October - the dirt month

We’ve come to October, which concludes my series of Finnish month names. I started it last year in November, the month of the dead, simply because I found that name intriguing... but ended up writing a short post about each month.

And now for October, or, in Finnish, lokakuu. ’Loka’ means mud or dirty, wet snow. The month has also been known as likakuu – ’lika’ means dirt. Where such a name comes from is rather obvious: it often rains in October, and everything is muddy and dirty. Or, if there is snow, it usually turns to grey slush. No snow here so far, but it’s still early October...

But I don’t really want to post pictures of mud and dirty, slushy snow, so here’s one from last weekend instead. ;)

Friday!

Right. I was not going to do another “Friday reads” post, but I couldn’t resist!

First, because a novel titled “Pyöveli” (“Executioner”) just seemed so perfect for a bookish still life that I had to play with it and snap a picture, and, second, because I’m so thrilled to finally get ahold of this novel. It’s set in the 17^th century Finland, which alone is fascinating. But what's more, it’s written by Anneli Kanto, whose previous 17^th century novel ("Piru, kreivi, noita ja näyttelijä" - "Devil, Count, Witch and Actor") I quite liked and whose "Veriruusut" ("Blood Roses") was nothing short of excellent. So it is with great expectations that I start reading this (probably rather grim) book.

If everything goes according to plans, however, there won’t be much time to read this weekend... which means I’d better start now! ;)

Back to Manderley

I read “Rebecca” when I was a teenager, and I remember hardly anything about it. I’ve been meaning to read it again – it is a classic, after all – but somehow never got around to doing it.

But then the local library had a book sale, and I found this copy. True, it’s just a paperback, nothing special about it really, but I was attracted to the sort of misty blue and grey cover... and the price was just one (1) €! This is why I get so excited about those book sales! :D I’ve been saving it... but now it seems to me that this book might be a good fit for August, when the nights are getting darker and the days, it seems, a bit chilly... so I'm all settled for a cosy Friday night.

Friday reads

It's Friday night... all right, fine; afternoon... and I think it's time to relax with a book. I found this novel in the library; I didn't even read the text on the cover, I just saw the word "Shakespeare" and I had to have it. Luckily, it was the library, not a book store. ;)

Last week, it was warm and sunny, and I spent the Friday afternoon with some heavy reading.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone! :)