Friday 31 July 2015

Book Quotes of the Week


"Books have to be read (worse luck it takes so long a time). It is the only way of discovering what they contain. A few savage tribes eat them, but reading is the only method of assimilation revealed to the West." E.M. Forster

"Today a reader, tomorrow a leader." Margaret Fuller

"Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind." James Russell Lowell

"Children don't read to find their identity, to free themselves from guilt, to quench the thirst for rebellion or to get rid of alienation. They have no use for psychology.... They still believe in God, the family, angels, devils, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and other such obsolete stuff.... When a book is boring, they yawn openly. They don't expect their writer to redeem humanity, but leave to adults such childish illusions." Isaac Bashevis Singer

"My library is an archive of longings." Susan Sontag

Find more book quotes here.

Thursday 30 July 2015

Photo ABC

I am a member of a photo group where we get a prompt for every day and have to take an appropriate picture. Because we had the alphabet one month, I decided to do a book theme.

I always added either the link to my blog or to the books. I have decided to post a picture every week so my booky friends can enjoy them, as well.

Q is for ... Queens and Kings 


All the books I read that belong to the category "history" (where you will find most of the books I read that include kings and queens) can be found here.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Eliade, Mircea "Marriage in Heaven"


Eliade, Mircea "Marriage in Heaven" (Romanian: Nuntă în cer) - 1938

An interesting novel. Quite philosophical. Two men reminisce about their lives and their encounter with a special woman, both have different kind of fantasies, different kind of attitudes but both are unlucky in love and pour out their hearts to each other. Whether this conversation could happen in real life, I have no idea. Maybe between two strangers who feel they have made a similar experience. Anyway, it was very interesting listening to these two guys and their perception of a relationship. If you can find an English copy, give it a go. It's worth it. I absolutely loved it.

The author was a Romanian historian of religion, philosopher, and fiction writer. His background certainly had an influence on his writing.

From Wikipedia:

"The novel Marriage in Heaven depicts the correspondence between two male friends, an artist and a common man, who complain to each other about their failures in love: the former complains about a lover who wanted his children when he did not, while the other recalls being abandoned by a woman who, despite his intentions, did not want to become pregnant by him. Eliade lets the reader understand that they are in fact talking about the same woman."

Monday 27 July 2015

Lahiri, Jhumpa "Interpreter of Maladies"


Lahiri, Jhumpa "Interpreter of Maladies" - 1999

As most of my friends know, I am not a big fan of short stories. However, I recently read "The Namesake" by the same author and really loved it. And several of my friends had recommended "Interpreter of Maladies" to me, one had even left a copy to me when she was moving, I just had to read it.

I was pleasantly surprised. What a lovely collection of short stories, some of them even interlink, so it doesn't seem like there are a hundred small stories that you forget right away. On the contrary, Jhumpa Lahiri has created some wonderful characters that you won't forget that easily. She incorparates all sorts of problems anyone might face who lives in a culture different from the one they or their parents grew up with. She describes some lovely people (and some not so lovely ones) who are all confronted with a life in two different parts of this world. Since the author is Indian herself and grew up in the United States, this is the background to almost all her stories. Having lived abroad (though not in such a different culture as the characters in the book) almost half of my life myself, I can certainly relate to a few of them.

Jhumpa Lahiri has a good, elegant style, her stories just flow, I will certainly read more of her writings.

Jhumpa Lahiri received the Pulitzer Prize for "Interpreter of Maladies" in 2000.

From the back cover:

"Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, this stunning debut collection unerringly charts the emotional journeys of characters seeking love beyond the barriers of nations and generations. 

'A writer of uncommon sensitivity and restraint . . . Ms. Lahiri expertly captures the out-of-context lives of immigrants, expatriates, and first-generation Americans' (Wall Street Journal).

In stories that travel from India to America and back again, Lahiri speaks with universal eloquence to everyone who has ever felt like a foreigner. Honored as 'Debut of the Year' by The New Yorker and winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, Interpreter of Maladies introduces a young writer of astonishing maturity and insight who 'breathes unpredictable life into the page' (New York Times)."

