The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

As it is the last day of 2018 I decided it was probably time to do a wrap up post for all the challenges I've participated in this year. As usual, I overestimated a bit on how many challenges I would manage to participate in, so I didn't accomplish the goals in all of them. Regardless, I still had a fun reading year and here's my lists. Foodies Reads Sugar and Spice and All Those Lies by Evy Journey The Uninvited Corpse (Food Blogger Mysteries #1) by Debra Sennefelder Poké! fargerik gatemat fra Hawaii av Oskar Sellin og Helle Øder Valebrokk The Cosy Teashop in the Castle (The Cosy Teashop #1) by Caroline Roberts The Quiche and the Dead by Kirsten Weiss Death by Dumpling (A Noodle Shop Mystery) by Vivien Chien Slow-Cooker Fall Favorites by Gooseberry Patch Food Wars! Vol. 2 by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki and Yuki Morisaki Food Wars! Volume 3 by Yuto Tsukuda, Shun Saeki and Yuki Morisaki Bake for Syria Recipe Book by Lily Vanilli The Street Food Secret: The World’s ...

I recieved an ARC of Super Sikh #2 by Eileen Kaur Alden in exchange for an honest review. I thought it fitted in nicely with Platypire Diversity Challenge, so I'll post the review today. Description from Goodreads Super Sikh is a secret agent who loves Elvis and hates bad guys. In this issue Super Sikh begins his U.S. adventure in a holding cell, makes a new American friend, and the Group X gang launches their evil plot against him. My Thoughts on the Comic What I did like about Super Sikh was the fact that Deep Singh is a non-white religious minority, which is not too often portrayed as the protagonist of a comic. What I did find a bit annoying is the over-used trope of "us versus them", which in this case was both good vs bad, but also sikhs vs muslims. But if you want some quick entertainment in a comic with a religious minority, feel free to pick it up.

For en liten stund siden fikk jeg tilsendt et leseeksemplar av krimromanen Barføtt over isen av Ingebjørg Berg Holm fra forlaget. Nå har jeg fått lest boka, som sånn sett passer til Cloak and Dagger Mystery Challenge, samt Platypire Diversity Challenge (LGBT Pride Summer), og i dag kommer omtalen. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Ny, historisk krimroman fra brakdebutant! I årets roman møter vi igjen Hurum-lensmannen Thomas Tinnvik. Året er 1875. Fra vinduet har Thomas utsikt til den praktfulle villaen som kalles «Palasset». Mens han tynget venter på et forsonende brev fra sin bror, søker han trøst i lyset fra tårnværelset, der hans tilårskomne venninne, Frøken Parelius, ligger syk, omgitt av sin store boksamling. Da Parelius dør, kommer det som en lettelse for de fleste. At en bok stjeles fra dødsværelset, ser Tinnvik mest som en forstyrrelse. For noe har skjedd som endrer alt for ham. Fortiden han til nå har klart å holde hemmelig, kommer til Holmsbu med en ung mann, og Tinnvik bestemmer...

As I'm participating in Platypire Diversity Challenge and Literary Voyage Around the World Reading Challenge (Iran), I figured out it was time to read Persepolis - The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi. Today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads The Story of a Childhood and The Story of a Return The intelligent and outspoken child of radical Marxists, and the great-grandaughter of Iran's last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. This is a beautiful and intimate story full of tragedy and humour - raw, honest and incredibly illuminating. My Thoughts On The Book Persepolis is a thought-provoking graphic novel that tells a coming-of-age story during the Iranian revolution. It also makes the modern day Iranian politics a bit mor...

As some of you probably have figured out, I'm participating in a few reading challenges this year. Recently I've read Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien and it fits right into three challenges; Cloak and Dagger Mystery Challenge, Foodies Read Challenge and Platypire Diversity Challenge. Today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads Welcome to the Ho-Lee Noodle House, where the Chinese food is to die for. . . The last place Lana Lee thought she would ever end up is back at her family’s restaurant. But after a brutal break-up and a dramatic workplace walk-out, she figures that a return to the Cleveland area to help wait tables is her best option for putting her life back together. Even if that means having to put up with her mother, who is dead-set on finding her a husband. Lana’s love life soon becomes yesterday’s news once the restaurant’s property manager, Mr. Feng, turns up dead―after a delivery of shrimp dumplings from Ho-Lee. But how could th...

In relation to Platypire Diversity Challenge (Hispanic History Month), I ended up reading the poetry collection Love Poems by Pablo Neruda and today I'll post my review of it. Description from Goodreads Charged with sensuality and passion, Pablo Neruda's love poems are the most celebrated of the Nobel Prize winner's oeuvre, captivating readers with earthbound images and reveling in a fiery re-imagining of the world. Mostly written on the island paradise of Capri (the idyllic setting of the Oscar-winning movie  Il Postino ),  Love Poems  embraces the seascapes surrounding the poet and his love Matilde Urrutia, their waves and shores saturated with a new, yearning eroticism. And when you appear all the rivers sound in my body, bells shake the sky, and a hymn fills the world. My Thoughts on the Book It was a good poetry collection and I really enjoyed the poems, but I dare say that they were a lot better in the original Spanish rather than the translated English. ...

