FEBRUARY WRAP UP PART II

BOOK REVIEW: ASKEPOTT BY KRISTINA OHLSSON

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Askepott
Author: Kristin Ohlsson, Elisabeth Bjørnson (translator)
Published: 2009
Language: Norwegian (translated from Swedish)
Pages: 481
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

During a rainy summer day in Stockholm, a little girl is abducted from a crowded train and a team of police investigators look into the case, which turns out to be much more sinister than they initially thought.

Review:

Ah, what a great crime story this was!

I really enjoyed this book; it was recommended to me by a friend because I wanted to read some Nordic noir and this was a great recommendation. It's filled with suspense and it was overall just a very thrilling read. 

I think the strongest aspect of this book is the mystery; it's dark, tense and gritty. The characters are interesting and really grow on you as you go along and I especially like how the characters approach the mystery from different viewpoints and sides. It's also the kind of mystery that's pretty hard to figure out completely, so I was really excited to get to the end when all was revealed.

This is, as far as I know, the authors debut novel and for a debut it's very good. It does have a few things that I didn't love though; I think it's a too long and it drags a bit in places. Sometimes it also feels like there are maybe too many perspectives going on all at once, which gets to be a bit much. 

Overall though, I very much enjoyed this and I will definitely be reading the next book in this series. It's a strong 3 star read for me and I bet the next books will be even better. 

You can get this book at Adlibris or the English version at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

#FRIDAYREADS

BOOK HAUL: FEBRUARY

 S P O N S O R E D :  S O M E  B O O K S  S E N T  B Y  P U B L I S H E R S
I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S
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We're almost at the end of the shortest month of the year! We're inching closer and closer to spring and I cannot wait.

While we wait for the temperatures to rise and the days becoming brighter, this month has been pretty cold and snowy here in Oslo. We had a cold spell which lasted well into the third week of February but now, luckily, it's getting a bit warmer and some of the snow is melting (and then sometimes freezing again, which is the worst, but oh well).

Not a lot has been happening in my life this month; Oslo is in lockdown and it's affected my workplace, so I haven't really been doing much except trying to keep myself busy. Oh, and getting a bunch of new books.

( a f f i l i a t e  l i n k s  +  b o o k s  m a r k e d  *  s e n t  b y  p u b l i s h e r )

DNA by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (English edition here)

Wildwood by Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis

The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

*Outlawed by Anna North

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

*Where Hope Comes From by Nikita Gill

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

*Grounds for Murder by Tara Lush

The Survivors by Jane Harper

I hope you're all doing all right and that you're having a good day!

BOOK REVIEW: WHERE HOPE COMES FROM BY NIKITA GILL

S P O N S O R E D  :  B O O K  S E N T  B Y  P U B L I S H E R
 I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Where Hope Comes From
Author: Nikita Gill
Published: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 160
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

This is an illustrated collection of poetry about hope, resilience and healing.

Review:

I was so happy to be sent this book, having previously come across Gill's work before and this was just as lovely as I thought it was going to be.

This is a very timely poetry collection. It explores life during a pandemic and all the aspects of it; loneliness, grief, death, love, hope and survival. It's filled with soul, warmth and honesty and I found it really easy to connect to and the things described so easy to recognise.

This collection is also illustrated by the author and there are loads of beautiful black and white watercolor paintings in here, which I felt added something a little extra special to this. I felt like the pages with the art gave the reader some time to breathe and contemplate in between, which worked really well.

I'd really recommend this if you like poets like Rupi Kaur and this collection is especially valuable to read right now if you're feeling dragged down by the current situation. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

NEW ON MY TBR

 

BOOK REVIEW: THE GIRL IN THE TOWER BY KATHERINE ARDEN

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: The Girl in the Tower
Author: Katherine Arden
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 346
Rating: 4/5

This is the second book in the Winternight trilogy. You can find my review of the first book in the trilogy here. 

Summary:

Set in medieval Russia, a young girl with perculiar gifts of seeing creatures no one else sees, finds herself unable and unwilling to return to her small home town and sets off into the forest, ending up intertwined with the court of the Grand Prince of Moscow as they fight off bandits laying waste to the surrounding land.

Review:

How wonderful it was to return to this world once more!

I always feel a slight twinge of apprehension when reading sequels to books I've loved but luckily, this wasn't disappointing in the slightest. It has everything I loved about the first book; winter, magic, an amazing setting and interesting characters. I felt like I especially loved the main character in this one, as I feel like we get to see her grow quite a lot throughout the story. 

The atmosphere is excellent, the setting is invoked beautifully and it's a story that's easy to get completely lost in. It's enjoyable and exciting, a little dark sometimes but filled with fairytale and folklore.

If you love The Bear and the Nightingale, you're going to love this one too. So far this trilogy has really impressed me and it's probably some of my favorite books I've ever read in this genre, so I'd highly recommend them if you haven't read them yet. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

REREAD TBR!

BOOK REVIEW: THE TRUTHS WE HOLD BY KAMALA HARRIS

S P O N S O R E D  :  B O O K  S E N T  B Y  P U B L I S H E R

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: The Truths We Hold: An American Journey
Author: Kamala Harris
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 336
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

This is the memoir of Kamala Harris and her story of being born to immigrant parents, growing up, becoming a lawyer and eventually a senator of the United States.