Friday 24 July 2015

Book Quotes of the Week



"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him." Maya Angelou

"Real poverty is lack of books." (Sidonie-Gabrielle) Colette

"Words, I’ve come to learn, are pulleys through time. Portals into other minds. Without words, what remains? Indecipherable customs. Strange rites. Blighted hearts. Without words, we’re history’s orphans. Our lives and thoughts erased." Alena Graedon, "The Word Exchange"

"The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; and, after an era of darkness, new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again, and yet live on, still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." Clarence Shepard Day

"In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody." Oscar Wilde

Find more book quotes here.

Thursday 23 July 2015

Photo ABC

I am a member of a photo group where we get a prompt for every day and have to take an appropriate picture. Because we had the alphabet one month, I decided to do a book theme.

I always added either the link to my blog or to the books. I have decided to post a picture every week so my booky friends can enjoy them, as well.


P is for ... Pulitzer Prize. The first one I ever read.



Pearl S. Buck "The Good Earth


All the Pulitzer Prize winning books I read can be found here.

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "Whispering Shadows"


Sendker, Jan-Philipp "Whispering Shadows" (German: Das Flüstern der Schatten) - 2007
 
So far, I had only read the non-fiction book "Risse in der großen Mauer" [Cracks in the Great Wall] by Jan-Philipp Sendker and liked it very much.

Then I found this novel in a bookstore and the description spoke to me. I usually don't read detective stories, most of them are not "deep" enough for me.

But this novel is so much more than a crime story, it gives an insight into today's China of which we still know far too little. The author reports about the grief of a man who has lost his son. And he talks about the slow healing after a heavy blow.

The book is both philosophic and informative. An excellent story. The author has previously worked as a correspondent in Asia. You can tell that he has a lot of insight and background information. I have read the next part of the trilogy "Drachenspiele" (Dragon Games) and hope they will translate that one soon, as well.

From the back cover:

"The first in a suspenseful new trilogy by the internationally bestselling author of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats {German: Das Herzenhören}, this gripping story follows a retired expat journalist in contemporary China who tries to crack a murder case as he battles his own personal demons.

American expat Paul Leibovitz was once an ambitious advisor, dedicated father, and loving husband. But after living for nearly thirty years in Hong Kong, personal tragedy strikes and Paul's marriage unravels in the fallout.

Now Paul is living as a recluse on an outlying island of Hong Kong. When he makes a fleeting connection with Elizabeth, a distressed American woman on the verge of collapse, his life is thrown into turmoil. Less than twenty-four hours later, Elizabeth's son is found dead in Shenzhen, and Paul, invigorated by a newfound purpose, sets out to investigate the murder on his own.

As Paul, Elizabeth, and a detective friend descend deeper into the Shenzhen underworld;against the wishes of a woman with whom Paul has had a flirtation;they discover dark secrets hidden beneath China's booming new wealth. In a country where rich businessmen with expensive degrees can corrupt the judicial system, the potential for evil abounds.

Part love story, part crime thriller, The Whisper of the Shadow is the captivating tale of one man's desperate search for redemption within the vice of a world superpower, a place where secrets from the past threaten to upend the country's unchecked drive towards modernization."

These are the books in the Rising Dragon (China) trilogy:
"Whispering Shadows" (German: Das Flüstern der Schatten) (The Rising Dragon #1) - 2007
"Dragon Games" aka "The Language of Solitude" (German: Drachenspiele) (The Rising Dragon #2) - 2009
"The Far Side of the Night" (German: Am anderen Ende der Nacht) (The Rising Dragon #3) - 2016

Tuesday 21 July 2015

7 Books That Will Radically Shift Your Perspectives

One of my friends posted this list on Facebook the other day and thought it was highly interesting. I only read one of these books (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) and two of these authors (Nietzsche and Camus). I do agree that "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is a great book that can get you thinking about everything and the one book I read by Albert Camus ("The Plague") was just as good. So, I take it this is a good list by "Higher Perspective".

Looking just at the introduction makes you want to read them all.

"Books have a way of capturing us that movies and documentaries simply cannot compare to. The worst thing you can do is limit yourself to reading only a few books. The best thing you can do is find out what you’re interested in and get out there and read up on the subject. You’ll find that your interests will grow along with your knowledge, to the point that you’ll discover the deliciously heavy weight of knowing that you know nothing. If you’re looking for books that will challenge you mind body and soul, and cause you to see the world in new ways, look no further than the following seven books (just kidding, look further)."

