Book ‘n Stuff

(March 8, 2024)

The navel gazing movie stats post made me think about the other thing I do that I have data for: Reading books! Back in 2013, I implemented an Emacs mode for keeping track of what books I had (because I’m the kind of reader that obsessively buys all the books from the authors I like, … Continue reading Book ‘n Stuff

My New Book Review Blog

(February 19, 2024)

Just kidding! Ain’t nobody got time for reviewing, but I just read this book: It’s Sheri Tepper’s final book, written when she was in her 80s and published two years before she died. On Goodreads, Fish Tails has a kinda normal 3.6 total grade, but there are so many one star reviews like this: I … Continue reading My New Book Review Blog

The Books of 2023

(January 4, 2024)

I haven’t read that many books in 2023… what you see in this lil’ bookcase are all of them. (I empty it out every year and then watch it fill up slowly…) I guess there’s about *guesstimates* 60-ish? I guess it’s been more of a comics year than a book year. Below is a list … Continue reading The Books of 2023

Readin’

(January 6, 2023)

Time to clear out the little book-case of stuff I read in 2022… I read 89 books in 2022, according to Emacs… Not that many, but I was really busy until October, and then suddenly I wasn’t busy at all, for some reason or other. Anything interesting about the selection, in hindsight? Probably not, but … Continue reading Readin’

The Year In Review

(December 27, 2020)

When this year started out, I had so many plans! I was going to go to the Big Ears festival in Knoxville, and perhaps go to some islands, and zip and zoom around, and… So instead I was standing before the wall of unread books, as so often before, and thinking “I’m never going to … Continue reading The Year In Review

BC&B: Poulet Mistral le Prieuré w/ Tarte aux Pommes Françoise Potel

(October 22, 2020)

This is it: The final post in this exciting blog series, where I cook two dishes from Patricia Wells’ Bistro Cooking book (sequentially), and read one book from the shelf that had the most recently acquired books. (Yes, it makes no sense as a blogging concept.) I’ve only made it about… a fifth? of my … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Mistral le Prieuré w/ Tarte aux Pommes Françoise Potel

BC&B: Tian de Légumes w/ La Brandade de Morue de Madame Cartet

(October 5, 2020)

Another day (or week or something), another book to read and another couple of dishes from the Bistro Cooking book by Patricia Wells. Only two more posts to go, though: I’m running out of books from that cubby. So today we have: A veggie gratin! With… courgettes and aubergine and stuff. But mostly those two … Continue reading BC&B: Tian de Légumes w/ La Brandade de Morue de Madame Cartet

BC&B: La Volaille au Vinaigre de Vin Bistro d’à Côté w/ Financiers aux Noisettes

(July 30, 2020)

The dead animal dishes I’ve enjoyed most from this Bistro Cooking book (by Patricia Wells) have definitely been the dead chicken dishes. The dead cow dishes have all (I think? how long has this blog series gone on now? a decade or two?) been disappointing: Very heavy and somewhat offputting. So this week I’m doing … Continue reading BC&B: La Volaille au Vinaigre de Vin Bistro d’à Côté w/ Financiers aux Noisettes

BC&B: Sauté de Veau aux Carottes La Boutarde w/ Harengs Marinés

(July 23, 2020)

Just four (?) posts to go! So that’s eight dishes and four books. The first dish of the day is the mains, because it turns out that the starter takes four days! Who knew! Not me! I never read these recipes before I start to cook; I just get the ingredients and hope for the … Continue reading BC&B: Sauté de Veau aux Carottes La Boutarde w/ Harengs Marinés

BC&B: Terrine de Poireaux aux Lamelles de Truffes Michel Trama w/ Terrine aux Herbes de Provence Madame Cartet

(July 18, 2020)

