Getting back into reading and bookish purchases in the USA

 Dear readers,

Last month I traveled for the first time in my life to Utah, USA. One of the more important things I wanted to do there was visit Barnes and Noble. It is such an awesome bookstore! I love it so much... Also, the staff was pretty nice! 

The first B&N I visited was very new. There I found three blue books I liked: 

Banned books published by Penguin Random House

My reading life (a book journal) published by Spruce books

and

The fault in our stars by John Green (I have read it before but lost my copy of it)

My suitcase was really full... And I needed to bring a whole new suitcase too because of gifts and other purchases. I bought my friend two Monster High dolls and myself a few Barbies and other fashion dolls. I also wrote my journal to the end on my trip so I needed a new journal.

Later I got a few more books. I can add pictures here too. I got:

The secret garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah Jones

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Then I got a self-care journal. a few scriptures ( my old ones were falling apart )... Also a few pens and stationary. Stickers are so cool in the USA! :) lol I bought candy too, some are still left for later. I did not find root beer barrel candies even though I know they exist.

I am almost out of my reading slump now...

I have relistened to the Harry Potter series (I have yet to read The cursed child, I don't know if I want to... lol) and I am currently relistening to the Twilight books (I am on the first part now), both are very familiar series so I can basically fall asleep anytime and when I wake up, I know exactly what has happened while I napped :D LOL!  I have many issues with the author of Harry Potter and the whole Twilight (the toxic guy etc.) series but I still listen to them every year, because of nostalgia...

I have been kinda collecting many bookmarks and I can post pictures of some of them.

Have a great weekend! 

Summer is here! :) and my slump is gone! (?) hopefully!

 

Good morning dear readers! 

(Like readers in general, not just the ones reading this! lol)

How are you all doing? Reading something nice?

Here is a picture of my "reading pillow"! :) Isn't it cool, yet a little creepy? lol. I love it though... I don't use it so much while reading but sometimes as a thing my Barbies can lean against when I am having a fashion photo shoot with them. HAHHA! No, I am serious! 

Anyway...

I have been in a reading slump for a few months. I often have a really good start of the reading year and read a lot in January and February each year, then a slump hits usually in March and I get stuck for weeks, if not months.

BUT! (and it's a big butt, and it's mine) hah! 

Now I have been reading a little, which is a lot more than before, I didn't read anything for several weeks! It was horrible. I think a few audiobooks put me in a slump. Now I am rereading the hunger games by Suzanne Collins, it is still SO good! I love it lots...It's helping me get out of my reading slump! I will continue the series and then go on to the prequel, which I haven't read yet at all!

I love big books and I cannot lie. But I also love and appreciate "quick reads" like the hunger games and some Young adult with big font etc. YA books often have larger font. Thus, they are easier to finish fast.

Have a great reading weekend! 

Good (very early) morning! :)

 Hello! 

I have been in a reading slump for some months. I have read a little more than usual lately though and I started rereading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins a few days ago and I am 86 (!) pages into it... That is some kind of record for me, the way I have been reading lately. I usually get stuck pretty early on. The paralysis sets in: I can't choose what to read. Or if I want to read,.

I have finished like 25-26 books so far this year... That is not a bad thing, it's just a little underwhelming.

I have decided to take a break from audiobooks because they often make me sleepy lol :D Unless I am reading along... I need to reread ninth house by Leigh Bardugo and a few other books. Rereading old favorites helps often. Ninth house is not an absolute favorite but it's ok and I need to reread it before reading the sequel: Hell bent.

Booktube has put me in a slump. Only booktuber that helps me feel better about my reading is "Gavin reads it all" :

@GavinReadsItAll

He is so awesome! 

More later! :) 

My reading update 22nd of March 2024

 Good morning!

I have relistened to many many books so far this year, also DNF'd a few audiobooks and even one that used to be a favorite but I can't stand anymore. My reading taste has changed and I am more picky with what I read... Here is my reading goal so far:

goodreads goal 2024

I have really been enjoying my re-listens. But I am trying to read more with my eyeballs and more new books, that is, new to me. LOL. I have many unread books on my shelves and many unlistened audiobooks.