I recieved Puerto Rico Strong through Netgallery in exchange for an honest review, and it fitted into Platypire Diversity Challenge. Description from Goodreads Puerto Rico Strong  is a comics anthology that explores what it means to be Puerto Rican and the diversity that exists within that concept, from today's most exciting Puerto Rican comics creators. All proceeds go to UNIDOS Disaster Relief & Recovery Program to Support Puerto Rico. Despite being a US territory, Puerto Rico is often thought of as a foreign land, if it’s even a thought in the mind of the average American at all. Its people exist in all corners of America; some of them have parents who immigrated from the home island, others are a part of families that have been on the mainland for generations. Then there are those who have come to the states in search of a dream but struggle to integrate into an unfamiliar culture, while there are those who have lived in the United States all of their lives but still ...

Due to Platypire Diversity challenge and this month's theme of mental health awareness, I decided to read Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Archer. And just for the record before I continue; I do not support his actions in terms of sexual harassment etc. Description from Goodreads You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret is to press play. Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate and first love – who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice explains there are thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. All through the night, Clay keeps listening – and what he discovers changes his life... forever. My Thoughts On The Novel Even though the book somehow manages to portray the snowball effect of various incidents that makes Hannah comm...

For noen måneder siden var jeg såpass heldig at jeg fikk tilsendt et leseeksemplar av boka En muslimsk mors kamp av Azra Gilani og Maria Gilani fra forlaget. Nå har jeg fått lest boka, som forøvrig passer inn under Platypire Diversity Challenge og i dag kommer omtalen. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Dette er en unik fortelling fra innsiden av det pakistanske miljøet i Norge. Azra Gilani (67) var blant de første arbeidsinnvandrerne som kom til Norge, og forteller nådeløst ærlig om oppturer, nedturer og utfordringer. Hun mener blant annet at nøkkelen til god integrering starter hos kvinnene. Denne boken er både en sterk leseopplevelse samtidig som det er en brannfakkel inn i den norske integreringsdebatten. "Integrering og inkludering går begge veier. Hvis innvandrere og den yngre generasjonen med innvandrerbakgrunn innfrir sin plikt til å ta utdanning, bør også norske arbeidsgivere være åpnere for å ansette en person med et utenlandsk navn." Mine tanker om boka En muslimsk...

I forbindelse med Platypire Diversity Challenge (LGBT Pride Summer), endte jeg opp med å lese romanen Finna kyrkjedøra i meg av Per Helge Genberg, som jeg fikk tilsendt som leseeksemplar fra forlaget. I dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Den tretten år gamle guten ser ein vaksen mann gå avkledd på ein varm dag. Det vekker ei spenning som er nok til å skjøne at tiltrekkinga går i «feil lei». Kva skal no skje med odelen, den ætteplikta som er planta så djupt i han, og kva med den nedervde omsorga for dyra? Alt kan slutte med han.  Finna kyrkjedøra i meg er ei sterk og sår forteljing om å vekse opp på landsbygda i ei tid då det å vera homofil var enda meir skambelagt enn i dag. Det handlar om å vera vennelaus og om sosial skade. Det handlar om å vera seg sjølv der ein bur, og om å finna og få leva med den store kjærleiken. Det er ei forteljing gjennomsyra av bondens kjærleik til gard, jord og dyr, ein kjærleik like sterk alle dagar gjennom året.  Mi...

I was fortunate enough to be allowed to participate in the tour for My Crunchy Life by Mia Kerrick through YA Bound Book Tours and today is the day the tour stops at this blog, which means it's time for my review of the book. Summary of the Book John Lennon fought for world peace, but sixteen-year-old hippie hopeful Kale Oswald’s only made it as far as tie-dying his T-shirts with organic grape juice. Now he’s ready to cement his new hippie identity by joining a local human rights organization, but he doesn’t fit in as well as he’d hoped. After landing himself in the hospital by washing down a Ziploc bag of pills with a bottle of Gatorade, Julian Mendez came clean to his mother: he is a girl stuck in a boy’s body. Puberty blockers have stopped the maturing of the body he feels has betrayed him. They’re also supposed to give him time to be sure he wants to make a more permanent decision, but he’s already Julia in his heart. What he’s not sure he’s ready to face is the post-t...

I was fortunate enough to recieve a copy of the picture book A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager and Mike Blanc (illustrator) from Netgallery in exchange for my honest review. I thought it would fit in perfectly with Platypire Diversity Challenge and today I'll post the review. Description from Goodreads A Tale of Two Mommies  is a beach conversation among three children. One boy asks another boy about having two mommies. A young girl listening in asks some questions too. True to a child’s curiosity, practical questions follow. “Which mom is there when you want to go fishing? / Which mom helps out when Kitty goes missing?” To which he answers: “Mommy helps when I want to go fishing. / Both Mommies help when Kitty goes missing.” A Tale of Two Mommies  is intended for 4-8 year olds. This book lets us look inside one non-traditional family, a same sex couple and their son. As the children talk, it’s clear this boy lives in a nurturing environment where the biggest ...

