Top Ten Words/Themes That Trigger Book Buying

Saw this Top Ten at Giraffe Days and thought it was brilliant! It was originally posted at The Broke and the Bookish as "Top Ten Words", but Giraffe Days expanded it to Words/Topics, and I approve of that alteration ;) There are absolutely some topics/themes that make me instantly attracted to a book.

1. Books
   I love books about books, and possibly fiction a tiny bit more than non-fiction (although "Ex-Libris" by Anne Fadiman is terrific!). Books like "People of the Book" (Geraldine Brooks) and "The City of Dreaming Books" (Walter Moers) are among my favourites.
2. Amnesia
   GiraffeDays mentioned this, and I have to agree. I feel drawn to it in a way I can't quite explain. ... Unless the amnesia turns out to be schizophrenia-induced though. That's a cop-out along the lines of "And then he woke up and it was all a dream" and has unfortunately been used in a few too many books.
3. Letters
   Epistolatory novels are right up my aisle. From "Daddy Long-Legs"/"Dear Enemy" (Jean Webster) to "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" (Mary Ann Shaffer) - I love them all.
   Not just letters either - it's the same with books made up of journal entries. I LOVED Bram Stoker's "Dracula", because it was a bit of everything :)
   
4. Wacky/Long Titles
   Actually it was writing the above that made me thing of this. I picked up books like "TGL&PPPS", "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (Mark Haddon) and "The Hundred-Year-Old Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" (Jonas Jonasson) purely because of their titles. Fortunately none of them have disappointed me yet ;)
   
5. Knitting
   Not just knitting, but most apparent with knitting. It must be a craft thing...or rather, the social aspect of doing a craft, but I just love reading books with knitting circles, scrapbooking societies etc.
   The only problem with this kind of book is that I'm always of two minds! Do I want to read? Or do I want to knit? Both!!! I really need to learn how to do both!
6. Dystopia (Post-Apocalypse)
   I've been on a dystopia/post-apocalypse kick lately (I know they aren't exactly the same, but they overlap enough for me to never be quite sure whether a book is one or the other or perhaps both), and there have been very, very few that I didn't love.
7. New Zealand
   Granted, this is mostly when I feel particularly homesick but everything else being equal I'm more drawn to a book that takes place in New Zealand than to a book that takes place almost anywhere else.
   Soul-Country indeed :)
8. Boarding Schools
   For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by the life at boarding schools - even before I attended one myself. I still love reading about them and one of the appeals of Harry Potter was definitely all the descriptions of life at Hogwarts.
9. Cruise
   Possibly because I've always wanted to go on a cruise myself. One of these days...
   (Yes, I'm kidding with the example, but only kinda... after all, this WAS my first introduction to the topic and quite possibly what caused it to be a trigger)
10. Happiness Project
    This is happiness projects as a theme rather than as the actual words (although I do love Gretchen Rubin's two books :) ). Memoirs of people who go on a quest - mentally or physically - to improve their own happiness. "Julie & Julia" (Julie Powell) and "Changing Gears" (Nancy Sathre-Vogel) are two excellent examples of this genre. If you have any other recommendations, please let me know! :)

Mini-Challenge - Winner!

Congratulations to Agnes, you won the Best and Worst Cover mini-challenge!

Please leave me a comment with the email address you want me to send the book to.

Thank you all for playing along :) Feel free to keep leaving comments if you feel like it :)

Read-a-thon Mini-Challenge: Best and Worst Covers

After having participated and enjoyed several read-a-thons, I decided to sign up and volunteer for a Mini-Challenge this year - fully expecting that hosting one will be just as much fun as participating in one :D

I've written about covers before. How we all make judgments based on looks even though we know we shouldn't, and how fortunately sometimes we give a book a shot despite the cover, and discover it was ALL worth it [link].

However, quite often different editions of the same book will have different covers, and sometimes one of those covers is as gorgeous as the other is hideous.

Just check out Under the Dome by Stephen King as an example. I love the hardcover edition
But am really, really unimpressed by the paperback edition.

Or Outlander by Diana Gabaldon where the original cover was vibrant and colourful
and later editions were just... dull!

And don't even get me started on this hideous cover of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery which any Kindred Spirit hated to see on their beloved book.

SO! Your challenge - should you choose to accept it (which I hope you will!) - is to look up one of the books you're reading for the read-a-thon on Goodreads or Amazon, pick out two or three covers and describe which one you like the best, which one you like the least and why.

The challenge will run until 10pm Central European Summer Time (or 2 hours in other words) at which time the winner will be selected randomly from all entries.

Prize:
Your choice of any one of the following:
Gone by Michael Grant (PDF)
The Immortals Quartet by Tamora Pierce (EPUB, LIT)
More Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (EPUB)
Under the Dome by Stephen King (EPUB, MOBI)
Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson (MOBI)

(NB: If you'd like a certain book, but can't read the format, download Calibre. It'll convert books from pretty much any format to pretty much any other format - and it's completely free too! I highly recommend it :) )

Leave a comment with either your answer or a link to your blog post with the answer and which book you would like if you win :)

Happy Reading! :-)

Dewey's ReadAThon - Progress Report

Dewey's Readathon is almost upon us! Just 15 more minutes :) I'm all set - books have been found, snacks put out, dinner's in the crockpot and all that's left for me to do is to wait for the clock to turn to 2pm CEST.


Of COURSE I'll be reading in the library ;) Is there a more appropriate spot to pick? Besides, that leaves DH the free use of the TV without disturbing me ;) Love that the sun is streaming in - that makes this room the brightest and nicest room in the house :)

Hour 1 (2pm): I know from experience that it's best to start with a book that I know is/will be a pageturner, and since I've been wanting to reread Catching Fire for quite awhile in preparation for the movie release later this year, I figured that now was the perfect opportunity :)

Introductory Meme
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? Copenhagen, Denmark
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Actually probably "Catching Fire". I've been wanting to reread that for ages.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Chili Chips and Peanut M&Ms
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I'm a 33-year-old bookworm who loves knitting and watching The Big Bang Theory... although not all at the same time.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? This is my fourth read-a-thon. I'm not doing anything different from the last years - it seems to work just fine :D

Hour 2 (3pm): 111 pages read. Katniss and Peeta have just returned from the Victory Tour. Just as good as I remembered it :)
The first challenge is an oldie but goodie - Book Spine Poetry, hosted by Ballet Bookworm. Using at least 3 books, make a short book poem from the titles. This has been a reoccurring challenge all 4 years now :) So with no further ado, here's my contribution:

Hour 3 (4pm): Another 116 pages read bringing me to a total of 227 and just under halfway through the book. I keep telling newcomers to start with short books, yet I pick a long one for myself.... go figure ;) I was right in assuming it'd be a page turner even as a reread - I'm having no problems at all keeping my attention focused on it.

