Tuesday 22 December 2020

15 Classics in 2021

 Hello there again! It's been a while since you heard from me last, but rest assured that I'm doing alright. I started my university studies in September this year and have since then not taken a lot of time to read in my free time. However, I think I've gotten used enough to my studies that I can pick up reading again next year, and I've also read some fiction for a course in English literature.
That being said, I've been thinking about what I want to focus on reading-wise in 2021, and I've reached the conclusion that I really want to dive into more classics. It's been an ambition I've had for some years now, but I've never really grabbed the bull by the horns, so to say. Furthermore, I recently watched a video by lucythereader on YouTube where a reading challenge for 2021 was presented. The idea is to read 1 classic every month of the year. That makes 12 classics, but since I like to set goals in 10's or 5's, I've decided to be optimistic and raise the goal to 15. Following, you'll see the list of the 15 books that I, at the moment, plan to devour in 2021 (from least to most pages):


1

"No Longer at Ease" by Chinua Achebe
This is the second book in a trilogy that was written
in the mid 20th century. The first book, "Things Fall
Apart", was written as a response to the classic novel
"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad ca 50 years
earlier. I had the pleasure to read the first novel for
a course in English literature this fall and I'd very
much like to continue on with the series.

2
"Anne Franks dagbok" by Anne Frank
This will probably be one of my heaviest reads
this upcoming year, despite it being the third to
shortest novel I plan to read. It's about time I
picked this up.

3
"The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Another 20th century classic, and one that I already
own. This is a very well known classic that I've heard
many good things about. I'm definitely intrigued and
I hope for it to be a deep dive into mental health.

4
"A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf
One of my sub-goals for 2021 is to read more
classics written by women, for the simple reason
that most classics I've read have been written by
men. Male authors have been grossly overrepresented
in classic literature, but there seem to be plenty of
female authors that I'm just now discovering. Of
course, I'm highly looking forward to my first read
of Woolf's literature.

5
"Augustus" by John Williams
I'm beyond excited to be picking up another
novel by the brilliant author of "Stoner", which
is one of my favourite novels of all time and
the book that made me more interested in
contemporary classics. This is a book that is set
in the Roman Empire and follows the events
after Julius Caesar's death. It's said to be
marvellously written historical fiction and I've
no doubts I'll enjoy it.

6
"I, Claudius" by Robert Graves
This seems to be very similar to "Augustus"
by John Williams, and I don't mind that. I'm
simply stoked to finally read both of these
historical fiction novels that have been acclaimed
to be some of the best of their genre. Hoping for
a lot of exciting politics.

7
"Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov
A classic that people seem to either hate
or love. I'm aware there will be topics in this
novel that will unsettle me, perhaps greatly
so, but I'm determined to form my own opinion.
What's more, the cover is gorgeous.

8
"Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
A late and unexpected addition to my course
literature for the spring semester. Regardless,
I've been curious about this book and I think
I'll enjoy it.

9
"Sagan om Ringen" by J.R.R. Tolkien
I've been a big fan of the movies since my
childhood and I've read "The Hobbit". However,
this series remains unread on my shelves. I
intend to tackle at least the first of the three novels
in 2021, but I'll skip ahead to the part with Tom
Bombadil since I've already listened to the first
part on audiobook ;)

10
"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
Another classic I'll encounter in the English
literature course I'll take in 2021. I don't actually
have very great expectations (see what I did there?)
for this book, but I'm ready to be proven wrong.
Obviously, it's a cherished book by many.

11
"Noveller" by Tove Jansson
This is a collection of short stories by the
beloved author of the famous Moomin
stories. These novellas, however, are unrelated
to Moomin and are targeted to a more adult
audience. Jansson is a queer icon and I look
forward to reading more of her writing.

12
"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
This must be one of the most well-known
classics out there, at least amongst European
literary classics. It's only a plus that it's also
written by a female author. Though I've heard 
this might be a heavy novel to get through, I feel
ready to acquaintance myself with one of the
renowned Brontë sisters.

