Books Are Jazzy

So, here we go in no particular order:

• The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
• Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
• A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
• Kingdom of Ash by S.J. Maas
• Muumipappa ja meri by Tove Jansson

Anna’s top pics/most worthy of a mention from 2018:
In total I managed to read 21 books, which I am very glad about since I had a hard time finding joy in books at times this year. I was in a sort of rut and couldn’t find a book that would keep me so hooked that, I would constantly be craving just a small moment of free time when I would brew some tea and get lost in the words of a great read. That’s why the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas  as a whole has been my most notable, favorite, life changing read this past year. It brought back not only my love for reading but my love for fantasy. I was, and still am, obsessed through and through.
And just as Laura said, I’m picking my favorite out of the four parts by reflecting on the generic feeling I get. The first was great but the second blew my mind so therefore A Court of Mist and Fury is my first.

Second I would like to mention a Finnish novel that actually won the Finlandia prize in 2016. Akvarelleja Engelin kaupungista by Jukka Viikilä taught my about the time of C.L. Engel and the building of our capitol Helsinki. I loved the journal entry style and depictions of Turku, where I now live, hit home with me.

The third book I’m going to raise to the podium here is the Swimmer Among the Stars by Kanish Tharoor, a book of short stories that I picked it in Paris from Shakespeare & Co. (I admit, the setting for reading this book did enhance my experience. But none the less I was inspired by these colorful stories.

Fourth and fifth were similar and I can’t really set them apart in my mind but both inspired me greatly and I remember them with a spark of happiness. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero and #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso have helped shape my attitude and the way I perceive things (as did Homo Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari too by the way) and they were a big part of my nonfiction phase of 2018.

We hope you find amazing reads in 2019!
Laura and Anna

The reading challenge book for April was Minna Canth's arguably most famous work, Työmiehen vaimo. The play follows a recently married couple, a hardworking woman and an alcoholic husband, as their marriage slowly falls apart.

I had previously dipped my toe into Canth's texts by reading her play Annaliisa, and I was excited to read her other works. From my previous readings I knew Canth was known for focusing on so-called "women's issues". However, when I started Työmiehen vaimo, I was disappointed by how she presented these feminist themes in this specific text. The only real conflict in the story was the husband's alcoholism and how the wife found it difficult to accept. Instead of creating well-rounded characters, the characters in the play were two opposites of a moral quandary.

I'm glad I've now read Työmiehen vaimo, solely for the cultural capital associated with it, but I would not recommend the play if it was not considered a classic of Finnish literature. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

-Laura

The start of a new month means another book review of a Finnish "classic". During March my goal was to read Jäniksen vuosi by Arto Paasilinna, and I finished it with plenty of time left in the month. I was especially excited to read this book because Jäniksen vuosi is my mother's all-time-favorite-book. I even timed my reading of the novel so that she was visiting me at the same time as I was reading it, so that we could discuss it as I read along.

The concept of the novel is absolutely amazing. The novel follows a middle-aged journalist who encounters a hare on the road and decides to drop everything in his life to spend time with this hare. He quits his job, leaves his wife, even sells his boat! The novel follows the extraordinary pair for a year, but the ending is left open to suggest that their adventures continue beyond this.

I highly, highly recommend this novel to everyone! Not only is it hilarious, it also offers some valuable life lessons. Moreover, it has been translated into English and can be found under the title The Year of the Hare. Let me know in the comments down below if you've read this novel.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Readings!
-Laura

The City of Woven Streets, also known as The Weaver, by Emmi Itäranta is a dystopian fantasy novel. I was originally drawn to the novel by its beautiful cover, but I was officially hooked when I heard the premise.

The City of Woven Streets is set in a fantasy world where dreams are outlawed. Human life means very little: everyone must find a Craft, otherwise they are worthless. The story centers around Eliana, a young weaver from the House of Webs, who harbors a dangerous secret: Eliana dreams. When another young woman appears on the doorsteps of the House of Webs, Eliana's life hits a tailspin. The new arrival, Valeria, has her tongue cut out and Eliana's name tattooed on her skin. As the two grow closer and closer together they begin to work against their society's leadership.

I enjoyed The City of Woven Streets immensely. Itäranta told a fresh story in a genre that often seems overdone by focusing on lyrical prose and detailed characterizations. Moreover, I was pleasantly surprised by the blossoming lesbian relationship between Eliana and Valeria. Finally, I enjoyed the role tattoos had in the society presented in The City of Woven Streets.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

-Laura

Hello everyone! Another month has gone by, which means it's time for another update to my 2018 Reading Challenge! In February I read the novel Rautatie by Juhani Aho. Rautatie follows a married couple as they first hear about a train coming to a village near them, to them riding on the train for the first time, to finally deciding never to speak of the experience again. Previous to the novel's events, the couple had never heard of a train before and thus when hearing various details about trains and their workings, they quickly attached fantastical elements to the transportation system.


Compared to January's read, Rautatie was a lot more similar to other classic Finnish literature that I have read and therefore reading it felt more comfortable. Having said that, I'm not sure if I would go out of my way to recommend this book, since plot-wise not a lot happens.

Rating:⭐⭐⭐

-Laura

I just finished reading Kesäkirja by Tove Jansson, as the first book in my 2018 Reading Challenge. Due to some unexpected coursework I didn't technically finish reading the book in January, but since I read the bulk of it during January, I'm still counting this as a win.


Kesäkirja was a short and sweet novel detailing the friendship between a young girl and her grandmother as they experience it over multiple summers at their summer cottage. Reading this in the cold of January did lessen my enjoyment of the novel a bit (since it's a summer novel, it would be best enjoyed read on a beach in the summer). Reflecting on it further, I believe the novel took on a more dreamy quality due to me reading it in the opposite climate the events of the novel occur in. I would like to reread the book during the summer to see how this changes how I react with the story.

Overall, I would recommend Kesäkirja for people who enjoy character driven novels. Personally, I liked reading the more adult side of Jansson's writings.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

-Laura

During 2017, also known as the year Finland turned 100 years as an independent country, the Finnish publishing company WSOY created a series of books that I am extremely excited about. They polled Finnish readers for their favorite Finnish books and re-released the top 12 as a series with brand new covers created by contemporary Finnish artists.


One book was released per month and during the course of 2017 I managed to gather copies of all 12 books into my hands. All this leads me to introduce a new feature for 2018. One of my reading goals for this year will be to read one of these books per month in the order they were released in as part of the series. After reading the book I will of course be reviewing it here. In January, I'm starting with some classic Tove Jansson, specifically her Kesäkirja. Keep your eyes peeled for a review of it later this month!

-Laura