The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

Last month I read the non-fiction book Always Remember Your Name: The Children of Auschwitz by Andra Bucci and Tatiana Bucci and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads On 28 March 1944, Italian sisters Tati (six) and Andra (four) were roused from their sleep and taken to Auschwitz, to the infamous Kinder Block presided over by Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death. By the time Auschwitz was liberated, 230,000 children had been murdered, and the sisters were among only 70 child survivors. Throughout their ordeal in the camp and the liberation of Auschwitz, their long journey from Poland to Czechoslovakia and finally to Lingfield House in Britain, they hung on to their promise to their mother to 'always remember your name'. They never forgot they were Tati and Andra Bucci, and it was this connection to their heritage that brought them miraculously back to their parents, years later and many countries away. The sisters overcame their trauma to live long lives, bear...

It's Tuesday and perhaps it's time for a new Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of  That Artsy Reader Girl and the theme of the week was cosy reads. Here's my ten picks. The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell Description from Goodreads A striking middle-grade debut in the tradition of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Golden Compass When a mysterious parcel arrives at her family’s new home, eleven-year-old Lin Rosenquist has a curious feeling she’s meant to discover what’s inside. Much to Lin’s surprise, the ornate key contained in the parcel unlocks a spellbinding world called Sylver, hidden behind the cellar door. Sylver is an enchanting land of eternal winter, inhabited by animals that shared a special connection with children in the real world, either as beloved pets or tamed wild animals. In death, they are delivered to Sylver, where they take on a curiously human-like form and still watch over the children they cherish. While Lin is overjoyed to be reunited with her beloved pet, R...

Earlier this year, I read the crime novel Stalking Ground by Margaret Mizushima and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Easy Targets When Chief Deputy Ken Brody’s sweetheart goes missing in the mountains outside Timber Creek, Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner, Robo, are called to search. But it’s mid-October and a dark snowstorm is brewing over the high country. And they’re already too late. By the time they find her body, the storm has broken and the snow is coming down hard. While Brody hikes down to bring back the forensics team, and veterinarian Cole Walker gathers supplies to protect them from the storm, Mattie and Robo find themselves alone, guarding the gravesite overnight in the early winter. And it’s only the first in a series of long, dark nights. As their investigation develops, Mattie, Robo, Brody and Cole find themselves in the middle of the killer’s stalking ground—where the hunters have just become the hunted. My Thoughts on the Book Stalking Ground ...

Earlier this year, I read the non-fiction book The Auschwitz Photographer: The powerful true story of Wilhelm Brasse prisoner number 3444 by Luca Crippa and Maurizio Onnis. Today, I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Based on the powerful true story of Auschwitz prisoner number 3444 Wilhelm Brasse, whose photographs helped to expose the atrocities of the Holocaust. When Germany invaded Wilhelm Brasse's native Poland in 1939, he was asked to swear allegiance to Hitler and join the Wehrmacht. He refused. He was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp as political prisoner number 3444. A trained portrait photographer, he was ordered by the SS to record the inner workings of the camp. He began by taking identification photographs of prisoners as they entered the camp, went on to capture the criminal medical experiments of Josef Mengele, and also recorded executions. Between 1940 and 1945, Brasse took around 50,000 photographs of the horror around him. He took them beca...

Tidligere i år leste jeg krimromanen Der isen sprekker av Ulrika Lundgren Lindmark og Jennie Lundgren og i dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Bok 1 i Bottenviken-serien. En småby i nord. Et barn i stor fare. En taushetskultur som rår. I det dramatiske landskapet rundt polarsirkelen, med øde veier og skog på alle kanter, får Irene Thorsdottir god tid til å bli kjent med sin nye partner Max Persson. Hun har nylig flyttet til Kalix fra Stockholm for å begynne som politi i operativ tjeneste. Norr- botten er enormt, og glissent nok til å være et perfekt sted for den som vil unndra seg loven. Den mannsdominerte kulturen på Kalix politistasjon er en utfordring, og Irene havner snart i konflikt med fordomsfulle kollegaer og overordnede. Snøen tiner, og dypt inne i skogen finner man en sykkel som viser seg å tilhøre en gutt som forsvant for en tid tilbake. Irene og Max er opptatt med å utrede saken idet en liten jente også forsvinner. For å oppklare sakene og finne i hvert f...

