Lily of the Valley » Reading & Books

I love books.

lilykarin — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 14:52:28 +0000

I’ve been in Jönköping, studying maths with my father over the weekend. This thursday I was also finally granted my study support money so now I think my luck is back on! Reduces about 50% of the stress I’ve been living under anyway, having to borrow money is my least favourite thing in the world. I bought some books at the Red Cross in Jönköping; it was 50% on all books so they were ca 2,50 kronor each. I am happiest about finally owning Walden in Swedish, the first edition of Drottning Grågyllen, and I am very exited to finally read The Illustrated Man as Johanna has recommended it. 1984 I haven’t read in like ten years and I don’t own it so I thought it was time for another go. Here at home they laugh at me when I get home from Jönköping because I almost always have like 15 new books with me…
I love the late 50s to 60s book covers for paperbacks! Delfinserien and W&W-serien are always awesome in design. I am not sure why this gif got so compressed though, but I am too lazy to do it again… I am looking forward to having a little more time to read soon. This week I am having double exams and then I am back to normal life again at last!

Read in 2010.

lilykarin — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:19:53 +0000

Time for the yearly summary! 2010 is definitely going down in history as the year when I read ridiculous amounts of books… My new years resolution last year was to read more books, but this year I doubt I’ll be able to top this as I will study harder courses this year.

