“Well, at heart I knew she'd never be a normal woman. And I didn't want her to be one, because what I loved in her were the indomitable and unpredictable aspects of her personality” ― Mario Vargas Llosa, Travesuras de la niña mala I have read my first book by the Peruvian author and Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa: Den stygga flickans rackartyg, or The Bad Girl in English. Vargas Llosa won the prize for “his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat.” This is a very good description of the novel, although I don’t think it is his most famous work. It is a story about obsession — in this case, a man’s obsession with a woman. At the start of the novel we meet Ricardo Somocurcio (the narrator) as a young boy. Together with other youngsters they enjoy themselves as young people do, and one day he meets the “Chilean girl.” He falls in love, but circumstances work against them and she disappears. Ricardo’s dream is to live and work in Paris, and this dream is fulfilled when he goes there to study and becomes an interpreter. He is even happier when, one day, he meets the Chilean girl again in Paris. This becomes the recurring pattern of Ricardo’s life. The girl is a woman striving for another life — richer and more luxurious than Ricardo can ever give her. She appears and disappears over the years, always coming back to Ricardo when she is down and out. Although she hurts him emotionally, he cannot stop loving her. Vargas Llosa gives us this story against the backdrop of the latter half of the 20th century. There is the Peruvian revolution, the Swinging Sixties, the AIDS epidemic, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. As the times change, so does the girl, always seeking new, wealthy men who can give her a luxurious life. She returns — or Ricardo happens to meet her — as the wife of a French diplomat, as a revolutionary, as an aristocratic wife in London, a luxury escort in Tokyo, and in other identities in other countries. Every time their paths coincide, he falls in love again, in spite of the fact that she treats him badly. Themes and Meanings You cannot really say that the novel is story-driven; rather, it is character-driven. Although we follow Ricardo’s career path, his friends, and his lovers, the main focus is always the bad girl. He is obsessed and she is free. She tells him she cannot live an ordinary life, that she feels like a prisoner. Although she moves between a rich and luxurious life and one that is more mundane, she cannot give up her lifestyle. The bad girl is constantly changing her name, background, and social class. She is a survivor, able to control the environment she is in at the moment. On the contrary, Ricardo wants to live a quiet life in Paris, and although his work takes him all over the world, he is most content when being in Paris. These two people — who, I would say, do love each other, but in different ways — represent obsessiveness versus freedom; being satisfied and content versus a constant urge to find something new. Their dreams totally differ. Ricardo knows that the bad girl is not good for him, but he cannot let her go. Every time they meet, he hopes she has changed. At the end of the novel they meet again, but I will not give any spoilers. The Characters We only get the narration from Ricardo, so it is difficult to know what the bad girl feels inside. From the beginning she hides how poor she is. In a way, I guess this is why she always looks for a better life. It becomes her “career”: wanting to be someone else than she is. As Ricardo is obsessed with his love for her, she is obsessed with freedom, status, and wealth. When she meets Ricardo, she leaves him when life becomes too stable and quiet. She does not want to be dependent on anyone and is always playing a role depending on the man she meets. It is difficult to like the character of the bad girl. Maybe because we see her actions from the outside and do not get to know her from the inside. Ricardo, on the other hand, is a good guy — maybe a little too good, stable, and boring. The contrast between their lives really stands out. Why does Ricardo put up with her? That is perhaps the big question in this novel. It could be a matter of her being his first love, his ideal, his dream. He always waits for her, even if she hurts him. Maybe he admires her mysterious ways, her search for freedom. She is a fantasy that always returns. Then his dream starts again — the dream of being with her forever. In spite of the hurt he feels, he always forgives her. Maybe he thinks he will always be there to catch her when her relationships fail. Maybe he is afraid that without her, his own stable, quiet life without any real drama will be too empty. The Relationship It is a very tragic relationship. He is only really happy when she is around, and she recovers with his love but still cannot stay with him. The big question is: does she, in spite of everything, love him? I think she does, in her own way. She always comes back to him, trusts him, and confides in him. Probably he is the only one to whom she shows her true self — a safe haven when she needs it. Although his love is everything, her love is more calculating, less romantic, and she values things he cannot give her. The tragedy is that they love each other in very different ways — ways that do not coincide with what they want in life. An interesting novel about a very different relationship. Vargas Llosa places the story within the wider context of international and political events during the latter part of the 20th century. This might be important, since it was a time of great developments and possibilities. Set in another time frame, the story of Ricardo and the bad girl might not have fitted so well into the world around them. Are you interested in my posts on travel, history and culture? Have a look at my Substack newsletters (in English och på svenska). The Content Reader Den tillfälliga besökaren