I recently read the horror/thriller novel Penpal by Dathan Auerbach and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads Penpal began as a series of short and interconnected stories posted on an online horror forum. Before long, it was adapted into illustrations, audio recordings, and short films; and that was before it was revised and expanded into a novel! How much do you remember about your childhood? In Penpal, a man investigates the seemingly unrelated bizarre, tragic, and horrific occurrences of his childhood in an attempt to finally understand them. Beginning with only fragments of his earliest years, you'll follow the narrator as he discovers that these strange and horrible events are actually part of a single terrifying story that has shaped the entirety of his life and the lives of those around him. If you've ever stayed in the woods just a little too long after dark, if you've ever had the feeling that someone or something was trying to hurt...

As bad luck would have it, it's my birthday today, so I figured out I could do The Birthday Book Tag, which I found over at The Bionic Book Worm . Of course, in true introvert fashion, I'm NOT celebrating my birthday. Anyway, over to the book tag. 1 – BIRTHDAY CAKE – A book with a plot that seems cliche but you adore it anyway: The Little Bookshop of Love Stories by Jaimie Admans 2 – PARTY GUESTS – Your most anticipated book release this year: Anastasia by Sophie Lark 3 – BIRTHDAY PRESENTS – A book that surprised you with how much you loved it: The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak 4 – THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG – A book that certainly deserved all the hype it got: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 5 – HAPPY MUSIC – A book with some very beautiful and truly memorable quotes: Chocolat by Joanne Harris 6 – SWEET BIRTHDAY MEMORIES – A book that kept you incredibly happy during a sad or demanding period of your life: Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block

As I've read all the other books by Shaun Bythell, of course I had to read Remainders of the Day too, and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads The Bookshop in Wigtown is a bookworm's idyll - with thousands of books across nearly a mile of shelves, a real log fire, and Captain, the bookshop cat. You'd think after twenty years, owner Shaun Bythell would be used to the customers by now. Don't get him wrong - there are some good ones among the antiquarian erotica-hunters, die-hard Arthurians, people who confuse bookshops for libraries and the toddlers just looking for a nice cosy corner in which to wee. He's sure there are. There must be some good ones, right? Filled with the pernickety warmth and humour that has touched readers around the world, stuffed with literary treasures, hidden gems and incunabula, Remainders of the Day is Shaun Bythell's latest entry in his bestselling diary series. My Thoughts on the Book If you're into dry and so...

Earlier this year, I read the non-fiction book Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads During World War II a community called Manzanar was created in the high mountain desert country of California. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese Americans. Among them was the Wakatsuki family, who were ordered to leave their fishing business in Long Beach and take with them only the belongings they could carry. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, who was seven years old when she arrived at Manzanar in 1942, recalls life in the camp through the eyes of the child she was. First published in 1973, this new edition of the classic memoir of a devastating Japanese American experience includes an inspiring afterword by the authors. My Thoughts on the Book Farewell to Manzanar is one of those thought-provoking books about a topic that's not that much talked about, at least not in Norway where I live. Fair en...

Earlier this year, I read the crime novel Hunting Hour by Margaret Mizushima and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads Deputy Mattie Cobb is working through issues from her past and has withdrawn from Cole Walker and his family to focus on herself, when she and her K-9 partner Robo get called to track a missing junior high student. Until they find the girl on Smoker's Hill behind the high school, dead. But that's only the start of trouble in Timber Creek, because soon another girl goes missing--and this time it's Sophie Walker. Hard as they search, Cole, Mattie, and Robo can't find her anywhere. Mattie's primary suspect, a strange man who lives near the wilderness area, calls to report he hears deer "screaming" in the woods. Suspecting the man might have lost touch with reality and be referring to something he's done to Sophie, Mattie takes Robo into the dense pine forest, hoping to pick up a trace of her scent. But whe...

Earlier this year, I read the crime novel Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads Featuring Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo, Burning Ridge by critically acclaimed author Margaret Mizushima is just the treat for fans of Alex Kava. On a rugged Colorado mountain ridge, Mattie Cobb and her police dog partner Robo make a grisly discovery—and become the targets of a ruthless killer. Colorado’s Redstone Ridge is a place of extraordinary beauty, but this rugged mountain wilderness harbors a horrifying secret. When a charred body is discovered in a shallow grave on the ridge, officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo are called in to spearhead the investigation. But this is no ordinary crime—and it soon becomes clear that Mattie has a close personal connection to the dead man. Joined by local veterinarian Cole Walker, the pair scours the mountaintop for evidence and makes another gruesome discovery: the skeletonized ...

