Frankie reads 2013

[Eleonora]

Thanks Eleonora! And thanks so much for the card!   If you get the chocolate, I promise I will provide the snowball

 

I got yours too. Thanks so much, it's really amazing. Molto bene!!!!

[Athena]

One of my friends was born on December 26th, he says its great because he gets twice the presents on christmas!

x

My boyfriend has his birthday on the 25th and he's never really liked it. Despite the fact that his birthday is on Christmas he's never been given, when he was young, twice as many presents or anything, he might have been given the same amount as everybody else. He's always had to share his special day with the Christmas meal and the Christmas presents. This year he is here for Christmas and we're going to focus a seperate day on his birthday dinner (traditionally in my family we get to pick one dinner meal for our birthday) and his presents.

[pontalba]

 

frankie wrote: I read your review on Goodreads some time ago, and I was happy that you enjoyed it, but then I saw you only gave it 3/5, so I wasn't sure anymore that you liked it all that much I've been meaning to come and comment on your log, but it's been a taskful few weeks. This is the first day this month, I think, when I don't have to stress about anything and can kick back! (Getting all the Xmas pressies sorted has led to this blissful, stress-free euphoria...!) So I'm looking forward to getting back on reading other people's logs

 

 

Well, I wavered between a 3 and 4 star, finally settling on an actual 3.5/5 rating.   Not knowing the Estonian history behind some of the political stuff was against me. I did figure it out, but that was about half way through.  I thought her characters were well fleshed out and aside from what I've mentioned, it'd be a solid 4/5 for me. 

I know I'll certainly pick up more books by her. 

[poppyshake]

I haven't said Happy Birthday!  I definitely did on facebook and that was what made me think I had said it here too  Glad to hear you had a good smiling at people day  .. brilliant .. everyone should do that .. it's obviously infectious.

Great book haul ... you will love A Fraction of the Whole (at least .. I think so ) .. amazingly brilliant book.

 

Hope you're having a lovely family time  

 

Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!  .. with bells on

 

[frankie]

Just to let you guys know, I've been rather busy this weekend, I came to Nurmes on Saturday and since then have had stuff to do etc etc, and it seems this will continue on for the next couple of days. I'll pop in every now and then when I can, but if I'm keeping quiet, it's all the business.

 

I haven't even had time to record other book pressies I've received since my last post!

 

Oh, and I heard that the weather is or is going to be awful in the UK and the States and Canada, so please everyone, take care of yourself and loved ones and stay safe!!

 

Edit: Oh and    Merry Christmas everyone!    

Edited December 23, 2013 by frankie

[julie]

Frankie

 Merry Christmas to you , too.     

[Athena]

Merry Christmas !!

[frankie]

 Sorry Frankie, my fault i forget that people without kids might not get the references to children's characters 

No worries, Kidsmum! I think with this one it was more of a cultural thing, me not being familiar with the character, and getting it mixed up with another character =)

 

 

 

As for the Christmas stress, i always get it in the run up to Christmas day, there always seems so much to do & this year my Dad has been taken into hospital too, nothing life threatening but it just means i have to fit in visiting as well. Anyways i know i'll be fine when i can put my feet up & relax on Christmas night with a can of beer & my new books 

It's funny... No matter how far one plans ahead, one always seems to get caught up in things and there's always so many things to remember to do...

 

I'm sorry to hear your Dad was taking into the hospital, is he out by now? I hope he's all sorted and as good as new

 

One of my favorite Christmases was honestly the one when I'd broken up with ex the previous summer and just told my parents the following Christmas that I wasn't feeling Christmassy and didn't want to be stressed, and just wanted to stay alone at home. I wasn't feeling bad about the break-up, because ex and I left it on a good note (and we are still good friends) but I just didn't feel like going home because things with my brother and I were more awkward than usual and I just wanted to avoid all the hassle. So I stayed at home, all by myself, had something (unchristmassy) good stuff to eat and drink, watched TV, spent time on here and read. Awesome =)  No stress!

 

 

That's funny do people think your family & friends wouldn't bother because your birthday is near Christmas 

I guess Although I have to say that one friend of mine used to give me one gift in December that was supposed to be a Bday and Xmas pressie put together... He did that for a few years, but somehow he realised later on that it was a bit odd... But then again, he's still a friend, he's one of my oldest friends and that group of friends which he and I are a part of have long ago agreed we would not do Xmas pressies and not get stressed about getting each other stuff

 

 

 

I got yours too. Thanks so much, it's really amazing. Molto bene!!!!

