Really Old Classics Challenge: Intro Post

The Really Old Classics Challenge is a really easy challenge to complete. Between today (September 1, 2010) and December 31st, 2010, you have to read one book. Yep you read that right, to complete this challenge all you have to do is read one book. The catch is that it has to be a Really Old Classic, which, for the purpose of this challenge is a book written prior to 1600 AD. I took part in last years challenge (which went into early this year) and I read The Epic of Gilgamesh which I thought was an interesting story but I wasn’t to fond of the translation I read.

This is the challenge I was hinting at yesterday that I was going to join. Part of my goal for this blog is to challenge me to read widely, which is why I try to join challenges that have me reading books I wouldn’t pick up normally. And, although I like classics, I have to admit the Really Old Classics are not ones I pick up often :D.

So what book am I planning to read for this challenge? Well, I was thinking of spending some time with the Ancient Greeks. While sorting through our books while doing our library renovation I found a copy of The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, so I might go with them, but at the same time, after last years issues with translations I don’t want to jump into a book just because I have it on my shelf, so I might do a bit more poking around trying to find other translations. I am looking forward to this challenge!

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

R.I.P V Challenge: Intro Post

“It was a dark and stormy night…”

Or at least I wish it was, rather than a warm, sunshiny day. Despite the weather refusing to cooperate with my gothic mood, the calendar does not lie, ladies and gentlemen. It is indeed that time of year where two short months are dedicated to reveling in all things creepy, eerie, mysterious, gothic, horrifying, suspenseful and strange.

It is time to celebrate things that go bump in the night; that favorite detective that always gets his man, or woman, in the end; that delicious chill of a creak on the stairs, of the rogue waiting in the dark, of the full moon and the flit of bats wings (Carl V of Stainless Steel Droppings on what the R.I.P. V Challenge is)

I’m almost done all the challenges I signed up for this year so I thought I would join one (or two, stay tuned) more. One of the challenges that caught my attention last year when I was still very much a baby blogger was the R.I.P. IV challenge. I didn’t join then because I was still learning to navigate the world of book blogging. This year however, I wish to “celebrate things that go bump in the night” and therefore I am joining in the Readers Imbibing Peril V. I’ve got several books to choose from. Some of them are books that have been sitting on my TBR shelf for a while, others are ones I need to finish challenges, yet others still are books I have recently discovered. All in all, all the books are books I want to read, am eager to read.

My list of possible books:

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Has been sitting on my self for about a year. I WILL read it soon.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (audio). Was convinced to get this on audio by some bad bloggers on twitter :D. Started listening to it on my walk today and almost walked another lap to continue listening, delicious!

The Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers. The final instalment in the Harriet Vane books. As I loved Gaudy Night I am really looking forward to this.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (Project Gutenberg). I first read this short story in high school, and part of me thinks that one cannot read creepy stories without reading this one.

Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal. Is one of the books I want to read for the South Asian Author Challenge, I’ve had it on my virtual TBR list all year and finally bought it earlier this week.

Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs. I LOVE the Bones tv series but I’ve been scared to read these books because I am worried I’ll compare the two. However, my dad has been talking up the books, and I won the first one in the Thriller and Suspense Challenge draw so I thought I would try it now.

As per always I reserve the right to add and subtract books from this list, which incidentally is encouraged by Carl V :D. I’m aiming for Peril the First, to read 4 books.

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

Library Envy

I have a great library, for its size. It doesn’t have a gigantic collection, but it does have dedicated librarians who are always happy to help with inter library loans. I have nothing really to complain about. I should use the library more than I do, my biggest problem is actually access. I don’t have a car and I live outside the village. This means that my mum often ends up picking up my ILLs and returning them for me. But generally I have nothing but praise for my library. However, occasionally I get a BAD case of library envy. Usually when I read about great libraries on book blogs. Libraries that seem to have the latest books in. Libraries that have scores of audiobooks for downloads (mine now does, but only in Swedish). Libraries with vast collections. I get jealous. No bones about it.

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I am also geeky enough that when I am in a city, if it is at all possible I like to check out the town library. Yes I am THAT geeky. Libraries are my happy place. But this can also lead to bad cases of library envy. This was the case a few weeks ago when I took a day trip to Stockholm.

After wandering around Söder (the South side) for a couple of hours, my feet were tired so I hopped on a bus to the main city library. Ho boy! Green eyed monster envy here! Not only is the library gorgeous on the outside

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but it also looks like this on the inside

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“Okay, okay” you say, “the library is PRETTY but a library has to be so much more than pretty! It needs to be functional!”