Earlier this year, I read the crime novel Striking Range by Margaret Mizushima and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads A deadly secret is buried in the Colorado high country--and murder is only the beginning in the seventh gripping installment of Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 mysteries. He was suspect number one--the man who tried to kill Deputy Mattie Cobb and may have killed her father thirty years earlier. But when Mattie and cold case detective Jim Hauck reach the Colorado state prison where they will finally get to interview him, he's found dead in his cell. There's only one clue: a map leading to Timber Creek and rugged Redstone Ridge. Though she usually works with veterinarian Cole Walker, Mattie's K-9 partner Robo has just sired a litter of pups, who require special, time-consuming care at Cole's clinic. Left to explore the map's clue without him, Mattie and Robo journey into the burned forest surrounding Redsto...

It's Friday and perhaps time for another Let's Talk Bookish post, courtesy of  Book Nook Bits and the theme of the week was gatekeeping in the book community. Here's the further prompts, in case anyone's interested. Are there times where you have noticed gatekeeping in the book blogging community? What about in the publishing industry as a whole? What does this gatekeeping look like? How can we combat this? Before I venture out in this, I just want to point out that not everyone does this, and not with everything. I also just voice things from my perspective and with the tendencies I've noticed with the book community as a whole and not just "old school" book bloggers. Now, time to bite the gatekeeping bullet. Something I've noticed is the ever-occuring debate on audio books (and graphic novels) versus physical books. Audio books may not be reading-reading, but it's in my opinion still a proper way of enjoying a book. Some people may be dyslectic...

I came across the Books That I’ll (Probably) Never Read Tag over at  Book Coffee Happy and I decided to play along as it looked like a fun tag. A really hyped book that you’re not interested in reading: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins A series you won’t start/won’t be finishing: Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James A classic you’re not interested in: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell A book on your shelf you’ll probably never actually read: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

As I've got a weak spot for books about books, I couldn't resist reading The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan, and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more. Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling. From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy endin...

A little while ago I read the middle grade novel The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads The start of an exciting series filled with Caribbean folklore and daring adventure. Corinne La Mer claims she isn’t afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They’re just tricksters made up by parents to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest, and shining yellow eyes follow her to the edge of the trees. They couldn’t belong to a jumbie. Or could they? When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger at the market the very next day, she knows something extraordinary is about to happen. When this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne’s house, danger is in the air. Severine plans to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn’t know she possessed to ...

As I've read the other two books in the Sam Quinn series, I couldn't resist reading the latest installment, The Wicche Glass Tavern by Seana Kelly. Today, I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads I’m Sam Quinn, the werewolf book nerd owner of the Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore and Bar. Clive, my vampire gentleman caller, has asked me to marry him. His nocturne is less than celebratory. Unfortunately, for them and the sexy vamp doing her best to seduce him, his cold, dead heart beats only for me. As much as my love life feels like a minefield, it has to take a backseat to a far more pressing problem. The time has come. I need to deal with my aunt, the woman who’s been trying to kill me for as long as I can remember. She’s learned a new trick. She’s figured out how to weaponize my friends against me. To have any hope of surviving, I have to learn to use my necromantic gifts. I need a teacher. We find one hiding among the fae, which is a completely different problem. I nee...

As I've read a few of the other books by Bryce Gibson, I couldn't resist reading the thriller Perennials. Today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads Summer in South Carolina-a time of ripe peaches, crackling bonfires, trips to the lake, and the rural legend of a creature known as the Lizard Man.This year, a very real monster is lurking about. The victims all have one thing in common-they share their names with plants.Soon it becomes apparent that seventeen-year-olds Dusty Miller and Nandina Bush may be next on the killer's list. "That was when I realized that the red I saw in the driveway wasn't blood. It was a scattering of rose petals. Deep down, I knew, right at that very moment, that what all of us had been afraid of for the past several months had already happened. The serial killer had finally made his way to Crow County."- Dusty Miller My Thoughts on the Book It's a bit of a slow burn book, especially with Dusty and Nandi...

