Top Ten Books I HAD To Buy…But Which Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

Posted on March 19, 2013 by christinasr

Oh my. I’m definitely guilty of this. I often buy books that I’m desperate to get my hands on – and then, they just sit on the shelf, sometimes for years, before I get around to reading them… It’s silly, really. Or maybe not because the chance of me reading them is bigger when I actually own them than if I first have to go out and buy them. Of course, this approach means that I have a list of 200+ books which I own – and haven’t read yet … So this week’s Top Ten list is right up my alley – the difficult part is actually to narrow it down… As always, the Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus. I think I have mentioned enough times how excited I am about this one and how scared I am that I’ll end up not loving it…
Benjamin Hale: The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore. I was so intrigued by this one when it came out. Still am. Just haven’t read it yet, for some reason.
J.K. Rowling: The Casual Vacancy. So this one, like the first two books on this list, are books I put on last weeks list of Top Ten Books at the Top of my Spring 2013 TBR List so hopefully, I will get around to reading this one very, very soon. I’m really curious to see what J.K. Rowling can do with something outside the Harry Potter universe!
Monica Ali: Untold Story. I was so excited about this one that I had my friend buy it to me when he visited Copenhagen and Denmark’s best bookstore, Politikens. Of course, that didn’t mean that I actually read it…!
Margaret Weis: The Dark Disciple Trilogy. Yes. This one is rather embarrassing. Not only did I buy one book and then let it just sit and gather dust on a shelf, I bought three. On three separate occasions. And two of them in hardcover because I just couldn’t wait to read them…! So I now have a trilogy where the first and third volume is in hardcover, the second volume is a paperback (and not even a pretty trade paperback) and I have owned them for years and haven’t read them … Silly, silly me.
Steve Martin: An Object of Beauty. I love Steve Martin. I think he is hilarious. And I’m interested in art and fascinated by the art world so of course I wanted this book. And then – just nothing. Never have gotten around to actually reading it…
Yann Martel: Beatrice and Virgil. I looooooved Life of Pi so when Yann Martel published this book, I had to have it immediately. And then … well, it got some bad reviews and I just never read it. Still want to. Someday.
Per Højholt: Auricula. On September 7th, 1915 at 4.09 pm there was a sudden silence all over Europe. 9 months later, a lot of women gave birth to a child – and an ear. The ears go out in the world and visits artists like Kafka and Duchamp. Højholt spent 23 years writing this book apparently and it just sounds weird and quirky – and I want to read it! Bought it years ago – never got around to doing anything but putting it on the shelf…
Anne Rice: Christ the Lord – Out of Egypt. When I saw this, I was so excited. Anne Rice of vampire fame writing about Jesus. I just had to own it. And since – meh. I’ve kind of lost interest in this one. I hope that I will pull myself together and read it – but it’s not looking good so far.
Ali Smith: There but for the. A man locks himself in a room in the house where he attends a dinner party – and he refuses to leave. Soon, he becomes some sort of phenomenon because everybody want to know about the man who has locked himself in a room in someone else’s house. I think this sounds like a fun plot with lots of potential to turn into something really special

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Top Ten Books At The TOP Of My Spring 2013 TBR list!

Posted on March 12, 2013 by christinasr

So I like keeping list of books I want to read soon. I often think about which book to read next so this week’s list of books I want to read this spring, was rather easy to put together.

As always, the Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. There are a lot of people participating, people reading all kinds of books, so if you check out some of the other blogs, beware of your to-read list – it might explode!