Well let me tell you, this library is so awesomely functional I don’t know where to begin!

Let’s start with the room in the picture: The rotunda. It doesn’t actually look quite like this anymore. The librarians desks in the middle are much smaller and have been replaced with several short time use computers and self-check out machines. Don’t get me wrong, they haven’t replaced the librarians, I saw several while I was there, but their workspace is smaller.

So to the collection in this room. This room contains mostly fiction in European languages (including Swedish and English).

Off this room (through the door in the middle for example) are smaller rooms that hold, as far as I can see, primarily non-fiction collections along with plenty of study spaces. The collections seem to be quite extensive (I browsed the teaching section and religion sections), I added several books to my virtual TBR pile and cursed the fact that this wasn’t my library so I could borrow them straight away.

There were tonnes of people studying, doing homework etc at the study places and it had a busy but not disturbing feeling to it. I could easily see myself working there on a regular basis.

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Off the rotunda, through a corridor, the children’s and YA library is located. I didn’t spend a great deal of time in that part of the library, but, from what I saw, it was a great space. The first room you come into had children’s books in different languages, which is great in a city like Stockholm where we quite a few recently arrived immigrants. Allowing their children to have access to books in their own language is great. The space also felt very cozy. It was warm and quiet. I really liked it. Looking at their website they also seem to have many activities in the children’s section.

I’ve visited libraries on two continents, in several countries. Libraries never fail to excite me, be they tiny or large, be they in modules, busses or grand buildings. Libraries are my cathedral. The ultimate place for this bookworm to worship. But occasionally I come across a library that seems more than others, that was the case this time. It was just a little bit more.

So my dear readers: Have you ever had a case of library envy? What caused that envy? Was it the service? The catalogue? The location? The way the library worked? What causes the green eyed monster to visit you?

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

BTT: Giving Up

This weeks Booking Through Thursday asks: If you’re not enjoying a book, will you stop mid-way? Or do you push through to the end? What makes you decide to stop?

I rarely give up on books. This years DNF file contains exactly one book: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. In that case it was the main character that I found to annoying to continue. And this seems to be my most common reason for abandoning books. It was the reason why I gave up on Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Cather in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (both pre-blogging). I don’t need to be able to relate to the characters in the book but I also need to be able to not feel like I want to hit them over the head. That said I did stick with Emma by Jane Austen even though I wanted to yell at the title character.

The only other time I can see myself not finishing a book is if I see no inherent value in the book. It isn’t teaching me anything, not entertaining me or I find it offensive. Even the not teaching me thing isn’t a done deal, because to be quite honest with you, when I first read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (some 10 years ago) I found little inherent value in it. Then we discussed it in class, and the rest is as they say, history. I now count it as one of my favourite books.

I choose my books carefully. Books is one of the things I rarely by on impulse (strangely enough). I have a tonne of books sitting in my wishlists (Amazon, BookDepository and Adlibris) and I haven’t bought them not because I don’t have the money, but rather because I want to consider them a bit longer. Because I consider books carefully, read reviews, ask people I trust on how they found the books etc. I rarely, even when trying new genres or authors, pick books I don’t like. Thus I rarely abandon books. Plus, I stubborn and often feel that I have to finish something when I have started it.

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

Book Review: Gaudy Night

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

Category: Classic Crime

Challenges: Women Unbound, 2010 Challenge (Bad Blogger)

Synopsis: Harriet Vane finds herself returning to Shrewsbury College, Oxford, much to her own surprise. While there she discovers a poison pen note in her gown and a disgusting drawing on the College quadrangle. When the college faculty later asks her back to deal with a spate of notes and “mischief” from the poison pen she does not hesitate. As the year goes on and she comes no closer to finding out the identity of the poison pen she asks Sir Peter Wimsey for help and the two are left to deal not just with someone trying to hurt others, but also with their feelings for each other.

My Thoughts: Oh how I loved this book! I read it because Nymeth of Things Mean A Lot, HIGHLY recommended it and I am just so incredibly glad I did! (I’m also glad I read them in order)

This book had me captured from the very first page, when it transported me to Oxford. The opening passages felt like one of those time traveller movies where you’re current location gets blurred and instead another location comes into focus. I went from being curled up in my bed, dressed in my pjs, with the wind howling and the rain smattering against the window, to the quadrangle at Shrewsbury College, Oxford, in the 1930s. Sayers wrote so vividly that I felt as if I was there.