This hour's challenge is from Book Journey and is the familiar "Book Appetite" challenge:
Come up a menu to go along with your current read or one of the books in your reading pile for today. Now... imagine that you have friends coming over to discuss the book with you. You have prepared food and beverage items to go with your meeting...

Book title and author Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. It seems almost obscene because of the many starving people in it, but so much food is mentioned as well!

The menu... well, we'll start off with Mockingjay cookies as people arrive. Dinner will be served once everybody is here.
For appetizers we'll have the pumpkin soup that Katniss fell in love with at the Victory Tour dinner.
Main course is roasted turkey - just as if Gale had gotten it for us.
And for dessert I'll make some sugar buns like the ones Peeta made for Katniss.

Of course the background music will be specially chosen from the soundtrack from the Hunger Games movie - especially Rue's theme.

As an after-dinner drink I'll be serving a special variety of white russian nicknamed "Russian Haymitch" in rememberance of the white liquor he drank.

Hour 4 (5pm): Mmmmm... the crockpot meal is really starting to smell fantastic now! I'm making Sun Dried Tomatoes and Chicken Pilaf and can smell the tomato-basil-garlic mixture - yum! It'll be ready in about 2 hours, so that should give me plenty of time to finish my current book. I've managed another 90 pages these past 40 minutes. From the sounds coming from the living room I can hear that DH has turned on the TV to watch his weekly football (=soccer since we're in Denmark), so I'm guessing he isn't missing me too much ;)

As for the challenge, Geeky Blogger asks us to re-title our current read. I guess mine would be "Katniss Gives the Finger to the Capitol and Once Again Saves Peeta's Life".... mostly because, like Geeky Blogger herself said, I don't have to worry about the number of words taking up all the room on the cover ;)

Hour 5 (6pm): I seem to average 2 pages a minute pretty consistently, which means that I should be able to finish Catching Fire in another 20 minutes or so :) Weirdly enough I don't love it quite as much as on my first read-through, but it's still definitely a captivating read. I haven't quite decided what's next, but probably either "Knitting" by Anne Bartlett, "Joy for Beginners" by Erica Bauermeister or "Debt of Bones" by Terry Goodkind. Have any of you read any of those and can make recommendations?

Reading isn't the most flattering activity ever, but Andi and Heather asked us to post self-portraits for our hour 5 challenge so... here goes :)

Hour 6 (7pm): "Catching Fire" is done :D And I immediately picked up "Debt of Bones". It's a really quick read, so I'm already almost half way through. I'll have to break for dinner now, and a single episode of BBT. I'll be back at 8pm with my very own challenge for hour 7 :-D

But first this hour's challenge - the ever-popular Book Puzzle... This one should be fairly easy ;)


No prices for guessing ;)

Hour 7 (8pm): Note to self - 5 hours on HIGH is too much for something with rice. They'd pretty much disintegrated. Ah well, it still tasted just fine :) No reading done this past hour, but I thought I'd give a small shout out to the mini challenge I'm hosting: Best and Worst Covers.

Hour 8 (9pm): Finished "Debt of Bones" at around the half-hour mark, and after a bit of hemming and hawing (and checking out some of the answers to my mini-challenge :) ) picked up "Running out of Time" by Margaret Petersen Haddix. I'm only 27 pages into it, but so far it seems good. Very "The Village"'ish.

This challenge is yet another Book Sentence challange - cohosted by Midnight Book Girl and The Fake Steph. I searched my bookshelves (how I love not having them double stacked any longer!) and came up with the following:
(Not sure how well it shows, it says: "The Novice Missing. Fear Kidnapped!"... and yes, that is a Sweet Valley High book you spotted at the bottom there... what can I say? I'm a child of the 90s.)

Hour 9 (10pm): Just over half-way through "Running Out of Time". I like it, but am wondering how it'll end. It's fascinating in a creepy kind of way... but captivating so perfect for a read-a-thon :)

The mini-challenge for this hour is a yoga challenge. That's not really my thing, so I think I'll skip this one.

Hour 10(11pm): This is where the spring read-a-thon starts getting tricky. The autumn one tends to start an hour earlier (due to summer time) so I don't tend to run into "I want to go to bed" problems quite as early. Usually I manage to stay awake until the mid-way challenge... not sure I'll manage that this time. Especially as I have to leave for church at 9am at the very latest. One of these days I'll manage to plan well enough ahead that I don't have Sunday School during a readathon! ;)

Aaaanyway, I'm going to keep reading for at least an hour longer - we'll see how long I hold out after that. In the past hour I've finished "Running Out of Time" and really enjoyed it. It had a couple of twists I had NOT seen coming. But great book! Now I've turned to an ARC of "School Spirits" by Rachel Hawkins that I'm reading for Netgalley. I'm only 5% into it so far (~15 pages), so much too early to say anything about it, but I enjoyed her Hex Hall trilogy, so I'm optimistic :)

This mini-challenge was a Book Cover Quiz which I sucked at majorly. I could only recognize 5 out of 17. I'm not impressed.

Hour 11 (Midnight): Heading off to bed shortly. Thought about sticking around for the mid-way challenge, but DH will be going to bed soon and as he's getting up at 5am tomorrow I thought I might as well get my few hours of sleep together with him :) If I feel REALLY motivated I might even get up at the same time and start reading before church... but I'm not sure I even believe that myself! However, I don't have any plans after the read-a-thon ends tomorrow, so a nap in the afternoon would be a real possibility. Anyway, we'll see. I'm currently at 37% of "School Spirits" and too tired to figure out what that is in actual page numbers - guess that'll come sometime tomorrow.

The challenge is fun and easy though - take a photo of the book and place I'm reading. Well the "place" is still my library, so that's the top photo, and here's a nice shot of my Kindle and the other books I've gotten out during the course of the read-a-thon. Thanks, Book Monsters for this challenge :)

Hour 12 (1am): Turned out DH wasn't quite as ready to go to bed as I'd thought he was, so here I am anyway :) Now at 50% of "School Spirit" - that kind of maths I CAN do - even when tired ;)

Mid-Event Survey
1) How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?
Very sleepy. It's waaay past my bedtime, so this will be my last hurrah for today.
2) What have you finished reading?
3.5 books so far :)
3) What is your favorite read so far?
Probably "Running Out of Time" by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Well written and engaging.
4) What about your favorite snacks?
Gotta love peanut M&Ms ;)
5) Have you found any new blogs through the readathon? If so, give them some love!
Can't say it's a new discovery, but Borough of Books is always worth a visit :)

Hour 19 (8am) Hello again! Did you miss me? I certainly didn't get enough sleep, but what does that matter when I have the chance to READ! ;) ... Well, until I'll be leaving for church in about an hour anyway ;)

The Bookish Diaries asked to see:
*The Books you have Read
*The Books you still have to Read
*The Food that you have eaten and maybe even the snacks you started with.
*Take a picture of that spot you have called home these last few hours.

