Kirjanurkkaus

Intohimo oli kaapannut hänet kokonaan valtoihinsa. Hän tuskin söi, ei nukkunut enää, vaan uneksi vain päivät pitkät, yötkin läpeensä kirjoista. Kirjat olivat hänen ainoa ajatuksensa. Hän haaveili kaikesta siitä jumalallisesta, ylevästä ja kauniista, mitä ruhtinaallisen kirjaston uumeniin voisi kätkeytyä. Muutimme tässä jokin aika sitten uuteen kotiin uudessa kaupungissa, ja pakkomielteisestä kirjojen hamstraamisesta kertovan tarinan lukeminen sopi muuton kanssa yhteen paremmin kuin hyvin. :) Koska muutto tapahtui sukulaisten ja tuttavien ystävällisellä avustuksella, pohdimme pitkään ja hartaasti, kuinka tekisimme järjettömien kirjapinojemme roudaamisesta uuteen asuntoon mahdollisimman helppoa ja vaivatonta. Muuttajakaartin toiveena oli pieniä, mahdollisimman kevyitä laatikoita . Mutta kun pakattavia kirjoja on lähemmäs 20 hyllymetriä (!), niin niitä pieniä laatikoita tuli sitten melkoinen pino: yli 30 boksia, joissa oli alun perin A4-paperia (olivat kyllä kestäviä!). Mutta kirjat s...

She did not believe in witchcraft, but she had experience of her own that there was such a thing as magick. Magick is a method, John Dee had said, no more, no less than a means of bringing supernatural forces under human control. She felt she was in danger. She would have to use what methods she could to save herself. It would not be the first time. Jeanette Winterson + a gothic novella about witches in 17th century England = a combination I just couldn't resist.  :) The Daylight Gate takes place during the reign of James I, a king obsessed with ridding his kingdom of two evils: Catholics and witches. The novella is based on the so-called Pendle witch trials . Alice Nutter is a wealthy, independent and influential noblewoman who owns Malkin Tower on Pendle Hill, where witches are said to gather. On Good Friday, the local authorities interrupt a gathering of thirteen people. Twelve of them are poor peasants, led by Old Demdike, a woman who is said to have sold her soul t...

Good God, thought Oliver, as he saw her smile. She thinks I'm him! And all at once he knew it was so. He was Dr Norman Wilfred. He saw his life as Dr Norman Wilfred stretching in front of him like a golden pathway into the rising sun. He had no choice but to walk along that pathway, towards the warmth, towards the light. So he did, pulling his suitcase behind him. Have you ever considered picking up a random suitcase off of the baggage carousel at an airport? Or thought of impersonating one of the people whose exotic and mysterious names are held up on the signs in the arrivals lounge? This novel just might inspire you to do so... :) Oliver Fox, an impulsive young man who is always on the lookout for adventure, trouble or both, arrives on the Greek island of Skios, planning to stay at a villa with a girl he has met only once before ("for five minutes"). On the same flight arrives Dr Norman Wilfred, a distinguished scientist who has come to Skios to give a lecture...