Thursday, 6 February 2025

#ThrowbackThursday. April 2012 Part 2

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 for the second part of April 2012.
James, Henry "The American" - 1875
1875, towards the end of the 19th century, society thinks it has become more modern. But has it really? There are still a lot of class differences.

Moyle, Franny "Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs. Oscar Wilde" - 2011
Franny Moyle describes Constance Wilde's life from the beginning to the end, her youth in poverty, her ascent into society after marrying Oscar and the inevitable fall after his secret life was unveiled. How much power a woman has when it comes to the task to prevent her loved ones from disaster. 

Smucker, Barbara "Underground to Canada" - 1977
The novel tells the story of two slave girls who escape from a plantation in Mississippi, and steal toward Canada on the Underground Railroad.

Vonnegut, Kurt "Breakfast of Champions" - 1973
The author is playing with words just for the sake of it. This book is hilarious, it gives you a good laugh. But it is also very critical. I loved it.

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

Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Alphabet Authors ~ E is for Ephron

 

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 had to choose between Ephron or Eliot and it was a hard decision but in the end, I had to go with Nora Ephron.

Doidge, Kristin Marguerite "Nora Ephron: A Biography" (Goodreads)

- "Heartburn" - 1983
- "The Most of Nora Ephron" - 2014 (short stories)

Facts about Nora Ephron:
Born    May 19, 1941 New York City, U.S.
Died    June 26, 2012 New York City, U.S. (aged 71)

Nora Ephron was married three times, her second husband was the journalist Carl Bernstein who investigated the Watergate Scandal and is the co-author of "All the President's Men". She based her novel "Heartburn" on her marriage and divorce. It was later made into a film with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.

The characters Harry and Sally from the film (portrayed by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) are based on director Rob Reiner and herself. I once saw an interview with Nora Ephron where she told this story that she was on an airplane and explained precisely what she wanted to eat and how she wanted it. The flight attendant asked her whether she'd ever seen the movie When Harry Met Sally. Nora Ephron showed her sense of humour by laughing about it still years later.

The Tribeca Film Festival has awarded a Nora Ephron Prize for a female writer or filmmaker "with a distinctive voice" since 2013. 

Monday, 3 February 2025

Spell the Month in Books ~ February

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.

February:
Valentine’s Day/something sweet on the cover 

I don't read many romance novels, so I have taken some books that have some sort of indication of love in the title.

FEBRUARY
F

E

Wells, Benedict "The End of Loneliness(GE: Vom Ende der Einsamkeit) - 2016

B

Morrison, Toni "Beloved" - 1987

R

Keller, Gottfried "Novellas" (A Village Romeo and Juliet and others) (GE: Novellen - Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe u.a.) - 1855/56

U

Whitehead, Colson "Underground Railroad" - 2016

A

Abulhawa, Susan "Against the Loveless World" - 2020

R

Shakespeare, William "Romeo and Juliet- 1597

Y

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Happy Reading!

๐Ÿ“š ๐Ÿ“š ๐Ÿ“š

Saturday, 1 February 2025

Six Degrees of Separation ~ Dangerous Liaisons

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
"Dangerous Liaisons" - 1782

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Dangerous Liaisons (Goodreads) to Corinne: Or Italy

#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 Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. I had never heard of him, even though I love classics. So, I have not read the book.

Here is a description:

"
Published just years before the French Revolution, Laclos's great novel of moral and emotional depravity is a disturbing and ultimately damning portrayal of a decadent society. Aristocrats and ex-lovers Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont embark on a sophisticated game of seduction and manipulation to bring amusement to their jaded lives. While Merteuil challenges Valmont to seduce an innocent convent girl, he is also occupied with the conquest of a virtuous married woman. Eventually their human pawns respond, and the consequences prove to be more serious—and deadly—than the players could have ever predicted."

But, as I have read many classics, I thought I'll start with the one from one of the following years and carry on like that.

Schiller, Friedrich "Intrigue and Love" (GE: Kabale und Liebe) - 1784


Staรซl, Anne-Louise-Germaine de "Corinne: Or Italy" (F: Corinne ou l'Italie) - 1807

We always try to find a connection between the first and the last degree. This time, the books are both in French.

๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“š

Happy February!

Happy February to all my Friends and Readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Frank Koebsch

"Schneemann bauen im Park"
"Winter Flowers"
Frank says to this picture:

"... there are fewer and fewer days on which such a winter dream really comes true. The question keeps coming up: When will it really be winter again?"
"… es gibt immer weniger Tage, an denen so ein Wintertraum wirklich in Erfรผllung geht. Immer wieder stellt sich die Frage: Wann wird es wieder richtig Winter?"

Read more on their website here. *

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I remember a German song from the Seventies: "When will it be a real summer again?" And that summer was scorching hot. So, who knows what Frank's wish will bring us. Though, we haven't had a real winter here for ages.

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Which reminds me of a good joke:
What do you call a very old snowman?
Puddle

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January is supposed to be the longest month of all. I mean, we have seven months with 31 days, so December, for example, ought to be as long as January. It just seems shorter because there is so much going on and we all try to be ready for Christmas and then we feel the month is over before it has even begun.

* * *

This month, I have two German words/expressions for you. 
"Morgenmuffel" and "bis in die Puppen".

If you stay up "until the dolls" (bis in die Puppen, i.e. you don't go to bad early), you will certainly become a "Morgenmuffel" which means you are grumpy in the morning. However, if you are like me, you can be a Morgenmuffel any day, no matter when you went to bed the night before.

* * *
And here is a great Christmas present I received from one of my sons: Hitster. We played it several times already and love it. You have to guess songs and where they fit in the timeline. If you like music and games, check the link here.
* * *
 
My favourite book of last month was 
Tartt, Donna "The Secret History" - 1992

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* 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. 

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๐ŸŒผ I wish you all a Happy February ๐ŸŒผ

Thursday, 30 January 2025

#ThrowbackThursday. April 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 for the first part of April 2012.
Danticat, Edwidge "Breath, Eyes, Memory" - 1994
The world of Sophie Caco, her world starts in Haiti with her aunt Atie while her mother lives in the United States. We follow her from the age of twelve into adulthood where she has to battle with her mother's past, her mother's ghost.

The follow-up to "The Pillars of the Earth" which I absolutely loved. This takes place 200 years after the first book, so our heroes have all passed away. But, they have descendants, so the drama can start again. 

Mak, Geert "Jorwerd: The Death of the Village in late 20th Century" (Dutch: Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd. Een Nederlands Dorp In De Twintigste Eeuw) - 1996
The original Dutch title is (translated) "How God disappeared from Jorwerd". The story is about a small village in Friesland and the changes it underwent in the first half of the 20th century, changing from farming to a commuting place, the influence of modern technology on a people that had lived off the land for centuries. But it is not just the story of Jorwerd, overall in Europe, the countryside changed. 

Apparently, the author worked eight years to put together all the facts on all those Rock & Pop icons that have left us far too early due to an untimely death. 
I love reference books on any subject, this is one very close to my heart and I am glad someone took the time to research all those details.

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

Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Alphabet Authors ~ D is for Dickens

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.

Dickens or Dostoevsky - that's the question. I had to choose Charles Dickens though it was a tough decision.

I know he wrote more books and I intend to read them all one day but these are the ones I read so far (I will add to the list whenever I read another one).

- "A Christmas Carol"
- 1843
- "Barnaby Rudge" - 1841
- "Bleak House" - 1852/53
- "David Copperfield" - 1850
- "Great Expectations" - 1861
- "Hard Times" - 1854  
- "Little Dorrit" - 1857
- "Nicholas Nickleby. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" - 1838/39
- "The Old Curiosity Shop" - 1840
- "Oliver Twist" - 1838
- "A Tale of Two Cities" - 1859
- "The Pickwick Papers" - 1836

Facts about Charles Dickens:
Born    7 February 1815 Portsmouth, England
Died    9 June 1870 Kent, England (aged 58)
Buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London, England
There are museums and festivals in his honour and statues of him and his characters all over the world.
He was the father of ten children.

Dickens was such an important writer of his time that we even comment on this with the term "Dickensian".

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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.