Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House Books"

Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House Books" 1932-1971
Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
Farmer Boy (1933)
Little House on the Prairie (1935)
On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
The Long Winter (1940)
Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
These Happy Golden Years (1943)
On the Way Home (1962, published posthumously)
The First Four Years (1971)

"Laura Ingalls's story begins in 1871 in a little log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Four-year-old Laura lives in the little house with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their trusty dog, Jack.
Pioneer life is sometimes hard, since the family must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But it is also exciting as Laura and her folks celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do the spring planting, bring in the harvest, and make their first trip into town. And every night they are safe and warm in their little house, with the happy sound of Pa's fiddle sending Laura and her sisters off to sleep.
And so begins Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved story of a pioneer girl and her family. The nine Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America's frontier past and a heartwarming, unforgettable story."

What can I say about the "Little House" stories that hasn't been said already? What a wonderful story (not only) for children about how it was growing up in the pioneer years. Laura and her sisters moved around North America from one unsettled piece of land to the next. We learn what it means to really stand on your own, having to produce all the food and shelter for your family. Amazing. In her later books, Laura tells us more about her struggles of her later years but the first ones seem all so happy.

My favourites among her novels, definitely "The Long Winter" and "Farmer Boy" about her husband's childhood on a farm in New York. But they are all great. All kids should read it and if you haven't done so as a kid, you should do so now. I read them as an adult because they were not very well known in Germany when I was little and they were among the first books I read in English (besides those I had to read when in school).

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Little House in the Big Woods
Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.

Little House on the Prairie
Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

Farmer Boy
While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn to supper most days -- no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.

On the Banks of Plum Creek
Laura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. The money for materials will come from their first wheat crop. Then, just before the wheat is ready to harvest, a strange glittering cloud fills the sky, blocking out the sun. Soon millions of grasshoppers cover the field and everything on the farm. In a week's time, there is no wheat crop left at all.

By the Shores of Silver Lake
Pa Ingalls heads west to the unsettled wilderness of the Dakota Territory. When Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and baby Grace join him, they become the first settlers in the town of De Smet. And Pa begins work on the first building in what will soon be a brand-new town on the shores of Silver Lake.

The Long Winter
The first terrible storm comes to the barren prairie in October. Then it snows almost without stopping until April. Snow has reached the rooftops, and no trains can get through with food or coal. The people of De Smet are starving, including Laura's family, who wonder how they're going to make it through this terrible winter. It is young Almanzo Wilder who finally understands what needs to be done. He must save the town, even if it means risking his own life.

Little Town on the Prairie
The long winter is over. With spring come socials, parties, and "Literaries." There is also work to be done. Laura spends many hours each day sewing shirts to help send Mary to a college for the blind. But in the evenings, Laura makes time for a new caller, Almanzo Wilder.

These Happy Golden Years
Laura is teaching school, and it's terrifying! Most of the students are taller than she is, and she must sleep away from home for the first time. Laura is miserable, but the money is needed to keep Mary in a college for the blind. And every Friday -- no matter what the weather -- Almanzo Wilder arrives to take Laura home to her family for the weekend. Laura and Almanzo are courting, and even though she's not yet sixteen, she knows that this is a time for new beginnings.

The First Four Years
Laura and Almanzo Wilder have just been married! Their life on a small prairie homestead begins with high hopes. But each year seems to bring unexpected disasters -- storms, sickness, fire, and unpaid debts. These first four years call for courage, strength, and a great deal of determination. Always, though, there is love, especially for the newest member of the family -- baby Rose."

There are some wonderful pages on the web that are worth visiting:
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Frontier Girl
The Little House Book

If you like her stories, you might want to read the "sequel", based on her memoirs, as well:
"Old Town in the Green Groves: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Lost Little House Years" by Cynthia Rylant

If you want a more grown-up version, try "These is my words", "Sarah's Quilt" and "The Star Garden" by Nancy E. Turner. If you enjoyed the "Little House" stories, you will love these, too.