13
"Emma" by Jane Austen
I know for a fact that I'll be re-reading "Pride
and Prejudice" by Austen for the English
literature course next spring, but I want to
pick up something else by Austen as well in
2021. I've heard that this is a fun and light-hearted
read and that the new movie was great.

14
"Brott och straff" by Fjodor Dostojevskij
This Swedish translation of "Crime and
Punishment" (of course the original text is
in Russian) is going to be a real challenge to
get through. We'll see if I ever get around to it,
but my ambition is real! I've heard it's well
worth the struggle.

15
"Middlemarch" by George Eliot
George Eliot was a pseudonym for female
author Mary Ann Evans, who wrote several
Victorian era classics. The reason I've
decided to pick this up is because one of my
favourite professors this term, Mats, tragically
passed away recently. I was devastated by the
news, and I still am. I took the liberty to look
him up on Facebook in hopes of finding more news
on his passing, and discovered that he was
member of a George Eliot literature group. In
an attempt to keep Mats in my memory, I'll try
to get through this behemoth of a novel. Rest
well, Mats.

So there you have it. I'll be extremely proud of myself if I manage to get through all of these classics in 2021, and I'll try to make them a priority on my reading list. I'm especially pleased to have 8 female authors featured on this list! Overall, I'm super excited to become more educated in classic literature.
Have you read any of these? Are you curious about any of them? Which would you want for me to read first? I'd be delighted to hear your opinions. In the meantime, read on and stay safe.

Thursday 1 October 2020

Reading Theme of October, 2020

 Gift

Latest Dudley Dursley GIFs | Gfycat
Dudley Dursley in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" movie (2001)

Well, would you look at that... another new month is about to start! For this spooky month of October, the random number generator has been generous enough to assist me once again with choosing the reading theme. The Chosen One for these upcoming 31 days is number four, which means I will be reading a book that was gifted to me. Generally, I'd say I'm neither bad nor good at reading books that people have given to me. Some of them have, however, been sitting on my shelves for a long while. Perhaps those will be lucky now, if I decide to pick them up ;)
"Gift" will now be replaced by "Sci-fi".

  1. Revisit Author
  2. Favourite Song
  3. 500+ pages
  4. Gift
  5. Highest Rated

I really can't recommend you any books to read this month, because I don't know what books you've been given. What I will do, though, is shout out some good books that I've been gifted and have actually read:
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And here are some gifted books that I have yet to read:
210938289329354855764549978761. sx3187181920. sy475


Well, that's an ominous colour theme if I've ever seen one. I look forward to diving into one or two of these bad boys. And yes, "Silver Shadows" is under 400 pages long, but I might be too impatient to wait until next year to read it. We'll see.
Happy reading!

Tuesday 1 September 2020

Reading Theme of September, 2020

First Name as Last Name
Spider-Man Pointing at Spider-Man | Know Your Meme
Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme

Lo and behold! The random number generator has given us two threes in a row this time, which means we'll be reading a book by an author who has a last name that is also a first name. That could be a name like Jonathan Martin or Leslie Peters. We're looking for first names disguised as surnames!
"First Name as Last Name" will now be replaced by "500+ pages".

  1. Revisit Author
  2. Favourite Song
  3. First Name as Last Name
  4. Gift
  5. Highest Rated


I want to apologize again for there not being a green pic with the list of themes in this post. The reason it's gone is because it's too much trouble making them (somehow I've made things really difficult for myself), so I'll just write out instead what the themes were.

Don't know where to start looking? Here are some fresh recs:
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As always, I'll be looking for something to pick up as well. Here's a selection from my TBR:
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There are some books on this list that I'm very much looking forward to reading. I know for a fact that I will be reading "The Bone Season", but maybe I'll check out another one of these books as well in September. I'm very curious about "Strange the Dreamer", for example.
Happy reading!

Saturday 29 August 2020

Clever and Challenging Book Competition on Boklyckan! Hurry!

