Month: October 2014

Thoughts In The Night

Throughout this weekend I’ve had a lot of quality time together with my son and if there is one thing that I find absolutely fascinating it is watching him play and see how his imagination unfolds. 

Whilst doing exactly this yesterday a quote that I read a while back came to mind.

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And as i sat there and played with some figurines together with him it hit me how little the difference there is from his playing to my writing.

I’m not saying that the subject of either is even remotely alike, but there is something so amazingly similar to being creative as an adult as it is to see the imagination and creativity of a child. They have that amazing sense and belief in magic and the endless possibilities of everything. 

Do you remember how awesome it was to create your own world? Your own characters? And deciding where they were going and what they were going to do?

I sure do! And even remember being amazed at how my imaginary worlds unfolded and evolved by themselves. 

Do you see the similarity? 

In my writing today I get to do those exact same thing!

Just as reading, playing games and going on imaginary adventures, I’m taking my own escape from the real world and into a world of my own. A world where the characters that I’ve made are evolving into more than I could have ever imagined. A world where I can steer them in any given direction and see what happens. A world where I can introduce as much magic and “impossibilities” as I wish. 

Creativity is such an amazing thing and I believe that we all have it in us, but in different ways. 

I’m lucky to be surrounded by inspiring and creative people in so many ways!

Could it be that our creativity is a way of refusing to grow up? That even though we’ve set foot into the adult world and have to deal with (let’s face it) a lot of boredom, we hold on tightly to that inner child?

So be it! I would not have it any other way! 

I will continue to embrace and love my inner child. That little ginger girl that can make anything happen in her own world will never grow up! 

That is a promise 🙂

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (REVIEW)

To Kill a Mockingbird definitely falls into the category of classics and it’s been on my to-read list for some time now. I finally had the time to get through it now and I have no trouble seeing why this novel won the Pulitzer Prize.

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The story is set in Maycomb, Alabama, (1933-1935) and is written from the perspective of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the youngest member of the Finch-family. She lives with her father Atticus and brother Jeremy Atticus “Jem”. 

In the beginning of the story Scout is six years old and starts school. On Jem and Scout’s way to school they pass the Radley place where “Boo” Radley lives. Few have seen him over the years and the kids of Maycomb feed their imagination with stories and theories as to who Boo is and why he doesn’t come out of his house. They even conspire with their friend Dill to try to lure him out of his house.

The town judge appoints Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl. This starts a chain of events and both Scout and Jem struggles to not get into trouble trying to defend their father.

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I found the character Scout to be interesting. The way she has been brought up in a society where they’re taught that black people are not the same and not with the same rights as the white and now must question it all.

Atticus tries his best to teach his kids about justice and not judging people by their color even though so many do.

Scout and Jem are bullied at school and other places in town because of the upcoming trial and they find ways to protect and support each other through it.

To Kill a Mockingbird is an amazing story of family, love, justice and prejudice. It is hear breaking and lovely at the same time. A book that made me extremely emotional. Had me laughing, angry and at the verge of tears.

five-stars

An important novel that tells the cruelty of racism and even though the storyline is set in the 30s this is still an important issue. I absolutely loved the writing, the story and the characters! Definitely recommend it!

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A couple of my favorite quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird: 

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

“They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions… but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

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If you would like your own copy of To Kill a Mockingbird you can CLICK HERE or on the picture below:

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Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird? What did you think? And do you have other favorite classics?

1Q84 (#1-2) by Haruki Murakami (REVIEW)

I’ve had my eyes on this book for quite some time now and when I found it on sale a while back I seized the opportunity. I’ve heard so much about this one and for the past months it showed up in almost every book case that I came across. Could I have been missing out on the big thing? I sure had.

Have you ever met a person in your life and wished that you would have met them sooner? Well, 1Q84 felt that way to me!

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In 1Q84 you meet Tengo, a math teacher and aspiring author with good connections to a publisher that one day comes up with an idea. He wants him to rewrite a manuscript sent in by seventeen year old Fukaeri so that they can submit it in her name to win an award. 

