Reading in Reykjavík

I'm on Pinterest. I find it useful for various organisational tasks and for making visual memos, and one of the things I have used it for is to make a visual representation of the books I have read, by pinning the cover images: Contains all but one of the books I read in the given time period.

Jungle, desert, mountain, sea? Someone asked this question not long ago in a random poll on a chat forum I frequent, and my answer was emphatically “the sea”. I grew up in sight of it, I start to feel antsy if I can’t hear, see or smell it for more than a couple of weeks, and I really think I would lose something important from my life if I were to settle somewhere far away from it. A lake is just not the same - fresh water smells different, and so do saltwater lakes. So here is some List Love, featuring the sea in a pivotal role: Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Novel. While the eponymous white whale is the star of the show, the book actually is about much more than just Captain Ahab’s obsession. The descriptions of life at sea on a whaling ship were what I most enjoyed about it. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. The true story that inspired Moby Dick . An enraged bull sperm whale sinks a whaleship in the Pacific and ...

I finished 15 books in May. As spring moved into summer I found myself seeking out typical beach reads – books that can be read quickly without too much effort, mostly mysteries and romances, among them a few rereads. In among the lighter fare there are a few more substantial books, e.g. the James and McCrumb novels, and a couple of non-fiction books. One is a biography of the early life of Elizabeth I of England, and the other Walter Lord‘s history of the sinking of the Titanic. I thought it was about time I read it, considering that this year is the 100th anniversary of that disaster. The Books: Suzanne Brockmann: Hot Target . Romantic thriller. Reread. Rachel Gibson: Any Man of Mine . Romance, contemporary. Rachel Gibson: True Confessions . Romance, contemporary. Rachel Gibson: The Trouble With Valentine's Day . Romance, contemporary. Rachel Gibson: See Jane Score . Romance, contemporary. Reread. Cyril Hare: Tenant for Death . Mystery. P.D. James: Devices and D...

I mentioned in the In memoriam post that I inherited some of my grandmother's books. They weren't a bequest, as she didn't leave a will, but I think she pretty much knew what would go where once she was gone. I, for example, am the only one of her adult descendants who is interested in folklore and fairy tales, so I got her collection of those, along with some historical novels, cookbooks and miscellaneous other books. I have entered 43 of those volumes (some of which contain several books) into my book database so far, but there are more waiting for me because we still haven't explored a number of book boxes my uncle was storing for her, and in addition to that there is a stack waiting to be gone through in her apartment. In addition to this unexpected addition to my library, I also acquired 27 books from my grandfather not  long ago. He had a sizeable collection of books and decided that he wanted to pass them on to his children and their children and grandchildren...