Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

LinnBooks

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte was a book I bought solely because it had a pretty cover. I had never heard about it before and I barely had time to read the blurb on the back of the book at the time. But the cover was so pretty!

I was glad too see on goodreads that my coworker had read the book, finished it one weekend and given it a good score. And so I talked to her the next day at work and she recommended it saying it was a easy and fun read and a stand alone novel. This sounded perfect to me and I was happy to start reading it.

In Four Dead Queens we meet Keralie, a thief/pickpocket who on accident discovers the memories someone murdering the four queens of the four realms/regions. Memory chips can record memories, and this is big news that no one is talking about. What is going on? At the same time we meet the queens and the upset state when one of them gets murdered.

I loved that this book comes with a map even though it is a stand alone novel. It even has portraits of the four queens!

I really enjoyed reading this book. Scholte has done a great job combining fantasy,sci-fi and murder mystery. The book pulls you in immediately and the pace keeps up all throughout the book. I enjoyed this book and can really recommend it!

Kärlek, hat och andra filter av Samira Ahmed

LinnBooks

Jag köpte den här boken i en av Lavender Lits bokboxar förra sommaren. Omslaget är så vackert och bokens sammanfattning lät bra, så jag kunde inte låta bli att köpa boxen. Med i boxen fick jag också ett fint bokmärke, ett ljus och en klämma och en poster. En riktigt lyckad bokbox!

Själva boken var väldigt bra! Den var lätt att läsa och jag slukade den under en helg. Maya som boken handlar om är muslim och bor i USA. Maya går sista året på high school och vi får följa lite klassiska tonårsbryderier kring kärlek och vad man ska göra sedan. Men händelser i samhället där Mary bor gör att verkligheten vänds upp och ned. Jag tycker att den här boken är väldigt bra och viktig att läsa. Rekommenderas varmt!

Beskrivning av boken från Lavender Lit.

Maya Aziz är sjutton år och född i USA, ändå känns det som om hon lever i två världar. Hon är kluven mellan att följa sina indiska föräldrars önskan – att börja på college i närheten av deras hem i Chicago, och så småningom gifta sig med en trevlig muslimsk kille som hennes mamma tycker passar – och att följa sin egen dröm. I så fall skulle hon flytta till New York och plugga på filmskola. Och kanske börja dejta den där killen som hon har varit kär i så länge.

Vad Maya inte vet är att det finns andra svårigheter som ligger helt utom hennes kontroll. En terrorattack drabbar staden hon bor i, och det visar sig att den huvudmisstänkte delar efternamn med Maya och hennes familj. Människorna i deras närhet blir plötsligt fyllda av fruktan och hat, och Mayas liv förändras till oigenkännlighet.

 

 

Nightingale pullover

LinnKnitting

This beautiful pullover/sweater is designed by Norah Gaughan. It can be found in Pompom Quarterly’s 2018 winter issue.

I decided to knit it in a light green colour, but I’m very tempted to make another one as well in a silver-grey.

 

The pattern was easy to follow and the cables look a lot more daunting than they are. The chart is large because it isn’t a pattern that repeat itself. But if you just keep track of which row you are on, the pattern isn’t hard to follow.  The pattern is the same on left and right side of the middle. And the back and front are the same as well. I saw a few mistakes in the chart but they’re easy to work around since both sides are the same, except for a lower neckline on the front piece.

Because I knit loosely I did a swatch first to measure my gauge. Sure enough my gauge was off with the recommended needles (4,5 mm) and so I switched to 4 mm needles instead. I knitted a size 2 without any other modifications. It fits me very well and I enjoy it a lot. It’s warm and cosy at the same time as it looks elegant.

The pattern has a recommended cast on method, but I tried and didn’t get it right so I just did my normal cast on method. The podcast Fruity Knitting has made a few short tutorials of techniques in this pattern and I found them very helpful. You can watch them in episode 71 of Fruity Knitting Podcast.

 

All the pieces are knitted separately and later sewn together. I’m not very good yet with sewing together the pieces but I’m doing my best. This time I was very careful with the puffed sleeves and marked the middle of the shoulder as a reference point. I’m very happy with how they turned out.

 

 

I used yarn from Ullcentrum Öland, one of my favourite yarn companies. I used the colour light green on white. This yarn is very nice to knit with and the cable pattern pops out really well. I can really recommend this yarn and it is made from 100% swedish wool. They come in the most amazing colours and I love the ones that are dyed on a grey base (gotland wool). This one is on a white base so it feels slightly more rustic in touch and is made from a variations of sheep wool.

 

 

Competence by Gail Carriger

LinnBooks

Competence is the third book in the Custard Protocol series by Gail Carriger. I am in love with this series! With a big L.

I love Gail Carriger’s witty and funny writing. This book, as well as the previous two, is full of adventure and breaks for tea. I found it delightful from the beginning to the end. This book focuses on the siblings Primrose and Percy and I find it to be a smooth transition from Rue as the main character.  I really enjoy getting to know and understand Percy and his peculiar ways. And I did love Prim and her love interests in this book! All in all, a great book!

 

Riddari Cardigan

LinnKnitting

I decided to follow along and join the Kammebornia and Järbo knit along for the Riddari Sweater. The pattern was offered for free during the knit-along and I used the English version of the pattern. You can buy it on ravelry or from jarbo.se.

I knit loose. I always seem to do. So I decided to knit in size XS/S. It is a men’s pattern so I figured a size XS with my loose knitting would end up being a size S when finished. And it did (maybe even  a size M?).

I used four colours.

Red Garnet Heather (1409)

Ash Heather (56)

White

Black heather ( 5)

I cast on for size S, to make room for my hips. I then increased and created a waist shaping (ever so lightly). I aimed for being at the number of stitches for XS by the time I got to the armpits. Then I knitted the yoke in size XS. I knitted the sleeves in size XS as well.

I love this cardigan and it has really served me well during this cold winter!

Infernal by Cheryl Low

LinnBooks

Yes, another book by Cheryl Low. I can easily say she is one of my favorite authors! Infernal is a horror story, so quite different from the Crowns & Ash series, and it really shows how good Cheryl Low’s writing is. She does not only write fantasy well, but also modern day horror stories.

This book starts out with a mystery island and a shark expedition. But not all is what it seems… I can’t really explain a lot more because I don’t want to give it away.  In short: I loved this book! It was suspenseful all the way to the end. And the end!! Loved it!! Do read it!!

 

Legend av Stephanie Garber

LinnBooks

Jag fick möjligheten att få ett recensionsexemplar av boken Legend av Stephanie Garber. Det här är uppföljaren till Caraval som jag läste förra året (läs den här).

 

I Caraval får vi följa Scarlett på ett äventyr för att rädda sin syster Tella. I den här boken är det istället Tella som är huvudpersonen. Det tycker jag är ett bra val av författaren och det är roligt att få följa med en ny person, som ändå är så sammanknuten med Scarlett som vi fick följa i boken innan.

 

Det här var en väldigt händelserik bok och jag ville hela tiden fortsätta läsa och se hur det skulle gå. Jag tycker till och med att den var bättre än den första boken. Det ska bli roligt att läsa nästa bok när den kommer ut nästa år!