Bogormen

Title: Mio, My Son
Author: Astrid Lindgren
Genre: Childrens
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 178
Date read: August, 2020

Nine-year-old Karl Anders Nilsson is the unwelcome foster child of an uncaring couple. Lonely and neglected, he yearns for simple things, things that many children already have: a warm and loving home of his own, someone to share his sorrows and joys with, and, most important, his real father.

Then, on October 15, Karl simply disappears. Where has he gone? (Police are searching for him!) But Karl is far away from chilly Stockholm, in Farawayland, where he has found his father, who is none other than the king of that land. And now Karl faces a truly dangerous mission. Prophecies have foretold his coming for thousands of years. He, his new best friend Pompoo, and Miramis, his wonderful flying horse with a golden mane, must travel together into the darkness of Outer Land to do battle with Sir Kato, the cruel abductor of the children of Farawayland. Only a child of the royal blood can stop him...


I think it's been close to 20 years since I read this last, so I only remembered the story in very broad strokes. It's written as a traditional fairytale, with all of the expected hallmarks. While aimed at children, it's a lot scarier than most of her other books, and I think that's probably why it's not as well known.

I liked it well enough, but I seem to recall it being one of my favourites as a child, and that's certainly not the case any longer. Probably precisely because it's written as a fairytale, and I find that often means the main character is kept at a bit of a distance.

Title: Roomies
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook ~10hrs
Date read: August, 2020

Marriages of convenience are so...inconvenient.

For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Lacking the nerve to actually talk to the gorgeous stranger, fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions.

Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago.

Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?


A really delightful novel about fake-romance. I loved it, and had a very hard time putting it down, even if it was completely predictable and highly unlikely.

I loved the reason behind the fake romance and the inclusion of both the theater world and the love of music in the novel. I loved Holland's family... but unfortunately not her friends (but that's okay - we weren't meant to). I loved that Holland and Calvin actually genuinely seemed to like each other - fake-romance or not. And I would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall during the "get to know Holland" story-telling game :-D

The main conflict bothered me though. It could so easy have been resolved by simple communication ahead of time, but was allowed to grow into a big "thing" instead. It's not a big deal in the larger scheme of things - and they did work it out in a more mature manner than could have been feared - but it still made me subtract a star.

Title: Tempus Investigations: Season Three
Author: Claus Holm
Genre: Paranormal, Suspense, arc
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 451
Date read: August, 2020

THERE’S A NEW MAN IN TOWN… The vampires of San Francisco have long had a no-kill policy, but when mad-artist vampire Maurice arrives and shatters the peace, Jim Corrigan and the rest of the Tempus Investigations team must act quickly to protect their city.
While people are being drained of blood and turned into works of art, Jim must face a choice that might very well decide the fate of the city ... and provide the answer to a question he’s been asking since 1933:

Why was he made immortal?


The third book in the series, and quite possibly also my favourite. The scene is set, and with the departure from the "episode" structure from the two previous novels, Claus Holm has plenty of time to dive into the plot and the characters. I loved the episode structure in book 1, where it really worked in combination with the world building, but as the plot grew more complex, it was time to leave it behind.

And the plot did indeed grow more complex here - especially in regard to story lines and how they interacted. The vampires made for some very interesting villains, and I enjoyed how Jim didn't automatically solve all issues himself, but allowed his friends to fight according to their strengths, and assist each other with - and without - his involvement.

I really liked the introduction of Matt and (though I hardly dare to admit it) actually didn't miss Feline at all. I LOVED the story line with Bob and the Pirate :-

Title: Until the End of the World
Author: Sarah Lyons Fleming
Genre: Dystopian
Rating: 5/5
# pages: Audiobook - 13hrs, narrated by Julia Whelan
Date read: December 2017, August 2020

Cassie Forrest isn't surprised to learn that the day she's decided to get her life together is also the day the world ends. After all, she's been on a self-imposed losing streak since her survivalist parents died: she's stopped painting, broken off her engagement to Adrian and dated a real jerk. Rectifying her mistakes has to wait, however, because Cassie and her friends have just enough time to escape Brooklyn for her parents' cabin before Bornavirus LX turns them into zombies, too.

This is difficult enough, but Cassie's tag along ex-boyfriend and her friend's bratty sister have a knack for making everything, even the apocalypse, more unpleasant. When the two attract a threat as deadly as the undead to their safe haven, Cassie's forced to see how far she'll go to protect those she loves. And it's a lot farther than she'd anticipated.


One of the best books I've read this year! It was a random recommendation from Audible support. I read the blurb, thought it sounded interesting, so downloaded it and started listening to it not long after. It took me perhaps around 2 chapters to get thoroughly hooked and I didn't want to put it down again until the very last word was spoken. Almost certainly a book I'll eventually want for my physical library as well.

In some ways, it's definitely very similar to the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant (but it's a book about zombies! It'd be hard for it not to be), but where Newsflesh takes place 15-20 years after the zombie outbreak, "Until the End of the World" IS the zombie outbreak. I found it absolutely fascinating - much the same way I do with most apocalyptic stories.

Peter and Anna infuriated me for much of the book, and I wanted Cassie (or somebody) to smack some sense into them, but at the end I was glad to see them come around, rather than have karma bite them. I really liked Cassie, John and Penny and absolutely loved Beth :-)

While we definitely didn't get all questions answered by the end of the book, I found it nicely contained, and am still making up my mind whether or not I want to continue with the next book in the series. If it's anything like Newsflesh, it'll still be awesome, but not as groundbreaking as the first one.

Title: The School of Essential Ingredients
Author: Erica Bauermeister
Genre: Foodie
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 261
Date read: July 2014, August 2020

Once a month, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect...

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. And soon they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create.

Not quite as good as "Joy for Beginners", but I still really enjoyed it. Apparently I like short-stories more if they're disguised as a novel ;)

A charming book, even if I did care more about some of the characters than others, and it almost made me want to take up cooking classes myself :)