FrkFrigg's 75 books challenge 2011

Welcome to my thread of 2011!

I'm not sure how many books I'll get around to reading this year, since I just recently had a baby and he takes up a lot of time. For the same reason (and because I'm lazy) I probably won't be writing longer reviews of the books read, but I will try to tell just a little bit about each book and my opinion of it. At least there will be stars...

Anyway, welcome! Feel free to comment or sneak around as you like.

Here's an introduction to who I am.




MY STARS:
0.5 - I absolutely hate it!
1.0 - Not good, I didn't really like it, but it's possible to get through without puking.
2.0 - It's OK I guess, nothing remarkable or memorable.
3.0 - A decent book. A nice way to spend an afternoon.
4.0 - Really good, recommendable.
4.5 - I love it. A definite favorite.
5.0 - Absolutely wonderful!

CATEGORIES:
I started the categories in 2010 and since I haven't filled them out I'll just continue.

IRAN
1. Karin Bergquist: Revolutionens børn: Unge i Teheran (Children of the Revolution: The Youth of Tehran) 2010
2. Azar Nafisi: Reading Lolita in Tehran 2010
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POETRY
1. Halfdan Rasmussen: Paa knæ for Livet
2. Dorthe Nors: Dage
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FANTASY
Only one book from each series counts.
1. Diana Wynne Jones: Det magiske slot / Howl's Moving Castle 2010
2. Diana Wynne Jones: De syv magter / Archer's Goon 2010
3. Tamora Pierce: Terrier 2010
4. Pat O'Shea: Kampen mod Morrigan 1 / The Hounds of Morrigan (Part One) 2010
5. Philip Pullman: Det gyldne kompas / The Golden Compass
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NEW DANISH LITERATURE
1. Morten Ramsland: Sumobrødre 2010
2. Alberte Winding: Barbara Tristan Møllers svære begyndelser 2010
3. Sanne Munk Jensen: Satans yngel 2010
4. Ole Gotved: Den ny Edda 2010
5. Jonas T. Bengtsson: Submarino 2010
6. Jan Sonnergaard: Om atomkrigens betydning for Wilhelm Funks ungdom
7. Jakob Ejersbo: Eksil
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9.

UNKNOWN PLEASURES
Non-English/American/Scandinavian etc. literature - books from countries I don't usually read books from.. or other kinds of books I wouldn't usually read.
1. Aravind Adiga: Den hvide tiger / The White Tiger 2010
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CLASSICS
1. Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility 2010
2. Martin Andersen Nexø: Pelle Erobreren 1 / Pelle the Conquerer 1 2010
3. Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 2010
4. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: Don Quijote
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SCANDINAVIAN (NOT DANISH)
1. Mikael Niemi: Populærmusik fra Vittula / Popular Music from Vittula (Sweden) 2010
2. Einar Már Gu∂mundsson: Beatlemanifestet (Iceland) 2010
3. Susanna Alakoski: Svinestierne (Sweden)
4. Knut Hamsun: Sult / Hunger (Norway)
5. Arto Paasilinna: The Year of the Hare (Finland)
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NON-FICTION
1. Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi Murkoff, Sandee Hathaway: Hvad kan du vente når du venter dig? / What to Expect When You're Expecting? 2010
2. Anna Skyggebjerg: Super Mor 2010
3. Julia Lahme: Hvor lagde jeg babyen? 2010
4. Dennis Christiansen: Far alene hjemme 2010
5. Gitte Dencker: Fødselshjælperen 2010
6. Henry David Thoreau: Walden 2010
7. Dick Sundewall: Du skal være far 2010
8. Maise Njor & Camilla Stockmann: Michael Laudrups tænder 2010
9. Stine Roldgaard & Christina Tatarczuk: Alt om amning

SHORT STORIES (COLLECTIONS)
1. Jan Sonnergaard: Radiator 2010
2. Douglas R. Barnes (ed.): Short Stories of Our Time 2010
3. Marcel Proust: Noveller (Short Stories)
4. Pia Juul: Dengang med hunden
5. Tine Flyvholm (ed.): Pære-perker-dansk
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BOOKS OFF THE SHELF
I'm also trying to get around to reading some of those books on the shelves. Last year I failed miserably. I tried to read 25 of them, but ended up reading only 10. This year I'll try to get at least 15 read. Let's see how it goes.

