tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63526258263494004472023-12-19T21:03:56.134+01:00Notes from the NorthZeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.comBlogger471125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-22910771823708922062015-01-01T14:57:00.001+01:002015-01-01T14:57:05.094+01:00New Year, New Direction, New HomeHello,<br />
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I've decided to take the blog in a different direction so I've moved it to a new home and given it a new name<br />
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<a href="http://ateastainedpage.blogspot.se/"><span style="font-size: large;">A Tea Stained Page</span></a></div>
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Welcome over!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Copyright </span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©</span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;">2015 Zee from </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>Notes from the North</u></span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: black;">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>Notes from the North</u></span></span></a></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 8pt;">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </span></span></span></div>
Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-87274598672073517522014-01-15T15:42:00.000+01:002014-01-15T15:42:00.109+01:00Quotable Quotes: Rapture Ready II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPE6JyXMwES8wCULKo0a0hvIl3nIVwnKJRLVnyVaI2NMI6HSmYs_fInrAL-Z3yeFVcp6-vPTSAr3GyK9TJ19I04V8rgdqD-nppCYLwMQmla7R2mH2ROlujSZa_KLgqz_dNRL6jmYZYHDy/s1600/Rapture+Ready.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPE6JyXMwES8wCULKo0a0hvIl3nIVwnKJRLVnyVaI2NMI6HSmYs_fInrAL-Z3yeFVcp6-vPTSAr3GyK9TJ19I04V8rgdqD-nppCYLwMQmla7R2mH2ROlujSZa_KLgqz_dNRL6jmYZYHDy/s320/Rapture+Ready.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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"At the same time, that "Capture the Rapture" button or Jesus fish Hacky Sack serves as a totem that reinforces the wearer's own faith each time he sees it. And it signifies his membership in a larger tribe of Christians. In this respect, witness wear serves the same function for evangelical teens that Ozzfest shirts do for high school metalheads - it makes them feel that they <i>belong</i>. This function, says Hendershot, is precisely why the consumerist aspect of evangelical culture is integral to its nature, rather than, as many critics have it, a sad irony or hypocrisy. 'To purchase Christian products is to declare one's <i>respectability </i>in a country in which people are most often addressed by mass culture not as citizens but as consumers.' To be a market in America is to <i>matter</i>. This is especially important to the nation's misfit youth" (136)</blockquote>
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<i>~Rapture Ready<b> </b></i>By Daniel Radosh (2008)<br />
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This quote captured me because not only do I teach English but I also teach Business Studies, and this point is one I try to make to my students when we study marketing. You must find your market.<br />
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Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-83069797130782070992014-01-14T12:10:00.000+01:002014-01-14T12:10:00.052+01:00Book Review: Three Sisters Inn Trilogy<br />
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<b>Hide in Plain Sight </b>by Marta Perry<br />
<b>A Christmas to Die For </b>by Marta Perry<br />
<b>Buried Sins </b>by Marta Perry<br />
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<b>Publisher: </b>Love Inspired Suspense<br />
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<b>Year: </b>2007<b><br /></b><br />
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<b>Category: </b>Romantic Suspense<br />
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As I said in my <a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.se/2014/01/tss-reading-fluff-and-quotable-quotes.html">TSS post</a> this was a bunch of fluffy books that I won't re-read but they were what I needed or could cope with this week (first week back after the break).<br />
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The books tell the story of three sisters: Andrea, Rachel and Caroline. <i>Hide in Plain Sight </i>focuses on Andrea, who comes to Lancaster County after Rachel has been in a hit and run accident. Rachel and the girls grandmother are trying to turn the grandmothers house into an inn. Andrea is skeptical to the enterprise but is forced to help out as Rachel has broken both legs. To make matters even worse she comes into conflict with Cal, the handsome carpenter who rents the barn from her grandmother, and someone seems to be intent on stopping the inn from opening.<br />
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<i>A Christmas to Die For</i> focuses on Rachel. A handsome stranger shows up at the inn. Turns out he has inherited the property neighboring the inn. The property belonged to the man's grandfather who died under mysterious circumstances. Circumstances he is hell bent on finding out, even if it means ruin for Rachel and her family. To make matters worse someone seems to want to kill Rachel.<br />
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The final book <i>Buried Sins</i> follows the youngest sister, Caroline. Caroline has always been the rebellious younger sister, who runs away from her problems. When her husband dies and someone threatens her, she runs back to Lancaster County to be with her sisters. But is her husband really dead? And why does the local Police Chief Zachary Burkhalter dislike her so?<br />
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My biggest problem with these books wasn't the predictability of them (I mean one does expect that from romance books :D) but rather the in your face religiousness. I don't mean that the characters were religious, that I have no problem with, I mean one of my favourite heroines is an Episcopalian Priest, but the way their religion was presented, especially in the first and last book.<br />
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In both these books it was presented as if you couldn't possibly be a good person if you weren't Christian. Chief Burkhalter doesn't want Caroline near his daughter because he thinks she is trouble. Fine. Except then he goes on to emphasise that any woman he loves MUST be Christian, not share his values, but be Christian. I get this a lot on a message board where I post occasionally and although I might not be the best person in the world I do think I am a fairly decent human being, as are many of my family and friends, even those who aren't professing Christians. It just grates.<br />
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In Hide in Plain Sight I also found Andreas praying to be jarring from a purely stylistic point of view. It was almost as if Perry had been writing and then gone "gosh, it has been 7 pages since I mentioned God, must mention God" and then she had Andrea pray. Maybe I find the talking to God praying to be a bit uncomfortable. Or...<br />
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This was better done in the middle book where for example Perry showed Rachel's beliefs by having her help out at church. Maybe it is more natural around Christmas, but I also felt that Perry didn't fall prey to the "oh dear, must throw in God" device as often. And I did find Caroline's lukewarm belief and her movement towards belief to be a lot more believable. <br />
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On the whole they were actually quite suspenseful and with a romantic-ish end. They were okay reads but I won't be re-reading them.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Copyright </span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©</span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;">2014 Zee from </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>Notes from the North</u></span></span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: black;">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><u>Notes from the North</u></span></span></a></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 8pt;">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </span></span></span></div>
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"More than anything else a dying person needs to have someone with them. This used to be recognised in hospitals, and when I trained, no one ever died alone. However busy the wards, or however short of staff, a nurse was always assigned to sit with a dying person to hold their hand, stroke their forehead, whisper a few words. Peace and quietness, even reverence for the dying, were expected and assured.<br />
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I disagree wholly with the notion that there is no point in staying with an unconscious patient because he or she does not know you are there. I am perfectly certain, through years of experience and observation, that unconsciousness, as we define it, is not a state of unknowing. Rather it is a state of knowing and understanding on a different level that is beyond our immediate experience" (107)<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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~<i>Shadows of the Workhouses</i> by Jennifer Worth </blockquote>
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In 2010 and 2011 I worked in an assisted living facility. We had several residents die while I was there, but I was only present for one. I had the privilege to sit with a woman for her last few hours of life. And like Worth I feel that it is important that no one dies alone. Both for the one dying and for those who are left behind.<br />
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Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-75209825518535535892014-01-12T15:46:00.001+01:002014-01-12T17:12:50.042+01:00TSS: Reading Fluff and Quotable Quotes<div style="text-align: center;">
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So this week has been a pretty good reading week as far as amount of books I've read, but most of them have been of the fluff variety, so no brain taxing, thought provoking going on :)<br />
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A very long time ago I downloaded a free e-book to my Kindle <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BNRJAT6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BNRJAT6&linkCode=as2&tag=notesfromth09-20">Hide in Plain Sight (Love Inspired Suspense)</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=notesfromth09-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00BNRJAT6" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. I needed something fluffy to read last Sunday night so I started this rather silly romance...and finished it. It wasn't a book I will read again, but I did read the other two in the series, and if you check back later in the week I'll tell you why.<br />
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I also finished <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004J4WNL2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004J4WNL2&linkCode=as2&tag=notesfromth09-20">Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=notesfromth09-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004J4WNL2" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> (only $2.99 on the Kindle right now). This is a book that had a profound impact on me, even though it took me ages to read. The review for this book (along with Quotable Quotes) will be up in the future.