Molto bene!!! :D

 

 

 

x

My boyfriend has his birthday on the 25th and he's never really liked it. Despite the fact that his birthday is on Christmas he's never been given, when he was young, twice as many presents or anything, he might have been given the same amount as everybody else. He's always had to share his special day with the Christmas meal and the Christmas presents. This year he is here for Christmas and we're going to focus a seperate day on his birthday dinner (traditionally in my family we get to pick one dinner meal for our birthday) and his presents.

As a December kid myself I can say it really sucks that people would combine one's Bday with Xmas. Your BF has had it a whole lot more difficult because not only does he NOT get any Bday pressies, his Bday was never really acknowledged. So I'm really, really happy that you understand where he's coming from and you take it upon yourself to celebrate his Birthday as an individual day, and not just combine it with Christmas. I know he'll appreciate it!! You're an awesome girlfriend!

 

 

[frankie]

Well, I wavered between a 3 and 4 star, finally settling on an actual 3.5/5 rating.   Not knowing the Estonian history behind some of the political stuff was against me. I did figure it out, but that was about half way through.  I thought her characters were well fleshed out and aside from what I've mentioned, it'd be a solid 4/5 for me.

I know I'll certainly pick up more books by her. 

 

I understand not know the Estonian history must've been tricky... Although I have to say that I wasn't very well acquainted with it myself. I mean, Finland has been under the rule of Russia/Soviet Union just like Estonia so I can relate, but as far as the actual Estonian history goes, I'm very much in the dark. History was never my strong point in school

 

I'm glad you seemed to like the novel in itself, though, the Estonian history tricks apart =) Unfortunately I don't know if her earlier novels will be published in English, and I don't know about her latest novel....

 

 

 

I haven't said Happy Birthday! I definitely did on facebook and that was what made me think I had said it here too. Glad to hear you had a good smiling at people day .. brilliant .. everyone should do that .. it's obviously infectious.

 

 

Don't worry my darling, you've said Happy Bday on loads of other places   And I thank you for the doggy book again, I assume that was my Bday pressie from you

 

 

 

Great book haul ... you will love A Fraction of the Whole (at least .. I think so ) .. amazingly brilliant book.

 

I had my friend over today, and showed her my Bday and Xmas pressies, and she thought AFotW sounded wonderful! But then again, she did think the same about most of the books I got... I had to write her a whole list of titles to look into

 

 

 

Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta! .. with bells on

 

 

Kiitos!!

 

 

 

Frankie

 Merry Christmas to you , too.  

 

 

 

Merry Christmas !!

 

I know I'm very late to comment on these (I tried to be as anti-computer on holidays as possible and as sociable as possible) but I hope you've had a very Merry Xmas!!

 

 

I had a pretty good Xmas, but I'm very very happy to be back at home again, and I'm sooooo looking forward to catching up with things on here.

 

Tomorrow I will try and post about my other bookish pressies (with pictures). And maybe catch up on my reviews.

[frankie]

I want to show you guys a few pics of my Xmas... Bookish delights will follow!

 

Edit: I have no idea why the pictures are not upright   They were quite the right way on my computer but when I attached them on here they took a sideway turn... Well, that is life

 

In the pics you can see our Xmas tree, which is a fake one, we haven't had a real one in the 'new' house so far. My cousin's 4 year old daughter helped me decorate it on Christmas Eve, we had mighty fun   And then you can see the 'snowman' my Dad made in the yard, it was called the 'idiot' because Daddy carved this huge silly grin on its face after the photo... And you can see the pile of snow with snowballs and candles that my brother made. We honestly didn't have a lot of snow this Christmas.... And after Christmas most of it has already melted The weather over here is very Octoberish... Or almost spring-like. So odd!

Edited December 27, 2013 by frankie

[frankie]

And in these pictures you will see the dog keeping guard on our porch... Good, solemn dog And Christmassy lights!

 

In the next one you will see the starters of our Xmas feast... I will not say it is a traditional table, because my brother made it and he likes to make things he likes... He would've made the traditional casseroles and such as well, but he didn't have time, and anyways, they are not in the picture, as I didn't think to take pictures of the store bought ones.

