Blogging Anniversary - 10 years

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A while ago I checked when I did my first blog post, in order to celebrate with an anniversary post. Well, that day came and went without any reaction from me. Better late than never, so here a reminder of my very first blog post from 24 October 2012.  The book was New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani. Marani is an Italian novelist, translator and newspaper columnist. While working as a translator for the European Union he invented a language ‘Europanto’ which is a mixture of languages and based on the common practice of word-borrowing usage of many EU languages. It was a suitable book to start with, being a book about letters, languages and memories. With a beautiful prose, the novel went directly to my heart.  "One night at Trieste in September 1943 a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. The doctor, of a newly arrived German hospital ship, Pietri Friari gives the unconscious soldier medical assistance. His new patient has no documents or anything that can ide...
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Mount TBR Mountaineering Checkpoint #2

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I can't believe we are already half way through this year. The checkpoints for various challenges do take you back on track. Checking my reading for this challenge gives me a poor result. Far too few books read this year, so far. Ok, let's face the facts and have a look on how far up I have come.

One of my favourite challenges is Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2017, hosted by Bev at My Reader's Block.
As of April 1, I had read 15 books and made it 1.202 m or 3.943 ft up the Mont Blanc. As of July 1, I have read 23 books, which is 4.607 m (15.088 ft) up to the top. One more book and I am there.

As usual Bev has given us a few challenges on top of the reading. Choose two titles from the books you've read that have a common link. I will choose Romeo and Juliet and Sweet Bird of Youth which are both plays. I seldom read plays so this is something out of the extra ordinary.

Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you in some way - new author, about a place you've never geen, a genre you don't usually read etc. Here I will go for Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann. My first, but not last, encounter with this wonderful author.

Which book (read so far) has been on your TBR mountain the longest? Was it worth the wait? Or is it possible you should have tackled it back when you first put it on the pile? I can't really remember which one has been there the longest. However, Buddenbrooks has been there for some time. It was definitely worth the wait, but I feel I should have read it earlier. It was just the sheer size that made me postpone it. What a mistake!

Use titles from your list to complete as many of the following sentences below as you can.

My Life According to Books

1. My Ex was The Temporary Gentleman (by Sebastian Barry)
2. My best friend is Effie (by Suzanne Fagence Cooper
3. Lately, at work [I've had to deal with ] The Medieval Murders
4. If I won the lottery, [I'd go searching for] The Last Girls (by Lee Smith)
5. My fashion sense [is] Self Power (by Deepak Chopra)
6. My next ride [will be] To the Lighthouse (by Virginia Woolf
7. The one I love is The Go-Between (by J.P. Hartley)
8. If I ruled the world, I would be The Dream of Scipio (by Iain Pears)
9. When I look out my window, I [see] Charlotte Brontë's Secret Love (by Jolien Janzing)
10. The best things in life are A Circle of Sisters (by Judith Flanders)

Well, that is it for this time. Hopefully, I will achieve a good part up the Mt Vancouver at the next checkpoint. Happy reading!

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