2003 - 04 (partially)

Fiction
Gogol, N.V. Портрет (Portrait) - Gallimard, 1998 - 229 p. [December 2003]

Leskov, N.S. Рассказы (Short Stories) - Л, "Дет.лит.", 1965, 198 с. [December 2004]

Non-Fiction
Bradley, J.; Morzac L. L'Europe de L'Est. La Voie de la démocratie. - Editions Gamma, editions Saint-Loup, 1992 [December 2003]

2003

Non-Fiction
Stelle; Gaillard L'Express. Ainsi va la France - CLE, 1985; 185 p. [January]
Good selecion of texts from L'Express, even though they are from early 1980s. Difficult words and idioms are explained.

Fransk kurs (French Course) - Linguaphone [January]
I brushed it up. One of the best French textbooks I know. The version I have is based on the Swedish language.

Beston, Henry. Река Святого Лаврентия (Original title: The Saint Lawrence) - Москва, Мысль, 1985 (abridged) - 216 p. [January]
A book on the history, cities and nature of Quebec written by an American visitor in the 1930s. A bit of too much of abstract descriptions of nature (some of which I skipped), but also interesting observations on the the mentality and way of life of French-speaking Canadians.

Bolles, Richard N. What Color is Your Parachute? (1996 edition) / - 10 Speed Press Berkeley (CA), 1995 - 480 p. [January]
The best book on carreer planning and job hunting I've read. Uses so-called "creative approach". Extensive lists of further resources. I'm going to study the updated version in more detail.

Gilbert, B. et al. Québec, une ville - Montreal: L'Empreinte, 1984 - 127p. [February]
I borrowed it from the French cultural centre in Moscow. The book is about the past and present of the city where I'll go soon. It is illustrated with many interesting photos.

Williams, L.; Viseur, J.-F. La famine et la faim (Guérir notre planète). Editions Gamma, Paris, 1993, 45 p. [May]

2002

Fiction
Mérimé, Prosper. Nouvelles [4 nouvelles] - M: 2000, 256 p. [January]

Maurois, André. Nouvelles [April]

Modiano, Patrick. Un cirque passe - Kharkov: 1999 [June]

Guy de Maupassant. La Confession et d'aures nouvelles [11 nouvelles] - M: 1998, 128p. [July]

Orwell, George. 1984 [August]

Pushkin, A. Руслан и Людмила (Ruslan and Ludmila) [September]

Japrison, Sébastien. La course du lièvre à travers les champs - Daoel, 1988; 155 p. (+ film) [November]

Non-fiction
Эйли, Раф и Валентина. Иммиграция в Северную Америку [Immigration to North America] - M: 1997; 112 p. [January]
Useful info about the style of life in Canada.

Марченко, Анатолий. Мои показания [My testimony] - M: 1991; 268 p. [June]
A vivid and forceful personal account of the Soviet GULAG of the 1960s (published in the West in 1969). The author spent 19.5 years in Soviet camps and prisons; there he also died in 1986 (i.e. already during Gorbachov's rule).

Melin J., Johansson A., Hedenborg S. История Швеции [original title: Sveriges Historia] - M: 2002; 400 p. [August]
So many events! I'll have to re-read it to better digest it. At least I've got an overview. The thematic inserts are particularly interesting. The major differences with Russia's history are that the king's power was controlled, most of the time there was a consensus in the ruling elite, and peasants participated in rule of the state (they had their fraction in Parliament).

Швеция (Sweden. A Guide-Book) - M: Polyglott/W, 2001; 96 p. [Sept.]
Well-written and very informative, but the text has lots of misprints and the book breaks into separate sheets before you finish reading it.

Joubert, J-L. La francophonie - CLE Int'l, 1997, 64p. [October]
In particular, there's an interesting description of the Canadian variant of the French language

Vlady, Marina. Владимир или Прерванный полет (Original title: Vladimir ou le vol arreté) - M: Проресс, 1989; 175 p. [November]
Marina Vlady's memoirs about her life with Russian poet and singer V. Vysotsky.

Graham, Thomas E. Jr. Russia's Decline and Uncertain Recovery - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2002; 103 p. [December]
Contents: 1. Misreading Russia; 2. The Emergence of the Russian State; 3. The Crumbling of the Russian State; 4. Putin's Russia; 5. Russian Strategic Weakness; 6. The United States and Russia; 7. New Possibilities Grounded in Realism. (For me chapters 5-6 were particularly interesting.) This publication is available at www.ceip.org/pubs.

Восточная Канада (Eastern Canada. A Guide-Book) - M: Polyglott/W, 2002; 96 p. [December]
Well-written and very informative book, but badly bound.

Matthews. Canada - Coombe Books (UK), 1989; ca. 60 p. [December]
Contains mainly photos, which are beautiful.

2001

Fiction
Goncharov. Обломов (Oblomov) - Moscow: Detskaya literatura, 1982; 560 p. [January]

Remarque, E. Три товарища (Three Comrades)

Lagerlöf, Selma. Перстень Лёвеншёльдов - Москва: Панорама, 1993 - 576 с. (с. 5 - 84)

Gardel, Jonas. Fru Björks öden och aventyr (Mrs. Bjork's Fate and Adventure) - Stockholm: Norstedts, 1990, 226 p. [April]
Very well-written, shows the Swedish mentality and situations. But I think the main character with whom the author sympathises is too egoistic and destructive.

