February is a short month, but it was a good reading month for me. I managed to read 13 books, of which five were from my TBR shelves (in italic below). There were nine Fiction and four Nonfiction. Four of them were Audio (I am getting there!), and two were E-books. Horowitz, Anthony - Magpie Murders (audio) Bivald, Katarina - The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend (e-book) Frykman, Jonas & Löfgren, Orvar - Kärlek och kärnfamilj i folkhemmet (NF) Gómez-Jurado, Juan - Röd drottning (Reina Roja/Red Queen) Christie, Agatha - Five Little Pigs (audio) Henry, Emily - Book Lovers Karlsson, Ingmar - Det omaka paret, Tjeckernas och slovakernas historia (NF) Christie, Agatha - The Mystery of the Blue Train (audio) Bythell, Shaun - Seven Kinds of People You Find In a Bookshop (e-book) (NF) Norup, Pia - Aldrig mer trött (Never again tired, my transl.) (NF) Christie, Agatha - The Secret Adversary (audio) Dostoyevsky, Fyodor - The Idiot Boye, Karin - Kallocain My challenge I did change back my TBRs to be only paper versions. After all, they are the ones taking up space. I must admit I did not follow too much the reading prospects from January. a nonfiction from my TBR shelves - Aldrig mera trött (Never again tired) by Danish doctor and life style pedagog Pia Norup. It was a new purchase trying to find a cure for my continuous tiredness. It is a very good book, with practical advice and a four week menu to help you recover. The food is very healthy and I do feel must better and not so tired as before. Excellent choice of book in other words. a fiction from my TBR shelves - Kallocain by Karin Boye. Her famous dystopian/SF take on a dark future. Thank you Marianne @ Let's Read for the gift. a translated novel outside English- and Swedish speaking countries - Röd drottning (Reina Roja/Red Queen ) by Juan Gómez-Jurado. A new to me Spanish author of thrillers. First in a series about the Red Queen, a lady with extra ordinary skills. I liked it. a classic tale - The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. A real classic. I loved his Crime and Punishement , but this was something totally different. I will try to review it later on. a book from my Wish list - Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. Excellent who dunnit story. Rather pleased with my February reading, considering it contains quite a variety of genres. Plans for March I will be travelling in March and will not be able to bring too many paper books with me. I will probably stick to audio and e-books. But, why not make a list nevertheless. I am reading two other books as well which should be finished before I go; The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa and Grand Final i skojarbranchen by Kerstin Ekman. a nonfiction from my TBR shelves - Odödliga ord och deras historia by Stig Wallerman (Immortal words and their history my transl.) a fiction from my TBR shelves - Fingersmith by Waters, Sarah a translated novel outside English- and Swedish speaking countries - Paul Verlaine by Stefan Zweig (e-book) a classic tale - Vera by Elizabeth von Arnheim (e-book) a book from my Wish list - Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio) Reading an author's work I want to read all, or almost all, of certain author's work. I have started with Agatha Christie. Easy in a way, since the books are rather short and easy to read and listen to. With her, I am able to listen to audio books, they work very well. I have read three so far (although I have read some earlier). Five Little Pigs (HP) The Mystery of the Blue Train (HP) The Secret Adversary (TT) Further on my list of authors are Daphne du Maurier and Haruki Murakami. Lots to look forward to. I hope you also had a good reading month. I am looking forward to see what you have been up to.