... I'm going to change the last one to "that spot I have called home during the readathon" though, as I don't particularly feel like posting a photo of my bed ;)

Anyway, here goes - in one easy photograph:
I sat in that corner all day yesterday - cuddled up under blanket once the sun moved away from the couch. Three books read (one on the Kindle), one book currently reading (Kindle) and probably no books "still to be read"... I think I'll manage to finish the one I'm currently reading, but that'll probably be it. The peas in the pod and chips are all gone, but there's still more juice and peanut M&Ms :)

Hour 24 (1pm): Almost done - both with the readathon and my current book. Just 1 hour and 40 pages left. I'll be able to finish that with time to spare and might even be able to cram another book in there :) It's been a good readathon - I've managed to spend a good percentage of the time reading, and I've enjoyed all the books I've read!

With the end of the readathon comes the traditional end-of-event meme - so here goes :)
Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 12+. I don't think I've stayed up past hour 12 yet. By that time it's between 1-2am and I need to get my sleep... especially if I'm getting up at 8am to go to church.
Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? "Running Out of Time" by Margaret Peterson Haddix, definitely. And come to think of it, probably also her "Among the Hidden" series.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not improve as such, but it could be fun to have a readathon that ran during a different time period.
What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The cheer-leaders were really active - it was great to get comments from them all the time :)
How many books did you read?. 4. If I can find one that takes 20 minutes to read I might make it to 5 ;)
What were the names of the books you read? See below.
Which book did you enjoy most? "Running Out of Time" - great read!
Which did you enjoy least? "Debt of Bones". Not that it was bad, just not as good as the others.
If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/A
How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? VERY likely! If I'm at all able to, I'm in :) I'll participate as a reader, and might do a mini-challenge again. That was fun! :)

THE END

Books read: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (472), Debt of Bones - Terry Goodkind (116), Running Out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix (192), School Spirits - Rachel Hawkins (304)
Pages read: 1133 + 40 minutes of an audiobook
Time spent reading: 11h0m
Currently reading: "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop" by Fannie Flagg & "Storm Front" by Jim Butcher (audiobook)

Fall Into Reading 2012

Yikes! I almost missed it. But it's still the 22nd, so I'm not too late yet.

As usual, Fall Into reading is being hosted at Callapidder Days. It's become a tradition by now, so of course I'm in :-) The challenge is to make a list of books to read between September 22nd and December 21st. There is no requirements as to the length of the list, but I usually do a book per week. With the business of moving coming up, I think I'll go a bit easier on myself this year though, and just take 10 books rather than the usual 13.

So far this year I've read 130 books. That's a bit less than my usual, so I doubt I'll make it to 200 like I have on previous years. However, my sub-goal was to read 50 books from my to-read shelves, and there I'm at 40, so finishing that should be very doable.

For the same reason, all 10 books on my Fall Into Reading list come from my to-be-read shelves.

Happier at Home - Gretchen Rubin Can't wait to read this!

The Yarn Harlot - Stephanie Pearl-McPhee I loved her other book, so this should be good :)

Meet Me At The Cupcake Café - Jenny Colgan The other book I've read by Jenny Colgan was a wonderful comfort read, so I have high hopes for this as well :)

Giants of the Fall - Ken Follett Okay, perhaps it is a bit ambitious to add SUCH a chunkster to my list, but Ken Follett usually writes very readable books, and I'm really looking forward to reading this :)

Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth Independently of each other, Nina and I both bought this book on our last trip to London. She's already read it and liked it, so I figured I'd better catch up with her.

Somebody Else's Kids - Torey Hayden I've yet to read a book by Torey Hayden that wasn't WELL worth reading.

Border Wedding - Amanda Scott This has been on my shelves longer than I care to admit. I have NO clue why I haven't gotten around to reading it yet!

September - Rosamunde Pilcher Pilcher is usually good for a comfort read :)

Lightning - Dean Koontz I went on a Koontz/King kick several years back thanks to Carina. She had two copies of Lightning so kindly gave me one of them. For some reason I've just never gotten around to reading it.

The Magician's Apprentice - Trudi Canavan Another book that I do NOT understand has been standing untouched on my shelves for so long. I absolutely loved the Black Magician Trilogy, so why haven't I read this prequel yet? About time!

Spring Reading Thing 2012 - Wrap-up

Callapidder Days has once again kindly hosted Spring Reading Thing. And of course, as always, I joined up.

Unfortunately for once I didn't quite manage to complete it. As usual, I had listed 13 books (one book per month), and raced through the first 10... then I'd read all the books I owned myself, and before I could get out and borrow the last three, I hit a reading slump (made worse by gaining a knitting addiction) and am still 130 pages shy of the last book.

Ah well, fortunately the goal of the challange isn't to finish but to have fun, and that I managed in spades! :)

Did you finish reading all the books on your spring reading list? If not, why not? As mentioned above, I'm still 130 pages shy of the last book. I could have finished yesterday if I'd worked for it, but I'd made the mistake of starting a reread of a book I'd MUCH rather use my time on.

Oh, there was one other book I also didn't finish, but that was a matter of giving up on it because it was just TOO DULL! so I don't think that counts.

Did you stick to your original goals or did you change your list as you went along? I stuck to my original goals.

What was your favorite book that you read this spring? Least favorite? Why?
Favourite: Den hundredårige der kravlede ud ad vinduet og forsvandt - probably best described as a Swedish version of "Big Fish". I loved it!
Least favourite: Bella Tusca - this was the book I abandoned. Just far too pretentious for words. Which is a shame, as I loved Under the Tuscan Sun

What was your favorite thing about the challenge? The fact that it turns a solitary hobby into a social event - the same thing I love about the readathons :)

My list with comments
*One Child - Torey Hayden This is my fourth Torey Hayden book. So far I've loved everything I've read by her, even if the books always leave me heartsore and wanting to reach out to those poor kids! I love how Torey's love for them shines through.

*Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson I've gotten rather addicted to Bill Bryson's books. His travelogues are terrific! Unfortunately this wasn't nearly as good as the others I've read :( It almost sounded like he was getting tired of travelling himself, and therefore spent more time complaining than enthusing.