Hello, Life has been busy and my posts rare. Now I have three posts to share with you. These days I use Substack as my main blog. Feel free to head over there for subscribing, or just to have a look. You find it here: My Bookish Corner My Artist Date for mid March What is a Myth? To be obsessed by a TV-series

I am currently mostly writing my posts on my substack account. I will from time to time write a post with links to them, or I might write a full post here as well. I very much enjoy working and writing on substack. Somehow it gives you another dimension. I have been slow in general lately, due to personal reasons, to post at all. It starts to get better now, so hopefully there will be a few more reviews and update on challenges here. In the meantime, I have three posts that might be of interest. The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge February Book Haul - and a review of The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft February Reading Wrap-up and what I plan to read for March

When we are travelling with our van, we sometimes have big plans for the places we visit, and sometimes we have an end station and discover a lot of interesting places on the way. This is how we discovered Chillon and its mysterious and dangerous past. As always, while visiting interesting places or museums, I try to find a book about the place and the story behind. In the Castle of Chillon I found a small literary guide edited by Patrick Vincent. He has collected “travel narratives, letters, poetry and fiction of close to fifty British and American writers, spanning almost three and a half centuries.” Sometimes I wonder what we would have done without the people (that is, those with money and often a title) who went from Britain (mainly) for their traditional Grand Tour of Europe. So much have been written about these places which are big tourist spots even today. It is interesting to see how people in those days took in the places, buildings, paintings, sculptures and much more. Many of them have left written accounts of their travels, some not. One of the most famous, and idle, of these travellers is Lord Byron. Where did he not go? I think we can easily say that he is the one who made the Castle of Chillon known to a wider circle. He visited the Château de Chillon in the summer of 1816, together with his friend Percy Bysshe Shelley. Those of you who are familiar with the circle of Lord Byron in Villa Diodati that specific year, know that it has come down as the year without a summer. Mainly due to severe climatic events. Temperatures in Europe decreased and it was the coldest summer of any records between 1766 and 2000. Evidence suggests it was caused by the massive 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in modern-day Indonesia. Thanks to this event the word saw the creation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. But, that is another story, let’s get back to the Castle of Chillon. Château de Chillon The Castle itself sits on a rocky island on Lake Geneva and dates back to at least the 12th century. It stands in a beautiful spot, in the lake with the mountain as a back-drop, making the harsh walls less imposing. It is only an illusion. It began as a strategic fortress controlling the Alpine trade routes between northern and southern Europe. From the 13th to 16th centuries, it was expanded into a grand residence by the Counts of Savoy, who used it as both a stronghold and a symbol of power. In 1536, the castle was captured by Bernese forces, becoming an administrative center and prison. After the canton of Vaud restored the castle in the 19th century, it has become on of the best-preserved medieval castles in Switzerland. If you are in the vicinity it is really worth a visit. The pillar where Bonivard was chained Its most famous prisoner was François Bonivard (1493-1570), who was immortalised by Lord Byron in his poem The Prisoner of Chillon. He was a Genevan patriot, historian, and supporter of the Reformation. Because he opposed the rule of the Duke of Savoy, Charles III, he became a political target. In 1530, Savoyard forces captured him and imprisoned him in the dungeons of Chillon, where he was kept for six years. According to accounts, Bonivard was chained to a stone pillar, allowed to walk only in a small circle worn into the floor by his steps. Though harshly confined, he survived—something many prisoners did not. It is amazing, since even in the summer it is rather cold and damp in the dungeon. Maybe he survived due to the fresh air coming in from the