Are you looking for a way to spend your weekend? Were your Sunday plans unexpectedly cancelled? Well, your boredom will be swept away and your weekend saved if you pop on over to https://boklyckan.blogspot.com/! Over there you'll find a tricky and mind-bending summer competition all about books. There are three different challenges, or 'kluringar', to solve, and rewards for those who get first and second place in the end. Intrigued? What are you waiting for?! Put your book knowledge to the test ;)

Overall, Boklyckan is an adorable Swedish book blog written by Alba. She's recently come back to blogging after a long break, and I for one am happy to see that. Traditional book bloggers are still a thing! So even if you're not going to participate in the competition, please check out her blog and give it a read. You can also check out her Instagram (@boklyckan) for some nice book pics.


Find all info here:

Boklyckan blog: https://boklyckan.blogspot.com/

Competition announcement: https://boklyckan.blogspot.com/2020/08/sensommartavlingen-2020.html

Challenge 1: https://boklyckan.blogspot.com/2020/08/sommartavlingen-2020-forsta-kluringen.html

Challenge 2: https://boklyckan.blogspot.com/2020/08/sommartavlingen-2020-andra-kluringen.html

Challenge 3: https://boklyckan.blogspot.com/2020/08/sommartavlingen-2020-tredje-kluringen.html


But hurry up! The competition ends tomorrow, Sunday, at 23.59. Good luck! <3

Wednesday 12 August 2020

Book reviews: The Cuckoo's Calling | Stolthet och fördom | Ædnan

18193776Title: The Cuckoo's Calling
Author: Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
Original title: 
The Cuckoo's Calling
First published: 2013
Genre: Crime, Adult
Series: Cormoran Strike #1
Publisher: Sphere
Format: Paperback
Pages: 550
Finished: 27/07/2020
Summary: 
When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, and calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case. A war veteran, wounded both physically and psychologically, Strike's life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get - and the closer he gets to terrible danger.

My thoughts: I read this together with some friends over the course of a few weeks. Unfortunately, we were all very disappointed in it. The writing style is definitely Rowling's, and that's good when we're talking Harry Potter. However, it did not work as well in this context. Rowling mixes in crude words and attempts a harsher style, which doesn't go naturally with her normal style. The clash wasn't pleasant. Another thing is the change in perspective. We switch from Cormoran to Robin now and then, but they both have the exact same narration. The POV would also change in the middle of a chapter without warning, which was confusing and lead to annoyance. Overall, the characters had little depth. I think part of the fault here is the sheer amount of characters explored in the murder investigation. There were so many that most of them became only shallow figures based on stereotypes. Then there's Rowling's way of describing black people as opposed to white. She only described skin colour when observing a black character, and many times such characters would be described with words like 'exotic'. Also, the only characters who had written out accents were black. Need I say more?
What of the mystery? Well, the investigation was mostly tedious and to someone like me who has read close to no crime novels before, this was not the one to make me more interested in the genre. In the end I became too bored to feel any curiosity. I stopped wanting to know who was the murderer, if there even was one. The resolution was unsatisfactory. I didn't buy the motivation for certain things.
Overall, I don't recommend the book, but it could've been worse. I liked most of Robin's character, and Cormoran was okay at times. I will most likely never continue with the series.

Rating: 2,5/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stolthet och fördom
Title: Stolthet och fördom
Author: Jane Austen
Original title: Pride and Prejudice

First published: 1813
Genre: Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Albert Bonnier
Format: Danskt band (??)
Pages: 462
Finished: 31/07/2020

Summary: Mrs. Bennet has but one aim in life: to find a good match for each of her five daughters. Mr. Bennet, a mild and indolent man given to witty cynicisms, refuses to take this vulgar project seriously; he ridicules his wife instead of giving her support in her schemes. One of the daughters, Elizabeth, becomes prejudiced against her future suitor, Darcy, because of his arrogance and his uncalled-for interference with his friend Bingley’s courtship of her sister Jane. In interfering with Jane and Bingley, Darcy is influence by Mrs. Bennet’s undisguised husband-hunt and her impropriety in general; he mistakenly believes that Jane is only seeking an advantageous match and that her feelings are not sincere. In spite of his disapproval of the Bennet family. Darcy cannot keep himself from falling in love with Elizabeth, and he proposes to her. The tone of the proposal (it is evident that his love for Elizabeth is a blow to his pride) and her own prejudice cause Elizabeth to coldly reject him.

