TSS: Contest Winner and July Reading Round Up

First of, Random.org picked a winner. Drum roll please!

The winner is: comment number 1 (as they came in to my e-mail as I had to do some comment restoration). And that was

Kristen M. from We Be Reading

I really enjoy Kristen’s blog, I especially like her Starred Saturday feature which always highlights interesting things!

Now for the answer:

Jonas Gardell

He is an awesome Swedish comedian/writer. I reviewed En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) earlier this year. I am also looking forward reading his two books Om Gud (About God) and Om Jesus (About Jesus) later this year. I’ve read the first few pages of About God and they nearly broke my heart, at the same time as they made me want to go out and change things. You see, Gardell writes about how religious people have treated him, he is a believer and yet because he is gay there are people who have tried to deny him communion. None of his books have been translated into English and this is something I want to change.

Read in July

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July started out as such a good reading month for me and I tweeted about it. I shouldn’t have done that. I have since gotten stuck on Emma by Jane Austen. I am getting nowhere. But here are the books that I DID read (and mostly loved) in July.

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee

This is probably my favourite book of the year. There is just so much I loved about it, I don’t even know where to start. It really made me think about books and bookstores and why I love them so much!

Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

I really enjoyed this book, so thank you Aarti and Nymeth for convincing me that I had to read it. I loved the characters and the issues that Sayers covered, especially when it came to womens rights. I also loved the fact that the book allowed me to guess the killer and the method. I like being able to do that.

The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Although I like the mixture of the personal and the historical, this was not my favourite Bryson. I thought it was repetitive and lacked a certain amount of focus. I think those who have had similar childhoods to Bryson would like it.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

I really liked this quiet book. It was a sweet, nice read without blood and gore. It was more about Africa and the relationships between men and women. I really recommend it, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and seeing McCall Smith in September.

Baby Catcher: The Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent

Although this book portrayed a very different view of midwifes from the one I am used to (in Sweden midwifes provide all routine “female” care as well as care during and after pregnancy) I found the book very informative and beautiful. It was an excellent book for Women Unbound.

In the Wee Small Hours by Gil McNeil

I was a bit disappointed by this book. I loved the first book: The Only Boy for Me and this one just didn’t feel nearly as funny or as sweet. It was a perfectly good book but didn’t really live up to my expectations.

 

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