Saturday, 29 June 2019

The Reading Rush TBR 2019!

Another year, another Reading Rush read-a-thon. This year I'll be attempting to read 7 books in 7 days, from July 22nd to July 28th, and hopefully I'll get through at least half. As always, there are challenges connected to the read-a-thon, and I will try to match one book to each challenge (there are 7 of them). As of now, this is the TBR pile I've decided on:
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Image result for siddhartha penguin1/ Read a book with purple on the cover
"Siddharta" by Herman Hesse
"Siddhartha, a handsome Brahmin's son, is clever and well loved, yet increasingly dissatisfied with the life that is expected of him. Setting out on a spiritual journey to discover a higher state of being, his quest leads him through the temptations of luxury and wealth, the pleasures of sensual love, and the sinister threat of death-dealing snakes, until, eventually, he comes to a river. There a ferryman guides him towards his destiny, and to the ultimate meaning of existence."
Pages: 121
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Image result for historien om leon ponto2/ Read a book in the same spot the entire time
"Historien om Leon" by Leon Leyson
"Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, a man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson's life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory - a list that became world renowned: Schindler's List."
Pages: 189
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136129623/ Read a book you meant to read last year
"The Copper Gauntlet" by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Spoiler alert! "Callum Hunt’s summer break isn’t like other kids’. His closest companion is a Chaos-ridden wolf, Havoc. His father suspects him of being secretly evil. And, of course, most kids aren’t heading back to the magical world of the Magisterium in the fall. It’s not easy for Call . . . and it gets even harder after he checks out his basement and discovers that his dad might be trying to destroy both him and Havoc. Call escapes to the Magisterium -- but things only intensify there. The Alkahest -- a copper gauntlet capable of separating certain magicians from their magic -- has been stolen. And in their search to discover the culprit, Call and his friends Aaron and Tamara awaken the attention of some very dangerous foes -- and get closer to an even more dangerous truth."
Pages: 264
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218608074/ Read an author’s first book
"Trollkarlen från Övärlden" by Ursula K. Le Guin
"Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.  Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance."
Pages: 238

OR

13561728. sy475 "Rör mig inte!" by Tahereh Mafi
"Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now."
Pages: 303
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31493485/ Read a book with a non-human main character
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell
"A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible."
Pages: 95

OR

30171053"Operamopsen" by Disa Åberg & Linda Bonaventura
"The replumbing of the housing cooperative called "The Chestnut" brings people together in unexpected ways when they are forced to share kitchen and bathroom in common spaces. Malcolm the pug becomes infatuated with an opera singer and nothing will ever be the same again in the previously awkward stairwell. While the house's pipes are replaced, its inhabitants, too, go through a sort of "replumbing". Suddenly, new relationships are created, and they are bound to change everything."
Pages: ??
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15950494
6/ Pick a book that has five or more words in the title
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
"This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite."
Pages: 231
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Image result for the duff poppy7/ Read and watch a book to movie adaptation
"The DUFF" by Kody Keplinger
"Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "the Duff," she throws her Coke in his face.  But things aren't so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.  Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. And eventually, through this realization, Bianca begins to see how harmful her unhealthy way of dealing with her problems has been, and finds a way to confront them head on."
Pages: 277

OR

39784064. sy475 "Call Me By Your Name" by André Aciman
"This is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blooms between seventeen-year-old Elio and his father's house guest Oliver during a restless summer on the Italian Riviera. Unrelenting currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire threaten to overwhelm the lovers who at first feign indifference to the charge between them. What grows from the depths of their souls is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration, and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing they both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy."
Pages: 270
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Are you going to participate as well? What is your TBR list? Let me know! (if u want ofc) Either way, I'm ecxited :D

Thursday, 13 June 2019

Book reviews: Till alla killar jag har gillat | PS. Jag gillar dig fortfarande | Nu och för alltid, Lara Jean

38207768Title: Till alla killar jag har gillat
Author: Jenny Han
Original title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

First published: 2014
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Feelgood
Series: Till alla killar jag har gillat #1
Publisher: Lavender Lit
Format: Hardback
Pages: 362
Finished: 31/05/2019

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

My thoughts: This review will be short, because while I did like it a lot, there's not a lot of detail to go into. What enjoyed about this book had a lot to do with the characters and their relationships. This first novel focuses a lot on the relationship between Lara Jean and her two sisters, which was rather heartwarming at times. We also have the relationship between a single dad and his daughters, which was a representation of family structure that I loved to follow. And then there's the relationship between Lara Jean and the love interest, which was fun and not too expected (at least from my perspective). If I'd seen this as a movie, I'd probably have hated it, but in the format of a book, I found it cosy and nice. It was the best contemporary romance I've read EVER, I think!