About 15 short stories in French

Non-fiction
Krupnick, A. Поиск в Интернете (Search in the Internet) - SPB, Piter, 2001, 272 p., in Russian.
Very useful and well-written. Strategies of search, detailed description of English and Russian-language search engines, other search resources. [March]

Polyakov,V.; Yanovskaya Yu. Как получить хорошую работу в новой России (How to get a good job in the new Russia) - M: InfraM, 1995 - 176 p., in Russian.
Strategies of job-hunting adapted to the Russian realities. A useful book, though written before the Internet era. [April]

Hunt, Ken. Эти странные австралийцы (Оriginal title: The Xenophobe's Guide to the Aussies) - M: Egmont Rossiya, 2000, 72 p. (translated to Russian)
A humorous book about Australians. Good reading on a commuter train. [March]

Berlin, Peter. Эти странные шведы (Оriginal title: The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swedes) - M: Egmont Rossiya, 2000, 96 p. (transl. to R.)
A humourous book about the Swedes. Most of the book is well-written. The problem is to see where the author writes the truth and where he exagerates to make a joke.

Farrell, Mark British Life and Institutions - Obninsk: Chancerel (UK)/Titul (Russia), 2000; 144 p.
An excellent text about today's UK. All aspects of British society are covered, plus a cassette with live interviews. As if I'd visited Britain. [April]

Hamm, M. Здоровое питание с овощами и фруктами (Healthy nutrition with vegetables and fruits) - M, Sigma-Press, 1997, 96 p., translated to Russian. [April]
A poorly structured and unclear book, I read it quickly. The main idea: eat lots of vegetables, fruits and foods with fibre. Food-stuffs should be varied.

Rudinshtein, M. Как найти высокополачиваемую работу с помощью Интернета (How to find a well-paid job using Internet) - M, 1999.; 192 p. [April]
A hastily written and published book, but it contains many useful addresses.

Soloviev, V.M. Слово о России (A word about Russia) - M, Russkij Yazyk. Kursy, 2000, 190 p. [June]
History of Russia for foreigners learning Russian. Well written, many facts that I didn't know.

Custine, de. Николаевская Россия (Original title: La Russie en 1839) - Москва: Политиздат, 1990; 352 p.
Excellent book. Russian has not changed much since that time!

Hall, Eugene J. The Language of Mechanical Engineering in English - Prentice Hall, 1992; 101 p.

St John, Maggie-Jo. Marketing (Professional Reading Skills Series) - Prentice Hall, 1992; 92 p.

2000

Fiction
Tolstoy, L. Aнна Каренина (Anna Karenina) - Moscow, 1978 [February]

Strinberg, A. (bearb. Lönneborg, A.) Hemsöborna - Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1994; 70 s. (adapted) [May]

Non-fiction
Gunn-Britt Sundström. Svär inte så förbannat! - Almqvist & Wiksell: Stockholm, 1984. 49 s. [March]
Swear words in Swedish (for young people)

Sundström G-B. Is i magen, eld i baken. Vad menas? - Bonniers, 1993 [February]
Swedish idioms

Remnick, David. Resurrection. The Struggle for a New Russia. - Random House. N.Y., 1997. 412 p. [July]
Excellent account of Russian internal politics (1991 - 1996). See my summary of the book.

Alming Ch, Bimer J. 100 frågor och svar om Internet - Bonnier/Sperio, 1997 [February] (looked through)

Canada och Arktis (Huvudredaktör: A. Rodgers.) (Världen idag) - Bonniers A/S, 1994 [April] (looked through)
Canada

Hubinette, Lars. Ord och inga visor (looked through)
Swedish idioms

Harper, Timothy. Moscow Madness. Crime, Corruption, and One Man's Pursuit Of Profit in the New Russia. - McGraw-Hill. N.Y., 1999, 270 p. [August]
A biography of Rick Grajirena who founded a beer importing company in Russia. A very useful book to understand Russian business ethics.

1999 (partially)

Fiction
Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol - Octopus Books, London, 1980, 622p. (16-102 p.) [Dec. 98 - Jan. 99]
Summary: Scrooge’s mean and misery reputation is well-known amongst his acquaintances and no-one suffers more from his penny-pinching ways than Bob Cratchit, his ill-used clerk. But on Christmas Eve, old Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Marley, his late partner in business, who shows him terrifying visions of the past, present and future including one of what his own death will be like unless he is quick to mend his ways.

Non-fiction
Logan, John. Kristendomen - Bonnier Utbildning, 1995, 48 s.

Tallerud, Berndt. Fakta om när Sverige blev Sverige - A&W, 1993, 47 s.

1998 (partially)

Fiction
Salinger, J.D. Catcher in the Rye - Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1979 - 248 p. [November]
My summary: Written from the point of view of a 15-year-old boy, Holden. He has just been expelled from college. He spends the last day is the dorm, where he has a fight with a roommate, then goes to New York, stays there in a hotel, meets his dates and other acquaintances from college. He stays away from home, because he does not want to tell his parents that he has ‘got the ax’. He also has a difficulty to adjust to the society in which he lives; for him most of the people that he sees around are ‘phony’. His girl friends do not understand him also, so his sexual life ‘stinks’. He has no desire to pursue an established career track. When his small sister, the only person with whom he gets along well and whom he eventually comes home to see, asks him what he wants to be, he replies that he wants to watch small children playing in a field of rye and catch them if they fall off the edge of the cliff (that’s why the book got its title).