Summer reading

I love reading in the summer.

Everyone keeps saying that the summer should be enjoyed outside, and I do think they are right. I do sometime have trouble doing just that, as I suffer from hay fever and the allergy meds I take don't seem to have the best effect.

Also I like doing indoor activities a lot. Crafting, both cross stitch and crochet, is something I really love, but I don't like to do it outside, because I'm always afraid the wind is going to play tricks on my stash.

So now comes the time of year where reading outside (when I'm not sneezing too much) is one of the best things to do.

My summer book list looks like this right now:

I do have a few more books I want to add to the stash, but reading these first seems like a very good idea to me (read: my fiancée ;) )

CALENDAR GIRL 1

I have already read Calendar Girl 1. It is a wonderful book, the first in a series of four, one for each quarter of the year. It can also be read in a series of twelve books, one for each month.

It is about Mia Saunders who gets a call that her father has been beaten and is in a coma. He has a gambling debt, and now it is up to Mia to pay it off. To do so she will serve as a high-prices escort where she will spend each month with a new, rich man. Easy money? That's the plan.

Audrey Carlan makes it easy to fall in love with both Mia and her men. I love the book and I have already pre-ordered the second one in the series. 
I am reading the Danish version published by LoveBooks, but the whole series have already been published in English.

THE WHITE QUEEN

The book I am reading right now is The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. I have wanted to read Gregory's books for years and when I conveniently accidentally packed the book I had brought for a plane ride in the luggage, I had to buy a new book in Heathrow Airport. They happened to have the first in the series about the War of the Roses, also known as the Cousins' War, so I had to have it.

Thsi book follows Elizabeth Woodville, a young Lancastrian widow, who seduces and marries king Edward IV of York.

I love the way Gregory describes the people and the places, it is like I could be there myself. It is the first book by Philippa Gregory I'm reading, but certainly not the last!

THE RED QUEEN

... especially because I already bought number two in the series.  

The Red Queen follows the story of Margaret Beaufort, who is determined to put her son on England's throne, even if it means pledging him in marriage to the daughter of her enemy Elizabeth Woodville. 

I am looking so much forward to continuing the account of the ladies of power in the time of the War of the Roses.

NORMANNERNE

The last book in my summer book pile as it looks right now is Normannerne (Mercenaries) by Jack Ludlow. It was on offer in the airport when I was going to London, so it seemed a brilliant idea to get it. 

It is a fictional historical novel based on historic facts. Starting in year 1033 it follows the family of the de Hautevilles, living near the Norman / French border. It is the first in the series of three books, and I am looking very much forward to starting it!

Do you have any brilliant books in your summer pile that you cannot wait to start?

x Michelle x

Kindle

Wups... Might have 'accidentally' bought a Kindle 4 today. It's really cool though, and I can get books on it really cheap! The main reason I got it is travelling though. We're going to Austria next month, and the Kindle is so much more convenient than dragging along a suitcase of books. I did that a couple of years ago. Ten books for one week. Did read all of them, but a Kindle would have been just a tiny bit more handy. It's my new baby! I'm so happy I got it :)

// Michelle

GoodReads

I have a profile on Goodreads. I'm not sure if you are familiar with the website, but it is an online bookshelf, where you can keep track of the books you've own, have read and the ones you want to read.
 When I first started adding my books, I thought it would be easy to do. But it wasn't.

Don't get me wrong, the process of adding books, rating them etc is easy enough. It is how little I know of my books that are frustrating. When they were bought, when I first finished reading them and so on. I cannot retrieve when they were bought (except the ones I've bought online) and when I first read them. That got me thinking.
I want to start my own little tradition that I know others are doing for themselves as well. Every time I buy a book, I want to write down the day I bought it. I also want to write down the day I start reading it, and the day I finish it. Somehow I think it will give me lots of satisfaction, especially because I feel I already lost so much in not doing it from when I first started reading.

My dream is to have them all displayed in my own private library. When that time comes, it will be good to be able to open a book and recollect memories from them, not only from the text, but also from where and when they were bought.

When some day I get kids, and they hopefully will be just as happy to read as I am, I will pass the tradition on so it will become natural to them. It might not become useful to them at all, but I hope it someday will. I know I will enjoy my books even more than I already do.

At first I was surprised at how much a website like Goodreads can get you thinking. But now I am happy for it.
If you don't know Goodreads, the link is right here: Goodreads
My profile on Goodreads: Profile

//Michelle

Twitter...!?

I det mindste bliver Twitter opdateret... Jeg broderer og læser mere end jeg skriver i øjeblikket. For at være ærlig, skriver jeg slet ikke.
Jeg havde fødselsdag i torsdags, og jeg fik £20 til Waterstones af min kæreste Shaun (Han har også betalt en tur til Danmark, men det er en anden historie). Jeg tog i Waterstones (ville have været i Waterstones og forkæle mig selv alligevel, men nu var der en ekstra god grund!) og fik 2 bøger med hjem. Kom også i WH Smith og fik 2 bøger med hjem derfra også. Og da Shaun og jeg skulle fejre min fødselsdag på Zizzis (italiensk restaurant) fredag, så skulle jeg også have en smule makeup med hjem.

Min høst endte med:

Bøger-
Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex af Eoin Colfer
The Ambassadors Mission af Trudi Canavan
Holy Warrior af Angus Donald
Blood and Ice af Robert Masello

Makeup-
Baked eyeshadow i farven Starlight fra BodyShop
Expert Eyes kohl blyanter i sort og brun fra Maybelline
Colossal Volum'Express Mascara i sort fra Maybelline

Jeg har allerede læst Artemis Fowl og Ambassadors Mission, og jeg er i gang med Holy Warrior. Alle tre kan bestemt anbefales, men forgængerne skal helt sikkert læses, før man går i gang med nogle af dem.

Jeg er også igang med et broderi med tre højlandskøer. Det er et bogmærke, jeg købte i Skotland i 2008, og nu er jeg endelig kommet i gang med at lave det. Vil smide nogle billeder op når jeg har lavet det færdigt :)
Jeg har også lavet nogle andre små broderier, og jeg tror, jeg lægger billeder op af dem, når jeg kommer hjem. Jeg sidder på arbejdet i øjeblikket, og billederne ligger på Shauns pc.

Jeg tager hjem til Danmark i næste uge, og jeg håber, at jeg får skrevet mere, når jeg er derhjemme og bor alene. Jeg får et nyt skrivebord i fødselsdagsgave af mine forældre, og det skader jo aldrig :) Jeg håber, at det kan skubbe lidt gang i inspirationen.

Nu må vi se hvad der sker! :)