*Stay By Me - Neta Jackson A new series in the Yada Yada universe to get hooked on! It didn't let me down :-)

*Den hundredårige der kravlede ud ad vinduet og forsvandt - Jonas Jonasson "The Hundred Year Old Who Crawled Out the Window and Disappeared" - I don't know, I'm just taken with the title and need to know what it's all about.

*The Masterharper of Pern - Anne McCaffrey I've always loved the Harper's Hall trilogy best of all of Anne McCaffrey's books, so when I heard about this book about Master Robinton I knew I had to read it.

*Kingmaker's Sword - Ann Marston A Christmas present from the Christmas Bookish Giveaway. I'd never heard of it before, but it looked intriguing and fortunately turned out to be a really good read too.

*Bella Tuscany - Frances Mayes I loved "Under the Tuscan Sun", so when I found this follow-up, I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately as it ended up, I had to give it up half way through. The writing that had seemed charming in the first book just came across as pretentious in this one. After 150 pages of hoping it would improve soon, I couldn't do it any longer.

*The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh I'd seen this in bookstores and thought it looked interesting, but wasn't certain. However, last week Nina sent me a text message telling me that I HAD to read it... and who am I not to do what she tells me to? ;) Fortunately I ended up loving it.

*Under the Duvet - Marian Keyes I've read and enjoyed almost all of Marian Keyes' novels, so I figured it was about time I read some of her non-fiction.

*Paganini kontrakten - Lars Kelper Second book in a series where I greatly enjoyed the first one. Turns out, the sequel's even better! Love it when that happens :-)

*Shamran - Bjarne Reuter Danish YA fantasy. Apparently a MUST but somehow I'd just never gotten around to reading it before now. Would probably have liked it more if I had been the right age for it.

*Little House on Rocky Ridge - Roger Lea MacBride I absolutely adore Laura's "Little House" series, so I figured it was about time I gave this one a try. It was adorable :) I'll have to find more of the books now.

Dawn's Early Light - Elswyth Thane One of Mum's favourite books, also recommended to me by a friend. As I tend to share taste with both, I figured it was a safe bet :) Unfortunately I didn't quite manage to finish this one. It's good, but a tad too easy to put down for other things.

Spring Reading Thing 2012

As per usual, Callapidder Days is hosting the Spring Reading Thing. STR runs from March 20th to June 20th for a total of 13 weeks.

... which means, that I have chosen 13 books for my list.

• One Child - Torey Hayden
  
• Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson
  
• Stay By Me - Neta Jackson
  
• Den hundredårige der kravlede ud ad vinduet og forsvandt - Jonas Jonasson
  
• The Masterharper of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
  
• Kingmaker's Sword - Ann Marston
  
• Bella Tuscany - Frances Mayes
  
• The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
  
• Under the Duvet - Marian Keyes
  
• Paganini kontrakten - Lars Kelper
  
• Shamran - Bjarne Reuter
  
• Dawn's Early Light - Elswyth Thane
  
• Little House on Rocky Ridge - Roger Lea MacBride

Happy reading, everybody! :)

Dewey's 24-hour-read-a-thon, 2011 - Progress Report

Rather than spam you all with constant updates, I'm just going to have one post to serve as a progress report for my reading. That's what I've done the previous years as well, and it has always served me well. I'm not going to take time to write reviews during the Read-a-Thon, but they'll all be up at afterwards.

For now, I'm going to get myself sorted, so that I'll be all ready to hunker down and start reading when the clock turns 2pm (the starting time for central Europe)



13:59 - Hour 1 The crockpot has been turned on (, I'm trying your stew, and so far it smells divine!) so I don't have to worry about dinner, and I'm all ready to get started on Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce. Happy reading, everybody!

1)Where are you reading from today? Copenhagen, Denmark
2)Three random facts about me… a) I had to go on an unexpected bikeride today, because I'd accidentally bought an empty CD-case. Thankfully the shop believed me, and gave me a new one without problems. b) An anagram of my maiden name comes out to "Damnation, I'm a girl nerd!" It's true too! c) I learned how to read before I started school.
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? 9 I expect to read about half of them.
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? No, I just want this to be FUN! :-)
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Stick to short, light books. You're less inclined to run dry that way.

15:02 - Hour 2 Progress in Lady Knight - 155 pages. That means I'm not even halfway, so I'm off to read on!

16:02 - Hour 3 I'd forgotten how easy it is to procrastinate by following other readers' statuses. Only managed to get another 70 pages read this last hour. The book's as good as always though - Tamora Pierce is a good choice for a readathon :)

17:06 - Hour 4 90 pages read this hour. I have another 90 to go of Lady Knight, so with a bit of luck, I'll finish before I update next. I've participated in my first mini-challenge too, which was a LOT easier said than done, as the challenge was to pick three books - non-fiction or fiction - that give a good description of the atmosphere of the state in which they were set. Not really being too familiar with US states, I had to go with the stereotypes. Hopefully that counts too! :-)

18:15 - Hour 5 I did it! Last 90 pages read, first book finished :-) I've also participated in another mini-challange - Sharing the Love, about the best ways for me to share my love of books with other people. For me, that all boils down to recommending and loaning out books. I view my library as just that - a library. I happily loan out books to friends and family (and fortunately have been very lucky with getting books back - I think I've only had to replace a book once). One of the best things I know is to loan somebody a book that I recommended them (i.e., not a book they asked to loan, but one I suggested that they loan), and have them come back to me and say, "Maria, that is the best book I have EVER read!" Apparently I'm not too bad at picking books for other people? At least I seem to have a good hit-rate with my closest friends. Carina fell in love with "Ender's Game", Nina couldn't put down "Twilight", Stine still raves about "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and eeeeverybody loves "The Yada Yada Prayer group". It gives me a thrill every time I manage to 'match' a book to a reader properly :-)

19:55 - Hour 7 I decided to go with "The Beasts of Clawstone Castle" by Eva Ibbotson. I've been wanting to read this for ages, but it only recently became available in Danish libraries. I've had to break for dinner though, so have only read 43 pages since my last update. That should pick up in the near future though ;-)

21:11 - Hour 8 I'm starting to feel that I've been reading for pretty much 7 hours straight - I'm just a tad tired. Still, it's only just past 9pm, so I've got plenty of hours of reading ahead of me before I'll have to succumb and go to bed (I have church tomorrow, so I can't read the whole night through... as if I would have been able to no matter what! ;-) ). I'm almost done with "The Beasts..." - only another 20 pages to go! It's good, but much more of a children's novel than I had originally thought. Not that that's a bad thing! Oh, and I've participated in my third mini-challenge - the a.k.a. challenge at http://ratb2.blogspot.com/

22:01 - Hour 9 I finished "The Beasts..." and have started "Dragonsinger" by Anne McCaffrey. It's one of my favourite books, and I have read it time beyond number, but I've had the craving to reread it for a couple of months now, so I figured why not? It's excellent read-a-thon material, that's for sure!

