The Content Reader

July is over. As usual it went very fast, probably because of the great event that takes places during this month, Paris in July. This year hosted by Tamara at Thyme-for-tea and Deb at Readerbuzz . Thank you so much for all the hard work that goes into this month. It seems that more and more people sign up and that is lovely. I went back to check out a book I reviewed for Paris in July, since Deb said she wanted to read it, namely Janet Flanner's Paris Was Yesterday. That is when I realised that I have participated in this event since 2014! Couldn't believe it. I started blogging in the end of 2013, so I was lucky to find Paris in July so fast. Times fly when you have fun.  Paris in July I only read two books about Paris this year. The Reunion/La jeune fille et la nuit by Guillaume Musso and The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley Musso's book really good and, unfortunately the not so good The Paris Apartment. I have also listened to history pods about France, mainly the Frenc...

Time for my French dinner during Paris in July. We had invited good friends, one couple, to this special evening. Well, as we all know we are still in the grip of a pandemic and they had recently had covid. Although they had recovered, they were still not feeling well and had to cancel. That left Martin and me all on our own. I had prepared a menu de dégustation with some nice wines to go with it (menu below). It turned out to be a very long French dinner, probably like they do it in France. We started slowly at around 3 pm and ended some time in the late evening. I cooked as the menu went ahead so very relaxing.  With such a menu I needed a little bit of help with the serving. Let me present Arnaud! To start with an amuse bouche: Chèvre Chaud With Pumpkin Seeds followed by a Crème Ninon soup. To this I served champagne. Both dishes were excellent. I have done the soup before but not the chèvre chaud.  Apart from the soup, the other dishes were all new to me.  The third...

We are entering into the fourth week of Paris in July .  Thank you to Deb at Readerbuzz and Tamara at Thyme-for-tea who are co-hosting this year's event. I have still to read some of your posts, and are enjoying the variety of topics.  I have read The Paris Apartment  by Lucy Foley for this event. I loved her novels The Guest List and The Hunting Party  and it was with great anticipation I started this Paris story.  "Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there. The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbours are an eclectic bunc...

Another month has past and it is time to have a look at what I read in June. There are still outstanding non read books from earlier months, but I leave them in peace and will get back to them when there is time.  Being on holiday and travelling around, I took with me some smaller pocket books. These are books i know I will not save and I leave them behind in a camping where, hopefully, other readers might enjoy them. Summer and all, I go for easy reads, and often thrillers or detective stories. Reading while Martin is fishing Summary June I have read seven books in June (one non-fiction), and in total 42 books from my shelves. Pleased with that. Three books by Håkan Nesser - Carambole, Flugan och evigheten and Halvmördaren. They are not his usual van Veeteren stories but separate from any series. I still enjoy these books where he goes more psychologically into the characters mind. Ordinary people who did something that totally changed and affected their whole life. Very interest...

Paris in July is back. Readerbuzz and Thyme-for-tea are co-hosting this year's event. It comes with three wonderful images from which we can choose. For this introduction I choose the Bigger Sunset. If you are not familiar with the concept, please visit their websites, here is a summary. "The aim of the month is to celebrate our French experiences through reading, watching, listening, observing, cooking and eating all things French! There will be no rules or targets in terms of how much you need to do or complete in order to be a part of this experience – just blog about anything French and you can join in! Some ideas might include; reading a French themed book – fiction or non-fiction, watching a French movie, listening to French music, cooking French food, experiencing French, art, architecture and travel tasting French wine, or testing French cocktails celebrating le quatorze juillet or Bastille Day Whatever it is that you love about France share it with us all!"  I h...