open window? In 1536, Bernese Protestant troops conquered the region and freed him. He return to Geneva, where he lived a turbulent but influential life, writing an important history of Geneva. View from the pillar. The dungeon is situated at lake level The Visitors The earliest account in this little gem of a book is from 1664 and the latest in 1979. I list just a few of the most famous visitors here: John William Polidori, in September 1816 (he was also part of the Byron party in Villa Diodati. His ghost story was published as The Vampyre ). Marie Edgeworth (1820), Charles Dickens (1846), John Ruskin (1833), James Fenimore Cooper (1828), Harriet Beacher Stowe (1853), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1859), Henry James (1872) who incorporated the castle in his novel Daisy Miller . Mark Twain (1879), F. Scott Fitzgerald (1930) and Anita Brookner (1984). The Poem The Prisoner of Chillon is too long to write here, but you can read it under the link. Lord Byron also wrote a sonnet: Sonnet of Chillon “ Eternal Spirit of the chainless Mind!Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art:For there thy habitation is the heart—The heart which love of thee alone can bind;And when thy sons to fetters are consigned—To fetters, and the damp vault’s dayless gloom,Their country conquers with their martyrdom,And Freedom’s fame finds wings on every wind.Chillon! thy prison is a holy place,And thy sad floor an altar—for ’twas trod,Until his very steps have left a traceWorn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod,By Bonnivard!—May none those marks efface!For they appeal from tyranny to God. ” The Castle of Chillon by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1837) "Fair lake, thy lovely and thy haunted shoreHath only echoes for the poet’s luteNone may tread there but with unsandalled foot,Submissive to the great who went before,Filled with mighty memories of yore.And yet how mournful are the records there:Captivity and exile and despairDid the endure who now endure no more,-The patriot, the woman and the bard,Whose name thy winds and waters bear along;What did the world bestow for their rewardBut suffering, sorrow, bitterness and wrong?Genius! A hard and weary lot is thine,-The hear thy fuel, and the grave thy shrine." From Modern Painters III by John Ruskin (1833) “… Let us see how poetry and history themselves differ, in their use of variable and invariable details. I am writing at a window which commands a view of the head of the Lake of Geneva; and as I look up from my paper, to consider this point, I see, beyond it, a blue breadth of softly moving water, and the outline of the mountains above Chillon, bathed in morning mist. The first verses which naturally come into my mind are -””A thousand feet in depth belowThe massy waters meet and flow;So far the fathom line was sentFrom Chillon’s snow-white battlement.” Harriet Beacher Stowe (1853) “… What a power of vitality was there in Bonnevard, that he did not sink in lethargy, and forget himself to stone! But he did not; it is said that when the victorious Swiss arme broke in to liberate him, they cried, -”Bonnevard, you are free!”” Et Genève?” ”Geneva is fee also!”You ought to have heard the enthusiasm with which our guide told this story!” Letter to Mollie McQuillan Fitzgerald, June 1930 by F.S. Fitzgerald (1930) “Dear Mother:My delay in writing is due to the fact that Zelda has been desperately ill with a complete nervous breakdown and is in a sanitarium near here (…) Tell Father I visited the ”- seven pillars of Gothic mouldIn Chillon’s dungeons deep and old,” Fitzgerald also used Chillon in his Tender is the Night (1934) If you are interested in reading about my travels, history and culture, please check in on: The Content Reader newsletter (English) Den tillfälliga besökaren (Swedish)

January passed very quickly and we are already into February. I can’t say that I had a very interesting reading month, more leisurely wise. As it was not the best month for me, I took it easy with my choices, which is why they tend to lean on the lighter side. Read in January Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie En klenod i samlingen by Agatha Christie The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler Muhammed by Klas Grinell Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie Complete Odes by Pindar Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of Rhodes That makes four Agatha Christie in my quest to read all her books. 