Mailbox Monday 18.1.2010 & What I Am Reading Now

I confess, at the moment I'm in the middle of reading all too many books! But it's fun! :) The only negative thing was that I did not finish rereading Mrs. Dalloway in time to participate in the first leg of the Woolf in Winter group read. I could have written about the book based on the previous times I have read it, but I rather reread it first and share what I think of it this time around. I promise to post about Mrs. Dalloway later. It is, after all, one of my all time favorite books.

I'm still reading the Amnesty International short story anthology Freedom. I first borrowed it from the library, but these are hard stories to read in a row, so after maybe 4-5 stories I just had to take a break from the book. I absolutely wanted to read all the stories, though, so I ended buing the anthology in December. Now I'm slowly working my way through it. As I'm also working through The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood and Four Short Stories by Elizabeth Gaskell. Both books I like, Atwood has once again spun an intriguing tale set in the future and Gaskell's short stories are very interesting portraits of women and women's life in the mid 19th century, but somehow there has all the time been some book I want to read even more then these two!

Another book I've been reading is the final part of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. I own the whole trilogy, but took kind of a shortcut with the two first parts: the books have been made into movies in Scandinavia, and I have the first two movies on DVD (the third film has not been released yet) and after watching them (Noomi Rapache is just perfect as Lisbeth!:)) I'm yearning to find out how the story ends! Actually, I have all the time thought that the books might be just a bit too much for me and I must say that I do find the third book sometimes hard to read because of the violent things happening. Somehow for me it's  more difficult to read about violence than watch a DVD (and when watching a DVD, it is very easy to fast forward if the going gets too tough ;)).

Danielle over at A Work in Progress posted about The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden a fortnight ago, and reading her review made me think that I would really like to read more Godden. Also, I had during the holidays ordered the movie version of In This House of Brede and got it just the day before Danielle posted about The Greengege Summer. I read both In This House of Brede and Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy quite a few years ago. I'm actually sort of collecting novels about nuns and religious sisters and those both fall into that category. Funny thing is that In This House of Brede is, in my opinion, one of the best novels about nuns and religious life ever written, but I do not own a copy myself. (I'm going to remedy that very soon, though! :)) Well, after reading Danielle's post & watching the In This House of Brede -movie I absolutely wanted not only to read more Godden, but to reread In This House of Brede. I got both The Greengage Summer and In This House of Brede, and also a third novel of hers called The River from the National Repository Library through ILL. The NRL is just great! And their service is very quick! Often you get your books in 1-2 working days. When I got my books I was busy reading Mrs. Dalloway for Woolf in Winter and a novel (not available in English) by the Norwegian writer Jan Kjaerstad for one of my two reading groups, so on my way home from work that day I thought just to take a little peek into In this House of Brede during the metro ride. Well, I got totally hooked! I simply could not put the book down! Yesterday I finished the Kjaerstad novel, and now I'm free to transport myself to the Benedictine Abbey of Brede again! It's been such a long time since I read the book for the first time that I had totally forgotten the wonderful way Godden's story moves backwards and forwards in time. I'm really, really loving the way she writes and the way she portrays the lives of the nuns.

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page.

Last week sales began in the bookstores over here. I went to the my favorite bookstore "just to take a look"  and ended up buying these three books, two novels and a nonficion book:

• Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski. My first ever Persephone book! It is a story set in post WWII France. Hilary Wainwright returns to France in order to find a child lost five years ago in 1943. Is the child really his? Does he want him? The novel was first published in 1949 and it's said to paint a brilliant picture of a country deeply divided after the war.
• Girl in a Bule Dress by Gaynor Arnold. A famous Victorian novelist Alfred Gibson (who resembles Dickens) is dead and his wife has not been invited to the funeral. This is the story of the wife, Dorothea, who is "not content to be remembered as a mere footnote when the official Life of the great man comes to be written." The novel was longlisted for The Man Booker Prize in 2008.
• The Naming of Names: The Search for Order in the World of Plants by Anna Pavord. I bought this book mainly because it was so cheap and so beautiful, the illustrations are really lovely! It's about botanical history, how plants came to be called and grouped the way they are today.

Chapter 29: Mailbox Monday 23.11.2009

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page.

I've been trying to cut down on buying books lately, as I really should do more reading of books instead of buying them! I simply have too many books I still haven't read in my bookshelves. To be honest I have too many books. Period. Or could one ever really own too many books? My books fall roughly into two categories: those I read once and will give away and those that are for keeps. But still, the shelves (we will not mentions the cupboards filled with books here, no we will not...) are starting to be pretty much filled to the capacity.

So, I have a confession to make: I should not, but I did: four books entered my collection lately. Yes, I know, maybe I should have started this post with "Hello, my name is Tiina, and I am a bookaholic."

The new additions are:

1. This very cute copy of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë I found in a library's book swap trolley. Many of our libraries have these trolleys, boxes, or shelves, where you can bring any of your books you want to give away and/or take any books you like from it.

2. Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen is a first in a mystery series featuring Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie Rannoch, 34th in line for the British throne. The book is set in 1932 and seems to be just such a humorous, historical mystery that I enjoy reading every once in a while.

