In amongst my normal RSS fest and occasional work-related reading, I’ve actually been doing some reading for pure pleasure over the last few weeks.
The main reason is child-proofing the house for a one-year-old who is learning to walk, throw things, and hurl himself at every possible object. Which has meant moving as many things as possible to positions outside of the main toddler thoroughfares.
And as a closet librarian, rediscovering probably 200+ books has meant that I couldn’t possibly put them into the loff/charity shop/ebay without quickly skimming through one last time to check I remember them correctly.
Added to that, I’ve also been given a couple of books on Sweden by friends and family who presume that I still need help despite being in a relationship with a Swede for decade…
At the moment I’m engrossed in Fishing in Utopia: Sweden and the Future That Disappeared selected by the aggregator of Sunday broadsheet book reviews known as my mother. It’s interesting to read about the Sweden that existed before I ever became aware of it, and puts more and more of the current country into perspective – which is where the shorter and skimmable In The Secret Garden of Sweden comes in handy.
Meanwhile I’m also making the most of reading to my son at bedtimes, with the exploits of Alfons Aberg improving my Swedish at the same time as entertaining him.
And the original Swedish Kurt Wallander is making an appearance on BBC 3 or 4 tonight.
No real point to make, or social media/publishing/web 2.0 connection. Although the fact one of my new colleagues owns a house in Sweden, and the new office is right by the Nordic Bakery in London is showing some type of subconscious trend.
on a bit of a whim, and I’m glad I did. I’d never spent much time considering the Virgin brands until now, and it turns out they’re an excellent case study for many of the principles the social media world are espousing. And considering Brand has build 8 billion-dollar companies from scratch, there’s some pretty persuasive proof!
