The Content Reader

Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell It is with great pleasure that I have started to watch the BBC adaption of Hilary Mantel's two books, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies . The first two parts of the six part series do not disappoint. They have managed to capture the calm undertone, in spite of all the things happening, that pervades through the books. Normally, BBC does not make you disappointed when they adapt historical drama. Neither this time. The cast contains some of the finest actors in England, and it is all very professionally done. Peter Kosminsky, the director of the series, said: This is a first for me. But it is an intensely political piece. It is about the politics of despotism, and how you function around an absolute ruler. I have a sense that Hilary Mantel wanted that immediacy. ... When I saw Peter Straughan's script, only a first draft, I couldn't believe what I was reading. It was the best draft I had ever seen. He had managed to distil 1,000 pag...

I recently found the web-site of Bookreporter  and am now subscribing to some of their newsletters. In the latest version I found two books that sound especially interesting. There are of course many more, especially a lot of thrillers/mystery books that are interesting, but these two stuck out for me. CARELESS PEOPLE: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of  The Great Gatsby  by Sarah Churchwell  (Literary History) CARELESS PEOPLE is a unique literary investigation: a gripping double narrative that combines a forensic search for clues to an unsolved crime and a quest for the roots of one of America’s best-loved novels. Acclaimed scholar of American literature Sarah Churchwell reconstructs the events of that pivotal autumn in 1922, revealing in the process new ways of thinking about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. Penguin Books * 9780143126256

It seems that the new trend in book writing is to write a series rather than a single book. There are different kind of series; those where the story continues over a number of books, or, those where the story is finished in each book, but the main character reappears in several books. The last option has been a trend for a long time, especially within the detective story genre. Some of the most famous sleuths belong to this category; Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Sam Spade and others. I think this is a favoured category among readers.

Author: Kate Riordan Penguin Format: Paperback Published: 15 Jan 2015 Two generations, two women, two mansions and a hidden secret going down through history. This is my kind of book indeed. Kate Riordan's first book does not disappoint you. The story is told with two voices; Alice’s and Elisabeth’s. Elizabeth is the unhappy woman, in the 1890s, who once inhabited Stanton house. Alice is the young girl, finding herself unmarried and pregnant in 1933s London. Her shameful mother makes up a story that she is a widow and sends her to a childhood friend in the country to await the birth. Alice is unhappy about the whole situation when she arrives at Fiercombe Manor.  The house is an old and lovely Tudor house, but she can feel a non-visible presence. Someone is watching her. Old houses like this always have their own ghosts, but Alice feels that there is something more. Little does she know how Elizabeth's life will be intertwined with her own and how her own life will cha...

For the first time in years I am enjoying a real winter. We were lucky enough that the snow came just the day before we came. We had a lovely drive from Bergamot via lake Garda to MdC. Here some photos along the way.

After finishing Jane Austen and Food   it was time to get on with Maggie Lane’s Jane Austen and Names . Names have a special meaning to most of us, and mostly names mean more than just the name itself. In this study, Maggie Lane has looked at an area which has not been given much attention. She looks at the history of English names up to Jane Austen’s time and the pattern of giving names in society, and the way Jane Austen uses names that fits the personality of her characters, as well as their place in society. Unlike most novelists of her period, Jane Austen used names found in everyday life. Sometimes she uses a name to explain the characteristics; “Her Charlottes are usually clear-eyed pragmatists and her Henrys are rarely without charm. More often, characters given the same name have nothing in common at all. In one novel Fanny might be a despicable, mercenary snob, and in another the timid, tender-hearted heroine. George Wickham and George Knightley are morally worlds ap...

Jane Austen never gave much detail to food and eating in her novels. Still, food is a very important part of her writing, since all references to food and eating, although indirect, suggests something about the character who refers to it. Maggie Lane, an English author of several books about Jane Austen and her time, has examined the books to find out Jane Austen’s attitude to food and how it affects the social sphere and customs of her characters. Maggie Lane starts: “One of the characteristics of Jane Austen’s style is how sparing it is of physical detail. She never pauses in her narrative to give a lengthy description, whether of faces, clothes, rooms, meals or any other facet of material life. … Jane Austen pays us the compliment of letting us imagine for ourselves. …” Jane Austen grew up in the countryside as one of eight children. Her father was a reverend, but also a gentleman farmer, so the household was more or less self sufficient during her early life. Her mother catered...

