#ThrowbackThursday. January 2012 Part 1

I've been doing Throwback Thursdays for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. One of my blogger friends always posts the reviews of one month but that would be too much. So, these are my reviews from the first part of January 2012.

Chang, Leslie T. "Factory Girls. Young Women on the Move in Modern China" - 2008
Leslie T. Chang is a Chinese-American journalist who travelled to and lived in China for a couple of years to get to know the country of her ancestors. She interviewed several female migrant workers and portrayed their lives between the old and the new world.

Ende, Michael "The Never Ending Story" (GE: Die unendliche Geschichte) - 1979
I think this is the only fantasy story I ever liked. Mind you, I think it is more a fairy tale and those remind me of my childhood.

Frazier, Charles "Nightwoods" - 2011
A young woman has to look after her murdered sister's twins. But - there is so much more to this story, and not just the beautiful description of Charles Frazier's beloved Appalachians. 

Kohler, Sheila "Becoming Jane Eyre" - 2009
An interesting novel based on the life of  Charlotte Brontë, especially while writing "Jane Eyre". The author transports us back into the time the book was written and shows how it grows with  Charlotte Brontë's experiences.

Levi, Primo "If Not Now, When?" (I: Se non ora, quando) - 1982
Based on a true story, about two Russian Jews who join a band of partisans behind enemy lines.

Read my original reviews, for the links click on the titles.

Tokarczuk, Olga "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" - 2009

Tokarczuk, Olga "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead" (Polish: Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych) - 2009

I have read one book by Olga Tokarczuk (Primeval and Other Times) when she received her Nobel Prize for Literature. And I wanted to read more by her since then. A bookclub member lent me one now and I read it in more or less one go, it is so exciting. Janina Duszejko is such an interesting character. And the story is starting so quietly, you don't even notice at the beginning that it is a crime story which are not my favourites.

Even though she is the protagonist of the novel, you don't see her as such at the beginning. Janina is a middle-aged, slightly weird woman living in the middle of nowhere in the mountains at the Polish-Czech border where she looks after the summer houses of some rich people. She works with astrology and translates poems by William Blake. She loves animals and she is a conservationist. A remarquable woman.

Where this story leads to, I don't know. But I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in great literature.

From the back cover:

"One of Poland's most imaginative and lyrical writers, Olga Tokarczuk presents us with a detective story with a twist in DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD. After her two dogs go missing and members of the local hunting club are found murdered, teacher and animal rights activist Janina Duszejko becomes involved in the ensuing investigation. Part magic realism, part detective story, DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD is suspenseful and entertaining reimagining of the genre interwoven with poignant and insightful commentaries on our perceptions of madness, marginalised people and animal rights."

And why the German translation is called "Der Gesang der Fledermäuse" (The Song of the Bats) is still a mystery to me.

Olka Tokarczuk received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018 "for her narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life".

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

Top 5 Tuesday ~ New Authors of 2024

Top Five Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, but is now hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads. To participate, link your post back to Meeghan’s blog or leave a comment on her weekly post. I found this on Davida's Page @ The Chocolate Lady.

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This week’s topic is a New Authors. Tell us all about your favourite new authors. Either debut authors from 2024, or new-to-you this year.

Mine are all new to me, none from this year, though the German ones are debut authors. I have mentioned some of them before but they were the only new authors I really liked this year.

Fosse, Jon "Morning and Evening" (NO: Morgon og kveld) - 2001
Last year's Nobel Prize winner. A fascinating story about the life and death of a man. 

Haig, Matt "The Midnight Library" - 2020
Imagine a library on the way between life and death. And you can see what would have become of you and your life, had you taken another road somewhere.

Knöppler, Florian "Kronsnest [Name of Village]" (GE: Kronsnest) - 2020
This was a really nice book. It describes Hannes' youth in the 1920s. Shortly after the Second World War

Verghese, Abraham "The Covenant of Water" - 2023
A wonderful story about a family in India over the length of most of a century.

Wahl, Caroline "22 Lanes" (GE: 22 Bahnen) - 2023
A very touching story. Tilda lives in an apartment with her divorced mother and her little sister. She studies and works on the side. The problem is that her mother is an alcoholic and so Tilda is not only her sister's educator but also her mother's caregiver.

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🙏Happy Reading!🙏

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#ThrowbackThursday. December 2011 Part 5

I've been doing Throwback Thursdays for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. One of my blogger friends always posts the reviews of one month but that would be too much. So, these are my reviews from the fifth part of December 2011.

Brown, Rita Mae - The Hunsenmeir Trilogy - 1987-99
A story about two elderly ladies, the Hunsenmeir sisters, and the Lesbian daughter of one of them.

Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House Books" 1932-1971
Laura's father was a pioneer, so she and her sisters moved around North America from one unsettled piece of land to the next. 

Kneale, Matthew "English Passengers" - 2000
Sailors from the Isle of Man wanted to smuggle a little alcohol but end up in Tasmania. This story tells about the effect they had on the people living there already, the native Australians.

Osorio, Elsa "My Name is Light" (Spanish: A veinte años, Luz) - 1998
A highly interesting novel about something that didn't happen that long ago, yet is not so widely published. 
Luz wants to find her father, Carlos, one of the many political activists in Argentina who literally 'disappeared'.

Wilde, Oscar "The Importance of Being Earnest" - 1895
A wonderful, humorous play. A hilarious satire. 

Read my original reviews, for the links click on the titles.

Oates, Joyce Carol "Blonde"

Oates, Joyce Carol "Blonde" - 2000

I find it hard to write this review. I love books by Joyce Carol Oates, I think she deserves the Nobel Prize. I am intrigued by the figure of Marilyn Monroe, I read the book "Marilyn" (Goodreads) by Norman Mailer ages ago. I think I was expecting something along that line.

What I got was a description of a child who didn't stand a chance in the world. How she became one of the greatest icons in the film industry? That was a long and arduous way and it didn't bring her any joy.

I had to remind myself often that this was just a book based on the real life story of the film star, even though most of the facts were true.

It was a long and heavy read. Did I enjoy it as much as the other JCO books? I'm not sure but I'm glad I read it.

From the back cover:

"In 'Blonde' we are given an intimate, unsparing vision of the woman who became Marilyn Monroe like no other: the child who visits the cinema with her mother; the orphan whose mother is declared mad; the woman who changes her name to become an actress; the fated celebrity, lover, comedienne, muse and icon. Joyce Carol Oates tells an epic American story of how a fragile, gifted young woman makes and remakes her identity, surviving against crushing odds, perpetually in conflict and intensely driven. Here is the very essence of the individual hungry and needy for love: from an elusive mother; from a mysterious, distant father and from a succession of lovers and husbands. Joyce Carol Oates sympathetically explores the inner life of the woman destined to become Hollywood’s most compelling legend. 'Blonde' is a brilliant and deeply moving portrait of a culture hypnotised by its own myths and the shattering reality of the personal effects it had on the woman who became Marilyn Monroe."

Six Degrees of Separation ~ Sandwich

Catherine Newman
Newman, Catherine "Sandwich" - 2024

#6Degrees of Separation:

from Sandwich (Goodreads) to The Big Green Tent 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.

The starter book this month is Sandwich by Catherine Newman. 

Here is the description:

"For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves."

This is not really my kind of literature, so I couldn't find much to link to this book. And there were no words in the title that I could use, so I went to another author with the first name Catherine.

Martin, Catherine "The Incredible Journey" - 1923

Mistry, Rohinton "Such a Long Journey" - 1991

Tsumura, Kikuko "There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job" (Konoyoni tayasui shigoto wa na/この世にたやすい仕事はない) - 2015

Perry, Matthew "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing" - 2022

McCall Smith, Alexander "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #12) - 2011

Ulitzkaya, Lyudmila "Imago" or "The Big Green Tent" (RUS: Зеленый шатер = Zelenyi shater) - 2010

I could have even swapped the two last books since the both have Big and Tent in their titles.

What do the first and the last book have in common? Well, they both take place in extremely difficult times for the protagonists.

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Spell the Month in Books ~ December

 
Reviews from the Stacks

I found this on one of the blogs I follow, Books are the New Black who found it at One Book More. It was originally created by Reviews from the Stacks, and the idea is to spell the month using the first letter of book titles

December: Christmas or Non-fiction

I don't have many books that are about Christmas. I might find a few but then they also have to fit the letters. So, I went with the easier option (for me): Non-fiction.

DECEMBER

D

Orwell, George "Down and Out in Paris and London" - 1933

E

Uusma, Bea "The Expedition: a Love Story: Solving the Mystery of a Polar Tragedy" (SW: Expeditionen: min kärlekshistoria) - 2013

C

Morgan Dawson, Sarah "A Confederate Girl's Diary" - 1913

E

Westover, Tara "Educated" - 2018

M

Booth, Cathleen "Mercy & Grace on the Camino de Santiago" - 2020

B

Dorling Kindersley "Brussels. Bruges, Ghent & Antwerp" - 2000

E

Wood, Levison "Eastern Horizons. Hitchhiking the Silk Road" - 2017

R

Bythell, Shaun "Remainders of the Day: More Diaries from The Bookshop, Wigtown" - 2022

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Happy Reading!

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