March has gone and we have now entered what should be the spring month here in Europe. Hopefully, we will go towards warmer weather and lots of colours when grass and spring flowers start to grow. I had a notion I had only read one book in March, except the three I read the last three days. However, when I looked at my reading list I had managed to read nine books. Short memory in other words. Four of them are nonfiction about shares, history and memoirs from Casanova. Lauritzson, Ola - Aktier, 3 steg till ekonomiskt oberoende Harrison, Dick - Tusen år i Uppåkra Christensen, Inga - Vikingarna i det frankiska riket Delon, Michel & Sajous D'Oria, Michèle - Casanova in Venice Two of them fiction: about a cat and about two writers of which one is writing and one uses her name for the publishing. Kerstin Ekman in full swing. Natsukawa, Sosuke - Katten som räddade böcker (The Cat Who Saved Books) Ekman, Kerstin - Grand final i skojarbranchen Three of them thrillers/mystery: two Agatha Christie and one Donna Leon. Christie, Agatha - The Murder on the Links (audio) Leon, Donna - Death at la Fenice (e-book) Christie, Agatha - The Man in the Brown Suit (audio) None of them really fits into the program I had envisaged for March. Since I am now travelling I have decided to reading books related to the places I have been visiting. Aims for April Salzburg and Zweig I have already started with the travelling reading. To this purpose I bought two books by Stefan Zweig. Messages From a Lost World, Europe on the Brink (Essays, speeches and articles) The World of Yesterday, Memoirs of a European More about the author and his books once I have read the books. Venice and its famous visitors and authors I have started a book about the history of this wonderful and magic city. Venice and its Story by Thomas Okey Many famous authors have been visiting and writing about Venice (Henry James, Lord Byron, Shelley, Hemingway and others, more about them later). I started by reading Donna Leon's thrillers set in Venice with chief inspector Brunetti. I hope to read all of them at some point. So far: Death at La Fenice (read) Death in a Strange Country (reading) One of the most famous characters from Venice is Casanova. I found a small book in a museum: Casanova in Venice by Delon, Michel & Sajous D'Oria, Michèle (a short extract from his memories, based on drawings made for various publications). Hope you all had a good, and interesting reading month.

Somehow April seemed to be a long month. Maybe because I did quite a lot of things during the month. I think I also read more books in a month than every before. I read 17 books. Since I was travelling, I read mostly from my e-books. My aim for the month was to read books about Venice, or books that takes place there. All because we visited this wonderful city for four days. For those interested I have written a few accounts on my newsletter, The Content Reader . All books, except one, are fiction. The nonfiction is Messages From a Lost World, Europe on the Brink by Stefan Zweig. I also wrote about him after visiting Salzburg, Austria, where he lived for a while. You can find articles on my newsletter, or my post In Search of Stefan Zweig I will come back to Stefan Zweig in later posts. Read in April Theme: Venice My Venice theme took me to a non-fiction about Venice: Venice and its Story by Thomas Okey, which I am still reading. Apart from that one I did read Casanova in Venice by Michel Delon & Michèle Sajous D'Oria, in March. It is an extract from his memoirs that fits into drawings made from his writing. I think most people think of Donna Leon when you mention Venice, and especially detective stories. Her series of 32 books about Commissario Brunetti are well known. You can read more on my post Donna Leon and Commissario Brunetti . I read read her first book in March; Death at La Fenice and another eight books in April. Death in a Strange Country, The Anonymous Venetian, A Ventian Reckoning, Acqua Alta, The Death of Faith, A Noble Radiance, Fatal Remedies and Friends in High Places. They are slightly addicted as you might imagine. My aim is to read all of them. Daphne du Maurier Another aim is to read books by DDM. Don't Look Now takes places in Venice and that is why I entered into this challenge already now. I continued with The Apple Tree, The Birds, Not After Midnight and The Blue Lenses . She is a master of suspense, spookiness, and, like Debbie Nance at Readersbuzz commented, they are gothic in their build up of the story. Agatha Christie Another aim is to read all the books, or most, by AC. I have already started and managed to squeeze in two more this month; Crooked House and The Secret of Chimneys. I listened to both of them, and prefer the latter one. Crooked House was somewhat irrational, I found. Other reading The other books I read was Master of Petersburg by J.M. Coetzee which I did not really like. I am wondering whether there is a special meaning with it, so have to do some research. I found his writing close to Dostoyevsky's which just shows that Coetzee is a fantastic writer. Reading As usual I am reading several books at the time. I am reading a biography by Göran Hägg on August Strindberg, which is very interesting. Talk about mad geniuses. Love in a Time of Hate by Florian Illies. A sort of biography over the love life of famous people in the shadow of the time between the first and second world war. Quite a fascinating read. I am reading 10 lessons in Swedish History by Ola Larsmo, where he tries to meet the fake news that some parties use to verify their own politics. Since people in general know much less of our own history these days, people believe what they hear and see. Even when it is not true. Fascinating aspects of social media today. I also read The Afghans by Åse Seierstad. Another fascinating and interesting account of the sad history of Afghanistan. I have also started Leïla Slimani's In the Country of Others , which will be interesting to read. The Fall of Carthage, The Punic Wars 265-146 B.C. by Adrian Goldsworthy is also started. May reading So what is awaiting me for the month of May? I will do two trips during May. One to Stralsund for four days, and one to Amsterdam for about 7-10 days. I am so excited by both trips, but especially by the Amsterdam trip where I will visit the exhibition of Vermeer paintings. Meaning, in other words, that I will continue to read from my e-books. I might bring a few physical books as well. However, I am flying to Amsterdam, with hand luggage only, so not much space. Donna Leon, Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier will be on the menu, as well as the books I have already started.

