There must be a word for an addiction to books, as there's a word for every other addiction. Bibliomania perhaps? Let me look it up. Yes, there is a term--bibliomania, and I don't much like the description. Surely I'm not so bad as that? Much more preferable is the term bibliophilia. It's described here and I think it is far more fitting for what I feel.
"The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often amassing a large and specialized collection. Bibliophiles do not necessarily want to possess the books they Love; an alternative would be to admire them in old libraries."
I think that sums up how I feel pretty nicely. And as you can see I do admire them in libraries (old or new) and borrow them quite frequently. Whew. I was getting a little worried there for a moment. I know I am not the only one to bring home a stack of library books every week or so, but I do worry sometimes about it as my piles have been a little overly enthusiastic considering my limited reading time. I do want to read each and every one at least. My intentions are good, but as always my free time is lacking.
This week seems to be heavy on crime titles, but I've been very much in the mood lately for mysteries and gritty crime novels, so the timing is perfect. I noted down Karin Alvtegen's Shadow when Kim first wrote about it last year. Unfortunately it's still not yet been published over here, so I broke down and requested it via interlibrary loan. Now, I do have some of Alvtegen's other books lined up, but you know how one appeals just a tad bit more than the others? I've just started and am trying to sort out characters at the moment, but I fully expect it to grab me soon.
Daniel Kehlmann's Measuring the World is another interlibrary loan book (yes, I am quite a fan of ILL). Kehlmann, an Austrian, is said to be hugely popular in Europe. This book sold more than 750,000 copies and was on the German bestseller list for more than a year. It's about two Enlightenment-era scientists, and the Washington Post calls it more zany than brainy. I'm very curious about it. Has anyone read him?
I've also already started James Thompson's Snow Angels, which is set in Lapland, Finland (that would be just inside the Arctic Circle!). Thompson is actually an American who has been living in Finland for the past decade. I think winter has sufficiently faded now from memory that I will be able to enjoy such a chilly (and maybe even chilling) story.
I believe Linda Grant won the Orange Prize for The Clothes on their Backs and was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I like the sound of this--"Vivien Kovacs, a sensitive bookish girl grows up sealed off from the world by her timid Hungarian refugee parents..." It sounds like it has a lot of potential.
I've seen Karin Fosse's The Indian Bride on recommendation and 'best of' lists. More Nordic crime, and again with a Finnish setting. And to round things out, and I didn't actually plan on all my books (mysteries anyway) to be set in Scandinavia, I have K.O. Dahl's The Last Fix. This time a murder is being investigated in Oslo, Norway. Dahl is a fairly new author and this is the third book in the series.
In the past I really never had a great desire to travel to Scandinavia, but I have to say it has become a destination at the top of my wishlist of places to go! Despite the rampant crime (or at least the number of crime novels coming out of Scandinavia), I've heard that in terms of living conditions places like Sweden and Denmark are high on the list.
I only wish this could be true, but I will say it anyway--wouldn't it be a perfect weekend to get comfy on the sofa with a good book in hand, forgetting all other worries for a few hours?