Reading Theme of March, 2019

Borta bra, men hemma bäst

From "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Swedish saying "Borta bra, men hemma best" means "Away is good, but home is the best". It's very similar to the English saying "There's no place like home", and it's all about expressing love for the place where you feel the safest, especially when you're away from it.

Not only is it a good saying, but it is also the reading theme of March. This is the first one, but the idea is that for every month from now on, I will draw a number at random, and for that number there will be a theme on my Super Cool List of Reading Themes. For March, I drew number 3, which means I'll be reading one or more books that I deem to be on the theme "Borta bra, men hemma bäst". Another theme will then take the place of number 3 on the list.

Do you want to join in? Feel free to do so! Remember; it's up to each and one of us to interpret the theme and choose books based on it. No novel is too big or small. It's all for the sake of picking up new books and go on new adventures.

However, if you're looking for some recommendations that could fit the theme, here's a small list:

• "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien
• "Across the Universe" by Beth Revis
• "Truckers" by Terry Pratchett
• "Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead
• "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman

Have fun!

Book reviews: Matilda | Mor gifter sig | All the Light We Cannot See

Title: Matilda

Author: Roald Dahl
Original title: Matilda
First published: 1988
Genre: Children, Fantasy
Series: --
Publisher: Puffin
Format: Hardback
Pages: 232
Finished: 17/02/2019
Summary: Matilda is a brilliant and sensitive child, but her parents think of her only as a nuisance. When one day she is attacked by her odious headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, Matilda suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to avenge herself!

My thoughts: Roald Dahl has written some of the best children's books out there, amongst them "The Witches" and "BFG". As a child, I used to love the movie "Matilda", which I'd watch at my friend's house next door. I was now tempted to read the book, as I'm going to watch the musical adaptation of the story live in Malmö next month. The book was quite what I expected; quirky and fun. Yet, it didn't live up to my expectations. I didn't fall for this as much as I did for his other works, and perhaps that is due to my age. Most likely it is; alas, that doesn't change my perception of the work, sadly. I did enjoy it, and the illustrations were lovely (as expected of Quentin Blake), so it lands on a middle rating for me.

Rating: 3/5

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Title: Mor gifter sig (Mother Gets Married)
Author: Moa Martinson
Original title: Mor gifter sig
First published: 1936
Genre: Classic
Series: Mia #1
Publisher: Natur och Kultur
Format: Hardback
Pages: 284
Finished: 23/02/2019
Summary: Mother gets married and Mia can’t imagine what good that will do. Her stepfather belongs to the category of adults who don’t think a seven year old child understands more than a three months old pig. Why women want a beautiful man who makes them pregnant is one of life’s great mysteries, which even Mia’s gifted mind fails to solve. Mia’s mother struggles to put food on the table, and the best thing in the world is a home with blue flowers on a chalked mantelpiece. But every time the adults bicker and fight, it leads to new and painful departures.

My thoughts: This is a Swedish proletarian classic from the interwar period. This period is said to be the golden age of the proletarian literature of Sweden, which was why this book was assigned for me and my classmates in Swedish class. 
It was a meh book. It was under 300 pages, but felt like it was over 500. Really, it was better than I expected, but it just didn't invoke any emotions in me, which I would have wished for it to do. It's cool to read fiction that accurately portrays Sweden in different time periods, though. So that's something. So: not a great book for me, but(!) an important piece of literature nonetheless.

Rating: 2/5

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Title: All the Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr
Original title: All the Light We Cannot See
First published: 2014
Genre: Historical
Series: --
Publisher: Scribner
Format: Hardback
Pages: 531
Finished: 22/02/2019
Summary: Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance.

My thoughts: In honour of the annual book sale, I read a book that I bought on last year's sales. This was the one!
This was a Big Book™ in more than one way. As is expected of a book set during World War 2, this was heavy on the feels. I did some research to make sure Doerr wrote this story with historical accuracy, which he did, and that’s great. It gives me respect for him; that he’d take so much time to research these things. The book feels very realistic. We get to see the war from the eyes of a French girl (Marie-Laure) who becomes victim of Nazi Germany’s occupation of France, and of a young German boy (Werner) who joins Hitler’s forces to avoid a lifetime working in the mines. Both these perspectives are so interesting and gave me a new insight to the war that I didn’t have before. Werner’s story, especially, had a strong impact on me, because seeing Nazi Germany from the inside was frightening. Marie-Laure’s character was also written very well; her blindness added an unexpected element to the reading experience. Other than these two protagonists, we meet a bunch of other characters, who seemed realistic and who all had their own story that were definitely worth following. It’s strange how good writing can make a reader both love and hate a Nazi character.