The vivid writing was one of my favourite aspects of this book, it allowed one to really feel the fear and suspicion that was present at the college. Although the tempo of the book felt slow this contributed to the unease of the situation. One never knew when the poison pen would strike, but life still had to go on, especially if they are to catch the poison pen and all they stands for. Throughout the book I had a vaguely uncomfortable feel of being constantly on edge. Not only about when the poison pen would strike next and what they would do, but also about who they were. The strain of not knowing who the enemy was took their toll on me as well as the characters. Sayers really did a masterful job with creating the tension.

Part of the tension also came from Harriet’s feelings for Peter and her coming to terms with them, and what they meant. As well as Peter’s feelings (although to a much lesser degree) as he grappled with Harriet and her feelings. These multi-levelled tensions just had me captivated and forced to continue reading (really bad case of just one more chapter had me finishing the book in two days, at 3.30am).

A theme that was hinted on in previous books (and one that I highlighted in my reviews) was brought to the forefront in this book, and that is the role of women in society. The story takes place in the, still relatively early days, of co-education at university level, in one of the all female colleges at Oxford. The poison pen’s actions are very much directed towards those women who seek a higher education, and therefore to their* mind attempt to supplant a male field. Through the characters we meet at Oxford Sayers actually manages to make a very compelling argument for education (one of her dear to heart topics). Although we meet more men who are not serious about their education, Sayers also introduces us to women who are at the university for completely the wrong reasons. She manages to show us, the readers, that education only matters if we take it seriously, but that taking it seriously shouldn’t mean let it consume us. A balance is important. Further she argues that a well educated woman isn’t a threat to men, but rather a benefit to society, if she is allowed to use her education (an argument that is nailed down very early on in the book).

For me one of the great enjoyments of the book was seeing Harriet’s emotional growth. She had been so badly damaged in previous books that to see her grapple with her feelings for Peter was very gratifying as one could see a real growth throughout the book. And, as Nymeth mentioned, the river scene, oh my the river scene. Possibly the most perfect scene in the book (although I have another favourite in the final scene of the book). It was just packed with emotion and vividness. Like in the opening scene I felt as if I was in one of the boats on the river. I could see it all in front of me.

If I have one criticism of this book, it isn’t for Sayers writing but rather for the edition I read. It was a modern reprint with a new foreword and I would have loved a glossary at the back explaining all the academic terms. Although I myself am a graduate of one of the Ancients, my Alma Mater has been thoroughly modernised (well excepting the whacking with the Geneva Bonnet at graduation) and I had to do some googling to understand the differences in gowns and some of the academic terms. Now this might just be me and my general academic geekedness but I think that a book where much hangs on the academic world it would have been nice to explain it further to those who are not as involved in it. However, this is a VERY minor point.

Overall I agree with Nymeth on her assessment that one MUST read the books in order, otherwise one misses out on much of what makes this book great. The book also left me wanting to read the books that feature Peter Wimsey and Sayers essay “The Lost Tools of Learning” In addition I want to say that everyone should read this book, it is AWESOME!

Purchase Gaudy Night from BookDepository

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

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Audio]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Narrated by Stephen Fry

Category: Children’s

Synopsis: Harry finds out that convicted criminal and Voldemort supporter Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban (wizarding prison) and is after him. Then he finds out that Black was his parents best friend and is his godfather.

My Thoughts: Prisoner of Azkaban has always been one of my favourite Harry Potter books. There is a great mixture of excitment, humour, and scariness. Along with it moving the story forward and introducing new characters in a good way.

I love the development of Hermione in this book. Emotionally not that much happens with Harry and Ron (which feels true to the age they are), but Hermione starts to really bloom. This book always makes me wish I had read it when I was the same age as the characters (I was in my late teens when I started reading HP). Hermione is so much like me. The obsessive need to know everything, and to show it off. Taking on more than she can chew, and then refusing to admit it before almost having a nervous breakdown. These are all me (both then and now). And I think it would have been great to have someone to whom I could relate to growing up.

I also love the relationship between Harry and Lupine. It is nice to see Harry bonding with a teacher that was also his parents friend. Someone who can connect him to his past as well as his future.

