LunaKnit

Wow, I actually finished a book! Only my second this year - yes, I know I've been a lazy reader! Shift is the second book in Hugh Howey's Silo trilogy and as a prequel to Wool it doesn't quite stand alone as an idenpendent book - more like a bridge between the first and the last book of the series explaining how everything came to be. If you haven't read Wool yet but are planning to (which I warmly recommend you do even if you wouldn't otherwise be the biggest sci-fi fan) don't read any further because there might be some spoilers.  In modern Hollywood films I often find it a bit disturbing that nothing is left for imagination any more. Instead you are shown every gruesome act of violence and graphic sex scene, even though what we don't see can often be scarier or sexier than what is right there in front of your eyes. Think Hitchcock's Rearwindow and the suspense they were able to build without actually showing anything. It's

Let me make a few things clear to avoid any confusion and further disappointment: First of all, this is not a book about yarn, knitting, crocheting, sheep or anything even closely related to making woolen garments.  Secondly, I did not buy this book believing it had anything to do with any of the aforementioned. This book was actually recommended to me by a friend. A male friend to be precise. One who has probably never even tried his hand at knitting.  Thirdly: this is a sci-fi novel set in a dystopian world. And finally: this might just be the best book I've read in a long time. I've been such a lazy reader ever since I fell pregnant. Usually I've been such an evening person but at the moment it feels like I'm already sound asleep even before my head hits the pillow. Some nights I've tried to fight the tiredness but only managed to read a page or two before my eyelids have started to feel way too heavy. The lazy Easter holiday mornings

This was my first time ever reading a Donna Tartt novel. Although the book was good and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, I must say I was still left a bit disappointed by it because it didn't quite meet the high expectations I had based on all the rave and praise about her as an author. So there is a murder in the book: the main characters kill one of their friends by pushing him down a ravine. This is not a spoiler since it's told on the first page. The rest of the book is about the reasons leading to the murder and the aftermath and police investigation following it. The close-knit friendships built in the first part of the book are torn apart when everyone is trying to save themselves. Mistrust, paranoia, envy, alcohol abuse, nervous breakdowns. But despite al of this what bothered me was the total lack of emotion I got from the characters right after the murder: it felt like they weren't actually sorry about the murder itself (like it was justified) but only started

I really really really liked this book. I didn't expect to, but I did. And the same goes for the movie.  I seldom read books like this, nor do I watch many rom-com-movies. I got the book as a Christmas present last year from my sister. The story was quite light reading, but that was a nice change after reading some abstruse novels lately, like the Catch-22 or the Tinker Tailor… Both of them were the kind of books that make you very sleepy, but this on the other hand kept me awake because I didn't want to put it down. I actually watched the movie first, maybe a year ago, when I was sick and there was really nothing else on. I was surprised how much I liked the story despite my preconceived opinion about it: I didn't expect much of the movie even though I do have a soft spot for period dramas and animals. And I loved Dumbo as a child. The story is set in the 1930’s America battling with the Great Depression and about Jacob, a young man whose parents die in a ca

For such a small book this was a really slow one to read. It was written in a way where every word counts and you had to read every sentence really carefully to understand the plot. I often found myself reading and rereading one or two sentences or paragraphs over and over again because I was tired, my mind wandered and I couldn’t keep my thoughts together. I usually read before going to sleep and I seldom could finish more than a few pages of this book before I started to feel too drowsy to concentrate. I’m not a big reader of suspense novels; especially spy thrillers are quite an unfamiliar genre to me. This was actually the first book by John le Carré I’ve ever read, even though the author is well-known. The book belonged to my father but for some reason he had two copies of it, so he gave the other one to me along with some other old books of his, such as the James Bond novel From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming amongst others. All the while reading the book I had the s

“There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. "That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed. "It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.”  Here you can also see what I'm knitting at the moment. This is the Dune scarf  and I'm using one of the yarns I hand-dyed myself.  I don't usually read books about war. They