 

And the third one is my most beautiful advent calendar ever, I got it from chaliepud!!   My friend Riikka was visiting me today in Joensuu and when I was showing her the Xmas cards, she noticed the calendar and she asked me where the hell I got it from, because it was fecking beautiful!

[julie]

Beautiful pictures Frankie I love them all, but my favorite is the "snow tree" your brother made with the candles in it . Such a beautiful idea !

Sounds like you had an enjoyable holiday .

[Devi]

I too like the snow tree photo. I wish we had snow where I live so I could try building a snow man.

[Brian.]

I love the doggie picture, it's the kind of thing I could see on a Christmas card. You mentioned about the weather being 'Octoberish' and it's the same over here. I am acutely aware of the weather because I spend a decent chunk of time outside when I'm at work. This winter I have only had to scrape ice from my car windscreen once and the temperature have only dropped below 0C twice that I can think of.

[pontalba]

Beautiful pictures, Sari.   I'm glad y'all had such a happy time.

[Athena]

As a December kid myself I can say it really sucks that people would combine one's Bday with Xmas. Your BF has had it a whole lot more difficult because not only does he NOT get any Bday pressies, his Bday was never really acknowledged. So I'm really, really happy that you understand where he's coming from and you take it upon yourself to celebrate his Birthday as an individual day, and not just combine it with Christmas. I know he'll appreciate it!! You're an awesome girlfriend!

x

Thank you ! 

 

I'm so glad you had a great Christmas . The photos all look wonderful!

[frankie]

Beautiful pictures Frankie I love them all, but my favorite is the "snow tree" your brother made with the candles in it . Such a beautiful idea !

Sounds like you had an enjoyable holiday .

 

 

I too like the snow tree photo. I wish we had snow where I live so I could try building a snow man.

 

Usually people only make smaller ones, putting a bunch of snowballs around a candle, I think this was a variation of a few usual ideas

 

I love the doggie picture, it's the kind of thing I could see on a Christmas card. You mentioned about the weather being 'Octoberish' and it's the same over here. I am acutely aware of the weather because I spend a decent chunk of time outside when I'm at work. This winter I have only had to scrape ice from my car windscreen once and the temperature have only dropped below 0C twice that I can think of.

 

I didn't think I could get a good picture of the dog and the lights in that lighting, but it turned out pretty good

 

Such weird weather we are experiencing... We did have one really cold day this month, it was -25 C in the morning, and next day it was -5 or something like that... From one extreme to the other.

 

I hope it'll get more wintery soon!

 

 

Beautiful pictures, Sari.   I'm glad y'all had such a happy time.

 

 

x

Thank you ! 

 

I'm so glad you had a great Christmas . The photos all look wonderful!

 

Thanks gals!

[frankie]

Now the bookish delights as promised!

I will start off with my Birthday book pressies, and I will try and remember to go in chronological order, ie. the order in which the books arrived.

First up is War Dog by Damien Lewis, which I received from poppyshake!

 

 

Then came two books from Kylie!   Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch and A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

 

 

 

[frankie]

Then I received J. R. R. Tolkien's Hobbit from Steve!   (The picture doesn't do the book justice, it's a beautiful edition!)

 

 

And even though my hometown friends and I have agreed long ago that we wouldn't give each other Christmas or Birthday presents, I got a surprise present from my gal pals  

 

 

 

 

The title is Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores Such a spot on present to give to me! I haven't had time to get into the book but I did read a few snippets when I got it and it sounded promising

 

 

Here's the synopsis from Amazon:
 

"What is your biggest pet peeve?"

This simple Twitter question posed by John Cleese inspired bookseller Jen Campbell to start a blog collecting all the ridiculous conversations overheard in her bookstore, everything from "Did Beatrix Potter ever write a book about dinosaurs?" to "Did Charles Dickens ever write anything fun?" Anyone who has ever worked in retail will nod knowingly at requests like "I’ve forgotten my glasses, can you read me the first chapter?" Or the absurdity of questions like "Excuse me . . . is this book edible?" **

Filled with fun and quirky illustrations by the award-winning Brothers McLeod and featuring contributions from booksellers across the United States and Canada, as well as the author's native UK, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores is a celebration of bookstores, large and small, and of the brilliant booksellers who toil in those literary fields, as well as the myriad of colorful characters that walk through the doors everyday. This irresistible collection is proof positive that booksellers everywhere are heroes.