+++

1. Berättelserna – Torgny Lindgren
2. Kyra Kyralina – Panait Istrati
3. Kastellet - Vibeke Olsson
4. Kvarnen och Korset – Vibeke Olsson
5. Sabina – Vibeke Olsson
6. Barabbas – Pär Lagerkvist
7. Pengar På Planetens Villkor – Åsa Brandberg
8. Drottning Grågyllen – Moa Martinson
9. Så Länge Elden Brinner – Zaharia Stancu
10. Sagan om en Saga & Liljecronas Hem – Selma Lagerlöf
11. Bat Seba – Torgny Lindgren
12. Thinking about development – Björn Hettne
13. Wto bakom fasaden – Susan George
14. Vägen – Cormac McCarthy
15. Från Pax Romana till Pax Americana – Björn Hettne
16. Papalagi, den vite mannen – Erich Scheurmann
17. Blecktrumman – Günter Grass
18. När man skjuter arbetare… - Kerstin Thorwall
19. Huset med den blinda glasverandan – Herbjørg Wassmo
20. Det stumma rummet – Herbjørg Wassmo
21. Hudlös himmel – Herbjørg Wassmo
22. Nästa som rör mig – Bodil Malmsten
23. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
24. Solange – Willy Kyrklund
25. Vad Jag Älskade Dig – Zaharia Stancu
26. Dear Friends - David Deitcher
27. Dinas Bok – Herbjørg Wassmo
28. När Jag Var Sjuk – Tora Dahl
29. Drömfakulteten – Sara Stridsberg
30. Ivan Aguéli – Torbjörn Säfve
31. Henrietta ska du också glömma - Stig Claesson
32. Våtmarker – Charlotte Roche
33. Alienation is my nation – Ove Sernhede
34. Mannen utan öde – Imre Kertész
35. Mig Äger Ingen – Åsa Linderborg
36. Fanzinerad – different writers
37. Codine – Panait Istrati
38. The Forge – Arturo Barea
39. Hello Love – Charlotta Cederlöf
40. Jag vill inte dö, jag vill bara inte leva – Ann Heberlein (Suss’ book)
41. I Skuggan Av Oron – Kerstin Thorwall
42. På Palmblad och Rosor – Stig Claesson
43. En Herrgårdssägen – Selma Lagerlöf
44. Ingen Hör Hemma Här Mer Än Du - Miranda July
45. Jag Brinner - Torbjörn Säfve
46. Mytologi - Tage Danielsson
47. Pölsan – Torgny Lindgren
48. The Track – Arturo Barea
49. Oryx & Crake – Margaret Atwood
50. Regnspiran – Sara Lidman
51. Sagor för barn över 18 år – Tage Danielsson
52. Kallocain – Karin Boye
53. Göteborgshändelserna – Jörgen Gassilewski
54. Bära mistel – Sara Lidman
55. Kattöga – Margaret Atwood
56. Dödgrävarens dotter – Joyce Carol Oates
57. Tjärdalen – Sara Lidman
58. En hondjävuls liv och lustar – Fay Weldon
59. Röksvamp – Fay Weldon
60. Tidsresenärens Hustru – Audrey Niffenegger
61. En liten bok om att bränna löv, ris, kvistar och annat avfall i ett hörn av trädgården – Hans Alfredson
62. Hjortronlandet – Sara Lidman
63. Nu var det 1914 – Eyvind Johnson
64. Moa Martinson, ordet och kärleken; en biografi – Kerstin Engman
65. Om vänskap funnes – Stig Claesson
66. Sommarboken – Tove Jansson
67. Costandina – Zaharia Stancu
68. Uruma, tatarens dotter - Zaharia Stancu
69. Ormen – Stig Dagerman
70. Tysk höst - Stig Dagerman
71. Livsfilosofi – Arne Naess
72. Just Kids – Patti Smith
73. Year of the Flood – Margaret Atwood
74. The Lolcats book
75. Stor – Caroline Giertz
76. De fördömdas drottning – Anne Rice
77. Det mest förbjudna – Kerstin Thorvall
78. A disorder peculiar to the country – Ken Kalufs
79. Kamrater – Tora Dahl
80. Långt bort härifrån – Tora Dahl
81. Mörkt vatten – Joyce Carol Oates
82. Tjänarinnans berättelse – Margaret Atwood
83. I främmande land – Tora Dahl
84. Dörrar som öppnas – Tora Dahl
85. Inte riktig kärlek – Tora Dahl
86. Sommar och vinter – Tora Dahl
87. Efter Floden – PC Jersild
88. Smulklubbens skamlösa systrar – Mian Lodalen
89. …När du kommer ut i livet – Tora Dahl
90. Postverket - Charles Bukowski
91. Den blinde mördaren – Margaret Atwood
92. Den extra milen – Stig Claesson
93. Bränt barn – Stig Dagerman
94. Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
95. Dyngkåt och hur helig som helst – Mia Skäringer
96. Om hjärtat är vidrigt – Alexander Ahndoril
97. Nelly – Stig Claesson
98. Phonephucker – Tanja Suhinina
99. Kappan – Gogol
100. Stalins kossor – Sofi Oksanen
101. Baby Jane - Sofi Oksanen
102. En riktig kvinna – Sara Ahrrenius
103. Death of Bunny Munro – Nick Cave
104. Kvinnorummet - Marilyn French
105. Galapagos – Kurt Vonnegut
106. Maus – Art Spiegelman
107. Prins Charles känsla - Liv Strömqvist
108. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
109. Freak Show – James St James
110. Metro 2033 – Dmitry Glukhovsky
111. Raja - Katarina Taikon
112. Sömngångare - Tora Dahl
113. Fahrenheit 541 – Ray Bradbury
114. Synd - Birgitta Ney
115. Salamanderkriget – Karel Capec
116. Slapstick – Kurt Vonnegut
117. Foxfire – Joyce Carol Oates
118. Utrensning - Sofi Oksanen
119. Sanningen och ingenting annat än – Stig Claesson
120. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
121. Den vita ångbåten – Tjingiz Ajtmatov
122. Västgötalagret – Stig Claesson
123. Story of the eye – Georges Bataille

Salamanderkriget.

