Books!

I've been surrounded with books most of the day. This morning I went first to the Economics Library to renew my library card and inquire about the whereabouts of a couple of books I had located through the online catalog and knew they were on reserve - in the "Undergraduate and newspaper" library. That was across the street, and the first librarian kindly called ahead so the books were waiting at the circulation desk when I walked in. I read them in the Reading Room (no phones, laptops, food or even water allowed) for a while, and then tried to find out how long before my next visit I should request them so that they would be available to take out when "On site." I was instructed to phone and make my request known -- for Visiting Professors lots of nice things happen!

This afternoon Jack and I went to the Gothenburg Book Fair -- and annual event where all Swedish publishers have their new releases (and other books) and many authors are present to

give readings, interviews, book signings and whatever. It was held in a huge convention hall and was absolutely packed -- both with books and with people! Not too many books were in English, but if we stopped to inquire about something the staff at the booth could explain it in English. I did purchase a graphic novel (in English) at the Engeleksa Mobelhuset.

On our way home we took a detour on tram 3 to the Sjofartmuseet-Akvariet (Maritime Museum and aquarium) located by the famous statue of the Fisherman's Wife who is forever staring out to sea waiting for her husband to return. Both the museum and aquarium part had excellent exhibits on the local history and marine environment with very good information in English. I even learned about Lasse Dahlquist's use of "Swenglish" in his songs -- bust can't find any references is to it through Google!