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This past week I also snuck in one of my new features: <a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.se/search/label/Quotable%20Quotes">Quotable Quotes</a>. I've been keeping a Common Place Book for quite some time. I use a Moleskin Notebook and I write down quotes that touch me, or dates I want to remember, or ideas I agree or disagree with, and I thought I would share some of these quotes with you, my readers. <br />
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In other, semi-reading related news, I got an iPad Air on Friday so most of my weekend has gone to playing with that :). I have found several good reading Apps but would love some suggestions if you have them.<br />
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Have a great week and please check back for reviews etc. later in the week.<br />
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Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-48488567133360729212014-01-08T15:40:00.000+01:002014-01-08T15:40:00.763+01:00Quotable Quotes: Rapture Ready I<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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"...apparently there is no end to the demand for near-future stories about persecuted Christians. Somehow the more powerful the religious right grows, the more desperately Christians cling to the fantasy that they are only one act of Congress away from being herded into concentration camps" (93).</blockquote>
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~<i>Rapture Ready</i> by Daniel Radosh (2008)<br />
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I read <i>Rapture Ready</i> in the early summer of 2012 when the Presidential campaign was in full swing and this quote really struck a chord with me. I absolutely don't think this is true for all Christians, but the ones that were very vocal in the press at the time certainly gave that impression.<br />
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Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-44592707934742281982014-01-07T15:19:00.000+01:002014-01-07T15:19:00.525+01:00Book Review: The Magician's Book A Skeptic's Adventure in Narnia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventure in Narnia by Laura Miller </b><br />
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<b>Publisher: </b>Back Bay Books<br />
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<b>Year: </b>2008<b></b><br />
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<b>Category: </b>Non-fiction Literary Criticism<br />
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Growing up I really loved the Narnia books that feature the Pevensie children (I thought the Silver Chair was gloomy and even as a child I had big problems with the fact that dark people were always the bad guys (something Miller discusses at length)) and so when I saw Ana at Things Means A Lot's <a href="http://www.thingsmeanalot.com/2010/06/magicians-book-by-laura-miller.html">review</a> a few years ago I really wanted to read it. And then it sat on my shelf. I finally picked it up last year. I wanted to enjoy it, I really did. I mean it talks about books I love and I do love books about books, but I just couldn't. I had to big objections to some aspects of the book.<br />
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Firstly, Miller has a superior tone where she seems to think that she knows the TRUTH. It is hard to point to any specific instance of this but to me it was the overall tone of the writing at times. She is also very condescending towards certain people. Quotes such as the one below makes me think that Miller can only see these people as losers who have nothing better to do, rather than very complex individuals who LIKE their lives.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG7P8yIW5AfAy8h28fJZ22WVPoIxIvlxaLf2Nv3XoTWJ8ySDcD01JhUH4vjQzk5ZuPjl_Ns2BNLk_Ph8qkRXiWJvE9GeAznLRD1ujXmpH-1YKjx9jjF9QMlLddSdsa-f9aWRaIPiLMmB4/s1600/the-hobbit-big-bang-theory-leonard-costume.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG7P8yIW5AfAy8h28fJZ22WVPoIxIvlxaLf2Nv3XoTWJ8ySDcD01JhUH4vjQzk5ZuPjl_Ns2BNLk_Ph8qkRXiWJvE9GeAznLRD1ujXmpH-1YKjx9jjF9QMlLddSdsa-f9aWRaIPiLMmB4/s1600/the-hobbit-big-bang-theory-leonard-costume.png" height="151" width="320" /></a><i>"Of course, neither Narnia nor Middle-earth are real countries, even if some of Tolkien's most fanatical readers seem to know more about the history of his invented world than they do about the one they actually inhabit</i>" (199).</blockquote>
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Secondly, I am to much of an English teacher to be able to like a non-fiction book where the chapters lack thesis statements and where they end up going off on rabbit tales and never finding their way back. I found it very difficult to follow along with what her point of several chapters were. I don't know if it was the fact that points seem to carry over from different chapters or what, but I often felt confused as to what the point was she was trying to make.<br />
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Thirdly, although it is important to talk about Tolkien and Lewis in relation to each other, I expect the author to make a point about his relationship. She also launches into a long discussion of how Lewis and Tolkien are like Coleridge and Wordsworth but again this turns into a rabbit trail about Coleridge. What is the point?!<br />
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This isn't to say that this book was a complete waste of time, there were some interesting points, and I learned some things about C. S. Lewis that I did not know before. However, on the whole, this was not a book for me. <br />
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Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-85282441589656869342014-01-06T12:21:00.000+01:002014-01-06T12:54:05.881+01:00Bookish Thoughts: The Past is Past and the Future is the Future Except When it is The Past<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Writing about the future is a tricky thing, as has become abundantly clear in the past few years. The technological developments have come quicker than anyone could predict. At the same time, some of the predictions that were made have been shown to be beyond us still.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQghkDFndojSiV-OtYSDt9XXumoKKJFzhUHl0LeRLROZ511lCQyYRCOOxRhfW1mQpwQGVzaUwLzGIyfWm7XaJpSJ93KI-fWyQme9IYo_iFsCvS5i6WwsgIwnIqPnyaLBXLFp4engukSLck/s1600/794px-Floppy_disc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQghkDFndojSiV-OtYSDt9XXumoKKJFzhUHl0LeRLROZ511lCQyYRCOOxRhfW1mQpwQGVzaUwLzGIyfWm7XaJpSJ93KI-fWyQme9IYo_iFsCvS5i6WwsgIwnIqPnyaLBXLFp4engukSLck/s1600/794px-Floppy_disc.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>I've been thinking a lot about this in the past month, as I have been binging on the <a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.se/search/label/In%20Death">In Death</a> series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts). The first book was published in 1995. In 1995 mobile phones were not as ubiquitous as they are today, I got my first one in 1998 and I was one of the first in my class (that said I AM only on my fourth mobile). <i>Naked in Death</i> (the first in the In Death Series) is set in 2058, which I am sure seemed very far in the future in 1995, but, this side of the turn of the century feels very close by. In the books there are several technological devices mentioned, "link" = mobile phones; "PPC" = Pocket PC; "disks" = storage devices for computer files; "laser fax". 18 years ago all these things probably seemed to be on the technological forefront. Today, with little kids with smartphones (you should see my niece, 2 and a half, with her mothers iPhone (this post was written in 2012, niece is now 3 and a half but still a wizard with the iPhone) these things seem positively antiquated. I mean , when was the last time you used a disk, even a CD to save documents on? I barely use a USB drive to save information on now, much more convenient to use the cloud, especially when I can have the same document appear instantly on all my different computers (I am definitely partially responsible for the average number of electronic devices being above one :D).<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHdehvpEDAMmAosp5slGCULnHmG2obSrQ2P7xQRszXAa-oRO6OWzHVf33SxZ-6kM_qPnwPo6qUQ_MvSZHv7xrEfKyTKJwJHtM8P-XfC2iOLcK21o8iyJIbYzgM4Z4VrfQSsk2OVw2H90U/s1600/SanDisk_Cruzer_Micro.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHdehvpEDAMmAosp5slGCULnHmG2obSrQ2P7xQRszXAa-oRO6OWzHVf33SxZ-6kM_qPnwPo6qUQ_MvSZHv7xrEfKyTKJwJHtM8P-XfC2iOLcK21o8iyJIbYzgM4Z4VrfQSsk2OVw2H90U/s200/SanDisk_Cruzer_Micro.png" height="120" width="200" /></a><br />
At the same time, these books have technology that we have yet to invent or perfect. Some of it would be nice (I would LOVE my own autochef). Other things would freak me out (cars that can fly! I have enough problems keeping track of what's in front, behind and to either side of me, I would NOT want to add above and below).<br />
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This balance between what is fantasy and what is reality and what may become reality is a very delicate one. How do you signal that this is the future without it being over the top? How do you deal with things becoming obsolete during the course of a series (Roberts is still publishing in this series)?<br />
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To my mind the best way is to create what you could call an alternate universe. Make it clear that it isn't an alien place (I don't mind aliens but others do). Roberts does this by creating a world where yes some events do mirror our world but others don't. For example September 11th is referenced in one of the books I recently listened to. However, Roberts has added "The Urban Wars". A war that is referenced as taking place in both the US and Europe but never quite explained. Although it isn't hard to see an uprising in our cities today, calling them The Urban wars and placing them before the adulthood of the main character in the series adds to the feel of an alternative or perhaps parallel universe. This helps me, as a reader, to "cover" the obvious technical differences, the differences where we are more advanced than what this future society is.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Copyright </span><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©</span><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">2014 Zee from </span><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Notes from the North</span></a><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">.<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQfvLBL0npqpqNPgJ744o0EnfxDMIyHrSrdBqV_Cpsqrs_APYThfiid0E3XD0ZUv5lrlaPFHX7_ok5Q2QKKPj8lOOyZdZLvwfhbK0HBa21ASDfriPsSyLy198ewRZZRYEUT5DNksuTY8u/s1600-h/clip_image0015.gif"><img alt="clip_image001" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQqCWVJT_h2Tu98RHNHrKCnSjB10oZthoqrhZ9yjH2w9LM4inKIjIINaozpg7FCJ2jo3re2YvBL4x5fUQB5OW7AfZVPM7cUEX9thF3OSrUp3a_7ifIb9qAIyvzsmei7_heXmgnldzTOay//?imgmax=800" height="1" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline;" title="clip_image001" width="1" /></a></span>This post was originally posted by Zee from </span><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">Notes from the North</span></a><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%;">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </span></div>
Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-74327341138718124542014-01-05T12:18:00.000+01:002014-01-05T14:07:04.019+01:00Extended Break<br />
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*cough cough*<br />
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Lots of dust in this place...well that is what happens when you don't use your blog for over a year and a half.<br />