I've also entered my 4th mini-challenge: The Book Sentence challenge where you have to make out a sentence from the titles of at least 3 books.

And another thing, Lady Knight. Where do I go?

23:11 - Hour 10 I think I may have to cry uncle soon. For some reason I'm TIRED - even more so than I usually am at this time of day - so reading is a bit of a struggle. Dragonsinger is keeping me well entertained though. I do love that book!

The mini-challenge this hour is at Reading Romances - come up with your own anthology, listing authors and a theme.
I'd like to see an anthology with Neta Jackson, Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, Ted Dekker and Frank E. Peretti with the theme "Walk With God, Talk With God".

All the above are among my favourite Christian authors, and especially Neta Jackson has written some of the most inspirational books I've ever had the chance to read. Since their standard writing is so varied, I think an anthology would be absolutely fascinating to read.

00:04 - Hour 11 Alas, I have to get up early to go to church tomorrow, so as much as I would love to stay up - at least to finish "Dragonsinger" - I'm going to have to call it quits now. Fortunately I'll still have some hours for reading after church tomorrow even if the time difference means that most other readers will be asleep, so they might be somewhat lonely hours. At least the cheerleaders and cohosts over at 24hourreadathon.com will still be around :-) So 'see' you tomorrow.

12:01 - Hour 23 Not much longer to go now. I've had a good night's sleep, done a bit of reading, gone off to church (I sing in the choir, so couldn't skip out today) and done a bit more of reading since I came home. I've finished "Dragonsinger" and have now started "The Grounding of Group 6". It's still just getting started, so I don't know quite what I think of it yet.

13:06 - Hour 24 As per usual - the end of event meme:
Which hour was most daunting for you? 11-12. I'd hoped to be able to stay awake past midnight, but I just couldn't do it.
Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Anne McCaffrey and Tamora Pierce are both excellent Readathon Authors.
Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Not really. Last year I suggested that fewer prizes were from The Book Deposit as they don't ship world-wide, and this year there were more Amazon prizes! Not that I won anything, but that's beside the point ;-)
What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Preparing dinner ahead of time - having it simmer in the crockpot all day long, knowing I wouldn't have to take time out to fix it was excellent!
How many books did you read? I'm in the middle of book 4.
What were the names of the books you read? "Lady Knight", "The Beasts of Clawstone Castle", "Dragonsinger" and now "The Grounding of Group 6".
Which book did you enjoy most? "Dragonsinger". A reread, but one of my all-time favourite books.
Which did you enjoy least? "The Beasts..." Not that it wasn't good, it just wasn't AS good as the others.
If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/A
How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? VERY likely! And as a reader again next time. Possibly I may also host a mini-challenge - haven't decided yet.

14:02 - FINISHED! "The Grounding of Group 6" turned out to be a slower read than I had expected, so I'm only about half way through, making the final stats as follows:

Time Spent Reading: 10 hours, 20 minutes
Currently Reading: The Grounding of Group 6 by Julian F. Thompson
Books Finished: Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce, The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson, Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
Pages Read 987 pages (soooo close to 1000 pages. A shame I didn't make it).

Dewey's Read-a-Thon, Reading Selection

Tomorrow's the day! In case you hadn't guessed, I'm very excited about Dewey's Read-a-Thon. So far it's been great fun every time I've participated in it :) This will be my third time - the last two times I managed around 4-5 books and 1000'ish pages, so I'm going to aim for that this time too, but not setting myself any specific goals - after all, the point is to have fun! :-)

I've learned the hard way that light, short books are best, and that I need a larger selection than I'm actually going to have time for, in order not to limit myself. Not that there are any rules that you have to have picked out the books ahead of time, but I find that it motivates me to have a stack of books in front of me, and see it shrink as the day goes on :)

My selection this year will include, but not be limited to, some of the following


Let me know if you're going to participate too, so I can come cheer you on :)

Dewey's Read-a-Thon, April 2011 edition

Dewey's April version of the 24 hour Read-a-Thon falls on April 9th this year. Since this is the weekend before I leave for my 3-week trip to New Zealand, I'll be doing a Read-a-Thon-lite this time - if DH's at work anyway, then great! but if not, I don't think he'd take too kindly to me devoting a full day to reading rather than spending time with him. I'm not sure I would take too kindly to me doing that either!

However, I'm still bound to get some reading done, but I'll just aim for a smaller goal. The last two years I've read for 12+ hours and a total of 1000+ pages, so I think 6 hours of reading and a total of 500 pages should be completely doable.

It'll be fun!

Books mentioned in "Shelf Discovery"

I've just finished "Shelf Discovery" by Lizzie Skurnick (and loved it! You can read my review here), and thought it actually lent itself perfectly to a reading challange - reading all the books mentioned. Not having grown up in an English speaking country I have a LONG way to go, but here is the complete list:

• *A Wrinkle in Time
  
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
  
• Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself
  
• Harriet the Spy
  
• *Farmer Boy
  
• *Danny, the Champion of the World
  
• Ludell
  
• The Great Brain
  
• *Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret
  
• Sister of teh Bride
  
• Blubber
  
• The Cat Ate my Gymsuit
  
• A Ring of Endless Light
  
• *Tiger Eyes
  
• The Long Secret
  
• Then Again, Maybe I Won't
  
• And You Give Me a Pain, Elaine
  
• To Take a Dare
  
• Caroline
  
• The Westing Game
  
• Daughters of Eve
  
• The Grounding of Group 6
  
• Summer of Fear
  
• I am the Cheese
  
• The Arm of the Starfish
  
• Dragons in the Waters
  
• Secret Lives
  
• Jacob Have I Loved
  
• Summer of My German Soldier
  
• The Pigman
  
• Bridge to Terabithia
  
• Tell Me if the Lovers Are Losers
  
• A Day No Pigs Would Die
  
• Beat the Turtle Drum
  
• The Gift of the Pirate Queen
  
• *Deenie
  
• Don't Hurt Laurie
  
• Are You in the House Alone
  
• *Go Ask Alice
  
• It's Not the End of the World
  
• Island of the Blue Dolphins
  
• *Little House on the Prairie
  
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond
  
• Homecoming
  
• The Endless Steppe: A Girl in Exile
  
• Julie of the Wolves
  
• Understood Betsy
  
• Ghosts I Have Been
  
• A Gift of Magic
  
• The Girl with the Silver Eyes
  
• *Stranger With My Face
  
• Hangin' Out with Cici
  
• Jane-Emily
  
• Down a Dark Hall
  
• *Forever
  
• Happy Endings Are All Alike
  
• *Fifteen
  
• My Darling, My Hamburger
  
• In Summer Light
  
• The Moon by Night
  
• To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie
  
• *An Old-Fashioned Girl
  
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
  
• *The Secret Garden
  
• *Cheaper By The Dozen & Belles on Their Toes
  
• *A Little Princess
  
• All of a Kind Family
  
• *My Sweet Audrina
  
• *The Clan of the Cave Bear
  
• Wifey
  
• *Flowers in the Attic
  
• Domestic Arrangements

Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?
Squire by Tamora Pierce. It's a reread, but perfect for this time of night (it's currently 1am here), as it's engaging, well-written and - probably most importantly for this stage - an easy read.

