bookio

[bookio]

Don't you see what I'm saying? (2022) by Niklas Källner

Really interesting talking about how humans (from Swedish perspective and culture) use different tones and sounds to communicate the unspoken words between what's actually being said. How posture and muscles and environment affect your unique voice. Källner interviewing voice teachers and getting his voice analyzed made me rethink how I speak and how to improve. For example, i've noticed I talk very "up in my throat" and rarely use R's, sometimes to the point that they're not heard at all, causing me to mumble or sound like i'm a sloppy speaker. I want to practice to have a deep and crisp voice in the future!!!

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I Love Astrid Lindgren (2023) by Elin Lucassi

Comic book about a young woman who continuously goes on a guided tour of a Swedish famous author, Astrid Lindgren's, old apartment; that has been turned into a museum. Every time she visits, she steals something small, and becomes more and more unhinged. In fragments we can piece together that she acted as a surrogate for her impotent sister, and gave birth to a son for the sister and her boyfriend. After this, the nameless MC has slowly lost touch of reality, in what I think is a postpartum psychosis.

Lindgren irl gave birth to a son when she was very young and had to put him into foster care, until she was old enough to take care of him again. Our main woman thinks that by obtaining Lindgren's belongings, luck will manifest and get her baby back.

However, it only gets worse as the woman finally breaks into the museum by herself to dance around naked and sweaty - eventually ending up hiding underneath the display bed with a knife - to then jump the guide the first thing in the morning.

An ambulance shows up and takes a body away but we're not told or shown if it is the woman or the guide who got met with the knife. Really spooky story!

[bookio]

The Way Out (2023) by Johanna Nilsson

Maja has social anxiety disorder and does all her schoolwork from home. She has cut ties with her closest friends and talks with a psychiatrist through Zoom. Maja is convinced she will die if she so much opens a window and spends most of her time roaming the house like a caged hamster. Her parents and big brother think it's a temporary phase of teenage rebellion and let her be.

One night when the parents are away, the big brother invites a bunch of friends to hold a party. Maja keeps herself hidden in her room but is disturbed by a drunk girl banging on her door, shouting "Help let me in! Please hurry!". Maja does so but it's all a joke. The girl's name is Alice and she's very talkative.

After successfully getting the girl out of her room, Maja is shaken up and cries herself to sleep. Days go by as usual, the psychiatrist starts to visibly sigh at Maja's unwillingness to change.

Maja dreams about Alice, and develope a curiosity to her. She looks her up online and learns that Alice have just started to travel. Maja follows her updates on Instagram religiously but is too shy to write comments or even click like. Maybe the envy of Alice ignites something inside her, cause suddenly Maja starts opening windows, and at the end of the book - even takes a step outside the door.

Wish the story could have been slightly longer, but I also like that it stops suddenly, leaving room for interpretation. There were moments where Alice could have been presented more but it's good that she wasn't, because the idea of Maja not actually knowing this person but just watches her from a distance is so insanely relatable imo. 4/5 stars

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Kiss Him, Not Me vol 4 (2016) by Junko

I picked it up randomly at the library because i miss reading manga. The story is about an obese fujoshi (a term used for females who enjoy boy x boy romances) whose favorite fictional character dies, which pushes her into a depression that makes her lose all the extra weight and turn her "beautiful". I know, such an awful premise sorry.. Her newfound beauty made some classmates fall in love with her, and the series is basically a harem about who she'll end up with.

My favorite character, and the only one that liked her even when she was "heavy" is Mutsumi Asuma. I feel I often look for him in every chapter. Unlike the other characters, he's happy to hang out with each and every one of them, identifying them as friends instead of competitors. His love for MC seems to grow very naturally compared to the others that are obviously thirsty over her beauty.

Despite all this (I wish MC had flaws in her look so madly so i can see myself in her !!) the comedy and misunderstandings between school activities are fun, and really leaves you with the feeling of having good friends to rely on. 3/5 stars

[bookio]

Thoughts for the Day: Manual for a Kinder Life (2018) by Bob Hansson

Picked up randomly at second hand so i could have something to read under the Midsummer sun. It's a collection of mixed observations, thoughts and poems by this author Bob Hansson. Some chapters resonated very well with me, when it came to human interactions and the typical Swedish public social "rules", but then some political and religious beliefs of him were springled throughout some pages that just felt like listening to a grandpa make no sense at the dinner table. I didn't care for his poems either, but overall the book was simply... just fine? 2/5 stars

"One of the most common questions we ask each other, leads to the most common lie. The question is: >>How are you?<< The answer is: >>Fine.<<

Sometimes this question should only be seen as a polite gesture. But sometimes we want to take it seriously, and give an answer that is longer than four letters.

I think there are many of us who long for a moment where we can feel welcome and be perceived in the exact condition we are in. I think we live in an age that has grown tired of lying."