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Sometime in early 2012 I got quite burnt out by blogging. I thought about picking it back up in early 2013 but then work EXPLODED. Seriously, the first six months of 2013 were emotionally very very difficult at work. This meant that my reading tended towards comfort reads, well actually comfort re-reads, the few new books I read were mostly by authors I already knew and liked, the next book in series primarily. <br />
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However when we came back to school after a much needed summer break I was moved to a different team and my fall as been much much better. My new team is smaller, younger and more fun. All things I needed. This fall has been the best at work in a really long time, and I am slowly coming back to reading as well. Most of my reading in the past year as been audio books and I find it difficult to try new books in the audio format. Since things seem better for me now I thought I would get back into blogging, because I have actually missed it. I have some new features I want to try out and books I want to share with all of you.<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Copyright </span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt;">2014 Zee from </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;"><u>Notes from the North</u></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </span></span><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/"><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;"><u>Notes from the North</u></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 8pt;">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </span></span></span></div>
Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-87680367032983171072012-05-01T09:24:00.000+02:002012-05-01T09:24:00.456+02:00Book Review: Hjärnkoll på värk och smärta<p><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" border="0" align="left" src="http://akademibokhandeln.se/wp-content/uploads/cache/8a66e2d0fbc7ac2f45e7dee61730a8cc-hjarnkoll_pa_vark_och_smarta.jpg" width="146" height="225" /><strong>Hjärnkoll på värk och smärta (Understanding Pains and Aches) by Martin Ingvar och Gunilla Eldh</strong></p> <p><strong>Publisher: </strong>Natur och Kultur</p> <p><strong>Year:</strong> 2012</p> <p><strong>Category: </strong>Non-fiction: Medicine</p> <p>I often read books and think “I really should recommend this to so and so, they will love it!”. Rarely do I read books and think “Everyone MUST read this book NOW"!” And even more seldom do I feel this way about a non-fiction book, because lets face it, a lot of people look at you like you are nuts when you recommend a non-fiction book to them (I am putting biographies to one side here). This book I put out facebook and tweets about saying that EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK! Why do I feel this way about a rather slim non-fiction book? Well first I should tell you something about me:</p> <p>Right now I start every single day in pain. I am lucky, I don’t start every day in pain, 365 days per year. In fact I had been moderately pain free since December. But about a week ago it was as if I had walked into a wall, been hit by a bus and run over by a train all at once. There wasn’t a single joint, bone or muscle in my body that did not ache. I should have know the signs were there, the stress (5 weeks left of term, grades are due and national tests are looming), the dizzy spells and the headaches, yet I was surprised when the pain hit all at once. What does this have to do with the book I just read? Well it is a book about pain management. It is written for both pain sufferers, their loved ones and those who come into contact with them, both privately and professionally. And boy do I wish more people had read it. </p> <p>It is based on research, but written in a very accessible way. It goes through both the causes of chronic pain and some of the therapies that exist to deal with it. It recommends how you should prepare for a doctors visit. It also takes Swedish medical care to task. The authors talk about a situation that has become much to common in Sweden in the past few years, many doctors surgeries are staffed by locum doctor and they are different every single time you go. The doctors have very few minutes for every patient and what is important for chronic pain sufferers is conversation, that someone takes them serious. The book points out the importance of not having to tell your story every time you go to the doctor. This takes energy. Being met by a doctor who dismisses you as someone who is whiny takes energy. And when you only have a minimum of energy this is stressful.</p> <p>The book points out the connection between anxiety, depression and pain. This is something I have been treated for with KBT and for me that worked to a certain degree. At least it stops me from wallowing to much. It also taught me to plan. For example this weekend. I really needed to do a deep clean of my apartment, with the fibro hitting last weekend and work being crazy and the weather bad (I needed to take the recycling to the end of the road) I had let things go. Luckily this was a four day weekend so I planned it so that I have a day to recuperate. I’m not sure I need it, but planning for it is a better idea than not.  </p> <p>In many ways this book confirmed the things I already knew about my own pain and how to best manage it. I haven’t missed a day of work this year because of pain, because I can manage it and because I have understanding students, colleagues and boss. My students are fantastic in that if I tell them that I am having a “dumb” day they respect that it might take me longer to reply to them. They can be my arms and hands and write on the white board when the pain is to bad. My colleagues check in on my class if I need to lay down for a bit. My boss encouraged me to make use of the company health care. I’m lucky. </p> <p>The last chapter in the book was interesting to me from a different perspective. It talks about pain management in the elderly, especially those with dementia. My mother is a geriatric nurse and I used to work at a nursing home. Here I also got some of my previous knowledge confirmed, I also learned some new things. My mum encouraged me to touch my residents. She has always pointed out the importance of human contact in caring for others. This book also emphasizes this. This is something I’ve taken with me to my teaching career. I know that there has been a lot written about how you have to be careful when touching a student, but I firmly believe that patting someone on the shoulder, or hugging a girl who is devastated because her boyfriend has broken up with her, is something that we SHOULD do. So there. Anyway back to the pain management of the elderly. The book points out that many of those who suffer from dementia might also be in pain and that this pain manifests itself as increased “dementia behavior”. The patient appears restless and disturbing, but it might actually be pain, or lack of stimulation. To me this is fascinating because I have listened to my mom preach this for years. She is a strong believer in less medication is better and that stimulation is necessary. </p> <p>This book has only been published in Swedish and in some instances it is geared towards Swedish conditions, however many of the conclusions drawn are applicable in other countries too. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczS5AqoCxbe4XUY1ut6Ppdx187rtYgc34AUKowbm5z1v8ijc4po8ummreoe5Fh1ULJsZrbIPxpG6bPepRERC8B8tlaxHuASKJxalTnYW8pTbNOZotoPH9lmXeWtCeAuftvFfX1umW2FJt/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpBESEJ18ETfpIbwP-b5l9jv10kmmcONp0CjjnYYLb6NzOfK7Z4sPZ0kgMqOubWqPHbd_3y9xLLj5Nxo507b7Oqw24oeckRF3r0nO7t4pwRg9mEwKRoce3OQtarq8rOI05pWrUQv_8pqL5//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt">2012 Zee from </span></font></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff" face="Calibri"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff" face="Calibri"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></font><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font face="Calibri"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></font></span></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-27016061731552093802012-04-28T12:53:00.001+02:002012-04-28T12:53:01.930+02:00I’m baaaack!<p>Sorry for the long break. Apparently my old laptop did NOT like tea. Silly laptop. I’ve now got a new one and am hoping to get several posts written Monday and Tuesday while I am off (YAY national holidays!!)</p> <p align="center"><img src="http://eastsidebooksbishop.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/used-books.jpg" width="296" height="295" /></p> <p>I’ve been reading some really interesting books so please come back.</p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-43666522221549437672012-03-04T12:17:00.001+01:002012-03-04T12:17:05.635+01:00The Sunday Salon: Help Wanted<p><a href="http://dhamel.typepad.com/sundaysalon"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="The Sunday Salon.com" src="http://dhamel.typepad.com/sundaysalon/TSSbadge1.png" /></a></p> <p>As many of you know I teach English at a Swedish High School. I am slowly starting to plan out the next academic year and I would love some help from all of you. I need tips on the following types of books:</p> <ul> <li>Short stories (classic or modern, if the classics are available in the public domain my principal will love you all)</li> <li>YA books suitable for girls but also for classroom discussion. These books do need to work for boys too, but the class is mainly filled with girls. Many of these girls are reluctant readers, or have problems with English (remember they are ESL students). </li> </ul> <p>I have some ideas of the books I want to teach but I would LOVE some more ideas. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdQkXfII7MR5AOlv8Q8QpW8KymFy21ogvgiLLe79BLefnxvCDQapc_txNz7XXx7eHMklJdQVnpFguPAHL2tIxR6lA1uOM_WwnxQ275nB-0S0TsGkyqeAa-AdipOwdHkNYeDeIWmt7tMvM/s1600-h/image%25255B7%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRC8xsnzMqFD4zfoh-I6K0r-HNG22Dbr74YV9I3ygwtPtpW_NPZTTTxUs2BOu7z2sD7YNvQ_BpSoFdzflqLDY-KHWI9rmy-go6kcsxOajZxqjmouNLv0dm5RLZyiWKeybJ2mDA3Gk7oZLQ//?imgmax=800" width="240" height="199" /></a><font size="1">Image Credit <a href="http://clg.se/start.aspx">Carl Larsson</a>, thank you </font><a href="http://pinterest.com/sleeplessreader/"><font size="1">Alexandra</font></a><font size="1"> for the fabulous Pintrest board</font></p> <p>In other reading news January was a great reading month, February sucked. I had real problems settling down with ONE book. I kept picking books up and then putting them down. Not because they were bad but because I just couldn’t focus. I am hoping March will be better. </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyCQQyEqm81GncrfLQ0YM9qeIq3uKAhsxqWQNFbl4MIQVvGwk3CHxLEt3_zMJRMEWx2ASqPHYvEkXgMnt85NubWWrh2dG6AbFQSQ2mNxXqfNpSUIRVypOXjOV8Os4j1PowP7agt2uKrLx/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-lWv-ZD99TuWmcV5t60YGjAb5mDlVSKivfXWFd6_D4HOKnnAHVfrFPRTcPjsUC2nFsXWWrWe0Xj3k1VK_0K1SreqbyvlqRNZko78kbRfMVux_jNiCc8foiFvu6lV_RoTeh5LQVXO7zDp1//?imgmax=800" width="204" height="217" /></a><font size="1">Image by Ilon Wikland</font></p> <p>I’ve spent the last few days with my smart, caring, beautiful niece “Madicken”. She is 19 months old now and to my joy ADORES reading. Right now her favourites include the books about Pettson and Findus (Indus as she says) and the Max books. She also loves Pippi, even if she just knows the music right now (She loves to dance). </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijM0xuB3J3aWsbHPLX3JE76uAq6g2HKbclZ69dVVtCJ7cpjXMPqS-V0Uit9-YsIdsUuheMj9JDr4XvCiHVkyobpP0DNRW63m2074vA0a6AHTPnCgPlaOCG7nnpI5grYIQdiGBgMd5yMfKV/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUbGXbjMwSJ8vM12A455BUdQElh0YCfhre7Abmw3dQcmvbTriWI8PXY3DNy9t6M3linhsl-d8sPYsCKyl4dHCsu5UHEjI3V7e2P9JXwVaNSuOachqQreud-LvguIuQPx218McBxShv_pHk//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-55000611121719087742012-02-09T18:30:00.001+01:002012-02-09T18:30:31.987+01:00Thursday Tea: Gaudy Night<p><a href="http://birdbrainbb.net/category/memes/thursday-tea/"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Thursday Tea" border="0" alt="Thursday Tea" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDTrjyAJH-66z8Ms-jabLvha7XcmKZL4_BGwVbCiK_IWiEmEDZLy5gHZPXrrYVYbUoCvsv8ZvnwYmjtTfMcwJPAxl_PPOzpSiJU2KkiPL7kN1oihynOsOqqHeVrmUY2chMPd1Kpx1P24xG//?imgmax=800" width="225" height="240" /></a></p> <p><strong>The Book: </strong>I recently finished <em>Busman’s Honeymoon</em> by Dorothy Sayers and felt that I couldn’t quite leave Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey behind. I wanted to spend some more time in the company of these two people so I decided to re-read <em><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2010/08/book-review-gaudy-night.html">Gaudy Night</a></em>.