Wilde, Oscar "The Importance of Being Earnest"

Wilde, Oscar "The Importance of Being Earnest" - 1895

What a wonderful, humorous play. A hilarious satire. Jack pretends his name is Ernest, so he can be anonymous in town. All sorts of mix-ups evolve from this, one funny scene follows the other. I love it!

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Oscar Wilde's madcap farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers entanglements still delights readers more than a century after its 1895 publication and premiere performance. The rapid-fire wit and eccentric characters of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' have made it a mainstay of the high school curriculum for decades."

Read also "The Picture of Dorian Gray", "A Woman of No Importance", "The Nightingale and the Rose" and the interesting biography about his wife "Constance".

Osorio, Elsa "My Name is Light"

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. Of course, everyone knows there were a lot of problems in Argentina but I have not read a novel where it was described this well. A deeply moving story that was awarded the Amnesty International literary prize. So worth reading.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Twenty-year-old Luz, an Argentinean, is on holiday in Madrid with her husband and new-born son. But secretly she has a mission - to find her real father. Carlos was a 'desaparecido' - one of the many political activists in Argentina who literally 'disappeared' during the country's brutal military dictatorship in the seventies - while her mother, a political prisoner, was killed trying to flee the country. As a baby, Luz was secretly adopted by a wealthy couple, unaware of her true origins. My Name is Light is a gripping, emotionally charged book, a powerful story about a young girl's quest to find her identity and to uncover the deadly secrets of one of Argentina's darkest periods."

Kneale, Matthew "English Passengers"

Kneale, Matthew "English Passengers" - 2000

"A big, ambitious novel with a rich historical sweep and a host of narrative voices. Its subject is a vicar's ludicrous expedition in 1857 to the Garden of Eden in Tasmania, [as] meanwhile, in Tasmania itself, the British settlers are alternately trying to civilise and eliminate the Aboriginal population ... The sort of novel that few contemporary writers have either the imagination or the stamina to sustain."

How the sailors from the Isle of Man who just wanted to smuggle a little alcohol, end up in Tasmania, I don't remember that very well. I do remember though, how they landed there and the effect they had on the people living there already, the native Australians.

Quite a weird book at times. I liked the part of the aboriginals and what you could learn about their lives. I do like historical novels, so it was interesting to learn more about that. But I didn't like the priest and all the Europeans and the story that led to their "discovery". The novel did get quite boring at times.

It's been quite a while that I read it (with my previous book club). It had just received the Whitbread Award and it didn't encourage me to read any more books from their lists even though I had liked the runner up which I had read before ("White Teeth" by Zadie Smith).

We read this in our Dutch International Women's Book Club in 2000/2001.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

Book Description:

"It is 1857 and the Reverend Geoffrey Wilson has set out for Tasmania, hoping to find the true site of the Garden of Eden. But the journey is turning out to be less than straightforward – dissent is growing between him and sinister racial-theorist Dr Potter, and, unknown to both, the ship they have hurriedly chartered is in fact a Manx smuggling vessel, fleeing British customs. In Tasmania the aboriginal people have been fighting a desperate battle against British invaders, and, as the passengers will discover, the island is now far from being an earthly paradise ..."

Matthew Kneale was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for "English Passengers" in 2000.

Brown, Rita Mae - The Hunsenmeir Trilogy

Brown, Rita Mae - The Hunsenmeir Trilogy

"Six of One" - 1978
A story about two elderly ladies, the Hunsenmeir sisters, and the Lesbian daughter of one of them. They live in Runnymede, Maryland, a small town with all its nosiness and gossip. A totally hilarious story, great for a good laugh. Time to re-read, I think.

From the back cover:
"Perched right on the Mason-Dixon line, tiny Runnymede, Maryland, is ripe with a history almost as colorful as the women who live there - from Celeste Chalfonte, headstrong and aristocratic, who murders for principle and steals her brother’s wife, to Fannie Jump Creighton, who runs a speakeasy right in her own home when hard times come knocking. Then of course, there’re Louise and Julia, the boldly eccentric Hunsenmeir sisters. Wheezie and Juts spend their whole lives in Runnymede, cheerfully quibbling about everything from men to child-rearing to how to drive a car. But they never let small-town life keep them from chasing their biggest dreams - or from being true to who they really are. Sparkling with a perfect combination of sisterhood and sass, Six of One is a richly textured Southern canvas - Rita Mae Brown 'at her winning, fondest best'."