May has come to an end and it is time to take a look at what happened on my blog and with my reading. Let's start with the blog. I posted five posts this month, of which three belong to the DDM Reading Week. I was excited to join heavenali for an intensive read of du Maurier's books. I choose three which were already on my shelves, read many, many moons ago. I will continue to read her books during the year, and hope to join for next year's reading week. I enjoyed reading your reviews on her novels and short stories. The King's General The Parasites The Glass Blowers The two other posts were: April Wrap-up Visiting a second hand shop and coming back with 17 books (these things happen, but rarely) Reading I read ten books in May. Larsmo, Ola - Tio lektioner i svensk historia (NF) Illies, Florian - Kärlek i hatets tid (Liebe in Zeiten des Hasses/Love in a Time of Hate) (NF) Hägg, Göran - Sanningen är alltid oförskämd, Biography of August Strindberg (NF) Christie, Agatha - The Seven Dials Mystery du Maurier, Daphne - The King's General du Maurier, Daphne - The Parasites du Maurier, Daphne - The Glass Blowers Murphy, Bernadette - Van Gogh's Ear (NF) Aktander Navab, Jenny - Den svenske legionären Attainder Navab, Jenny - Riket, makten och härligheten Most of the books this month were very good. Four of them nonfiction, four classics (DDM and AC) and two international thrillers from a new Swedish author. Ola Larsmo 's book about ten lessons in Swedish history is an eye opener. How social media today, with a few posts, can twist a story in a false way, and it becomes 'facts'. Unfortunately, the history knowledge in Sweden is on an appalling level, evan among people you expect to know history. Ola Larsmo puts us right in this clever book. Florian Illies ' Love in the Time of Hate is one of my best reads ever. Through love stories of the intelligentsia, authors and artists in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, he paints a dire picture of the dark times and how it affected people. A must read for anyone interesting in the times. Separate review will come. Göran Hägg , a Swedish literary critic and author takes on one of our great authors ever, August Strindberg. It is a great book, showing the author through his works and life decisions. There was a lot here I did not know about AS and how much he actually put into the books about himself. Van Gogh's Ear by Bernadette Murphy is an amazing book about Van Gogh's life. She, living in the south of France, became interested in the question how much of his ear Van Gogh actually cut off. Her research led her into the story of his life, the sad circumstances, and an amazing revelation of the facts, of which many is mere myths. She highlights her new findings and we find another man behind the facade. His life is a sad story, and Murphy treats it with respect. Every other chapter is on her research and every other chapter about his life. An excellent book and a must read for anyone interesting in the artist and his time. Not so much to say about AS and DDM. Another mystery by AS from the pile of books I bought at the second hand shop. I saw a news reel on the second book in a trilogy by Jenny Aktander Navab that just came out. I got interested and started with her first book. The books are international thrillers with three protagonists. Caroline Svedin Gyllensvärd, a Swedish Interpol agent, Daniel Granat, former legionnaire turned wine farmer in Italy, and Massimo Latanza, former legionnaire and Italian deputy Justice minister. The trio are caught up in international crime schemes. Aktander Navab has cleverly incorporated real world events into her thrillers and it makes for exciting reading. I had difficulties putting the books down. Now I am waiting for the third one, but it will probably take at least another year. What's up for June That is a good questions. For once I don't really have a real plan for June, so it seems to be a good idea to go back to my own challenge. Time to take out the random generator for: a nonfiction from my TBR shelves chosen by a random generator - Englund, Peter - Ofredsår a fiction from my TBR shelves chosen by a random generator - Signatures in Stone by Linda Lappin a translated novel outside English- and Swedish speaking countries - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame/Notre-Dame du Paris by Victor Hugo a classic tale - The Man of Property by John Galsworthy a book from my Wish list - The Blacksmith's Daughter by Selim Özdogan Two historical books, two classics and one new to me author. Sounds like an interesting reading month.

