Recent Books I've Read

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

An adorable and heartfelt book by the author renowned for writing adorable and heartfelt books: Antoine Laurain. We follow Laurent Letellier, a French bookseller in Paris who one day, stumbles upon a woman's lone handbag. This leads to a growing interest in the mystery woman who's bag contains so much of her personality yet so little about her person. Read how this simple (yet clever) event is unravelled to change the course of two people's lives.

Favourite quote: "He drank some more wine, feeling he was about to commit a forbidden act. A transgression. For a man should never go through a woman's handbag-even the most remote tribe would adhere to the ancestral rule".

Utan Personligt Ansvar by Lena Andersson

If you've read my previous post about books, you know that I love Willful Disregard (Egenmäktigt Förfarande). I picked up Lena Andersson's sequel and started reading. It is about how Ester finds Hugo Rask 2.0 and falls in love with him even though he's married... and the unrequited love story continues. If I'm being honest, I couldn't get through it, I put it down halfway through because I couldn't relate to Ester anymore. She hadn't learnt anything from Hugo, she hadn't changed as a person and she became interested in a man that she was fully aware had a wife. Well written and clever but Ester remains just the same.

Favourite quote: "Kvinnor i din närhet tvingas bli väldigt uppmärksamma på de atmosfäriska störningar som aviserar dina manövrer. Du tror inte att det märks hur du slirar och girar".

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Oh, my what a wonderful book. Don't let the cover fool you, this is an incredible, heartfelt, deep and cultured book about feelings, books and finding yourself. We follow Monsieur Perdu, and like Laurent Letellier, he is also a French bookseller in Paris but with two exceptions: his bookstore is an actually boat and allthough he can find the perfect book to heal everyone else, he himself is still heartbroken. I really don't want to say more as I will spoil the plot but let me just say that Nina George's language, storytelling and vocabulary really heightens the story of a lsot bookseller who needs healing, friendship and adventure. Maybe it's the fat that I read this book in Portugal and the nostalgia is getting to me, but this is one of my favourites: such a cosy and comforting read!

Favourite quote: "Books keep stupidity at bay. And vain hopes. And vain men. They undress you with love, strength and knowledge. It's love from within".

The Girls by Emma Cline

I finally picked this book up after a long waiting list and am so in love with it. I originally picked it up in Swedish but since the first few pages are quite confusing and I thought it was something wrong with the translation, I went back and borrowed the original. This book follows 14-year old Evie Boyd in California when she gets sucked in by the coercive and seemingly loving and free Manson family before later realising that it was not as it seemed. We see this story narrated by a much older Evie whose life is still affected by those few months of teenage naivety. It is a lovely fictional book that feels quite dystopian. I would've loved more of the details as to how the Manson family operated and was compelled to follow Charles Manson's wishes incorporated into the story. note, Cline has changed their names so: Russell is Charles Manson, Suzanne is Susan Atkins, Donna is Patricia Krenwinkle, Helen is Leslie van Houten, Roos is Mary Brunner, Guy is Tex Watson.

Favourite quote: "That was part of being a girl--you were resigned to whatever feedback you'd get. If you got mad, you were crazy and if you didn't react, you were a bitch. The only thing you could do was smile from the corner they'd backed you into. Implicate yourself in the joke even if the joke was always on you".

Love,

Sofia