 

 

** This made me think of poppyshake... Although she'd probably ask 'Is this book lickable?'

[frankie]

And then the Christmas booky pressies!

 

 

Kylie apparently thought I've been very good this year, because like for my Birthday, she got me two books for Christmas! First I opened Ignatius Rising by Nevils & Hardy, and then Double Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I received Bernard Cornwell's The Winter King from Steve!

 

[frankie]

... and last but not least!

 

I got Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple from poppyshake!

 

 

 

And from my Mum, Cuckoo by Julia Crouch and a cook book  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so happy about all my new books :wub: Amazing haul!

[Athena]

Congrats on the new books! It's great to see all the covers . You got some nice presents!

[frankie]

Thanks Athena! I'm very happy with my haul My friends clearly know what I like and I feel very lucky to have such great friends. And Mum

 

Edit: I've just catalogued them on the document of all my books on the computer, and then catalogued them on Goodreads. Now I am going to catalogue them on the first page of my log. It's a bit nerve racking, because there's such a big bunch of them, and I need to remember to list them in the acquired books post, and the TBR posts, and then I'll have to remember to cross the books off the wishlist, and then go through my reading challenges to see if any of them are there and mark (TBR) next to the titles... I've been acquiring so few books this year that I feel like I can't remember how the system works

Edited December 28, 2013 by frankie

[frankie]

Some time ago I decided to do an Astrid Lindgren challenge: read all her books. I've grown up reading Brothers Lionheart, Madicken and Bill Bergson series etc, and I've loved all of her books. When I googled her bibliography I found out that there were a lot of books I'd never read, and I decided it was about time I read some of her classics like the Emil books, and Pippi Longstocking. I was going to start next year.

 

When I went to Nurmes, my hometown, to spend Christmas with my parents and brother, I insisted we go to the library and I borrowed the Pippi Longstocking omnibus as well as the Karlsson on the Roof omnibus. As you probably know, my mojo's been just terrible lately and I thought that as children's books are the only ones I can read these days, I might as well give some of the Lindgren books a go during the holidays.

 

I started with Pippi Longstocking. I've seen a few of the movies, or perhaps TV series, as a kid, and even though I kind of liked them, I was never a huge fan of Pippi. I thought she was weird and obnoxious.. But now I figured it's part of the challenge, I must get on with it. And I read all three books and loved them Not as much as to add them to my most loved books ever -list, but a whole lot more than I thought I would.

 

I was adding my read books to my GR account just yesterday, and remembered this quote from the Pippi book, and so I searched GR to see if it was there. It was. I have freckles myself, just like Pippi, so this was a hilarious episode for me:

 

-

“The children came to a perfume shop. In the show window was a large jar of freckle salve, and beside the jar was a sign, which read: DO YOU SUFFER FROM FRECKLES?

What does the sign say?” ask Pippi. She couldn’t read very well because she didn’t want to go to school as other children did.
It says, ‘Do you suffer from freckles?’” said Annika.
Does it indeed?” said Pippi thoughtfully. “Well, a civil question deserves a civil answer. Let’s go in.”

She opened the door and entered the shop, closely followed by Tommy and Annika. An elderly lady stood back of the counter. Pippi went right up to her. “No!” she said decidedly.

What is it you want?” asked the lady.
No,” said Pippi once more.
I don’t understand what you mean,” said the lady.
No, I don’t suffer from freckles,” said Pippi.

Then the lady understood, but she took one look at Pippi and burst out, “But, my dear child, your whole face is covered with freckles!”

I know it,” said Pippi, “but I don’t suffer from them. I love them. Good morning.”

She turned to leave, but when she got to the door she looked back and cried, “But if you should happen to get in any salve that gives people more freckles, then you can send me seven or eight jars.”

-

 

 

I thought that was hilarious! And how have attitudes changed... I'm not particularly fond of my freckles, but they don't bother me, either. Most of the time I forget about them. But the comments I get about them are 100% positive People say they are cute, and some women say they wished they had freckles, too...

 

If the quote above makes you laugh, you might want to try reading Pippi Longstocking. I fully recommend it. And I recommend reading any book by Astrid Lindgren. She's amazing I'm going to have so much fun with this challenge!

Edited December 28, 2013 by frankie

[poppyshake]

Haha .. love the freckle quote .. I love Pippi already