4.50 from Paddington was the best, I think, and really good. Passenger to Frankfurt started out very well, but I somehow lost track towards the end. These are books where either HP or Miss M are in the story but being side characters. Anne Tyler is a favourite author and The Accidental Tourist is great. I loved the film when I saw it many years ago. I would like to use this novel for my challenge: Read the book, see the movie. I started to read all of Anne Tyler’s books in a challenge a couple of years ago, but somehow stopped mid way. This is a way to start reading her again. She is a sure observer of human psychology and actions, especially family related. I have not read anything by Nora Ephron earlier, although seeing several films she wrote. In this book, I Feel Bad About My Neck , we follow her through her life, interests, work and family life and it is gives you a good feeling reading her short insights into her life. Especially, in this confused world we are living in for the moment. Only one nonfiction book this month, and it is also an audio book. Muhammed by Klas Grinell . He is an author and associate professor of the history of ideas, with a focus on Islamic tradition, cultural heritage and philosophy. It is an interesting, short introduction to the life of Mohammed, his time and deeds. Finally, two books included in my Curriculum reading of Literature and History. Complete Odes by Pindar was written in the early 5th century BCE, Pindar’s odes are among the most celebrated works of ancient Greek lyric poetry. Composed to honor victors in the various Panhellenic athletic games. They combine praise with myth, moral reflection, and religious devotion. I found it rather difficult to read and it is very dense. It is famous for offering a glimpse into Greek values of excellence, fame, and the fragile balance between human success and divine favour. I can only recommend it if you are really into the ancient Greek world. Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of Rhodes is more accessible and tells the story of Jason and his quest for the Golden Fleece. It is always a fascinating story and I did not really know the details. It was composed in the 3rd century BCE. Unliked Homer’s epics, this poem focuses on psychological depth, emotional conflict, and complex character relationships—most notably the inner turmoil of Medea. Here is an epic full of adventure as Jason and his Argonauts set out to find the Golden Fleece. We meet friends and foes, and some of the most famous people from the Greek myths; Jason and Medea. Especially the second part was written in a style that felt very modern, with thrilling descriptions on how to manage to catch the fleece and get away with it. An interesting mix between a classical epic story telling and more modern tones. This story is for everyone who wants to know the story behind the Golden Fleece. I have also joined two read-alongs with Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy with host Nick Senger and Paradise Lost by John Milton with hostess GlutenbergBible . I really enjoy reading these two classics in a slow pace. Plans for February At the end of 2025 I decided to plan part of my monthly reading by reading specific genres. It did not turn out well in January, as I did not plan it. For every month I would like to read a book from the following genres. Classics/Read-a-long: Anna Karenina - a chapter a day - ongoing until the summer Classics/Read-a-long: Paradise Lost - certain lines a day - ongoing until the summer Non-fiction: Classics: Novell: SciFi: I did try to read A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess for January but could not stand the language and gave up after two pages. Yep, although a classic as well. Apart from the continuous read-along here is what I have planned. I try to use books from my own shelves, to lower the number of unread books crowded there. Non-fiction: Why We Sleep - Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker - perfect, I hope, for someone who does not sleep very well. Classics: Makurells i Wadköping by Hjalmar Bergman - A Swedish Classic that made a great success as a tv-series in 1968. It is a satirical novel about a flamboyant, dishonest businessman who schemes his way through a small Swedish town. Through his rise and fall, Bergman exposes hypocrisy, self-deception, and the thin line between success and fraud. I have just started and find it a little bit slow in the beginning. Novella: Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote - I think it does not need any further introduction. Could easily go under Classics as well. SciFi: Animal Farm by George Orwell - I have read his 1984 but never got around to this one. Also this one is a classic. My Curriculum I am on the road to Antiquity with my reading for Literature and History. The recommendations come from the youtube channel of Dr Jean Menzies; Jean’s Thoughts. She is an Ancient Historian and Author and talks about the Ancient world in an understandable way. This month I will read the following two books Library of Greek Mythology by Apollodorus is one of the most important surviving handbooks of Greek myth. “Written as a compilation, it traces mythological history from the origins of the gods through the heroes of the Trojan War, preserving countless stories that are otherwise lost or fragmented in earlier sources. Its clear, almost encyclopedic style makes it invaluable for both scholars and modern readers.” Posthomerica by Quintus Smyrnaeus picks up “the story of the Trojan War where Homer’s Iliad ends, narrating the events from Hector’s death to the fall of Troy and the Greeks’ departure. Composed centuries later in Homeric style, the poem fills a major gap in the epic tradition, blending reverence for Homer with late-antique literary sensibilities.” These two should give me more insight into the Greek myths, and the fascinating tale of the Trojan War and its heroes. Apart from these reading goals I hope to read a few books that come my way during the month.