<em> </em>A good cozy set at Oxford seemed to just the thing to ward off the cold that seems to have Europe in a firm grip, as well as allowing me to spend some more time with Harriet and Peter.</p> <p><strong>The Tea:</strong> Apple, Cinnamon and Raisin tea.</p> <p><strong>Do They Go Together: </strong>They do go really well together both have a warm feel with a bit of a spicy twist at the end. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiki8jRzaiRWTkyaSjRAkCVwmtGaF_9Uk2EFlV5LH3xb4KMy5nljAw7C1eYH6x9QDKtixXD4GFDp7Lzv34cc3YjJQH7lhhl2f2wuTGsbP8aw0MBQZCEPWn8Gl6geMRu-we9Av0mX1UPGo/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaLJhyCT3s5Wufr-gHjgflG28xv3FPsFub5jFz9ccOVekECa-QspVhJ1OCvQJjwGVuLHFdQJOCSjC6RbJnehDtipTJNwyVHxCoq0-1Hm9Gtf87IUKIZ2q1snx2lYNS_dcO-45a1SXtgOw//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-9544157671647771692012-02-07T19:18:00.001+01:002012-02-07T19:18:35.493+01:00Happy Birthday Dickens<p><a href="http://www.google.com/"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Dickens google doodle" border="0" alt="Dickens google doodle" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UyCyB2PxOCC_082HwEMyCjHtj5Rk-GLS4PSZdEz-DzTMc8K33DnLYmURihPCNHs3CmXTrKnFa4D-6AqegRq2on7IhNNO3dfzlsqavjB52-E9hFJkwmhLWG17fcDATUuK6NztsZQuiqM0//?imgmax=800" width="390" height="171" /></a></p> <p>Love today’s <a href="http://www.google.com/">Google Doodle</a>.</p> <p>My favourite Dickens is probably <em>A Christmas Carol. </em>Although I actually find that Dickens, for me, is better in movie/mini-series form than in book form (don’t all die). I really enjoyed the BBC miniseries of <em>Bleak House</em> but I found the book tedious. Anyway, Happy Birthday Mr. Dickens!</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6vqGhARlP4AGTN76IeC8HHFhr8Ds_Ngrlf_8gSNw7IxZYDNRC4f2X2SgatCpDyfTF4tRogUQSv2cYjZbtJ_T-nqzhcjwi-1rT0PFgi2qZDlYQbegafAH9YT7qrkz43GOa4wdYYM50rPn/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDjAFfPFcvgJ5VKRrmU8cU8_shRaUZCJeM8UN3yuTSGdQY3rQpEWgn48ZJkMIioJMyq0JIfox8h4BrXSkk7Vxp1stngkc1HM4dg5hy1FEXIN3QVgJ07fkiupKaSRa-WZnGsIayXNh8Xl0r//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-72724011729674460102012-01-28T07:14:00.000+01:002012-01-28T07:14:00.135+01:00In Memoriam: Astrid Lindgren<p>Today marks the ten year anniversary of the death of one of my favourite authors of all time: Astrid Lindgren. She left behind a rich and wonderful legacy of books that generations have loved and continue to love, in fact one of her characters, Pippi Långstrump is my 17 month old niece’s current favourite. I could think of no better way to honour this fantastic lady than to share with you two favourite songs to which she has written the lyrics. One is my niece’s and one is mine.</p> <p>The lyrics were written by Astrid Lindgren and music by Jan Johansson. This is my niece’s favourite. She adores Pippi, has a Pippi doll house, a large Pippi doll, shirts etc. And despite not being old enough to see the movie or read the book knows the characters already. I am incredibly happy about that.</p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:de49a67c-b2f7-40af-a229-c75564b5779a" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="a7851e45-81d3-472a-8bdd-1e89dd14a0b6" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0UJTw6ZOWg" target="_new"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9384uTywRhJmrJH5GK_fb7t4lBB6zwE85iYwUUL_KIXzEKaxkOq_NNqEVT4JMXC0WLmcnTGl0f7qt6TD3cXkGdM0Cyl-jh-ueIhFBiWdH3w_NuSOie6XuOJx2OLCaJqRl8AJW0Ubl68c_//?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('a7851e45-81d3-472a-8bdd-1e89dd14a0b6'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/-0UJTw6ZOWg?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/-0UJTw6ZOWg?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p>One of my favourite songs is “Fattig bonddräng” from one of the moives about Emil. The lyrics are written by Astrid Lindgren and the music by Georg Riedel. The song is often played at funerals and glorifies the hard work of the farm labourer. It is an incredibly sad song in some ways but also an empowering one. In the end, although Alfred has had his faults he is welcomed in to heaven because God has seen his hard work. It shows Astrid’s compassion with those in life who do not have an easy time. </p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:e0306d80-32d3-4432-904d-51587ed3567b" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="919439e6-aa9d-438f-9436-c6a532942357" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c57RfNtlOzg&feature=BFa&list=PLCF549F555BDC9A97&lf=results_main" target="_new"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCnz1M0dAfsB4MeN6rxcSI8-Aq3JFl_tFHpp6ziSJDtfDlCamDd9-g0fhccQKm0pqenkpWsuR1_EU-pS7zkut89YlwauHXBeGAlermcyy_ms9pdelor1yIRuxaNlpkYVAZ5zfdkHxWddv//?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('919439e6-aa9d-438f-9436-c6a532942357'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/c57RfNtlOzg?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/c57RfNtlOzg?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqSvE14pUUzWj7FytB9BBR8FWWd8mVGcgWTmZdk7YSA9chBvdFX1zORYGwvV2QG7Jx0kQY7ImVZ7c-4Jvrc0-g7uhb7Il7UUUQb_9Y3Wi9BkruONtDXvuPjDcA1L67zUpaB6xt1AEIOKh/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEswoHzPwAGju2LPuMPc-XWmILImcbqjQg3XPSIClK71ZADmAKM2HJ0w6FEhcXwBvGMR1clNBksiG4GpajkPmMRDiAPrqgEUCX7I2wO2jJi2nTl7hoqRxCDB0R9oC5iDjpps_dX7SR8SQ_//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-91305381110507155782012-01-22T21:13:00.001+01:002012-01-22T21:13:43.861+01:00TSS: Bookish Connections 1<p><a href="http://dhamel.typepad.com/sundaysalon"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="The Sunday Salon.com" src="http://dhamel.typepad.com/sundaysalon/TSSbadge1.png" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2011/11/tss-ive-been-thinking.html">Some months ago I spoke about changing the directions of this blog</a>. Still focusing on books, but more on the connections between books and the things I learned. This post is about the connections between the books I have recently finished and am currently reading.</p> <p>I started the year finishing off my re-read of Julia Spencer-Fleming’s books  <em><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2010/06/book-review-i-shall-not-want.html">I Shall Not Want</a></em> and <em><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2011/04/book-review-one-was-soldier.html">One Was a Soldier</a></em>. Those books are like a big steaming mug of tea for me…total comfort. I’ve also started a new crime series, the White House Chef series by Julie Hyzy. So far I have managed the first two books (<em>State of the Onion</em>  and <em>Hail to the Chef</em>) and I have the third (<em>Eggsecutive Orders</em>) on my Kindle. I’ve also read <em>Mästerdetektiven Blomqvist</em> by Astrid Lindgren which is a cozy mystery for children. In it a character from my final fiction book, <em>Busman’s Honeymoon </em>by Dorothy Sayer, makes a brief cameo as the young detective ponders what Lord Peter Wimsey would do in the situation. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrRIExhqTe60J5kvEWtSpe1TbKi5uga9yUQHn1kyiNO-G6OFtJYC3R3SiM1V3BQnSlC1lBVtp3vTdyh9GgIUwoCH1XbdHg8qqY_U2yxZerL-ZOnI7IiQhkCHd3QD8SNZcZ6bgVgw-2P9Z/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhGET7IMm-Zb9RJDGh8yshYQA9451DSNGsp-WZLSVNHH6ZQfj5-wfqJGXxn_AfBa-9TowVuJA-kCmvzg2Qp92AUKcx1PFEixopB1qBTIE8kyzjrO-uYFW6siA_qYSRKXRogE-D57sa_kJ//?imgmax=800" width="240" height="224" /></a></p> <p>So far my book choices have been connected by a common genre, mysteries, cozies even. None of the sleuths are professional sleuths. They all rather meddle in things that are none of their business. Or possibly only their business tangentially.</p> <p>There are however connections to some of the non-fiction books I have read and am currently reading. The first two connections are quite easy to see, I’ve read a biography about <a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-review-astrid-lindgrenen.html">Astrid Lindgren by Margareta Strömsted</a>. Lindgren was of course the author of <em>Mästerdetektiven Blomqvist*</em>  and the biography showed how Lindgren’s childhood environments influenced her writing, so one could see parts of her childhood in the books.. My second non-fiction book was a book titled <em><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-review-astrid-lindgren-och.html">Astrid Lindgren and Christianity</a> </em>by Werner Fischer-Nielsen. Again the connection here is obvious. Although I didn’t quite buy the thesis in this book it did give me some interesting thoughts, and I did like that Fischer-Nielsen focused on one of my favourite characters, Madicken. My final non-fiction book is the one I am currently finishing and it a way it has a connection to several of the books mentioned. The book is <em>Hatar Gud bögar? (Does God Hate Gays?) </em>by Lars Gårdfeldt, and is a book highlighting how, primarily, churches have treated the GLBT community, and how this community is trying to find a place within the church. It is a very interesting book and I hope to review it in the next week or so. You can of course see how it is connected to the previous mentioned non-fiction book, however it also has a connection to one of the specific works of fiction as well as the whole series of books. That book is <em>I Shall Not Want. </em>At one point in the book the following exchange takes place:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>The boy pushed his overgrown bangs away from his face. “Under protest. Organized religion is a tool of the capitalist machine.” </em></p> <p><em>“He’s taking a summer AP course in Marxism-Leninism,” Dr. Anne said. “God help us all.”</em></p> <p><em>Clare handed the teen her overloaded key ring and Thermos of coffee. “Would you open up for me, Colin? And drop this in my office?”</em></p> <p><em>He took the jangle of keys. “Why not? I’m only a member of the proletariat, crushed by the oppressive boot heels of history. Want me to light the candles, too?” </em></p> <p><em>“Thanks.” Clare turned to his mother. “Remind me to give him some books on liberation theology.”</em>  (250-251)</p> </blockquote> <p>It is the last sentence that connects the two books, as Gårdfeldt bases much of his argument on liberation theology. I had not heard about this movement prior to reading <em>I Shall Not Want</em> and I was geekily excited when I realized how the two were connected. Gårdfeldt’s book is also connected to a previous book in the series in that, as <em><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2010/06/book-review-fountain-filled-with-blood.html">A Fountain Filled with Blood</a></em> is in a large part about gay bashing and the rights of GLBT individuals to marry and live their life free of fear. