Reading in Reykjavík

What is your response when somebody tells you “I don’t read.” My first response, of course, is to think „Oh, I feel sorry for you“, but I would never say that out loud. What do I say to them? I guess it depends on their tone. If they are clearly looking for a confrontation I shrug and say „That‘s okay. Everyone has a right to their own preference,“ but if I‘m in the mood for talking I might add „By the way, I don‘t watch TV/play computer games/engage in sports,“ or whatever I judge to be likely to result in a good argu..., excuse me: discussion. If they seem sad about it, I ask if they are looking to do something about it and engage them in a discussion about their interests and then I recommend a book or two. If they are... But this list could go on indefinitely. The thing is this: When someone says something like this to me, it‘s generally in response to finding out that I read a lot. Making such a statement can be so many thing...

I came across this question while going through old posts on Booking Through Thursday : Okay, show of hands … who has read Shakespeare OUTSIDE of school required reading? Do you watch the plays? How about movies? Do you love him? Think he’s overrated? While the subject is now closed, I thought it was a rather good blogging prompt, so here is my reply: I have only read a couple of Shakespeare's plays outside of school: Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream . I suppose that as an English major I should feel ashamed that I didn't read any of his plays at university, but since my focus was linguistic, not literary, I make no excuses. In any case, I prefer to see plays performed, either on stage or as films. I know the stories of most of the comedies and tragedies, thanks to Tales from Shakespeare and a similar, albeit better written, book by Helgi Hálfdanarson, the man who also translated all the plays into Icelandic. I try to see ever...

Today's subject on Booking Through Thursday is an interesting one: Which is better (or preferred) … stories with multiple character points of view? Or stories that stick to just one or two at most? And, why? I can‘t really say I have a preference either way. If it is done well, I enjoy both. One of my favourite authors, Terry Pratchett, jumps between several viewpoints in most of his Discworld books, usually with longish blocks of story seen from one (3rd person limited) POW or the POW of several characters at once (3rd person omniscient) before the next one takes over, bringing them together little by little so that as the ending comes closer, they coalesce and become one narrative with several viewpoints. He does it so well that it was kind of a shock to discover that he is equally capable of writing single viewpoint stories like e.g. Dodger or the Tiffany Aching books. Some books, however, are better off with a limited number of viewpoints. Ro...

Today's prompt on Booking Through Thursday concerns summer reading: Do your reading habits change in the summer? Do you take your books outside more? Do you curl up in the air conditioning? Do you read fluff instead of serious books? Are you too busy playing in the sun or gardening or whatever to read much at all? My reading habits do not change all that much during the summer. I don't read more outside - living where I do means that for it to be warm enough for comfortable outside reading it has to be sunny, and I burn easily. I do love to read on my living room sofa with the balcony doors open and a breeze wafting in the sounds and smells of summer. Only yesterday I was reading and the room was filled with the heady scent of newly mown grass - wonderful! Neither do I exchange brain food for brain candy in the summer - my reading is always an eclectic mix of both - but I do tend to read shorter books and to reread more. My summer rea...

Today's subject on Booking Through Thursday is dogs and other pets: My dog just had his birthday (12 years old, thanks), so … how do you feel about books about dogs or pets? Fluffy stories of fluffy family members? Solid books on training them or taking care of them? Touching reminiscences of trouble and the way a person’s dog (or pet) has helped get them through? (Mind you, almost all the pet-related books on my shelf are about dogs, but I’m well aware that people love their cats, horses, ferrets, rabbits, fish, etc. just as much, so … any species is fine!) Any favorite books to recommend? I used to love animal books and still read them occasionally. My favourite books featuring pets specifically are by Gerald Durrell, who kept a varied and exotic menagerie of pets throughout his life and ended up running a zoo, and the books by Yorkshire veterinarian Alf Wight, writing as James Herriot, about the animals he treated through his years in pr...

