My treasure

Another post, another giveaway!
Thanks to Marina from CraftzeeFactory blog and her generosity, who gave us this great task of posting about craft books we own, I am finally proudly presenting my not so big library of "creative" books. Most of them are origami-related, which is my first and biggest love as I always like to say, but lately I've acquired several other craft books that I enjoy very much. Three of them that are in the picture (some others are not because they are being read elsewhere ;) ) are: Simple glass painting by Cheryl Owen, Stencil source book by Lucinda Ganderton and The polymer clay techniques book by Sue Heaser.
I am a huge book lover and each book in my library is special to me in its special way and has its own story. It is great to live in this modern age and be able to find so many information on the Internet, but nothing can replace her majesty THE BOOK and the joys it brings to one who is reading it!
This is my treasure:

Books 2010

Traditionally, here is my reading list for 2010:

1. "The Crusader" - Michael Alexander Eisner (Serbian translation)
2. "Remember me?" - Sophie Kinsella (Serbian translation)
3. "Twenties girl" - Sophie Kinsella (Serbian translation)
4. "Managing Projects: Pocket Mentor Series" - HBS Press Book (Serbian translation)
5. "Empire of Ivory" - Naomi Novik (in English)
6. "Act like a lady think like a man" - Steve Harvey with Denene Millner (Serbian translation)

Books 2008

This is the list f books I have read in 2008
(removing it from the right side of the blog to make room for the list of 2009):

1. "The Amber Spyglass" - Philip Pullman (in English)
2. "The Zahir" - Paolo Coelho (Serbian translation)
3. "Artemis Fowl The Opal Deception" - Eoin Colfer (Serbian translation)
4. "The Family" - Mario Puzo, Carol Gino (Serbian translation)
5. "Time Gifts" - Zoran Zivkovic (in Serbian)
6. "Crimenes Imperceptibles" aka "Oxford Murders" - Guillermo Martinez (Serbian translation)
7. "Grabljivica" - Simonida Stankovic (in Serbian)
8. "Impossible Encounters" - Zoran Zivkovic (in Serbian)
9. "Seven Touches of Music" - Zoran Zivkovic (in Serbian)
10. "A Darkness at Sethanon" - Raymond E. Feist (Serbian translation)
11. "The Library" - Zoran Zivkovic (in Serbian)
12. "Sex and the City" - Candace Bushnell (Serbian translation)
13. "Steps Through the Mist" - Zoran Zivkovic (in Serbian)
14. "The Knight" - Gene Wolfe (Serbian translation)

Nano2008

Oh, how excited I was last year when I found this great project on the Internet! And how excited I was when I it began last November!
But, as usually happens, life got in the way and so the number 50000 stayed far beyond my reach. But I did start, what was much more than I've ever done before. And I did have confidence, will, ideas, filled pages. And I did make a resolution to finish by next November.
I didn't.
November is yet again underway. Last year I had a strong intention to do it. This year I had a strong intention to try it. Guess how I'm doing?
But I'm not giving up. There is still enough November left. And there will be other Novembers - maybe as soon as this December. And I know that I will make it. And soon too!

You are what you read?

To read or not to read... this particular book?
Indecisive as I sometimes get, it took me a while to answer this question. In the end, it wasn't much of a surprise that I took the book and read it: it was thin, it was talked about, infamous even. Perhaps curiosity got the best of me. OR, perhaps it was a great learning curve.
It took me an hour and a half, and I wasn't reading fast either. Now THAT is a piece of serious reading!
The story is sad. Unfortunately, I don't think that teenagers drowning in hormones will look at it that way. The book is a hit, and I'm sure that too many young readers will regard it as a guidebook rather than as a warning. If even one person takes it this way, it will be too many.
I the world ruled by television that offers half-digested, ready to consume, instant entertainment, I'm am a passionate advocate of books and reading. But sometimes, like now ,after reading this particular book, I have to ask myself whether in some cases is better not to read at all than to read just anything?
From a different prospective, reading this book has been an unexpected reassuring experience for me: I got to realise that not only Dostoevskys get published. Even more so if you live in Serbia.
The recipe for success: simple story, few pages, large font, promiscuity and violence, bad language. Voila! You've got yourself a best seller! Sadly, I'll have to pass on it. If it takes to write at this level to be popular and read, I'd rather be neither.

PS. I still haven't decided whether it would be too embarrassing to write this title in the list of books I've read. I'll have to ponder this some more...

