Friday, 27 March 2026

Book Quotes

"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity." Umberto Eco

Those of us who cannot live without books know exactly what he means. Some people don't understand why you don't throw or give away a book once you read them, they have no understand how we relate to those stories.

"To be apolitical is to be political without realizing it." Rosa Luxemburg

I know exactly what she means. Those people who don't go to elections, for example, influence them just as much as those who vote, if not more.

"It's better to have your nose in a book, than in someone else's business" Adam Stanley

And the stories in the book are so much more exciting than those we see in our neighbourhood.

Find more book quotes here.

Monday, 23 March 2026

Swindells, Robert "Abomination"

Swindells, Robert "Abomination" - 1998

A Friend told me about this book and lent it to me. She had taught it at school and was sure I would like it. And I did. What a story!

The story of Martha is heartbreaking. She has no freedom, she is kept like a prisoner at home. She cannot make friends. Children at school bully her. Well, that part I could comprehend because I had that same problem at school. My parents didn't have much money and my mother used to sew all my clothes. They were nice clothes but I was always bullied because of it. And I didn't belong to anyone.

But luckily my parents were just ordinary Catholics and they would always complain about people who placed religion over their own family. Because this is what Martha's parents do.

I cannot go into the story without revealing what happened and why the family behaved like that. Only this, Martha does make a friend and he helps her to find to herself.

I am sure this book would have a different effect on children than they have on me but I was pretty shocked.

From the back cover:

"A dark tale of shameful secrets, religious intolerance, and breaking through the emotional chains binding one girl to an abusive home life Martha is 12—and very different from other kids, because of her parents. Strict members of a religious group—the Righteous—their rules dominate Martha's life. And one rule is the most important of she must never ever invite anyone home. If she does, their shameful secret—Abomination—could be revealed. But as Martha makes her first real friend in Scott, a new boy at school, she begins to wonder. Is she doing the right thing by helping to keep Abomination a secret? And just how far will her parents go to prevent the truth from being known?"

Tuesday, 17 March 2026

What's in a Name 2026 Reading Challenge

I have been participating in "What's in a Name?" ages ago (2014 and 2020) but then the person who did it finished and I somehow lost touch.

Now I found this on Margaret's page BooksPlease and decided to join again. This is currently hosted by Andrea at Carolina Book Nook. It was started by Annie, who was ten or eleven at the time, on her blog Words by Annie. First Beth @ Beth Fish Reads and then Charlie @ The Worm Hole took over hosting before handing it over to Andrea.

So, this is a ‘must‘ challenge for me!

The words we need to find this year are:

Six/6:
Titles for this category need to include the word "six" or number "6" somewhere in the title, even if they are part of another word or number.

Cold weather:
Your title for this category should include a word that describes cold weather such as "snow," "ice," "blizzard," "frozen," etc.

Peace:
Titles for this category need to include a word that describes peace: "peace," "serenity," "still," "calm," etc, even if it doesn’t directly mean "peace."

Pathways:
Titles for this category need to include a words that are types of paths: "trail," "road," "avenue," "sidewalk," etc.

Terrain:
Titles for this category need to include a word for a type of topographic terrain or the name of a particular part of terrain.
Lanschot, Reinier van "We are Europe" (NL: Wij zijn Europa: een nieuw Europees verhaal) - 2024

Flower:
Titles for this category need to include a type of flower or the word "flower."

I don't know whether I will manage to fill all the challenges but, as you say, have already done one.

Monday, 16 March 2026

Oates, Joyce Carol "Daddy Love"

Oates, Joyce Carol "Daddy Love" - 2013

I have always loved books by Joyce Carol Oates and often said, she should receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

I have read many of her books but she has written so many that I won't get to all of them soon.

When one of my blogger friends (Lisa @ Captivated Reader) talked about a buddy read she had started with another reader, I was very keen to join in. They had already started and I still had to get the book, so I joined in a little too late. It was still interesting to have someone to talk to directly.

Lisa already warned everyone that this is the darkest novel she read by JCO and that is something to say because her books usually are pretty dark. And she is right. It's about child abduction and abuse, lots of psychological problems that come along with it.