2. How many books have you read so far?
I've completed 3 and am half-way in a fourth.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
I haven't completely decided on which books to read for the rest of the challenge, so I don't quite now. Perhaps more Tamora Pierce, in which case it'd be In the Hand of the Goddess. Perhaps I'll need a break from her after finishing Squire and pick up something else entirely, in which case I have no idea what that'll be.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?
No, because I didn't free up my whole day ;) The read-a-thon started at 2pm DK time, and I was out until 4pm, so I missed out on two hours of reading time there. I have no other plans though, so should still get quite a bit read :D

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
After returning home I've pretty much only been interrupted to make and eat dinner and to update my LJ and read other people's progress reports.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
Nothing yet. It's my second read-a-thon, and I'm having just as much fun as the first time around! Oh, perhaps that it's quite a bit harder to stay awake, but that may just be because I hit the wall (and fortunately now also my second wind) earlier than last time.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I wish more mini-challenges offered prizes from other places than The Book Depository. Not only do they not offer free shipping to Denmark, they don't offer any shipping to Denmark, so there are SO many contests where I'm ineligible. I wish those had the alternative of a gift certificate to an Amazon of your choice instead.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?
I'd really, really try to free up my entire day. Sometimes it just won't be possible - like this year, I really couldn't/wouldn't use a read-a-thon as a reason not to have our birthday brunch today - but it could be fun to actually be available for all of it :)

9. Are you getting tired yet?
At 1:11am? You'd better believe it! Usually I've been in bed and asleep for 1-2 hours by now!

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?
I don't think so, no. I'd tell people to stick to light literature (YA and childrens' lit is great for that!) and well-known/trusted authors, so you're pretty certain to pick books that catch your attention, but most people seem to have figured that on their own ;)

Dewey's 24-hour-read-a-thon, 2010

Yes, I'm joining Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon

The timing isn't optimal for me - it runs from 2pm Saturday - 2pm Sunday, meaning that I'm going to miss out on quite a number of hours because of sleeping and a family birthday. Still, it's a read-a-thon, so I'm sure I'm going to have a blast no matter what!

The idea is that I pick a list of books to read, and then spend the day alternatively reading and updating here on my progress. I'll probably just have the one post and then update as I go along. Cheering would be lovely - or join in the fun yourself!

Last year I discovered that shortish and light books are necessary in order not to get bogged down - especially in the later hours - so I was actually considering rereading a number of Tamora Pierce books. I'm not as much in the mood for her books any longer, so I'm reconsidering that, and trying to come up with other ideas. Funnily enough, there are very few YA books on my to-read shelf... didn't really plan that part too well, but like I said, I was planning on Tamora Pierce ;) On the other hand, I do have a LOT of YA on my e-reader, but I have a feeling that an e-reader won't do as well for a read-a-thon - I need the variety of physical books. Anyway, as I've always known, I'm an erratic reader at the best of times, and like to choose from book to book, so the following list is just a brain storm and me shouting to make a noise.

The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce
Page by Tamora Pierce
Tunnelmanden by Dennis Jürgensen
Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede
Lake News by Barbara Delinsky

Last year I managed to read around 1000 pages. I'm not expecting to be able to do the same this year, as the family birthday will last longer, and Lars is home (he had a night shift last year). I'm going to give it my very best shot though! :D My reviews will be up at bogormen sometime after the Read-A-Thon has finished.

T-6 (8:00) This will be my progress post for the Read-a-Thon Challenge. I'll be updating it throughout the day, so those interested can bookmark it, and those not can just skip this post and forget all about it ;-) Right now I'm about to head out to the birthday brunch my cousins and I are having, so I won't be back until the read-a-thon is well under way. I'll see you then!

Hour 2 (16:00): Back from a lovely brunch with my family (19 people!!!!) and ready to start my first book. I'm going to deviate from the list already and start out with a very quick and easy read, to get myself motivated for a lot of reading. Claudia and the Perfect Boy by Ann M. Martin.

Hour 3 (17:01): BSC books always have been quick reads for me, so it was definitely a good book to start with. Wasn't the best BSC book ever though, but it seems to be that the later into the series we get, the weaker the books get. Ah well, it was a good way to spend 45 minutes ;) I've now started Tunnelmanden by Dennis Jürgensen - a quite famous Danish author. So far it seems good :)

Hour 4 (17:52): Tunnelmanden isn't half bad! Typically Dennis Jürgensen (thriller/horror for kids/YA), but a quick read and I'm actually really enjoying it. Progress: 235 pages. I'll need to take a break in about 30 minutes to make dinner, but hopefully I can finish it before then - I'm only missing 80 pages, so it should be do-able.

Hour 5 (18:29): Finished with one minute to spare! It was surprisingly good (although I don't know why I'm surprised - Dennis Jürgensen usually is good. Now on to some Tamora Pierce I think. But first - a break for dinner.

Hour 7 (20:55): Dinner made and eaten and I'm back at reading :) I picked up Page by Tamora Pierce, and just as expected, as soon as I started reading her books, I got into the mood for her writing again - she really is excellent! We'll see how many of her books I get through, or if I decide on something different again once I've finished this one ;) Progess - 103 pages.

Hour 9 (22:54): Finished Page and have picked up Squire. Yeah, yeah, I know. I take back everything I said about not being in the mood for Tamora Pierce. It wouldn't even surprise me if I end up picking up some of the Lioness series as well at some stage! But they really are perfect reading material for a read-a-thon, and as far as I can see, there are no rules against rereads ;) Progress on Squire - 26 pages.

Hour 10 (00:04): I'm paying for my lack of sleep right now. Last year I lasted until around 2am before having to give up and go to bed, but I only had 6 hours of sleep last night, and I can definitely feel that now. Staying up after midnight gets increasingly more difficult the older I get. So even though it's definitely more fun to be up when other participants of the read-a-thon are (and most of those are in the US), I think I'm going to have to give up and head off to bed now. See you in the morning. Oh, and progress on Squire - 100 pages.

