The Content Reader

I have been on Mallorca. It is a lovely place, all the year around, but especially in the autumn, where the weather here in the northern part of Europe is grey, rainy and depressing. We had a wonderful time, and apart from two days of rather windy shores, beautiful sunshine and t-shirt weather. We visited all our favourite places, since we don't know when we will come back next time. I brought two books with me, already started, and thinking I would finish them. And so I did. It was Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd and Burning Bright by Trace Chevalier. Mostly read at the flat, but managed to read also in beautiful and favourite places. I recently read Brazzaville Beach  by William Boyd, highly recommended from my brother-in-law. Really loved the book, so eager to read another one. This I had on my TBR shelves. It is not in the same league as Brazzaville Beach. Totally different setting, this time starting in Vienna in 1913 where Lysander Rief, an actor, comes for a psych...

It is time for a lucky spin with the Classic Club . The lucky number is 4. I updated my list at the last minute and on number 4 is  Kristin Lavransdotter by Sigrid Undset. It is a rather thick book with small text, so hope I can make it until the end of December. Sigrid Undset received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928 based on this work of historical fiction. It is a trilogy covering The Wreath, first published in 1920, The Wife , published in 1921 and The Cross , published in 1922. Looking forward reading this classic tale. Have you read it? What do you think about it? See you back in December for the review, or maybe in January!

For my literature course I read The Odyssey  by Homer. I must say that I dreaded it a little bit, but found it quite fresh and interesting. Not to mention very dramatic.  The Odyssey is about Odysseus' troublesome journey back from the war in Troy, described in The Iliad . He upset Poseidon by blinding his son and was thus prevented from reaching his home. After seven years of captivation by Calypso, Minerva persuaded her fellow gods that he should be let out of captivity and allowed to return home. Even so he had to fight for three years before he reached Ithaca, where his wife was 'under siege' by suitors. Once Odysseus were at home he killed off the suitors and reunited with his wife. Well, that is a rather simple summary of the story. It is very dramatic and I am quite fascinated by the story as such. The involvement of the Greek gods in man's lives and how they control it. Even so, they also fight in between themselves. It was certainly different times and seem...

It is time to start looking for challenges for 2018. That means it is also time to check out the results for the challenges for 2017. I am afraid I still miss a few books. Time is very busy now with my literature course, but it is very interesting, but it also means I am not always free to read the books I want. Bev at My Reader's Block alerted me to the focus ahead. It is time for a new sign-up for this challenge, which is one of my favourite ones. It also takes away a few books from the TBR piles. Just looking at my sign-up post for 2017, I thought I would be able to read more than the 51 books I read for 2016. Haha! Just shows you can not foresee how life will turn out. So far I have read 37 books this year. Will I make it to 48? I hope so. Considering the challenge, and the pleasure when you reach your peak, I will go for Mt Ararat and 48 books this year as well. If I manage more, it is a great bonus. Which peak will you aim for this year?