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I Hope You Die, You Fucking Bitch (2023) by Linda Jonsson

In the first half, Jonsson recalls memories from her childhood, growing up with an alcoholic mother. The good days but also the recurring bad days. She's stuck in a loop of worry (very similar to my own childhood) and angst. One night her very very intoxicated mom asks her to take the dogs even though it's her turn, after an otherwise fantastic day between them. It becomes the last straw for Jonsson and she shouts "I hope you die, you fucking bitch!" before running away to her sister next door. The day after, they find the mother dead by an overdose.

This trauma haunts Jonsson growing up but is tucked down deep inside her. She becomes a young mother in the second year of high school, and births another child with a new partner soon after finishing school too. Somewhere between the third child with another new bf she starts horseback riding, where she one day falls off a horse and hurts her back. She gets morphine tablets for the pain and realizes it takes away her anxiety as well. Jonsson gets viciously addicted, and goes into desperate lengths to get these pills (pays $800 for express delivery, digging in garbage when accidentally thrown them out, buys from shady kids on the street) when doctors sets a warning sign in her health journals.

It doesn't end however until she suffers an epileptic episode in front of her kids, that she's finally sent to rehabilitation. During this time her kids are allowed to speak out of what they feel and witnessed with their mother's addiction and Jonsson can finally see she's repeating the steps of her own mom. Finally being able to heal for real.

Even though there were some grammar issues, spelling mistakes (I think this was self published?) and some of the dialogues felt unrealistic and theatrical, it was an interesting insight of another human's struggle and growth.

[bookio]

Sweetness & Lightning vol 1 (2016) by Gido Amagakure

A high school teacher take help of one of his students to learn how to cook for his daughter, as his wife has recently passed away. The student's mother is a famous chef and owns a closed down restaurant as she's out touring for TV. This is where our main characters hang out and experience homemade food together. The manga art style is nice but the story narration is a bit messy for me, the pacing is quick and the food descriptions are tastier than the actual drawings of the dishes. Also, because i recently enjoyed Spy x Family manga i think... i'm sorry the daughter is not cute 😭 I'm glad i've watched the anime in beforehand so i can project, because her voice acting did the whole character, but now reading the manga and just watching her i get so annoyed. Stop jump around so much, little child!! I'm sorry. I know this is an accurate description of an actual kid but i get so exhausted by her presence. No need to worry about it being a weird high school student x teacher thing either because the mother joins in on their gang later as it expands more and more in company. 2/5 stars

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What Do You Really Want? About Finding Goals, Meaning and Balance in Life (2005) by Erica Falkenström

Self-help book with psychological analyses on exhaustion on life and fear of the future. The author goes in depth on finding individual identity and purpose, mostly that you have to give yourself a break and let go of pressure. A very insightful book about existential dread, life choices and finding yourself. It was very interesting but (i told my friend this too) every time i closed the book for the day, i couldn't for the love of me remember what it had said, even if i had felt motivated and inspired just a minute ago. There's a new rewritten and corrected version out on the market (2017) i've noticed, but I'll probably won't pick it up right now. 3/5 stars

[bookio]

Spy x Family vol 4-6 (2021) by Tatsuya Endo

A fun and super cute manga about a spy who fake-marries an assassin woman and adopts a little girl (who can read minds but they don't know) to infiltrate a high standard academic school, where the son of a bad guy boss attends. The household trio really hits it off and slowly start to realize that there's a unique comfort between them, like a real family. There's also terrorist attacks, snack shopping, school work and in these volumes they even adopt a dog together - who incidentally can predict the future, omg. But only the little girl knows this because she can read the dog's mind. I love all the characters so much! But i had no idea Loid was so scary/serious in the manga cause in all the anime clips i've seen with him, he's portrayed always so soft and goofy. 5/5 stars

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I Don't Know What's Happening (2017) by Anna Norlin

A woman is coming to terms with her mother's demise as she's put into elderly care after surviving a stroke. There's visible symptoms of dementia and the woman is trying to make it as comfortable for her mother as possible. But god, the main character is so flat. She's has no everyday life, routines, hobbies or even feelings are written for her. Her character shows up, interact with the mother and observe new behaviors. Maybe confirm stuff like "no your grandchildren have already been here" and "no you're doing fine" but there's nothing coming from her core. I don't understand why one chooses to tell a story from a character's perspective only to then make them completely empty? Every chapter starts with her visiting the elderly care home. She just spawns at the door, no car ride or how it affects her life schedule. It's so strange, i don't know what to make of it. 2/5 stars

[bookio]

Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries (2022) by Alan Rickman and Alan Taylor