Fukaeri is a truly mystical character with few spoken words but an important story to tell. She escaped a religious community where she had lived with her parents some years before and lives with a friend of the family, Ebisuno, and his daughter Azami. Fukaeri is dyslexic but had told the story “Air Chrysalis” to Azami who wrote it down and sent in the manuscript. 

Tengo feels uncomfortable with whole prospect of ghost-writing the novel when he finds out about this but the story has already captured him. Suddenly he finds himself in wonder if he has bitten off a whole lot more than he can chew. 

We also meets Aomame who one day gets out of a cab stuck in traffic to take an emergency escape (suggested by the taxi driver) to get to an important meeting in time. After climbing down the stairs strange things starts to happen and she starts to question the reality of the world she lives in. 

In all the mystery if 1Q84 the lives of Aomame and Tengo is drawn towards each other. Can they figure out what is happening?

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I have to admit that at the moment I’m an a bit of a book hangover. I loved this book so much and when I found myself unable to sleep this night I got up and finished those last hundred pages that I’ve been dying to get to. I didn’t want this to end, and fortunately there is a third book (and has been rumors about a fourth from what I could find out) but I don’t have that at hand at the moment and have so many other books I need to get to first. But I can’t wait to get my hands on that third book!!

Murakami has made a magical and captivating novel that is so different from anything else I have ever read. The characters are so interesting and the details through the book grabs you and keep you in the story. Although Murakami does repeat himself a lot through 1Q84 I didn’t really mind because of how amazingly well it was written. And the story is anything but predictable!

five-stars

Enjoyed and loved it from the first sentence till the last!

One of my favorite quotes from 1Q84:

“If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there’s salvation in life. Even if you can’t get together with that person.”

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If you would like your own copy of 1Q84 then you can CLICK HERE or on the picture below. 

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Autumn – Time to Read

Autumn is here and it is the perfect season for reading! All those rainy days and the cold weather is a perfect excuse to snuggle up under the cover and enjoy a good book (many good books)!!

I would say the combination of Sweet Free Books and Kindle fits perfectly into this!!

Click on the Kindle logo underneath to download Kindle to your phone, tablet or computer.

It’s free and it’s so easy to use!

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I’ve talked about Sweet Free Books in earlier posts as well, but if you’re new to the site or just forgot about it, here’s a reminder.

Every day they will send you an email with all of the free books that are available for your Kindle or Nook.

You choose the genre and they’ll tell you what’s for free! I have downloaded so many free books through this site and I highly recommend it!

Click on the picture below to go to their site and sign up. This is also free and they won’t spam you!

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Have fun reading and enjoy this lovely season!!

Fantasy and Science Fiction Coming Up!

I thought I would give you all a heads up on what’s to come!

First of all I would like to thank Björn for being an amazing friend and sending me a link to the course that I’m taking at the moment! Thank you for being such an awesome friend! I would have never found this if it wasn’t for you 🙂

The link that he sent me was for a Coursera course called “Fantasy and Science Fiction: The Human Mind, Our Modern World” The instructor for this course is Eric S. Rabkin, a professor at the University of Michigan. Rabkin has won numerous teaching awards and has won the Science Fiction Research Association’s Pilgrim Award for lifetime contributions to science fiction criticism

Eric S. Rabkin
Eric S. Rabkin

Coursera offers a multitude of online courses that you can join for free! And now that I’m struggling with my tendonitis and can’t use my arms that much I read a whole lot. This course was a perfect opportunity for me to learn more and become a better reader and writer even when I’m home and sick.

The course started up yesterday and the first week I’ll be reading tales by Grimm.

Later on we’re reading novels by H.G. Wells, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, Bram Stroker, Mary Shelley and many others!

Dracula by Bram Stoker
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Household Stories by Grimm
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

I will review these books here on my site as I get through them on the course.

So be ready for a whole lot of Fantasy and Science Fiction for the next ten weeks!

I can’t wait to share this with you guys and there will be more goodies as well!

See you soon!

Photo: Kirsti Hegre Backman
Photo: Kirsti Hegre Backman

Click HERE to see more of Kirsti’s amazing photographs!!