All in all, it was a long and good read, but now I need to read some lighter fiction for a while.

Rating: 4,5/5

Book reviews: Spirit Bound | Yttersta offret | Elden

Title: Spirit Bound

Author: Richelle Mead
Original title: Spirit Bound
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: Vampire Academy #5
Publisher: Razorbill
Format: Paperback
Pages: 489
Finished: 03/02/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's - and to her best friend, Lissa. It is at long last graduation, and the girls can't wait for their real lives beyond the Academy's iron gates to begin. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere. She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won't rest until Rose joins him... forever.

My thoughts: Due to sickness, this took me a full week to finish. Trust me, it would’ve taken like four days otherwise, because this series just hook onto me and don’t let go until I’m done reading. The last book, “Blood Promise” didn’t impress me quite as much as the third, “Shadow Kiss”, and now it seems more like a filler novel to me. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t boring, and the character development of Rose was important, but it could’ve been shortened down by at least 100 pages. This book, “Spirit Bound”, was more reasonable in that aspect. At just under 500 pages, the story made decent progress and some characters, whom I now love, got more time in the spotlight, AND, of course, exciting stuff happened. However, I have a few burning spoiler thoughts on my mind that I need to share, so if you’ve NOT read the 5 first books in the Vampire Academy series, do not attempt to read what I’ve written next.

If you HAVE read the 5 first books, you can go ahead and mark this white text to read the spoiler section of this review: So, this book definitely has me conflicted on the sudden strong triangle drama. I was 100% team Dimitri up until the fourth book, which had me doubting (because of the whole Strigoi thing), but this just almost turned me around to being team Adrian. In fact, I am team Adrian right now. Admittedly, I’ll probably change my mind when Mead wants me to in the last book, but ADRIAN!!! Such a sweet little potato, the crispiest fry in the pile, the softest ball of them all. He deserves more than Rose though, seeing as all she can think about is Dimitri. About that, I can’t fault her for being super focused on Dimitri. Like, it’s her former lover turned death machine, turned back into a dhampir and then…?? He’s being a pitiful little meep about it, and NOT in a good way. He acts like Edward Cullen in New Moon. It’s that level of selfish pity and I’m not liking it. Instead, Dimitri is worshipping Lissa, which I also get, but why so intensely? Idk he seems fake all of a sudden. Or just boring. I hope he turns around in the next book and makes up for this, because he definitely has to if I’m gonna go over on his team again.

Rating: 4/5

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Title: Yttersta offret (The Ultimate Sacrifice)
Author: Richelle Mead
Original title: Last Sacrifice
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Series: Vampire Academy #6
Publisher: Bonnier Carlsen
Format: Paperback
Pages: 647
Finished: 08/02/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! The Queen is dead and the Moroi world will never be the same. Rose Hathaway is awaiting wrongful execution and there exists only one man who can stall this terrible fate. Rose must look to both Dimitri and Adrian, the two great loves of her life, to find him. With her best friend, Lissa, in a deadly struggle for the royal throne, the girls find themselves forced to rely upon enemies and questioning those they thought could trust... But what if true freedom means sacrificing the most important thing of all? Each other.

My thoughts: I did it! I finished the series! Woop!

But was it good? I’m not certain. Like, sure, it was good, but it wasn’t really what I’d wished for. In my opinion, this series peaked with the third book, “Shadow Kissed”, and from then on… it got a bit bleak, didn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, the series still has a lot to offer in the last half; action, drama, some nice characters (*cough* Adrian *cough*) and stuff. It’s all swell, and I did enjoy it, but there turned out to be several things I was missing. I’ll get into that in the spoiler section of this review. All you spoiler free peeps need to know is that the series is definitely worth reading and that much of my displeasure was probably due to all the spoilers I’d gotten before I even started the series. Alright, let’s get on with the spoilers.