"Bingo" - 1988
From the back cover:
"In the sequel to her beloved Six of One, Rita Mae Brown returns with another witty tale of passion and rivalry in the small Southern town of Runnymede, Maryland. Newspaper editor Nickel Smith is scrambling to save the local paper from corporate extinction, even as she is engaged in an affair that would shock the town as much as it amazes Nickel herself. Meanwhile, her mother, Julia, and her aunt Louise, the infamous Hunsenmeir sisters, who've set the town on its ears for decades, keep an eagle eye on Nickel. No matter that she's a grown woman and that they're going on ninety; they need someone to gossip about! Not even the town's weekly bingo games can keep Louise and Julia out of trouble when Ed Tutweiler Walters, an eligible newcomer, arrives in town--and has the sisters fighting over him like schoolgirls. A telling look at the foibles of modern relationships, Bingo is full of wisdom about the comforts, trials, and absurdities of small-town life and especially of our own nearest and dearest."

"Loose Lips" - 1999

From the back cover:
"If you crossed Mitford, North Carolina, with Peyton Place, you might come up with Runnymede, Maryland, the most beguiling of Southern towns. In Loose Lips, Rita Mae Brown revisits Runnymede and the beloved characters introduced in Six of One and Bingo, serving up an exuberant portrayal of small-town sins and Southern mores, set against a backdrop of homefront life during World War II.

"I'm afraid life is passing me by," Louise told her sister.

"No, it's not," Juts said. "Life can't pass us by. We are life."

In the picturesque town of Runnymede, everyone knows everyone else's business, and the madcap antics of the battling Hunsenmeir sisters, Julia (Juts) and Louise, have kept the whole town agog ever since they were children. Now, in the fateful year of 1941, with America headed for war, the sisters are inching toward forty...and Juts is unwise enough to mention that unspeakable reality to her sister.

The result is a huge brawl that litters Cadwalder's soda fountain with four hundred dollars' worth of broken glass. To pay the debt, the sisters choose a surprisingly new direction. Suddenly they are joint owners of The Curl 'n' Twirl beauty salon, where discriminating ladies meet to be primped, permed, and pampered while dishing the town's latest dirt.

As Juts and Louise become Runnymede's most unlikely new career women, each faces her share of obstacles. Restless Juts can't shake her longing for a baby, while holier-than-thou Louise is fit to be tied over her teenage daughter's headlong rush toward scandal. As usual, the sisters rarely see eye to eye, and there are plenty of opinions to go around. Even the common bond of patriotic duty brings wildly unexpected results when the twosome joins the Civil Air Patrol, watching the night sky for German Stukas. But loose lips can sink even the closest relationships, and Juts and Louise are about to discover that some things are best left unsaid.

Spanning a decade in the lives of Louise, Juts, and their nearest and dearest, including the incomparable Celeste Chalfonte, Loose Lips is an unforgettable tale of love and loss and the way life can always throw you a curveball. By turns poignant and hilarious, it is deepened by Rita Mae Brown's unerring insight into the human heart."

By the way, when I read the books, the titles were not half as colourful.  

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

Fontane, Theodor "Effi Briest"

Fontane, Theodor "Effi Briest" (German: Effi Briest) - 1894

I re-read this book a while ago because I love to read classics and it had been a while.

Fontane managed the description of the society of the late 19th century excellently (not that I know from personal experience 😉), we just have to be lucky to live today. But is it so much easier today than it was back then? Some things have changed, life has not become easier that way.

The whole situation Effi - Instetten - Crampas - is doomed to failure, of course. Although Instetten has his doubts in between whether he is doing the right thing, he feels obliged to keep up appearances.