Jonathan Safran Foer: Everything is Illuminated. I hadn’t planned to read this anytime soon but then I discovered that it’s the next group read for the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die group on Goodreads, beginning March 15. I read and loved Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close last year so I’m actually looking forward to this read.
SJ Watson: Before I Go To Sleep. I have heard so much good about this book about a woman who is unable to remember her past or who she is – and who slowly starts to question if everything is right with her husband and with what he is telling her. It’s a debut novel and it sounds unputdownable!
Amy Chua: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. So this book has gotten a lot of bad publicity but ever since I heard an interview with Amy Chua, I’ve wanted to read it.
Félix J. Palma: The Map of Time. I don’t know quite how to describe this book. It sounds like a combination of a lot of different genres and just utterly engrossing and fascinating. Like a wild ride. It takes place in London in 1896, it’s about a man who has lost his lover to Jack the Ripper and a woman who struggles against the rules of Victorian society. And it involves H.G. Wells and some sort of machine that will change anything.
Erik Valeur: Det syvende barn. (The Seventh Child.) 7 babies are born at the same hospital and are all placed at the same orphanage from which they are all adopted – without knowing their back ground. But they all receive an anonymous letter detailing their past and this sets events in motion. Both my mother and mother-in-law have read this and loved it and it has been rather popular in Denmark so here we go. I will read more books by Danish authors!!!
Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus. Oh how I want to read this book. I actually want to read it so bad that I’m scared to do so and therefore, I keep pushing it back. I’m afraid that I have too high expectations and that they will ruin the book for me. But I want to read it and I will read it – and soon.
Benjamin Hale: The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore. An interspecies lovestory. Bruno is a chimpanzee who falls in love with his human teacher. I was dying to read this when it was published, bought it – and it has been gathering dust on the shelf ever since … Now’s the time!
Eowyn Ivey: The Snow Child. Everyone has read this, most seem to like it. It sounds like some sort of sad fairy tale and I have it home from the library and want to get to it to see what all the fuss is about – and if it is as good as people say it is.
J.K. Rowling: The Casual Vacancy. Why haven’t I read Rowling’s new book yet? I bought it right after Christmas and I’m looking forward to reading it but somehow, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. When you liked the Harry Potter books, this is kind of a must-read and I really liked them so – another need to read soon. Maybe I’m a bit scared of this one not living up to my expectations too…
Christos Tsiolkas: The Slap. This is another one I’ve been wanting to read for a while. A parent slaps someone else’s child and the repercussions are overwhelming. We had a case of that here in Denmark and the mother who slapped someone else’s child, was put in jail. I have felt the urge to slap kids if they are doing something to my girls, I can feel the lion mom come up in me, so even though I have never acted on this – and probably never will – I can see myself in this book.

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Book Buying 2013 – part 1

Posted on February 17, 2013 by christinasr

One might think that I haven’t bought any books this year since I haven’t posted about it. One might think so, yes – but one would be very wrong. I just haven’t gotten my blogging act enough together so far this year to get such a post done. So here it is – the 8 books I’ve bought so far this year …!

SJ Watson: Before I Go to Sleep
J.K. Rowling: The Casual Vacancy
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451
David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas
Toni Morrison: Beloved
Salman Rushdie: Joseph Anton. A Memoir
Erlend Loe: Doppler
Félix J. Palma: The Map of Time

5 of these have been bought from Strand Bookstore in New York (online). The SJ Watson one I bought at a local bookstore after hearing about it on the Guardian Books podcast. Dopper and The Map of Time was bought at my favorite bookstore in Odense – I had never heard of Doppler before but got it highly recommended by young girl working as a trainee in the store – she spoke so positively about it and it’s about an elk so how could I possibly not buy it?

As you can see, I’ve already read the Salman Rushdie one – and really enjoyed it – and I’m currently reading Toni Morrison’s Beloved and really liking it. Enjoying is the wrong word to use for how I feel about that book but it’s an important book and I do get a lot from reading it even though I sometimes have to read the same paragraph over and over to really get what is happening. But that’s okay. I don’t mind that as long as the book has so much to offer as this one truly has.

Anyway, most of these books – or at least about half of them – are well-known and I’m really looking forward to reading all of them. I think they all sounds very interesting and fascinating – duh, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought them – and I hope to get to them all soon (-ish).

So as you can see, no book buying ban here… I just keep on buying even though the shelves (and the boyfriend) are groaning …!

Top Ten Books I Wouldn’t Mind Santa Bringing Me

Posted on December 4, 2012 by christinasr

I think this week’s Top Ten topic is the easiest one ever! At least it is to me since I have put a lot of books on my Christmas wish list. The only difficult thing this week is to limit myself to only 10 books. But I will try my best! As always, the Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and here is my list for this week.

