The Content Reader

Yesterday was a busy day and we celebrated Christmas with the family in this south east part of Sweden. Unfortunately, no snow, rather rainy and grey. We get all the Christmas feeling by watching the Disney parade that is run every Christmas even at 3 p.m. in Sweden. Our own Christmas tree filled with parcels under it, and the special food we eat. A quite and peaceful evening. I got three books this Christmas. Aktiedrottning  by Isabella Löwengrip + two other authors, My Name is Lucy Barton by Elisabeth Strout and  My Grandmother Asked Me to Say She's Sorry  by Fredrik Backman. I am also finishing, hopefully today, last year's Christmas book, Duktiga flickors revansch  by Birgitta Ohlsson. I wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a good end to the reading year!

In the end of the year we always look back on the year that has been. Not only when it comes to books, but life in general. I am preparing my statistics for the year, but I thought I will reveal, on this day before Christmas, the books I like best during the year. I have enjoyed most of the books I have read, but for the really best, I have limited the number to three. All of them new authors to me. All of them have been on my TBR shelves for some years. I just wonder why? J.P. Hartley - The Go-Between - a wonderful book about a young boys experience in his teens. Being the messenger for a couple in love and all the consequences it led to. Iain Pears - The Dream of Scipio - a great book which has parallel stories and how history never changes. Thomas Mann - The Buddenbrooks - his masterpiece and a fantastic family saga written in unforgettable prose. You are right there with the family. Wishing you a peaceful Christmas! Tomorrow we travel to my parents and the real Chri...

Christmas is coming closer and closer. A lot of people in the shops today, doing their last Christmas shopping. We went to Lund to see Hannes (our son) play and informal match of padel. Tomorrow, PDL, hosts a private tournament, so we will probably pass by and have a look. Since we are being guests this year, we don't have to prepare more than presents, and it feels very luxurious. Time for another book beginning and page 56 quotations. This week I chose one of my favourite books; The Shadow of the Wind  by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. An absolutely wonderful and thrilling story. He is a master writer and I love all his books. Rose City Reader, is hosting Book beginnings on Friday . Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name. Freda’s voice is hosting Friday 56 . Grab a book, ...

I have a wish list of two books for Christmas. One is called 'Aktiedrottning' (Share Queen) and is written by Isabella Löwengrip, Pingis Hadenius and Linda Newnham. It should explain what to think of when it comes to buying and selling shares. I think it could be useful to know a little bit in this field. The other one is 'My Name is Lucy Barton' by Elizabeth Strout. I have heard a lot of good things about this book from you and it has been on my 'to read' list for a while. Let's see what Santa Claus will bring. Of course, any book is fine! Today the sun shone on us a few hours. We went for a walk in the area. Beautiful, fresh air when you are by the sea. Now its time to do a little bit of cleaning and ironing. While ironing I will try to finish listening to 'The End of the Affair' by Graham Greene, and then relax with a good paper book in the afternoon. Enjoy your day.

Today was really a very, grey day here in Sweden. We did go out for a walk on the beach in the SW of Sweden. However, there was a constant drizzle and in the end we were rather wet (not having the perfect clothes for this weather) so turned around. It felt good though, even if we were a little bit cold afterwords. That was all taken care of by going to the spa for a swim, jacuzzi and various saunas. Lovely, and you feel really relaxed afterwords. My husband (who hardly ever cooks) has been inspired of all the fish and sea food available here in Malmö, and have produced a dinner with crab and arctic char and today lobster! Well, it almost sounds like Christmas in another part of the world! I am still reading the "Duktiga flickors revansch" by Birgitta Ohlsson and it is really good. A lot of things to think about how women have to compete in a male world. Review will come. Wish you a wonderful Wednesday evening and talk to you tomorrow!

So, how are you doing with your Christmas preparations? I am lucky to say that we are ready to go, and take it quite easy this week. It is rather grey, but cold here in the south of Sweden. Lacking snow though. At least I like a typical Disney winter land. Recently, in the Brontë Reading Group we read an author, new to me,  George Gissing. I missed out when we read his New Grub Street,  which everybody seemed to like. This time we read and talked about The Odd Women. The 'odd' for the women refers to women who were not married and had to support themselves by working (we are talking 19th century here). The novel seems very modern in its way of thinking as regards the independency of women. We meet a set of different women. Some who traditionally marries, some who help young women to educate themselves for a job (other than being a governess), and one who even considers living together with the man she loves. It is a set of very different people and through their re...

Hello again. Today was a very relaxing day. Yesterday was tough since I had a problem with a blocked back of the neck. I could hardly move and the pain went down into the arm. A little bit of rest and medication took care of that; so today I managed to swim for half an hour, ten minutes in the jacuzzi, 10 minutes in the hamam, and ten minutes in the aroma sauna. After that reading from the book I got for Christmas present last year; Duktiga kvinnors revansch by Birgitta Ohlsson (Good Women's Revenge). I was written before the #Metoo campaign, and it makes it even more actual today. Review will follow next year. I am on for another of my favourite challenges next year. Hosted by Rose at the Rose City Reader .  "The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can particip...