 Today's Booking through Thursday is a about somewhat sensitive subject, especially for non-Americans: So, Fourth of July here in the USA … Do you ever read books that could be considered patriotic? Rousing stories of heroes? History? Brave countrymen & women doing bold things? What would you recommend if somebody asked you for something patriotic–no matter what your country? Be as specific or as general as you like? There aren‘t many novels of this kind available in my language (there are some, but they tend to be maudlin and I don‘t like maudlin). There is more available in the non-fiction field, but history books here mostly tend to focus on social aspects rather than on glorifying the country. Icelanders as a tribe are a rather cynical and deprecating lot and on the occasions when it doesn‘t show in our writing it comes out in the reading instead. You will find plenty of stories of individual heroes in Icelandic literature, e.g. in ...

Today's question on Booking Through Thursday is "What’s the worst thing you ever did to your reading material?" It’s time for summer reading, so … today’s question? What’s the worst thing you ever did to your reading material? Sand in the bindings from the beach? Dropped into the pool? Covers smeared with sunscreen? And, if you’ve never done actual summer-time damage … have you EVER damaged your book/magazine/paper? Dropped it in the bathtub? Used it to kill a bug? Spilled with coffee? The worst thing I have accidentally done to a book was spill tea all over it. I may also have crushed an insect or two between pages and left food-stains inside books. I have, however, deliberately done worse things to books. I have: hollowed them out to make hiding places. To be fair to myself, these were books I bought second hand and started reading, only to discover that there were pages missing. I do have one Reader's Digest book ready fo...

Today's question on Booking Through Thursday is about changing reading habits: Have your reading habits changed since you were a child? (I mean, I’m assuming you have less time to read now, but …) Did you devour and absorb books when you were 10 and only just lightly read them now? Did you re-read frequently as a child but now only read new books? How about types of books? Do you find yourself still attracted to the kinds of books you read when you were a kid? My reading habits haven't really changed that much, except I am possibly more choosy about the books I read, and I read more. As a kid, I would devour any and all books that came my way, regardless of the quality. Quantity was the main thing. These days I think more about what I am reading and not just any book will do, but since I also read faster, I go through more books. Back then, I would become so absolutely absorbed in what I was reading that I would forget about hunger, pain ...

  Today's question on Booking Through Thursday is: I saw a Latin edition of “The Hobbit” last time I was at the bookstore… Do you read any foreign languages? Do you ENJOY reading in other languages? Answer: I definitely enjoy reading in foreign languages and actually do most of my reading in a foreign language: English. I also read Danish and Norwegian fairly fluently and can get through Swedish and German texts with occasional help from a dictionary. Lately I have also been reading in French (which I am learning), although so far it has mostly been simplified texts. I'm currently reading a Commissaire Maigret mystery in simplified French and plan to use the summer to get through another, unedited one.

  Today's question on Booking Through Thursday is: What’s the last book that made you spring to your feet, eager to spread the word and tell everyone how much you enjoyed it? A: I generally don't have quite such strong emotional reactions to books, but the last book I needed to tell people about having read was  Dodger by Terry Pratchett. I have lent my copy to a number of people and have started recommending it as a Pratchett starter book to people who are overwhelmed by the Discworld series or who want to read Pratchett but are not really fond of fantasy (which is funny, because Dodger is fantasy - it just happens to take place in this universe rather than an invented one).

I checked in at the Booking Through Thursday blog, which is the centre for a weekly book meme or blogging prompt. Today's subject proved so tempting that I decided to hop in and join the party. Today's prompt is this:  Does your current mood affect your reading? Affect your choices? I know there are plenty of books I enjoy, but only if I'm in a particular kind of mood–or books that can lift me out of a bad mood without fail. Surely I’m not alone? My moods do affect my reading choices, and, to a lesser extent, my reading speed and the number of books I read, even how well I retain what I have been reading. I have struggled with depression for many years and even before I realised it was depression that made me tired and dispirited, one of my methods of dealing with it was to delve into books. I would choose old, familiar books that I knew would lift my spirits and make me feel better and allow me to escape into another world for ...