The Content Reader

Time for another classic spin. The new moderators of the Classic Club (thank you for taking over) starts with one of the popular challenges; The Spin! It is easy to follow. Make your list of  20 classics you want to read. Post about it before Wednesday 1st August 2018; that is, create a post with your list. Once the spin takes place and a number comes up - the book listed by that number is the one you should read before the end of August. More info under the link above. I have slightly revised my list and took away a couple of books I read from there. I must confess that I don't always manage to read the book listed. At least I try. It always depends on my mood what I want to read, so the spin and my mood have to be in harmony at the right time! My spin list for 2018 
 1. Washington Square by Henry James 2. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Carter 3. New Grub Street by George Gissing 4. Karin Lavransdotter by Sigrid Undset 5. Shirley by Charlotte Brontë 6. A P...

Bev at My Reader's Block   is hosting this very useful challenge, which aim is to lower the number of books on your TBR shelves. Four times a year we check-in and share our process. My aim was set for Mount Ararat, that is 48 books. I do hope to finish more, and it feels better to read more than less. So far I have finished 34 books. At the last check-in I had read 13 and was a little bit on my way up Mt. Bland. With 34 books I am nearing the top of Mt. Vancouver. The mountain is 4.812 m high and I am now at 4.545 m. Two more books to go. In the mean-time, a few challenge summaries of my reading that Bev has put together for us. Choose two titles from the books you've read that have a common link. Link is family - The Empty Family by Colm Toíbin and Kate Hannigan's Daughter by Catherine Cookson Tell us about a book on the list that was new to you  Målarens döttrar (The Painter's Daughters, my transl.) by Anna Karin Palm. First time I read something by he...

While looking at the Play version of one of our TV channels, I ran into a French TV-series, supposed to be one of the best thriller series in the world! Sounds good to me. I started watching the other day and it consists of three seasons, with 10 episodes for each season. It is called Le Bureau des Légendes , and is about the French secret service. I have only seen three episodes, but so far so good. Are any of you familiar with it? What do you think. This is about all I am able to achieve in the hot wave that has hit all of Europe I think. In Sweden it is hotter than usual and my energy level is down to zero! I guess it is a good thing just to watch a good TV-series and try to spread out your limbs so they don't touch each other! How are you all keeping up? Paris in July  is hosted by Tamara at Thyme for Tea and it is all about Paris and France. Join in!

Sweden has been hit by a heat wave, and I have difficulties doing anything. We are just not used to this kind of weather. I have lived in hot climates before, but obviously I forgot what it is like. Anyway, one should not complain. That is just an excuse to explain the low energy that I have for the moment. Can't do anything more than lying in the shade reading, which is, after all, not that bad. However, it generates fewer blog post, and I am now pushing myself to the limit to write a few! I take my breakfast on the balcony a little bit later in the morning. Since I eat it alone, I enjoy some reading during breakfast. Either some magazines, or some suitable books. By suitable, I mean books that you can stop reading whenever you have finished with breakfast. I have recently been finishing a few of them, and I would like to share them with you (although they are in Swedish). Short story books are one option of course, but what I really love is books that gives you half a pag...

Summertime is crimi time, and I found this book by a Danish brother and sister on my shelves. It turned out to be quite a page turner, although I was a little bit reluctant in the beginning. Why is that? Well, I am rather tired of all these chief inspectors who are middle aged, overweight, living an unhealthy and unhappy life. They seem to appear everywhere these days. I cannot believe that real life is like that. The other thing a lot of crimi novels have these days, is gruesome, sadistic and violent murders. What is wrong with a quiet, country murder like in the Agatha Christie novels? Why do the murders have to be so horrible? Having said that, I did enjoy the book. From the back cover: "On a cold Monday morning before school beings, two children make a gruesome discovery. Hanging from the roof of the school gymnasium, in a clear geometric pattern, are the bodies of five naked and disfigured med. Detective Chief Superintendent Konrad Simonsen and his team from the Mur...

One of the things I wanted to do in July was a French dinner, and I did. Not a big one, just my friends Ingalill and Benny who are neighbours. It was decided to have it on the same day as France and Croatia played the final in the football world championship. What can be better than hit "two birds with one stone"? Here is the meny from my wonderful "Guest and Menu" book I received as a gift many years ago. It always comes in handy on occasions like this. The Menu

This weeks book beginning and page 56 highlight is from a recently purchased book. It is rather new and I thought it will help me not worry to much. It is The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck  - a counterintuitive approach to living a good life by Mark Manson. Book beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader "Charles Bukowski was an alcoholic, a womanizer, a chronic gambler, a lout, a cheapskate, a deadbeat, and on his worst days, a poet. He's probably the last person on earth you would ever look to for life advice or expect to see in any sort of self-help book. Which is why he's the perfect place to start."   The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice The truth is that there's no such thing as a personal problem. If you've got a problem, chances are millions of other people have had it in the past, have it now, and are going to have it in the future. Likely people you know too. That doesn't minimize the problem or mean that it should...