(via) One of those images that I probably really shouldn’t have copied, but at least thanks to the watermark I found the original source of this one. And it’s oh so lovely, even if fadingshade was unhappy with it.
Kategori: Aardvark – on books in general, booklinks, bookmemes and such
En smakebit på søndag: U-
Jeg gikk på biblioteket på lørdag (det vil si i går, vi har hatt barnebursdag med sju 4-5-åringer siden det så det føles som en uke siden alt) for å finne færøyisk litteratur til den nordiske utfordringens tredje måned. Jeg kom hjem med U-, med undertittelen Historier om djevelskap, skrevet av Carl Jóhan Jensen. Den er på skarve 908 sider. På nynorsk. Jeg framsetter derfor en teori om at jeg ikke er riktig klok. Är du inte riktig klok, Pippi? som de sier.
Til mitt forsvar ser den interessant ut.
Siden jeg ikke har begynt å lese den ennå – hadde tenkt å begynne i kveld – serverer jeg de første avsnittene som smakebit:
Bygda oppe i dalen er lita og vanskeleg å komme seg til. Rundt omkring er det høge fjell i alle retningar utanom ein, vest mot havet. Ikkje er det noe til veg heller, så ein kjem seg ikkje dit i bil og snautt nok til hest. Reiser du sjøvegen er stranda høg og bratt som eit berg. Strømhardt er det der og ureint, sjeldan muleg å legge til, bortsett frå når vêret er det aller beste, når sjøen er roleg innmed land.
Og her fins ingen ting. Verken vinter eller vår. Sommar eller haust.
Heilt tomt.
Heile året rundt fins det ingen ting oppe i denne djupe dalen anna enn langdryge dagar.
Flere smakebiter finner du hos Flukten fra virkeligheten.
Some numbers for 2011
It’s all the rage, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon:
I read 74 books in 2011 – not counting children’s picture books, but counting everything else (that I can remember).
30 were written by women, 44 by men, which is around 40% women, 60% men. Had I not reread Patrick O’Brian it might have been closer to 50-50, but those twenty books were a hefty chunk.
The British, unsurprisingly, dominate. 49 books were written by Brits, and I guess they could take some credit for Bryson, Hamid and Aboulela, too, though I’m going to assign them to their origins. So: USA: 8, Norway: 7, Sweden: 3, and 1 each to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Peru, Japan, Pakistan and Sudan. Which doesn’t add up to 74. What did I miss? Oh, Ireland.
Language-wise it’s even more skewed towards English, with an additional 11, giving a total of 61 books in English and 13 «other».
So I guess it’s a good thing I’m doing this Nordic challenge. In fact, since I started that, 5 out of 15 books have been in other languages than English.
I should still read more from other parts of the world, though. Since I have a few on the waiting list, perhaps I should make that the focus of the «off the shelves» resolution.
And genre: 45 «standard» novels, 14 child/YA novels, 2 graphic novels, 4 memoirs and 9 other non-fiction (mostly travel).