Transcripts of Alan Rickman's in real life journals. The introduction was written by the actress and his friend Emma Thompson, very beautiful and heartfelt. Rickman seemed like a naturally charming person, those kind of people are difficult to satisfy irl i think. They strive for perfection! He was sewn into the theatre world, most of his notes are about that. So i don't understand his references, name drops or the words overall. The names are unimportant to me but of higher value for him. We would never get along in real life, but i would like to be important to such a person one day. A person who is 100% passionate about something, like that. He seemed like a stunning man. 3/5 stars

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Milk Fed (2021) by Melissa Broder

I liked her mermaid erotic novel "Pieces" so tried this one too. It's about Rachel who's battling with an eating disorder. She meet Miriam, a Jewish woman who runs a yoghurt shop. They start dating, and Miriam makes Rachel hungry for life, to the point of Rachel bravely start eating sweets and junk food again. The food and hunger language is very poetically written, i found my mouth watering many times. Rachel later grows hungry with Miriam too, sexually that is. But because of Miriam's religious beliefs, she's torn between giving in to Rachel or keeping her distance. Every time they cuddle, they go a little bit further and further, so it's a nice slow build up. There were a lot of happenings between the romance, like Rachel working at a Talent managment, where she has to put up with her cringe "dude-brah" boss. She also talks a lot with her therapist and such. I wasn't interested in that at all, i just wanted that cute interactions between Miriam and her because it always felt like Rachel made herself much cooler than she actually is around her, it was entertaining to read. 2/5 stars

[bookio]

WOTAKOI: Love is Hard for Otaku vol 5 (2021) by Fujita

Beside the regular funny everyday life shenanigans of the main cast - like watching how Hirotaka expresses his love for Narumi (im super jealous btw), marriage life between Hanako and Tarō - the focus in this volume is the shy love between Hirotaka's little brother Naoya and his genderless friend Kō-chan. I don't have much to say, i just genuinely love the art style and stories of this universe overall! 5/5 stars

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I Really Didn't Think This Through: Tales from My So-Called Adult Life (2018) by Beth Evans

With help of minimalistic doodles, Beth tells us about the struggles of becoming an adult when suffering with anxiety and depression. About losing her direction after spent most of her years studying to become a nurse, only to lose interest in it all together. She self harms, binge food and develops severe self-image issues along with phobia for social interactions. And then she got help.

I could relate to a lot of things she told, even having similar social interactions and thought processes. Even though she ends almost every chapter with "it's okay" or "it's going to be alright" or "everything will work out" to assure you everything will be fine, it became very annoying for me. She knows this too because she does mention the frustration when people say everything will be alright, for it not to happened, and then feel even more bad about failing to reach that "alright" stage. The doodles sometimes takes up serval pages, i don't mind them but they sometimes shows up in the middle of a sentence and disrupts the flow so i found myself usually skipping them.

It was nice hearing from someone in similar situation and how she got out, sometimes i wish she had gone more personal instead of singing the default "it's going to be alright" mantra and shared the process of how to reach an ok route. If someone asked how she got better, i wouldn't be able to explain it properly, just that "she talked to someone" but we know there's more to it in between, and i wish so intensely she would have told me. 3/5 stars

[bookio]

Abandoned the old in Tokyo (2012) by Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Short comic stories about the everyday working men of old time Tokyo, and the worries that follow them. It has very realistic situations with uncomfortable spins on them, like things that happen but we don't really wanna talk about. All the comics shares a common theme of suppressing sexual desires i feel, so it's a bit awkward and disgusting sometimes. 3/5 stars

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WOTAKOI: Love is Hard for Otaku vol 4 (2020) by Fujita

Office workers that are also nerds and date each other. Very fun humour, reminds me a lot of Nozaki-kun. I like every single character and sometimes even have to take breaks after each chapter because of the share amount giggling joy that bubble up inside me from this manga! Love this a lot, will definitely purchase my own copies in the future! 5/5 stars

[bookio]

Don't Hunt Us (2022) by Eva Lindström

Two squirrels and a big hare attend the village meeting. It's time for hunting season and everyone is allowed to vote Yes or No about setting the hunt off. The hungry town's people vote Yes, while the three animals vote No. They return to their forest very disappointed and angry while the human people celebrate with fika. We then follow the animals trying to live their everyday life while constantly having to look over their shoulder. The hare gets shot and loses an ear, along with it's hope. But the squirrels push them on to continue surviving because the forest is their home. They declare themselves king and queen over the forest, and then they're once again left to their own devices. Short book with scary undertones, i really dislike mob mentality so this honestly made me so anxious, hah. 3/5 stars

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Uncles (2022) by Teresa Glad

A really thick book, maybe 200 pages? Beautiful watercolored comic about different middle-aged male characters habits and important snippets of their lives that basically defined them. Some very beautiful and tragic, while others were fun and interesting. I don't think i disliked any of the uncles, and could honestly relate to a lot of their realistic behavior, even though this probably was mostly fiction. 4/5 stars

[bookio]

There's Nowhere to Run (2016) by Ester Eriksson

Read for literature class. Olivia, a young adult, starts developing severe paranoia and anxiety. Her boyfriend is ashamed of this state and becomes verbally abusive. With help of friends she signs herself into a mental ward where she receives treatment for a short while and medicine. Her boyfriend breaks up with her because of this. After a huge anxiety attack she tries to eat all the pills and later wakes up at the hospital. She's later sent to the ward for a longer time.