Mark the following white text in the SPOILER SECTION to get the juicy stuff: I ended up not really being on Team Dimitri? Like, I knew it was gonna be endgame with Dimitri and Rose, but with Dimitri not “doing his romantic part” for two and a half thick ass books, I lost interest in him. They went on with this New Moon style pretend one sided romance for so long that I just moved on. It didn’t help that Rose got a better boyfriend than Dimitri too. Adrian was such a babe, but then again I’m glad they weren’t endgame. Adrian deserves better than Rose’s Dimitri thirsty ass. I guess that’s one of the reasons that I wasn’t pleased with the ending; it sucked for Adrian. Poor boy. The rest was happy as fuck, too happy. Lissa became a fucking queen (I don’t like that? Feels fake? Tbh she’s 18, I wouldn’t put her in the position of so much power.), Rose got her Dimitri AND her freedom AND happy ending and all that jazz and I ain’t liking it to be completely honest. This series went from being kinda badass to ending with “love solves everything” crap and it was just… weak. Also, the Swedish translations aren’t good. I read book three and five in English, and those turned out to be my favourites in the series. Coincidence? I think not!

Ok so this has all sounded so negative, but in all honesty even though I’m displeased with the ending, this series was a lot of fun. Rose’s character development was good; she definitely changed a lot from the first book. The romance(s) became a bit wobbly at the end, but it is what it is. Like I said, it could depend on me being majorly spoiled at some important shit in this series (like Dimitri becoming strigoi and Lissa becoming queen). The best parts of this series was the third book, pre-strigoi Dimitri, and Adrian <3

Rating: 4/5

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Title: Elden (The Fire)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Original title: Fire Study
Genre: High fantasy, YA
Series: Poison Study #3
Publisher: Harlequin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 376
Finished: 13/02/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder—able to capture and release souls—spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before...

My thoughts: Another series finished; this time “Poison Study” by Maria V. Snyder. I enjoyed this series to an extent which I had never fathomed. These books could very well have been written as tailored for my tastes. Of course, that means I loved them. Like, really loved them. Everything about this series was good. Characters? Good, and on all parts of the good-evil spectrum. World building? Superb, cool, and easy to get to know. Plot? Fast paced and exciting. Narrative? Good af. Everything? Awesome. Super duper. Plz read.

Valek is my new fictional crush (as is Ambrose and Yelena, but not to the same extent). That's all.
(PS: There is a follow-up trilogy to this that is called "Soulfinders", which I really want to read now)

Rating: 5/5

January Book Haul 2019

DEL 1

DEL 2

Books bought in January

1. "Utvald" ("Reached") by Ally Condie
2. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by John Tiffany & Jack Thorne
3. "Skuggan över stenbänken" ("The Shadows Over the Stone Bench") by Maria Gripe
4. "...och de vita skuggrona i skogen" ("...and the White Shadows in the Woods") by Maria Gripe
5. "Rör mig inte!" ("Shatter Me") by Tahereh Mafi
6. "Pojken på bron" ("The Boy on the Bridge") by M.R. Carey
7. "Hemligheternas rike" ("Bitterblue") by Kristin Cashore
8. "Eliza och hennes monster" ("Eliza and Her Monsters") by Francesca Zappia
9. "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead
10. "Spirit Bound" by Richelle Mead
11. "Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel" by Richelle Mead
12. "Kisses From Hell" by Kristin Cast, Alyson Noël, Kelly Armstrong, Richelle Mead, Francesca Lia Block
13. "Soundless" by Richelle Mead
14. "Högt spel" ("Six of Crows") by Leigh Bardugo
15. "The School for Good and Evil" by Soman Chainani
16. "I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You" by Ally Carter
17. "Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy" by Ally Carter
18. "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
19. "The Power" by Naomi Alderman
20. "All the Birds in the Sky" by Charlie Jane Anders
21. "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockheart

Main source of books
Definitely secondhand. 19/21 of these books were bought from secondhand store in Stockholm, Malmö, and Lund. 1 was ordered from Book Depository and 1 from Bokus.

Do I reasonably have space for these new books in my room?
YES shut up. I made new space by rearranging in my box shelf and my putting book on top of my box shelf. It looks very dashing and I'm very pleased.

Best find
It's hard to say, seeing as I'm very happy I found a lot of these books on secondhand. However, I must say I was most happy to find the books by Maria Gripe, although a bunch of other finds have me equally excited.

Most expensive book
Gotta be "Spirit Bound" by Richelle Mead that cost me about 125SEK, paperback, from Book Depository.

Best bargain
Probably "Soundless" by Richelle Mead (paperback) that I bought for like 26SEK (plus shipping) from Bokus. They must've listed it for the wrong price, because as soon as I'd ordered it they raised the price with 100+SEK.