June has gone and we are already going into July. I have been away on a trip for 12 days, but did manage to read four books. June was another good reading month with ten books finished, making the number of books read so far this year to 67. Not much there of what I anticipated in last month's wrap-up, but I am still pleased. Read in June I managed to read six Agatha Christie, so pleased with going on with the challenge of reading all her books. They were: The Listerdale Mystery Appointment With Death N or M? Destination Unknown The Clocks At Bertram's Hotel of which my favourites were Destination Unknown and Appointment With Death . They are easily read, and I like them. There are books with Tuppence and Tommy, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and some other heroines and heros. Garai, Indrajit - The Man Without Shelter - a story by the author of The Bridge of Little Jeremy. Another Paris story with fascinating characters. Burlin, Tua - Konungens ultimatum - a historical novel set in Sweden in the 16th century. Voltaire, Anna - Mordet i Marseillan - a debut and different detective story set in France, with a big dose of humour. Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Notre-Dame de Paris) - a classic tale. I have never seen the Phantom of the Opera, but it was interesting to read the original story. This was the only book I read that I anticipated for June. What's up for July? Paris in July is here. Emma @ Words and peace will host this year. You can read about her and my plans under the link. Most of my reading will be concentrated to this challenge, and I found nine books on my shelves connected with Paris and France. The Pursuit of Glory - The Five Revolutions That Made Modern Europe 1648-1815 by Tim Banning Axel von Fersen and Queen Marie-Antoinette by Margareta Beckman Notre-Dame de Paris/The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo Hemingway, The Paris Years by Michael Reynolds The Red and the Black by Stendahl Marie Antoinette by Stefan Zweig Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar by Jules Verne The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy I will not be able to read them all, but let's see where I am at the end of the month.

It has been quite here for quite some time, both on my blog and with comments from me. I was hit by a gastritis in beginning of August, and have not entirely recovered. However, we left the heat wave in Innsbruck on August 23 and spent a few days around some lakes. On August 28, we drove down to Dubrovnik and further on to Montenegro. That is a little bit the problem, since you are outside of the EU and have no access to internet. There are wifi at the campings, but not always very strong. Furthermore I have not been feeling well, and the heat is still at us. We are not in the south of Albania, and in a few days we will be in Greece. For those interested in our travels I have posted a couple of newsletters. You find an overview here . Just click 'No thank' you if you do not want to subscribe and you come inside. I have had time to read though. Some days, that is all I have energy to do. I read eight books in August. I started the Forsyte saga by John Galsworthy which has been a wonderful read. It seems the books in Swedish does not entirely follow the English numbering. I still have two to go. Keegan, Claire - Foster Yarros, Rebecca - Fourth Wing Keegan, Claire - Small Things Like These Kressman Taylor, Kathrine - Address Unknown Miller, Madeline - Circe Zweig, Stefan - Marie Antoinette (NF) Galsworthy, John - The Man of Property Galsworthy, John - Indian Summer of a Forsyte Due to all the good reviews I did read two books by Claire Keegan which I liked very much. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros , I already reviewed. I am really enjoying watching Supposedly Fun on Youtube and Greg' excellent take on various books and reading. He led me to an excellent novella by Katrine Pressman Taylor, Address Unknown. Such a clever little book. I finally finished Marie Antoinette by Stefan Zweig. It probably took me two years, with pauses in between. His writing is different from other biographers, and I really enjoyed the book. Review will come. The best fiction book this month, and I might think this year, was Circe by Madeline Miller. I really loved it and her different take on the classic story of Odysseus, Penelope, Telemachus, not to mention all the nitty, gritty business of the Greek gods. Review will come. There are so many good quotes in this book, but it is impossible to use them all. I did not like so much her book about Achilles, so it was really a nice surprise.

