues might be and where they would stem from, as I do quite enjoy books to do with psychological issues. 

 

The story flowed well enough, and I thought Kinsella dealt rather well with the mental issues, but for me, this didn't really compare with the usual successful writing of Kinsella. I liked the book well enough but there were two rather major niggles, first being the storyline between Audrey and Linus. I thought it was rushed and not very plausible. It lacked depth and it just happened all too quickly and I just didn't believe any of it. Which is kind of annoying, because so far I've really enjoyed the romantic aspects in the novels of Kinsella (except the one in The Undomestic Goddess, which I didn't enjoy at all). Sure, Kinsella's books aren't in general all that complicated and they don't profess to be complicated, but this storyline was just a big disappointment for me.

 

The other niggle is that, as far as I'm aware, the 'it', the 'big thing', 'the catalyst event', that led Audrey to the state she was in was never revealed in full detail!!!! It was the one thing I was most looking forward to in the novel and then there were only hints of what might have happened, and even those were very tiny, tiny hints. I was so p*ssed off when I finished the novel realizing I didn't know what had happened! :thud: (Or did I miss something????? Athena, I know you've read the book. Did I miss something???) 

 

3/5

 
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