/idata%2F0368931%2F%2Fbjornstad.jpg)
You'd think every European teenager in the sixties dreamed of thrashing electric guitars to Beatles tunes. Wrong. Some kids chose pianos instead. This Norwegian novel tells their story—kids obsessed with classical music while everyone else lost their minds over rock.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2F%2Fdageloagelo.jpg)
Me at a contemporary opera premiere? At the Palais Garnier? Yeah, I was surprised too. I'm the Baroque and Romantic type—melody or nothing. But I went. And I have things to say about what happened that night with Sciarrino's icy experiment.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2FSixieme-dossier%2Fforster3.jpg)
Jane Austen showed us that rigid British society where everything's coded. Women had marriage as their only destiny, but at least some freedom to act. Forster takes us further—into suffocation and rebellion, Florence sunshine against London fog.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2F%2FSwap1.jpg)
Ever seen a kid tear into Christmas presents? That was me yesterday. But this package fought back. Whoever wrapped this thing is a professional—I suspect they moonlight for Fort Knox. Eventually got in. Worth the battle.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2F%2Fishiguro3.jpg)
Pure joy to return to Ishiguro's delicate, restrained writing. After The Remains of the Day destroyed me—that butler choosing duty over desire—I knew I'd be back. This detective story set in Shanghai hits different. Mystery wrapped in memory wrapped in loss.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2F%2Fpoesie.jpg)
Another chain? Yeah, but different this time. Jos wants me to share the poem that marked me most. Hard choice when so many have wrecked me. But since I have to pick one, here it is—the text that changed something inside.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2Froy.jpg)
Manitoba stretches from the US border to Hudson Bay—water country, lakes and rivers everywhere. Gabrielle Roy was born here, taught here. This novel about remote schools and isolated families captures that Canadian vastness better than anything I've read.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2Fayako2.jpg)
My first manga—three volumes, friend recommended. Surprise one: it's black and white. Surprise two: you read right to left, starting at the back. Takes adjustment. But once I adapted, this dark family saga set in postwar Japan grabbed me hard.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2F%2Fswap.jpg)
Done! Used this cold, gloomy day off to finish my swap package. Heading to a secret destination as soon as I hit the post office. Can't say more—part of the mystery. But I'm pleased with how it turned out.
Keep Reading/idata%2F0368931%2F%2Fsouris2.jpg)
My turn for the Chinese portrait game. A book? One Hundred Years of Solitude. A color? Red, always. An animal? A mouse—small enough to sneak into board meetings, cabinet sessions, secret dinners. Invisibility through smallness.
Keep Reading