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

As promised, I'm coming at you with an update on Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens -A Brief History of Humankind. Unlike anticipated, however, I am still working on this book. Turns out that reading something so factual and concentration demanding doesn't go well with my idea of a relaxing read on a school night. Studying medical biochemistry and molecular medicine all day calls for a bit of a lighter pass time at night. But to the point then, here's some of my thoughts so far (I'm actually pretty close to finishing so we're doing ok).

A quality of a good book, in my opinion, is that it makes the reader think. That you find yourself pondering on the book while doing the dishes or biking to uni. Sapiens has definitely done that. I have felt a little provoked at times, but this has forced me to learn new things and look at the world from newborn perspectives. For example, it is quite curious how same cultural features have sprung up all around the world completely independently of each other. On the other hand very fundamental aspects of one culture are completely polar in another. This speaks for the human nature.

Another thing that has kept me looping back to it in my thoughts is imagination. Merely everything we view as concrete and universal things, such as rights, money or certain religious aspects, are in fact nonexistent if humans aren't around to believe in them. Money doesn't have a real, nature's law binding value. Only the sole fact that people all over decide to give it value makes it real. Human rights are also just things we have come up with (though saying it like this makes it seem as if they aren't important -I disagree). No law of physics proves them to exist. Nevertheless we have built them into our cultures and want them to be recognized. This also brings an interesting point: equality and the right of freedom can never really exist at the same time because they contradict. Only the complex (or twisted?) human mind can believe in both. A computer couldn't for instance support both. In my mind this creates an interesting question for the future with all it's technology.

The book has also been a challenge at times because I regret to say I'm not the biggest fan of economics or politics. And they play a fair role in the novel. Anyhow I'm determined to turn every page and find myself a little wiser.

-Anna