The Oxford Murders

I am not much of a crime novel person, though I've read some Agatha Christie in my time, but what I've read about this novel intrigued me. There was this crime novel that had something to do with mathematics. Mathematics?! This was something to raise one's eyebrows.
It is a common knowledge that the most hated school subject of all times is mathematics. People dread it, want nothing to do with it, scare their preschool children with stories about how difficult and beyond understanding it is for ordinary humans. In my experience, hatred of mathematics is a universal thing that goes through people and nations. The common misconception lead to prejudice, not only about the science itself (OK, we can discuss here how mathematics is not even a science, but let's leave that for some other post), but about scientists that practice it as well. Mathematicians are widely considered as freaks of nature, unpopular and antisocial people living within their own twisted minds.
It is no wonder I was intrigued to read about a novel, translated in my country (meaning that it must be fairly popular somewhere else), with a plot that included something cool like a mystery with something extremely uncool like maths and mathematicians. The intricacy was even greater when one considers my own career choice.
The book is actually not bad for a crime novel (no offence here, I am a fantasy fan): it's light, clever and intriguing. Lots of twists, turns and one very unexpected ending. It was an enjoyable experience for me as, I presume, it has been for many other readers. What makes this book truly great in my eyes is that it managed to make mathematics sound cool. Mathematicians too.
You might have suspected: the writer IS a mathematician!

Books 2007

This is the list f books I have read in 2007
(removing it from the right side of the blog to make room for the list of 2008):

1. "Castle of Wizardry" - David Eddings (Serbian translation)
2. "Business Letters" - Marijan Ozanic (in Croatian)
3. "Eldest" - Christopher Paolini (Serbian translation)
4. "Enchanter's End Game" - David Eddings (Serbian translation)
5. "Your guide to helathy sleep" - brochure (in English)
6. "CMMI Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement" (second edition) - Chrissis, Konrad, Shrum (in English)
7. "Der Himmel voller Geigen, Das Leben der grossen Symphoniker" – Rudolf Thiel (Serbian translation)
8. "Angels & Demos" - Dan Brown (Serbian translation)
9. "Burning Bright" - Tracy Chevalier (Serbian translation)
10. "Balthasar's Odyssey" - Amin Maalouf (Serbian translation)
11. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" - J.K. Rowling (in English)
12. "The Undomestic Goddess" - Sophie Kinsella (Serbian translation)
13. "Shopaholic & Baby" - Sophie Kinsella (Serbian translation)
14. "Be careful what you wish for" - Alexandra Potter (Serbian translation)
15. "Northern Lights" - Philip Pullman (in English, 2nd time)
16. "The Subtle Knife" - Philip Pullman (in English, 2nd time)

Me & Mrs. Dalloway

Yesterday I bought the book.

I wanted to read it for a very long time.

It all began with the general knowledge that I ought to read at least something by V. Woolf to stay a worthy literature lover in my own eyes, especially having heard so much about the book and the controversy of its author. I am curious and I love the word controversial.

Then my 'sister' Vesna told me she read the book and that it was really worth reading. At that point I made a mental note: "You must read this book!", discarded the idea of lending it from someone and decided that my little but growing personal library can't do without this book.

This was all before the movie "The Hours". I didn't see it, just heard this-and-that about it, watched the trailer and the US Academy Awards that year. No need to mention curiosity here - it was growing by minute. Then I forgot (almost) all about it. Let's face it, I do have lots of work and other things on my mind. My book-per-year number has been decreasing steadily over past decade to reach shamefully low values.

So recently I thought: "What interesting could I read next?" - "Enough of the 'easy reading' (my dearest fantasy), let's read something serious for a change" (please note the humorous ton of my previous sentence; fantasy is everything but 'easy'). So I naturally remembered my dear, old, unread Mrs.Dalloway.

Believe it or not, the only issue of the book in Serbian is long past sold, but luckily I've found a neat new English bookstore in my town and bought the original. It has always been my policy not to read a translation if I do know the original language (English being the only one for now). It will be difficult, believe me! I've read several pages and knew that I've given myself a great challenge, but the one I'll enjoy very much.

But the best thing of all was not the rapture of finally being able to read this book, it was when I read the name Clarissa in it and linked it to the movie I saw many times before, loved it immensely but never knew its name. I was so excited to have discovered that and now I can't wait to read the book even more.

Lending books

I love books. Love to read them, love to own them, and love to lend them to others.
Many people don't want to lend their books to others and just keep the books for themselves. That is selfish. I do understand the worries: in what state the book will be returned, will it be returned (at all), when (oh, when!) will it be returned etc. I've lived through it all. Sometimes my books returned to me in poor state, some of them have been read many times and it shows. Twice my books got lost, once in a bus full of my friends, the other time somewhere in the barracks where my friend was serving his "green time" *. Many of my books are failing to find their way home, some even for more than a decade. Luckily, I do keep records to whom I lend my books and I heartily recommend to all of you to do the same.
Anyhow, I don't mind sharing my literary treasures with my friends. The only thing I like to get in return is a "thank you", same as I say whenever I lend a book from someone. So, if you read this, think about sharing your books too. Why would they just stand on your shelves and collect dust when can give times of pleasure to someone.

This babbling about lending books is not just for the fun of it, it has a point, and the point is: my dear Friend, you who will be reading this post of mine, I don't remember you saying the magical words although you lent my book yesterday (though it wasn't given to you by myself). **


* If anyone is puzzled, by "green time" I meant the mandatory military service.
** Although it may seen that the last paragraph was written in pure spitefulness, I am positive that the mentioned Friend will know that I am just teasing him. :)