The Content Reader

I have to share some thoughts about this book, mainly because I absolutely love the cover. Coelho is one of my favourite authors. He brings us the essential questions in life, with or without an answer. It is up to ourselves to reflect. The Valkyries  is a somewhat different book. I am not able to say if it is a true story or not, although he indicates it is. Maybe, this is his intention? The couple in the book are called Paulo and Chris, man and wife, who travel to the Mojave desert to try to find their guardian angels. It is a search inside oneself, as well as a search for nature, life and all its mysteries.  In the desert they encounter the Valkyries, a group of women traversing the desert on motorcycles, spreading the word of angels. They help the couple to open their eyes to what they do not hear and see.  As usual with Coelho it is a magic, mythical story, taking us through imagination and letting us be inspired by his thoughts. What is the real world? What is not? ...

"A stranger arrives at the remote village of Viscos, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their lives." It is pure coincidence that I read this book just after reading Barabbas.  The two books are not alike, but they both deal with one age old question: that about good and evil. In Barabbas the protagonists  are Jesus and Barabbas. Without doubt we would see Jesus as the good and Barabbas as the evil. In The Devil and Miss Prym  the devil comes in the form of a stranger, the evil and goodness in the form of Miss Prym. As we know, some questions are not so simple to answer. The opening is grand as so worthy Paulo Coleho. "For almost fifteen years, old Berta had spent every day sitting outside her fr...

Looking for summer reads from my TBR shelves, I find two books by one of my favourite authors, Paulo Coelho. It is By The River Pedra I Sat Down And Wept and Adultery. They both cover relationships and their ups and downs. The first one is about a young couple who grew up together and then were separated many years, since they chose different paths in life. The second is about a woman in a happy marriage, with two children and a good economy. By The River Pedra I Sat Down And Wept she is a young woman who has learned to look at life in a rational way, studying for a profession; he is a man who follows his religious calling, travelling around the world. Eleven years after they last met in the village where they grew up, they meet again. This time he is holding a lecture on his calling, on life and how we should approach it. She travelled to Madrid just for the day to hear and meet him. Like all the rest of the audience, she is mesmerised by him and his talk. Instead of going back s...

Another Friday and another meme. This week I have chosen Paulo Coelho's Adultery  for the beginning and page 56. Book beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader "Every morning, when I open my eyes to the so-called "new day," I feel like closing them again, staying in bed, and not getting up. But I can't do that." The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice "I am once again the mistress of my thoughts and my actions. What seemed impossible this morning has become reality this afternoon." Coelho being one of my favourite authors, I am looking forward reading this book. Have you read it?

Hello everyone! It was quite some time since I posted here. A little bit of fatigue entered my life and I have just been letting the days past. I have spent a week in Sweden which was very nice. I managed to get me some energy there, in the fresh winds from the sea. I played tennis and swam, so exercise every day. I also used the opportunity to read two books from my shelves there. Most of my books are in English, but lately I have bought a few books in Swedish since I have spent some more time there. I do prefer to read English books in the original language, but when there is a language I don't read, like Icelandic and Portuguese in this case, I enjoy reading in Swedish. One of my favourite authors is Arnaldur Indridason and I found his Oblivion  in my book case and I read it in one day. It is difficult to stop reading when you start one of his books. What I especially like with his books is, that apart from the murder mystery, there is a very personal and interesting story...

Long time no see! I have been on a trip to Normandie, Guernsey and Jersey. It was a nine day trip on the road from morning to evening, so I had not so much time to blog. There will be some reports from our trip which was very nice and interesting, as well as a few short reviews of books read lately. During the trip I was exhausted in the evenings and I just read a few very easygoing historical fiction books. Now at home again I will go back to One Hundred Years of Solitude  by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a little bit more demanding to read. Today I went to a "Book Festival" and though I was very restricted and disciplined (at least I thought so myself!) I came back with 16 books! Yes, I know. As if I don't have several TBR shelves already full of books. But when the books cost 2-5 € each, it is difficult to resist. Of the 16 books I have divided them into four piles; five books with favourite authors, six books with authors I wanted to read, three with biographica...

Paulo Coelho has written a wonderful, beautiful story of a modern life. It is done through a set of interviews with people who encountered Athena, a young woman who left a lasting impression on all who met her. She is born in Transylvania to an unmarried gypsy woman, and is given away for adoption. She is adopted by a Libanes couple and her first years are spent there. When the war comes, they move to London. She studies, meets a man, gets married and has a son. But something is missing in her life, so she decides to leave her marriage, take her son and search for something she does not really know what it is. By chance, as so often happens when you let go of controlling things, she comes in contact with people with special gifts. Gifts which are not always explainable. Through a special dance she finds piece and with it comes a search for something higher in life. Coelho has created a lovely character in Athena, and in her search for something to live for, he contemplates the d...