Books read 2011
(more or less complete)
- When God was a Rabbit – Sarah Winman (28.12)
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara Robinson (27.12)
- Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami (27.12)
- Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austen (reread)
- Alma Mater – Gwendolen Freeman
- Minaret – Leila Aboulela
- Stardust – Neil Gaiman
- Bankstræde nr. 0 – Einar Már Guðmundsson (13.12)
- Jentene gjør opprør – Frøydis Guldahl (reread)
- Lille hjelper – Cesilie Holck
- De hengte revenes skog – Aarto Paasilinna
- Fru Björks öden och äventyr – Jonas Gardell
- Comfort & Joy – India Knight
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Moshin Hamid
- Ned til hundene – Helle Helle
- Hårfine floker! – Tania Kjeldset
- Bluestockings – Jane Robinson
- Doktor Proktor og verdens Undergang. Kanskje. – Jo Nesbø
- En kupa av kristall – Annika Hedström
- Only Time Will Tell – Jeffrey Archer
- Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter – Mario Vargas Llosa
- Bak Mumme bor Moni – Gro Dahle
- Kva tåler så lite at det knuser om du seier namnet på det? – Bjørn Sortland
- M – Marzan og Opars juveler – Mads Eriksen
- I Left my Tent in San Fransisco – Emma Kennedy
- The Last Dragonslayer – Jasper Fforde
- Blue at the Mizzen – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Hundred Days – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Yellow Admiral – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Commodore – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Wine-Dark Sea – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- Clarissa Oakes – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Nutmeg of Consolation – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Thirteen-Gun Salute – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Letter of Marque – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Reverse of the Medal – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Far Side of the World – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- Treason’s Harbour – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Ionian Mission – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Surgeon’s Mate – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Fortune of War – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- Desolation Island – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Mauritius Command – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- HMS Surprise – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- Post Captain – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- Master & Commander – Patrick O’Brian (reread)
- The Great Western Beach – Emma Smith
- The Rune Blade Trilogy – Ann Marston
- One of Our Thursdays is Missing – Jasper Fforde
- At Home – Bill Bryson
- That Old Cape Magic – Richard Russo
- The Bridge of Sighs – Richard Russo
- Ketchupmamman – Karin Lindell
- The School at the Chalet – Elinor Brent-Dyer
- Great Bus Journeys of the World – Alexei Sayle and David Stafford
- Travels with my Radio – Fi Glover
- Whisky Blues – Per Erik Tell og Börje Berglund
- The Invention of Hugo Cabret
- The Brightest Star in the Sky – Marian Keyes
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J. K. Rowling (reread)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J. K. Rowling (reread)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J. K. Rowling (reread)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J. K. Rowling (reread)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling (reread)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J. K. Rowling (reread)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J. K. Rowling (reread)
- Started Early, Took my Dog – Kate Atkinson
- The Worst Date Ever – Jane Bussmann
- The Tent, The Bucket and Me – Emma Kennedy
- Pies and Prejudice – Stuart Maconie
- A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
- The Other Hand – Chris Cleave
- Generation A – Douglas Coupland
- India – Torbjørn Færøvik
On this and that
First: I’ve added a page called Books read by year and gone through the archives to try to put complete lists together. As for previous years, the lists are probably never going to be complete, but from now on I will attempt to remember to update the list once I’ve finished a book, whether I have the time and wherewithall to blog about it or not. That way the list can serve as a reminder to myself of what I might need to blog about as well. We’ll see how that goes.
I’m contemplating adding a «books I’ve started but for some reason not finished» page, which would also serve as a reminder to get around to finishing a few of them. I tend to lose track and then find books again years later with a bookmark half-way through. Quite frequently it’s not that I didn’t want to finish, but that something more exciting diverted my attention and I simply forgot to go back.
Secondly: I see a lot of bloggers stating their reading resolutions for 2012 these days. I’m not really into resolutions, but I do have a lot of books on my shelves that I bought because I really wanted to read them and then didn’t get around to, so I think a goal of trying to get through quite a few of my shelf-warmers might be a good idea – I’ll do a count at the end of the year to see how I did. In addition, I’ve got a few bookcrossing books that I’ve had in my possession for far too long, and I will try to move some of those along too. Other than that my main resolution is to be better at keeping up with the blog. Even if I don’t get around to writing long entries on everything I read, I should at least remember to update frequently enough that I don’t lose track of books completely. A sentence or two has got to be better than no mention at all, and in 2012 I will try to remember that.
Thirdly: In February this blog will be 10 years old. Aaaw. All grown up! Ahem. Well, I will celebrate by having a giveaway. There will be books up for grabs. A lot of books. I’ll get back which ones and how to enter to «win» in about a month, and I’ll do the draw on the big day, which is 20th February.
The Broke and the Bookish Secret Santa
I signed up for The Broke and the Bookish Secret Santa without thinking twice. I mean, I love to send off mysterious packages, and who doesn’t love receiving them? What did I have to lose?