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BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2011
Just to keep track – not because I buy too many books, but to see if I actually read them or they just go on the shelf.

1. Dean Koontz: Odds Mareridt / Odd Hours (January)
2. Jung Chang: Vilde svaner / Wild Swans (February)
3. Leonora Christina Skov: Champagnepigen (February)
4. Carit Etlar: Gjøngehøvdingen (February)
5. Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn (February)
6. Barbara Kingsolver: The Bean Trees (February)
7. Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones' Dagbog / Bridget Jones's Diary (February)
8. Ernesto Che Guevara: Rejse gennem Sydamerika / Un diario per un viaggio in motocicletta (February)

BOOKS READ IN JANUARY
1. Pat O'Shea: Kampen mod Morrigan 3 / The Hounds of Morrigan (part three). 3* #28
2. Halfdan Rasmussen: Paa knæ for Livet. 3,5* #28
3. Lars-Henrik Olsen: Hyggen – Historien om en gårdnisse. 3* #28
4. Dorthe Nors: Dage. 4* #36
5. Stine Roldgaard & Christina Tatarczuk: Alt om amning (All about Breast-feeding). #39
6. Dean Koontz: Odds mareridt / Odd Hours. 2,5* #39
7. Susanna Alakoski: Svinestierne / Svinalangorna (Pigsties) 4* #39
8. Knut Hamsun: Sult / Hunger. 4,5* #48
9. Saci Lloyd: Laura Browns CO2-dagbog 2017 / The Carbon Diaries 2017. 3,5* #48

BOOKS READ IN FEBRUARY
1. Philip Pullman: Det gyldne kompas / The Golden Compass. 3,5* #54

BOOKS READ IN MARCH

BOOKS READ IN APRIL

BOOKS READ IN MAY

Glad to see you back, Tanja! Be sure and post Birk pictures too :)

BOOKS READ IN JUNE

BOOKS READ IN JULY

BOOKS READ IN AUGUST

BOOKS READ IN SEPTEMBER

BOOKS READ IN OCTOBER

BOOKS READ IN NOVEMBER

Hello Stasia, glad to see you here! :D And I will post some pictures along the way, don't worry :)

Good! I love to see the pictures!

Hmm, I can't seem to find your thread, Stasia. Has someone hidden it? Am I going blind? Or haven't you got one yet?

I do not have a thread yet, Tanja. I will be starting mine on the 9th :)

Aha, glad to know I'm not going blind :) I'll be looking out for it then.

#22: Check out the Wiki too! There is a great directory on the group's wiki page listing all the members with links to their threads. You will see the Wiki on the group's home page ('Wiki Away!')

Hi Tanja, thanks for stopping by my thread. Now that I've found you, I'll look forward to seeing what you've been reading.

#23 - Yeah, I did look at the wiki (it's smart - I like it), but I couldn't find you there either (of course!)

#24 - Hey Lynda. How nice of you to stop by, I hope you'll find something to your liking along the way :)

#25: LOL! I am sure you will be able to track me down once I have a thread.

Welcome back!

#27 – Thanks Jim, glad to be back! And nice of you to drop by.

#26 – I'm sure I will. With so much action on your threads you can't remain hidden for long :P

Now the first books of the year...