I really liked the phrase of Geheimrätin (Privvy Councillor) Zwicker: "Why are there stoves and fireplaces?" Well, it would never come to this story in that case. And that would have been a pity.

Fontane is one of the best German writers of the time. He gives us a good insight into a society that seems strange to us but which we still can not get enough of.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Unworldly young Effi Briest is married off to Baron von Innstetten, an austere and ambitious civil servant twice her age, who has little time for his new wife. Isolated and bored, Effi finds comfort and distraction in a brief liaison with Major Crampas, a married man with a dangerous reputation. But years later, when Effi has almost forgotten her affair, the secret returns to haunt her, with fatal consequences. Considered to be Fontane's greatest novel, Effi Briest is a humane, unsentimental portrait of a young woman torn between her duties as a wife and mother and the instincts of her heart."

Irving, John "A Widow for One Year"

Irving, John "A Widow for One Year" - 1998

The story of Ruth, a "difficult woman" from toddler into middle age, from Long Island to
Amsterdam. The story of a disturbed childhood and a troubled mind.

This is definitely a book I would not have read if it wasn't for my book club. I still don't know whether I liked it or not. It certainly is a book that makes you think about a lot of things.

We read this in our Dutch International Women's Book Club in 2000/2001.

Book Description:

"This is the story of Ruth Cole. It is told in three parts: on Long Island, in the summer of 1958, when she is only four; in 1990, when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career; and in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother. She's also about to fall in love for the first time..."

Hesse, Karen "Out of the Dust"

Hesse, Karen "Out of the Dust" - 1997

Karen Hesse has a great style to write about the problems of ordinary people throughout history. She describes the life of a Jewish girl immigrating to America in "Letters from Rifka" and now tells us about life during the Great Depression in the 1930s in the US. A children's version of "The Grapes of Wrath" , a young girl struggling to survive the Dust Bowl and all the problems that arise from it.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Written in free verse, this award-winning story is set in the heart of the Great Depression. It chronicles Oklahoma’s staggering dust storms, and the environmental - and emotional - turmoil they leave in their path. An unforgettable tribute to hope and inner strength."

Precht, Richard David "Who Am I and If So, How Many?"

Precht, Richard David "Who Am I and If So, How Many?: A Journey Through Your Mind" (German: Wer bin ich und wenn ja, wie viele? Eine philosophische Reise) - 2007

Usually, I read non-fiction more "on the side". During the time I need for it, I read at least 2-3 novels.

In this case it was exactly the reverse. I could hardly put the book down. The individual sections were complete by themselves, so you could read a chapter every other month. But - I didn't want to.

Richard David Precht manages to make a subject as exciting as a thriller, a subject that can also be represented quite tough and boring. Sure, it's not a book for a philosophy student - although I'm sure they can learn from this, as well. But he offers a lot of knowledge for the average citizen that you would not find otherwise in such a vivid and entertaining way.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has even the slightest interest in philosophy and always wanted to know how this world works.

The book is objective and original. The fact that it has been translated into English after only a couple of years speaks for itself.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"There are many books about philosophy, but 'Who Am I? And If So How Many?' is different from the rest. Never before has anyone introduced readers so expertly and, at the same time, so light-heartedly and elegantly to the big philosophical questions. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, history, and even pop culture, Richard David Precht deftly elucidates the questions at the heart of human existence: What is truth? Does life have meaning? Why should I be good? and presents them in concise, witty, and engaging prose. The result is an exhilarating journey through the history of philosophy and a lucid introduction to current research on the brain. 'Who Am I? And If So, How Many? ' is a wonderfully accessible introduction to philosophy. The book is a kaleidoscope of philosophical problems, anecdotal information, neurological and biological science, and psychological research.

The books is divided into three parts:

1) 'What Can I Know?' focuses on the brain and the nature and scope of human knowledge, starting with questions posed by Kant, Descartes, Nietzsche, Freud, and others.

2) 'What Should I Do?' deals with human morals and ethics, using neurological and sociological research to explain why we empathize with others and are compelled to act morally. Discusses the morality of euthanasia, abortion, cloning, and other controversial topics.

