Spring is here and while I have been reading many books, my focus has been also on exercising and enjoying the sunny weather outside. The evenings are starting to be lighter here in Finland and the long winter is finally, slowly, turning into spring. 🙂
I spent March and April reading books about some very interesting women, and since March was Women’s History Month, the theme I had was very appropriate!
Continue reading “Recently Read Books”I haven’t read romantic fantasy books in ages, so when I noticed a new series by Nora Roberts, The Dragon Heart Legacy, I was like ok, I’ll read this! 🙂
I really think that combining fantasy and romance can provide a fun way to escape the reality for a moment, especially in these times when reading something that’s simply fun can make such a difference to your overall mood.
I had fun reading this book. I’ve read fantasy books since my childhood, and it’s so much fun still to see how these books can still bring such joy and escapism. I love how the genre has evolved to so many fun and interesting subgenres (and mixes of those). ❤ When I was a child and started to find fantasy books in our little local library, there wasn’t that much to choose from. I started with The Belgariad, The Lord of The Rings and The Wheel of Time and those books had me sold to the wonders of fantasy books. It’s still my favorite genre and it makes me happy to see how it’s evolving and thriving.
Continue reading “Book Review: The Awakening by Nora Roberts”Happy International Women’s Day! I’d like to take a moment to just shortly recommend a very theme appropriate comic book to read on this day. These days I rarely read comics, and Women In Battle really reminded me how powerful comic books can be. This book was awarded by Norway’s Ministry of Culture as the best nonfiction book of 2018 ,which is awesome, and sends a powerful message on the importance of the topic of equality.
Women In Battle tells several real life stories of women who fought for freedom and equality. Some of them might be more familiar ones but some were certainly ones I had not heard of. I really enjoyed the artwork which was both funny and also very, very touching. ❤ Big recommendation to read this book and be inspired of all the hard work that has been done, and be reminded of the hard work that is still needed as we keep fighting for gender equality.
Women In Battle fills these prompts from the two Reading Challenges I’m doing this year:
A book where the world is changing (Helmet Reading Challenge)
A book about a social justice issue (Popsugar Reading Challenge)
It took me almost two months to finish this book, because I wanted to really take the time and focus on the thoughts of Barack Obama, former president of the US. What a truly fascinating memoir, written by such an intelligent and empathic person. I don’t think I can really review A Promised Land, since overall I don’t know enough about the US politics to review a book about that, but I can highly recommend this book. Read this if you want to learn more about Barack Obama, the somewhat complicated basics of the US politics, and the details of the job of being the president. Oh and since February is Black History Month, finishing this book now was good timing.
I realized that for all the power inherent in the seat I now occupied, there would always be a chasm between what I knew should be done to achieve a better world and what in a day, week or year I found myself actually able to accomplish.
Honestly, I think I might also listen to this book one day, just to hear it narrated by Barack Obama himself.
Continue reading “Book Recommendation: A Promised Land by Barack Obama”I so wanted to enjoy this The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. I mean, ever since I saw it and ordered it, I believed this book was a perfect match for me. It wasn’t bad, not at all, but something was missing despite the lovely theme and setting.
He could disappear inside that world whenever he needed to—whenever he felt the outside world, and other people, pressing in on him…
This was author Natalie Jenner’s first published novel and from that perspective this was a great debut. Anyone who is a fan of Jane Austen, and brings it up in new creative works has my respect. 🙂 . I’ve been a Jane Austen fan as long as I can remember, and Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books ever (the best tv adaptation of that is the 1995 version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle ❤ ).
Continue reading “Book Review: The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner”When I saw this book for the first time, on a Goodreads article I think, I knew this would be something I simply had to read. ❤ The real life disappearance of the famous author, Dame Agatha Christie, has been a delicious mystery ever since it happened. Marie Benedict gives us her version of the happenings in her novel where fiction mixes with history and creates an excellent mystery novel.
… it occurred to me that we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities.
Sometimes I’m wrong when I see a book that just seems like it’s so meant for me, but this time I was so right: I really enjoyed reading The Mystery of Mrs. Christie!
Continue reading “Book Review: The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict”Our book club decided to read A Thousand Ships by Nathalie Haynes over the holidays, and I was super happy we picked this book that I hadn’t heard of.
The story of the Trojan War is often described through the men who have an obvious and active part in the story. Of the women Helen is of course mentioned but she isn’t given much of a role other than being the cause of a 10 year war. Author Nathalie Haynes gives the stage to the different women of the story and tells the well known tale from a different perspective.
“But this is a women’s war, just as much as it is the men’s, and the poet will look upon their pain – the pain of the women who have always been relegated to the edges of the story, victims of men, survivors of men, slaves of men – and he will tell it, or he will tell nothing at all. They have waited long enough for their turn.”
I was very much drawn into the ancient world and the Greek mythologies which I used to love reading about when I was a child. ❤ This was a very enjoyable read!
Continue reading “Book Review: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes”Books | Lifestyle | Blog
Books, well-being and life in Finland
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Books, well-being and life in Finland
Author of The Elysian Prophecy
