The Content Reader

I recently read a survey done by Kulturnytt Sveriges Radio (Swedish Radio/TV cultural departement) on how people read. It was based on 1081 participants in web interviews with readers in the age group 18-79. They had 14 alternatives to choose from. I find it quite interesting so wanted to share it with you.  44% read books to relax or have peace and quiet.  40% read because they want to be "swept away by excitement and drama 28% read because they want to learn about things or discover something new Personally, I think I am a little bit of all the three alternatives. What about you?

If there ever was a classical book, I guess this is it. Attributed to Homer and considered to have been written around the 8th century BC. It took me quite some time to read it. There are a lot of descriptions of people, who they are, the son of ... from ..., and fighting scenes which I don't always find very thrilling. However, it is a great story and the writing is fine even with our modern minds. I think most of you are familiar with the theme of the Trojan war, and the story, so will not go into this here.  In my Penguin Classics edition there is a summary of each book which helps a lot. Throughout the book I noted a few interesting quotes. Book 9: " My mother, the silver-footed goddess Thetis, says that I have two fates that could carry me to the end of death. If I stay here and fight on round the Trojans' city, then gone is my homecoming, but my glory will never die: and if I come back to my dear native land, then gone is my great glory, but my life will stretch long...

I still have some books from previous months to read, so I only added a few new ones. However, from time too time I do grab a book outside the challenges. Still not finished with some of the books so continuing into April with the following ones.  Kapet av Skåne , Stormaktssveriges viktigaste triumf  by Ingvar Bengtsson  Presidentskan  (La Regenta) by Leopoldo Alas Clarín Stalingrad  by Anthony Beevor    The History of the Siege of Lisbon  (História do cerco de Lisboa) by José Saramago Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps, A Life of John Buchan  by Ursula Buchan  My own challenge outcome for March a nonfiction from my TBR shelves  - The Magdalene Legacy by Laurence Gardner a fiction from my TBR shelves  - The Secret Place by Tana French a translated novel outside of the English- and Swedish languages - The Duchess of Langeais by Honoré de Balzac (e-book, French) and Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason (Icelandic) a classic tale - The ...

Robert Harris' excellent historical fiction on the Dreyfus affair was on the program for the second gathering at the library for "Read the book, watch the movie". We had a good discussion on both the book and the film. The film J'accuse  is French and directed by Roman Polanski. The French title is, as you all know, referring to the newspaper article that Emile Zola wrote in defence of Alfred Dreyfus and how he had been treated. It is a dreadful story and " has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francophone world, and it remains one of the most notable examples of a complex miscarriage of justice and antisemitism." (Wikipedia). It was at times difficult to read about the judicial and military systems, and how they  produced false evidence, although they knew that Dreyfus was innocent. The antisemitism was shocking,  both to read about and watch in the movie.  "Paris in 1895. Alfred Dreyfus, a young Jewish officer, has just been convicted of treas...

Already March and time flies. Here in Sweden, we have reached the end of the annual book sale, and for an offer of 'buy 4 books and pay for 3', I popped over to the book shop and managed, without much problems I have to admit, buy another four books. I was mainly looking for nonfiction, found only three, so added a fiction book I am eager to read.  New purchases Ödesmark (The Last Snow) by Stina Jackson - this is her second book about life and mystery in the north of Sweden. I loved her first book, Silvervägen (The Silver Road). She comes from the north of Sweden but lives in Denver, Colorado today. Excellent writing about life in a harsh environment, spiced with a mystery. Highly recommended if you have not yet read anything by her. The three nonfiction books are about Swedish history. From diligent historian, Dick Harrison, I choose Mordet på Gustav III,  about king Gustav III who was shot at an opera ball on 16 March, 1792, and died from his wounds a few days later. A fam...

February has reached its end. Time for a wrap up of what I read this month.  FINDS The last week of by AnnaBookBel's Nordic FINDS challenge. Outstanding country was Iceland. I wanted to read an old classic, Salka Valka by Halldór Laxness, but could not get hold of it. Instead I found two books from my local library by Arnaldur Indridason that I had not yet read,  The Shadow District  and  Petsamo .  The challenge is finalised for this year, but Annabel is hinting that there might be another one next year. Looking forward to it, and hope to be more organised then. My own challenge a nonfiction from my TBR shelves chosen by a random generator -  Stalingrad  by Anthony Beevor -   I had no time to even start this book, so it will go with me into March.  a fiction from my TBR shelves chosen by a random generator -  The History of the Siege of Lisbon  (História do cerco de Lisboa) by José Saramago - I have started reading. I started...

Since many years there is an annual book sale in Sweden in the end of February. This year I ordered the books online, and they were delivered to me yesterday. 16 new books in the genres fiction and  nonfiction.  Very pleased with the books new books.    Food and Household Care Texmex från grunden (Basic texmex) by Jonas Cramby Portionen under tian (The Portion Under 10 crowns (about 1€) by Hanna Olvenmark Vegan på 5 ingredienser (Vegan on 5 ingredients) by Siri Barje Städa hållbart med ekotipset (Sustainable Cleaning with Ecological tips) by Ellinor Sirén Nonfiction - History and Biography Bellman by Carina Burman (Carl Michael Bellman is one of our most famous songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He lived at the end of the 18th century). This biography is by Carina Burman, one of my favourite authors in this genre.  Sveriges Medeltid (Medieval Times in Sweden) by Dick Harrison. One of my favourite historian. Kalmarunionen (The Kalmar Union) by ...