It’s a new week, so it’s another couple of Patricia Wells recipes and a new book. OK, for the starter this week, I’m doing this… terrine? Tell me you’re reading this recipe the same way I’m reading it: It’s a bunch of boiled leeks? (Leek? What’s the plural? One leek, two leek… probably with an … Continue reading BC&B: Terrine de Poireaux aux Lamelles de Truffes Michel Trama w/ Terrine aux Herbes de Provence Madame Cartet

BC&B: Poulet Sauté aux Echalotes w/ Tarte au Fromage Blanc Ferme d’Alsace

(July 11, 2020)

Hi! It’s been quite a while since the last chapter of this blog series… since before The Pandemic, I think? It seems like most people reacted to the thing by starting to bake and cook like crazy, but I mostly just… sat on the couch and read stacks and stacks of books. For some reason, … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Sauté aux Echalotes w/ Tarte au Fromage Blanc Ferme d’Alsace

Outline

(May 4, 2020)

I’ve just read the second book in Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy, and it’s fabulous — perhaps even better than the first? Anyway, it reminded me that I read a shattering and hilarious parody of Cusk in a Norwegian newspaper a few months back. So I translated it into English; I hope nobody minds? I think … Continue reading Outline

BC&B: Morue à la Provençale le Caméléon w/ Aïoli

(February 29, 2020)

Food time! The salt cod dishes in the Bistro Cooking book have been pretty spiffy… this one looks like it’s in a more bacalaoish direction than the previous ones, what with all the tomatoes and stuff. There’s all the usual stuff… and then a whole lot of herbs. Even before starting to cook, it smells … Continue reading BC&B: Morue à la Provençale le Caméléon w/ Aïoli

BC&B: Tranche de Gigot La Boutarde w/ Tarte au Citron Madame Cartet

(February 19, 2020)

Food and book time! I usually shop specifically for the dishes in the Bistro Cooking book, but today I saw some lamb cutlets and I thought that surely there’d be a recipe for that in the book, even if that meant I had to cheat and skip forward a bit in the Les Viandes chapter. … Continue reading BC&B: Tranche de Gigot La Boutarde w/ Tarte au Citron Madame Cartet

BC&B: Poulet Basquaise w/ Céleri Rémoulade

(February 15, 2020)

Food time. The next starter in the Bistro Cooking book is another rémoulade. And… it does look like a nice slaw, doesn’t it? Celery root and Dijon mustard. But… that’s like the entire dish? Just a slaw as a dish? That’s… kinda… Perhaps this is the the best slaw ever. Anyway, it’s just those ingredients. … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Basquaise w/ Céleri Rémoulade

BC&B: Gardiane La Cargue w/ Cervelas Rémoulade

(February 10, 2020)

Busyness never ends, so I’ve had no time to read anything… which means that I can’t cook anything either. It’s this whole concept. Finally, time for some food. So the starter couldn’t possibly be simpler: It’s sausages with a Dijon mayonnaise. But that means that I get another crack at making mayonnaise: My two previous … Continue reading BC&B: Gardiane La Cargue w/ Cervelas Rémoulade

B&CB: Aïoli Monstre w/ Aïoli

(January 16, 2020)

New year, new decade, new food. The previous salt cod dish from the Bistro Cooking book was delicious, so I’m all excited about this one: Lots of veggies, cod and aioli. The only thing that’s odd about this recipe is its name: Grand aioli. I mean, that’s just the sauce. So this is a two-for-one … Continue reading B&CB: Aïoli Monstre w/ Aïoli

BC&B: Poulet au Vinaigre Le Petit Truc w/ Estouffade Provençale

(December 27, 2019)

The next poultry disk in the Bistro Cooking book is a chicken-in-vinegar thing, and I’m not all that fond of vinegar, so I’m slightly sceptical. But let’s see. The ingredients are simple enough: A chicken, tarragon, wine and vinegar (and some veggies). And Stargate: SG1. So to get the show started, the chicken has to … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet au Vinaigre Le Petit Truc w/ Estouffade Provençale

BC&B: Saucisson Chaud Pommes À L’Huile w/ Cake au Citron

(December 4, 2019)