3) 'What Can I Hope For?' centers around the most important questions in life: What is happiness and why do we fall in love? Is there a God and how can we prove God's existence? What is freedom? What is the purpose of life?"

Haynes, Melinda "Mother of Pearl"

Haynes, Melinda "Mother of Pearl" - 1999

This book had been on my TBR pile for quite a while before I picked it up. Really don't know why, maybe the cover prevented me (or the fact that there are 200 more books waiting).

Anyway, I loved this novel. It's an Oprah book and until now I liked every single one of the ones I did read (quite a few).

Every time I read a novel set in the South in that time, I am glad I didn't have to live then and there. There were so many restrictions, especially for coloured people, but also for anyone who didn't "belong".

Joody Two Shoes is a bit of a fortune teller, someone who knows everything, she brings some mysticism into this novel that heavily verges on Magic Realism.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Set in the Deep South in the late 1950s, Mother of Pearl vividly brings to life the extraordinary inhabitants of the small town of Petal, Mississippi. Central to the novel are the stories of Even Grade, a 28-year-old black man abandoned by his mother at birth, Valuable Korner, a 15-year-old white girl whose family history holds a trunkful of damning secrets, and Joody Two Sun, an enigmatic obeah woman who sees into the hearts and minds of the townsfolk from her riverside camp on the outskirts of town. Cast in a tragicomic passion play, Even, Val, and Joody find their destinies entwined as they search for the love and family that they have always been denied."

Handford, Martin "Where's Wally?"

Handford, Martin "Where's Wally?" (aka Where's Waldo?) - 1987

I was looking for a character starting with W for an "Alphabet Challenge". I just had to think about Wally (or Waldo in the US or Walter in Germany, but he also has non-"W" names: Charlie in French, Efi in Hebrew, Hetti in Hindi, Holger in Danish, Jura in Croatian, Valik in Czech, Veli in Turkish and Vili in Hungarian, to name just a few) and Wilma and I thought, I haven't written about these fabulous books.

I guess Wally is known worldwide because he is going everywhere. Mind you, he is also hiding everywhere, so I'm surprised anybody knows him at all.

I have spent many many happy hours with my boys trying to find Wally, the other characters and items in numerous pictures, we have had so much fun trying to find the weirdest things in the strangest places. This is a wonderful book to share with your children.

The children seem to love it a lot, too, in 2009, students in the US dressed as Wally and set a record in the Guinness Book, an attempt in England the following year didn't succeed but in 2011 it was broken in Ireland.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"An activity book that features Wally, along with his friends, who are fiendishly hidden in every scene.

Look out for Wally, Woof, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard, Odlaw, loads of Wally-watchers and more on every double-page spread in this eye-boggling classic.

The amazing original that set off the worldwide search for Wally! Perfect for the youngest Wally searcher, this special edition contains all the fun of the original but with lots of eye-boggling extras! Anyone who has found Wallly before will want to find him all over again because he's in a new place in every scene."

McMahon, Katharine "The Rose of Sebastopol"

McMahon, Katharine "The Rose of Sebastopol" - 2007

It is the time of Florence Nightingale, the Crimean War in 1854. How can an intelligent girl not want to follow in her footsteps?

This is the beginning of the novel, Rosa Barr follows Florence Nightingale in order to help her wounded compatriots. From then on, it drifts to the cousin who stays behind to Italy where Rosa's traces disappear. It has the tendency to drift into chick lit but fortunately finds its way back all the time. Not a bad read, a lot of different situations play into the story.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"In 1855 Rosa Barr, a headstrong young woman, travels to the Crimea, against the wishes of her family, determined to work as a nurse. She does not return.Three people have been intimately connected with her. One, her brother, a soldier and adventurer; the second a doctor, traumatized by the war, and harbouring a secret passion, and the third, Mariella, her cousin and childhood friend, who must now uncover the truth about what has happened to the missing nurse.Mariella's epic journey takes her from the domestic quiet of London to the foothills of Italy, and on to the ravaged Russian landscape of the Crimea, where she must discover what has happened to her captivating and mysterious cousin and uncover the secrets of those who loved her.. "

Faber, Michel "The Fire Gospel"

Faber, Michel "The Fire Gospel" - 2008

This is considered a fantasy book though I would probably describe it as alternative historical fiction.

