October Reads

October was quite a good month reading wise. The days have gotten shorter, quiet, solitary evenings longer, and I have been spending more time bundled up among fluffy pillows and cosy blankets, curled up on the sofa with my nose in a book. Let's see the volumes I devoured in October.


Beartown by Fredrick Backman: This novel is simply, utterly and undeniably brilliant. Undoubtedly, it is the best book I read in October, if not the entire year. It was just so unputdownable that I spent an entire Monday morning and afternoon reading it for eight straight hours because I was so keen on getting to the last page and finding out how the story ends... only to find out that there's a sequel to it which I am dying to put my hands on. This was the first novel I read by Backman, I think I came across it on the Book Depository besteller list (which I am kind of addicted to and checking out on a fairly regular basis). I had heard a lot about his other, most popular novel, A Man Called Ove, which was even turned into an Academy Award nominated movie. I guess the premise got me interested and I decided to go with Beartown as my first Backman, but I will make sure to have all his other novels on my reading list. Anyway, as you can tell, I adored Beartown. Backman's writing style is exceptional (and the Hungarian translation was excellent as well), the storyline captivating, the characters fascinating. The novel in some ways  reminded me of Friday Night Lights. I mean small, rural, middle-of-nowhere-town is crazy about its high school sport team and praising the teenager team members as Gods, sounds familiar?  As I have just googled it, I found out that Beartown was turned into a TV show. I'll definitely have to check it out as well.

The Cuckoo's Calling by J.K. Rowling: It was the first Rowling novel that I actually finished, and boy, did I love it! (I did give an attempt to A Casual Vacancy about six years ago, but after about a hundred pages I gave up. Needless to say that I never read a single volume of Harry Potter and I highly doubt I ever will.) Obviously, exceptional writing style and gripping storytelling. I loved the characters, and utterly enjoyed the London setting. I am definitely checking out its TV adaptation as well, but only after reading the sequels.

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain: Short and fun novel that I read in one sitting on a long afternoon. Loved the Paris setting, the colorful characters and the entertaining storytelling. I might check out Laurain's other novels.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware: now this novel I found purely annoying and full of cliches. I have sort of gotten on the psychological thriller bandwagon this summer, so after reading and loving Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn, I thought I would give Ruth Ware a try as well. It was such a disappointment. I just find her a weak, uninteresting and cliché-ish novelist. There is nothing gripping, or even slightly interesting about her storytelling, writing style or the characters she creates. I have borrowed Ware's other novel, The Woman in Cabin 10 from the library (back before reading Dark Wood),  I'm in about a 100 pages and I have already lost interest (well, she never even managed to grab my interest), I probably won't make it to the end.

Hygge by Meik Wiking:  This was the second time I read this book in the last six months. The first time I read it, it was the height of summer, so on the hottest days of the season it was quite the challenge to get in hygge mood. Still, I enjoyed the book enough the first time around to borrow it again once the the hygge season kicked in. I will probably write a whole post about my admiration of hygge, so I will not get into the whole praise now. I enjoy Wiking's syle of writing, his sense of humor and self-irony that clearly shines through the page, and the way he makes fun of his Danishness and the whole Hygge lifestyle/movement. This book is just as warm, cosy, fun, relaxing, soothing and soul-nourishing as hygge itself. This is a library borrow, but I will probably purchase a copy of my own.

The Art of Hygge : How to Bring Danish Cosiness Into Your Life by Jonny Jackson and Elias Larsen: This could be a complementary volume to Wiking's Hygge. While Wiking's volume is highly informative about Danish lifestyle, what makes the Danish content and generally happy, what kind of work and studies they do at the Happiness Institute, this book is mostly filled with pretty pictures and some tips and ideas on how to bring everyday hygge in your life. It would most certainly be an overstatement to call it informative, as it does not even define hygge or what the term really entails in Denmark. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book, simply for the high quality, soul warming photos. I have already thumbed through it a couple of times and will flip through it again before returning it to the library.

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon: a fun and quick read about how you should steal and incorporate anything and everything from other artists you love into your work. It contained some other ideas on creativity and productivity as well and some tips on how to grow and become better known as an artist. It is a fun volume, but to be honest, I did not find it very inspirational, neither do I find the need to own this book or reread it.

So what have you been reading lately? Do share!