Get Lost in Literature

  "Hygge is humble and slow. It is choosing rustic over new, simple over posh and ambience over excitement." Denmark has been voted one of the happiest nations in the world, and that's largely attributed to their concept of Hygge. Hygge is all about creating a quiet and warm atmosphere and taking time to enjoy the simple things in life. I feel like the book spoke to me on a personal level, as the secret to Denmark's happiness includes a lot of things I already enjoy doing. I'm no stranger to curling up with a hot cocoa and a good book or a night out by a campfire. It's always been important to me to make time to connect with nature, and it seems strange to me that others refuse to leave their houses... Now I find there's an entire country who believes this is the correct way to live. It seems Denmark took, what I always considered to be the introvert's way, and made it into a social event. In this I missed the mark, as I struggle to find connections in

 Today's Top Ten Tuesday hosted by  hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl  was listed as "Freebie." I've chosen to list my Top Ten Favorite Movie Adaptations.  1.  A Time to Kill by Josh Grisham. A terrible crime is committed by White Supremacists and followed by a swift act of vengeance by a grieving father. This is one of the rare occurrences where the movie is better than the book.  2. Jaws by Peter Benchley. A monster shark is terrorizing the beach just in time for 4th of July. Probably the only shark movie that isn't B-rated. Peter Benchley was good, but Steven Spielberg was better. 3. Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Two kids with dark secrets and a serial killer terrorizing the suburbs. There were two movie adaptations of this, Let the Right One In was the Swedish version, and later the US produced one called Let Me In.  I've seen the both. If you're going to watch one, pick the Swedish version (with English subtitles). It was true to t

  “We were so tired of death and destruction. We wanted to do something beautiful.”   The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis , by Eliizabeth Letts   When I was in college, I was asked to write an essay about WW2, but I could write about any aspect of it. I wanted to write about horses. That essay never got written. The statistics on how many horses were gunned down were staggering. No one wants to read that. I don't actually know what subject I chose. It was largely forgettable. I have forgotten it.   Now here's a book about horses in WW2, that is unforgettable. Elizabeth Letts had better luck with her research than I did with mine.  During WW2, Germany was running low on horse power and the Nazis were developing a top secret eugenics program to breed the ultimate military horse. But without native stock, they began stealing the four legged national treasures from countries they were occupying. The grooms and riders w

Book Blogger Hop 15th - 21st  - Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, do you prefer listening instead of reading? (submitted by Elizabeth @  Silver's Reviews ) I almost never listen to audiobooks. I like the idea of them, but I lack the attention span. What should be enjoyable story time is really just white-noise to my ears. I absolutely prefer reading. I like being able to put the story together in my head, visualize the place, the time, the people. If a story is really well written, I like being able to stop intermittently and think about what I just read and why the author felt compelled to write it. I want to savor each word like freshly baked cookies. Which do you prefer?

  "I left the police force in Norfolk so I wouldn't have to deal with this sort of crap," Williams began. "My ex-wife got me to move here for the peace and quiet. Damn, was that woman wrong! No wonder we got divorced."  - Hour Game by David Baldacci I'm trying a mystery on for size this week. I'm early on in it, it's a little cliche, kind of funny, and I'm hoping full of suspense. Thursday Quotables hosted by   Bookshelf Fantasies

I only did 6 of my 10 for Top Ten Book Covers That Feel Like Summer  ( Submitted by Ellie @  Curiosity Killed the Bookworm )/ But these were the first titles that popped into my head.  Hero by Walt Morey  Holes by Louis Sachar  What Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown  THe EightyDollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts  Songmaster by Orson Scott Card  By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder I apologize for the shoddy formatting, this post was spur of the moment on a sleepless night.  * Top Ten Tuesday   hosted by  That Artsy Reader Girl , formerly hosted by   The Broke and Bookish.   A topic is assigned every Tuesday and bloggers create their own top ten list for the topic. Feel free to link me to you TTT posts. I hope you are all having sunny summer days doing the things you wouldn't get to do in winter.

  "I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world." The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, is a retelling of Homer's Iliad . The story is narrated by Patroclus, a young prince who is nothing that a prince should be, undersized and seemingly untalented in every way, he begins his life as his father's disappointment. After another child dies, Patroclus is sentenced to exile; sent to live out the rest of his childhood in King Peleus' household as an orphan being trained for war.  Young prince Achilles, is Patroclus' polar opposite. The son of King Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis, he is his father's honor and the pride of his kingdom. He is beautiful, bold and brilliant, destined by Fate to be "the best of the Greeks," doted on by all who meet him. Everyone wants to be his friend, but Achilles only has eyes for one

  "We were like gods at the dawning of the world, and our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other." The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Finally made time to read this one. I'm halfway through and I can't understand why I waited so long. It's a beautiful dream. Thursday Quotables @  Bookshelf Fantasies

The Interprovincial Medical Institute has taken it upon itself to protect us, from ourselves. A parasitic orgnaization, it infects young minds and turns selected children into doctors. It monopolizes the medical profession entirely, forcing its human hosts into a co-dependent relationship. Baron de Verdira, a cruel ruler in a desperate countryside, is heavily reliant on the Institute's expertise to keep himself alive. His old doctor died under mysterious circumstances and it will be up to his replacement to unravel the horrors in Chateau de Verdira, just as a bitter winter descends. The baron's new doctor discovers a dangerous parasite infestation, other than its own. A strange creature with probing black legs, that's quietly propagating and subsequently killing its hosts. As the doctor investigates the newly discovered parasite, she begins to realize there is more infecting the residents of Verdira than parasites.  Leech by Hiron Ennes is being market as a "debut"