Rating: 4,5/5

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39863748
Title: PS. Jag gillar dig fortfarande
Author: Jenny Han
Original title: PS. I Still Love You

First published: 2015
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Feelgood
Series: Till alla killar jag har gillat #2
Publisher: Lavender Lit
Format: Hardback
Pages: 339
Finished: 05/06/2019

Summary: Spoiler alert! Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

My thoughts: As the second book of the trilogy, this shifts the focus a bit from sisterhood to how Lara Jean deals with the troubles and doubts of romance. This novel brings up themes like jealousy, trust, and self doubt. I didn't find this as good of a read as the first book, but I did still enjoy it a lot, and I didn't get too tired of the romance. The author does a good job of making the reader agree with Lara Jeans thoughts and decisions, even if they seem hasty and irrational in hindsight. The romance is put to a test, and I like the problems it presented; they felt relatable and true to real life issues.

Rating: 4,25/5

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Image result for nu och för alltid lara jeanTitle: Nu och för alltid, Lara Jean
Author: Jenny Han
Original title: Always and Forever, Lara Jean

First published: 2017
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Feelgood
Series: Till alla killar jag har gillat #3
Publisher: Lavender Lit
Format: Hardback
Pages: 342
Finished: 12/06/2019

Summary: Spoiler alert! Lara Jean is having the best senior year. And there’s still so much to look forward to: a class trip to New York City, prom with her boyfriend Peter, Beach Week after graduation, and her dad’s wedding to Ms. Rothschild. Then she’ll be off to college with Peter, at a school close enough for her to come home and bake chocolate chip cookies on the weekends.
Life couldn’t be more perfect! At least, that’s what Lara Jean thinks . . . until she gets some unexpected news. Now the girl who dreads change must rethink all her plans—but when your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

My thoughts: This final novel in the trilogy takes place a year or so after the second book, and once again we have a shift of focus. Here, we witness Lara Jean's decisions about going her own way in life, and we see how she matures and handles disappointment and pleasant surprises. Throughout the series, I have loved to follow Lara Jeans life and perspective, as well as the feel good romance. I think this was a good end to the trilogy, and I highly recommend reading it (especially in summer time!).

Rating: 4,25/5

Saturday, 1 June 2019

Reading Theme of June, 2019

Dragons
Image result for smaug
Smaug from "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Dragons are ancient mythical creatures that are part of countless different cultures. The English word for dragon seems to have popped up back in the early 13th century, though "dragon" comes from the French word of the same spelling, which in its own turn comes from latin "draconem", which comes from the term "drákōn" in Ancient Greek. Obviously, dragons are old news, but even today we seem to have a clear  fascination for the fictional creatures. They are featured in modern literature and films, such as "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J.K. Rowling, as well as "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Dragons have a few well known characteristics; they're serpent-like, have wings, and breathe fire. However, whether they are seen as evil or not depends on what culture you ask. In western culture, dragons are seen as beasts or magical creatures. In tales, one can find a young male hero who has to defeat a great and evil dragon in order to save a lady in distress. In contrast, eastern Asian culture views the dragon more like a sort of god and is a sign of prosperity and peace. Here, dragons are worshipped, whereas in the western world, they are feared.

Now that you know a bit more about dragons, I hope you are excited to read a book this month that features these mythological beings in one way or another. I personally don't have very much experience with reading books centred around dragons, which is why I'm particularly looking forward to this theme. Despite not having read a lot of dragon books, I do own a fair amount of unread books that do. Therefore, I won't recommend any books this month, but instead show you what I might choose to pick up! Here is a fancy list of five options:

Perhaps you can find inspiration from this list? Or maybe you have other books on your TBR that would fit this theme perfectly? Either way, I'd be thrilled if you decide to join me in my dragon reading this month.
Happy reading!

Video in Swedish