It’s been a while since I French Bistroed (had a cold twice! or two different ones once! each!), but it’s time to start cooking again. The next thing in the appetiser section is … basically some sausage with some potatoes tossed in an onion/vinegar mixture. I’m quite sceptical, because it looks (once again) like it’s … Continue reading BC&B: Saucisson Chaud Pommes À L’Huile w/ Cake au Citron

BC&B: Gratin de Morue w/ Tartines de Pistou et Poisson Fumé la Boutarde

(November 2, 2019)

Is this the first fish course I made from this book? It may be, and it’s because I took a look at the first recipe in this chapter and thought “well, OK, that sounds good, but… not now.” But now is now. Or a couple of days from now, because the main ingredient here is … Continue reading BC&B: Gratin de Morue w/ Tartines de Pistou et Poisson Fumé la Boutarde

BC&B: Pâtes aux Citron, Jambon, et Olives Noires le Procope w/ Quatre-Quarts aux Poires

(October 21, 2019)

I had a cold, so I’ve been fixing Emacs bugs instead of cooking, but now I’m back in the kitchen. This is the first pasta recipe I’ve done from the book? Looks annoyingly simple: It more fun to do elaborate dishes. But perhaps it’ll be delicious. Hm. That list of ingredients makes me doubtful, though. … Continue reading BC&B: Pâtes aux Citron, Jambon, et Olives Noires le Procope w/ Quatre-Quarts aux Poires

BC&B: Poulet Rôti aux Herbes Pile ou Face w/ Le Cachat

(October 6, 2019)

OK; time for more food. The next selections from the Bistro Cooking book in the cheese section is this thing: It’s… uhm… Simple? It’s chevre with cottage cheese and some herbs. I did not have summer savory (because it’s autumn), so I just went with thyme. So you dump it all into a food processor … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Rôti aux Herbes Pile ou Face w/ Le Cachat

BC&B: Daube de Boeuf Auberge de la Madone aux Cèpes et à l’Orange w/ Gâteau au Chocolat Le Mas de Chastelas

(October 5, 2019)

It’s been a while since I cooked anything for this silly blog series, but I’ve been like busy and stuff. And so I’m going to cheat and not actually read a book (this is a food/book pairing blog, I’m sure you don’t remember). So just food this time, but it’s food that takes a while … Continue reading BC&B: Daube de Boeuf Auberge de la Madone aux Cèpes et à l’Orange w/ Gâteau au Chocolat Le Mas de Chastelas

BC&B: Tapenado Restaurant Maurice Brun w/ Oeufs en Meurette

(September 23, 2019)

This is a slightly unusual tapenade — it’s big and chunky and is supposed to be eaten like an appetiser. Well, I’m on board with that, because I love olives. I was unable to find olives from Nyons, so I substituted some other, less Nyonneuse olives. I wonder what makes them special… Hm… Ah, they’re … Continue reading BC&B: Tapenado Restaurant Maurice Brun w/ Oeufs en Meurette

BC&B: Salade Frisée aux Lardons aux Lyonnais w/ Mon Gâteau au Chocolat

(September 20, 2019)

I think I’ll do a salad tonight, because… Salads. As salads go, it’s not very saladey. I mean, the main ingredient is pork sausage. Those aren’t green. Or not supposed to be green. If you’re eating green pork sausage, you should probably reconsider. I went to a couple of stores to get endive, but couldn’t … Continue reading BC&B: Salade Frisée aux Lardons aux Lyonnais w/ Mon Gâteau au Chocolat

BC&B: Pot-au-Feu aux Deux Viandes Chez Adrienne w/ Gratin Dauphinois Madame Laracine

(September 14, 2019)