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXP0DLTwLEBfJgrdxhUWxNxPjf9-5l3ShrW8WEqAzfckpjml8JfcVCrOxcG__odtzRvsU9wSKHNG_K8d0m9ShorUf-hsQqTAt2iV78Uc0LUiXceUOxc84tNciR0yOJcnkDZ2GAlNpYS3f0/s1600-h/Scotland%252520008%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Scotland 008" border="0" alt="Scotland 008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV98Gj_4RrzussAyB7J6uXkoF6Vw-0ypJcrGaBLhBYuHozI-56I28n_RM8K9WyMVchs3dU3HO9raZubX70eHOn_st3-gggMUcEhNNsxTnrvDiLRUko1MqmuZ2fj6MWForrk38J8tplJmAn//?imgmax=800" width="305" height="413" /></a></p> <p>Most of the books also have a common theme of acceptance and helping those less fortunate in them. All the books manage to make this point without banging you over the head with it. Yes some of them are more obvious in this theme but they aren’t annoying about it. </p> <p>I’m very happy with the books I’ve read so far this year, and I love the fact that there are so many interesting and thought provoking connections. Although I’ve always seen connections between what I am reading and what I have read before, by highlighting the connections through the blog I feel that I am getting deeper into the books. I am seeing them in a new light. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7idUc6su7nb8bC-ib_-evKqinTkFv4PnLY8XOhyBBsADvDNahRlWHvZMIHt0y4qfQarM8YOtb28-ODtDNRhZYgvvIbJxf_-Qq-HE9x5OnCWjmpK5Uc95S1fuJovo8pXVErYxjneQHdoOj/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-pVkDCcHxQHNO3KNkN7Cj0kXjiSLv05naGt3P93bQs7v_cdAPxgjtWE7y9SWFvv3OdjnTZyXEbTdUcJqEQ0jemvH5W7yNepdOhdy061FqOTl-q34FndO7F1VOmwkPahTQqg3dQfGT9Pf//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-83186838571030531992012-01-16T07:07:00.000+01:002012-01-16T07:07:00.799+01:00Book Review: Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen<p><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHAYiUMEg2-OBB1kfE5rcvjZ5ny3IL_8n5MOez4FH3Rqts-WAdHzI3qOT6a75cZpysufNEOJvsam485nWtQgKl6go7juBgrIAgmTIVh3lkcV_AFqjfwcHoK8KmWEhwZ5Hc8ZijwHCaQI6u/s1600-h/Astrid%252520Lindgren%252520och%252520kristendomen%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen" border="0" alt="Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmndP2aTGgzfvoY7XPqhMujpkboWGXhPK9Lo0GREFMwCFohG8GLZSG4z9idOAJz1_bbK4sFe4zKkCGHZOMpfwCGczhzz83u00baQbF6MUNVrKCxxWpValev7SGfzEV2Vg6aJTD6iAt-nK//?imgmax=800" width="132" height="194" /></a>Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen – utifrån Pippi, Emil och Madicken (Astrid Lindgren and Christianity – from Pippi, Emil and Madicken)</strong> by Werner Fischer-Nielsen</p> <p><strong>Category: </strong>Literary Criticism </p> <p><strong>Language: </strong>Swedish</p> <p>This book rather disappointed me. It seemed way to contrived. The author had decided that Lindgren’s books had biblical parallels and by golly he was going to make them fit. </p> <p>I definitely agree that the books have moral and ethical themes but I think that this is rather typical for children’s books. Last year I read but didn’t review another book of literary criticism with regards to Astrid Lindgren’s books. This book dealt with her folk tale/fairy tale books and the author there discussed the fact that the children’s stories that Lindgren grew up with often had a moral to them. I am not disputing the fact that Lindgren grew up with biblical tales but I do find it hard to see that she has consciously included biblical themes into her stories. Instead this book has made me more convinced that many of these stories are universal in their appeal, no matter what religion you confess. </p> <p>This book further deepens my belief that we humans create belief systems in order to make sense of the world. These systems and stories change little over the centuries, however their familiarity isn’t a bad thing.</p> <p>I do like that Fischer-Nielsen highlights one of my favourite Lindgren characters, Madicken. As he points out this is a character that is often forgotten when one analyses Lindgren’s work and I think this is a shame. Madicken and Lisabeth have much to offer girls who live in stable families. I also, as Fischer-Nielsen points out, think these stories have a good discussions on class systems in society. Although these systems are seemingly gone from Swedish society, I think that they are still there in some respects. I think that one of the stories that is highlighted in this book could lead to some very good discussions with children. </p> <p>Overall I think this is a book that although it is a quick read one could give a miss if one is studying Lindgren’s body of work. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZodnEGWjpCUBGjwRsp93C95CPCRRATZhHS5eTZrTNUUhgbf3yYXWj3xppxL70xI6Seda4gdLvgFeZ0wIYvlyrYC6SEAKzZ9UtKqpcvaejJ68BIN3X9o83CFMmUEJBBVGJO3fLfCG_rWH/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5mRu0bKjkqJZF9NPnhPqnrui-eYNUb59MskzI_uZCa6ZXsKS0gb3VyksjhBxkDH38-Zw45AQ5kdMmisHsAwwvhzYehj212B9A96tdyB87hlACuKOtRDr98rf3TlBxpxextKi2_F71WSU//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-23410679509449230682012-01-06T17:16:00.001+01:002012-01-15T12:09:17.714+01:00Book Review: Astrid Lindgren–En levnadsteckning<p><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHNB9yIgvCAbTCQXuHpEzVtfOQGA-Ato0kn-n6ZtnzzYT75Ix2A_R1022B2G4-IJhMmsA-PrQT8phahcVwhCBPtRmThIy86HEHHE5YDqTf-OovhO0e80njHECXcd0CwKe2Zjc8rVtMfTP/s1600-h/Astrid%252520Lindgren%252520en%252520levnadsteckning%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Astrid Lindgren en levnadsteckning" border="0" alt="Astrid Lindgren en levnadsteckning" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_mZBJtAsTItPN1gfZfAWUKFC4__LniQWlbM3eFhmkvO-yD9unq8j3XVtOufp1sbg6jOL-GgKp8S6U7pwhF1RKW7UxIiuw2f-t1GhDSwRUgtLqozXLhyrq8_o-_ZdRcSVPJ5CdDSm-Y4_I//?imgmax=800" width="178" height="244" /></a>Astrid Lindgren – En levnadsteckning (Astrid Lindgren-A portrait of a life) </strong>by Margareta Strömstedt</p> <p><strong>Category: </strong>Biography</p> <p><strong>Language: </strong>English</p> <p>Astrid Lindgren’s books have a special place in the heart of most Swedes. As Strömstedt in this book points out the phrases from the books have entered the general vocabulary of most Swedes (373). To use her figures as examples means that everyone will understand the reference. This book explores where these figures come from. </p> <p>The book is divided into three parts with a post script. The first part tells of Lindgren’s family and childhood. Strömstedt maintains that her childhood was her biggest inspiration for her books, and makes a very compelling case for this. She shows how events in Lindgren’s own childhood, as well as in the life of her parents and grandparents have been incorporated into the different books. The regular, old-fashioned life is one of the things I absolutely adore about one of Lindgren’s series, the one in called “Bullerbyn” in Swedish or “Noisy Village” in English. Although I grew up in a cul-de-sac in a big city I had some similar experiences. And boy did I dream of the exact experiences that Lisa and her friends had. My friends and I often played games that were based on the different adventures in Lindgren’s books (our imaginary horses bore a striking resemblance to those of Mio and Jumjum and there is a game based on that played by Mästerdektektiven Blomkvist). I found it fascinating to read about how Lindgren’s own childhood informed her writing.</p> <p>The second section in the book deals with Lindgren’s adulthood, when her books were published. Although little of the information in this part was new to me, I loved to read Lindgren’s own comments on events and issues. For example I was gratified to see that she had made a conscious decision to make the teachers in her books nice people. As a teacher myself I am all to aware of the fact that teachers are often portrayed as either not very nice people or as pretty absent characters with little understanding of the children placed in their care. In addition I was glad to see her view on women both through her books and through some writing she had done. Amongst other things she severely criticized the priests in the Diocese of Lindköping when none of them voted to allow female priests. In a rather snarky (yay) letter she pointed out that although Paul had written about women in church we now lived in a completely different world and perhaps we should not listen so much to him. </p> <p>The third part of the book deals with Lindgren’s old age and her political activism. Lindgren became involved in several political debates during the later years of her life. These debates were primarily concerned with the rights of children and animals (although she is also well known here for a contribution to the debate around taxes). Her work for children’s rights and environmental issues is something for which she continues to be admired for here, as well as something that you can see had a clear connection to her early life where she lived close to nature. </p> <p>I really enjoyed this book and learning more about one of my favourite authors. I highly recommend this book to others.    </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mgBxs6UAS6AlX8dwPYmC9Evp8HXQNzk8P_PcJvLj4H7IMbnVKg5NEvW9dUBoBrGP7KIIkbIj2gxfVlH95oTYjsm40HuxtLfbQrW65br212Qk1Gn2xCObM81VtVIjLsjG22WTOxHVsoDq/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnDuMQG2PI2c-JPwktmTb5P1fNoWtgwiaeCQlE18LVuL8gpk7d8GAcMqlqY1SUWZKTSbibdZBtC2jq55mIbv111ZGBvjoFL_higTgzzAj6mp6bXsbKfJfl-KCXAG_nz1cKYVVjng_LmKAq//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-1789311613704140112012-01-05T13:57:00.001+01:002012-01-05T13:57:19.075+01:00Thursday Tea: One Was A Soldier<p><a href="http://birdbrainbb.net/category/memes/thursday-tea/"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Thursday Tea" border="0" alt="Thursday Tea" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbEG9_HaYJQGkZRzo7P0iCjnw2VN4-pzyZOa_o6nN98IHKuwHlJpJUpLrHsV_-EA0Stsbk4J03X5xQcX2EYmfUoRBNY2f_YUMRGU-G5up7GI-d7wVfimwF95cJn84JYJctxLSphqLr265//?imgmax=800" width="225" height="240" /></a></p> <p><strong>The Book: </strong>My current fiction read is a re-read for me: <em>One Was A Soldier</em> by <a href="http://juliaspencerfleming.ning.com/main/">Julia Spencer-Fleming</a>. This book is such a mixture of bitter and sweet, with Clare “not doing well, not doing well at all” at the same time as the romance between her and the Chief having a high point. </p> <p><strong>The Tea:</strong> Raspberry Honey from <a href="http://www.teahugger.net/">Tea Hugger</a>. I spent two summers with my friends in Greensboro, NC and on Saturdays we would go to the farmers market and buy fruit and veggies and other locally produced items. While walking around we would sip ice tea from the ladies at Tea Huggers and eat samples. I miss my friends every single day. For Christmas they sent me a care package with different things from the farmers market and one of the items was a tin of my favourite tea, Raspberry Honey. Thanks again Curls!</p> <p><strong>Do They Go Together? </strong>Yes they do, very well. Like the book the tea has a somewhat bitter taste at first, then a smooth sweetness that reminds me of Clare and Russ’s love. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumpGvE81Nl5UtRvpIyFumfkWMJjOLc4a2zL_0u6eTUYqou99fRe1bIdTJO85QYH6eDi9KnVqfWT2E4DaZQknD-7-2XCMhE-ID9lSF7ZehDqM3TvJCzvOiydvfntATrmT7Jxh-W-xsj_RU/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuxHXY4At1zW8MEGjJDCpbNhpk63RH-XMiTnX8c6c6wKwGvObAEG5XO3g43Kax2i8qO9ghpSxDlKHMzHDcdnK9v630Dwtc48OoCz9bzFhq-KdTMayIoZf8S7zXPcBEIAiMwEYY1uE-WUb//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-40176667504351515852012-01-01T07:38:00.000+01:002012-01-01T07:38:01.586+01:00Library Loot: December 28 to January 4<p><font color="#000000"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxm-1e9V-dNO8WhHEuU-TwEJI3QU6DgGI82axIz6M-jMtJGcQEe7rDb9rOsoMcn8K3qW2OxwtxYwJZsb2xg34kSl58nOEd6BW9L5rh9lyvpXncKxgP0rUHAZNs1vcbBM9c_a4w7cmPCvB/s1600-h/Library%252520Loot%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Library Loot" border="0" alt="Library Loot" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhem4WCXvsvtARLd1koyJpd214iXOPJkIhyphenhyphenMyC_fr7agOmMakV1PCmoRaqxMPmhzypN6Juaj1fBc0NhvVvdSV9aM0IPqvGlPTXxpJbcy_VO19xSEeGBaaXByZsdvc1Ra2snmFwXnZftNum5//?imgmax=800" width="152" height="161" /></a>Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from </em></font><a style="padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" href="http://thecaptivereader.wordpress.com/"><font color="#72179d"><u><em>The Captive Reader</em></u></font></a><font color="#000000"><em> and Marg from </em></font><a style="padding-bottom: 0px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" href="http://www.theintrepidreader.com/"><font color="#72179d"><u><em>The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader</em></u></font></a><font color="#000000"><em> that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!