Review:

I accepted this for review because I wanted to get to know Harris a little better, seeing as she's the first woman Vice President of the US, and I feel like this definitely helped me gain some insight.

I thought this was overall quite interesting and I especially liked reading about Harris' experience of growing up, reading about her family and her experiences working within the justice system. I think it's apparent that she's intelligent and hard-working, and truly cares for the people around her.

I do think that we get to know Kamala Harris the politician in this, more so than Harris on a personal level, which I feel is not that uncommon when it comes to the memoirs of politicians, but I would've loved to go a little deeper with her. I also feel like there are big parts of this that are very clearly intended for an American audience and as someone who is not American and who doesn't live there, I maybe didn't connect to that very strongly.

Overall though, this was a good book and I'm glad I read it. I hope she writes another memoir type book when she's served as Vice President, because I'd love to hear about her experiences of all of that. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

#FRIDAYREADS

 

READING 3 SWEDISH NOIR CRIME NOVELS

BOOK REVIEW: THE ONE HUNDRED NIGHTS OF HERO BY ISABEL GREENBERG

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: The One Hundred Nights of Hero
Author: Isabel Greenberg
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 224
Rating: 5/5

Summary:

Set in a magical, medieval world, a diabolical man makes a wager with one of his friends; if the friend can seduce his wife within 100 nights, he'll get the castle and the wife. Thinking this an easy task, he sets off to do it, but it thwarted by the wife and her maid who tells him story after glorious story, distracting him from his mission.

Review:

This was absolutely amazing and one of my favorite graphic novels I've ever read.

The story in here is pretty weird and it took me a little while to get a grip on it, but when I did, I was hooked. The world this is set in is wonderful and magical; I love how all the stories in here are about women, storytelling and magic, and how everything weaves together beautifully at the end. 

I've read another book by Greenberg before, so I knew I would love the art in here and I certainly did. The style and the use of color is fantastic. 

This is an amazing book filled with whimsicality, magic, love, darkness and humor and I'd highly, highly recommend it (especially if you like your stories leaning a bit to the odd side). 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

BOOK REVIEW: REBEL OF THE SANDS BY ALWYN HAMILTON

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Rebel of the Sands
Author: Alwyn Hamilton
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 316
Rating: 2/5

This is the first book in the Rebel of the Sands series. 

Summary:

Set in a world where mystical beasts still roam, a young girl living in a small desert town wants to run away before she's married off and when a mysterious stranger comes into town, she sees her chance to finally get out.

Review:

You all probably know I usually don't read young adult novels and although this one was all right, it does remind me why I usually steer clear of them.

I think this started off fairly well; my favorite part about this whole book is the setting and the magic of this world. I love the descriptions of the desert, of the myth and folklore of the people living there and all of the magic is pretty cool. 

The characters are very typical of this genre though and didn't do a lot for me, and the story is just overall incredibly predictable and it was all so obvious to me. There are also several tropes in here I didn't like; we've got the "not like other girls" thing, the parents of the main character are dead thing, the "I'm going to pretend not to like you but then suddenly we're kissing and now we're in love" thing, and I'm honestly just not that into any of that. 

It is a very quick read though and I read the whole thing in a day, so it served its purpose for entertainment but that was kind of all it held for me. I'm sure it's a great book for the right reader though. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

FEBRUARY WRAP UP PART I

BOOK REVIEW: HVORFOR VI SOVER BY MATTHEW P. WALKER

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Hvorfor Vi Sover: Den Nye Vitenskapen Om Søvn og Drømmer
Author: Matthew P. Walker, John Grande (translator)
Published: 2017
Language: Norwegian (translated from English)
Pages: 413
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

In this book, neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker explores sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our mental and physical health.

Review:

This was absolutely fascinating.

I think we all know that sleep is important on some level, but it was so interesting to get a deep dive into the subject and explore exactly why it is so vital. It was really interesting to explore some of the mysteries of sleep and dreams and how it all ties together into our health and well being.

The book is written in a way that makes it easy to understand and explains things really well. It's very rarely dry and for a whole book all exploring the same subject, I was surprised by how much I just wanted to keep going because I was so interested. It's educational but fun to read (at least if you're interested in sleep, which I am).

Overall, an excellent nonfiction book and one I learned a lot from. I would definitely recommend it to just about everyone, as I think the lessons this book holds will benefit anyone.

You can get this book at Adlibris or the English edition at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

#FRIDAYREADS

 

REACTING TO YOUR ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT NORWAY

BOOK REVIEW: WINTER TALES BY DAWN CASEY & ZANNA GOLDHAWK

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

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Title: Winter Tales
Author: Dawn Casey, Zanna Goldhawk (illustrator)
Published: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 96
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

This is a collection of folk tales from all around the world, all beautifully illustrated.

Review:

This is such a lovely book and a real treat to read.

I really enjoy folk tales and I very much enjoyed this collection and getting to read traditional stories from all around the world. Loads of different countries and cultures are represented in here and it was so fun to get to read all of these different stories.

The illustrations take this book to a whole other level though; each story is gorgeously illustrated, adding extra magic to already magical tales. The choice of color and just the pure beauty of these illustrations add atmosphere and make this whole thing a thousand times more enchanting.

This is probably one of my favorite books like these that I've read, it's just so beautiful and a book I will definitely return to again and again. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads