Top 5 Tuesday ~ America

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.

* * *

This week’s topic is a Books set in America. I have read a lot of books from the USA and Canada. But America is so much larger, so I thought I take a look at South America and some of the countries that hardly ever get mentioned. So, here is my list.

Alvarez, Julia "In the Time of the Butterflies" - 1994
Dominican Republic

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

Betancourt, Íngrid "Even Silence Has an End" (F: Même le silence a une fin) - 2010
Colombia

McLeod, Cynthia "The Cost of Sugar" (NL: Hoe duur was de suiker?) - 1987
Suriname

Osorio, Elsa "My Name is Light" (E: A veinte años, Luz) - 1998
Argentina

* * *

🌎 Happy Reading! 🌎

📚 📚 📚

Flaubert, Gustave "Madame Bovary"

Flaubert, Gustave "Madame Bovary" (French: Madame Bovary) - 1857

For the Classics Spin #40, we received #4 and this was my novel.

I have a love-hate relationship with French books. I love the French language. I absolutely love the books by Albert Camus, there are a few others I don't exactly dislike but, in general, they are not for me.

I had hoped that this one would be for me like my beloved English classics by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontës, etc. etc. But it was not to be.

What did I dislike about the novel? Not the story itself, it was quite interesting to follow the story of Emma, a young girl who marries a doctor but finds her life beside him completely boring so looks for excitement in other men. Or maybe it was the story. It was as boring as the life of the protagonist. So, maybe that's exactly what he was trying to show. Then he succeded. But not with me.

From the back cover:

"Madame Bovary is the debut novel of French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life. When the novel was first serialized in La Revue de Paris between 1 October 1856 and 15 December 1856, public prosecutors attacked the novel for obscenity. The resulting trial in January 1857 made the story notorious. After Flaubert's acquittal on 7 February 1857, Madame Bovary became a bestseller in April 1857 when it was published in two volumes. A seminal work of literary realism, the novel is now considered Flaubert's masterpiece, and one of the most influential literary works in history."

Here are all the books on my original Classics Club list.
And here is a list of all the books I read with the Classics Spin.

Six Degrees of Separation ~ Knife

Salman Rushdie
"Knife" - 2023

#6Degrees of Separation: 
from Knife (Goodreads) to Murder in Amsterdam

#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 "Knife" by Salman Rushdie. This is one of the books I would love to read but haven't gotten so far, because it's not available in paperback, yet. But I know about the book and it is therefore a little easier to find a  link to further novels.

And this is the description of this novel:

"From internationally renowned writer and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring—and surviving—an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him

On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.

Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again."

I will concentrate on books with murder in the title and in the book, some of them are non-fiction, others fiction. And not all of them end with a dead person.

I start with one of the best crime stories ever written.

Christie, Agatha "Murder on the Orient Express" (Hercule Poirot #10) - 1934
We all know the brilliant author and if we haven't read the book, we will have seen one of the numerous films they made about it. It's all about revenge, and I think in this case, we can all understand the killers.

Johnson, Maureen; Cooper, Jay "Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village" - 2021
If, like me, you like to watch the British crime series "Midsomer Murders", the title jumps right into your eyes.

Osman, Richard "The Thursday Murder Club" - 2020

Even though I'm not much into murder mystery, I just love Richard Osman's wit. 

No matter what kind of book you like to read to entertain yourself (for me, they have to be funny), this is the one. Enjoy.

Poe, Edgar Allan "The Murders in the Rue Morgue and other stories" - 1841
Dark, gruesome, abysmal, that's what I read somewhere about the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. This was not my kind of book but it fitted into the scheme.

Scott, Mary; West, Joyce "The Mangrove Murder" (Inspector Wright #3) - 1964
The people in this story are just as charming as everyone in Mary Scott's other books, well, except for the killer, of course. But other than that, we read about people who live in New Zealand at a time when life was still very different from today.

Buruma, Ian "Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance" (NL: Dood van en gezonde roker) - 2006
Murder in Amsterdam. Not any murder. The murder of a director, a public figure. Why? He made a movie not everyone agreed with. He made a movie about the Muslim faith.

* * *

There is quite a good connection between the first and the last degree. In both cases, a maniac tries to assassinate another human being because of their religion and political engagement. In the last book, he is even successful.

📚📚📚

Spell the Month in Books ~ April 2025

 
 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.

April: Animals on the Cover or in the Title

I'm not the biggest nature fan. Or animal lover. But there are always books that fit this description, so here we go:

APRIL

A

Brown, Marc "Arthur's Nose" - 1976
Arthur, the Aardvark

P
Davis, Lee "P.B. Bear" - 1990s
Pyjama Bear, the Bear, who helps children read
R
Bythell, Shaun "Remainders of the Day: More Diaries from The Bookshop, Wigtown" - 2022
Captain, Shaun Bythell's book shop cat
I
Numeroff, Laura "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" - 1985

... he'll ask for a glass of milk

L
Moore, Christopher "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff" - 2002

This book has to have a lamb on the cover.

* * *

Happy Reading!

