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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Advent Calendar, box no. 1 - December is here

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The 1 December is here and we are counting down to Christmas. This year I will make an Advent Calendar. Did we not all love them when we were kids? This one will be about books and preparations for Christmas. Do comment and let me know what you are up to.


Here in Europe it is a dark season and especially in Sweden. I think that is why we Swedes love our lights and candles to make the darkness a little bit less dark. Personally, I love Christmas, the decorations, meeting the family and enjoy some special food.

Just in time for 1st Advent on Sunday we did get some snow here in Belgium. I am afraid though that it will be gone by tomorrow. I have to look at the photo and remember.

The Content Reader


I have bought a new blog calendar for 2018, The Reading Woman. There I will keep track of my books and my posts. This will hopefully lead to a more regular posting for 2018! My aim for next year is to read a few more new books. I have concentrated so much on Classics and my TBR shelves, that I feel I am loosing out on new books. I have around 180 books on my shelves, so there still has to be a little bit of focus on them.

For the moment I am still reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marques. I kind of like the magic realism he provides, but I don't seem to be able to concentrate for long. So, really, I have to finish soon. It is more difficult when you don't read for longer parts, to catch up with what is happening. And then there is the problem of all the names...

As usual I have a couple of books on my wish list. Let's see what Santa Claus will bring! Yesterday I visited the Book festival in Mechelen, just outside Brussels. Of course I came away with a lot of new books which I will present soon.

What did you find in your first box of your advent calendar? As you see, I found a twig of eucalyptus.

See you tomorrow!

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