And here is the list I'd like to share with you:
1.) Nietzsche, Friedrich "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" (Also sprach Zarathustra)
2.) Becker, Ernest "The Denial of Death"
3.) Plotkin, Bill "Nature and the Human Soul"
4.) Carse, James P. "Finite and Infinite Games"
5.) Camus, Albert "The Rebel" (L'Homme révolté)
6.) Quinn, Daniel "Ishmael"
7.) Deutsch, David "The Fabric of Reality"

I would probably add two more:

Hesse, Hermann "Siddhartha: An Indian Poem" (Siddhartha)
Coelho, Paulo "The Alchemist: A Fable about Following Your Dream" (O Alquimista)

Monday 20 July 2015

Dickens, Charles "Little Dorrit"

Dickens, Charles "Little Dorrit" - 1857

One day I hope to have read all books by Charles Dickens. This was the next step. And I am happy I read it. What a beautiful book, what a beautiful story, told in the typical Dickens manner where he describes even the tiniest detail. I love it. Makes you feel like you were there.

Apparently, Dickens' father spent some years in the Marshalsea prison which he used as the main setting for this novel. I think this fact and that he was forced to work for the family at a very young age, has made a huge impact on the author and we can all enjoy the outcome of that, many great books. There are certainly a lot of his own experiences in them.

We meet Arthur Clennam and Amy Dorrit, a devoted daughter who supports her father in prison. But these two are by no means the only major characters in the book, there are many different sub-plots and the story reaches from China via France to England,then Italy and back to England. Quite a distance for those times.

I do like that there is so much in Dickens' novels. He describes a location just as well as an emotion, he understands a lot about psychology and you can find it in all of his books.

This will certainly belong to one of my favourite books by Charles Dickens - if I will ever be able to sort some out as my non-favourites. Read it, even though it contains about a thousand pages, you will not regret it. I promise.

From the back cover: "When Arthur Clennam returns to England after many years abroad, he takes a kindly interest in Amy Dorrit, his mother's seamstress, and in the affairs of Amy's father, William Dorrit, a man of shabby grandeur, long imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea. As Arthur soon discovers, the dark shadow of the prison stretches far beyond its walls to affect the lives of many, from the kindly Mr. Pancks, the reluctant rent-collector of Bleeding Heart Yard, and the tipsily garrulous Flora Finching, to Merdle, an unscrupulous financier, and the bureaucratic Barnacles in the Circumlocution Office. A masterly evocation of the state and psychology of imprisonment, Little Dorrit is one of the supreme works of Dickens's maturity."

Saturday 18 July 2015

Liebster Award


Quite a while ago, one of the bloggers who follows my blog nominated me for the Liebster Award. I felt very honoured but was also quite sick at the time, so never followed it up. But I do want to thank Lois from You, Me and a Cup of Tea for being so nice to like my blog and including it in her list of favourites. Thank you so much

There are only a few rules to this and I hope all of you will like the idea of being nominated and keep the ball rolling.
1.    Thank the AMAZING blogger that nominated you.
2.    Answer the 11 questions the nominator provided.
3.    Nominate 11 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
4.    Post 11 different question for your nominees to answer.
5.    Contact your nominee to let them know that you've nominated them.

As you see, every nominee has to answer eleven questions. These were the ones chosen by Lois including my answers.
1.    Who's your favourite author?
Jane Austen, definitely Jane Austen
2.    What is your favourite book?
"The Children's War" and "A Change of Regime" by J.N. Stroyar
3.    Why did you starting blogging?
I had been running an international book club for over a decade but had to give it up for health reasons. Some of my friends suggested I start a blog. I've been enjoying it ever since.
4.    What is your favourite TV show?
That is really, really easy.
Thirtysomething.
But I also love The West Wing. A lot.
5.    What is your favourite movie?
That's a tougher one. I love a variety of movies. My favourite "feel good/funny" movie would be "When Harry Met Sally".
There are far too many others to even start attempting a list.
6.    What is your current school status?
This probably shows my age. I left school a long long time ago but my school status would be equivalent to American High School.
7.    Peanut butter or nutella?
I do love Nutella but since I'm lactose intolerant and can only go for the fake stuff, I'd have to say Peanut Butter.
8.    If you could go on your dream vacation and money was no object where would you go?
Easy. Down Under.
9.    If you could read a book for the first time again what would it be and why?
Another tough one, I'd love to reread all of Jane Austen and many many others but I think I'd still go for my favourite book, see above:
"The Children's War" and "A Change of Regime" by J.N. Stroyar.
10.    What is your favourite book to movie adaptation?
"Chocolat" by Joanne Harris
I didn't care for the book much but loved the movie.
11.    Do you like tea?
I like tea but I looooove coffee.