ETA: Oh, I forgot the Mid-Event Meme occurs in one hour. I'll have to stay up for that! I don't mind doing some things out of order, but doing the Mid-Event meme 8 hours late just seems wrong. You're stuck with me for another hour then ;)

Hour 11 (01:01) Honestly I think I may have gotten my second wind, it's easier to stay awake now. I obviously don't read quite as fast when I'm tired though. Only another 62 pages read since last.

Hour 21 (10:54) I'm back! Not that I actually slept for all 10 hours, I just haven't had my computer on to update. I only have another 60 pages to go of Squire, so as you can see, I've been keeping busy! Oh, and happy 10-10-10! Thankfully a date USians and Europeans agree on ;)

Hour 22 (12:05) Only two hours left! I wonder if I'll have time to finish another book before the read-a-thon ends. I finished Squire about a half-hour ago, and have decided to take a bit of a break from Tamora Pierce and read Sorcery and Cecelia instead. I'm only 40 pages into it though, so haven't formed too much of an opinion about it yet.

Hour 24 (14:00) Alas, the last book I picked was too long for me to finish by the end of the read-a-thon. I'm only 239 pages into it, so still have another 80 to go -- meaning another 40 or so minutes to finish it. So that brings my grand total to 4.75 books read, 1388 pages read and 12h25m spent reading! I feel a bit bad for only spending a little over half the time reading, but at least I more than met my desired goal of reading more than 1000 pages :D

It was a LOT of fun! I'll definitely be doing it again next year, if time allows.

Books Read: Claudia and the Perfect Boy (150p), Tunnelmanden (314p), Page (245p), Squire (380p), Sorcery and Cecelia (239p, WIP)
Time Spent Reading: 12h25m

E-reader review: BeBook One

I've had my e-reader for almost 9 months now, and am still really pleased by it, but it definitely does have its pros and cons.

My e-reader is a BeBook One from Endless Ideas. I've never tried reading books on any other e-readers (although I've briefly had my hands on both a Sony E-reader, a Kindle and an iPad), so this isn't a review of one e-reader compared to another, but of e-readers vs. paper books in general.

Pros:
It's a great conversation starter! I mostly use it when travelling, and have had several fellow train-/bus passengers ask me what it was or "Oh, is that that Amazon thing?" Obviously that isn't so good for shy people, but I love talking books in any shape or form, so it's never bothered me :)

It's so handy when I'm away on vacation! As you know, I read a LOT, so trying to guesstimate how many books to bring with me is always interesting. I hate being caught short (although that's of course more of an issue when going on vacations where I can't just go out and buy a new book, so not so relevant when going to London ;) ), so I tend to pack one for every second day or so, which can get rather heavy at times. With the e-reader I just need to bring one average-sized book and I have enough reading materials for several years :-D

E-books are cheaper than paper books. Not in Denmark though! You definitely don't want to buy e-books here. They are still so new that they often cost 2-3 times as much as a paper book. However, I can get hold of English books online, and there are several places where it's possible to find free e-books either for keeps or to loan.

It's nifty and a shiny new toy! Yes, my geeky heart loves new gadgets :) One of my colleagues saw me receive it (it was sent to work) and though he first laughed at me, he then admitted that new toys were great and new toys with cables were even greater ;)

Cons:
Yup, nifty and shiny, but not nearly as cozy as paper books. Apparently I have a great emotional attachment to the act of physically turning pages, feeling how many pages I've already read, and feeling how many pages are left. Seeing the number slowly increase just isn't the same.

It's really best for reading from A-Z. Flipping through a book to look for something specific is almost impossible. First of all because I tend to remember where things were written by how the book "feels" (approx. how many pages are left, was it on a right or a left page etc.) rather than the specific page number. Secondly it just takes too long to turn a page. Depending on the format and the size of the book it can take anything from 0.5-3 seconds to turn a page.

Apart from the sensation of reading paper books vs. e-books, there's also the issue of a physical library vs. a digital one. I'm proud of the library I've managed to put together by now. I would like it to be bigger, but who wouldn't?! ;) I like looking at my books, picking out old favourites to read a page here and a paragraph there. I like seeing a wall full of books and knowing that I've read them all. Looking at folders on a computer just isn't the same. Also I like having guests comment on my books and loaning books to others - and most people I know feel a LOT more comfortable browsing bookshelves in a living room, than browsing folders on a computer. The former is perfectly acceptable within etiquette, the latter definitely isn't unless expressed permission has been given.

An e-reader is a lot more egoistic than physical books. Mum didn't bring along enough books when we were on vacation together last. Had this been BER (Before E-Reader ;) ) I could just have given her one of mine to read, as I was bound to have brought several, but we couldn't very well both use the e-reader at the same time, so I couldn't be of any help. And I like being of help!

BeBook itself:
I got the BeBook One because it by far supported the most formats (lit, doc, rtf, txt, pdf, epub, html - just to mention the most common ones). At the time I received it, I'd never had my hands on any other e-readers, so I had nothing to compare it to. However, since then I've also seen a Kindle and the Sony e-reader, and I can see that it's definitely more low-tech than those two. It only has the most necessary features (page turn, zoom), no touch screen or keyboard, the screen's a very dark grey (similar to the old Palm) and it takes longer to turn a page than on the Kindle and the Sony e-reader.

My sensible self is satisfied with it. It fulfills its purpose, and that's really all I need it to do. My geeky self thinks it would be nice with something a bit more high tech and is seriously considering buying a Sony E-reader when I'm in London next ;) Or I might wait a couple of years until I see what actually becomes available in Denmark. Since I'm not out to replace my physical library with an electronic one (far from it!), I can say patient a while longer :)

Book Blogger Hop: Judging Covers

The question was: Do you judge a book by its cover?

My answer: a clear yes and no.

Yes: When I go book-browsing, I judge a book by its cover. That and its title are the only two things you've got to go by when browsing unknown books, and I absolutely base my desire to pick it up and read the back blurb on whether or not the cover appeals to me. Sometimes an intriguing title can make me move past a lousy cover, but that doesn't happen terribly often, and I actually can't think of any specific examples right now.

I receive books for review, so I don't always get to chose the covers there, and some of them are ridiculously tacky. I'll still give it a chance, but sometimes it really goes against my better judgment. I've just received Eternal Hunger which looks really tacky, and Bloody Good by Georgia Evans was almost as bad - that one turned out to be okay entertaining though. Finally there was Seeing Me Naked by Liza Palmer, where the book was actually really great, but the cover was so suggestive that for the first time ever, I actually felt embarrassed reading it while on public transportation! See for yourself....