This is the best fiction book I have read this year. I was not entirely into her book about Achilles, but this one is absolutely thrilling. From the back cover. "In the house of Helios, god of the sun and eighties of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is strange - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and mercenary like her mother. But she has a dark power of her own: witchcraft. When Circe's gift threatens the gods, she is banished to the island of Aiaia where she hones her occult craft, casting spells, gathering strange herbs and taming wild beats. yeet a woman who stands alone cannot I've in peace for long - and among her island's guests is an unexpected visitor: the mortal Odysseus, for whom Circe will risk everything." _________________ There are so many wonderful quotes in this novel, here some on the gods. "That word nymph, paced out the length and breadth of our futures. In our language, it means not just goddess, but bride. My mother was one of them, a naiad, guardian of fountains and streams. She caught my father's eye when he came to visit the halls of her own father, Oceanos. ... My father (Helios) glowed bright as just-forged bronze, while Oceanos had been born with rheumy eyes and a white beard to his lap." "Centuries had passed. The earth's wounds had healed and the peace had held. But the grudges of gods are as deathless as their flesh, ..." "It was not piteous, as it might have been in a mortal. We gods eat as we sleep: because it is one of life's great pleasures, not because we have to." "They could not stop a god, but most divinities are cowards." "I was smooth as oil, calm as windless water." ______________ As Circe makes herself comfortable on her island, she is not entirely forgotten by the outside world. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, pays his visits from time to time. Circe is happy about those until one day she receives a visit from a mortal; Odysseus. As the story goes, Circe turns his men into pigs. Odysseus, with good advice from Hermes, meets Circe and manages to overcome her spells, leading to an epic love story. He stays with her for a year. Circe is very attached to Odysseus. By the poets Odysseus' name has gone down in history, or legend, as a hero. Miller treats him different, and gives him the attributes of a normal man, not always on his best behaviour. Quite entertaining to read. Quotes on Odysseus "Living with him (Odysseus) was like standing beside the sea. Each day a different colour, a different foam-capped height, but always the same restless intensity pulling towards the horizon." "The window was open; the breeze passed over us. It was a trick of his, to set a sentence out like a plate on a table and see what you would put on it. But he surprised me by continuing. *I would stay, he said, 'if you would have me. It will only be until spring. I will go as soon as the seas are passable. It will be scarcely any delay.' That last was not said to me, but to some person he argued with silently. His men perhaps, his wife, I did not care. I kept my face turned away so he would not see my pleasure. 'I will have you,' I said." "The answer that came to me was from a different tale. Long ago, in my wide bed, I had asked Odysseus: 'What did you do? When you could not make Achilles and Agamemnon listen?' He'd smiled in the firelight. *That is easy. You make a plan in which they do not.'" "'His true talent was in how well he could take from others.'" "'He never did anything for a single purpose.'" _______________ Once Odysseus has left Circe to continue his travel home, Circe gets another surprising visit that makes her revaluate her life. Miller's take on Circe is fascinating and spellbinding. In this story, Circe is a modern woman, dependent on decisions made my her father, but determined to do the best of it. With small steps she takes control of her life in the island. The prose is poetic and beautiful, many wonderful quotes of which I have included some above highlights the reading. The inclusion of other classical characters, adds to the story, and the surprising end just makes the story perfect.

New year and a fresh look at my shelves. Which books have I saved on my shelves, just because they have become my favourites. That is mostly true about the fiction books, most of the nonfiction I do keep. This pile of books is situated in hotel The Literary Man in Obidos in Portugal. I guess this is a way to store your books when there is no more space on your shelves. Nonfiction The nonfiction this week are related to history and art. Nothing but the best and most interesting. The Magdalene Legacy: The Jesus and Mary Bloodline Conspiracy by Laurence Gardner - an interesting story how art has visualised the religious stories. To this a historical theory of the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Antikens religioner (The Religions of Antiquity) by Ingvild S. Gilhus/Einar Thomassen - going back to the Greeks and the Romans and how religion has been visualised in art and sculpture. Vermeer's Little Street by Franz Grijzenhout - finding the history and location of one of Vermeer's most famous paintings. It gives you a tour in Delft and its history. Wonderful little book I bought in the Vermeer museum in Delft. Skåne i Danmark, En dansk historia till 1658 by Harald Gustafsson - we usually read about Skåne from a Swedish point of view. This is seen from the Danish point of view. Fiction The Bridge of Little Jeremy by Indrajit Garai - a bitter sweet story about a boy and his dog as he is trying to save his mom and people around him. The Suffering of Young Werther by Johan Wolfgang von Goethe - a classic novel about a young man committing suicide due to unhappy love.