The author has a great way of describing the trauma of the abduction by describing it five times from different angles. As always, the author uses fantastic ways to let us into the story.

I would love to write more but don't want to say too much. 

If you are interested in the buddy read, here is the discussion I had with Lisa. But there are spoilers!

 

And here is Lisa's post.

From the back cover: 

"Have they found him?
Have they found Robbie?
They waited.
Each hour of the day they waited.
No one told her, the latest news, for the latest news was usually no news.
A day, a night, two days, several days, a week and finally twelve days - and then, fifteen days:
no news.
"

Book Description:

"Daddy Love, aka Reverend Chester Cash, has for years abducted, tortured, and raped young boys. His latest victim is Robbie, now renamed 'Gideon,' and brainwashed into believing that he is Daddy Love's real son. Any time the boy resists or rebels he is met with punishment beyond his wildest nightmares. As Robbie grows older he begins to realize that the longer he is locked in the shackles of this demon, the greater chance he'll end up like Daddy Love's other 'sons' who were never heard from again. Somewhere within this tortured boy lies a spark of rebellion... and soon he will see just what lengths he must go to in order to have any chance at survival."

There are tons of quotes but I just leave it at this one:
"After all these years, Joyce Carol Oates can still give me the creeps." Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

Wednesday, 11 March 2026

Turgenev, Ivan "Fathers and Sons"

Turgenev, Ivan "Fathers and Sons" (Russian: Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862
I love Russian authors, as all my friends know. But I had never read a book by Turgenjew. So, I was happy that #2 was chosen for our classic spin this term.

Was it as good as most of the other Russian authors I read? Yes, it was. I loved reading about life in Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century, when times started to change, farmers got more freedom, serfdom started to be abolished and the whole order of society was questioned.

Almost any kind of character was described in this book, diffferent ages, different social status, different education, different housholds, town and countryside, students and farmers, parents and children, women and men (which doesn't happen often in those books).

According to Wikipedia, this is considered the first modern Russian novel. I can well believe that. Changes were coming and the author managed to put that situation to paper.

In any case, I can highly recommend this book. And not just to those who love classics and/or Russian literature.

From the back cover:

"Bazarov—a gifted, impatient, and caustic young man—has journeyed from school to the home of his friend Arkady Kirsanov. But soon Bazarov’s outspoken rejection of authority and social conventions touches off quarrels, misunderstandings, and romantic entanglements that will utterly transform the Kirsanov household and reflect the changes taking place across all of nineteenth-century Russia.

Fathers and Sons enraged the old and the young, reactionaries, romantics, and radicals alike when it was first published. At the same time, Turgenev won the acclaim of Flaubert, Maupassant, and Henry James for his craftsmanship as a writer and his psychological insight. Fathers and Sons is now considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.

A timeless depiction of generational conflict during social upheaval, it vividly portrays the clash between the older Russian aristocracy and the youthful radicalism that foreshadowed the revolution to come—and offers modern-day readers much to reflect upon as they look around at their own tumultuous, ever changing world."

Here are all the books on my original Classics Club list.
And here is a list of all the books I read with the Classics Spin.

Tuesday, 10 March 2026

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Ordinal Numbers

 

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". It was created because they are particularly fond of lists. It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is Ordinal Numbers (Ordinal numbers are numbers that define an item’s place in a series. For example: first, second, third, fourth, tenth, fourteenth, thirty-third, one hundredth, etc)

I thought I had read more books with ordinal numbers but it was hard to find ten that start with an ordinal numbers. So, I had to cheat a little. But most of the books I mention fit the description.
Camus, Albert "The First Man" (F: Le premier homme) - 1994
Fo, Dario "My First Seven Years (Plus a Few More)" (I: Il Paese dei Mezaràt: I miei primi sette anni (e qualcuno in più) - 2004
Ingalls Wilder, Laura "The First Four Years" (Little House Books
- 1932-71
Alexievich, Svetlana "Second Hand Time. The Last of the Sovjets" (RUS: Время секонд хэнд/Vremja sekond khend) - 2013 
Pollock, David C., & Van Reken, Ruth "Third Culture Kids" - 2001 
Harari, Yuval Noah "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" - 2018
📚 Happy Reading 📚