1. Pat O'Shea: Kampen mod Morrigan 3 / The Hounds of Morrigan (part three). 3*
Category: None
Still good, and exciting enough for me to keep wanting to read a bit further. Excellent nursing book :)

2. Halfdan Rasmussen: Paa knæ for Livet. 3,5*
Category: Poetry
One collection of poems in the collected works, Halfdans digte, which I received as a birthday present from my husband.
A poem collection praising life and peace and against war and religion. Unfortunately there are too many repetitions, too many poems saying the same things in more less exactly the same words. It gets a bit boring from time to time. Also it seems rhyme matters more than rhythm to him and that blemishes some of the poems IMO. None the less, some of the poems are so eloquent and expressive that it is worth reading the entire collection just for their sake.

Probably not translated

3. Lars-Henrik Olsen: Hyggen: historien om en gårdnisse. 3*
Category: None
A christmas story in 24 episodes. My elementary school teacher used to read this book (and Den mærkelige rejse efter Hyggen) for us every december. And when I found it at the library I just had to read it again. Sad to say I remember it as better.. but of course it is made for children, not adults. And after having thought about it for so many years it might have grown in my recollection. Anyhow, it's not a bad book. It's actually a quite decent introduction to old Danish pixie tales and legends, and I think I might read it for my son when he gets older (if I dare – no one can read it as well as my teacher..).

Probably not translated

Hmpf, can't seem to make touchstones work at the moment – will try again later.

/delurk/

Hi Tanja, just letting you know that I'm lurking:)

/relurk/

Hi Tanya--Thanks for stopping by my thread. I'll be interested to see what you're reading this year. I hope some of the Danish and Scandinavian books you read have been translated to English, since I know there will be some I'll want to read!

Hi Tanja, I've got The Hounds of Morrigan on my shelves and hope to read it this year.

#29 – Hi calm, lurk away! :)

#30 – Hello Deborah. I do hope some (many) of them are translated. I hate when I want to recommend a book, but no one can read it. Unfortunately many Danish books never get translated, but there must be some.. Anyway, I hope you'll find something to your liking (that is translated).

#31 – Hi Kerry. Thanks for dropping by. I hope you'll like The Hounds of Morrigan. I did, even though there were a couple of minor annoyances. It's some really sweet books.

Tanja, you're back!!! Happy new year:)

How are you and little Birk doing? I bet he has grown a lot already!

Hi Bente! Yep, I'm back.. and a happy new year to you too :D

Birk has grown immensely. We had the health visitor out yesterday, and he has gained double the weight he was supposed to! Well, he did eat all the time, so no surprise. She told me we should restrict his eating, so there would be at least 2,5-3 hours between his meals. We just thought he would regulate it himself, but apparently not. I'm totally happy with it, I was going insane from nursing all the time :P

But we're doing very fine both of us (and his father too). I like being on maternity leave. I can follow my school mates paper writing on facebook, and while they stress, I just chill with good books and my wonderful, little (big) boy.

#34: I can follow my school mates paper writing on facebook, and while they stress, I just chill with good books and my wonderful, little (big) boy.

Sounds great, Tanja!

4. Dorthe Nors: Dage. 4*
Category: Poetry
A collection of list poems. At first I was slightly disappointed, because I expected it to be more list like, and if it wasn't for the numbers at the beginning of every line it wouldn't have anything to do with lists. But once I reconciled with that, I really liked these poems. A woman with a lost love behind her writes lists about what she does to make the days go by until she can again confidently stand on her own two legs. Nothing much happens, and yet there's something.. The little things in everyday life and something I can't really put my finger on. Good poetry.

Probably not translated. – I'll try and find something translated soon, or just a plain English book :P

#31 & #32 - I'm reading The Hounds of Morrigan to my boys right now. We've been reading it forever (we started late summer, and then school and hockey and all those kajallion kid activities started) but we have less than a 100 pages left. Its not a page turner, but sweet, often funny and the general consensus is that we're glad we're reading it.

Frkfrigg, thanks for visiting my thread. I've starred yours to. Us parenthetical gals need to stick together!

#35 – It is great, Stasia, it really is! :D

#37 – Hey Miriam, nice of you to stop by and thanks for the star – I hope you might find something here to your liking.

"Its not a page turner, but sweet, often funny and the general consensus is that we're glad we're reading it."
I absolutely agree!

5. Stine Roldgaard & Christina Tatarczuk: Alt om amning (All about Breast-feeding).
Category: Non-fiction
Nothing much to say. A book about nursing. Very informative.

6. Dean Koontz: Odds mareridt / Odd Hours. 2,5*
Series: Odd Thomas Novels (4)
Category: None – I had to return a gift and found this. I found several other books I should have chosen instead, but since I have the first three books in the series, I decided to take this one.
When I wrote about the third book in the series, Brother Odd, I wrote:
I'm not a big fan of Koontz' Odd Thomas novels (I always feel like he's just trying a bit too hard to be funny and hip), but the story was fine and kept me sort of hooked till the end. That still stands! I think I was even more annoyed with his "hipness" this time, and I found him to be very narrow-minded and prejudiced. Maybe Mr. Koontz is getting old and tired of the world. It seems like it to me. And I still think he should write the third book about Christopher Snow instead of writing Odd Thomas novels all the time.

7. Susanna Alakoski: Svinestierne / Svinalangorna (Pigsties) 4*
Category: Scandinavian (Sweden)
Audio book
A story about growing up in social housing in Ystad, Sweden in the 60s and 70s. About living with poverty, alcohol and stupid parents and surviving it all. An excellent book, well written and a gripping story.

Unfortunately I don't think it has been translated to English, but I'm not sure. It should be, I think.

Aha - here you are! I couldn't find you last time I looked...

Belated happy new year Tanja and lots of congratulations to you and your husband and Birk!

We want photos please ;o)

Yep, fliss, here I am :) Thank you and a belated happy new year to you too!

Photos are coming, I promise.. soon, I think (hope)..

I am ready for more baby pictures too, Tanja! I am sure Birk has changed in the past several weeks :)

Here's the promised pictures of Birk:

'Why are you taking a picture of me, Mom?' He does not look amused :)

It's understandable, I'd been taking a ton of pictures of him there, and he's not always very photogenic, poor little son :)

I love the one second from the bottom. It reminds me of one I took of Beth years ago!

I tried to take a picture while his head was up high, but my camera was too slow. Everytime I took the picture, his head tilted down again, but I like this pic too. He's so darn cute, the little one :D

Oh oh, I think he's waking up, gotta run..

8. Knut Hamsun: Sult / Hunger. 4,5*
Category: Scandinavian (Norway, and read in Norwegian)
I don't know why, but even though I've wanted to read this book for many years, I've always thought I would be bored doing it. I wasn't! I'm very glad I finally read it. It is a great book, deservedly a classic.

The main character is a (young? old?) man, who roams the streets of Kristiania, Norway, while trying to write some articles for the magazines. From time to time he succeeds and there's money for food and lodgings for a little while, but it can't last forever, and he's back to starvation again. It's hard not to like the (unnamed) protagonist. He's so annoying when he does these evil, crazy or just plain stupid things from time to time, but he's like a good friend: You always forgive him.. or at least that's how I felt.

It's a splendid book, the writing is excellent and the story really caught me, though nothing much happens – No, that's not exactly true.. A lot of things happen. What makes the story seem so stagnant is the protagonist and his lack of.. I don't know what to call it.. avancement, development? Anyway, a great book and highly recommended (– and it's been translated, yay! (but of course, it's a classic..)).

9. Saci Lloyd: Laura Browns CO2-dagbog 2017 / The Carbon Diaries 2017. 3,5*
Series: The Carbon Diaries (2)
Category: None
As far as I can recall, I've only heard bad things about this book, but since I read the first book in the series last year and quite liked it (I disliked the ending, but I don't remember why..), I thought I would give it a chance. And I must say, I liked this one too. I don't know/remember exactly what bugged people, but I have no complaints at all. Alas, it's not great literature, but the story and topic are both interesting and relevant. The characters seem alive and genuine; and though I sometimes disagree with Laura, the protagonist, she appears convincing as a character. If a third book in the series was written, I would read it.