</em></font></p> <p><font color="#000000">I’ve never done a Library Loot before but with my goal of reading more from my local library I thought I would give it a try. I went into the library the other day with the goal to just browse and came home with quite a few books. And the books I came home with do rather point to my eclectic taste in reading. All the books are in Swedish so the English titles are my own translations. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000">First two books are books of lists (of sorts), because who amongst us can ignore a good list?</font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVXQn35z44Bx39ueWE1FM7Cwt1UO4myKA0uFJIM-rk2FuS4hQOB7qmoowLwAR9lOdhT_JPqTnAbor8yEAWJH0d2J6RZcGiGuRTXHhI3LZvm8PcKtGHwYCO81TC6wDKqQiP_ndTUlUz5znl/s1600-h/1001%252520b%2525C3%2525B6cker%252520du%252520m%2525C3%2525A5ste%252520l%2525C3%2525A4sa%252520innan%252520du%252520d%2525C3%2525B6r%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="1001 böcker du måste läsa innan du dör" border="0" alt="1001 böcker du måste läsa innan du dör" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK56N-QCCkFE2kGwrE5pj6-3IYTbv9AxE1LbF9cb3nb7WwB4OG10DWOiqZIv5Ofw6pUXUcUx8PMpQjp2io89QluLhbUpK0Y78JoQCk98WlylVUMrnqCguMdhlTl9qjqJUV1ZMasX1NecEo//?imgmax=800" width="123" height="164" /></a>1001 Böcker du måste läsa innan du dör: i urval av Göran Hägg (1001 books you must read before you die: picked by Göran Hägg)</em> I have the English version of this (although it is currently at my cousins, long story), and I wanted to see which books had been included in the Swedish version. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpRTl3Ie_YiqapVTQauXiAXcQVeddc_t1q2j7WoY353FPHsNiE37ctQiRKuZqYQRr2Sxx4T8SqYH-0eJUYpt-FaeebzMYPG6k0_dopDFNXFsIvVSmvbN23wBKNFCypkZvwRw_HfAhqWyM/s1600-h/52%252520kvinnliga%252520f%2525C3%2525B6rfattare%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="52 kvinnliga författare" border="0" alt="52 kvinnliga författare" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAaT3x6RJOEcbrrIuo9pov1F5hjUCLZdpIEio_briUgE5IfeL4ApEGKAqwo1BBpEaDzWP_4UQyTLwgA02W1PbvZ7rVgsV_SygW9vBFZdeWGNHxFCd_x5F6g_m4ZjBHlJlu7CGCh6HhNFYb//?imgmax=800" width="109" height="170" /></a>The next book is <em>52 kvinnliga författare: från 1700-tal till 2000-tal (52 female writers: from the 18th Century to the 21st Century)</em> by Lena Kjersén Edman. This book has short portraits of female authors as well as lists of books they have written and suggestions for other books about them. With my interest in feminism I couldn’t resist this book. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAXeCDr_Kad3wV21HR4c5GxQZg06oF5VV6tzBoZEq1po1EALt6f4iK7wQnTwNb7QCurKT5NDBTV_1Grs9_KtLe8ckI6g1axI5yuBVEceVX1im1XZEJN9DaRgfIHdIVBIMLRiUyNiyWOk8/s1600-h/Astrid%252520Lindgren%252520en%252520levnadsteckning%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Astrid Lindgren en levnadsteckning" border="0" alt="Astrid Lindgren en levnadsteckning" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2pY-ItGBECJYtEPyWx4v2vjd3nDMRXz78P-7nq-gnLP8elmaDZ2pDx_4cwVH3c73FWftw3E245b3kbZRP_Pm2bYBZohfPYKUvVNcOr5btcK5yP2C2FSot24driXtX9gaxdge5e2ZuPLs//?imgmax=800" width="135" height="188" /></a>I recently read (but didn’t review) a book titled <em>Astrid Lindgren och sagans makt (Astrid Lindgren and the power of the fairy/folk tale)</em> by Vivi Edström so when I saw the following two books on the library shelves I had to bring them home: first we have <em>Astrid Lindgren: en levnadsteckning (Astrid Lindgren: A portrait)</em> by Margareta Strömstedt which is a biography of one of my favourite authors. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-J_jEZAVAx_ZHLeOtY2EnOT-p7qIPJBNP2zt8vQQqoVLTge5c7oAwgJv0OJkVQCPf61db_zXkVpfDSq-JtLv7xrRBqmIzjUAReMlbAtxA1K70f4bgChdBLzw0WWj6vLQbxZvukUxkjWT-/s1600-h/Astrid%252520Lindgren%252520och%252520kristendomen%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen" border="0" alt="Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86ASwCtsjF2G9vQ9aYMgUCkAP4BlzDTM7gdrQgzZm4b_8SOKAuD7XXawn0ErFBUn_wXtZlwsbnepZ2DDEWznVfOBW03M9rvQ62NnCdt_6PXQ_BDP3obCkGj-kOYIIrCXaHXCLkjKY3hyP//?imgmax=800" width="132" height="194" /></a>The second book is <em>Astrid Lindgren och kristendomen- utifrån Pippi, Emil och Madicken (Astrid Lindgren and Christianity- from Pippi, Emil and Madicken) </em>by Werner Fischer-Nielsen. This book dovetails nicely with my desire to read books that are connected in different ways, as it is connected to my reading on religion. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XJ6dyle7EwmFo1-hjeT_mxq_gdrz33GhmvEYy3lCm38R3TRIy_aWozpyGjxzIasYxAxfjKW-DqLtWPxmFiJwc4XT3pYGflyjh72A2gP0GE7R70rdEL9Ulm836Bt_tMVP7DC4Dhnd1zoG/s1600-h/Hatar%252520Gud%252520B%2525C3%2525B6gar%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Hatar Gud Bögar" border="0" alt="Hatar Gud Bögar" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNViryWT7WJoLUkaklOS4S2_lyZbIqdgsHhAlOJ2FGZvXJCr5lFix8JRYjErofkCBq3a4l_4Gba8zcb0mYX3sC06YHayMH2bQPbwn-iJYwov3ZqRcAtjYkT0ly_zNuhC5eHeuZRh8mLkSM//?imgmax=800" width="104" height="155" /></a>The next book is also on the topic of religion and is actually the publication of a thesis. It is titled <em>Hatar Gud bögar? Does God hate gays?</em> Lars Gårdfeldt. Gårdfeldt is a priest in the Swedish church and a campaigner for gay rights. I think this will be a very interesting read. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylKIwujnOzVgyH8JwRFBHVg77sxC8KPDuFDG0TZvynmHf4BTaZ2IwIx6hIAfZ5owMIyFrKQmymes40_5ez7tA6EB13lurTil-mGsDGKOslQ1Cw-Ihb8qnUZtC-yFqBXz31pD07EDV94Ia/s1600-h/Kulla-Gulla%252520i%252520slukar%2525C3%2525A5ldern%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Kulla-Gulla i slukaråldern" border="0" alt="Kulla-Gulla i slukaråldern" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrizUL6OXZnf-aak_LfITDsg0ozg5-lH12MWLZbOPn1HUQEdkW8PYlst_8o39aG785B9HIKjXjB2fmol7Bzya7fzrY1NO0YsyZE4hD_Imv1WZcj2puIRjnXIHJV0-NIdB-mkzWr0iIQDm2//?imgmax=800" width="132" height="216" /></a>Kulla-Gulla i slukaråldern </em>by Ulla Lundqvist (I can’t actually find an appropriate translation for this books title, sorry). This is a book written by a woman who has a doctorate in literature and it is about middle grade “girls” fiction. The books about Kulla-Gulla which are mentioned in the title were some of my favourite when I was growing up and I love books about books so I couldn’t pass this one up. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYstD-lDQ6xuQPl0QtIZzPThSlIGJFwhBx6ohBQXkoueSeOmBCDVH4puQ8i2gzvlAWl8gFx0zdfKvvdLhkf9XzK720hBzZ1XH-X53HBjLQSFD9RgLJp5DUPB-TZMjvjeQv-BfohsTTDYU/s1600-h/Yoga%252520f%2525C3%2525B6r%252520alla%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Yoga för alla" border="0" alt="Yoga för alla" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2WtutHXaoZy-uIoQWzWHaSdZQzYMCQnrhmF-h6oGDmh0iMJsMBb8B6AqCMukU5h1qX8HkfDeXrdZ45-FsMAljkUos3wyXbwX7l-XK_vuvAqfKPqDBw8m7nGrwIf7ENMdKjHA7SpvzXlWf//?imgmax=800" width="118" height="201" /></a>My final book is called <em>Yoga för alla (Yoga for everyone)</em> by Rosamund Bell. I love yoga but can only make class once a week. I know I should do more at home but I never get to it. I was leafing through the different yoga books at the library and this one was the only one that  promoted the type of yoga I practice (Iyengar). It has great photos that shows the different asanas as well as (and here was the kicker for me) having different programs for you to follow. I hope this will help me to get into a routine. </font></p> <p><font color="#000000"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5Af1gdoG1uU2Yqsduiu0JcLn7sLyo_0FIa9MVGrhZ8pC2_CVKj6AFMlRBW1f8HfVyT9mX1R963lM6Vs4GbQ7n20MXOs3dqAoschax6BbEdoWyjAFN1gS5vWuNB09qC6krF9mT_YVsg_7/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUc6P_BHA6ZMjTzYPh66MUpDr85h-3sK-E4Dssp2Lb57CQPaJfCawmeuT-EqaSzxuWPWj_TlhNu9HX8XF5PiZGjL060YRx1cVH8JVvbLPbKAqORfdksD3sWO5-brBU8XMihZlsBVaRfMe//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></font></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2012 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-62849964616683348732011-12-31T14:47:00.001+01:002011-12-31T14:47:19.779+01:002012 Reading and Blogging Goals<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6hwOjF0ZjbuZEKKEe3FGaIKv7r8YEHAY0YGE8qeiAhnsLlx_JaneD2Ehmuf2-JVUSsT9oWO2pHzyrQj6vUBo-vkQq8p3l92PctkSlGFRoA9kekqNFZ0ZsTOV-xhko63Nt3mb5E2F1KBI/s1600-h/New%252520Year%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="New Year" border="0" alt="New Year" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTKdIHNwjKo3TN93biYEIgBIUcnKCNf5LhMtly13eMwwJdOD59540a-bcZnmVDU6zrdHaIbeV8bQ0omHzFxa6RJlUx0wIp2HzQEe2rbY4fK_U3AZmEiOXJ5Q9anTlkT6GYca0sAyBIvcr//?imgmax=800" width="303" height="221" /></a></p> <p>New Years always seems to bring out the “Best of” lists and the “Goals for Nest Year”, and I thought I would join the fray. I’m not doing a “Best of…” post as most of you know I don’t like rating books <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-openmouthedsmile" alt="Open-mouthed smile" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76XyHZtyb7q7e3c9us4sneSMGCeqs-D_Et5G18_c3MFL5XXkcAWGAS6GJF3c_3isIaafD1HUMy-oncAZfzg3E4XapsUYhrUmhAmMSsVfdOJC4LSZMy133bsO6frYZdBH5zZvdxLjOU_0R//?imgmax=800" /> but I do want to talk a bit about my plans for 2012. </p> <p><a href="www.ricci-art.net"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Mary Cassatt by ricci-art dot net" border="0" alt="Mary Cassatt by ricci-art dot net" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLKsJhL5-4k6DjHmEO4QSMfgfX69jSy1O91Lv6dPGvzp2z51iu3esDFIeSfnUqrPe-uFxfCuC4HgqukFVLaX3FEoZeFitZ0ELeYofQeQK1zCqQj1e2wbR1bR_9AmPVmnQbVxtlHMEqHb-//?imgmax=800" width="260" height="345" /></a></p> <p>Although I love challenges because they do just that I have decided to let at least the first 6 months be challenge free. I need a break from pressurized reading, work has been insane in the fall and I doubt it will be less so in the spring. I do however want to challenge myself in my reading so that I don’t fall into my pattern of re-reading and reading new releases from the same authors. Because of this I have decided to make 2012 my year of non-fiction. I will of course be reading fiction as well, I usually read some form of fiction right before bed. But I also want to focus on non-fiction reading. I will be reading on different topics until a topic bores me, and then switch. I will be starting with religion as my first topic. In 2010 I took part in the World Religion Challenge and it wet my appetite so that is what I will start with. My goal is to make my reading 60% non-fiction 40% fiction during the year. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjL99Q_MnvmivORCzO3yAQvk8GNXkrSqukunEb1dJZWD8geB5ycnjfDNoCkbcQCc3Z8OEwzYmrDsUpGda74Fu-vYOOkikBlUXecmy4MPMUQr-MrGTkbfz2moqDItmwfgVqYuQEOdytMbCk/s1600-h/trinity-college-library-dub%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="trinity-college-library-dub" border="0" alt="trinity-college-library-dub" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJl8gI-eyfZA4atzoj7RkykVUdhZBMfhytqnP0mEyC213iFr5SYMcoRovt1iEcs_8_Fnx2QG57FeotxEHBQeTLF5Kb_v786IkvB-w3q1fI_6cSXIVuIpBQ5kfb3YecXvGVwtHInrpWTX9//?imgmax=800" width="308" height="249" /></a></p> <p>My other reading goal is to utilize my local library more. I have a lovely library in the center of town that has a lot of books and nice staff. It is also easy for me to get to so I really have no excuse. Here I am aiming for a 50/50 split between books on my own shelves and books from the library. This also connects with my next goal: reading more books from my own shelves. I have a lot of books on my shelves that I have never read and I need to remedy that.  </p> <p>My final goal has to do with blogging. As you may notice the blog has been VERY quiet the last few months. With work being crazy and some health problems I was often to tired to write anything coherent. And, although work probably won’t slow down, I do have a handle on the health problems now. I have so much more energy now and I hope that this will contribute to more writing motivation. </p> <p><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/p/nordic-challenge-2012.html"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Nordic Challenge" border="0" alt="Nordic Challenge" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42BF93kBDCx5J_s4S5Jly6O1op9GIfqJAuqetCdZAivyNDSMJ1IKaCZ0Ec6LvGBFwNeWiqF2f_zpKfUQPKqTqctSBftCehIJWi1L8N3BD6gvy5Bisc2iJhGtAmLTY_ED47-LMv4xSn-Pn//?imgmax=800" width="314" height="241" /></a></p> <p>Although I am not taking part in any challenges myself, I am continuing the <a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/p/nordic-challenge-2012.html">Nordic Challenge</a>. I have turned this into a more perpetual challenge and anyone is invited to join in. I will primarily be reading books from the library for this challenge so it should fall into the 50/50 split as well.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRN1tW_f7leAHhyphenhyphenDSVW4749g28aXOls-wR6dtTq7qvEGnthyphenhyphen50WoefLUKwdzdfHKFZbFGeII_noIqD52-dKemPUTzF7weM_saIY3LpUdzJiZ8_OltUs7439Pat_PcSWKNCzH-DAC-rdqVg/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglonmnquGbCZiYxRt14r2LYVmjt4YG67Q0Ii53kUADYiwF1HCumiP6m9Cung9v0KI0NVUOENJmIPcxWCko4U_fQuL5GhO16jcwlmlgzTqMiiRiJW7LjVxrVeob9GSrE3VZdnss1Z6q5X2m//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2011 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-13766557371808329092011-11-24T20:39:00.001+01:002011-11-24T20:39:39.200+01:00In Memoriam: Anne McCaffrey<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmQbZ_I8a0W_daV2z1KUBAaO48idqBm44P-Jy4lry1guwljXoS-6kt-l4kqdoNMUed3TiOEdIftL2XtjrEXAYbOB8uWYkeNv4lVoNuBtwRlWeicuLRxT7YdFybR6UonSfziJHIMJXUNg5t/s1600-h/Anne%252520McCaffrey%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Anne McCaffrey" border="0" alt="Anne McCaffrey" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyw7q7ID6vmii50nBqdJApOk5NTUIPkjiGj1lcJ36O7IlWXltZ0T-BNrmP-fDkDZVxvj3h-D8TWvkOs10nJX2pqY72WMeeRWQZSnFKYFuKxZ35OG02t_pkGFpVH3UzM8lkmTzV9Gl2xeWt//?imgmax=800" width="187" height="244" /></a>Occasionally you come across a book that speaks to you. A book that contains a character that in the words of the Anne girl, is a kindred spirit. For me that character was Menolly in <em><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/2009/12/book-review-harper-hall-trilogy-audio.html">Dragonsong</a></em> by Anne McCaffrey. I was in my early teens when my mother handed me <em>Dragonsong </em>and, although Menolly and I are radically different in certain respects (I can’t hold a tune to save my life and my family are my greatest supporters), I still felt like we were the same. </p> <p>Like Menolly I felt like an outsider my whole life. Not necessarily a round peg trying to fit into a square hole, more of a hexagon peg trying to fit into a round hole. Almost but not quite there. At the time I hadn’t quite found my place in the world, like Menolly finally does at the Harper Hall, but the books gave me hope. Maybe I could find my place.</p> <p>This was my first introduction to the wonderful world of Pern. It would not be my last visit. Over the years I have read and re-read all the Pern books written by Anne McCaffrey (I tried the ones by Todd McCaffrey but they just didn’t capture me in quite the same way). The books about Menolly have stayed a firm favourite for me, but I do love them all. Ms. McCaffrey was not only responsible for helping me see that I wasn’t alone in the world. She also, rather sneakily, introduced me to Science Fiction. Because I loved the Pern series (where some of the books have sci-fi elements) I was willing to give the Talent and the Tower and the Hive series a go. </p> <p>The news that Anne McCaffrey had passed away reached me last night through <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/11/23/142721697/before-there-was-katniss-there-was-killashandra-remembering-anne-mccaffrey">this NPR piece</a>. I was stunned. I had just finished re-reading <em>Dragonsinger</em>, something I do at least once a year, usually when, like now, I am super stressed. I still take a great deal of comfort in reading about Menolly’s finding of her place in the world. The idea that no new books will come from the hand of Ms. McCaffrey is sad. I’m honestly still reeling a bit. The Pern books are a series of books I always feel comfortable recommending, and a series I reach for when life feels overwhelming and I need to escape into a world where dragons are real and dreams come true (although not free). </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvKWArZ0aZ_vGFWzwkuIy6h2NxGuETJg5XIA_tN-yHAuuIs76ATaqbTI1Q7ZQv2mBnLpKSgBTBay_J8_3aS0b2L7XokBWKc4YUzAM4tUiWWkyuf97IPmgVkE75aFN6AFKfFA6rl0fcZG5/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif54b8YjhgDjQMs7TCeooWWtaHCI3WcDRNjWSiZzqQZWFmazclHJZietXg0AIITYGvqbkUHaohMZbFUIwcUtaihfMGEuLxu1ki7bXAtmxssX3Euq9InAapIxhcUlIT99nvlyuuBA63jqsB//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2011 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-25464479139309717932011-11-06T17:58:00.001+01:002011-11-06T17:58:06.228+01:00TSS: I’ve been thinking<p><a href="http://dhamel.typepad.com/sundaysalon"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="The Sunday Salon.com" src="http://dhamel.typepad.com/sundaysalon/TSSbadge1.png" /></a></p> <p>I’ve been thinking…and that is always dangerous. My blog has been very quiet of late, but not because I’ve been reading less…in fact October was my best reading month by far, coming in at 18 books read. Most of those were in a series of middle grade (?) classics that I loved when I was 11-14. They are out of print and I have finally managed to get all of them (when I read them as a child I always got them from the library). But there were also a couple of non-fiction books and quite a few (for me) audiobooks (I plowed through <em>The Hunger Games </em>trilogy in a week, whilst working). However I have only posted a few reviews. I am just to tired most days to write reviews, and to tell the truth, my reviews are beginning to bore me. So I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction I want to take the blog. Do I want to continue with it at all? Do I want to do it in a different format? I don’t feel part of the community right now, because I am also not reading other people’s blogs, again time is a problem for me. But I don’t really want to abandon ship. I like keeping a record of what I’ve read. I like noting down my thoughts. I like the community feel of the book blogging world. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxz9BLO02xXuNT_eNtWi9KKGeRRkUpQ8nJEz4Xcd-60cZJMxyAfe5A9nzQBNazveJCzF2Fon7ElU4DLPRO3JLtbCt_GaP-Encb9RiIkOtcZexInra-5xZ26gB0GHrJDmWtfhryQEwaR2j/s1600-h/Pile%252520of%252520books%25255B4%25255D.gif"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Pile of books" border="0" alt="Pile of books" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hU-iLNX-NydvhTsu6xEKvrCPl2aV21bmMcqxNxvTQEIaGPuqHcP-5FoMbWO2FydWqKo_5AnqCjcH_k9lOt0i_j6e2l6f2jbGrDaq_tGLXVDab1SZElZB2EfqKoisufuJJySDBRWXXJn5//?imgmax=800" width="148" height="150" /></a></p> <p>So what are my thoughts on solving this conundrum? Well, lately I have also been reading, or drawn to books that seem to fit together in subject matter. So I don’t think I will be writing reviews but rather collecting a bunch of books on the same, or similar topics and discuss how they relate to each other and my thoughts on them in general. </p> <p>In addition to this I have some thoughts on some things I might like to do at work when it comes to reading and getting my students to read more, and I might write about those efforts here. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKce0NPiyZUWj5Xd1aVkXF_qu1uoGdjAB7Skc-ZeWHIkQuIFKNEJR-UUJ2NUa-YFYxosr-tFiPY-r3xxjGF0ZNqMSBwG42WPl6UJqXATTO5-kQazjMYyHLzXghjJtM-ZKtF106JznxFcQ/s1600-h/Pile%252520of%252520books%25255B9%25255D.gif"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Pile of books" border="0" alt="Pile of books" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiT8eqUVBuavzoNG09okeqKUC6Gx88XsoWWzf9fguRiWWaNg5MbCf_O9UyGU4ioSraZke0VGVlqeY5l9sLt5HjGADHDVuFPQQA0ps7KFBgGmhkbTCLkALwxIQWfycPvolWOWcTDbwQXeC//?imgmax=800" width="152" height="155" /></a></p> <p>Although I have always maintained that this blog is for me, it is public and I do know I have readers <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghKu2JU_G5A5TfF9IozZxhBLOWzkrtoMqMKfIiN7faJr-ojsRztae7Lv2Jt4b16NJARMwL2EtQ87PT43wY0pH8ru1REKxNCebTs_rpg26F-KCfeyeZG92BSTTzPSYOIhHaF2atbEaiaVE0//?imgmax=800" /> so I wanted to know what you, my readers thought about these ideas. Would you still read the blog if this is the direction I took it in? How often would you expect to see posts? Please come share. </p> <p>Also, thank you <a href="http://astripedarmchair.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/welcoming-november/">Eva</a>, for encouraging me to “just ramble” <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-openmouthedsmile" alt="Open-mouthed smile" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm7mnOdVk3jDaJjABHCtVE3hy9UFCjNNEzIriI-MZl5okRCWA6FcS7I6AcA5aCcNOHx2ktXmG6iHVkfES8g7iu8HzraINSB2mIBfKJO594kbfg14y-FMz6xkPiThgpocLkgH_Vis3ZvBiI//?imgmax=800" /></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdWXK7nTu0AmMk4PNGdK2GINMtQ3zCGbK59GVunAMbKuaqAarh_XJJ9DAbEEQT24TdkTBghQT1RcfkDfW8FXUGXjbLFaaXvkZsfRQEhigVgVgsgK4xry8el75hiW4U6qa0P2mOpukpY-z/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxH8Z91BamjA0yTD58lpteEXbiO_2JbHUx4tpGTa2uaujxR5XVDP9iSiAqWc70eqDfkG3Ph2DsKK1MpQE2Q1c5fG0B7dYCRza2PVkxyZnO1Bs8edv39RQd5C-Uwltn9lOg0k8MzRM8jXG//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2011 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-85567406625375904042011-10-25T07:55:00.000+02:002011-10-25T07:55:00.103+02:00Book Review: Karin Larsson och blommorna i Sundborn (Karin Larsson and the flowers at Sundborn)<p><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPI1P8wJgDpslxkFZmRew1FoNuT-MI5zc9yyTF3bM1zpflzCZ2nCqT7BWrhqKRXPCJ-7PasjCci3Z1E53PEOPbLHE0zW0YkXAKu2kd21XOzAjyTp7gc_IBaFpxkX1PTZdc-U8Y6E_u4EW/s1600-h/Karin%252520Larsson%252520och%252520blommorna%252520i%252520Sundborn%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Karin Larsson och blommorna i Sundborn" border="0" alt="Karin Larsson och blommorna i Sundborn" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfug6GkJA-DtB4yK6D4Rp9kNXPwx-RLvrubmXpw5fR2dnX0DwdniCbJvoK99Mh2jaXIQlp3pzLa7jNAoRgVudMPLMVPYXrUnT786DOzRGR178VUkMyh5bal8RCpSdzV5pnLBBs5H-M19Tf//?imgmax=800" width="148" height="209" /></a>Karin Larsson och blommorna i Sundborn (Karin Larsson and the flowers at Sundborn) </strong>by Christina Högardh-Ihr</p> <p><strong>Publisher:</strong> <a href="http://www.norstedts.se/">Prisma</a></p> <p><strong>Category:</strong> Non-fiction</p> <p><strong>Challenges: </strong><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com/p/nordic-challenge-2011.html">Nordic Challenge</a></p> <p><strong>My Thoughts:</strong> Growing up I had two favourite painters: Claud Monet (thanks to <em>Linnea in Monet’s Garden</em>  by Christina Björk) and Carl Larsson (thanks to the book <em>Spadarvet</em> by Carl Larsson himself). I remember the first time I saw some original Carl Larssons, and not the reproductions that every house in Sweden has. It was in 1992 and I was 11 years old. The art museum in Gothenburgh were having a big exhibit and my parents took me. We got to see a very controversial painting called “Midvinterblot”. At the time it was owned by a private Japanese collector, now however it is hanging where it was commissioned to hang, at the National Gallery in Stockholm. Back in ‘92 I was awestruck. However the book I am going to review today isn’t about Carl, but rather his wife, Karin, who was also a very talented artist. Once she met and married