Another book to check off my reading bucket list . This has been my favorite book of all time for a long time. I’ve read it at least 5 times, and it shows: the book is quite worn-out and the cover has been torn into two pieces (I have used the loose part as a bookmark). Without spoiling the story too much for you who haven't read it, it's about all the gods people have worshiped in the past: ancient Egyptian gods, Norse gods, Indian gods, African tribal gods, gods that people have believed in when they came to America. The story follows the gods trying to struggle in the modern world where everybody has forgotten about them and no one believes in them anymore. There's an epic battle looming between the old gods and the new "gods" we now love: internet, television, stock markets and money. It’s kind of sci-fi or fantasy, very dark and a bit weird = my kind of a story. Small side note for you who don’t know me: I’m a geek and a nerd, even though I try to

I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho for the first time a couple of years ago. There was a lot of hype around it and many famous people listed it as their favorite book of all time, so I thought I should read it. First of all I was surprised how small and thin the book was: based on the reviews I was waiting for some kind of epic odyssey, a door stopper/paperweight type of a heavy opus. I was a bit taken aback by the simple and non-descriptive style of Paulo Coelho’s writing, the childish fable-like narrative and the ending, which I won’t spoil for you but I thought was too happy-happy-joy-joy and not very credible. So I put down the book disappointed, because I felt it was nothing I had expected. Then something started to happen. I found myself thinking about the themes of the book over and over again. I started to dig deeper into the philosophy and aphorisms behind the story and felt some kind of new-found hope, inner peace and courage. I started to think the book was a

After finishing the Winter's Tale yesterday I started to look through my book case for the next book to read. I've been such a lazy reader for the past few years and at the same time I love wandering through book stores and always end up buying at least one book, so there's a lot to choose from in our home. All of the books listed below can be found in our book case. Here's my reading list for the next (hmm, I wonder how long it will take me to finish this pile...) indefinite period of time, in no specific order: Paolo Coelho - Alchemist (a re-read, already started yesterday) ( edit: finished 14.6.2014 ) Neil Gaiman - American Gods ( edit: finished 12.7.2014 ) Hugh Howey - Wool (edit: started 7.12.2014 - finished 11.4.2015 ) Orhan Pamuk - Istanbul - memories and the city  George R.R. Martin - A Clash of Kings Sara Gruen - Water for Elephants (edit: started 22.9.2014 - finished 9.10.2014 ) Haruki Murakami - 1Q84 (started 4.9.2015) John Dickie - Cosa Nos

  “ No one ever said that you would live to see the repercussions of everything you do, or that you have guarantees or that you are not obliged to wander in the dark, or that everything will be proved to you and neatly verified like something in science. Nothing is: at least nothing that is worthwhile. I didn't bring you up only to move across sure ground. I didn't teach you to think that everything must be within our control or understanding. Did I? For, if I did, I was wrong. If you won't take a chance, then the powers you refuse because you cannot explain them, will, as they say, make a monkey out of you .” - Mrs. Gamely to Virginia in Winter’s Tale I just finished reading  Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin.  I’m still not sure whether I liked this book or not. I’m not even sure if I understood it. I felt like there was a lot of symbolism and metaphors, some kind of deeper meanings, but what they were and what they meant eluded me. There were many times I thought

 The books I've read so far this year. In the past years I've been a lazy reader. The decline of my reading habit coincided when I bought my first iPhone and iPad. The books I used to read before bedtime were swapped to mindless surfing around the internet and Pinterest. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but this year I made a conscious decision that the iPad is not allowed to our bedroom in the evenings. I also made a pact with myself to turn off all the electrical devices (tv, Playstation, computer...) at least half an hour before I went to sleep and rather read a book instead. My dad has always read a lot and ever since I was young he has been encouraging me to read as well. I read many of the classics in my teens (the works of Isaac Asimov,  The three musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, George Orwell's 1984, to name a few) and my father still has the habit of recommending books for me to read. We often share what we have been reading