📚 📚 📚

#ThrowbackThursday. December 2012

I've been doing ThrowbackThursdays for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. So, I post more than one Throwback every week. These are my reviews from December 2012.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott "Tender Is the Night" - 1934
An American in Paris, well, no, several Americans in the South of France, to be exact. Some rich expatriates live the perfect life, only, one of them is schizophrenic and marries her psychiatrist.

Hamill, Pete "Snow in August" - 1998
Brooklyn, two years after World War II. An 11 year old Irish Catholic boy whose father died in battle and who lives alone with his mother befriends a Czech Rabbi and learns about Judaism and the Holocaust. Together they face racism and violence. 

Liao, Yiwu "Testimonials or: For a Song and a Hundred Songs: A Poet's Journey Through a Chinese Prison" (Chinese: 證詞/Zheng-Ci) - 2000
It's terrifying to read what people in Chinese prisons have to go through. This is a good book to read but with horrible pictures of what they do to each other. It's hardly believable that human beings can be like that.

Oates, Joyce Carol "Mudwoman" - 2012
Meredith Ruth (M.R.) Neukirchen is an abandoned and then adopted child that grows into a very successful woman. When she is at the top, she starts struggling with her past.

Robinson, Barbara "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (aka "The Worst Kids in the World") - 1972
You can learn in this play what Christmas is all about, what it really means.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" - 1852
This is one of the most tragic stories I have ever read. As with other classic stories, I had heard about the content, I knew what was going to happen to Uncle Tom, I knew what happened to slaves, how they were sold and tortured, how they would sell spouses and children away from their families. But it's tragic every time again, especially if you put a name to the people involved, if they are described in such a way that they come alive on the paper.

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

Alphabet Authors ~ M is for Mann

I found this idea on Simon's blog @ Stuck in a Book. He picks an author for each letter of the alphabet, sharing which of their books he's read, which I ones he owns, how he came across them etc. I might not do it exactly as he does but I will try to get to all the letters of the alphabet over time.

There are several great authors whose name start with M: Naguib Mahfouz, Pascal Mercier, or Toni Morrison spring to mind but in the end, it had to be one of my favourite German authors ever: Thomas Mann. And here are the books I read by him, there are still more to come which I will add whenever I have read it.

- "Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family" (GE: Buddenbrooks) - 1901 

- "Tristan" (GE: Tristan) - 1901

- "Tonio Kröger" (GE: Tonio Kröger) - 1903

- "Death in Venice" (GE: Der Tod in Venedig) - 1912
- "A Man and His Dog" (GE: Herr und Hund. Ein Idyll) - 1918 
- "The Magic Mountain" (GE: Der Zauberberg) - 1924
- "Joseph and his Brothers" (GE: Josef und seine Brüder) - 1933/34
- "Doctor Faustus" (GE: Doktor Faustus) - 1943-47
- "Confessions of Felix Krull" (GE: Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull) - 1954

Buddenbrooks also happens to be one of my favourite books. Ever.

Facts about Thomas Mann:
Born    Paul Thomas Mann 6 June 1875 in Lübeck
Died    12 August 1955 (aged 80) in Zürich, Switzerland 
During the Nazi regime, the Mann family had to go into exile. Thomas first fled to Switzerland, than to the USA.

He received several honorary doctorates from all over the world.

There is a 30 Pfennig postages stamp which was issued in his memory on the first anniversay of this death.

There are also memorial plaques in Lübeck, Weimar and Nida (Lithuania) and many artists have made paintings or statues from him.

Also have a look at my report about our visit to the Buddenbrook house in Lübeck.

Thomas Mann received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929 "principally for his great novel, 'Buddenbrooks', which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature".

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

* * *

This is part of an ongoing series where I will write about a different author for each letter of the alphabet. You can see them all here.

Happy April!

 Happy April to all my Friends and Readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Frank Koebsch

"Osterküken"

"Easter Chicks"

Frank says to this picture:

"Osterküken gehören wie die Hasen und die Lämmer zu den beliebtesten Symbolen für das Osterfest. Einmal sind sie seit vielen Jahrhunderten Symbole des Frühlings und Fruchtbarkeit."

"Like bunnies and lambs, Easter chicks are among the most popular symbols of Easter. They have been symbols of spring and fertility for many centuries."

Definitely a good picture for Easter. My parents used to raise chickens and I loved it when we had new chicks. They were so soft and fluffy. Good memories.

Read more on their website here. *

* * *

Spring definitely has sprung in our part of the world. Far too early. But it gave us the chance to visit our youngest son in Brussels. The town was so beautiful at this time of year. 

We had the chance to visit the European Parliament. And here is a picture from the outside.

* * * 

My favourite book of the month was "The Figurine" by Victoria Hislop. I have only just finished it and will review it soon. Only so much, if you like Victoria Hislop, this is one of her greatest books, for sure. And if you don't know her, it's time you did.

* * *

* You can also have a look under my labels Artist: Frank Koebsch and Artist: Hanka Koebsch where you can find all my posts about the two artists. 

* * *

☔ I wish you all a Happy April ☔