The Content Reader

Kate at  Books Are My Favourite and Best , hosting this interesting meme. This month we start with Barbara Kingsolver's  The Poisonwood Bible.  I read it many years ago and really loved it. A man's passion to work as a missionary in Africa and how it effects his family and the people around him. A marvellous story. The story takes place in Congo and that takes me to Joseph Conrad's  Heart of Darkness.  A dark tale on the exploration of Africa. A short book, but a gruesome story of how the colonialists treated the local people. Staying on with explorers, I come to think about Tim Jeal's biography of  Stanley - The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer.  A totally intriguing biography of a very famous person, of whom we think we know a lot. That is not the case, at least not for me. His somewhat bad reputation is just a tiny part of what this man achieved in this lifetime. Not to talk about all the hardship he went through on his ex...

It is March and another chain of books for 6 Degrees of Separation , hosted by Books Are My Favourite And Best.   This month begins with a book published in 1990, The Beauty Myth  by Naomi Wolf. Summary from Wikipedia: " The basic premise of The Beauty Myth is that as the social power and prominence of women have increased, the pressure they feel to adhere to unrealistic social standards of physical beauty has also grown stronger because of commercial influences on the mass media. This pressure leads to unhealthy behaviours by women and a preoccupation with appearance in both sexes, and it compromises the ability of women to be effective in and accepted by society. " It comes well into the #metoo movement and is worth thinking of. That brings me to someone who was not happy with her looks, Charlotte Brontë and her heroine Jane Eyre. It is about a plain girl who manages to catch the hero with her brain rather than her looks. Women still fighting today to be taken for...

Six Degrees of Separation , is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best . Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain. This month start with  Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. It won the Man Booker Prize in 2017. I have not read it. It is about Abraham Lincoln's son William who died at a young age, and deals with loss. "Bardo" seems to mean an intermediate space between life and rebirth. That thought leads me to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It has a magical realism, and it seems to take place in a, not entirely, human world. It follows a family through a hundred years, a family with a supernatural aura around it. It is a real world, but still not. I imagine that Lincoln in the Bardo, could be something similar. Staying on in a world...

This, the fifth day of December it is time to visit another favourite meme. Books Are My Favourite And Best  is hosting 6 Degrees of Separation and starts December with Stephen King's It . I have not read it. Actually, the only book I read by Stephen King is Christine , so this is my first link. I am not fond of horror stories, seldom read them, but I really liked this book. I read it many years ago when I was young, so can't say what I will think today. But memories are good. That takes me to another book called Christine by Helle Stangerup. It is about the Danish princess, daughter to King Christian II of Denmark and Norway and Isabella of Austria. She lived 1521-1590. She became duchess-consort of Milan and Lorraine, and served as a regent 1545-52 during her son's minority. After a long and adventurous life she became the sovereign Lady of Tortona in 1578-84. A strong, female character who managed to survive in a man's world. Definitely, because she refused t...

I don't know where the time goes. Reading your blog posts I realise it is time again for a 6 Degrees of Separation, hosted by Books Are My Favourite And Best . This month starts with the book Like Water for Chocolate  by Laura Esquivel. I have not heard about the book and thus, not read it. "Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico blends poignant romance and bittersweet wit. " Sounds like an interesting read, just what I like. It will be added to my to read list. Being about cooking, my first thought goes to The Dinner  by Herman Koch.  It is about a family drama where two brothers with their wives meet up for dinner to discuss what their sons have been up to. A drama slowly evolves and it keeps you in suspense to the very end, what the sons have really done. Thinking of family dramas I opt for The Go-Between   by L.P. Harley and one of my favourite books. Leo is invited to his best friend Marcus' ma...

To celebrate the bicentenary of Jane Austen's death, host to 6 Degrees of Separation, Books are My Favourite and Best starts this month with one of her most popular books; Pride and Prejudice . It also happens to be my favourite book by Austen. My chain starts with my second favourite book of hers which is Northanger Abbey . It has a Gothic theme, which reminded me of The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, who was, more or less, contemporary with Jane Austen. This is a Gothic tale in all its glory. I somehow liked it, although it is rather long and could have been shortened.

May is here and neither spring or summer seem to be with us. Still chilly and unstable weather. What better than to join Books Are My Favourite And Best and another 6 Degrees of Separation . This month starts with The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. I have never heard about either the book or the author, but reading up on Wikipedia gives me a hint. Seems like an interesting book and excellent book for a discussion, either in a book club or at a dinner. The people in the book gather at a barbecue and brings my mind to The Dinner by Dutch author Herman Koch. Two brothers and their wives gather for dinner to discuss something that their sons have done. It is only in the end we get to know what they have really done. The deed lies underneath the thoughts and dinner conversation of the party.  A novel with many layers.

April and we are to consider another book chain in the meme 6 Degrees of Separation , hosted   Books Are My Favourite And Best . This month we start with the book Room  by Emma Donoghue. I have not read the book, but heard about it, or at least the movie, which I have not seen either. I make it easy for myself and start with Emma , which leads me into the book Emma by Jane Austen. A book I tried to read for ages and just could not get into it. Finally, I decided "just to read it" and, although it is not my favourite Austen read by far, (I just can't stand Emma) it does improve after about half the book. The latter part is a relatively pleasant read. From Austen I go to Austen ! Or almost at least. Recently I read All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith, about her trip to six South American countries in a quest to find out how Austen is interpreted by modern South Americans. A pleasant read.

March is upon us and there is another book chain to consider.  Host, Books Are My Favourite And Best , starts with Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. I am not familiar with the book, but it is about football in general and the author's relationship with Arsenal Football Club in particular. It is Hornby's first book, published in 1992, and is said to be an autobiographical essay. 
 The first word coming into mind is of course 'sport'. I don't really like reading about sports, and don't know about any books about sports either. However, I did read I am Zlatan by David Lagercrantz, which is a biography about one of our greatest football players ever, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. 
 That takes me to 'David Lagercrantz' who wrote the sequel to the Millenium book by Stieg Larsson. It is called The Girl in the Spider's Web . I have not read it, and am not sure I will, although I read the first three ones. 
 The word girl, or girls, takes me to Lee Smith...