Ken Follett: World Without End. I read and loved The Pillars of the Earth earlier this year so of course I’m hoping to get this book so I can see what happens next.
David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas. Some years ago, I stood in a bookstore and debated whether to buy Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas or Ghostwritten. I ended up getting Ghostwritten and I’ve kind of regretted it ever since since Cloud Atlas seems to be the big thing. However, I chose Ghostwritten because I thought it sounded better so I definitely want to read that too. But after watching the trailer for Cloud Atlas, I’m just sold. I so badly want to read that book.
Diana Gabaldon: Voyager (Outlander #3), Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4). I’ve read the first two of the series but with some years in between and I tend to forget how much I like these books. So after reading Dragonfly in Amber, I decided I wanted to read more books in the series – and soon. So I’m wishing for the next two.
Alexander Dumas: The Count of Monte Christo. I loved The Three Musketeers as a child. Loved, loved, loved. I really want to reread that book at some point – as well as the other books in the series. But even more, I want to read The Count of Monte Christo. I keep hearing so much good about it so that’s my Classic wish for this Christmas.
Joyce Carol Oates: Zombie. I’ve always been fascinated by serial killers. And this is written by one of my favorite authors. I really, really want this one!
Toni Morrison: Beloved. I’ve never read Toni Morrison. It’s about time, right? I got intrigued by reading a review talking about how a woman in the book kills her baby girl because some fates are worse than slavery.
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury recently died and that sparked a lot of people talking about him and his books. And I’ve never read anything by him. This one is about book burning and it sounds like something I will just love. Crossing my fingers I get this one!
J.K. Rowling: The Casual Vacancy. It’s J.K. Rowling’s new book. Of course I want it!
Salman Rushdie: Joseph Anton. I could write almost the same thing as just above but it’s not entirely true. I have not read a lot by Rushdie but I’m loving his Twitter personality, I really want to read more by him because he’s a very impressive author – and I find it very interesting to learn how he coped with the fatwa.
Olivia Butler: Kindred. This sounds a bit similar to the Outlander series in plot. It’s about time travelling too but in this book, a woman travels back to the time of slavery in the US. I’ve heard so much good about it so on the list, it went.
Andrea J. Buchanan (ed.): It’s a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters. I have two girls, two daughters. I like getting inspiration on raising them, learning more about how to make sure we all survive when they become teenagers and just how I can be the best mom I can be. This book sounds very interesting.
Peggy Orenstein: Cinderella ate my daughter. My oldest daughter is 4, she loves princesses, she talks like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty – and I am not sure that’s necessarily a good thing. So I want to read this book to maybe get a bit of perspective on this whole princess thing and to see if it will become a problem when she grows older.
Rachel Joyce: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. This sounds like an intriguing book. A man writes a letter to a woman dying of cancer – but instead of mailing it, he decided to walk across England to deliver it himself. It was longlisted for the Man Booker and yeah, I want it.
George R.R. Martin: A Game of Thrones (Song of Ice and Fire #1). I want to know what all the fuss is about. And I want to read about the dragons. And the big wall. And what happens when winter comes.
Freda Warrington: Midsummer Night (Aetherial Tales #2). I read the first one, Elfland, and liked it. I’ve been meaning to get this one for a while but just haven’t seen it anywhere.

Yeah, I know. I lied. I didn’t try my best. I realized I had 14 books on my wish list so I just went with it… These are the 15 books I would love to find beautifully wrapped underneath my Christmas tree on December 24.

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News from four big authors

Posted on April 12, 2012 by christinasr

So four of the big authors have some interesting news in the media at the moment.

Salman Rushdie

Rushdie is coming out with his memoirs later this year. We all know about Salman Rushdie because of the fatwa put on him back in 1989. This is his story. This is his version of living with a death sentence over his head for nine years. Even though Rushdie really intimidates me, this is a book I’m really looking forward to.

The book is called Joseph Anton – a memoir and is published on September 18, 2012.