I have come to authors whose surname starts with an H in my search for books that I save on my shelves. Due to lack of space, I only save fiction books that I really love. For nonfiction, I save most, but some of the go for recycling. Fiction Lennart Hagerfors - Framåt natten uppklarnande. A book I received as a review copy. I was not familiar with the author, but really loved the book. The narrator, a writer, gets a scholarship to stay at the Bergman house (Ingmar Bergman's house on the island of Fårö) to hopefully, be able to write another book. His contacts with the other cultural workers staying there gives him a new perspective on life, creation, memory and death. Lin Haire-Sargeant - Heathcliff, The Return to Wuthering Heights . An account of the three years that Heathcliff went away to an unknown place. I read it many years ago and cannot remember anything. I should re-read it for sure. Thomas Hardy - Far From the Madding Crowd. I think it does not need any closer introduction. One of Hardy's most famous books. Tom Harper - The Book of Secrets . Gillian's and Nick's hunt for a 500-years-old mystery are taking them to the German mountains and old monasteries in search for an answer. I do like these kind of books, although it is on the borderline to be saved or not. L.P. Hartley - The Go-Between . One of the the best books I have ever read. A wonderful tale of love, youth and innocence, leading to chocking revelations. It has one of the most famous opening lines: "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." If you haven't read it you have a wonderful story to dig into. Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine . Eleanor leads a simple, routine like life, and is very happy. At least that is what she thinks. Until she gets mesmerised by a man who turns out not to be the one she thinks he is. That puts her quiet life upside down, but might lead to something better. Wonderful book about a wonderful character. Peter Hoeg - Miss Smila's Feeling for Snow. Almost a cult book these days. Smilla can read traces in the snow, and realises that the small boy that fell off the roof, did not fall on his own account. Leading to a much bigger crime. Nonfiction Carola Hansson - Andrej. Historical fiction about Leo Tolstoy's son. Memories of his childhood, his family and his father. Memories are mixed with fantasies, literary fiction and real life events. I read it many years ago, can't remember more than I liked it. Dick Harrisson - Stora döden (about the Plague, and two books from Swedish history, the murder of Gustav III and the Kalmar Union). One of the most famous historians in Sweden. I love most of his books. Katarina Harrison Lindbergh - Nordiska gudasagor (Nordic God's Sagas). Interesting take on the old asa gods and their peculiarities. Always interesting, since these gods are not like any other gods. Kim Hazelius - De kallades snapphanar. The history of snapphanar, some kind of rebels during the Swedish-Danish wars during the 17th century. Lucinda Hawklsey - Lizzie Siddal, The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel . I love the Pre-Raphaelite and this is about Lizzie, the mistress/wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, whose life was not entirely happy. She is the model for Millais' wonderful painting 'Ophelia. She also modeled for several of Rossetti's painting. Christopher Hibbert - The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici. Always a fascinating family to read about, and Hibbert is a good historian and writer. Yvonne Hirdman - Den röda grevinnan. The author's mother was a countess, and had a secret, movable and fascinating life. Born after the Russian revolution in Estonia, part of Tsarist Russia, growing up during the first world war in the outskirts of Austria-Hungary, marrying a poor, Baltic count, living the wild life in Berling during the Weimar Republic, fell in love with a German communist and ran away with him to Moscow, where she was one of the few who managed to escape before the big terror. Living as a refugee in Paris until she came to Sweden in 1940. As you can imagine, this biography is fascinating. Adam Hochschild - King Leopold's Ghost. The story of the Belgian King, Leopold II, and his personal colony in Africa, the Belgian Congo. The story behind, during and after. Quite difficult to read sometimes due to the politics of the day. Anthony Holden - Tchaikovsky . Very interesting biography of one of my favourite composers. Read it many years ago, but I still think of it from time to time. Homer - The Iliad. Classical literature, beautiful writing. I find the fighting scenes quite too long and boring. Otherwise, great literature. I find Odyssey easier to read and more interesting. Marie & Lennart Hultqvist - Sophie Brahe, vetenskapen, kärleken, stjärnbrodern. A biography of Sophie Brahe, sister of Tycho Brahe. She was also interested in astronomy, astrology and alchemy like her brother, but also in medicines, herbs and garden art. Being a woman she did not have the same possibilities as her brother to pursue her interests, but seems to have had a fulfilling life nevertheless. We are talking 16-17th century. Håkan Håkansson (ed) - Tycho Brahe and his time . Essays on Tycho Brahe, his family, his time and his scientific work. Very interesting man indeed, way ahead of his time.

