About reading

I have always loved to read, but I haven't always been the best at remembering to do so. Mostly, I've read during holidays where I have the time to disappear into a novel, but I've always thought I'd want to read more. So a few days ago, I suddenly thought about all the reading I've done lately, not even just on holidays. I've bought many books the last few weeks, and I've been looking so much forward to this easter break because I knew I'd read Hemingway. It makes me happy that I have sort of taught myself to read again - and that I can also read without always being so swept up in the story that I can't do anything else (literally, I can hardly sleep or eat!) until the book is finished. So, what have I been reading in recent time?

Joan Didion - The year of magical thinking
I picked it up in the airport when I went to Bath a few weeks ago, and I read the entire book before I arrived 6 hours later. It really hit something in me, the language was beautiful (despite reading the Danish translation) and I felt I'd gotten to know this delicate, inspiring person.

Naomi Wood - Mrs. Hemingway
I bought this in Bath and read it in a few days. Hemingway seems to have been a difficult man to love, but one you'd gladly love despite all his faults. I read a similar book (The Paris Wife by Paula McLain) a few years ago which also gave this glimpse into this man from the point of view of his wives. Fascinating.

Lena Dunham - Not that kind of girl
I read this a few months ago and thought it was hilarious in the way she depicts womanhood in our time, and I could recognize many things - and laugh about more!

Jens Andersen - Denne dag, et liv
I haven't finished it yet, this biography about Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren. But I'm fascinated by all the details with which the author paints his subject with. I would have liked to meet Astrid Lindgren, and now I feel I am meeting her.

F. Scott Fitzgerald - Short stories
I bought a copy of his collected short stories a few months ago on a rainy day. I read a similar collection in Danish the summer before last, and loved them, and I wanted to read them in their original language. Now and then, I pick it up and read a story or two, and they are always great. Beautifully written, surprising and feisty!

Maria Gerhard - Der bor Hollywoodstjerner på vejen
Danish dj and writer Maria Gerhard wrote this book about her time with cancer and her love for her girlfriend. It's raw and piercing and honest, and I read it in just a few days. She is a cool lady.

Anna Funder - Stasiland
When my GDR-thing was in its peak, I read this unforgettable book about the aftermath of the GDR. It was haunting and just added to the notion that I can't believe it really happened. Wow!

Ernest Hemingway - A moveable feast
This is what I'm reading this easter. I found an edition with handwritten pages inside and photographs of the Hemingways and their Paris crowd, and it's marvelous. I thought I owed it to the man to read some of his own words after having read about him in the wife-books...