Norwegianne.net

Category: Books

  • Hoarding cookbooks. Should probably *do* something with them.

    Hoarding cookbooks. Should probably *do* something with them.

    So, I’ve been wanting to do something with the “gazillion” of cookbooks occupying a cabinet in my kitchen.

    For one thing, I keep buying them, and will eventually run out of space. I guess.

    I made myself a challenge, to cook my way through them, to see which I want to keep and which I want to discard. My one rule for this “challenge” is that I have to cook two recipes from each cookbook before I decide its fate.

    That means, I have to find two recipes in each cookbook that I *want* to make.

    The first cookbook I picked, is the “5 ingredients” (Amazon affiliate link) cookbook by Jamie Oliver.

    I see that I bought it on Amazon in July 2018. I had not opened it before this week, when time came to pick the first recipe.

    • What I especially liked about the book, right from the start is the photos of the ingredients on the side of the recipe. It makes it quite accessible.
    • I would have liked, if all the names of the recipes could have been in the Table of contents in the front of the book, in addtition to being in the index in the back.

    The recipe was the Pasta with pears and gorgonzola.

    I made a single portion.

    Mine did not look as good as Jamie’s. Not by a long shot. But it did taste very good, was quick-ish to make without a lot of faffing about. So good that I made it again the next day.

    pasta with pears and gorgonzola sauce

  • Death of Ari Behn

    Death of Ari Behn

    For some odd reason or another, it has been my Dad who has informed me of the death of the royal exes. First Diana in 1997, and now Ari Behn in 2019. Odd, because he’s really not hugely into monarchy as a concept or as a reality.

    But anyway, Ari Behn – former spouse of Princess Märtha Louise, and father to her three daughters, took his own life on Christmas Day.

    The funeral will be this Friday in Oslo Cathedral – and also be televised. I find this choice strange. Not Oslo cathedral, but the seeming necessity of having it televised.

    There have been an odd collective outpouring of sorrow in Norway, or at least the Norwegian media. The last time it felt like this, was the sorrow after the Utøya/bombing affair. Before that, I guess it was King Olav’s death.

    I never met Ari Behn. I’ve read his books. I’ve followed him in the media, by virtue of being a royal watcher and a librarian. But I think it is hitting me, and others, because it was depression. Because it was a suicide. It throws out entirely the circle of life. It is an unnatural ending to a life.

    Now, I think it is partly because it was Ari Behn, but also because it was a suicide – and that was announced. That a fairly successful author and artist and former member of the royal family went to that step, it may make it seem like the darkness of depression really can touch anyone, anywhere in society.

    And, what ultimately is left, are three girls who shouldn’t have had to face this in their lives. Three girls who should have had their father with them longer.

    (The featured image to this post is the ferry between Horten and Moss – Ari’s hometown.)

  • The difficulty

    I am currently going through my Amazon recommendations, and though there are many books there that certainly should be read – I click them away, and kind of feel guilty about it.

    Books that are absolutely worthy. Either by virtue of topic or skill of the writer – or both.

    But so many books, so little time – and I have too many books already.

  • A challenge?

    A challenge?

    I might be petty, but if you’re finished with your Goodreads challenge on January 1st – then it isn’t a challenge at all. Is it?

    Let me clarify. My Goodreads challenge is 600 books. That means, this year, I aim to read 600 books. To most people, that is a lot of books. BUT: I fully realise that everybody has a different reading speed, and different priorities. So, I understand those that go for 10 books. Or other numbers.

    My pettiness is more about wondering about the aims of anyone who manages to finish the challenge in less than a day.

    And yet, at the same time, it isn’t a competition, so I don’t know why I am bothered by this at all?

  • Three books that are waiting for me to be read

    Three books that are waiting for me to be read

    Still stressed out. New week. Same old stress. It got slightly better and then *boom*.

    So, I’m going to try to avoid it. How? By burrowing down with books. Because that will not solve anything but at the very least it might give me a respite.

    Here are five three books that I have physically and am going to read:

    The Curse of the boyfriend sweater is the first one. I brought this one with me on a weekend getaway trip, but ended up reading the other one on knitting I had first.

    – Let me flee into the lives of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. Well, probably not – but for escape a couple of hours, sure. I liked Debbie Reynolds’ biography better than Fisher’s princess book, so it will be interesting to see where this may fall.

    The secret lives of colors. I’m fascinated by the concept, and I can think of at least a couple of other people who will be, too.

    Originally, it was going to be five. I have more than five. But I figured along the way that I should rather actually read a couple first. Then I can build on that for next month/week/whatever.

  • Books for summer

    Books for summer

    I’m a librarian, and I do spend a lot of time reading. What I look for in a summer book:  it should be easy to get into and worth the effort. So many books, so little time.

