SaraPepparkaka

Hey Dan, I borrowed "Norwegian Wood" from the library yesterday.

Welcome! How did you like The Shadow Of The Wind? I have it on my shelf waiting.

I read "A Lifetime Burning" by Linda Gillard. I find it very difficult to say anything much, other than that it was excellent writing, interesting characters- and very controversial themes. I also read a few pages this morning in R A Macavoy's "Twisting the Rope", but it seems I'm in the mood for something else. And since I believe I will enjoy this book very much, I'll put is aside and wait for the right mood to strike me.

I just finished this book. I loved the writing - but I don't really know what to say about the book as such since the themes were unsettling to say the least. A good writer will make most anything work I suppose, and I do think this book has re-read potential, which is the best I can say about a book really. I will find it hard to recommend to friends I guess..

Heh, fridge still not totally empty- salmon cooked in the oven, b

Yesterday we had (or everyone else but me had) sausage,spaghetti and ketchup. I had spaghetti and pesto. Strange men I live with- they don't appreciate pesto sauce, one of the great inventions of the world. Today I don't know, my fridge is empty and I don't feel very creative. Not that I was creative yesterday either, but then the fridge wasn't totally empty..

I've read two books that I like and one I didn't like. I read "Eric" by Terry Pratchett, and "The Thief" by Megan Whalen Turner. (Do I need to say that those were the ones I liked?) Then I read "Funny Valentine" by Amy Jenkins. I figured it would have a happy ending, and it did, but the way there was not pleasant. It was all a lot of random events that didn't make the story go forward. For example her flatmates pregnancy- what did THAT have to do with anything? "The Thief" was perfect to pick up and put away as I was preparing for my son's birthday party. "Eric" did A LOT to balance the slightly sad books I've been reading lately.

I liked it. I thought it was very original how the tales were woven together. I will definately read more by her, actually I was looking for "Palimpsest" but the online store where I usually buy my books didn't have that. So I figured I could just read the one they had and see if I liked the writing. With every turn of the page, everything I thought I knew about that book/that world, was turned upside down.

I've read more. Actually these two books I've read in small doses over a long period of time, but I have now finished them. The first one is "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. I did like some of it, it sure did pick up speed towards the end. I thought the ending was the best part of the book- I wouldn't have bought any "quick fixes" at that point. Then "Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson. In some ways this was exactly my kind of book. I never cared much for "normality" in characters, but growth and development I care for. I don't really know why the main character had to start out as such an .. (looking for the right word..) unpleasant guy. I warmed to him gradually as I warmed to the book gradually. For the first chapters of the book it felt like the author was looking at the characters from the outside, "if I make him like that and her like that and her like that, and throw them together, then let's see what happens". But along the way I felt like the author started to like them and then I started to care for them too. About the ending, let me just say:

Hello and welcome!

:006:Hello and welcome!

Two books to comment since last time. "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz and "Sputnik Sweetheart" by Haruki Murakami. I'm glad I know some Spanish, that really helped when reading Oscar Wao. After a while I got a bit tired of the footnotes, except for the one in the beginning of the book where it says: "You didn't know we were occupied twice in the twentieth century? Don't worry, when you have kids they won't know the U.S. occupied Iraq either." That does say something about the short memory of the general public, and a world where everything is So Important one day and completely forgotten the next. So the book was half funny and half romantic and it didn't add up to a whole. Not bad, just not THAT good. "Sputnik Sweetheart" was beautifully written. I thought it was for the best that . Says the person who absolutely does not go to work in her black shabby jeans and her homedyed batik t-shirt. The role of dreams and the dream world was also interesting. So, all in all: clever, beautiful book, but sad. I was so ready to read about happily-ever-after after those two books that I re-read some of the nicest chapters in "The Duchess" by Jude Deveraux. There's nothing quite like reading about two imperfect persons that are perfect for each other.. I may return to "Emotional Geology" and "Star Gazing" too. Suggestions are also welcome- a book with a heartwarming and happy ending, please!

Hello and welcome!

Hello and welcome!

Hello!

Hello :006:and welcome!

Hello and welcome!

Hello and

Hello!

There were two stories in "Smoke and Mirrors" that are a bit explicit in my opinion, and one of those two made Gaiman feel embarrassed when he was writing it, according to the introduction. If you have the opportunity- read the introduction, it says a little about all the short stories in the book, and that maybe helps you to decide. - But it's nothing compared to some of the "romance" novels out there now.

Many of you know this already- but I have set a limit for myself of 50

Wuthering Heights. And The Time Traveller's Wife. I may add some more when I have time to think about it. Maybe one with a happy ending?