Rainy Day Reads

You might have noticed that these past few months I have been missing my usual posting times every now and again. That's because I've started a new trainee job that keeps me well busy all day long. I have longer hours than I've been used to and about 3 times a year I'm off for weeks at school. I'm an introvert, one of those people who charge their social batteries when they are alone. In my case I need to be alone and doing absolutely nothing in order for my batteries to properly charge up. "Doing nothing" often means watching more or less braindead content on Youtube or Netflix, which takes away time from my reading. Reading is fun and oftentimes relaxing but at the same time it does require some work by your brain in order to actually read and understand the words, and then for your brain to provide all those beautiful images and scenes described by said words. So while I do love reading, sometimes it just isn't effortless enough to charge my batte

I've seen a few people on Booktube do this, and I thought it was a fun idea. Sometimes it's fun to see how people feel about books before they're done with them, if they change their minds or if the book is consistent all the way through. I am currently reading 3 books; "Mistborn" by Brandon Sanderson, "Winter Rose" by Patricia A. McKillip and "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen. I've wanted to start the Mistborn series for a while and I am finally getting around to it. I've only read a very few chapters so far, but I am really enjoying it. Lately I have been struggling to find some fantasy that interests me, so I am very happy that this book seems to be able to do the trick. "Winter Rose" came to me as part of a swap in a big pile of books. The blurb sounded interesting enough, but I am more than halfway through and I still don't know how I feel. It's about a young woman/girl, Rois, who lives with her f

I’ve wanted to read some more Atwood for a while, so when I came across this one at the library I decided to pick it up.   Oryx and Crake is about Snowman, formerly known as Jimmy. He lives in the woods in a post apocalyptic setting, taking care of the children of Crake. As the history slowly unfolds we learn how he came to be in this position.  When Jimmy was a child he lived in a compound run by a company producing meat. In this society man has started to genetically splice animals in order to achieve more “desirable” traits, like more meat or less aggressiveness. These experiments sometimes get out of hand and wreak havoc on the local eco system. Jimmy’s best friend, known as Crake, is a genius within the genetic splicing community and  his delusions of grandeur lead him to invent some less than great things.  I thought the concept of the novel was interesting. What happens when man starts to mess with nature? Who has there right to decide who and what lives and d

I saw this book on Youtube a good while ago and when I came across it at my library I decided to pick it up, as I figured it would be contemporary YA romance, and a fun and easy read.   First of all it is part of a trilogy, second, it isn’t really contemporary romance. At least, that’s not the main part of the story. Instead it deals with inter dimensional travel, spies and ethics.  Marguerite is our narrator and she is a young woman (I never really figured out how old she is) whose father is murdered due to his work in inter dimensional travel. It looks like one of his assistants, Paul, is guilty and his other assistant, Theo, decides to set out after Paul, who has escaped into another dimension and Marguerite decides to come with him. We follow the plot as it slowly unravels through multiple universes and we finally learn what has been going on.  I had a number of problems with this book that I can’t really discuss without spoilers, so read below if you don’t mind

I want to do my bit to try and change the world for the better. But I am lazy and cheap, so getting off my ass to do something actively or paying more for organic isn’t always a priority, I must admit. I do try to do what I can, but sometimes I falls short. I figured this book could help me out with some easy, fun ideas to make a small dent in the workload.   It is set out as a diary or calendar with one idea for each day of the year. Special occasion days like Earth Day or NO Tobacco Day are marked and the ideas for those days are usually associated with that theme. I guess this book is meant for dipping in and out of and doing what is “scheduled” for that day in particular. However, a number of the things suggested does take so preparation so not all of the ideas are achievable in 5 minutes or so. I did also read longer passages each time I sat down with this book and I got the feeling that some of the ideas were a bit repetitive. But if you read them spaced out over the year I

I picked this book up, because I've heard so many good things about it. A lot of vegetarians and vegans talk about this book being a turning point in their lives, so I wanted to see what the deal was for myself. Foer talks about his own journey into vegetarianism and how he thinks about food and how it can bring us together or divide us. He details a lot of his research into the food industry, particularly the meat industry, and tells us of his own thoughts on every new bit of information he dug up. In this book we hear from animal activists, vegetarians, ranchers and butchers, so he does bring a complex set of voices to the debate, and he states himself that the book is not out to turn anyone vegetarian. It presents facts of the industry and you can do with that what you will. He also discusses the philosophy behind eating and coming together for meals, the daily humdrum or special occasions, and I found that quite interesting, but often too short. The main part of the b

I picked this up on a whim on my latest jaunt to the library and I am glad I did. I really enjoyed this book, it was so much fun. It was like a mix of Downton Abbey and Anastasia, and who doesn't want that? It is about Anna, a young Russian countess, whose family is forced to flee Russia during the revolution, and like so many of their countrymen they end up in London. Here they must find jobs to support themselves, often ending up in service to families who would once upon a time have been their quals. Anna finds a job as a housemaid in a big house in the country. This house is preparing for the weeding of its owner, the young Earl, who is marrying a heiress, partly out of love, partly to save the house from being closed down and sold off. Needless to say Anna and the earl, Rupert, hit it off, but he is forced to choose between following his heart or his mind. I really enjoyed all the characters in this book. They might seem a little caricatured, like Anna is the upbeat,