    Nonfiction recommendation
     I first saw this in Berlin, and had to read it. I read the biography of Angela Merkel a while back, and it sort of gave me an interest in stories about growing up in East Germany.

    This book is not about Merkel. Although, it is the same era. The history of Germany from the end of WWII to the fall of the Berlin wall.  It is the story of a family, where the oldest daughter escapes from East Germany, and the rest of the family remains behind the Iron Curtain. I liked it, because I feel like I don’t often get this duality of the history presented so personally.

     

    I am sort of reading my way through the Kennedy siblings, and their parents, if I can put it like that. It first started with Jack, in an old biography of my Dad’s. Then another one on him. And then came the books on Rose, Rosemary, Kick, Teddy, Jean… and now Eunice. (and I’ve also read the Schwarzenegger biography on the same read-through and recommend that as well.)

    What I like about this, is that Eunice is by no means portrayed as a perfect person – despite the title. So often, I feel like I am reading biographies and they’ve suddenly turned into saints. But here, there are foibles and flaws.

    Now, onto Robert, maybe. I’m not sure if biographies on Joe, Joe Sr. and Pat exist?

    I’m not sure why I picked this up, to be honest, but the story of going through astronaut training – and later on spending a year in space on the ISS was truly captivating. I keep recommending it to patrons at the library and now I recommend it to you.

    Fiction

    A college-aged, diverse story, with an asexual heroine. It is more a coming-of-age story than a true romance, but still has its happy ending. I was truly sad to see this book end.

    With the football world cup going on, the romance novel Kulti with its football playing characters (male hero is a German former footballer, turned assistant coach, female heroine is an American footballer on the team he is assisting.) is a delicious seasonal read. It is just gloriously fun to follow the characters through their romance.

    A male librarian hero? I can tell you that (probably) none of the fellows I studied with have a romance blog on the side, but other than that I adored this view of working in a library, as a vibrant community and not a stuffy, silent morgue-like room filled with books. And the romance was nice too.

    I also read non-romance novels. Really. I do. This one, for example, about an Icelandic man who has reached the end of his tether, and decides to leave Iceland for a war-zone. I read this in its Norwegian translation and found myself moved. I chuckled at certain parties in the book and felt like weeping in the others. And in the end, it felt like the book was properly wrapped up. I could imagine it being turned into a television show.

  • Current royal reading

    For a long period, I haven’t done much royal blogging, but I thought I would share what I’m reading/recently have read with you.

    I’ve recently finished the new biography on Prince Charles by Sally Bedell Smith. I liked that it feels balanced – Prince Charles isn’t perfect, but he is also not as monstrous as he has been portrayed in the press about certain things. It’s not the best biography I’ve read, but it isn’t the worst either.

    The next step is to start on the biography of the Duchess of Cornwall by Penny Junor. Has anyone read it?

    Some books are books I just zip through, whereas other take a bit more time. I have been working my way through Queen Anne: the politics of passion for a couple of years now. It’s really a bit more interesting than it sounds like (given the reading speed), as it’s an era of royalty that I wasn’t hugely familiar with. But it is mostly me reading a chapter or two and then being satisfied with that for a while.

  • Review: The Royal We

    The Royal We
    The Royal We

    This was quite possibly the most unexpected, and entertaining read I have had in a very long time. I picked it up on a sale – and had very low expectations, despite all the good reviews. As a royal watcher, I don’t know anything I dislike more than when people write royal fiction a) get things wrong and/or b) set it in an existing country. In short, I was super skeptical.

    This is the story that went beyond that for me. It is built on the story of Will and Kate, but with a whole different origin premise in who inherited the throne after Victoria I – and it keeps wobbling back and forth on the backstory of the royal line. What if the heir to the throne falls in love and marries an American?

    I laughed, and I cried (several times) during the reading of this. It is so well-written that the pages just fly by, and even though I had planned on going to bed early, I just had to finish it.

    In several ways the story was as implausible, but it was sweet and interesting. The book worked for me in a major way, and I can’t wait to reread it.

  • Advent calendar: Fika – the art of the Swedish coffee break

    Today’s fun read was Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and Other Treats.

    Fika is to Sweden what kaffe is to Norwegians – only even more so. It’s coffee, but it is not just grabbing a cup to go at a Starbucks. And it is not just covered by the Norwegian meal that somehow comes after dessert when you’ve visited your grandmother. It is sitting down, and taking a break from your day to enjoy the coffee, and something to bite in alongside it.

    It is going on a train ride and bringing pastry and a coffee cup (or tea) to enjoy.

    The book is fun and sweet and nicely illustrated.