One thing I really appreciated was Lauras parents. They seem very real with their ever changing emotions and attitudes towards Laura. One moment the mother is proud of her participation in the battle. The next she demands that she stays at home to be safe. I guess that's how it is to be a parent. You want your kids to do good, but by all means, they have to be safe. Nothing bad must happen to them :)

Oh, what a cutie! Thanks for sharing the pictures!

Hello little Birk:D A charmer already, Tanja!! And he is allowed to cry a little..it's probably just because you didn't read to him that very moment:)

>48 FrkFrigg:: *snort* I think I must be the only one not liking Hunger. I had to read it for lit studies, and have to admit I like Hamsun's Pan much better. Me and Hunger just didn't click!:)

Hope you are doing fine, Tanja! Glad to see you around once in a while:)

#48: I have had Hunger in the BlackHole for a while now. I need to bump it up some!

Hi There

I'm compiling a list of birthdays of our group members. If you haven't done so already, would you mind stopping by this thread and posting yours.

Thanks.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105833

#49 – Hi Amber, thanks! (I wholeheartedly agree :D )

#50 – Yeah, he's allowed to cry – and he does so! :) Actually I haven't been reading much to him yet. I will have to change that as soon as possible.

Haha, it is so annoying to be the only one who dislikes a book. How can other people not see how lousy it is?! :P I haven't read anything else by Hamsun, but maybe I should try reading Pan and see how I like it.

#51 – Bump it, Stasia! It's worth it IMO.

10. Philip Pullman: Det gyldne kompas / The Golden Compass. 3,5*
Series: His Dark Materials (1)
Category: Fantasy
Audio book
This is a book I've wanted to read for so many years, that I actually thought I knew it, but I have never bothered to check out what it was really about, so I was rather surprised (I never would have guessed, there would be cars and electricity and such).

I wasn't as thrilled as I thought I would be. I'm not dying to read the second and third book in the series, but I might read them some day. It's not that I didn't like the book. I just didn't fall in love with it, but it might have had something to with the fact that it was an audio book and I'm not so terribly fond of those (but they are very smart when you've got a little kid in your arms).

Hallo! Lovely pics ;o)

#48 I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of Knut Hamsun, but Sult/Hunger sounds not dissimilar to Down and Out in Paris and London - I shall have to investigate!

#54 Re the Philip Pullman trilogy, I enjoyed these, but wasn't as blown away as I think a lot of people were. To be honest, I found Lyra a little irritating - particularly in the first book. I will say though that I think that I enjoyed the second in the trilogy much more if that helps?

#55 Hello fliss, thanks :)

Well, I've never heard of Down and Out in Paris and London, but I'll definitely have to check it out.. before the Pullman books, though I'm glad to hear they improve. I don't think I was annoyed with Lyra, but she never really got to me either. Well, that goes for the entire book. But as mentioned, it was an audio book – and the reader bugged me quite a bit because she made most of the male characters sound arrogant – so that might have influenced my opinion.

Oh, btw, don't be ashamed.. just check it out :P

>53 FrkFrigg:: I know, I know! And then I end up feeling that I must not have gotten it at all...since I'm the only one not liking it. Well, I guess our tastes are just different:) If you are to read another book of Hamsun I think maybe Victoria would be nice. It is a love story, and quite short really. I started it last year, but couldn't finish. I know, I know...that's not really selling a book, but my excuse is that I'm not the biggest fan of Hamsun. We just don't click...but I plan to finish it this year. A friend told me to not give up on it, so I'll give it another go.

Oh, and I have The Golden Compass on my schedule for this year:)

>55 flissp:: If the protagonist is nearly as irritating as the one in Hunger, I'm definitely not reading it ;)

#57 – But you have to forgive him, Bente, he was hungry :P

Haha, nope you're not really selling it very well, but I think I might give it a go since I liked Hunger so much.

