Reading in Reykjavík

I have been pretty inactive on this blog lately, mostly because I have hardly been reading. However, I have done some web surfing and here are some of the things I found: An interesting article about the oldest libraries around the world . A literary guide to Paris .  And London . An essay about book shame . One woman's (failed) quest to visit every book shop in New York city . Today's list: Books about friendships . These is no book I'd like to read today.  I'm going through a reading slump and don't feel like reading.

Friday links is back after a short break (i.e. I was too lazy to gather up some links for last Friday). It's a mixture of older and newer links. Let's start with a feast for the eyes: The 20 Most Beautiful Libraries on Film and TV . The Icelandic version of Bram Stoker's Dracula has been translated into English: New Life for Dracula . Apparently the translation/rewrite, titled Makt myrkranna and back-translated into English as Powers of Darkness is based on a different version of Stoker's story than the one that was eventually published in English and also contains material apparently written by the translator/co-author. I came across this List of Fictional Books while looking up titles for my own Invisible Library . The Smart Bitches' Cover Snark is always good for a few snickers and the occasional incredulous guffaw. The latest installation is no exception. This is interesting, but doesn't make an ounce of difference for ...

This week I'm featuring mostly new (or new-ish) links: Language-related: English has 3000 words for being drunk . Why does this not surprise me? Book cover design: Top Five Ways to Have an Awful Book Cover . Warning: contains snark. More on book covers: Delightfully Macabre, Vintage Edgar Allan Poe Book Covers . I wouldn't mind owning some of these. Discussing a trilogy of books I have been planning to read: Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter . It's really just a question of whether I should read the Icelandic translation or if I should try to read the original Norwegian edition. About food scenes in books: The Best Food Scenes in British Literature , according to one writer. The book list is NPR's list of great reads published in 2016 .

I still have quite a backlog of links, so these are mostly older: I came across this Icelandic Saga map by accident. It is an interactive map with geographical location data for places mentioned in the Icelandic Sagas. The text for the Sagas is included (in Icelandic), but it should still be useful for people reading them in translation. I can sympathise with this woman, as I have been in this situation myself: Becoming a Book Lover on a Budget . On using mathematics to expose a literary fraud (maybe): Ossian, the ‘Homer of the North’, and the truth behind the world’s greatest literary hoax . I am an on-and-off journaller. The only consistent journalling I do is for my travels, especially abroad, but I love doing it and my journals keep getting better with each one I complete. For those who wish to start journalling but don't know where to start, this Buzzfeed article about bullet journalling actually has pointers that apply to any type of journalling: 16 Tips To Make 2017 Y...

Books mentioned in ...not in love with Kale Eddison by Joanne McClean.  Novels: Wuthering Heights by emily Brontë. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Plays: Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Books mentioned in Even Vampires Get the Blues by Katie MacAlister Novel: The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien Ancient book of history and magic, fictional: Simia Gestor Coda , by (possibly) Samaria Magnus. Books mentioned in Storm Warning by Nora Roberts Novel: War and Peace by Tolstoj. Books mentioned in The Catherine-Wheel by Patricia Wentworth Crime novel, fictional: Three Corpses and a Coffin by [not mentioned] Publications mentioned in Romancing the Chef by Robyn Amos Newspaper: Las Vegas Review . Periodical: Taste magazine.

Death and the Dancing Footman: Non-fiction: The Ingoldsby Legends by Richard Harris Barham.Collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry. Stage works: Saxophone in Tarlatan by Aubrey Mandrake (real name Stanley Footling). Play (highbrow and presumably experimental). Imaginary. Bad Black-Out by Aubrey Mandrake. Play. See above. Six Characters in Search of an Author (Italian: Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore ) by Luigi Pirandello. Play. (sideways mention, i.e. the actual title is not mentioned as a title but the exact phrase occurs in reference to the play. I felt justified in including it as the author is mentioned as well). The Passing of the Third Floor Back by Jerome K. Jerome. Play and short story, but the reference could be to either the play or a film based on it. Novels: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll. (mentioned as Alice through the Looking-Glass ). Novel. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Novel. Busm...