OK, time for more bistro cooking and more books. Today I’m doing this meaty meat recipe, which looks pretty fun. It’s the most complicated recipe so far, with about seven things that have to be timed to be finished at the same time. And it’s got marrow bones, which I’ve never cooked ever, so that’s … Continue reading BC&B: Pot-au-Feu aux Deux Viandes Chez Adrienne w/ Gratin Dauphinois Madame Laracine

BC&B: Soupe à l’Oignon Pied de Cochon w/ Anchoïade Chez Gilbert

(September 11, 2019)

As you will remember from the previous chapters of this blog series (*cough* *cough*), I’m cooking my may through the Bistro Cooking book. So for dinner tonight I’m starting off with: So that’s an… anchovy… paste thing on toast, I guess? So here’s the ingredients: It’s really super-simple, once again: Basically just garlic, anchovies and … Continue reading BC&B: Soupe à l’Oignon Pied de Cochon w/ Anchoïade Chez Gilbert

Bistro Cooking and Books

(September 8, 2019)

I’ve had this cook book by Patricia Wells for decades, and have always liked the results when I’ve made something from it. Which hasn’t been often, mind you, because I’m super lazy and the recipes often start with “take 25 rabbits…” and doing the required math to get down to the sizes I’m going for … Continue reading Bistro Cooking and Books

BC&B: Poulet Rôti L’Ami Louis w/ Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet

(September 8, 2019)

The major problem about blogging about cooking is that this is the default state of the kitchen: I’m glad that nobody saw that picture, because there’s like no room to cook anywhere because I’m a slob. Oops! OK, that’s marginally better. So today (the first day of this blog series) I’m cooking the first poultry … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Rôti L’Ami Louis w/ Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet

CCCB: Ulysses

(May 2, 2019)

This is the last entry in this blog series (where I read an old unread book and bake something, because that’s a thing), and I wanted to bake something non-sweet for a change. But not bread. After considering a lot of things that straddle the baked goods/dinner continuum it all of a sudden occurred to … Continue reading CCCB: Ulysses

CCCB: The Fall of Hyperion

(April 11, 2019)

I’ve done too many almond-based goods, so I thought I’d try my hand on some profiteroles with this recipe. Approx. Because I didn’t really want the chocolate part. Most of the recipes stress how “simple” this recipe is… but it has the normal number of ingredients. What’s simple, perhaps, is that it uses something as … Continue reading CCCB: The Fall of Hyperion

CCCB: Marya: A Life

(April 4, 2019)

Last week I did croissants to indifferent results, so why not try something that has almost as bad reputation for being tricky: Macarons. And then I found this recipe for liquorice macarons. Yes! But then I started to study it, and it seems kinda odd. I mean 2 cups of chocolate chips for the filling? … Continue reading CCCB: Marya: A Life

CCCB: The Edible Woman/Surfacing/Lady Oracle

(March 28, 2019)

If there’s one thing an amateur cook shouldn’t attempt (and there’s nobody more amateur than me), it’s croissants, apparently. So I wanted to give it a try. It’s 3x more futzy than any other recipe I’ve attempted. It’s not that any single step is particularly daunting, but there’s just so many of them with hours … Continue reading CCCB: The Edible Woman/Surfacing/Lady Oracle

CCCB: The Ticket That Exploded

(March 21, 2019)

For this week’s cake I’m making something called “tropical aroma”. I know you’re thinking “pineapple and mango?” now, but this is an old-school chocolate cake, and the tropical ingredients are cinnamon, nutmeg and coffee. And possibly the chocolate. That’s tropical too, right? I’m not a coffee drinker (I guzzle tea by the gallons), but I … Continue reading CCCB: The Ticket That Exploded

CCCB: Magic Hour

(March 14, 2019)

I’ve never made a pie before, which isn’t surprising, I guess, because I’ve basically never baked in my life before starting this blog series. So I was just thinking about what to make, and the words Lemon Meringue Pie just popped into my head. So I’m going to make that, even though I’ve never tasted … Continue reading CCCB: Magic Hour

CCCB: Woman on the Edge of Time

(March 7, 2019)