I really do love this book, but since I have read it many times it is very hard to review it :D

Narration: I’ve previously declared my love for the narrations of Mr Fry and this book is no exceptions. His voice is very soothing but not to the point where one falls asleep. He changes his voice to distinguish characters but not in a way where it seems out of character (unlike my rant regarding Dean Thomas accent in the US version). It is just, for me, the perfect narration of these books.

Purchase Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in audio from BookDepository.

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

TSS: Building a Child’s Library

So as many of you know I recently became an aunt and now I need your help. My sister, being very much herself, refuses to speak English to the little girl, I, being the good aunt I am, promised my b-i-l that I would always speak English to her so that she would learn. I figure because of this it will also be my job to ensure that she has a decent library of books in English. Here is where you guy’s come in. I want your suggestions for books every child should have in their library. In return I will highlight some Swedish children’s books that have been translated into English that I think every child should have the opportunity to read. I’ve divided them into picture books and chapter books. First the picture books (links to BookDepository where possible, otherwise Powells (where I am not an affiliate))

Picture books (in no particular order)

The Children of the Forrest by Elsa Beskow

Peter in the Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow

The Tale of the Little, Little Old Woman by Elsa Beskow

All of Elsa Beskow’s books are beautiful and sweet. I picked these three because they were firm favourites with me when I was growing up. The Tale of the Little, Little Old Woman was the first book I “read” (I had my parents read it to me so many times that I knew it by heart). The Children of the Forrest is a beautiful story about taking care of those less fortunate and about taking care of nature. It has now come out in a compact form which is perfect for little hands. Peter in the Blueberry Land is a beautiful, imaginative story. Really you can’t go wrong with anything by Beskow

A Rumpus in the Garden by Sven Nordqvist

Pancakes for Findus by Sven Nordqvist

These two books are about a man and his cat who get into all sorts of scrapes, partially because the cat is dressed in shorts and a hat and talks to the man, no one else hears him and therefore they think he is strange. They are hysterically funny for children and parents alike, if nothing else for the incredibly detailed drawings with all sorts of things going on.

Chapter books

Here I am going to recommend Astrid Lindgren. Really, ANYTHING by her is going to be awesome.

Lotta on Troublemaker Street is a good first chapter book (the heroine of the book is a 5 year old girl who wishes she was as old as her older brother and sister). And there are at least two more books about Lotta translated into English. (Read the book, understand the pig :D)

If you have boys the books about Emil (Emil and the Sneaky Rat, Emil and the Great Escape and Emil’s Clever Pig) are sure to be big hits, although, I’m a girl and I love them so pretty much everyone loves them ;) For those of you who have not met Emil before, he is a young boy (about 6 I think) who somehow manages to get into trouble even when he isn’t trying. Or, actually, he usually ends up in trouble when he is trying to do something nice because it goes wrong. When it does his father chases him (or his mother urges him with his dad running after) into the woodshed where he carves wood animals while his dad calms down.

Then of course there is Pippi. I’m not sure what to say about Pippi other than the fact that she is seen here as someone who empowers children.

I do so wish that the books about Madicken had been translated into English, they would be my very first recommendation to anyone (are you listening publishers?)

Chapter Books for Older Children

Ronia the Robber’s Daughter is a wonderfully empowering story about a young girl. It covers topic such as loyalty, honesty, friendship, love (not the romantic kind really) and a growing sense of independence. It is set in a far off mystical time, so it has a certain fantasy feel to it.

There are two chapter books by Astrid Lindgren that I think all children should read, but they should probably have at least started school before you give them to them. And if they are sensitive (I am*) you might want to read them aloud so you can talk about it.

Mio, My Son is about a young boy who has to fight evil. It is recommended at adlibris.se for ages 9-12 and I always thought it was a bit scary. But also very thought provoking. (on a slightly unrelated note but I know this interest some of you ;) my brother and his girlfriend have a cat named Mio after the character in this book)

 

 

 

The Brothers Lionheart is a story about death, love and courage. Some might want to pre-read this (or skip it entirely) depending on your families views on what happens after death. Again, as a child I found this book a bit upsetting but at the same time I loved it. (Looking up this book on BookDepository other suggested books that came up with it were the Hunger Games series for an idea of who might like it, although I wouldn’t call it dystopian, it does have certain dystopian elements, and it is certainly an adventure story).

*Growing up I couldn’t watch tv shows or movies where children or animals went missing from their families and had adventures because I would spend the entire time wailing “I want him to find his mommy, why can’t he find his mommy”. One show was so particularly bad I couldn’t even hear the theme tune before I started crying.

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