My thoughts: Probably one of my new favourite classics, and definitely one of the best books I've read this year. Austen writes characters and relationships in an expertly manner and I instantly felt at home in the historical setting with its balls, intrigues, and minor scandals. I loved the bond that Elizabeth had to her sisters and parents; it actually felt like a real family. Each sister was their own person, and her parents were truly polar opposites of each other. There's also a lot of humour in this novel, and I had to laugh out loud at several points while reading. To think that the wit of a British lady who lived two hundred years ago is still funny! Furthermore, this is of course an iconic work of romance. Reading about Mr Darcy and Miss Bennet was exciting and romantic. However, I want to point a finger to the wonderful feminism that's sprinkled over the story, even despite of the time it was written. Elizabeth is a woman with an independent mind and will, with obvious feminist values that were thoroughly refreshing for a classic. If all this sounds intriguing to you, I highly recommend you pick up this book soon!
Note: 'Danskt band' is a format for which I can't find any proper translation. It means 'Danish bind' and is a mix between paperback and hardcover. It has the shape of a hardcover but the soft bind of a paperback.

Rating: 4,5/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

42420743
Title: Ædnan
Author: Linnea Axelsson

Original title: 
Ædnan
First published: 2018
Genre: Historical, Poetry
Series: --
Publisher: Albert Bonnier
Format: Hardcover
Time: 760
Finished: 

Summary: A mother and her youngest son rest with a few other women, elders, and children in a goahti. Ahead of them on the migration route, her husband and elder son push the herd of reindeer. They're headed for an island in northernmost Norway, where they will find pasture for summer. Nobody suspects that the border to Norway will close for them in a few years; that they will be forced to leave their home, and that future generations will face difficulties of a new kind.

My thoughts: Ædnan is old sámi and means the land, the ground, and the Earth.
This is a brick of a book, but it's read quite swiftly. I'm unused to reading in verse, which this is written in, but it was interesting to try it out. I think I've concluded that the format isn't really for me, or perhaps I should begin a search for a verse novel that suits me. Either way, I feel that the format was somewhat to this book's disadvantage. Being poetic can come at the cost of making the content of the story more difficult to understand and interpret. Whilst I feel that I grasped what the story was meant to tell, I fear a lot was still lost on me. Another factor to this was the way the storytelling switched constantly back and forth on the timeline, as well as between points of view. Had the story not been written in verse, I think it would have been easier to keep track of the different characters and their stories. However, I could never quite grasp who was who and what relationships the characters had to each other or what happened when and what consequences things had. I wish we'd just followed a maximum of three characters the entire book, and not jumped back and forth on the timeline. Like I said; a lot was probably lost on me because of the way the story is told.
Still, this book has some powerful scenes. And I did learn some things. It was emotional to read about the sámi people being forced to alter their lifestyle by the cruel ambition of Swedes. They were stripped of their land, their rights, and their dignity when the Swede decided through 'scientific racism' that sámi were beneath them, inferior and undeserving. It's a dark and despicable time in history, and the sámi deserved so much better. The book does a good job of explaining what the sámi people have been exposed to and how they're still affected today by the actions of the Swedish people. I dearly wish that whatever steps can be taken for the sámi people to regain their rights, their land, and their former lifestyle will be executed as soon as possible. They deserve respect and love. I'd like to read more fiction or books by sámi people and about sámi culture and history. Perhaps I will have a greater chance at understanding the message of a book written in traditional prose.
Also, wtf Vattenfall? Rude!!

Rating: 3,25/5

Wednesday 5 August 2020

Book reviews: Bridge to Terabithia | A Midsummer Night's Dream | The Wind in the Willows

40940121. sy475Title: Bridge to Terabithia
Author: Katherine Paterson
Original title: 
Bridge to Terabithia
First published: 1977
Genre: Middle grade, Fantasy
Series: --
Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: Paperback
Pages: 179
Finished: 25/07/2020
Summary: 
Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone. That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as king and queen, and their imaginations set the only limits.