And these are the blogs (in alphabetical order) I chose to give the Liebster Award to:
1.    A Room of My Own 
Swedish blogger who loves to read similar books to mine.
2.    Brainless Blogger 
A fellow migraine sufferer who writes a lot about the latest findings.
"Migraine is not a headache. It is quite inconceivable to me how someone can take advil and asprin to get rid of a migraine, as it never did the trick for me, not even for mild migraines or persistent tension headaches."
3.    Brona's Books 
Australian Book Lover
4.    Captivated Reader 
"My blog is about the books I'm reading, the independent bookstores I visit, the author and book events I attend, and any bookish related things I come across in the months and years to come!"
5.    Choose and Book 
"It is hard to imagine a life without books. Like all booklovers, I have a huge pile of books waiting to be read and at the same time, I am looking for space to store away all the books I have read. Old and new, I will read them all as long as they interest me. I do not touch science-fiction and am especially partial to new writers and book series. I aim to make my blog fun, informative and brief. Do feel free to share your thoughts with me and stop by as much as you can - my virtual bookshop is always open!"
6.    Eclectictales 
"My name is Lianne and I am a 20-something-year-old blogger from the North (otherwise known as Canada). I studied Soviet-Russian history for a long time but am now studying to be a nurse. In the meantime, I continue to write on the side. Regular readers/visitors of my blog and fellow bloggers may know me to have many interests (European) football, British television, and travelling to name a few)"
7.    I prefer reading 
"I'm an avid reader who loves middlebrow fiction, 19th century novels, WWI & WWII literature, Golden Age mysteries & history. Other interests include listening to classical music, drinking tea, baking cakes, planning my rose garden & enjoying the antics of my cats, Lucky & Phoebe."
8.    MacQue 
"I live with my husband Mac in coastal Georgia, near Savannah. We are retired and spend our time doing all and none of the things we always meant to do. Janet"
9.    Reading in the Garden 
"I am one of three daughters born to German immigrants, and was honored to be the first American born in our family. My parents ping-ponged back and forth across the ocean before permanently settling in fabulous Las Vegas when I was in the first grade.
... I have several passions, reading being right up there on the list. My love of reading stems from my mother and father. I enjoy reading all types of books including fiction (Pomegranate Soup, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa), memoirs (The Glass Castle, Falling Leaves), classics (Frankenstein, Jane Eyre), modern classics (Rebecca, Murder on the Orient Express) and humor (Me Talk Pretty One Day, My Uncle Oswald).  It’s rare that I will truly dislike a book, but it happens on occasion (Moby-Dick).
"
10.    Rose City Reader 
"Prize winners, Must Reads, Big Reads, Top 100s -- if it's on a list, I'm tempted to put it on my TBR list. If I really like an author, I'll add the bibliography to my list of lists. And once I read a book, I add it to my Books I've Read list. Arguably, I burn up valuable reading time playing with my lists. I know this.
When not reading, I practice law at the Dumas Law Group
"
11.    Sunderwarp 
"Freelance journalist, ghost writer, editor. A Facebook addiction, and now blogging, allows me to avoid more productive forms of writing."

My eleven questions are:
1.    Who, what, and/or where does your blogging inspiration come from?
2.    What do you like about blogging?

3.    What was the most meaningful book you ever read? 4.    Who is your favourite author?
5.    What is your favourite quote?
6.    What is your favourite time of year?
7.    If you had to teach a subject at school, what subjects do you think you would be most equipped to teach?
8.    What is the best thing about you?
9.    If you could only wear one colour for the rest of your life what would it be?
10.    What was the last movie you watched, was it a good one?
11.    What did you want to be when you were a child?