3. I love Art Noveau, or Jugend, as we call it here. I love the design, the fashion, the architecture. It would be a dream come to true to be able to afford an apartment in a Jugend style building in downtown Helsinki. (Well, a girl can dream, can't she? :)) Anyway, I own a small collection of books about Art Noveau/Jugend and the latest addition is this one by Camilla de la Bedyore. A small book, but a good collection of pictures.

4. I have lately had an urge to visit some antiquarian bookshops. I guess, in a weird way it goes with my decision to buy less books. My brain intepreted the decision somewhat warpedly as "buy second hand, you'll get more books with the same amount of money!" ;) Well, I did visit the best antiquarian book store in town yesterday, but it was almost closing time so (luckily) I did not have much time to browse. I did end up buing this old book form 1967, though. It is a study about how the Finnish women used their right to vote and stand for parliament during the first decade of universal suffrage in Finland. Only later did I realize that the copy I bought is actually signed by the author!


What was your mailbox like this past week?

Chapter 22: Mailbox Monday 21.9.2009

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page.

Last week six books were added to my ever expanding collection. :)

1. The Last Ember by Daniel Levin. This book was kindly sent to me by Marcia of The Printed Page. Thank you so much, Marcia! The Last Ember is Levin's debut novel, a thriller set in the worlds of archeology, religion and terrorism. The story moves from Rome to Jerusalem in search of a hidden two millennia old artefact. I cannot wait to read it!

2. & 3. Angels Beneath the Surface: A Selection of Contemporary Slovene Fiction ed. by Mitja Cankar and Tom Priestly & Marsipaania translated & ed. by Kari Klemelä and Jouni Inkala. My interest in Slovenia is nurtured by two collections I bought at my favorite bookstore. The first one is the first collection of Slovene short stories published in English outside of Slovenia since 1994, and the second one is the first collection of contemporary Slovenian poetry translated into Finnish.

4. Oscar's Books: A Journey around the Library of Oscar Wilde by Thomas Wright. It is a story of Wilde's life through his reading. How could have I resisted buying something like that!! :)

5. s'Hertogenbosch within the Walls: A Historical Exploration by Frans van Gaal and Peter Verhagen. We had a group of people from s'Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands visiting us at work. I gave them a tour of our building and told them about our services. They kindly gave me this interesting book about the old town of s'Hertogenbosch. It seems to be a very beautiful place. Browsing the book makes me want to visit s'Hertogenbosch some day.

5. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I've read this in Finnish many, many years ago. Since reading Matt of A Guy's Moleskin Notebook praising the book I got the urge to re-read it in English. My favorite bookstore had a Wordsworth Editions paperback at only 3,90 €. That is so cheap it is practically nothing! Simply could not resist. :)

Oh, the dilemma! So many books, so many books! I'm still reading both Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner and Farewell, Shanghai by Angel Wagenstein and enjoying them a lot. Only I would like to get started with so many other novels, too! Could we not have at least 36 hours in a day, please!! :)

Chapter 14: Mailbox Monday 24.8.2009

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page.

I am incorrigible! I simply cannot help myself! I bought two new books again, and ordered some from the Book Depository, but more about those later, as they have not yet arrived.

The two new additions to my book collection are:

• Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
  I have actually not read any of her books yet. Don't really know why, as I love historical fiction and have heard good things about Dunant's books. I also happen to collect fiction about sisters/nuns, so this was actually a must have for me.
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  I own her collected works, but it is such a huge book that you don't want to carry it around in your bag, and I tend to read on my way to work. So I bought this Penguin Classics edition of Northanger Abbey. There is also a lot of background information in this edition which is interesting to read.

Chapter 11: Mailbox Monday 17.8.2009

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event hosted by Marcia of The Printed Page. Last week my book collection was increased by five new purchases:

• The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt. I've had this book in my shopping list for a while and finally got it on Friday. I'm very much looking forward to reading it. I'm basically interested in all and every book about the Victorian or Edwardian times, and this one is by Byatt, so I'm expecting a great read!

• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I've never read this classic, and I thought it was high time to purchase a copy. After reading Lady Windermere's Fan for the 9 for 2009 challenge, I'm very much a fan of Wilde. And isn't this a beautiful edition! Black and white cloth cover, very stylish, plus there is an appendix including some contemporary reviews, which I think will be very interesting to read.

• All three books of The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I finally gave up! :) Everybody, and I mean everybody all around, is talking about Larsson's books, and I have not read even the first one. I had intended to borrow them from the library later (at the moment the queues for the Finnish translations are quite long, and I'd rather read these in Finnish), but The Academic Bookstore had the whole series at such a good price I could not resist. :)
  Maybe you don't know, but the whole series is being made into film! The first movie has already been in the theatres in the Nordic countries, the second one will be very soon. The first two of my paperbacks have in fact movie covers. You'll get to see what Mikael Blomqvist and Lisbeth Salander look like in the movies. Here's two links to some info in English about the film adaptations (The first link includes some trailers):
  
  • Stieg Larsson -The Movies
    
  • Stieg Larsson Crime Trilogy
  

Chapter 9: Mailbox Monday 10.8.2009

This is my very first Mailbox Monday entry. Last week I received one book by mail. The Road from La Cueva by Sheila Ortego. I won the book in Terri B's (from Tip of the Iceberg) giveaway contest! :) Check out Terri's review of the book and the author's guest post on Terri's blog.

• Sheila Ortego's blog
• Sheila Ortego writes about her book in The Huffington Post