Thursday is baking day, and I chose a cake I haven’t tasted in decades: The Tosca Cake. It’s apparently named after that most jumpingest of all opera heroines. Perhaps it’s named after her because it’s a pretty heavy cake and Tosca fell like a rock into the river? The comment on that page, however, claims … Continue reading CCCB: Woman on the Edge of Time

CCCB: Downriver

(February 21, 2019)

For the baking today, I’m going to do a slight re-run: A few weeks ago I did a knead-free pan bread. Which turned out delicious. But it seemed to me that the recipe just had a few more complicated steps than seems necessary: You’re supposed to fold the dough a few times before doing the … Continue reading CCCB: Downriver

CCCB: Miracle of the Rose

(February 6, 2019)

When I went to the kitchen equipment store and asked for the stuff I needed to bake these things, the shop assistant asked me “you’re making smultringer (literally “lard rings”) after Christmas?” incredulously. Which was slightly weird. These are things one makes in Scandinavia at Xmas, but they’re eaten all year long, because these are … Continue reading CCCB: Miracle of the Rose

CCCB: Jane Eyre

(January 17, 2019)

Thursday is book’n’bake day. The bready hype the last few months has been the no-knead bread recipe from the New York Times. (Were they the ones responsible for the one-pot pasta travesty that was all the rage a couple of years ago? That thing was vile.) But let’s give it a go. You basically just … Continue reading CCCB: Jane Eyre

CCCB: Last and First Men/Star Maker

(January 10, 2019)

Wow, it’s Thursday, so something must be baked. And it’s not me! Years ago, there was a fabulous cookie in the stores here. They were made by Walkers, and they were “stem ginger” cookies. They were glorious. Chewy, flavourful, in your face. Apparently nobody else liked them, because they disappeared only to be replaced by … Continue reading CCCB: Last and First Men/Star Maker

CCCB: Composed on the Tongue

(January 3, 2019)

IT IS THURSDAY AND I MUST BAKE I had a lot of egg whites left over from making custard, so I thought I’d just make something very simple to go with this week’s book: Meringue. Olé! Caramba! Gaucho! But I put lots of liquorice powder into the er dough before piping it onto the silicone. … Continue reading CCCB: Composed on the Tongue

CCCB: El desorden de to nombre

(December 27, 2018)

For the baking part of this challenge, I chose the Norwegian delicacy “school bread”, which is a bun with a dollop of custard, and then coconut frosting on the exposed bready parts. I’m guessing it’s called that because it’s very sweet and kinda fulfilling, what with all the wheat, sugar and egg involved. Not a … Continue reading CCCB: El desorden de to nombre

CCCB: The Two of Them

(December 20, 2018)

It’s Thursday, so I have to pick a book to read. Hickory dickory… I choose The Two of Them by Joanna Russ. Many of the books I’ve apparently avoided reading for two and a half decades have good reasons for not being read. This is not one of them. I bought, at the time, all … Continue reading CCCB: The Two of Them

CCCB: Oliver Twist

(December 12, 2018)

It’s Thursday, so it must be time to bake something and read a book I’ve avoided reading for a couple of decades. I’ve done cake and cookies, so why not bread? Nutty bread. Looks like the flour:nut ratio is 25:10, and I have no idea whether that’s like totally nuts. I have baked a couple … Continue reading CCCB: Oliver Twist

Bamboozled

(December 6, 2018)

I cracked open a paperback of The Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler White and: Huh, apparently a child had been checking whether their pen worked? Oh well, that’s what happens when you buy used books. And then I flipped to the back cover: Uhm. Right. Are either Brust or White doctors, by any chance?