If, like me, you have never heard of this award before, you might start googling for the "original" page. If you find it, please, let me know.


However, I did find a brilliant link to the original idea with some different kind of questions, if you would like to choose different ones from mine.
The Liebster Award – General Info and Rules 

I love the idea of recognizing other bloggers, we all know how much time it involves and how much you do reveal of yourself. I also love the idea, that the origin of this award is German, that I received it via an American blogger and pass it on to several bloggers around the world myself.

So, I wish you all happy blogging.

Book Quotes of the Week



"Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author's words reverberating in your head." Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies

"One always has a better book in one’s mind than one can manage to get onto paper." Michael Cunningham

"Authors from whom others steal should not complain, but rejoice. Where there is no game there are no poachers." Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

"If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book." J.K. Rowling

"By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle." Kurt Vonnegut

"Blindur er bóklaus maður." - "Blind is a man without a book." Icelandic proverb

Find more book quotes here.

Friday 17 July 2015

Azevedo, Francisco "Once Upon a Time in Rio"


Azevedo, Francisco "Once Upon a Time in Rio" (Portuguese: O Arroz de Palma) - 2008

A beautiful story of an immigrating family, a Portuguese couple that settles in Brazil, has their children and their work. Their son tells the story over a whole century. How his aunt collected the rice thrown at his parents' wedding and passed it on as a lucky charm.

The author has a wonderful way of telling this story, as lovely as most of the Southern American storytellers I love so much. He has a beautiful voice, knows well how to jump back and forth between the decades, weaves a family tale that is exceptional. He tells about beautiful members of the dynasty, both inside and out, how they link together, the small and the big dsiputes that you will find in any family, the love they share, the dreams they dream. The narrator "cooks" a family story, the recipe is easy and yet complicated. In the end, we have a wonderful book to read. A brilliant family saga.

From the back cover:

"From well-known Brazilian playwright Francisco Azevedo, a heartwarming debut novel about three generations of a family whose kitchen contains the secret ingredient for happiness - sure to appeal to fans of Like Water for Chocolate.

Once Upon a Time in Rio is a spellbinding family saga beginning with José Custódio and Maria Romana and their search for a prosperous future. As newlyweds, José and Maria immigrated to Brazil at the beginning of the twentieth century, accompanied by a special gift. During the dinner preparations to celebrate their centenary wedding anniversary, their eldest son Antonio, already a grandfather, looks back at the lives of his parents, his aunt, his brothers, their children and grandchildren, as well as his own.

Antonio knows that family is a difficult dish to get right and that happiness must be cooked up day by day; however, what separates his family from any other is its possession of a secret ingredient for happiness: the sack of magical rice given to his parents on their wedding day. With the help of the rice, whose magic is as old as fire and time, Antonio's family has been guided through the most trying of life's tribulations.

Lyrically written, Once Upon a Time in Rio bares the fragile yet strong nature of the human spirit and with great insight captures the solace provided by loved ones in times of need. Already an international bestseller, this is a beautifully told tale about the wisdom of past generations and the inextricable ties of family."

Photo ABC

I am a member of a photo group where we get a prompt for every day and have to take an appropriate picture. Because we had the alphabet one month, I decided to do a book theme.

I always added either the link to my blog or to the books. I have decided to post a picture every week so my booky friends can enjoy them, as well.

O is for ... Oscar winning books

Louisa May Alcott "Little Women"

All the books I read that belong to the category "Oscar winners" category can be found here.

Saturday 11 July 2015

Book Quotes of the Week



"Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry." Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." Benjamin Franklin

"Who collects books accumulates desires. And who has many desires is very young, even at eighty." Ugo Ojetti

"Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little." Tom Stoppard

"There is something incomparably thrilling in first opening a brand new book." Evelyn Waugh

Find more book quotes here.

Friday 10 July 2015

Photo ABC

I am a member of a photo group where we get a prompt for every day and have to take an appropriate picture. Because we had the alphabet one month, I decided to do a book theme.

I always added either the link to my blog or to the books. I have decided to post a picture every week so my booky friends can enjoy them, as well.

N is for ...  Nobel Prize for Literature.


