The Content Reader

Museum of Broken Promises by Elizabeth Buchan   "The Museum of Broken Promises is a beautiful, evocative love-story and a heart-breaking exploration of some of the darkest moments in European history. Paris, today. The Museum of Broken Promises is a place of wonder and sadness, hope and loss. Every object in the museum has been donated - a cake tin, a wedding veil, a baby's shoe. And each represent a moment of grief or terrible betrayal. The museum is a place where people come to speak to the ghosts of the past and, sometimes, to lay them to rest. Laure, the owner and curator, has also hidden artefacts from her own painful youth amongst the objects on display. Prague, 1985. Recovering from the sudden death of her father, Laure flees to Prague. But life behind the Iron Curtain is a complex thing: drab and grey yet charged with danger. Laure cannot begin to comprehend the dark, political currents that run beneath the surface of this communist city. Until, that is, she meets a yo...

 Three more short reviews of books I really liked. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens "For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens." At the beginning of 2019, Where the Crawdads Sing, was the top best-selling novel in the US. It has got raving reviews and it does not disappoint. It is a bittersweet story about a girl who grows up alone in the marshes. We follow how she adapts to life, learns about nature where she lives, an...

  Another favourite challenge is coming up, namely Nonfiction November. Hosted by Katie@Doing Dewey , Rennie@What's Nonfiction , Julie@Julz Read and Leann@Shelf Aware . As you see below, they will host one week each. As usual, each week is filled with a challenge as regards Nonfiction. It will be exciting to exchange views on our different interests when it comes to Nonfiction.  Week 1: (November 2-6) – Leann will be kicking things off with Your Year in Nonfiction: Take a look back at your year of nonfiction and reflect on the following questions – What was your favourite nonfiction read of the year? Do you have a particular topic you’ve been attracted to more this year? What nonfiction book have you recommended the most? What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?   Week 2: (November 9-13) – I’ll be rocking Book Pairing: This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. It can be an “If you loved this book, read this!” or just...

 Continuing with a few more short reviews on books read during the summer. 1794 - Niklas Dag och Natt His first book, 1793, was a big hit in Sweden, and according to Goodreads, it is called The Wolf and the Watchmen  in English.  It is a juicy piece of 18th century he gives us. You feel the dirt, the smell and the poverty of Stockholm at the time. It is a continuation of the first book but can be read independently.  A young mother is mourning her daughter who was brutally killed on her wedding night. Nobody wants to investigate the murder so she turns to Mickel Cardell who is working for the authorities to investigate crimes committed.  A young nobleman is arrested for a hideous crime he is accused of. And then there is Anna Stina Knapp who thought she had arranged her poor life in a good manner. But times change and she has to enter out into the crowded, rotten world of Stockholm, to save herself and her child.  The first book was very brutal, difficult t...

  I have not been in the mood to write reviews lately, even if I have read some really good books. As you might have noticed, not in the mood for any posts. Well, I thought I will make an effort and at least write a short summary of some of the books I have read in the last couple of months.  Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa "Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in  1948, the Abulhejas are moved into the Jenin refugee camp. There, exiled from his beloved olive groves, the family patriarch languishes of a broken heart, his eldest son fathers a family and falls victim to an Israeli bullet, and his grandchildren struggle against tragedy toward freedom, peace, and home. This is the Palestinian story, told as never before, through four generations of a single family." Through Amal's eyes, we see the fragile existence of her family and friends. Her story is very touching and dramatic and highlights the ups and downs of thei...

I should not really buy any new books, but sometimes I cannot help myself. At least I manage rather well with new books since I can borrow them at the library. When I visit second-hand shops it is quite a different game. Here you often find older and non-fiction books that are not so easy to find today, although the library has them of course. No excuse there! I was just trying. I tend to go toward non-fiction history books. In the neighbourhood you also find books about local history. Lately, especially during the pandemic when there was not so much more to do than go out into the woods, I have looked more into what was happening close by. Skåne, or Scania, is an interesting place. Settlements have been found from very early on, the area was Danish for centuries and since the mid 17th century is Swedish. That means there is a lot of history around.  Books I bought recently.  Blom, K Arne & Moen, Jan - Försvunna städer i Skåneland - about lost cities in Skåne (Scania) Fost...

Last Classic Club Spin#24 ended on number 18. Under that number, I have Dante's The Divine Comedy of which the book is divided into three parts. Earlier I finished Hell  and for this month I read Purgatory. I have started Heaven which I should finish at the end of the week. It is not an easy book to read, but, I did find it more interesting than I thought.  I am trying to read more of the most famous classical literature, and this is one of them.  Even if I am not able to appreciate it like a professor in literature, it nevertheless gave me pleasure.  Cannot say I really will be able to analyse it, but there are others who can. On Wikipedia, you can find this summary of Dante's meaning with  The Divine Comedy. "The narrative takes as its literal subject the state of souls after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward, and describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, while allegorically th...