BOOKS

Christmas presents:

INSIDE THE THIRD REICH

"In retrospect, what perhaps troubles me most is that my occasional spells of uneasiness during this period were concerned mainly with the direction I was taking as an architect (...) On the other hand I must have had the feeling that it was no affair of mine when I heard the people around me declaring an open season on Jews (...) The ordinary party member was being thaught that grand policy was much too complex for him to judge it. Consequently, one felt one was being represented, never called upon to take personal responibility.

The whole structure of the system was aimed at preventing conflicts of conscience from even arising."

- Albert Speer

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHS

Obviously the world doesn’t need another Harry Potter review, so obviously I won’t write one. Instead, I’ll discuss some of the deaths from the books and what I thought about them. Won't talk about them all though.

Lily (Evans) Potter /James Potter – Well, it’s sad that Harry had to go through life without parents but without their deaths no story.
Sirius Black – I cried so hard my parents actually asked me if something was wrong. It was in the middle of summer, I was sitting on the porch at our summer cottage, the sun was shining and I read the words “he’s gone” and just started bawling. I mean, Sirius? Apart from Harry, he was my favourite character. And what really annoyed me about his death was the fact that it didn’t have to happen; if Sirius hadn’t yelled “OUT!” to Kreacher, if Harry had only learned how to close his mind to Voldemort, if he had only checked that mirror Sirius gave him…I was always hoping that Sirius would somehow reappear but he never did.
Dobby –I was definitely sad or perhaps moved is a better word, but I wasn’t horror-struck. The last thing he did was saving Harry and friends and so his exit was noble (even though it made me want to kill Bellatrix Lestrange even more).
Hedwig – Well, it was the only way really, because Harry couldn’t exactly have taken her with him and she would have been forgotten about if she had just remained at, let’s say, The Burrow the rest of the book. Because she died, we are not likely to forget her. But, I did care a lot about it because I always liked Hedwig and the relationship between Hedwig and Harry and how she was his only connection to the magical world when he was staying at the Dursleys’ during the summers.
Albus Dumbledore – Horrible but while I found Dumbledore’s death sad, it didn’t matter that much to me personally. And I did see it coming so I was prepared.
Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin – When Lupin was killed I just thought “wow, she really manages to kill off every single role model Harry has”. I loved Lupin and found Tonks really funny (and I felt really bad for their child) so it was with a heavy heart I accepted their deaths.
Fred Weasley – Just completeley and utterly unnecessary. I felt like J.K. Rowling was just trying to shock us. I can’t imagine one twin without the other. How I loved them.
Lavender Brown – Her death made me understand the severity of the situation because she had always been there; while she was never really important to the main story, the name “Lavender Brown” was mentioned in every book. And her death was so casually slipped in: “’NO!’ shrieked Hermione, and with a deafening blast from her wand Fenrir Greyback was thrown backwards from the feebly stirring body of Lavender Brown.”, and that was it. It just threw me for a loop.
Severus Snape – I was so happy that he wasn’t all bad. I never really liked him, but he was such a great character and I wanted for him to be good. And he was.

WRAPPED UP IN BOOKS

I'd to go to Trinity College just to be able to hang out in the library:

WHAT I DO WHEN I READ THE BOOK

I'll try to do a "What I do when I read the book" post for every book I read.

So, what do I do when I read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the hundredth time? Well, I eat things that are probably bad for my health. Like this:

And it's great.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU

Since Christmas is coming up I thought I could write about which books I've put on my wish list. I won't really say that much about them though because it's pretty late here in Sweden and I'm tired and want to go to bed although I know I won't for another couple of hours.

William L. Shirer - Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

I can't even describe how much I want this book. It's essential reading for anyone who is as interested in WW2 as me. My school library had this book and I always read it during breaks or when I was cutting class which happened a lot during my senior year because we had so many bad teachers that I just couldn't deal with. Regardless, I hope I get it. My grandfather bought this book ages ago but don't want to lend it to me because it's his "on-going project". That sucks. But I do want my own copy.

Linda Skugge - Fittstim

Linda Skugge is a Swedish author and journalist and people either love her immensely or they hate her in a "I want to put a bullet in her and watch her slowly die" kind of way (OK, so I totally wanted to make that sentence longer and funnier and whatnot, but I'm just too tired). Whatever. Obviously, I love her immensely and even if I didn't I'd want Fittstim because who wouldn't want to own a book with a cover like that? I won't try to translate the title though. It's a bit too vulgar.

Chuck Klosterman - Downtown Owl

Seriously, Chuck Klosterman is the man. He can make any subject interesting. I mean, he wrote an entire book about metal (an genre I never listen to) and I just couldn't put it down. The title, Fargo Rock City, wasn't good though.

Nic Sheff - Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines and David Sheff - Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

Normally I try to stay away from books that Oprah recommends but I thought this sounded pretty interesting and anyway, Nic Sheff is hot. That's a good reason to read the book, no? And I sort of liked that both the son and the Dad had written books about Nic's drug addiction. Nice to get the Dad's point of view as well. But most likely, I won't really like these books.

Rosalind Wiseman – Queen Bees and Wannabes

Mean girls was based on this book and I sort of love that movie even though I don't want to but it's just funny and so mean and Rachel McAdams is just so good in it. The ending is way too cheesy though.

Eminem - The way I am

I've been a fan of Eminem forever, so I'm really looking forward to this book. I'll probably get it because my mother is a big fan too.

I also want Santa to bring me these:
Oscar Wilde – The Importance of Being Earnest

Curtis Sittenfield – Man of My Dreams

Nick Hornby – Slam

Ben Elton – Chart Throb and Dead Famous

Michelle Magorian – Cuckoo in the Nest

Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Donna Tartt – The Secret History

Joyce Carol Oates – Blonde