There will be another set of short reviews for my March reading. I read nine books, of which four were nonfiction. Two of them history books in Swedish so I will not say too much about them here. I did write about the findings in Uppåkra (Tusen år i Uppåkra by Dick Harrisson) in my newsletter, article on Reality, or myths?
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa
A charming little story about a cat who helps a young boy to save his grandfather's bookstore. There were lots of thoughts on books and reading, and here are some of them.
Books can give us knowledge, wisdom, values, a view of the world, and so much more. The joy of learning something you didn’t know before, and seeing things in a whole new way, if exciting.
Books can't live your life for you.
I’m going to say it as loud as I can. Empathy - that’s the power of books.
If you find it difficult it’s because a book contains something that is new to you. Every difficult book offers us a brand-new challenge.
A book that sits on a shelf is nothing but a bundle of paper. Unless it is opened, a book possessing great power or an epic story is a mere scrap of paper. But a book that has been cherished and loved, filled with human thoughts, has been endowed with a soul.
Books have helped me many times. I’m the kind of person who tends to dwell on the past, and I give up way too easily, but somehow, I’ve made it this far because books keep me going.
A cherished book will always have a soul. It will come to its reader’s aid in times of crisis.
In the same way that music is made up of more than notes, books are more than just words.
Donna Leon reading
My Venice reading (due to our visit there, more in another post) has lead me to the thrillers by Donna Leon. In her first book in the Commissario Brunetti series, Dean at la Fenice we get to know the characters that return in the coming books. A famous conductor is found dead in his loge at the opera and Brunetti has to use all his skills to find out what actually happened.
Casanova in Venice
More Venice reading and why not about one of the most famous citizens of the city, Casanova. This is an extract from his memoirs that fits into drawings made from his writing. (Casanova in Venice by Michel Delon & Michèle Sajous D'Oria).
Grand final i skojarbranchen by Kerstin Ekman
Not translated into English it seems. It is about two women of which one is writing popular detective stories and one is using her name for the publishing. As the books become very popular the woman whose name is seen on the books are given medals, prizes and even a place in the Swedish Academy. How are these two women solving this as time goes by? Funny, witty and exciting as only Kerstin Ekman can do.