I found this tag from Deb Nance at Readerbuzz , who in her turn found it from Jane at Howling Library . It sounds like great fun and it seems to be as much as I can do these days. Deb Nance started from 415 books(! wow). I have to start with 98 books, so maybe a little bit trickier. Let's see. ‘My Life in Books 2019’ 1. In high school, I was a  - Flaubert's Parrot (Julian Barnes) 2. People might be surprised by - A Man of Some Repute (Elizabeth Edmondson) 3. I will never be - The Golden Hour (Beatriz Williams) 4. My fantasy job is - The Kimberley Secret (Gabriel Farago) 5. At the end of a long day I need - Orlando (Virginia Woolf) 6. I hate - Ordinary Thunderstorms (William Boyd) 7. Wish I had -  The Hiding Places (Katherine Webb) 8. My family reunions are - The Clockmakers Daughter (Kate Morton) 9. At a party, you’d find me with -  The Silent Patient (Alex Michaelides) 10. I’ve never been to - The Muse (Jessie Burton) 11. A happy d...

Week 1 in Nonfiction November 2019, runs from Oct 28 - Nov 1 First week is hosted by Julz of Julz Reads . We have a few questions guiding us on what we have read so far this year. 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? List of nonfiction books read this year (by category) History: Linnés skånska resa (Carl von Linné's Scania Travel) by Ove Torgny  Wedlock: How Georgian Britain's Worst Husband Met His Match by Wendy Moore (audio) Skånes slott och borgar by C Karlsson, P Karlsson, M Christensen Med Örnen mot polen by Svenska Sällskapet för Antropologi och Geografi (Scientific account of the Andrée expedition 1897) Politik och passion  - Svenska kungliga äktenskap under 600 år (Politics and Passion - Swedish Royal Marriages duri...

Nonfiction November is coming up, hosted by Readerbuzz and co-hosts. I think one third of all my books are nonfiction, so I am ready to go. Co-hosting with Deb Nance are: Katie at Doing Dewey , Julz of Julz Reads , Rennie of What’s Nonfiction , Sarah of Sarah’s Book Shelves , and Leann of Shelf Aware . The event will run from Oct 28 – Nov 30  November is dedicated to our favourite nonfiction. There will be talks, discussions, exchange of views, recommendations and lots more. On top of this I expect to find new blogging friends who, like me, love nonfiction. Head over to Readerbuzz for more practical details on posting, links etc. Below is the schedule of events and the host for each week. Schedule of Events Week 1 (Oct. 28 to Nov. 1) Your Year in Nonfiction So Far (Hosted by Julie at Julz Reads) 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 yo...

Hello again. Long time no see! It has been quiet on this blog for some time. From mid-July I have been travelling, seen family and have had visitors. A busy time which gave no time neither for blogging, nor for reading. In July I only finished ONE book! Scandalous, but what can you do. We have been camping among other things. We visited the island of Gotland and Fårö on the SE coast of Sweden. Wonderful place and more about that later. This picture is from the mainland, but it is not so bad to fall asleep and wake up to this view! Now things are calming down, but I have been reluctant to come back to the computer. I have tried to follow my usual blogs, commenting some, and even following a read-along of Moby Dick. Slowly, slowly, I also have finished a few books. Mostly thrillers which tend to be easily read. I have had a few thoughts during the summer on where I want to go with my blog. I am still thinking and planning a few changes. They will be revealed soon. I did manage to...

On Readerbuzz I found a post about 50 questions put forward by The Classics Club . They want to know why, how and what you read when it comes to classics.  I am not able to find the questions on the Classic Club web-site, but copied from Readerbuzz. Always a fan of questionnaires I can not resist this one. Here we go. Share a link to your club list . The Classics Club: Fifty Classic(ish) Books I Will Read in the Next Five Years When did you join The Classics Club?   I think I joined in 2014 or 2015 . So far I have read 22 of 50 titles. It seems I did not properly registered, which I have now done!  What are you currently reading?   Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and Shirley by Charlotte Brontë. Both of them hard to get through although I love their other books. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it?  My latest classic was Richard III by Shakespeare. Not an easy read, but I managed.  What are you reading next? Why?  W...