The comic then follows her life in the mental ward, getting treatment and talking out about the overwhelming fear of death after her mother's passing, and a classmate who died in their sleep. Olivia tries to hang herself in the bathroom at the ward but fails, and gets restrictions like not allowed to go out. Weeks later she's granted a permission and uses this time to visit and have sex with her (still asshole) ex. A while later she finds out she's pregnant, but due to her mental state and medicines, quickly also experiences a miscarriage. Through art and help from staff, she's able to slowly heal her mind and seem to get better. She connects with one of the male caretakers, sadly thinking it's love. The caretaker is however quick to inform the higher ups and through a meeting makes it clear for Olivia that there's no romance.

The epilogue shows Olivia back to living in her own apartment, but police bust into the door saying that her friends have been calling and calling, thinking she finally gone through with suicide. This is not the case and she gives affirmation to the officers that she's fine, but realize she's never going to be free from this label of being mentally unstable.

Despite the dark theme i thought it was a great book! The pacing is really captive and had details i've never heard about before. I found myself wishing for Olivia's wellness even though i first got really frustrated with her illogical fears and behavior. But humans are like that!! I've been there too! The mind is really fragile and need caring for as well, and i honestly find her so brave for actually seeking help voluntary instead of waiting for something devastating to happen. 4/5 stars

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Buddhism in 10 minutes

Got this book from my grandma who was very religious in Buddhism, and she passed away 2019 which means during these 4 years (now's 2023) i couldn't take 10 minutes out of my life and read a short book of my grandma's wishes? Wow, I'm a disgrace.

Beside history class and serval temple visits with my relatives, i've never actually spent time reading about Buddhism views and rules on life. What i gathered from this short book is generally that you should be a good person towards others and yourself, and karma works like a point system. You're might be going through bad things today because you were a bad person in your former life so you have to work extra hard, but the book also mentions the confusion of rich people doing bad things but still live in luxury, to which this book excuses it that they might have done something positively big like donate a ridiculous amount to charity, gotten high karma points through that, and so is able to live on peacefully despite oil drilling or something. The part about people being born with disabilities was also a bit troubling to read about....

The book had specific rules of living for every kind of human (examples: the parent, the child, if you're a business owner, if you're a husband, if you're a student etc) but they all comes down to "be a good person, help and respect others". I however really disliked the outdated view about the wife is suppose to basically obey their husband and do housework, while the husband is to make money and buy necessities for the family. When partnership is suppose to be teamwork?

Honestly this copy is really weird. It's obviously a self printed book, probably sold from a small specific temple my grandma temporary visited (our local temple to which she went to frequently didn't have these kind of books?) or maybe handed out for free. But many of it's chapters continuously mentions how important it is to SPEND MONEY and DONATE, the words are mentioned suspiciously frequent between the rules of living a Buddhist life. But i don't think money is suppose to take up this much space?

Either way, i liked this bit:

"Chap 11. Success. Everybody wishes to be successful in whatever in attempted. The Buddha recommended 4 kinds of practice called Iddhipada as follows: Preference, the willingness and gladness to do: Patience, the willpower to exert efforts towards the aim having been set forth; Perseverance, the undaunted courage in the face of baffling difficulties or threatening danger: and Pondering, to be able to weigh the pros and cons carefully, to consider or approach the matter in question from all angles. These from Pātikavagga of the Long Sayings."

It fits into the everyday life of struggling to find motivation - like me! I'm not gonna rate this one, but can finally check it off my TBR-list.

[bookio]

My life in Japan vol 1: The Confessions of a Swedish Manga Artist (2021) by Åsa Ekström

I definitely preferred this volume before the other one. It still holds the 4-panel comic shape but this time without wall of explanatory text next to it. Instead the situation itself is able to tell what's going on and why, not interrupting any flow. 4/5 stars

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A Hundred Pieces of Me (2014) by Lucy Dillon

This book (the swedish translation at least) sold itself as a feelgood fiction in the middle of the decluttering hype, about a women in her thirties that just broke up with her husband after he's been caught cheating with a younger woman. Our main character moves into a new apartment where she decides to only keep 100 material things to exist in her new life. The swedish title is "One hundred irreplaceable things".