I had to DNF a few...

If you want to follow me on goodreads, here is my profile:

cindarella

I have read a little in Swedish lately, and I am trying to find some book in Finnish that I own that I would enjoy reading.. That is difficult. I don't own a lot of books in Finnish. Despite the fact that I studied it for years at the University of Stockholm. LOL.

More later! :)

Start of the reading year 2024

 Good morning from Finland! 

The reading year has started pretty well. I have listened to so many audiobooks. I am content, even though most of them are rereads/re-listens. I have managed to dnf a book but then I might give it another chance later. It is "A house of special purpose" by John Boyne. I got so upset when the author made up a city/town in Finland that I stopped very abruptly reading it and almost threw it away in disgust... But I think I will give it another shot.

In case someone wants to be my friend on goodreads, here is my profile:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9024548-cindarella

I have a lot of books on my TBR but right now I am rereading too much.

My goal is to read more with my eyeballs, and especially new to me books. Wish me luck!

I have listened to 10 books so far this year and dnfd the book by John Boyne and plan to pick it up again soon... I started two very intimidating books yesterday:

Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina and War and peace.

Those are two very chunky books :)

"I love big books and I cannot lie!" is my motto after all :D

More later! 

The Helmet reading challenge 2024

The Helmet Reading Challenge 2024

1. A book with a proper noun in the title  

Barbie and Ruth by Robin Gerber (audiobook)

2. A book in which someone uses magic  

Leigjh Bardugo: Hell bent

3. A book that has won the Booker or Pulitzer prize  

Esi Edugyan: Washington Black ( the man booker prize 2018)

4. A book that features a president  

Suzanne Collins: the ballad of songbirds and snakes (president Snow)

5. A book whose author’s initials are not part of your name  

Mina Hansson: My little pony

6. A book set in the 1920s  

ML Stedman: the light between oceans

7. A book in which someone falls in love  

Louisa May Alcott: Little women

8. A book with a family member in the title  

 Lucinda Riley: the seven sisters

9. A book in which someone runs away  

Stephenie Meyer: Midnight sun

10. The tenth book that you read this year  

 Christopher Paolini: Eragon

11. A book with one of the four elements (air, water, earth or fire) on the cover or in the title  

Garth Risk Hallberg: City on fire

12. A children's poetry book  

---

13. A book set in a closed or enclosed space  

Emma Donoghue: Room

14. A book in which someone engages in a hobby  

Massimiliano Capella: Barbie the icon

15. A book with at least three authors or illustrators 

several: Nouse luontoni

16. A book with photographs  

Ransom Riggs: Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children

17. A book with an annoying character  

Stephenie Meyer: Midnight sun

18. A book with jewellery on the cover or in the title  

Meg Cabot: The princess diaries

19. A book in which Finland is mentioned  

John Boyne: The house of special purpose

20. A book published by a small publishing company  

Taru Luojola: Myöhempien aikojen liiketoimintamahdollisuuksia

21. A book that has been adapted into a TV series  

Robert Jordan: The eye of the world

22. A book recommended by an author  

 Jane Austen: Persuasion

23. A Finnish detective novel or thriller  

 Anni Polva: Tiina

24. A book set in a capital city  

Roslund och Hellström: Flickan under gatan (Stockholm)

25. A book involving the celebration of a holiday (such as Christmas or Midsummer)  

John Grisham: Skipping Christmas

26. A book with the word ‘book’ in the title  

Joseph Smith JR. : The book of mormon

27. A book about rebuilding  

 Wilhelm Moberg: Utvandrarna

28. A book by an author from a Mediterranean country  

 Orhan Pamuk: Den vita borgen (translated by Kemal Yamanlar and Anne-MarieÖzkök

29. A book in which someone tells lies  

Scott Lynch: the lies of Locke Lamora

30. A book without named or numbered chapters  

Ken Kesey: One flew over the cuckoo's nest

31. A book that features a disabled person  

Jojo Moyes: Me before you

32. A book originally written in a language that has no more than 10 million speakers

Selma Lagerlöf: Jerusalem  

33. A book in which someone moves to the countryside  

CS Lewis: The lion, the witch and the wardrobe

34. A book with an order or suggestion in the title  

come follow me -handbook (Sunday school, the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints)