Well, these things happens. I had collected some clothes from my wardrobe to give to a second hand shop. While there, and since you get a voucher for a coffee and a cinnamon bun if you give things away, I did look around the shop. They have recently moved to a bigger place, and they had decorated the shop in a very nice way. I did take a tour around the whole place before entering the book section. I really did not intend to buy anything special, but while looking through the books I discovered so many books I wanted to read, so I just had to buy them. Maybe because I started with the section of old books, classics in other words. There I collected the first five books. Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope The Courier of the Tsar by Jules Verne The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy Next I found two travel guides from the Lonely Planet. One for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and one by Hungary. Always good to have in our camper van when the roads lead us to these places. I think I have mentioned that I am reading through all Agatha Christie books. What happened when I came to the section with English books? I found seven books by her. The temptation was too much, so down they went into the basket. The Seven Dials Mystery The Listerdale Mystery Appointment With Death N or M? Destination Unknown The Clocks At Bertram's Hotel They are perfect to bring with me in the van. Once read, I can leave them at the book shelves of the camping. Always nice to give some enjoyment to other readers. The last three are random books. The first one was a nice coincidence as well. I am reading a biography of August Strindberg. Once of his most famous books, a sort of memoirs was The Defence of a Fool. It was first published in French, Le Plaidoyer d'un fou and then translated into Swedish. I could not believe my eye when I discovered it. Not so available these days. Another one was a Swedish book by Gunnar Fredriksson 20 filosofer (20 philosophers). I want to read more philosophical authors so also a suitable find. The last one was a thriller and what attracted me from the beginning was the title: The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl. Sounds literary enough for me. Have you read it? I think, in principle, all of them will go to a new owner once I have read them. They will therefor not take up a lot of space in my book cases.

I am so happy that AnnaBookBel is hosting the Nordic FINDS again in the beginning of 2023. AnnaBookBel says: ”For 2023, I will aim to read one book per country, and will simply encourage anyone who’d like to join in to pick up one or more titles from FINDS authors at any time during the month.” This year I was a little bit disorganised in choosing books, so this time I am determined to be more alert. I took some time to find five books, one for each country. The Norwegian one comes as a recommendation from one of you bloggers (maybe even from this year’s FINDS), and the rest I found on a website called Scandinavia Standard The Best Contemporary Scandinavian Fiction to Read. I must admit I don’t even know all the Swedish authors they mention. Here are my choices for books from each country. Finland - They Know Not What They Do by Jussi Valtonen Iceland - Cold as Hell (1st Áróra series) by Lilja Sigurdadottir Norway - The Ice Palace by Tarjej Vesaas Denmark - Silence in October by Jens Christian Gröndahl Sweden - The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald Looking forward to this first challenge of next year. I am sure it will come with new exciting books and authors.

I got a mail from Goodreads, showing me how many of the books I read are among the 60 most read books on Goodreads. Interesting, I thought, since I usually do not read so many new, and possibly, popular books. Turns out I read eight out of the 60 books. Not that much, but some of my favourite books this year. My eight books My eight most popular books, in parenthesis the number on the list. The most popular book is It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. She pops up often, but I have not yet read a book by her. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2) Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (8) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (15) The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (17) The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (19) The Last Thing He Said by Laura Dave (21) Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney (38) The Guest List by Lucy Foley (43) My favourites The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo The Last Thing He Said by Laura Dave The Guest List by Lucy Foley Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley Always difficult to rank books. I like all of them except The Paris Apartment .