A book with a love triangle

Siiri Enoranta: Nokkosvallankumous

Pages: 445

I'm laughing at myself for reading this one as my "love triangle" book, since it's so much more than just a love triangle. My fiancée made me read this after she had bawled her eyes out because of it and I promised to give this a try last year. I think this was in November and I read this again in February. Because I fell in love. 

There are some aspects of the book I still don't like, for example the writing style. Not in the whole book, but in the parts told by the other main character, Vayu. The way something is emphasized by repeating it for at least three times got on my nerves five pages into the book, but then I got used to it. It also helps if you remind yourself that the character is supposed to be a 14-year-old boy.

This book actually caused me to have a reader's block - I couldn't touch other books for a while after reading this one for the first time. I have to admit I was skeptical about this at first, but I was proved wrong so many times while reading... And the ending surprised me, which is always a bonus. It also left me wanting for more, which is an even bigger plus for the book. 

A trilogy

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games

Pages: 374, 391, 390

Did you really expect me to read the Lord of the Rings? I have to admit I thought about it, but since I'm in a bit of a hurry with my reading and the first book of the trilogy is so slow, I decided not to. Me and Tolkien just weren't meant to be. So I chose the Hunger Games. I've read the first two books before, but I think that was before the first movie came out? I've also seen the first two films, but I don't remember much of the second one.

I don't know where to begin. I always thought the series were meant for younger readers, but the ending of the final book changed that. Or actually, the thing that happened before the ending, since the actual ending made me want to kick something. I would have been happy if things had gone differently. I also feel like I should watch the rest of the movies (are they all out yet?).

I don't know, there's not much I have to say about the series. It was easy to read (I read half of the second book and the third one in a night), some parts were funny and some were not. Some characters I loved, some I hated and some I didn't care about. Now that I have this behind me, I might not touch those books ever again, but I'll definitely read more dystopia in the future.

A nonfiction book

Kirste Aikio, Suvi West, Esa Salminen: Märät Säpikkäät

Pages: 260

It's been a while since I finished this, so the details are getting hazy. Anyway, Märät Säpikkäät gives the reader a look into the culture of the Sami people, the indigenous folk of Scandinavia. I really don't know what to say about this. It was a funny read, it kept me up all night and I'm a bit wiser now.

A book turned into a movie

Astrid Lindgren: Ronja Ryövärintytär

Pages: 240

I was actually thinking about reading this as my book from childhood, but the truth is I can't remember if I've ever read this as a kid. Now I have and I'm even more convinced this book didn't play a big role in me growing up. If it had, I think I would not have been the child I was.

Anyway, Ronja Ryövärintytär (or Ronia the Robber's daughter in English) is apparently some kind of classic. It's written by Astrid Lindgren, a Swedish children's author. Like I said, I don't remember this book playing a big role in my childhood (I do, however, remember owning a board game based on it), but I remember my mom reading me some of her other works at bedtime. I haven't touched them since (especially not Emil of Lönneberga, that book scarred me for life), but I can still remember Pippi Longstocking's full name. So in a way it was nostagic to read this.

In a way this was a bad book turned into a movie. I do have the movie on DVD, but I've ever watched it. I started it once in Swedish, but it just didn't work out with my attention span. I am willing to try again, but this time with Finnish subtitles.

A book you can finish in a day

Miika Nousiainen: Vadelmavenepakolainen

Pages: 269

I wasn't sure if this should be my book I finished in a day or a book turned in to a movie, but I chose the first one for reasons I'm still not sure of. It's also a book I never thought I'd read.

Vadelmavenepakolainen (Raspberry-boat refugee) is the story of a Finnish man who thinks he should have been born Swedish (raspberry boats are a type of Swedish candy. They look like this and taste like plastic). The book has recently been turned into a movie and I think I would have enjoyed the movie more. The book wasn't bad, I don't read bad books, but it just wasn't my thing. I do understand why some people like it, though.

A book of short stories

Johanna Sinisalo: Kädettömät kuninkaat ja muita häiritseviä tarinoita

Pages: 482

Where do I start? Sinisalo has been one of my favourite authors since I first read Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi (eng. Troll - a love story OR Not before sunset) in 2007 (or something). I just love the way she writes and Kädettömät kuninkaat has given me the creeps every time, no matter how many times I've read it. And now I have to admit I've actually never read this book in full, there have been two short stories I've always skipped, but last night I finally read them. I liked them, but they still couldn't beat my favourites.

Now that I mentioned my favourites... My favourite short stories are the ones that scared me the most, Etiäinen and Me vakuutamme sinut.

In the Finnish folklore Etiäinen is actually a phenomenom of knowing ahead if a guest or a family member is arriving soon and the story tells of a woman whose husband has a really strong spirit that triggers a strong etiäinen. I don't even know why I find this so scary, but it's most likely the thought of seeing shapes in the windows. An etiäinen can be a sound or something visual, and creepy things in windows are one of my fears. Ironically, whenever I read the story, I feel like I can sense those things for a few days afterwards. I swear I heard my gf's keys in the lock this morning a moment before she actually arrived.

Me vakuutamme sinut brings the Cthulhu mythos back to life. I don't know if I find this scary just because when I was first reading it, my CD player started to play the weird "moo"-sound that's in the end if Sonata Arctica's Unia or because it really was frightening, but I was still scared shitless and the memory stuck. I love books that are set in our time, but there's just something that's really wrong, so no wonder this story is just for me.