The Artist Way and its exercises have been dormant for a while. I was travelling in December and beginning of January. Then my father suddenly passed away in mid January and my life went on a hold. He was 100 years old, but it still came as a chock, partly because it happened so fast. I was in time to spend some days with him in the hospital before he quietly passed, and I am happy about that. Still, it has affected my life, and the emptiness takes away my energy. I am now trying to hold on to slowly starting living my life again. The Artist Way is one of the projects I have, and I hope it will help me find my energy again. I started yesterday morning with the Morning Pages and it felt good to write down what has been happening lately. I wanted to start all over again with week 1 and 2, but decided to continue with week 3. The Artist Date My Artist Date this week was a visit to Malmö Live Concert House for a concert with Shostakovich. His 2nd Waltz is one of my favourite classical pieces, the most beautiful music you can imagine. But, there was more on the programme. Frederick Delius - On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, tonpoem för orkester (1912) Benjamin Britten - Violinkonsert i d-moll, op. 15 (1939) Dmitrij Shostakovich - Symfoni nr 10 i e-moll, op. 93 (1953) It was a beautiful concert with Martin Brabbins as the conductor, and he was excellent. I have never heard of Delius before, but it was a light, rather short peace. I am not that familiar with Britten’s work, this is probably the first I ever heard. It was technically a difficult piece, and the guest violinist, Alexandra Conunova from Moldova, did an excellent performance. Britten might not be my favourite after this piece. I did see though, that he has written a short opera on The Turning of the Screw. I would like to listen to that. Maybe for next week’s artist date? The best came at the end. Shostakovich’s 10th symphony was nothing but powerful and full of beautiful parts in between. Shostakovich wrote this following the death of Joseph Stalin. Shostakovich lived in a constant state of anxiety during Stalin’s regime. His life and career hung in the balance more than once. Julian Barnes has written a great book on his life in The Noice of Time. Highly recommended if you are interested in Shostakovich. This piece has been understood as Shostakovich’s long-suppressed response to decades of political terror, artistic censorship, and personal fear. The opening movement is dark and brooding, unfolding slowly. Then comes the second one, a more violent and powerful tune, often interpreted as a musical portrait of Stalin himself - short, brutal, and terrifying in its force. This might not have been the composer’s intent, but it is there and it is very powerful. The third movement is going back to a more quieter tune, paving way for the finale which gives a sense of triumph. You draw a breath when the last tunes have faded out. Absolutely fantastic. I am continuing with my morning pages which is a great way of getting rid of inner turmoil. There are questions to be answered; tasks to perform and finally the Check-out. Have you done what you should do this week. It gives you a push in - hopefully - the right direction. Have you heard of the Artist’s Way? Have you been following it? Leave a comment and tell me all about it.

My last posts were mostly about statistics, and here is another one. I promise it will be the last for the 2025 reading. It is a different approach to choose your favourite book of the year. Some year ago I followed a youtube blogger; Books with Emily Fox who had an interesting approach for choosing the best book read in 2022. I saw that another book blogger, The Plant Based Bride who does a similar exercise. What you do is to write down all the books your have read, or like me, use a random number generator, put the slips in a jar and randomly draw the book titles. Arrange them two by two, and choose the best book of the two. It sometimes mean that you have to choose between two favourite books, maybe early on. The books that ‘won’ you let go for another round, until you come down to two books. My best book for 2025 I did this with the 120 books I read last year. At one time I ended up with an uneven number so choose a book from the rejected ones to even out the numbers. I think it worked out rather well. The last four books were: Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman Trust by Hernan Diaz The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Tychonium, Experimentet by Jan Johannesson Of which Tunnel 29 and Trust went on for the final choice. I chose the best book to be: Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman “He’s just escaped from one of the world’s most brutal regimes.Now, he decides to tunnel back in.It’s summer, 1962, and Joachim Rudolph, a student, is digging a tunnel under the Berlin Wall. Waiting on the other side in East Berlin - dozens of men, women and children; all willing to risk everything to escape.From the award-winning creator of the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 podcast, Tunnel 29 is the true story of the most remarkable escape tunnel dug under the Berlin Wall. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews with the survivors, and thousands of pages of Stasi documents, Helena Merriman brilliantly reveals the stranger-than-fiction story of the ingenious group of student-diggers, the glamorous red-haired messenger, the American News network which films the escape, and the Stasi spy who betrays it. For what Joachim doesn’t know as he burrows closer to East Germany, is that the escape operation has been infiltrated. As the escapees prepare to crawl through the cold, wet darkness, above them, the Stasi are closing in.Tunnel 29 is about what happens when people lose their freedom - and how some will do anything to win it back.” If I had chosen myself? Where would I end up if I had chosen myself? I have chosen seven of my favourites. Tunnel 29 by Helen Merriman The Dutch House by Ann Patchett Shooting Butterflies by Marika Cobbold Trust by Hernan Diaz All for Nothing (Alles Umsonst) by Walter Kempowski The Night Travellers by Armando Lucas Correa Tychonium by Jan Johannesson As you see, all the four books that ended up in the battle of books, are also on my personal list. I had to let go of number 3, 5 and 6 during the battle. What about you? Have you done a similar exercise to choose your best read for a year? Please let me know.