(Inneholder affiliate linker) I forbindelse med Platypire Diversity Challenge i tillegg til Literary Voyage Around the World Reading Challenge, endte jeg opp med å lese  Kjære verden - en syrisk jentes historie om krig og bønn for fred  av Bana Alabed som jeg fikk tilsendt som leseeksemplar fra forlaget. I dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget En uforglemmelig historie om en tapper liten jente som var fanget i en brutal borgerkrig og inspirerte verden med sitt enkle budskap om fred. Under beleiringen av den krigsherjede byen Aleppo i 2016 ble syv år gamle Bana Alabed verdenskjent for sine desperate Twitter-meldinger med bønn om fred i Syria og slutt på all krig. Hennes hjerteskjærende meldinger bød på en usedvanlig innsikt i byens grusomme dagligliv, med flyangrep, sult og familiens mulige død. Bana har nå skrevet en gripende bok om en lykkelig barndom som tok slutt ved krigens utbrudd, og om fire år med bomber, ødeleggelse og frykt. Kjære verden byr p...

I forbindelse med Platypire Diversity Challenge, endte jeg opp med å lese F-ordet 155 grunner til å være feminist av Marta Breen, Madeleine Schultz og Jenny Jordahl og i dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget En ny feministisk bølge er over oss! I denne boka får du alt du trenger å vite om f-ordet.  Madeleine Schultz, Marta Breen og Jenny Jordahl har på hvert sitt vis vært markante bidragsytere i den feministiske debatten. I denne boka gir de deg gode tips til hvordan møte typiske argumenter og klisjeer i debatten om likestilling. Samtidig forsøker de å peke ut en retning for dagens feminisme. «F-ordet» er en morsom og politisk selvhjelpsbok for deg som lurer på om du er feminist, eller som bare vil få bekreftet at du har rett. Mine tanker om boka Jeg fikk følelsen av at boka kanskje passet bedre for eldre tenåringer eller personer i begynnelsen av 20-årene, men den er definitivt en bra innføring for de som ikke har studert kjønnsforskning på universite...

I forbindelse med Platypire Diversity Challenge, endte jeg opp med å lese Såpass må du tåle - sex, krenkelser og offentlig debatt av Heidi Helene Sveen og i dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Altfor få tør å uttale seg offentlig om temaer som kjønn og overgrep. Altfor få anmelder overgrep. Hvorfor er det slik?  Heidi Helene Sveen har gransket hvordan kvinner blir møtt når de forteller om seksuelle krenkelser, enten det er i rettsalen, i avisene eller på Facebook. Ofte møter de beskyldninger eller bagatellisering: Overgrepene kunne de selv ha avverget, sjikanen burde de ha ledd av. Kort sagt: Såpass må du tåle.  Hva gjør det med oss når vi blir vitne til en så hard retorikk? Hva gjør det med overgrepsofrenes syn på seg selv? Og bidrar mediene til å løfte fram ofrenes stemmer, eller skremmer de befolkningen fra å delta i debatten? Mine tanker om boka "Såpass må du tåle" er en sånn bok som kan gjøre en temmelig frustrert, samtidig som den poengter...

With both Platypire Diversity Challenge (Women History Month) and Back to the Classics Challenge (A classic by a woman author), I ended up reading A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft. Today I'lll post the review. Description from Goodreads Writing in an age when the call for the rights of man had brought revolution to America and France, Mary Wollstonecraft produced her own declaration of female independence in 1792. Passionate and forthright, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman attacked the prevailing view of docile, decorative femininity, and instead laid out the principles of emancipation: an equal education for girls and boys, an end to prejudice, and for women to become defined by their profession, not their partner. Mary Wollstonecraft's work was received with a mixture of admiration and outrage - Walpole called her 'a hyena in petticoats' - yet it established her as the mother of modern feminism. My Thoughts On The Book Even thoug...

Considering that I participate in Platypire Diversity Challenge and the theme of February was Black/African American History Month, I decided to read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Today I'll post the review of the novel. Description from Goodreads Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor - engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that init...

Considering that I'm participating in several reading challenges this year, I had both Platypire Diversity Challenge (Black History Month) and Literary Voyage Around the World Reading Challenge (Nigeria) in the back of my mind when I picked up Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Today I'll post the review. Description from Goodreads THINGS FALL APART tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society.  The second story, which is as modern as the first is ancient, and which elevates the book to a tragic plane, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world through the arrival of aggressive, proselytizing Europea...

In February the theme of Platypire Diversity Challenge was Black History Month, so I decided to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, which I borrowed at the library. Today I'll post the review of the book. Description from Goodreads Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mappi...

In search of books suitable for this month's theme in Platypire Diversity Challenge (bi-racial awareness month), I decided to read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell and today I'll post the review of the book. Description from Goodreads Two misfits. One extraordinary love. Eleanor ... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor. Park ... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park. Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. My Thoughts On the Book Personally I found it both charming and heartbreaking at t...