Of course, there are also covers that are so gorgeous that you (or I, at least) almost want to frame them and enjoy them in all their beauty. For me, some of those are The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers. Fortunately here the quality of the book fit the quality of the cover :)


No: When I have books recommended to me, I don't stay away from reading them, just because I don't like the cover. And if I have one edition of a book, I don't go out and buy another, just because I discover I prefer that cover. Some of my favourite books have absolutely hideous covers. Cases in point, the below editions of The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. In both these cases I'm able to disregard the extremely ugly covers because I know and love the books so much.


And although I did write above that I judge a book by its cover when I'm browsing books, and probably pass over what may be terrific books because the cover don't catch my eye, neither do I buy books just because of the cover. An intriguing cover isn't enough. It has to be combined with an interesting-sounding back blurb. So I don't judge books that much.

Top Ten Childrens Books

These are a mixture of books I loved as a kid and books I'm looking forward to reading to my own children. It does not include picture books, but only chapter books that I either read myself, or that I had read aloud. We had a great tradition of Dad reading aloud to us (actually lasting until I moved out, although in later years it was only when on vacation) and got through a lot of classics that way.

As usual, I've decided not to include any Danish books, but I would be remiss if I didn't even mention Estrid Ott, as she was one of my all-time favourite authors as a child. Especially her delightful series about the adventures of the stuffed toy-Elephant, Bimbi. It's such a shame that these have never been translated to English!

Picking my Top 10 is hard enough, so there's no way I could list them in order of preference. These are just in no particular order. Oh, I decided I could only pick one book per author, but there's no real "rule" about that ;)

Top 10 Childrens Books

The Year of Plenty - Rebecca LeeAnne Brammer (2009)

I only discovered this book last year, but it's a wonderfully cozy and charming book in the same style as Little House in the Big Woods. The language is suitable for children, and I think it would work very well as a read-aloud book. Definitely a book I plan on reading to my kids - even if I have to translate it to Danish myself! ;)

Professional Shrink - Mac (2008)

Another book I didn't discover until last year, but it's one of the very few childrens books that I read for the first time as an adult and still gave 5 stars on Goodreads. It doesn't need the rosy-coloured glasses of nostalgia, it just works! It's absolutely hilarious and delightfully quirky. Probably best for slightly older kids (8-12), and I wish I'd been aware of it (or rather, that it had been written!) when I was a kid.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (1964)

I couldn't write this list without including Roald Dahl, although it was really difficult to decide which book of his to use - Matilda runs a very close second. However, Charlie... was my introduction to Roald Dahl, so if for no other reason than that, it deserves a mention. I think it may still be my favourite - I've always been intrigued by the chocolate factory, and am sad that Willy Wonka rushed past so many interesting doors with no more than a quick mention. I'd love to roam about the factory more. One of the best things about Tim Burton's film adaption of it, was that he completely managed to capture the magic of the factory, and made me just as eager to explore it as Roald Dahl's book itself did.

Raging Robots and Unruly Uncles - Margaret Mahy (1981)

The first two books on this list were books had never read as a kid, this is a book I haven't read since I was a kid and had it read aloud to me. Margaret Mahy is a Kiwi author, and we discovered her during our first year in New Zealand, where Dad read this book aloud to us, to our great delight. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find it anywhere since, so I haven't read it after 1990! Obviously I don't remember much of it, other than that I LOVED it, so I'm very eager to get my hands on it again at some point. Perhaps it'll show up second hand somewhere.

Margaret Mahy's books were all delightfully quirky, and most of them were illustrated by Quentin Blake (who also illustrated many of Roald Dahl's books). I've always loved his work!

Heidi - Johanna Spyri (1880)

I vaguely recall seeing either a movie or a mini-series based on this book when I was young. Can't remember any details though, other than that I loved it, and immediately went out to find the book. It's a sweet classic which I was gratified to see completely passed the test of time, when I reread it a couple of years ago.

The Ordinary Princess - M.M. Kaye (1980)

I have very vivid memories of my Dad reading this aloud to us when we were in San Tropes, France in 1986. The book hasn't been translated to Danish yet, but Mum would try to keep ahead of Dad, translating a couple of pages at a time, and if we got impatient, Dad would translate on the fly (he's insanely good at that!). I loved the idea of an "ordinary" princess, and a fairytale where the prince and princess of an arranged marriage are finally allowed to get to know each other and fall in love ahead of time :)

Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie (1911)

This falls squarely into the "why haven't I read this before!" category. Again a book I read for the first time last year (what is this with last year? I obviously read a lot of great childrens books!), and I was very impressed by it. It's a lot darker than I had expected, but in a way that I think would go over the heads of most children, and I caught myself laughing out loud several times. I suspect it's a book that - like Narnia - works for both children and adults, but just on different levels.

Gone-Away Lake - Elizabeth Enright (1957)

I was reminded of this book just last month when it was chosen as book of the month for a book club I'm part of. I had completely forgotten how lovely it is, and was delighted to revisit Gone-Away Lake with Julian and Portia. It has all the important things in a childrens book - a magical atmosphere, good solid friendship both among peers and between the ages, and lots of fun adventures. I feel transported to another time whenever I read it.

Children of Noisy Village - Astrid Lindgren (1947)

No list of childrens books would be complete without a mention of Astrid Lindgren. She was a huge part of my reading while growing up. But it was almost impossible to decide which book to list, and I'm still not entirely sure I made the right choice. Other books I considered were Emil, Pippi Longstocking and Ronja Robber's Daughter. The reason I chose Children... is not that it's my favourite (I think that would be either Pippi or Ronja), but that it's the first book I can remember being read and reading myself. I remember loving the chapter where one of the girls gets her own room, and the descriptions of how she arranges it and keeps it nice and neat. I'd always get into a fit of tidying my room after reading it... a fit that would last for as long as it took me to move on to the next chapter ;)

Astrid Lindgren is a must on any book-shelf in a child's room. I can't wait to get to introduce my own children to her books.

Famous Five - Enid Blyton

And of course - Famous Five. I am almost certain that these were the first longer chapter books I read by myself, and I know that they were the first books I started collecting. For many years I'd get at least one for every birthday and Christmas, until I had the entire series - including some of the newer ones, written by ghostwriters. They weren't nearly as good, but I still wanted to read them all! My favourite was (and is) Five Run Away Together, because I loved reading about how they found the cave on Kirrin Island and Anne fixed it up really nicely :)

I still reread the original series every now and again, and fortunately they too pass the test of time. Also, they are remarkable in being a series where (at least in the first books) people actually get older the way they're supposed to! After four summer vacations, Julian went from being 12 to being 16! ;)