The first and (so far) last women who received the prize:
Alice Munro and Selma Lagerlöf.

All the books I read by Nobel Prize winners can be found here.
 

I contribute to this page: Read the Nobels and you can find all my blogs about Nobel Prize winning authors and their books here.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Sacrifice"

Oates, Joyce Carol "The Sacrifice" - 2015

Most of my friends know how much I love Joyce Carol Oates and her books. And even though I have quite a few books on my TBR pile and had vouched not to borrow another book from the library, I couldn't leave this one and not take it home. I did not regret it.

A meticulous rendering of a crime, almost reads like a non-fiction account, you have to remember the whole time that this is fiction. Mind you, I was sure events like this have happened and then I read that this is a retelling of a story that has happened in 1987 to a 14 year old girl called Tawana Brawley. So, well done, JCO.

A great new book for any fan of Joyce Carol Oates or anyone who hasn't read any of her books and wants to become one of her fans. I promise you will be one of them after you read this.

It is a great book about a lot of the troubles that seem to ravage the US American scene at the moment, probably just as much as it did in the Sixties of the past century when they seemed to be on everybody's mind. A book about racism and prejudice, terror and violence, poverty and exploitation, the role of religion and state.

A masterful narration of our time.

From the book cover: "New York Times bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates returns with an incendiary novel that illuminates the tragic impact of sexual violence, racism, brutality, and power on innocent lives and probes the persistence of stereotypes, the nature of revenge, the complexities of truth, and our insatiable hunger for sensationalism.

When a fourteen-year-old girl is the alleged victim of a terrible act of racial violence, the incident shocks and galvanizes her community, exacerbating the racial tension that has been simmering in this New Jersey town for decades. In this magisterial work of fiction, Joyce Carol Oates explores the uneasy fault lines in a racially troubled society. In such a tense, charged atmosphere, Oates reveals that there must always be a sacrifice?of innocence, truth, trust, and, ultimately, of lives. Unfolding in a succession of multiracial voices, in a community transfixed by this alleged crime and the spectacle unfolding around it, this profound novel exposes what - and who - the “sacrifice” actually is, and what consequences these kind of events hold for us all.

Working at the height of her powers, Oates offers a sympathetic portrait of the young girl and her mother, and challenges our expectations and beliefs about our society, our biases, and ourselves. As the chorus of its voices - from the police to the media to the victim and her family - reaches a crescendo, The Sacrifice offers a shocking new understanding of power and oppression, innocence and guilt, truth and sensationalism, justice and retribution.

A chilling exploration of complex social, political, and moral themes - the enduring trauma of the past, modern racial and class tensions, the power of secrets, and the primal decisions we all make to protect those we love - The Sacrifice is a major work of fiction from one of our most revered literary masters."

Monday 6 July 2015

Butler, Octavia E. "Kindred"

Butler, Octavia E. "Kindred" - 1979

I am not a fan of pseudo-scientific magic mumbo-jumbo. I don't believe in time travel, no matter how any author likes to explain it and weave it into their stories.

However, I did like the part where Dana, the main character, goes back in time to the time before the Civil War. I like the description of that time. If Octavia E. Butler had kept to that time alone, this would have been a brilliant book. She knows how to write, she knows how to create a story, she should have stuck to that.

From the back cover:

"Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin."

Thursday 2 July 2015

Photo ABC

I am a member of a photo group where we get a prompt for every day and have to take an appropriate picture. Because we had the alphabet one month, I decided to do a book theme.

I always added either the link to my blog or to the books. I have decided to post a picture every week so my booky friends can enjoy them, as well.

M is for ... Migraine


There are many books about migraine. This one describes the condition best:

Levy, Andrew "A Brain Wider Than The Sky: A Migraine Diary"

For anyone interested, I put together a list of Migraine Books and Links.

All the books I read that belong only remotely to the category "migraine" can be found here as well as many links for the subject.

Wednesday 1 July 2015

Happy July!


This morning, I was greated by a new beautiful picture on Frank and Hanna Koebsch's calendar and I am happy to be able to share it with you just as last month. I am a huge art fan and love paintings by not so famous artists just as much as by famous ones but these two speak to me even more than many others. I hope you enjoy them just as much as I do and I will post more of them in the Future.

You can check their blog here.