My thoughts: I read this during the 2020 Reading Rush for the challenge to read a book that's inspired a movie I've already seen. I've seen the movie several times and it's one that I actually quite like. Somehow I'm always weeping at the end of it, despite knowing the plot inside out by now. Sadly, the movie is better than the book in this case. I just think the adaptation to the screen really brings out the emotions and visuals that this story needs. In book form, I didn't get the same experience. I don't mean to say that it's poorly written, but the movie had my expectations high and they were not met. Had I read the book first, I'd have had no interest in seeing the movie after. Things I liked about the book are Jess' relationship to his sisters, and the stern teacher. I did not like the style of the illustrations.

Rating: 3/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - ILLUSTRATED by ...
Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Author: William Shakespeare
Original title: 
A Midsummer Night's Dream
First published: 1595
Genre: Classic, Play, Comedy
Series: --
Publisher: Avenel Books
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 20
Finished: 26/07/2020

Summary: Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding (one of whom is given a donkey's head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny.

My thoughts: I read this for the 2020 Reading Rush for the challenge to read a book with a cover that matches the colour of my birth stone (emerald). I read "The Comedy of Errors" earlier this year and found it rather humorous. This one? Not so much. Perhaps I missed the comedic point of it all. Oh well. At least it was easy to keep up with the characters and plot, which was a bit more difficult in "The Comedy of Errors" (with two pairs of characters sharing the same two names). To me, this wasn't a very engaging or fun play. I didn't care what the ending would be. I understand that it's a big classic, and I hope I enjoy his other works more.

Rating: 2,75/5

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - Bookworm Hanoi
Title: The Wind in the Willows
Author: Kenneth Grahame
Original title: 
The Wind in the Willows
First published: 1908
Genre: Classic, Childrens
Series: --
Publisher: Wordsworth
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Finished: 
26/07/2020
Summary: Spring is in the air and Mole has found a wonderful new world. There's boating with Ratty, a feast with Badger and high jinx on the open road with that reckless ruffian, Mr Toad of Toad Hall. The four become the firmest of friends, but after Toad's latest escapade, can they join together and beat the wretched weasels?

My thoughts: I read this during the 2020 Reading Rush for the challenge to read the first book I touched. This was the first one I touched in a secondhand store. I unfortunately had to stress through this one a bit, as I had to squeeze it in together with some of the Shakespeare play on the final day of the Reading Rush. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant book to stress through. It's quite what I expected it to be. It neither surprised me nor let me down. The characters were rather cute and nice, though I hated Toad, that little fu**er, and the story was one with a clear moral to teach. I wish Toad was never even introduced in the story and that we'd only get to read about the calm and pleasant adventures of Mole and Ratty. Begone, Toad!!! Very cute illustrations as well.

Rating: 3,25/5

Saturday 1 August 2020

Reading Theme of August, 2020

Castles, Cottages, and Other Cribs
Castelul Bran2.jpg
Bran Castle, aka presumably Dracula's castle, in Romania

The dice (with only five sides) has been rolled, and this time it revealed to us the number 3. We haven't had a cover detail (besides colour) since last year, so I'm happy we got it now in August. It's time to read a book with some sort of building on the cover. It can be a tower, an apartment complex, a Las Vegas casino, a cabin, or even the Eiffel Tower. The rules are that it's an actual building, and not for example a space ship, boat, or other type of transformation thingy. Besides that, the limits are pretty much up to you and what you'd classify as a building (feel free to look up a definition of the word if that might spark your imagination).
"Cover Detail - Building" will now be replaced by "First Name as Last Name".


  1. Revisit Author
  2. Favourite Song
  3. Cover Detail - Building
  4. Gift
  5. Highest Rated


I want to apologize for there not being a green pic with the list of themes in this post. The reason it's gone is because it's too much trouble making them (somehow I've made things really difficult for myself), so I'll just write out instead what the themes were.

Get ready for some juicy recommendations for books with buildings on the cover:
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As always, I'll be looking for something to pick up as well. Here's a selection from my TBR:
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I'm curious about most of the options I have this month. Once again, this is a theme that pretty much transcends genres, because it's just a cover detail, and I really like that. I hope you find something you're excited to read this month. Maybe with a pyramid on the cover, even? Is that a building? Whatever you choose to read, I hope you enjoy it.
Happy reading!