A while ago I ended up reading Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads From the New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn comes a breathtaking and spine-tingling novel about three teenage girls who face off against an insidious monster that preys upon young women. Perfect for fans of Victoria Schwab and Stranger Things. Who are the Sawkill Girls? Marion: The newbie. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find. Zoey: The pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is. Val: The queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives; a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies. Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cli...

It's Friday and perhaps it's time for another Let's Talk Bookish post, courtesy of  Book Nook Bits and the theme of the week was "Do you use your local library?". Here's the further prompts for this week. Do you have a local library you go to often? Does your school/did your school have a library? What are your favorite things about libraries? Are there certain books you borrow from your local library more or less often than others? Back when I lived in Bryne, I often used the local library and borrowed books (it even had a library café), but now that I live in Egersund I don't use libraries that often anymore, as the one where I live is fairly small. It doesn't help that most of their books aren't of any interest to me at all. While attending school, fortunately all the schools had libraries I made use of though. Some of my favourite things about libraries are that they're a bit of a safe haven without any pressure on spending money, but rat...

Ages ago, I came across the Build Your Own Dream Reading Corner Tag over at  Bookish Rita and saved it for later. Now I figured out it was the time to do the tag, especially as I've sort of created my own dream reading corner in my house. Setting the mood Pick the colours and lighting for your reading corner! I've got plenty of natural light from the bigger window during the day, but I've fortunately also got some lamps and candles for when it gets dark in the evening. For the most part, there's warm and earthy tones in my living room, with some random jewel and metallic tones here and there. Store your books Where will your books live? I've got a total of eight black BILLY shelves from IKEA in my living room, where the majority of my books live, in addition to a few wooden crates. The rest of the books live upstairs in shelves. Arranging and displaying How will you organise all your books? If it wouldn't have been such a pain in the arse finding the exact book...

As it's 2023 in less than two months, I figured out it was time to annouce the 2023 Diversity Reading Challenge. I’m not going to make any categories or levels for this challenge, as I want it to be a bit flexible. Read as many books as you feel like reading and yes, it can be children’s books, graphic novels, e-books, non-fiction, audio books, poetry and you-name-it. As it is a diversity reading challenge, it would be mean to exclude some types of reading materials, right? Now, what is diversity you might ask? What I mean by diversity is, but not limited to; People of colour/non-caucasian characters/authors Native Americans and other indigenous people LGBTQIA+ Authors/characters defining themselves as trans, intersex, genderfluid or similar Refugees Religious minorities Mental illnesses/disorders Neurodiversity (like ADHD and autism) Feminist themes/issues Physical/mental disabilities Characters/authors with chronic health issues Characters/authors in wheelchairs Characters/autho...

Earlier this year, I read the fantasy erotica novella Come, My Pet by Keira Michelle Telford and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads In a secretive chthonic cult, young and beautiful witch Mistress Coralie yearns for her ascension to the High Council—an opportunity which presents itself upon the untimely death of her aunt. With a coveted position on the Council comes more power over the coven and the opportunity to breed, thus furthering her bloodline. But first, she must select a mate. For this purpose, an elite group of anatomically gifted women are bound in servitude to the coven. These magically-enhanced companions, upon forming a lifelong bond with a Mistress, exist only to serve her sexual needs and sire her offspring, speaking only when spoken to, and obeying her every command without question. As per coven tradition, Coralie must take her pick from a coterie of willing playmates who’ve yet to secure their permanent bonds, but events seem set t...

Earlier this year, I read the novel The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads They say the thirst of blood is like a madness - they must sate it. Even with their own kin. On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community. Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts. They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate... My Thoughts on the Book Personally, I found the book a bit lacklustre to say it the least. While there were a few well-written descriptions here...

As dark academia, both of the bookish and aesthetic kind, has become more and more popular, I decided writing a list of ten dark academia books to pick up, as it's so much fun reading that kind of books. Anyway, here's ten dark academia books I recommend. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova Description from Goodreads For centuries, the story of Dracula has captured the imagination of readers and storytellers alike. Kostova's breathtaking first novel, ten years in the writing, is an accomplished retelling of this ancient tale. "The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper... As an historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it." With these words, a nameless narrator unfolds a story that began 30 years earlier. Late one night in 1972, as a 16-year-old girl, she discovers a mysterious book and a sheaf of letters in her father's library—a discovery that will have dreadful and far-reaching cons...