I guess you can add as many statistics as your fantasy reaches. I have read many of your statistics and most are amazing in their details. Not so much here, but I wanted to add a few more interesting takes on my reading. New to me authors and the countries they are from I have never looked att new authors that I have read earlier, so I have nothing to compare it to. Of the 120 books read, I have read 62 authors for the first time. They represent 15 countries. I can imagine that is rather a lot of new authors. Please correct me if I am wrong. Swedish - 21 Erik Eriksson - Tina Frennstedt - Birgit Th. Sparre - Marit Furn - Tony Samuelsson - Sara Önnebo - Joakim Zander - Johannes Anyuru - Birgitta Petrén - Marika Cobbold - Andreas Marklund - Annelie Sylvan - Helena Kubicek Boye - Mikael Parkvall - Frida Skybäck - Bo Ericsson - Erik Petersson - Katarina Harrison Lindberg - Anders Sundkvist - Kerstin Berman - Stig Wallerman - Per Nygren American   - 13 Hernan Diaz (Argentine) - Mary Kubica - J.T. Ellison - Gertrude Stein - Andrew Turnbull - Diane Gaston - V.E. Schwab - Ann Patchett - Eleanor Herman - Karleen Koen - Shirley Jackson - James Baldwin - Riley Sager United Kingdom - 10 Daniel Hurst - Meriel Schindler - Saskia Walker - Stephen Clarke - Nancy Mitford - Helena Merriman - Jonathan Buckley - Ian McEwan - Tamara Talbot Rice (Russian) - Rafael Sabatini (Italian) Australia - 2 John Baxter - Geraldine Brooks (US) And one each from the following countries - 11 Simone St. James, Canada / Walter Kempowski, Germany / Sicho Matsumoto, Japan / László Krasznahorkai, Hungary / Mariléna Karabatéa, Greece / Tove Jansson, Finland / Han Kang, South Korea / Shahnaz Habib, India / Paul Verlaine, France / Irène Némirovsky, Ukarine / Paride Rombi, Italy For 2026 I would like to read more authors from countries I usually don’t read from. I have a list of the countries of the world, and so far I have filled in 27 countries och the 195 on the list. Far too few. I will make an effort to read authors from less read countries this year. What about you? Are you varying your reading to cover countries all over the world?

Thanks to Brona @ This Reading Life I am joining Book'd Out for reading nonfiction in 2026. You find the rules under the link, but here are a few of them. HOW IT WORKS You can select, read and review a book from the categories listed below during the year for a total of up to 12 books; OR select, read and review any nonfiction book. A book may be in print, electronic or audio format. Choose a goal: Nonfiction Nipper: Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories Nonfiction Nibbler: Read & review 6 books, from any 6 listed categories Nonfiction Nosher: Read & review 12 books, one for each category Nonfiction Grazer: Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal, or none at all, just share the nonfiction you read through the year. Categories: History Memoir/Biography True Crime Science Health Food South East Asia Humour (Humor) Lost or found Television Subculture Published in 2026 * You can choose your books as you go or create a list in advance. You may combine this challenge with others if you wish. Use your best good faith judgement as to whether a book fits the category or not. * Where a book is identified by more than one category, it may only count for one, not both. * You can read your chosen titles in any order, at any pace, just aim to complete the challenge by December 31st 2026 I will read other nonfiction so I will settle for Nonfiction Nipper:  Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories. History is my most favourite category so that is a given, thinking of all the nonfiction I have on my shelves. I also have a few Biographies , and I could choose from Edward Burne-Jones - A Life by Penelope Fitzgerald; Gabriele d'Annunzio by Lucy Hughes-Hallett; Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee among others. For Science or Health I would go for Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. All books on my shelves far too long. Nonfiction Grazer:  Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal, or none at all, just share the nonfiction you read through the year. I am planning to read more nonfiction this year so will add them as they come. There will be many nonfiction books considering my 2026 Personal Curriculum . Both Literature and History will generate nonfiction reading. Are you on for a Nonfiction year?