This post is inspired by Dolce Bellezza's post on the reason to read international literature. For Americans, and other English speaking countries, it is surely not a necessity, considering the number of authors and books that are published in this world. However, for a small country like Sweden, we would be very poor if we did not read foreign literature. I think that if you live in a big country like the US you have most things around you and might not have to look abroad. For smaller countries it is a necessity. Since most of the European countries are now in the European Union, we can see ourselves as a bigger entity. However, the countries in Europe are definitely more different than the various states in the US. Each country has their own history and culture. Through history we were often at odds with each other, so it is really comforting to know that today we strive for a common goal.

It is not always easy to write inspired blog posts regularly. For a book blog it depends on finishing books to have something to write about. Although there are a lot of other 'bookish' matters that you can write about, but that depends entirely on inspiration. I have spent this - once again very windy - morning to read inspirational blog posts, recommendations, inspirations, good advice and so on, to start out this week in a good way.

A while ago I said I would not follow any challenges for 2015, but my own. In principal this is what I am going to do. My idea is to do ' connected reading ' which means that the book I am reading will lead to another book. The dilemma will be, that the next book has to come from my TBR shelves or the library. I definitely need to lower the number of books at these shelves. Apart from the 'connected reading' I will read other books as well. I will read: The following fiction: 1. The City of Fallen Angels by John Berendt 2. The Children's Book by A.S Byatt (I even have a signed book since I bought it on an event where she was talking about her books) 3. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 4. The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco 5. Light in August by William Faulkner 6. Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder 7. My Childhood by Maxim Gorky 8. The Go-Between by J.P. Hartley 9. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence 10. Det röda fältet (The Red Field) by Mo Yan 11...

Diana Gabaldon's The Outlander Companion  came today. This is a book I wanted to buy since I was aware that it existed, but I didn't get around to it until now. It contains the background to the  Outlander series. It is a lovely, 'old fashioned' book, and it has the feel of an old book, the way it is printed. Each page has two columns, and it is illustrated with black-and-white drawings. The 'Companion' covers the first four books in the series. There is also a background from Diana Gabaldon on how she came to write the books, which is interesting. Here you can read about the Synopses, the Characters, the Family Trees, a guide to the glossary, web-sites and online venues connected to the series, Research, where the titles come from, the view from Lallybroch, FAQs and more. It includes 'The Gabaldon Theory of Time Travel' which should be interesting. I would like to go into this book right away, but alas, have some other books that I absolutely...

It is time to sum up the reading year 2014. 2013 was the first year I really went for a more determined reading. It was also the year I started really blogging, which was great.  2014 continued with more exchanges with the blogging community, getting to know people out there and be inspired for new reading ventures. In 2013 I read 108 books, and last year  91. A little bit less than expected, but a lot of other things took precedence from time to time. Here some statistics from the year. The books I have read you find under the ‘Read’ label (click on year 2014).

I received these two books as a birthday present from my husband a year ago. I was not over enthusiastic at the time, but they have grown on me. It might not be something you read from cover to back, but they make an excellent reading on eating healthy and use food instead of medicines. That does not mean that we can stop taking our medicines, but we can definitely increase our awareness of eating healthy food. Healthy food is a big issue these days. I suppose we are all more or less affected by it. In the Food Pharmacy, Jean Carper tells us how food can fight disease. Here some examples; Onions for the heart, Barley, Oats, and the Vegetarian Secret, Chili Peppers' Yin-Yang Therapy, The Cabbage - Cancer Connection and how nuts and seeds may help, the cranberry's strange antibiotic, wine, tea, and marvellous phenols, yogurt tales and much more. There is also a list with a lot of fruit, vegetables and other products and their beneficiary uses. This part you can use as an ency...

I still have to read up on your close up for 2014 and your goals for 2015, as well as doing it myself. Having been away from home during Christmas and New Year, the blog has suffered. I promise that from next week I will see you more regularly again. Celebrating this time of year in Mallorca is a treat. The weather has been fantastic, sunny and around 18-22 degrees C. Some rain and storms in between Christmas and New Year but now we are back on the sunny side. Christmas here means a stroll through the wonderful town of Palma, some tapas and then head for the cathedral which is open for a Christmas mass. As usual wonderfully decorated. Afterwords back to the flat for some Swedish Christmas buffet. This year we celebrated with our parents so the house was full. Now back to the quiet times and we are enjoying the nature here with walks. Martin is taking a walk over the mountains while I am enjoying a nice lunch here in Port de Pollenca.