Carl she changed her artistic focus towards the home. Karin became a talented textile designer, as well as an interior decorator. The home she created in Sundborn village is intimately connected to the Scandinavian design. As a matter of fact, some of Karin’s designs can be found in that temple of Swedish design, IKEA <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-openmouthedsmile" alt="Open-mouthed smile" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySBymdXIH6R6Cegx6nPFNbq9Imvpe_eLP56eNdeJtlUi0_fu4dauXyM0orxaVBbYCQJVPrGeN3CNlO562wHQA86mnw_zK2YCBzInrRnJRQqR0LPlVOWVdpbQPpwYea4ChHOeJCzEr-bc0//?imgmax=800" />(or at least they look very much alike)</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE46TnH8XDI30r4R3hOlnDs7BW4PuE8XYZ_yCznJp3U3pbHt4CHIxZ5RU-jccYOIZDAoXNpbEHaR5Rvv-DIqasg_UQ-fDhKtrF6rYq90IpDcKFKQDbkEigwE-FoIu9aRTiEG_s1drX4qag/s1600-h/flowers-on-the-windowsill-carl-larsson%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="flowers-on-the-windowsill-carl-larsson" border="0" alt="flowers-on-the-windowsill-carl-larsson" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOT6yzNrjtqYp4_Sln3uYzATh3V8LcD2QCeZKKNbpptNPe5Z_y4xFBx-tA5r1tqJEj5HU1Ol846AgRmapUB3VwXG_SWFFxhjFRfYXCkxOqMNzI_K1-xXcAQIuDa9uleUhr_kTL6T_faQS//?imgmax=800" width="269" height="186" /></a></p> <p>The picture to the right here is one, if not the, most famous of Carl Larsson’s paintings. It shows one of the rooms at Lilla Hyttnäs, the name of the house that the Larssons made into their home. The painting also features the thing that the book I’ve read is about: Karin’s flowers. I enjoy flowers, but I really don’t have a green molecule in my body. I love looking at them but I can’t make them grow and I don’t know all that many different types. But the story is also very much about Karin. And Karin loved her flowers. This is evident both from how Lilla Hyttnäs looks now, from her own textiles and from Carl’s paintings. Paintings that , as Högardh-Ihr points out, often feature different flowers and plants. </p> <p>This book does full justice to the life at the Larsson family home. The book is peppered with pictures, reproductions and extracts from letters to and from Karin. I don’t live that far from Sundborn village and have been there a couple of times over the last few years (and am always happy to go back) and I really enjoyed learning even more about this place and the woman who built it. The guides at the house are always really knowledgeable and happy to answer questions, and I know I will have some next time I go. The house itself is somewhat of a rabbit warren, where the Larssons built on more space as the family grew. And every single room has unique decorations, paintings by Carl and textiles by Karin. Karin also designed furniture, amongst other things a rocking chair that is very like one that you could buy at IKEA. Although to us today it might seem like Karin gave up on her own dreams of becoming an artist, but I really don’t think she did. She put her artist soul into the home. This home was always open to friends and family. Karin worked hard to decorate the house, make it warm and welcoming, and functional. And in doing so she broadened her artistic talents. Through the home she came into contact with weaving and textiles, something she hadn’t touched before. She grew up in a well to do home and had before marriage not been involved in cooking, now she became an adventurous cook who tried ingredients that wouldn’t make it into most Swedish kitchens for another 50 or 60 years.</p> <p>The book is a very nice introduction to Karin, it isn’t that meaty in itself, but it gives some really excellent starting points for further study of both Karin and Carl. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tpna37MG34zMAZOpnu1S0C_btQncOZ_gb0LVsJ4xq9oyJmYxW0kSaVwus24TLa_rYZ43A5oVpgwUEDCzfIR4vW5KKT4ddzTc5gpt5OZjiylHB9_KzXR3Mo2bmkxxo8vzEs2AsXCPBTEL/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VAIm_gmgqtW59QAUzxWl5pxlpa4Qz0wlkC8IYd1dRDmrGxOCOGFkzqDLhi-U4Wvw6k6jgC6AWCCzzRX2Vwai2PK7MjsrEbM4yE_mcRf4Pu0sTWO9jaJxQDsS87MyOs6bZ0o6diNiELe5//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2011 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352625826349400447.post-21845209378866776242011-10-21T07:21:00.000+02:002011-10-21T07:21:00.263+02:00Book Review: The Hunger Games [audiobook]<p><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUP3vGF0Bf4rJh-p6YdKZjH2t9BYsrfe7Sml3dqu7yIQsMfQjMRmblWLHyZHHzUf1hNIkys5cG9ltFfUqMyM9dl0LTEHaEu31XvfKTIfE6AB_Ro1gc-lOVDU8l4dyNkbpVkvyDNkFUe0z/s1600-h/The%252520Hunger%252520Games%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 7px 0px 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="The Hunger Games" border="0" alt="The Hunger Games" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPJWZTj9q1cbEFkXqOHYZaPFXfFn6eOh1EKQ7f3diLd6vDArFXq95Fnu50N-GYXf9W0Upg9FFYtd3wC0X_PKj7r72qhyphenhyphenDKDuRY77myY28dngYxvC1U48HqWil4RjO2QtGNv4B_R9iKzMX//?imgmax=800" width="163" height="244" /></a>The Hunger Games </strong>by Suzanne Collins</p> <p>Narrated by Carolyn McCormick</p> <p><strong>Publisher: </strong><a href="http://www.scholastic.com/home">Scholastic Audio</a></p> <p><strong>Category:</strong> Dystopian YA</p> <p><strong>Challenges:</strong> <a href="http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/r-eaders-i-mbibing-p-eril-vi">R.I.P. VI Challenge</a></p> <p><strong>Synopsis:</strong> 16 year old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, Panem. Every year each of the 12 districts have to send two tributes to the Capital to take part in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a fight to death for the entertainment of the inhabitants of Capital. At the annual Reaping Katniss younger sister’s name is called. Katniss, who has done everything in her power to limit Prim’s chance of being called, volunteers to go in her stead. The other Tribute from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a young boy who has loved Katniss for many years. And so begins the 74th Hunger Games. </p> <p><strong>My Thoughts:</strong> Oh. My. God. Why did I wait so bloody long to “read” this book?????!!!!!!! It is awesome!!! I’ve been listening to it every chance I’ve gotten over the last few days. Stupid work coming between me and my listening!</p> <p>This book is so perfectly balanced between the scary-monsters, scary-psychological, scary-being-a-teen-is-just-plain-scary. Katniss for all she is the primary breadwinner in her family, is so very much a teenager. </p> <p>I finally got around to listening to this book because it came up in a discussion at work the other week. We were talking about ordering books for English and some of my colleagues wanted suggestions for books. I suggested <em>The Giver</em>  and this lead to a discussion if our students could handle the themes (don’t let me get into this discussion ever again, I might actually pop a vein). The discussion climaxed in me pointing out that “kids these days” WANT to read dystopian novel. They LIKE dystopian novels. They can HANDLE dystopian novels. And I presented <em>The Hunger Games </em>as exhibit A. Since I hadn’t read it myself my colleague took over the baton at this point, and I realized that I had to read it. I am now even more convinced that this is a book we need to buy in for the school. A book we can definitely discuss in class (and since the first movie is out later this year we can actually also in years to come watch it, which was one of my colleagues requirements). </p> <p>I think that our students will be able to identify with Katniss. Although we don’t have any Hunger Games here I think they can identify with her lack of power. Although our students have a choice in what they study in school, it is limited. We expect them to make choices but we don’t really give them any choices in their choices. They can definitely identify with the general level of powerlessness that Katniss feels. I think they can also identify with the theme of trust in the book. Who can you trust? Our students aren’t required to kill each other, but I’m sure some days, for them, high school feels much like the Arena. In addition Katniss has no idea who she is or who she wants to be. We are now two months into the term and I still have kids changing programs/classes almost daily. They just don’t know. </p> <p>I have a love/hate relationship with Katniss. On the one hand she strikes me as incredibly admirable. She takes care of not just her sister but also others in the Seam. She is resourceful. At the same time she is a whinny teenager, and I spend my days with them <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-winkingsmile" alt="Winking smile" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nPzBrYLxSSR5vTmvTSQpAFz1N49UT_702cIgfEMn8kKBolesYljui53O81jYnCEk2xT6ajUXSiwzn4k5nlYiZ1b5bKBy7t0xNUrTMRRZNNXndcV2f-XhvtiOow-vuUdvLPACeBuK0-fb//?imgmax=800" />. Yes there are some mitigating circumstances. I would probably also whine a bit if I was sent to die. However, I also don’t like the way she treats Peeta. She is sooooo suspicious. She cannot believe that someone would love her. And that is sad. And it makes me wonder what life would be like in that society. Or actually in any society where you cannot trust anyone. And perhaps that is the scariest part of the book. The total lack of trust that the citizens of Panem have for one and another. </p> <p>From a suspense perspective this book was very well written. I don’t know how many times I thought “just one more chapter” and “BUT YOU CAN’T END IT THERE I REALLY REALLY NEED TO SLEEP NOW!” Collins seems to leave every single chapter on an incredible cliffhanger. </p> <p><a href="http://www.devourerofbooks.com/"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="soundbytes" border="0" alt="soundbytes" align="right" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWW01xvnNX9BCV6GLmxNRzXHjFnHkmntOwOTE7K12s-9JGtk6Hu6_iUYPCSD8-R8PIeAc9bnF-ao7Gz2Bx14rliROHj3vQjVpkqLxqBTreXQ_JH2R-FCensAZd-dcAtNhQ_P35K2hzSrii//?imgmax=800" width="240" height="200" /></a>I think the “just one more chapter” feel was enhanced by listening to it in audio. Carolyn McCormick captures Katniss fear and frustration very well and she manages to leave the cliffhangers with an audible cue that keeps causing me to hold my breath. And disregard my bedtime. The voice takes some getting used to, but I think this is true for any book you read. However the voice was believable. </p> <p>I highly highly highly recommend this book.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Hn6hx6VI9EJpABye8VXoFsNWSrfgj-0AkJRrBCNX4I28zgwlytKdNAiMEESR2oIfVQwkuPrvqdngVdQy2IXDyX1_kG9UOZHXDWb1BIpRvMvlO8WhlRSiKJXQR-eRrS9wNOkiUYsfP0tF/s1600-h/Signature%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Signature" border="0" alt="Signature" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxS3NmqIOScSuio3wJnQGeViLR_i0YGjZPAnsORuzdZcndpjolNy51pT5tRMqfIQwdtkUxb9XbjZyP2EHtYcgYlQnGpUleVLyFZA4NA5YLq31JIxbl9U5QoGyvunT-m5IKfXYn25C_iUgj//?imgmax=800" width="80" height="52" /></a></p> <p style="line-height: 13pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#000000"><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt">Copyright </font></span><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="line-height: 9pt; mso-bidi-font-family: calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin" lang="EN-US">©</span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US">2011 Zee from </span></font></font><font style="font-size: 8pt"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font color="#000000">. This post was originally posted by Zee from </font></span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://readinginthenorth.blogspot.com"><span style="line-height: 9pt"><font color="#0000ff"><u>Notes from the North</u></font></span></a></span></font><span style="line-height: 9pt" lang="EN-US"><font style="font-size: 8pt" color="#000000">. It should not be reproduced without express written permission. </font></span></font></p> Zeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11504105694800511170noreply@blogger.com0