Reading in Reykjavík

I acquired 4 books in the week before last: 3 non-fiction books and one novel, and have already read two of them. The big red book is a richly illustrated history of the Vikings . It was fist published back in the 1960s, so I expect some more stuff has come to light since it was written, but it's a gloriously beautiful book worth owning. Common Grounds is a book on the natural history of a small area of land in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Click on the link to read my review.   Alice is about what might have happened to Alice after her adventures in Wonderland.  Clink the link to read my review.   The Devil in the White City is another history book.I expect I will read it soon, as it has been on my TBR list for several years. Then I acquired 12 books last week and have already read 2 of them and started reading a third. First photo: The book in the top left corner is titled Deutschland , and is a photo book about Germany. It was published in 196...

I bought two children's books: Vampireology and  Dragonology by Dugald Steer, in Icelandic translations. These are gorgeous books and I was happy to find them cheap and in good second-hand condition (although the block is beginning to come loose from  the spine on Dragonology , but I can fix that with my bookbinding knowledge). I love books like this: full of images and maps and stuff like envelopes and flaps and hidden text. It's one of the reasons why I'm dithering about culling the Griffin and Sabine books from my collection. Once I have read them they will be going on the shelf where I keep books I draw inspiration from when I'm drawing. Then I got a bunch of guide books and one cultural trivia book: A guide to the Sanssouci palace and gardens in Potsdam, which is one of the stops on my projected tour of Germany next spring. A guide to Bamberg, another stop on that trip. A guide to Hong Kong. A guide to Trier, which is one of my possible stops on t...

I only bought 2 books last week and was sent one brand-spanking new one. Not on the Label: What Really Goes into the Food on Your Plate by Felicity Lawrence. This looks both interesting and worrying. It was written about the situation in Britain but may well reflect on Iceland as well, as we operate under the same EU food regulations as Britain did at the time the book was written. I have read a couple of chapters and it is interesting and heartbreaking at the same time, as part of the system she investigated included some rather terrible treatment of itinerant workers, some of whom are illegal immigrants. Review from The Guardian . Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by John Fletcher. This is a literary novel that won the Prix Goucourt in 2009. It was the title that caught my attention, and as I had recently read two non-fiction books about Central Africa I had the continent on my mind. This book, when I get round to reading it, will also fill in ...

I already posted a photo of the books I acquired last week, but here I discuss them in more detail. Here is the stack: Nearly half of these are rescue books, i.e. books gleaned from the freebie bin at one of the charity shops I regularly visit. From the bottom they are no. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 12. The rest I got second-hand from two other charity shops. From the top down the books are: Fairies at Work and Play by Geoffrey Hodson. I thought I was picking up a book of fairy tales, but this turned out to be something more remarkable: Descriptions of beings, classed for convenience under the heading of "fairies", observed by the author and published by the Theosophical Publishing House. Wikipedia reveals that the author was a Theosophist who wrote extensively about Theosophy and clairvoyance. Depending on whether you believe in fairies or not, this is either a natural history of fairies and other nature spirits, or a marvellous fantasy. Hope Is the Last to Die: A Coming ...