Anyway, a scientist visits a museum in Iraq that was looted. He discovers the "fifth gospel" and finds that it is difficult to share with the modern world.

I thought this was an easy read - easy doesn't necessarily say without any background. I loved the story and the writing. This was my first book by the author and it certainly will not be the last.

I didn't think about religion in this book. I mean, anyone can come up with something ancient that was found just recently and thereby try to go back in time. There are enough "fifth gospels" already and we can discuss about whether the ones that did make it into the bible should have been the ones or not. But that is not the point in this book.

I enjoyed reading it. And the amazon reviews were hilarious.

From the back cover:

"Theo Griepenkerl is a modest academic with an Olympian ego. When he visits a looted museum in Iraq, looking for treasures he can ship back to Canada, he finds nine papyrus scrolls that have lain hidden for two thousand years. Once translated from Aramaic, these prove to be a fifth Gospel, written by an eye-witness of Jesus Christ's last days. But when Theo decides to share this sensational discovery with the world, he fails to imagine the impact the new Gospel will have on Christians, Arabs, homicidal maniacs and Amazon customers. Like Prometheus's gift of fire, it has incendiary consequences.

The Fire Gospel is an enthralling novel about the power of words to resonate across centuries, and inspire and disrupt in equal measure. Wickedly provocative, hilarious and shocking by turns, it is a revelatory piece of storytelling. "

Herman, Sarah & York, Lucy "The Unofficial Facebooker's Social Survival Guide"

Herman, Sarah & York, Lucy "The Unofficial Facebooker's Social Survival Guide" - 2008

A friend gave me this because she thinks I am the ultimate Facebooker. Actually, a lot of my friends think that.

I quite like the book, it's a handy little guide to what you should and shouldn't do on Facebook and there are quite a few funny stories in it.

From the back cover:

"Ever woken from a night of revelry to find your drunken antics the subject of a tagfest? Ever accidentally wallposted yourself into an argument or been hunted by a school-days stalker? If your real social life is dying a death at the hands of your virtual one, fear not, Facebookers - help is just a little book away. This cheeky unofficial guide will show you how to navigate the perilous pitfalls of life online while having as much fun as possible. Get to grips with tags, pokes, requests, and posts, and work them to your advantage. Tips and hints include how to tag your way out of a bad relationship, poke and post without stalking, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Whether you’re a Facebook virgin or an application addict, you won’t want to log in without this book."

Croker, Charlie "Løst in Tränšlatioπ"

Croker, Charlie "Løst in Tränšlatioπ. Misadventures in English Abroad" - 2006

Not really a novel, just one of those humorous books about language and how it can be understood and expressed quite differently in different countries. This edition collects all those funny little signs and descriptions we find all over the world - not without telling us that we shouldn't judge, the person translating this knows at least one foreign language, probably better than anyone who needs the translation into their language.

Still - it's funny to read, for example when you are advised to "Beware of your luggage", or being told to "not use the Emergency Exit in peacetime", or you can order "half a lawyer with prawns'". I promise, you actually will be rolling on the floor laughing.

Oh - and I really love the different fonts in the book title.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"This text features hundreds of original and ridiculous examples of the misadventures in English discovered all over the world, including the German beauty product offering a 'cream shower for pretentious skin' or the Japanese bar that boasts 'special cocktails for ladies with nuts'. "

Franzen, Jonathan "The Corrections"

Franzen, Jonathan "The Corrections" - 2001

I read this book a while ago and didn't like it very much. I couldn't really connect to the people, none of them seemed "real". The whole writing style seemed unconnected. Maybe this was what Franzen tried to portray but he should let you feel the disconnection among the family members not between the reader and the book.