Most excited to read
Right now, I'm looking forward to the books from the "Gallagher Girls" series by Ally Carter. I never thought I'd actually purchase these books, but luckily I found them on Erikshjälpen! I think they'll be fun and quick reads. I'm also excited for everything I've bought for the "Vampire Academy" series!

Most likely never to be read
Unfortunately I also bought some books that'll most likely collect a good amount of dust before I read them (not literally, I keep my shelves and books pretty spotless, unlike the rest of my room). Two of them are "Utvald" (or "Reached" in its original form) by Ally Condie, and the books by Maria Gripe. "Utvald" is the final book in the "Matched" trilogy and I've read the previous two books a few years ago, but my feelings towards them are mild to say the least. The first book was alright for a dystopian YA novel, but the second book was just dull af. This last book is a bit chunky and I can't say I'll be picking it up anytime soon.
When it comes to Maria Gripe, I'm always excited to find her books secondhand, since I loved both "Agnes Cecilia" and "Tordyveln flyger i skymningen", but I'm not seeing myself reading anything else by her soon. I have a lot of respect for her as an author, but these books will have to wait.

Books I (kind of) regret not buying
I saw "How I Live Now" by Meg Rosoff in Erikshjälpen and wanted to buy it so I could shit talk it at home, but I ended up prioritising other books. It was only 30SEK and in good condition. I've read it in school and kind of hated it, and I like having books I hate at home. However, it was not meant to be for me and this book. Maybe in another time, or another life, or another dimension. I've also wanted to order "Illusions of Fate" by Kiersten White from Book Depository (the hardback is only like 126SEK) but I'm saving my money for Feburary's book sales.

New series

1. "Skuggserien" by Maria Gripe
2. "Gallagher Girls" by Ally Carter
3. "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
4. "Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi
5. "The School for Good and Evil" by Soman Chainani

Total amount of books
According to my latest calculations, I now have around 347 books on my shelves. When it comes to bind-ups, I've either counted each book included as an individual (for example my bind-up of "The Hunger Games"), while some I've just counted as one (for example "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare").

Overall thoughts
I... might have gone overboard this month...

January Wrap Up 2019

PART 1

PART 2

Books read in January

1. "City of Heavenly Fire" by Cassandra Clare
2. "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton
3. "En olustig början" ("The Bad Beginning") by Lemony Snicket
4. "Dream On" by Kerstin Gier
5. "Fruset blod" ("Frostbite") by Richelle Mead
6. "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead
7. "Löftet" ("Blood Promise") by Richelle Mead
8. "Giftet" ("Poison Study") by Maria V. Snyder
9. "Magin" ("Magic Study") by Maria V. Snyder
10. "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell

Star of January
The best book I read this month is without a doubt "Poison Study" by Maria V. Snyder, although in it's Swedish translation, "Giftet". This book had so much to offer; a medieval inspired world, deep characters, interesting politics, magic, a gripping romance, and an astounding premise. I am so amazed at what this single first book managed to perform. I, of course, gave it a full 5/5 star rating. I gave the second book, "Magin" ("Magic Study" in English) 5/5 stars as well.

Biggest disappointment of January
It's no secret that I thought "City of Heavenly Fire" was a bit of a flop. As the final book of "The Mortal Instruments" series, I'd expected more than a 500 page drag followed by 200 pages of anticlimax. It had it's good parts as well, but overall I just wasn't impressed.

Surprise of January
Two books share this spot; "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton and "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead. I didn't expect "The Outsiders" to be what it actually ended up being, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The same goes for "Shadow Kiss" by Richelle Mead. Being the third book in the "Vampire Academy" series, it really brought the plot and characters to another level; something I hadn't expected it to do. 

Series started

1. "Syskonen Baudelaires olycksaliga liv" ("A Series of Unfortunate Events") by Lemony Snicket
2. "Poison Study" by Maria V. Snyder
3. "Simon Snow" by Rainbow Rowell

Series finished

1. "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare

Oldest on the shelf
I'd guess "Giftet" ("Poison Study") by Maria V. Snyder has been living on my shelves, unread, for the most years. However, "Fruset blod" ("Frostbite") by Richelle Mead has also been hanging around for a while.

Overall thoughts
I had a good reading month! It's the start of 2019 and I'm working towards my goal of reading 30+ books this year. I'm happy that I gave the "Vampire Academy" series a second shot, because I've thoroughly enjoyed reading most of the remaining books this month.
Might do a video for this? We'll see if I get the time.