The Broke and the Bookish Secret Santa

secretsanta

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:

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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?

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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.

100 kvinner

Lyran har postet en nylig oppdatert liste over 100 lesverdige kvinnelige forfattere, og dere kjenner vel meg? Er det noe jeg ikke kan motstå er det lister.

Fetstila tiel + författare om du läst boken
Om du inte läst just den boken men annat av författaren – fetstila författaren
Kursivera de titlar du vill läsa
Stryk över de du inte vill läsa, eller markera dem med rött
* efter boken betyder att du aldrig hört talas om boken/författaren
+ efter boken betyder att du äger den
x efter boken betyder att du påbörjat men inte läst ut den

1. Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi – En halv gul sol
2. Aidoo, Ama Ata – Förändringar*
3. Alfvén, Inger – s/y Glädjen*
4. Allende, Isabel – Andarnas hus
5. Angelou, Maya – Jag vet varför burfågeln sjunger +x
6. Aronsson, Stina – Hitom himlen
7. Atwood, Margaret – Penelopiaden
8. Axelsson, Majgull – Aprilhäxan
9. Austen, Jane – Stolthet och fördom +
10. Barbery, Muriel – Igelkottens elegans
11. Beecher Stowe, Harriet – Onkel Toms stuga
12. Benedictson, Victoria – Pengar *
13. Beyala, Calixte – Ännu talar träden *
14. Blixen, Karen – Min afrikanska farm +
15. Bourdouxhe, Madeleine – Gilles kvinna *
16. Boye, Karin – Kallocain
17. Brantenberg, Gerd – Egalias döttrar *
18. Brontë, Anne – Agnes Grey +
19. Brontë, Charlotte – Jane Eyre +
20. Brontë, Emily – Svindlande höjder +
21. Buck, Pearl – Den goda jorden
22. Castillon, Claire – Insekt *
23. Chang, Jung – Vilda svanar
24. Christie, Agatha – Tio små negerpojkar
25. Condé, Maryse – Desirada
26. Devi, Mahasweta – Branden i hjärtat *
27. Djebar, Assia – Sultanbrudens skugga *
28. Duras, Marguerite – Älskaren
29. Ekman, Kerstin – Hunden
30. El Saadawi, Nawal – Den stulna romanen
31. Emecheta, Buchi – Andra klassens medborgare
32. Erdo?an, Asl? – Den mirakulöse mandarinen *
33. Fagerholm, Monika – Underbara kvinnor vid vatten +
34. Flygare-Carlén, Emilie – Rosen på Tistelön
35. Frame, Janet – En ängel vid mitt bord x
36. Frank, Anne – Anne Franks dagbok
37. Fredriksson, Marianne – Simon och ekarna
38. French, Marilyn – Kvinnorummet +
39. Gordimer, Nadine – Min sons historia +
40. Grímsdóttir, Vigdís – Jag heter Isbjörg jag är ett lejon
41. Highsmith, Patricia – En man med många talanger
42. Holst, Hanne-Vibeke – Min mosters migrän
43. Hustvedt, Siri – Vad jag älskade +
44. Isaksson, Ulla – De två saliga
45. Jansson, Tove – Pappan och havet +
46. Jelinek, Elfriede – Älskarinnorna
47. Jong, Erica – Rädd att flyga
48. Kandre, Mare – Aliide, Aliide *
49. Khoury-Ghata, Vénus, – Sju stenar till den otrogna hustrun *
50. Kincaid, Jamaica – Annie John
51. Kleve, Stella (Malling, Mathilda) – Bertha Funke
52. Krauss, Nicole – Det stora huset
53. von Krusenstjerna, Agnes – Den blå rullgardinen
54. Lagerlöf, Selma – Kejsarn av Portugallien +
55. Lahiri, Jhumpa – Främmande jord
56. Lessing, Doris – Gräset sjunger
57. Lidman, Sara – Lifsens rot
58. Linderborg, Åsa – Mig äger ingen
59. Lispector, Clarice – Stjärnans ögonblick
60. Lugn, Kristina – Stulna juveler
61. Malmsten, Bodil – Den dagen kastanjerna slår ut är jag långt härifrån
62. Martinson, Moa – Kvinnor och äppelträd
63. McCullough, Colleen – Törnfåglarna
64. Mernissi, Fatima – Drömmar om frihet
65. Mitchell, Margaret – Borta med vinden
66. Morante, Elsa – Historien
67. Morrison, Toni – Älskade
68. Müller, Herta – Hjärtdjur
69. Munro, Alice – Kärlek, vänskap, hat
70. Némirovsky, Irène – Storm över Frankrike
71. Oates, Joyce Carol – Blonde
72. Oksanen, Sofi – Utrensning
73. Olsson, Vibeke – Molnfri bombnatt
74. Plath, Sylvia – Glaskupan
75. Roy, Arudhati – De små tingens gud
76. Sachs, Nelly – Den store anonyme
77. Sagan, Françoise – Ett moln på min himmel
78. Sandel, Cora – Alberte-serien
79. Satrapi, Marjane – Persepolis +
80. Sapfo – Sapfo : dikter och fragment
81. Shafak, Elif – Bastarden från Istanbul
82. Sundström, Gun-Britt – Maken
83. Szymborska, Wis?awa – Här
84. Shelley, Mary – Frankenstein x
85. Stenberg, Birgitta – Alla Vilda
86. Stridsberg, Sara – Drömfakulteten
87. Strömquist, Liv – Ja till Liv
88. Tan, Amy – Joy Luck Club +
89. Thorvall, Kerstin – När man skjuter arbetare
90. Thúy, Kim – Ru
91. Trosell, Aino – Hjärtblad
92. Trotzig, Birgitta – Dykungens dotter
93. Tyler, Anne – Ett amatöräktenskap
94. Ulitskaja, Ljudmila – En munter begravning
95. Undset, Sigrid – Kristin Lavransdotter +
96. Wassmo, Herbjörg – Huset med den blinda glasverandan +
97. Winterson, Jeanette – Det finns annan frukt än apelsiner
98. Woolf, Virginia – Mot fyren +
99. Wägner, Elin – Pennskaftet
100. Zeh, Juli – Corpus Delicti

Strengt tatt vil jeg vel lese nesten alle, men jeg har nå satt de i kursiv som jeg mer umiddelbart har på min «skulle ha lest»-liste.

A Christmas Calendar: December 20th

Following up the review of Stardust with a not particularly Christmassy, but all the better for it, quote from Neil Gaiman, found on the bookcrossing website.

Picking five favourite books is like picking the five body parts you’d most like not to lose.

And may I just say that the same goes for whisky? I’ve been asked both in the last couple of days, by people I hardly know. «So, what’s your favourite book/whisky, then?» Uhm. Unanswerable questions that have, for the sake of politeness, to be answered. There’s a reason why I don’t like small-talk very much.

A Christmas Calendar: December 18th

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

We drove from Oslo to Trondheim yesterday. Miles to go before I sleep, indeed.

This is one of those poems I get as an ear worm occasionally. I learnt it by heart some twenty years ago, and it still resonates in my head (as do Fire and Ice and The Road Less Travelled by the same poet).