lilykarin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:29:10 +0000

I bought this one about four years ago at Erikshjälpen in Huskvarna because the title (in english it’s called War with the Newts) and back cover text got me intrigued. Then I’ve been neglecting it because I didn’t remember much about it except for the terrible cover art with put me off from taking it up. I finally started reading some days ago and it’s a fantastic book! One of the best dystopias I’ve read so far (and I’ve read many…) It’s a hilarious satire on capitalism, diplomacy, militarism, colonialism and pretty much everything. Karel Čapek wrote it in the 1930s but it could just as well been written this year; everything still applies and it’s reaaally clever and funny. Humanity discovers a type of newts that are at least as smart as humans, first they use them for fishing pearls and when discovered that they’re learning human traits like speaking, and working they use them for slave labour. Eventually humans are outnumbered. Someone on goodreads said the book was like “a good Vonnegut” and that is true, a really good Vonnegut. Read if it you can find it!

GoodReads.com

lilykarin — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:36:05 +0000

(Image via WeHeartIt)

I joined GoodReads.com today thanks to Johanna, better than Boktipset because you can add books that are missing from the databases which I have missed so much before, as I read a lot of out of print books that Boktipset does not catch up on! I’m in the process of rating all the books I’ve read and ordering them more throughly (can you tell I was supposed to study today…) and if you are a member there I’d love to have you as a friend! I’m here.
I love booknerding!!!! I could spend hours just adding books to that site… or really I already have.

30 Days of Books – Day 20 & 21

lilykarin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:30:41 +0000

Day 20 – Favorite kiss

I have no idea. I have now tried for almost 30 minutes to think through my book list and I can’t even remember reading a book with a kiss that had real significance. Any suggestions?

Day 21 – Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)

I don’t really know that either actually. Patti Smith’s book Just Kids and her memories of Robert Mapplethorpe were beautiful though. But calling it a “favourite romantic relationship” feels like trivialising it in a not too flattering way.

Time to do this again too! I’m totally kicking my own last year-reading’s ass!
Read from July until now. (With numbers of how many books I’m up at so far this year..)
68. Uruma, tatarens dotter -Zaharia Stancu
69. Ormen – Stig Dagerman
70. Tysk Höst - Stig Dagerman
71. Livsfilosofi - Arne Naess
72. Just Kids - Patti Smith
73. Year of the Flood – Margaret Atwood
74. LOLCATS
75. Stor - Caroline Giertz
76. De Fördömdas Drottning - Anne Rice
77. Det Mest Förbjudna - Kerstin Thorwvall
78. A Disorder Peculiar to the Country – Ken Kalufs
79. Kamrater - Tora Dahl
80. Långt Bort Härifrån – Tora Dahl
81. Mörkt Vatten - Joyce Carol Oates
82. Tjänarinnans Berättelse - Margaret Atwood
83. I Främmande Land - Tora Dahl
84. Dörrar Som Öppnas - Tora Dahl
85. Besynnerliga Värld – Tora Dahl
86. Inte Riktig Kärlek – Tora Dahl
87. Sommar Och Vinter - Tora Dahl
88. Efter Floden – PC Jersild
89. Smulklubbens Skamlösa Systrar – Mian Lodalen
90. ...När Du Kommer Ut I Livet - Tora Dahl
91. Postverket - Charles Bukowski
92. Brevet till Leonard – Tora Dahl

Got seriously addicted to Tora Dahl and had to read through her autobiographical series about Gunborg, which is from what I can understand one of the most underestimated series of books ever! So good. Then I read more of her memoirs, they are all so beautiful and sensitive and it’s so hard to believe she was born one hundred years before I was & passed away again before I was even born, because I constantly feel like we’re friends.

30 Days of Books – Day 19

lilykarin — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 19:21:26 +0000

Day 19 – Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)

Tiden är Ingenting – Hans Alfredson. One of the very few books I’ve re-bought even though I already had it just for the sake of owning it with the pretty cover. This issue also has a beautifully illustrated family tree inside.