CCCB: The Place of Dead Roads

(December 6, 2018)

It’s Thursday, so it must be time for some baking and an old book. I decided on ginger nuts, and I wanted a recipe that would give me slightly soft cookies. So I went for one with syrup. Does that makes sense? I don’t know? Do I look like I know what I’m doing? There’s … Continue reading CCCB: The Place of Dead Roads

CCCB: Haunted

(November 29, 2018)

It’s Thursday, so it must be time to pick an ancient unread book from the bookcase and bake some cake. The lucky winner this week is Haunted, a short story collection by Joyce Carol Oates. This is a collection of horror stories published in various magazines: It’s time for a shocking confession: I’ve never read … Continue reading CCCB: Haunted

CCCB: Mind as Passion

(November 22, 2018)

Eenie meenie… It’s Thursday, so time to pick another book to read from the cache of my most ancient unread books and bake another cake. And this time the lucky winner is Susan Sontag: Mind as Passion by Liam Kennedy. Which I apparently bought at a sale in mid-90s (so it’s a bit newer than … Continue reading CCCB: Mind as Passion

CCCB: Larque on the Wing

(November 15, 2018)

Like everybody, I’ve got a bookcase of unread books, but perhaps weirdly, mine is organised along a simple principle: Older books sink towards the bottom. That is, as I read books, I compact the rest and move them towards the bottom left. It’s a sedimental journey. The last couple of years I’ve read very few … Continue reading CCCB: Larque on the Wing

I ❤ The Paris Review

(February 15, 2017)

My favourite thing to read while travelling is The Paris Review.  It has like full-spectrum literature that’s perfect for reading while getting slightly drunk on airplanes. So I just bought a whole stack of old issues from the sixties, seventies and eighties.  You can still get them pretty cheap from sources on the interwebs. Man, … Continue reading I ❤ The Paris Review

Books

(January 5, 2014)

I rather like reading books, but I have this absurd sense of accomplishment whenever I finish something. Anything. “Wow, I managed to finish eating that hamburger! USA! USA!” Finishing something you like doing isn’t really something to brag about, but that’s the way I feel. So a couple of years ago I started putting books … Continue reading Books

1995: The Novellas of Martha Gellhorn

(July 25, 2013)

1995 is over, and this is perhaps the essence of books-that-I-didn’t-read:  It’s a short story collection; it’s an omnibus; it’s really long; I bought it on sale; it’s by an author I had grown disenchanted with. I first read Martha Gellhorn’s The Face of War, and was completely blown away.  Then I bought The View … Continue reading 1995: The Novellas of Martha Gellhorn

1995: Slik talte Zarathustra

(July 21, 2013)

1995 is almost at an end!  After Friedrich Nietzsche has been vanquished, nothing stands between me and the super-human effort that is finishing something! So I say: Hah!  This book is most amusing!  Just watch!  I am laughing! Hah!  Hah!  Hah! – Also sprach Lars Rating: Moustacheriffic

1995: Sol, stå stille

(July 17, 2013)

I got this book in 1995.  It’s another of my grandfather’s books. It’s about Israel, and was written in Denmark in 1950, so it’s written while things were still going on in Israel.  On the other hand, when weren’t they? Poul Borchsenius doesn’t make much of an effort to tell a balanced tale, but he … Continue reading 1995: Sol, stå stille

1995: Both Right and Left Handed

(July 13, 2013)

I bought this book by Bouthaina Shaaban in 1995.  More because I had a tendency to buy all books I happened upon published by The Woman’s Press (they have a very neat logo) than because I wanted to read a book subtitled “Arab Women Talk About Their Lives”. I know. I know. Anyway. Shaaban writes … Continue reading 1995: Both Right and Left Handed

Book!

(July 3, 2013)

I have literally no idea why I might have ordered this book, but I’m unpacking stuff.  And just look at this cover: That’s just totally fabulous.  And the book feels fantastic.  I want to read it right now!  But I’m not going to.  Probably next week.

1995: New Writing 4

(June 28, 2013)

This is an anthology of (mainly) British writing (edited by A. S. Byatt and Alan Hollinghurst) that I bought at a sale in 1995, and didn’t read.  For obvious reasons.  I mean, it’s an anthology of (mainly) British writing.  Give me a break! This isn’t a “best of” anthology, or anything.  Apparently the editors just … Continue reading 1995: New Writing 4

1995: Bingo!