HOWEVER.. even though the first chapters definitely are about her going through the content of the moving boxes, reminiscing about different things origin, and arguing with people when her decisions to get rid of them is frown upon... The rest of the book, like three parts out of four, a huge chunk, is about her fighting off the maybe's of getting together with her ex again, and connecting with a new guy called Nick because.. a woman can't start a new life without a man? Ngl they had me in the beginning, but then the story becomes like any other cheesy romance novel and it was excruciating to constantly wait for her to go back to organizing her belongings.

But i don't blame the story, i honestly think it was a bad marketing from the swedish publishing side of things. Either way, not for me. 2/5 stars

[bookio]

The Weightloss Trap: Stop Dieting and Start Living (2018) by Maria Helander and Anna Hallén Buitenhuis

I'm always a bit sceptical to selfhelp books, they're are either hit or miss for me — but this one was actually really enjoyable to read!

The book goes for a self-esteem approach with help of a cognitive behavioral therapy called the ACT-method. "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)" that encourages people to embrace their thoughts and feelings, rather than fighting or feeling guilty for them. In this book they take a problem like a trinket and picks it apart to build it back together in hunt for solution. And i really like dissecting problems like that in real life, like imagine the worst case scenario and calculate the actual possibility of things like that to happen. It definitely gives a calm reality check for me. Would read again 5/5 stars.

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My life in Japan vol 2: The Adventures of a Swedish Manga Artist (2021) by Åsa Ekström

What happened to that Swedish artist who got much publicity during the manga boom of the late 2000's in Sweden? Apparently she moved to Japan and became a comic artist full time! Good for her! I had no idea she published her japanese work into a swedish translated manga, yet alone that there were two volumes out already, so i eagerly borrowed them from a nearby library.

Every page is a stand alone 4-panel comic about the culture differences between Sweden and Japan she's encountered in her everyday life, like things that can seem obvious from one end but be very different from the other. In Japan she also worked as a reporter and made comics about her experiencing all these different things like sleeping out on the street, visiting haunted house and so on.

It's a lot of explanatory text under each comic which really puts off the flow but one has to remember that they were originally put in a monthly/weekly comic paper so it's originally not this heavy. I like the style and humor, a few things were not my jam but i think it's because she's telling from her viewpoint so some things can come off as self-complimentary and unrealistic but i think that's more a perspective thing. 3/5 stars

[bookio]

Loaf is hungry (1997/2017) by Eva Lindström

The Children's Book Author's group i'm in on facebook recommended this "silent" book, which they described as "genius" so i went really curious and picked up at the library!

It's about a human who eats a hotdog, and a dog who stares hungry at it by the table. The human, looking slightly irritated finishes the hotdog and the dog leaves the house hungry. At night the human starts looking worried about the dog's absence, maybe even pondering back to the dinner table when they didn't share their food. They start cooking another hotdog, and suddenly the dog shows up! The human and dog shares food with each other happily.

Since the pictures have no text whatsoever, it definitely leaves room for children to recognize a situation, aknowledge what kind of feelings are at play and teach about sharing. Maybe even discuss pet care? Really interesting book, i understand why people liked it.

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Tromb (2022) by Mo Yan and Zhu Chengliang

Saw this book at this year's book sale and thought the cover looked so pretty.

The narrator reminisce about their childhood, helping their old grandpa gather grass on a field to feed the cattle. It personally takes me back to when i was a kid helping my grandpa on the rice fields. Anyway, the sky goes dark and the grandfather starts to visibly look shaken as he hurries his grandchild to drag the filled wagon back home. But despite all their efforts, a tromb flies directly above them, sucking up all the hardworked grass. They're happy to be alive but bummed about the grass.

I really loved the way nature was painted in this book, how the sky looked so eerie dark before the storm. You could really feel the temperature shift!

[bookio]

Heart Quest Column (2022) by Malin Lindroth

Don't know why i picked up Malin Lindroth's new book when i didn't enjoy her other ones. I guess i was just really curious to what happened to her after her latest book about being a female involuntary celibat. In her new book she decides to answer relationship asks that been sent into old magazines, and answer them from her unique perspective as a female incel.

Once again Lindroth interestingly talk about the history of the leftover woman, but cannot hold her own premise of answering questions without going into long tantrums of past experiences and over-metaphorical texts about not being accepted in romantic relationship with men. It's exhausting and pessimistic, it feels like a waste of time to cry about men i feel, not for me. 1/5 stars

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Spark Joy (2021) by Marie Kondo

Swedish translation so it might be incorrect release date; in this book Kondo goes through every category about defeating the clutter in your home with philosophical viewpoint and direct suggestions. I like that she even answers questions about how to tackle the harder unusual categories, really showing her personal experience with different customers and the creative solutions they tried out to find the spark of joy. Despite the mixed hype of the Spark Joy-method, personally i enjoyed this book! 4/5 stars

[bookio]

A little book about the art of dying (2022) by Ulf Nilsson

Famous Swedish children's author Ulf Nilsson gets an aggressive cancer diagnosis at age 72 and only have about 10 weeks to live. In this book, his wife has collected his last journal entries before his departure, and they're very insightful, short and heartbreaking about a man having to say goodbye to the life he loves as he prepares for the longest slumber. This book left me both scared of the unavoidable death but also humble to the life we're living right now.