30 Days of Books – Day 18

lilykarin — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 07:37:22 +0000

Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book

Omedelbart han såg kärringen beslöt han sig för att
förgöra henne. Varför visste han inte. Han bara beslöt
sig för att ta livet av henne, kanske därför att kärring-
en såg ut som om hon väntade att han skulle göra just
det.
Bara för att kärringen trodde att han skulle strypa
henne, tyckte han att han borde göra det.
Kanske därför.
Han hade skrämt kärringen. Men hon hade skrämt
honom först.
Kärringen låg nedbäddad i en soffa i kammaren och
han hade inte sett henne första gången han gått ige-
nom det lilla rummet. Kanske hade kärringen då sovit.
Nu sov hon inte. Hon låg och tittade på honom med
stora bruna skrämda ögon och han ville slå ihjäl hen-
ne.
Jag är här med en sladd, sa han.

30 Days of Books – Day 16 & 17

lilykarin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 18:38:01 +0000

Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry

I’m not much of a poetry reader, I think it has something to do with my complete lack of rhythm. But I really like Edna St Vincent Millay and I have a copy of her collected poems that I love a lot.

And you as well must die, beloved dust,
And all your beauty stand you in no stead,
This flawless, vital hand, this perfect head,
This body of flame and steel, before the gust
Of Death, or under his autumnal frost,
Shall be as any leaf, be no less dead
Than the first leaf that fall, — this wonder fled.
Altered, estranged, disintegrated, lost.

Nor shall my love avail you in your hour.
In spite of all my love, you will arise
Upon that day and wander down the air
Obscurely as the unattended flower,
It mattering not how beautiful you were,
Or how beloved above all else that dies.

Day 17 – Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)

Torgny Lindgren – Merabs Skönhet

30 Days of Books – Day 15

lilykarin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:43:30 +0000

Illustration by Richard Register.

Day 15 – Your “comfort” book

That would probably be Ecocities – rebuilding cities in balance with nature, by Richard Register. It was part of our litterature when I was studying sustainable city structuring as a part of human ecology. When I am feeling very down about the prospect of living my life and watching others live in a ruined world it’s quite lovely to take up and read a book about how easily we could change our cities structures and balance our impact on nature if only the motivation was there. It’s a throughly positive, visionary book on what to do, which not many other books on environment are (for a reason) so in a way I feel as if it is a comfort book. But a very inspiring one.

“I’ve thought long and hard about why so few become involved in ecocity organizations and why most foundations decline to help us while telling us we are doing great pioneering work. Now I think I know the answer. We point the finger at ourselves, and only a few are strong enough to face that truth. It’s one thing to blame distant corporations, globalization, the loggers and industrial farmers, the greedy shareholders, power-hungry executives and vote-grasping politicians. It’s quite another thing to see that we may all have to change and, not only that, but build something that has never been seen before.”

Ecocity Builders website.

30 Days of Books – Day 14

lilykarin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:44:35 +0000

Day 14 – Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)

Det finns folk som är rädda för vatten
och folk som är rädda för stan.
Det finns folk som är rädda om natten
och folk som är rädda om dan.
Men här ser ni en som är med om det mesta
som skrattar och slåss med polisen och festar
som härjar och hojtar i himmelens sky,
den förtrollande, argsinta, lyckliga My!

Det finns folk som har fnatt på att städa
och folk som är rädda för damm.
Det finns folk som är gröna av leda
och folk som är röda av skam.
Men här ser ni en som är med om det mesta
som skrattar och slåss med polisen och festar
som härjar och hojtar i himmelens sky,
den förtrollande, argsinta, lyckliga My!

Det finns folk som har trist hela dagen
och folk som har bråttom i ett.
Det finns folk som blir sjuka i magen
av bekymmer om vad som är rätt.
Men här ser ni en som är med om det mesta
som skrattar och slåss med polisen och festar
som härjar och hojtar i himmelens sky,
den förtrollande, argsinta, lyckliga My!