Sunday 1 August 2010

TSS: Contest Winner and July Reading Round Up

The Sunday Salon.com

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:

Weekly Geek comp

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

Months-July6 by magic_art Image Credit

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

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

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

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

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.

babycatcherBaby 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

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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Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

4 comments:

Rikki said...

Congrats Kristen, that was hard. I had never heard of this writer before.

Kristen M. said...

I'll admit to doing a lot of searching before finding the answer but then also finding a lot of other fascinating photos of Gardell. I would also love to see some of his books in translation because it seems as if he is leading a very fascinating life!

Thanks for the contest! I'm excited to get my book!

Iris on Books said...

I had never heard of that author before!

Six books isn't a bad month, right? And you seem to have read some great books. I hope you have a great August!

Zee said...

Kristen I'm glad you're hard work payed off :D

Iris, six books isn't bad at all, I just thought I would get so many more done when I saw how many I had read early on in the month.