"The incomprehensible thing about becoming non-existent, which I have pondered since the age of seven. Hit by the thought now and then: I will lose everything and everyone, I'm not allowed to stay." - page 85

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Doushitemo Yaritakute Gakuen vol 1 (2018) by Seina Anji

My first manga of 2023 ?! Oh god. I can't find a proper translation of the title, but google suggest "'I really wanna get laid' high school?" maybe like "The four Virgins of High School" ?? Anyway, have had it bookmarked all year and i'm decluttering by finally reading it!

Four male friends in a boarding school try their hardest to get gfs. A rich guy with glasses, an airheaded short guy, a bug fanboy and a tall narcissist. They call themselves HSV4 (High School Virgin Four) like a silly boy band. They decide to change their tactics and learn "the mind of women" to up their chances against their enemy competitors - the playboys.

They discover that BL manga (boy's love, a genre surrounding male x male relationship) is very popular among women and start using these as manuals to get ahead. Though their plan work and they start getting popular with females (because of their newfound "BL vibes" or placebo self-confidence?) they also start realizing that love is not bound to heteronorm relationships, that their mature training with each other have unlocked some new feelings.

Despite the cute consensual sex, there are soo many funny moments between the guys, like training to make the perfect "Kabedon" (difficult to explain, but it's when putting the hand against a wall while leaning over a love interest), failing exams and celebrating new milestones as a group.

The manga is told from the airheaded short guy, who has become the "uke" (bottom) while the tall bug fanboy has become the "seme" (top) but I really liked ALL these characters and hope to see a second volume in the future! I hope the rich glasses dude and the narcissist guy get just as big character developments too! 4/5 stars

[bookio]

The Emigrants (1951) by Vilhelm Moberg

Part 1 of 4 books in the so-called 'The Emigrants series' but famous Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg. I randomly picked up all the volumes at the library to try out and got completely swept away. These book are pretty thick, occupying me for days!

We follow many characters, but our main focus is Karl-Oskar and his wife Kristina. They live on his family farm (his parents are too old to work with the harvest anymore but have their own house on the same land where they all live) with cattle and grain fields. Karl-Oskar and his wife lust a lot for each other and Kristina later birth 4 kids with few years apart. However, the earth on their land has started to dry up and the weather is too unpredictable ("punishment from god" according to Kristina), they're no longer able to grow food for themselves, to sell or for the cattle, sending them into starvation and poverty.

Meanwhile, Karl-Oskar's younger brother Robert (Karl-Oskar is around 24, Kristina 22 and Robert is 17) has been forced to work at a neighboring farm as a 'dräng' (farmworker), but his housemaster is physically abusive and Robert dreams of a vagabond lifestyle without a master or forced labour. He shares this dream with a fellow worker named Arvid, who becomes his best friend. Robert has bought a book about "The land of the free" and teaching himself English for a future abroad.

We also get to follow Kristina's uncle Daniel who one day wakes from a dream in which he got visited by god and given the quest to spread his learnings among his peers. His wife and him start to invite less fortunate people to their house in exchange for devotion. Since during this time period, the church and priests had a lot of power in Sweden and took much money from the people, his free preaching wasn't allowed. When the church learn of Daniel's many private hostings, they fetch the police. The priest forbids the household to enter the local church ever again, even threatening jail time or heavy fines.

These three situations merge together as Karl-Oskar is leaning towards seeking farming fortune in another country, America. By this time, Robert has fled from his abusive housemaster and want freedom in America too. His best friend Arvid has also left, but by being fired (after the housemaster's old mom spread a fake rumour that she saw Arvid hump a cow, which was not true) and found work with Daniel instead. Daniel want to move to America too, with his family, so he can spread his preaching without priest license. But Kristina won't bulge.

Not until another difficult winter, to celebrate christmas she has put away porridge to swell for the family to eat later. But one of their daughters Anna, is so hungry she sneaks in and eats of the porridge. She eats half a bowl !! meant to feed the 8 people including the grandparents. When she's caught, her tummy aches and the porridge that wasn't done swelling has started to. She dies withering in pain in her family's arms as her stomach literally burst inside. Kristina decides that she doesn't want any more of her kids dying under such circumstances and agrees to emigrate.

