The Content Reader

I recently read a survey done by Kulturnytt Sveriges Radio (Swedish Radio/TV cultural departement) on how people read. It was based on 1081 participants in web interviews with readers in the age group 18-79. They had 14 alternatives to choose from. I find it quite interesting so wanted to share it with you.  44% read books to relax or have peace and quiet.  40% read because they want to be "swept away by excitement and drama 28% read because they want to learn about things or discover something new Personally, I think I am a little bit of all the three alternatives. What about you?

If there ever was a classical book, I guess this is it. Attributed to Homer and considered to have been written around the 8th century BC. It took me quite some time to read it. There are a lot of descriptions of people, who they are, the son of ... from ..., and fighting scenes which I don't always find very thrilling. However, it is a great story and the writing is fine even with our modern minds. I think most of you are familiar with the theme of the Trojan war, and the story, so will not go into this here.  In my Penguin Classics edition there is a summary of each book which helps a lot. Throughout the book I noted a few interesting quotes. Book 9: " My mother, the silver-footed goddess Thetis, says that I have two fates that could carry me to the end of death. If I stay here and fight on round the Trojans' city, then gone is my homecoming, but my glory will never die: and if I come back to my dear native land, then gone is my great glory, but my life will stretch long

I still have some books from previous months to read, so I only added a few new ones. However, from time too time I do grab a book outside the challenges. Still not finished with some of the books so continuing into April with the following ones.  Kapet av Skåne , Stormaktssveriges viktigaste triumf  by Ingvar Bengtsson  Presidentskan  (La Regenta) by Leopoldo Alas Clarín Stalingrad  by Anthony Beevor    The History of the Siege of Lisbon  (História do cerco de Lisboa) by José Saramago Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps, A Life of John Buchan  by Ursula Buchan  My own challenge outcome for March a nonfiction from my TBR shelves  - The Magdalene Legacy by Laurence Gardner a fiction from my TBR shelves  - The Secret Place by Tana French a translated novel outside of the English- and Swedish languages - The Duchess of Langeais by Honoré de Balzac (e-book, French) and Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason (Icelandic) a classic tale - The Iliad by Homer (what can be more classic than this one?) a