I hope you'll like The Golden Compass (more than I did). It will be interesting to hear your opinion on it.

Watched a Gilmore Girls episode where Rory buys a ton of books at a jumble sale today, so I just had to look at books when I was at a second-hand shop later on. This is what I found (and bought):

Jung Chang: Vilde svaner / Wild Swans – Because I've heard good things about it, and because it's on my TBR list.
Leonora Christina Skov: Champagnepigen (The Champagne Girl) – Because I often read her reviews of other books in the paper, and because she has written another novel that's on my TBR list.
Carit Etlar: Gjøngehøvdingen (It's a classic, why isn't it translated?!) – Because it's a Danish classic, and because I loved the TV adaption when I was a kid (I need to watch it again I think, can't remember anything).
Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn – Because it's a classic, and because it's one (two?) of Rory's favourite books.
Barbara Kingsolver: The Bean Trees – Because I've come across her name somewhere here on LT, and because it just looked pretty (and pretty good).
Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones' Dagbog / Bridget Jones's Diary – Because I have the second book in the series, and because I think it is very funny.
Ernesto Che Guevara: Rejse gennem Sydamerika / Un diario per un viaggio in motocicletta – Because it sounded interesting, and because I don't know enough about Che Guevara.

Mmm, looking forward to reading all of them..

Nice bunch of books, Tanja! Is Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn a subject of discussion in Denmark too, nowadays? I remember this kind of discussion concerning Pippi Longstocking a few years ago.

Looking forward to hear what you think of them:) So you like Gilmore Girls too? :)

Oooh, and Bridget Jones is funny!!!

#60 – No, I don't think it is.. Why is it a subject of discussion in Norway?? And what is it about Pippi?? Ooh, is it some racist discussion or something like it?

I love Gilmore Girls. Got the whole series on DVD and keep watching them over and over (totally comfort TV). At the moment I have taken on the ambitious project of plotting down every cultural reference they make, so that I can find out what it is about. Watch the movies, read the books, that sort of thing. It's inspired by the Gilmore Girls group here on LT, where one of the members has made a Rory Gilmore library. Pretty cool, I think :D

#61: Yes, in the Norwegian edition they changed some of the words in Pippi. I read on the Internet that they were about to do the same thing with Huckleberry Finn in the American/English(??) version.

I did not know of the group, but I do find it a great idea for such a library. Need to check out the group/library:) I often catch myself in trying to memorize book references in films/tv series, but I do tend to forget them. It is a good thing when someone does it for you.

#62: Yes, there is a new version of Huckleberry Finn coming out in which the word 'nigger' is being changed to 'slave.' That is the only change I know about since there is so much controversy about it although there may be other changes as well.

Uh, that's a tough discussion. It seems strange to change something that was written long ago. I mean though it's definitely not nice it was part of the time.. Though I must say I'd prefer reading Pippi to Birk without racist words, but it seems wrong to change them.. Oh, I don't know. Well, I'm looking forward to reading Huckleberry Finn no matter the words.

Bente, the GG group is here.

Hey, Tanja! How are you? I have been absent for a while, and can see you have been too!

I hope everything is fine with you, Birk and husband:) I wish you all the best for the weekend and hope the spring has reached you in Cph. Hopefully you'll be back soon!

Bente

Any new pictures? I have been gone for a while and do not want to miss out.

Hi guys, it's been a really long time since I've been here. I got hung up on real life and for some reason couldn't pull myself together to locate my password, but I'm still alive and well :)

Bad news is I probably won't be coming around very often. I have too many projects that require my presence and I have to prioritate (do I want to read books or be on LT?). Anyway, I'll probably be coming round from time to time to check out all the great books you're reading and just see what's happening.

Have a fantastic reading year and a wonderful summer!

Stacia: Photos here.