They start selling all their stuff and pack for their travel. Daniel and his family brings Arvid, but also a loyal follower named Ulrika, a loud but beautiful prostitute, and her 16 year old daughter Elin. Kristina immediately looks down on them but stays silent in respect for her uncle. Their lonesome neighbor Jonas-Petter joins them too, but he's really an unnecessary minor character so far, without personality and only shows up when characters need to lift heavy stuff or talk to someone, haha. I think they're about 14 people in total including the kids, leaving their little small town for the unknown. It's a slow read but definitely interesting so far! 4/5 stars

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Unto a Good Land (1954) by Vilhelm Moberg

Book 2 of 4. The boat is much smaller than expected but they manage to get a space together among the crowded passengers under deck. We get a short POV from the captain about how his boat went from being a delivery boat, to an immigrant ride over the years.

The ceiling is low under deck and the only air comes from the small hatch for the ladder up to deck, so the containment get really moist and heavy. During the weeks, people get sick and puke and have diarrhea. Especially during heavy weather when the boat is fighting the waves. But on calmer days, people are allowed on deck to breathe some fresh air, use the kitchen to cook food, wash clothes and such.

It's a looong boat ride, maybe two thirds of the book. The food and water start getting scarce, uncle Daniel is getting more manic with his god worshipping, claiming only sinners will get seasick - and then every passengers get sick including himself, oops! Only prostitute Ulrika is safe, to Kristina's dismay. Daniel's wife later passes from scurvy or something, and have to be buried at sea. Kristina also get seriously sick, a stubborn nose bleed won't stop running and leaving her completely weak. Instead of putting anything in her nose to stop the bleeding, the captain help Karl-Oskar tie her arms and legs (?) to stop the blood flow, what. However after some hour, a blood cloth probably finally put a stop to the red river, but the men are sure the tying her limbs did the deed.

With his wife sick, Karl-Oskar has to do the cooking and care for the children. Everyone think this is super weird but the captain admire him for it, and start respecting him, dreaming of having him on his boat as a strong crewman. Like a fanboy.

Karl-Oskar connects with an elderly couple that has the space next to them. The couple tell them that they're following a letter sent by their son, he has emigrated years ago and is all set up with his own house and farm in Minnesota. Karl-Oskar who has no one in America to aim for asks if his family can go there too, to which the couple agrees and makes a deal that they will travel together and care for each other on the journey there. However one morning, the man of the elderly couple has suddenly passed away. The old lady wife clings to his body when the crewmen comes to clean the body up, she later accepts his passing but turns into a grump.

Karl-Oskar accidentally saw Ulrika wash herself naked one time, and got excited only to then be mopey that he can't have sex with his slowly-recovering wife because of all the witnesses. Yikes, really?

When they finally reach the boat's stop, New York, they have to stay at the harbour for an extra 3 days because of a local cholera outbreak. When every passenger is cleared to be somewhat healthy (most of them were just seasick or had a cold) everyone is allowed to step onto the land. The boat ride took 2,5 months! Our MC group lost 1 person of their company, Daniel's wife, but gained a new one, the old lady with an address.

The captain, having a huge respect for Karl-Oskar, offers them a guide to follow them a long way towards Minnesota. They have to take serval mini-boats and their very first train ride. During the ride they all scream and cry when the train shakes, it's really funny because all the other local riders are superchill. When their guide has done his part, they find themselves a bit lost - and can't speak the language. Only Robert speak very heavily swedish-english to which many have no idea what he's saying. I'm not a fan of Robert btw, yes he's young and wants to be his own master, but he's also know-it-all. Always comes with strange trying-to-get-a-reaction stories that doesn't make any sense, pretends he can translate when he really can't and getting them into trouble. Slowing the whole journey down.

Either way, Karl-Oskar goes into one of the cities alone one night to find milk for his kids. He immediately gets lured onto the wagon of a man who says he has a farm up ahead where he can milk his cows. But during the ride, another man joins them with a knife, to which Karl-Oskar finally understands the situation and runs to a nearby log-holder-thingie. He releases them towards the horse, which gets scared and rides away with the thieves. During this he gets injured and staggers back to his waiting family without the milk. Kristina patches up his wounds.

During heavy rain, a priest finds the family sitting by the harbour and takes them into his household. Even though they have trouble communicating with each other, the priest gives them lots of food and warm beds to sleep on. He sees the old lady's letter and knows the adress they're following and says it's just up ahead, like 1 hour straight walk from there. He promise to send for their heavy luggage to the address via river boat.

The next day the family walks together, enjoying the beautiful nature, having picnic. Kristina connects with prostitute Ulrika and learn of her sad background story (assault sending her into prostitution). Robert makes a failed attempt to hit on Elin.