(June 24, 2013)

Ketil Bjørnstad is a musician and an author, and this book is about a musician who’s also an author.  And then there’s a Hardy Boys plot about terrorism and the Steiner School. The bits about being a musician are better than the terrorism bit.  There’s a sort of vigorous charm in the writing, and there … Continue reading 1995: Bingo!

1995: Longer Views

(June 15, 2013)

I had read most of Susan Sontag’s non-fiction, and then I didn’t read her novel, so it makes sense that I would read all of Samuel Delany’s fiction, but then not read his essay collection “Longer Views”.  Don’t you think? It demonstrates the mirror image stage in specifying the signifiers signified by m/othering the other. … Continue reading 1995: Longer Views

1995: The Volcano Lover

(June 3, 2013)

I read virtually everything of Susan Sontag’s while in my 20s, and felt very clever indeed.  I seem to recall buying this book on one of my first trips to London, in 1995.  What was the name of the bookstore…  Blue Moon?  No.  Silver Moon.  I bought a bunch of Angela Carter books there, too. … Continue reading 1995: The Volcano Lover

1995: Den store sledereisen

(March 20, 2013)

Or “The Big Sled Ride”, by Knud Rasmussen. My mother gave me this book in 1995.  It had been one of her father’s favourite books. My grandfather lived even more way to the north of Norway than I did.  He was a fisherman, going out on the northern seas in his boat.  Fishing…  some kind … Continue reading 1995: Den store sledereisen

1995: En glad gutt

(February 19, 2013)

I haven’t read many of the Norwegian classics.  I’m pretty sure I’ve never read anything by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (his name translates to Bear Star Bear Son — like wow) before. This book, called perhaps “A Jolly Lad”, is a slender volume on young love across the class barriers, as well as a society getting progressively … Continue reading 1995: En glad gutt

1995: Sataniske vers

(February 14, 2013)

My sister used to work for a book publisher, so she got tons of free books.  The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie was probably one of them, which explains why I’ve got it. It’s better than I expected.  It’s written in a very late-80s coke-fuelled wide-eye manic way, with one tableaux after another.  Quite entertaining, … Continue reading 1995: Sataniske vers

1995: Till Damaskus/Ett drömspel

(February 5, 2013)

I couldn’t remember buying this, and it turns out that I didn’t.  It was forgotten by somebody at my apt, and he’s since gone onto become a theater instructor.  How appropriate, since this is a collection of two plays by August Strindberg. I probably get a more abstract impression of the plays than originally intended.  … Continue reading 1995: Till Damaskus/Ett drömspel

1995: The Woman in the Dunes

(January 31, 2013)

Continuing the stooory of 1995, for some reason or other I had bought this book by Kobo (The Meat) Abé.  Probably because it was on sale.  Which also explains why I didn’t read it. It turns out to be a fantastically written punch in the stomach.  It’s a sandy, moist and claustrophobic horror show.  And … Continue reading 1995: The Woman in the Dunes

1995: Forsøk i kjærlighet

(January 28, 2013)

I hadn’t kept up with the 1995 project in a while, so I pounced on Essays in Love: A Novel by Alain de Botton yesterday. It’s a somewhat unusual novel.  As it says on the cover, it’s sort of an essay collection, and it’s sort of a novel.  So very avantey.  But not really. It’s … Continue reading 1995: Forsøk i kjærlighet

Review of The Enduring Flame part 3: The Phoenix Transformed by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

(January 19, 2013)

Books, Emacs, and ISBN APIs

(January 18, 2013)

I have the worst memory. But even so, I pretty much manage to remember what books I’ve read.  If I’ve read Anagrams by Lorrie Moore, I remember that. The problem is with the less (how to put it?) good books. I read a lot of crap.  Crap that I like, but it’s crap.  Book after … Continue reading Books, Emacs, and ISBN APIs