Happy New Year! I wish you all the best for 2026 and a great new reading year This is the time of the year when we look back on the previous year and what we read. I read a record 120 books last year. It turned out to be a lot of mystery books, and that is probably why the number of books is somewhat higher. They are easy to read. Furthermore, I do listen to a lot of the Agatha Christie books I read. I register the books I read on StoryGraph, which also provides the statistics. After a quick look at the statistics above, I notice I only read 30 nonfiction books which is only around 25% of my overall reading. I usually read more. 90 books, 75% come from fiction, various genres. Due to all the mystery books I read, of which 19 was by Agatha Christie, I read 73 female authors and 47 male authors. Of all the books I read 67% in English and 33% in Swedish. I read 59 books from my TBR shelves (To Be Read). That leaves 188 books to go for 2026. Usually, there will be a few books added during the year. I don’t think I will ever come down to zero. I don’t differ books coming on my shelves from earlier year. I count also books ending up there during the year. What about you? How many books have you read? Any very good ones that you can recommend? What is your favourite genre? I will return in a later post with the favourite books of the year and my prospects for 2026.

This book was published already in 1992, and has been a bestseller for many years. It is planned as a twelve-week program, and designed to help creators to finding their inner creative confidence, take away internal blocks - such as fear, perfectionism, and self-doubt, that I guess most creative people have. The base for the exercises is “Morning pages” and “Artist Dates” and they repeat themselves over the weeks. Morning pages should be a stream of consciousness way of writing; free-flowing, unfiltered and often illogical. It should capture the writer’s immediate mental state, including ideas, shifts of focus etc. Don’t think of the grammatical structure, just write. This way of writing is typical for established authors like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. It is a sort of relief to get things down on paper. I must admit I have not been able to write every morning, but I try. The idea is to write three pages. I use an A5 notebook, but I think you are meant to have an A4. Anyway … the important thing is to write, and I quite enjoy it. “The Artist Date” - is a block of time you set aside weekly to nurture your creativity. Two hours a week might be a good start, but I guess you can choose yourself. The idea is to do something creative - on your own - that inspire and promote your creativity. It could be going to an exhibition at a museum; playing the piano, trumpet, drums or whichever musical instrument you fancy; you could go to a café and read a book etc. It should qualify as quality time. This is something that I do rather often myself. You choose yourself, and you don’t have to take into consideration other people’s interests. Just concentrate on what you are doing at the time, and being inspired and hopefully it would lead to a creative output. I have started with the first two weeks, but will have to stop for a month since I am going away. I was thinking I could do the morning papers anyway, but alas, the travelling has been too intensive so no time for that. I will probably start from the beginning once I am home again. I hope that after following this “course” I will be more directed towards the things I want do to, and achieve. And above all, not just start a lot of projects which are never finalised. I also bought Julia Cameron’s book  Write for Life , A toolkit for writers. I hope it will add something useful to my writing goals. The book is a six-week programme for writers of all levels. What are your goals for 2026? Reading? Creating? Or just take life as it comes?

I must have read about this novel, with its distinct gothic touch, on one of the blogs I follow. When something catches my interest, I usually download it—if available—through my Nextory app. This one turned out to be a surprising story that keeps you guessing until the very end. In other words, exactly the kind of story I love. "At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred. Stabbed her father with a knife Took her mother’s happy life It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything. “It wasn’t me,” Lenora said But she’s the only one not dead As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought." (from Story Graph) I was hooked from page one. Early on, there’s a reference to the Lizzie Borden murders of 1892, and in a way the setup feels similar: everyone is dead except for one person. Yet the police struggle to determine whether that person really did it. The narrative unfolds through two voices, Kit and Lenora, each revealing small pieces of what has happened—and what is still happening—until a fuller picture slowly forms. As we delve deeper into the events, the atmosphere grows even darker. The house—built on a rock above the sea—is literally crumbling, leaning ever closer to disaster. And gradually, we learn the truth of what happened on a tragic day fifty years earlier. It’s described as a gothic tale, and I think that fits well. Sager structures the story along parallel lines: the decaying house with its slanting floors and walls, worsening as the plot progresses, mirrors the two timelines unraveling fifty years apart. It’s all done with impressive skill. I looked into Sager’s other novels and it seems he often writes what could be called horror. I’m not usually drawn to horror, but if it’s written the way it is here, I’m all for it. There’s an uneasy undertone throughout. Since I listened to most of it at night before sleep, there were a few evenings when I simply couldn’t continue—too atmospheric for the dark hours. If you enjoy thrillers, murder mysteries, and gothic tales, this is definitely a book for you.