They arrive at the old lady's son's house. The american wife is scared of them while the son welcomes them with open arms. Women and children get to stay in their house while all the men sets out (after some resting days later) to find their new housing ground. The land is free with only some native americans passing by now and then. After a 2 hour walk, Daniel chooses a place to build his farm. Lonesome neighbor Jonas-Petter builds his house right next to him. But Karl-Oskar walks another hour before settling for a beautiful place close to a river.

Weeks go by, they all finally have their own houses! Kristina isn't too impressed by the build but can imagine the house growing bigger in the future. They even have a small farming spot already. Serval days go by describing them settling down and eating food. Money is basically completely out now though. This is heavily noticeable when a letter arrives at the store 3 hours away (the store puts a list of names on the door for people who has mail to claim, sometimes Karl-Oskar walks all the way there only to read the list) and it costs 50 cents to claim, which the family doesn't have. But their luck comes in the shape of a lost man who asks for directions. He sees that they have a lot of hay and no animals, and asks if he can buy the hay for his cattle. This way the family is able to buy food and claim the letter. They happily read from their family and friends back in Sweden. Kristina later births their fifth child in their new house, with the help of Ulrika.

The book ends with Robert, who also lives with the family, out wandering in nature til he notices a native american sitting in a tree. He gets all paranoid in his racism and shoots the unknown man. He tells his brother Karl-Oskar about the encounter, lying that he heard "arrows being shot at his direction" but when Karl-Oskar goes to investigate, not a single arrow is found. The brothers argue and Robert decides to take the next boat to become a free vagabond. His best friend, Arvid joins him.

Just as the first book, it's a very very slow read. I was luckily in the mood for old times survival story so i ate it up quickly though! Sadly i feel i'm kinda getting tired of the characters now, so we'll see if I'll read book 3 and 4 too, hmm. 4/5 stars

[bookio]

Dinosaur Hour! vol 1 (2009) by Hitoshi Shioya

Oh what a hidden gem!! Thank you library! <3 Such a fun dino manga, short stories with different herds, contains slapstick humor of everyday life. The periods, creatures and jokes are a ridiculously hilarious mix of modern references, it reminds me of those 4-panel mangas or series like Osomatsu-san, soo good! 5/5 stars

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The Finder (2022) by Anna Dunér

Aww, such a sweet story, it definitely played on my heartstrings. 😭 Per is 67 years old and only has 1½ lung after spending his younger years working with demolishing houses with asbestos. He now lives alone on health benefits. After visiting a temporary pop-up event held at the library, where they displayed interesting and fun "lost & found" items they saved over the years, Per decides to become a "finder".

A finder take long walks, serval times a day, and picks up discarded items. Trash go into the garbage, bottles to recycling, while clothing and other misc items he keep for himself or wait til someone comes to claim it. Often he puts up a note around the area he found the item, and later get money or sweets by the claimer as thanks. But most of the time, lost items are either not worth the hassle or not important at all. Per's apartment start to turn into a hoarder home of lost things. He imagines himself living at that fun pop-up event the library held, being appreciated and observed by others.

Per's life is so lonely, it feels almost poetic when he mentions all the different people he approach in search for social interaction (like holding up the line 'cause he can't stop talking to the cashier) and their different reactions.

But suddenly, in another chapter, we watch from the POV of a young woman. She's a single mother that is just about to start working, but unable to get a babysitter. She remembers a man her mother dated when she was young. The man basically raised her and she always felt he was like a father to her. But she never saw him again after they broke up. She's able to find his information online and calls him. Per, being very lonely, becomes full with emotion. The woman wants him to meet his "grandchild" and they plan a day to go eat chinese food together.

Which they do! But Per pays for the bill, i'm not sure how to feel about that but he's happy. He actually holds a beautiful speech about being a finder that always wished to be found himself 😭 buhu, so innocent! Anyway, the grandchild loves him and the woman starts telling him the truth, the proposal of being a "family" again if he babysits the kid while she works. Per feel a little uncomfortable about being used like this but is also so lonely he feel this is a must.

He invites them over for fika, and the woman is horrified by the hoarder house. She definitely don't see the items value like he does. When the grandchild accidentally prick himself on an old discarded tin can and Per tries to stop the bleeding with a gross handkerchief (never washed), the woman becomes so distressed that they leave.

Days pass by and Per is completely heartbroken, 100% believes he's a BAD PERSON 😭😭 He decides to clean his apartment, discarding all the items in exchange for his new found family. He writes a letter apologizing for everything, for being a bad dad and a bad grandpa. Honey noooo! When the letter arrive 2 days later, the woman calls to apologize for her behavior and confess that she's afraid her kid will get expectations of him and be disappointed like she experienced when she was young. He promise to not run away.

They meet again, his apartment is clean and they seem happy, visiting the library together. Per can't help himself telling the staff about his grandchild, and they're happy for him too. 4/5 stars, my poor heart.