Christmas countdown - day 24 (aka the final day!)

A book with connections to Christmas

I know it’s not really a “Christmas book” but I’m going to pick Harry Potter nonetheless. I received the two first books on my birthday the year the second book was released, and because my mom wasn’t entirely sure what they were about and if they were appropriate for me to read (I was 8 years old) which meant I couldn’t start reading them until around Christmas since my birthday is in late November. Therefore the books are connected to Christmas to me. Also, they do have scenes in pretty much all books that are all about celebrating Christmas, and I loved reading those bits. I’ve always wanted, and still do, one of those ugly knitted sweaters from Molly Weasely.

So Harry Potter it is.

That's it for the Christmas countdown! Can't believe it's already here. In Sweden we celebrate Christmas on the 24th, today, so I'll be busy tonight opening presents and spending time with the family. 

So Merry Christmas to all of you, and hope you have a good day today and if you celebrate tomorrow I hope you have a great day tomorrow no matter what you are planning to do. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas countdown - day 23

A poem or a collection of poems

I love poems. However, I do not have a poet that is my favourite. A poem that has stuck with me is the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. I read it for the first time during upper secondary school and fell in love with it.

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 sounds 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.

Do you have a favourite poem or collection of poems?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas countdown - day 22

A book about food

I can’t say that I’ve read that many books about food. Not cookbooks or books where the main characters talk about food a lot. I own two cookbooks but have never ever made anything from a recipe in them. As far as I can recall none of the books I own have food as a main theme. Unless you count some books where the main characters are waitresses? Ah well, I suppose that is all I’ve got to say about books about food, since I cannot pick one due to the fact that I can’t think of one.

Do you have a good book about food?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas countdown - day 21

Library memories

I loved going to the library as a child. We always borrowed books there for school, and we could choose any book we wanted to read during our “reading hour”. That’s how I found and fell in love with the fantasy genre. When I went to upper secondary school me and some classmates used to spend a lot of time studying in the library. I have a very fond memory of the three of us sitting in a corner of the library trying to study but instead giggling like madmen over random things as you do when you are 15-16 years old. We recorded a sound clip during that day which we still laugh about today almost 10 years later. Mature we are not.

I still like the library but since I buy all my books these days, I do not spend that much time there anymore. I was actually there this week, although it was only to return some books that I had borrowed for a course I’m reading.

Do you have any fun library memories?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas countdown - day 20

Short stories! Yes, no? Favourites?

Yes, why not? I have not read many stories in my free time but I have read several at school. I suppose that short stories are quite good to read when you don’t have the patience to sit down and focus on a book for a long period of time. Because I haven’t read that many short stories in my days I do not have a favourite. But one that I’ve read recently that I liked was “Lusus Naturae” by Margaret Atwood. It was cleverly written and if you like the slightly macabre you will probably like it. 

Christmas Countdown - day 19

A book with a non-human as narrator/protagonist

Oh my, it took me so effing long to come up with a book that I’ve read that had a no-human as a narrator/protagonist. So long! I’ve been pondering over this questions for days, and it was the hardest question to answer. I realised why it was so difficult when I actually googled what qualified as non-human in books. I think of everything that is humanoid as human, which apparently isn’t the case. Elves, trolls, hobbits, vampires, werewolves and so on are all non-humans. But before I googled it I actually came up with a book that I’ve read and loved that is narrated by a non-human.

The book is Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I love horses so the book was a must for me as a child. I can’t remember exactly when I read it, but I was probably around the age of 10. I had seen the movie previous to reading the book and loved the movie. The book is such a tearjerker and if you are an animal lover, or overall have a heart, this book can be quite difficult to read. 

Christmas Countdown - day 18

Do you read e-books? On what platform? Why/why not?

I do not read e-books that often, but I do have the Kindle app on my phone, iPad and PC, and sometimes if a book is released earlier on that platform or is, simply enough, much cheaper, then I will read the e-book. I’m one of those people however, who like to have the physical book in my hands, so I really hope that “real” books aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Do you read e-books?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - day 17

Having subtitles when watching TV or movies, what’s your relationship with that?