1995: Dagbøker i stein

(December 15, 2012)

Or “The Stone Diaries” as it was called in English. The reason this one never got read is probably that I suspected it to be respectable and stuff. And it is.  It’s very respectable. Initially I thought it was a fictional (auto-)biography of sorts.  Then when I reached the middle, I found all these pictures … Continue reading 1995: Dagbøker i stein

1995: The Zanzibar Cat

(November 13, 2012)

I’m not a fan of short story collections, but I’m a fan of a number of authors who write one short story collection after another, so I read them anyway. But that explains why this book went unread.  I really like Joanna Russ.  She’s very funny and she’s quite angry, which makes for an enjoyable … Continue reading 1995: The Zanzibar Cat

1995: The Mark of Merlin

(October 17, 2012)

I bought this book at an SF auction thing at the University.  I remember a bidding war broke out between me and some woman over this book. I’m not sure why.  I was just caught up in the excitement. And then it sat on the bookshelf until now. I used to read a lot of … Continue reading 1995: The Mark of Merlin

1995: Tourists

(October 14, 2012)

I do remember why I haven’t read this one.  I thought it was a short story collection. I hate short story collections. No, that’s not quite true.  I love short stories.  It’s just that they take more energy than novels.  They’re so compressed.  You have to start caring about these characters in a couple of … Continue reading 1995: Tourists

1995: Homo Falsus

(October 12, 2012)

Do you remember back in the mid-80s where all books dealt with writers who were writing the book you were reading, or were they? The post-modernity of this book is pretty staggering.  And perhaps not in a good way.  But that’s just what virtually all literature was like in 1984. This one has not just … Continue reading 1995: Homo Falsus

1995: Ring of Swords

(October 10, 2012)

Getting the festival of 1995 underway, I picked the book I knew absolutely the least about first. It seemed like a pretty nice hard-ish SF novel, so why hadn’t I read it already? Now I remember…  I had bought it along with a swarm of other touchy feely SF books, and I had kinda gotten … Continue reading 1995: Ring of Swords

Readin’

(July 15, 2012)

I’ve always bought more books than I can possibly read. It’s under control, though.  Just a fraction more.  But it means that the section of the bookcase(s) that contain the unread books grows, slowly but inevitably. That’s fine. I put the books I read at the top of the bookcase, and the unread ones sort … Continue reading Readin’

Cheapskates Revealed!

(April 30, 2012)

In the previous installment, we saw that Penguin had done weird stuff typographically.  And now I understand why. In the back of the book is a “List of Variants”, which details minutely what manuscripts have been used.  I mean, important stuff like “La” vs “la”. And they list these variants based on page and line … Continue reading Cheapskates Revealed!

Cheapskates

(April 29, 2012)

I was reading Tender is the Night and was puzzling over the typesetting.  The foreword and the index is set in a very clear, narrow typeface, while the text itself looks old and worn. This is unfortunately an annotated edition, which I loathe.  I wouldn’t have bought it if I’d known. But that doesn’t make … Continue reading Cheapskates

It’s like the 4th of July

(May 17, 2011)

I’ve been celebrating the Norwegian constitutional day (I think it’s celebrating that we were rid of the tyrannical rule of the Danes, or the Swedes, or somebody equally tyrannical and heinous) by putting up more book shelves. I’m not digital at all in the book dept.  It’s still all papery stuff.  It takes a lot … Continue reading It’s like the 4th of July

Square McSweeney’s

(January 10, 2011)

The fun people at McSweeney’s have done a lot of amusingly formatted issues of their Quarterly Concern (a shaving kit, an advertising folder, etc), but this one is certainly the bulkiest one: It’s a 15x15x15cm box, and when you crack open his forehead, you find lots of neat litte pamphlets inside instead of brains: And … Continue reading Square McSweeney’s