The rules were very open, the minimum being ‘a book and a goodie’, though we were told the average was probably more like two books. My recipient had one of my all-time favourites on her wishlist, so I ordered that from Amazon and asked them to send it directly (as there was no chance in h*** it would reach me in time for me to send it on before Christmas). Hopefully that got there in timely fashion, because what with one thing and another the second part got off to a late start. That contained more books (one old-but-new and a couple of bookcrossing books that I’ve been looking for a good reader for and that seem to be right up my recipient’s alley) and the goodies (no, I did not stop at one). It may not have arrived in time for Christmas, but should be there any day – I hope!
Well, I knew what I sent, but had very little idea of what I might expect to receive. However, a bursting package arrived, and look:
I’m more than happy, I must say. Not pictured: Chocolate. Lots of it!
Two of the books were off my wishlist – The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and When God was a Rabbit, so naturally they made me happy as a clam. My secret santa had found out I have a daughter, so she also sent The Little Water-Sprite, and says it was her favourite as a child and her mother read it to her again and again, so she hopes I will do the same for my daughter. No worries, I will! So nice to have something that was someone’s favourite. The packages were decorated with the most gorgeous ribbon (which I’ll find a use for) and some ornaments, among them a wooden Janosh art rendering which I ADORE. How did you know I love Janosh? I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it on the blog(s)… Needless to say it’s gracing our tree.
Paket, paket!
Trots att paketet fick en tur inom Arvika på vägen hem till mig nådde det hit innan julafton, men jag har inte haft möjligheten at blogga om det med bild före nu.
Kan jag bara säga att jag är jättenöjd?
Life of Pi har jag visserligen tänkt at läsa förut, men aldrig komit åt. Nu ska jag klara det! Och Hey Dolly ser rätt interessant ut och passar utmärkt i min Nordiska utmaning. Förutan böckarna fanns et stiligt hjärta som numera hänger i julgranen och mumsig lakrits (jag har inte hunnit smaka ännu, men visst ser det mumsigt ut?).
Tack så mycket, min hämliga vän!
Jag har ingen aning vem du är, men jag ska fundera lite och klicka mig runt i dom deltagande bloggarna för att se om jag kan lista ut det.
(Julklappsbytet arrangerades av En bok om dagen, en STOR tack till dig också.)
A Christmas Calendar: December 24th
Julaften! It’s Christmas eve, which means to us here in Norway it is now Christmas proper. The ‘ribbe’ is in the oven and in a couple of hours we willbe stuffing ourselves with it, and then the gift opening commences. Yes, we open our gifts on the evening of the 24th. Hopefully there is a book or two under the tree for me.
So this is the last day of my calendar this year, and I’ve found another video that I want to share. One thing we need to watch on tv on Christmas eve (in the afternoon, so would that be Christmas afternoon, then?) is a modified version of ‘Jiminy Cricket’s Christmas’. It’s aired on both NRK (Norwegian state owned tv), SVT (Swedish ditto) and TV2 (Norwegian commercial channel), and I don’t much care which I watch for the most part, but one of the shorts has to be watched on SVT. No Christmas without Ferdinand, ‘som sitter under sin korkek och luktar på blommorna’.
A Christmas Calendar: December 23rd
This evening most of Norway (I don’t know the actual numbers, but they’re pretty large) will make sure they catch the viewing of ‘Dinner for one’ on television. We know it as ‘Grevinnen og hovmesteren’ and for some reason it’s traditionally aired on 23rd December, despite the fact that the setting is actually New Years’ Eve. But then, most other Christmas traditions make very little sense, so why should this one? Anyway, to a hefty number of Norwegians, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it.
A cultural marker, and one which is a great example of how we humans see what we expect to see: Most Norwegians who’ve never been asked the question before will swear on their mother’s grave (if she happens to be dead, that is) that the rug James keeps stumbling over is a polar bear. This despite the fact that they’ve watched it once a year every year their whole lives. The human brain is strange.
A Christmas Calendar: December 22nd
I laughed. Out loud. I’d watch that film. (Via)