I live in Sweden so I’m very used to subtitles. We have that on all shows that aren’t originally spoken in Swedish. Apart from children’s shows we do not dub TV-programmes or movies in the cinema. So I’m very used to it. I don’t need subtitles when it comes to shows that are in English, and usually ignore them then. But I have a very long and good relationship with subtitles.

What do you think about subtitles?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown- Day 16

The longest series you’ve read

The longest series I’ve read have to be “The Southern Vampire Mysteries” by Charlene Harris. It’s the books that inspired the True Blood TV series. It didn’t like the TV series but loved the books. I own them all, and have read several of them several times over. There are 13 books in the series which makes it the longest series I’ve finished. I’ve read books in several other series that are longer, but I haven’t finished the whole series. “The Black Dagger Brotherhood” by JR. Ward will either land on the same amount of books or be more, so we will see if “The Southern Vampire Mysteries” will stay on that number one spot. 

What's the longest series you've read?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - day 15

Book organization. Do you sort after author, genre, colour or other?

I generally sort after author, although not alphabetically. If there is a series I sort them from the first to last book. I like to have the largest book (height wise) on the furthest left and then the smallest to the right, unless all books are the same size. Right now I don’t have enough space for all my books to be organized exactly as I want, but my goal one day is to have a bookshelf organized by authors in alphabetical order. Not that I’m to bothered by it, but it so much easier to find books you are looking for if they are organized in some sort of way.

How do you organize your bookshelf?

Merry Christmas!

Ps. what happened yesterday? All of a sudden I log in and find that so many people from France has looked at the blog. Not that you aren’t welcome, it was just a surprise. Bonjour and joyeux Noël.

Christmas countdown - day 14

A book that was published on the day you were born, or an author with the same birthday as you

This was extremely hard and I actually had to Google people born or books published on my birthday, which is November 26. I was happily surprised to find that James Dashner, the author of the Maze Runner series, is born on the same day.

I've gotta be honest and say that I haven't read the Maze Runner series just yet but they are all wating for me in my bookshelf. I have to finish my books for university and the Hunger Games-trilogy first. I have seen the film though and really liked it. The overall man candy in that one would have been worth it even if the movie had sucked. It didn't though, so I'm really looking forward to reading the books. And next year I will remember to wish James a happy birthday on my birthday :D

Merry Christmas!

ps. We decorated our christmas tree today. I feel extremely festive! And it's only 10 days left until christmas!!! (in Sweden we celebrate on the 24th).

Christmas countdown - day 13

A book with Italian connections

When I sat down and looked at this question I first thought that no, I have never ever read a book with Italian connections. Then I realised just now when I started writing this that Romeo & Juliet take place in Verona ... in Italy. So shame on me. Will therefore be a slightly longer post than if I just sat down and said I've read no books with Italian connections.

Romeo & Juliet then. It's one of the most famous love stories ever written. It is usually the first thing people say when you ask them to mention a work written by William Shakespeare. I do realise it is in actuality written as a play, but for some reason I always think of it as a book. I have very mixed feelings towards Romeo and his dearest Juliet. It is classified as a great love story and many times when I think about it that is exactly what it feels like. 

However, sometimes when I think about it I just feel like Romeo and Juliet are just two horny teenagers, who then lose their minds. Perhaps they are slightly deluded even. Pessimist is my middle name. 

So that is my book with an Italian connection. Do you have one?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas countdown - day 12

How many books have you read?

It's actually a really good question. According to Goodreads I've read 115 books, but that isn't close to how many books I've actually read. That's just the ones I've remembered to add to Goodreads, I think it might be more than 600-700 books so far in my life. I wouldn't be suprised if it is even more.

How many books have you read?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - Day 11

 The worst book you’ve ever read

The worst book I've ever read has to be Hard Times (1854) by Charles Dickens. It's just so extremely boring! I know it's a classic and probably quite important to read but dang it it's just way to boring to be worth it. There are probably loads more of books (such as Twilight) that rank on the "bad"-list for me but I still cringe when I Think about Hard Times and therefore that's the one I choose for todays question.

