Category: Reading Challenge

I’ve read a couple of very interesting non-fiction books recently and The Five is one of them. Very much recommended!

It is likely that Jack the Ripper is known to most of us in some way whether from history or different forms of fiction. You know: the mysterious killer, who stalked the streets of Victorian London and apparently targeted prostitutes? Except that the women weren’t all prostitutes.

Here’s a book that will finally give the spotlight to the victims and show them as so much more than “just prostitutes”.

It is for them that I write this book. I do so in the hope that we may now hear their stories clearly and give back to them that which was so brutally taken away with their lives: their dignity.

It took me a rather long time to read this book because it was just so full of fascinating details that I just wanted to slowly absorb it all.

Continue reading “Book review: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold” →

This is a book about a Swedish expedition towards the North Pole in 1897, and an intriguing investigation more than 100 years later about what the heck went wrong and why these ill-prepared guys never returned home.

Three men with minimal knowledge of arctic conditions, find themselves suddenly in the middle of a white nightmare.

Rough translation from the Finnish edition I had

I never thought I would read a book about this subject, I hadn’t even heard about it even though it’s apparently quite well known. 🙂 The Expedition was a very pleasant surprise. The book was a very interesting combination of historical fact and modern day forensics and it felt like I was reading a detective story.

Continue reading “Book review: The Expedition by Bea Uusma” →

I usually go for historical/cozy mysteries, but the author Stuart Turton created such an interesting twist to a very traditional mystery that I had to check it out. The setting is a familiar one: a murder happens in a manor house and there is a limited amount of suspects who could’ve done the murder.

In The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle the main character is stuck in this murder mystery setting and cannot leave until he has solved the murder. Feels like an escape room game, doesn’t it? Very interesting!

How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?

Overall I enjoyed the book a lot. I think this was Stuart Turton’s first book, which is impressive, so I’m looking forward tho his next book. Hopefully it too will have a very unique idea!

Continue reading “Book review: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton” →

I just finished reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee and I feel sort of breathless (in a good way). This was one of those books that are difficult to put down and I love that feeling. ❤

All her life, Sunja has heard this sentiment from other women, that they must suffer – suffer as a girl, suffer as a wife, suffer as a mother – die suffering. Go-saeng – the word made her sick. What else was there besides this?

Pachinko is historical fiction, which is one of my favorite genres to read. However, I have to admit that I knew very little of the Korean or Japanese history that the book describes. It is good to be reminded that there is so much info that we are not exposed to. I’ve always loved to learn about history, ever since elementary school. But because of where I live (Finland, Nordic country, European country) the focus of the history lessons was of course mostly on Western history. So much is still to be learnt and I’m happy to open my eyes to new aspects of history.

Continue reading “Book review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee” →