35. A book in which someone spends time in nature  

LM Montgomery: Anne på Grönkulla

36. A book written by an immigrant  

Nicola Yoon: The sun is also a star

37. A book that elicits strong emotions  

Kim Östman: Mormonit

38. A book with a hand or hands on the cover or in the title  

Stephenie Meyer: Twilight

39. A book that features a bisexual or pansexual person  

Samantha Shannon: the priory of the orange tree & a day of fallen night

40. A book in which the weather is very cold or hot  

Annie Proulx: The shipping news

41. A book in which a child is born  

Kim Edwards: The memory keeper's daughter

42. A book with a subtitle  

Johanna Huhtamäki ja Vappu Pimiä: Valon antajat: Kiitä unelmasi todeksi

43. A book that does not have a main character  

Johanna Huhtamäki ja Vappu Pimiä: Valon antajat: tehtäväkirja

44. A non-fiction book written by a woman  

Johanna Huhtamäki: Pakkopositiivisuudesta tasapainoon

45. A book in which people play games  

Ernest Cline: Ready player one 

46. A book with a predominantly black cover or a title with the word ‘black’ in it  

Stephenie Meyer: New Moon

47.-48. Two books translated by the same translator  

Christopher Paolini: Den äldste; Brisingr översatta av Lottie Eriksson

49. A book published in 2024  

???

50. A book recommended by a library employee

Jane Austen: Emma

Good afternoon from my library! :)

 Good afternoon from my "office"-líbrary :)

The reading slump of the DECADE (2020's) has been continuing into 2024...

It started in February 2023, with my brain not being happy about concentrating on reading. I couldn't concentrate a lot. Then, I also had problems during the whole year which book to read and where to read plus which position. My back has been worse and my legs are hurting a lot and also my hips. SO. Imagine trying to choose the book, choose the place to read and choose to find which way you sit so the back doesn't get worse. I know, those shouldn't be problems. But yet, here I am, finding weird problems. :D 

This year one evening I listened to the entire (short) book by Jean-Dominique Bauby: The diving-bell and the butterfly. I know it almost by heart and I listen or read it almost always every year nowadays. It is SO good, sad and touching. Makes you think. Or: "Do a think" as I sometimes say/think and obviously also write, as I just did HAHHHAH! :D Excuse me, I am in a humorous mood... Yeah. Sunlight can do that. (The sun is shining here today...)

I am so happy with my ONE book read in 2024-acheivment so far hahhah. My goal is 84+ books in 2024. My goal is on Goodreads:

 goal for 2024

I love reading challenges as many of you know, if you like this blog. Even if you don't, I bet I have mentioned it plenty of times hahhah. I never ever manage to complete my more elaborate reading challemnges and it makes me sad, but each year at the end I realise, I couldn't have stuck to a certain TBR or such. So I forgive myself each year and try or change my tactics or something. :D This year will be no different, I think. I will just try to avoid many and long reading slumps. Wish me luck! :)

Here is another lovely challenge:

Helmet-reading challenge 2024 

IF I decided to take it on, I will post my TBR here :) 

I have also last year watched a lot more youtube than earlier and listened more to the radio. I also knitted a lot. Three scarves (the last one is almost done soon). I should have listened to more audibooks while knitting, maybe I should try that more this year... I love music, it is very important to me. I think I need new and better lists on Spotify to follow and listen to while reading. I can make a few new ones myself too. 

I have been out in the world a lot more last year. My new friends pulled me out of my coma... (Not a real coma, just my feelings of depression and anxiety etc). Music, youtube and knitting also pull me out of my mental slump of anxiety.

Good luck with all of your reading years! :)

More later.