Which one is the worst book you've ever read?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - Day 10

A book by a Nobel prize winner

How can we already be on day 10? Time just flies by! Wishing for some snow here in Sweden though, at the moment we've only got rain. We are celebrating Alfred Nobel today here in Sweden, and several of you probably know that the Nobel Prize is being awarded in several categories in our capital city Stockholm as well (just like always). In my house we will have the ceremony and banquet on as background noise for the rest of the evening. Anyway, on to the questions!

I've read books from Pär Lagerkvist (won 1951),  Selma Lagerlöf (won 1909), Rudyard Kipling (1907) and some poetry by W.B. Yeats (won 1923). Considering that the prize has been awarded since 1901 that's very few authors that's won the Nobel Prize that I've read books from. 

If I have to pick one book from these 4 authors I'd have to pick The Jungle Book (1894). The book version of The Jungle Book is a collection of short stories and are in the shape of fables. It has all the elements of the Disney film so a lot is recognizable if you've seen the film. Why did I pick this book? Mostly because I pretty much hated everything I've read from Lagerkvist och Largerlöf, and I've only read a few poems by Yeats. 

How are you celebrating the Nobel Day? 

Merry Christmas

Christmas Countdown - Day 9

A thick book

William Shakespeare's Complete Works. 

(not my picture)

It is really thick, obviously since Shakespeare has written a lot of texts, both plays and sonnets. It is one of the thickest books in my bookshelf. It is brilliant to have all of his works compiled into one book, although I have to be honest and say that I do not read his works all that often. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - day 8

A learners book that you clearly remember from childhood/teenage years

Well... there really isn't one. My crappy translation from Swedish here means that "learners book" refers to a course book you had in one of your subjects at school. Not even one of the books that I had in school during childhood and teenage years are books that I remember. I know I had to read loads of them but apparently I cannot remember them. 

Really quick and short answer today. Do you have a learners/course book that you clearly remember?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - Day 7

A fairy tale. Classic or modern interpretation.

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

Let's start with the modern interpretation, which I consider the Disney version to be. I absolutely adore the music in The Little Mermaid, and that's why it's one of my favourites. I also love the story, the idea that love conquers all. Sebastian is probably one of my favourite characthers of all time in a Disney film. Everything ends happy and the Little Mermaid gets her prince. 

Ironically the classic Brother's Grimm verions is not as romantic and happy. Here the Little Mermaid isn't as lucky. The prince fall in love with someone else, our heroine has to kill him in order to return to the sea and cannot do it and instead turns into seafoam. Not to mention the fact that every single step she takes on her human legs is extremely painful. However, I like this version as well. The LM is redeemed at the end and turned into a spirit because she took the moral highground and did not take the selfish way out which would have ment killing the prince. 

That's my answer for day 7. What is your favourie fairy tale?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas countdown - day 6

What’s your relationship to reading in school? As a student, teacher or parent.

I honestly haven't done that much reading in school unless you count reading course books. However, I have done a few courses that required reading literature. Since I in general love reading I usually don't have a problem reading in school. There is a tendency amongst teacher to chose the most boring books though which is a little bit annoying. But realistically you can't pick the most interesting books all the time, you do need to read the classics as well.

I'm currently studying to become a teacher myself and now realise that it's not that simple for a teacher to pick a book that will be entertaining for everyone in a class. Not everyone will be happy with your choice of book, nor does everyone like reading. 

The day I have children I will ensure that they read but will not force them if they end up not liking reading. That I don't believe in. I will however encourage them to read because I know how important reading is. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown - Day 5

Do you read comic books or graphic novels? Favourite genre?

No I do not. Simple enough because I've never come across any that I've been interested in reading in later years. I did read comic books when I was kid however, like the Phantom for example. If I was recommended some I wouldn't hesistate reading them however (wink wink)

Here are the rest of the question if you've missed them.

Merry Christmas!