Actually, Oprah had Franzen on her list but he declined. I think that was part of the reason I read it. In general, I have enjoyed quite a few of the Oprah books and I just wanted to know why he made such a fuss about being on the list. I do understand now, he just doesn't fit in there.

From the back cover:

"Jonathan Franzen's third novel, The Corrections, is a great work of art and a grandly entertaining overture to our new century: a bold, comic, tragic, deeply moving family drama that stretches from the Midwest at mid-century to Wall Street and Eastern Europe in the age of greed and globalism. Franzen brings an old-time America of freight trains and civic duty, of Cub Scouts and Christmas cookies and sexual inhibitions, into brilliant collision with the modern absurdities of brain science, home surveillance, hands-off parenting, do-it-yourself mental healthcare, and the anti-gravity New Economy. With The Corrections, Franzen emerges as one of our premier interpreters of American society and the American soul.

Enid Lambert is terribly, terribly anxious. Although she would never admit it to her neighbors or her three grown children, her husband, Alfred, is losing his grip on reality. Maybe it's the medication that Alfred takes for his Parkinson's disease, or maybe it's his negative attitude, but he spends his days brooding in the basement and committing shadowy, unspeakable acts. More and more often, he doesn't seem to understand a word Enid says.

Trouble is also brewing in the lives of Enid's children. Her older son, Gary, a banker in Philadelphia, has turned cruel and materialistic and is trying to force his parents out of their old house and into a tiny apartment. The middle child, Chip, has suddenly and for no good reason quit his exciting job as a professor at D------ College and moved to New York City, where he seems to be pursuing a 'transgressive' lifestyle and writing some sort of screenplay. Meanwhile the baby of the family, Denise, has escaped her disastrous marriage only to pour her youth and beauty down the drain of an affair with a married man - or so Gary hints.

Enid, who loves to have fun, can still look forward to a final family Christmas and to the ten-day Nordic Pleasurelines Luxury Fall Color Cruise that she and Alfred are about to embark on. But even these few remaining joys are threatened by her husband's growing confusion and unsteadiness. As Alfred enters his final decline, the Lamberts must face the failures, secrets, and long-buried hurts that haunt them as a family if they are to make the corrections that each desperately needs."

Jonathan Franzen was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for "The Corrections" in 2002.

Cosby, Bill "Fatherhood"

Cosby, Bill "Fatherhood" - 1987

"You know the only people who are always sure about the proper way to raise children? Those who've never had any." Bill Cosby

I love Bill Cosby. "The Cosby Show" is one of the funniest programmes I know. Bill Cosby is both funny and wise, I could listen to his rantings, uhm wisdom, forever. So, it's a good thing he put them all into this fabulous book.

I am not a fan of short stories. But these aren't short stories. They are variations on a theme. Every story is on a different part of one subject, raising children. Bill Cosby knows all about that. I could just quote him all day long. One last one: "Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell the name will carry." Wish he'd told me that before I ended both my sons' names with a consonant. ;-)

From the back cover:
"From one of America's most beloved funnymen comes a hilarious look at the lighter side of fatherhood. So, what is fatherhood...?

It's pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.

It's helping your children learn English as a second language.

It's asking your son to make up a name rather than tell anyone who he is.

It's knowing that 'Everything's okay, Dad!' means 'I haven't killed anyone!'

It's the book every father will love.

It's Bill Cosby at his wittiest, wisest, and warmest.

'Bill Cosby makes fatherhood come alive. He takes us on a comedic yet insightful journey through the awesome shifting sands of parenthood. Though this volume is titled Fatherhood, its effect will be to strengthen the entire family.' - from the afterword by Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D. "

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "The Sorrows of Young Werther"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "The Sorrows of Young Werther" (German: Die Leiden des jungen Werther) - 1774

This epistolary novel is also slightly autobiographical. Goethe has always been a very important German author. This is probably one of his most famous books very much to the disdain of the author.

Young Werther is a young artist, very sensitive. He corresponds with his friend whom he tells about all his troubles and sufferings, his unrequited love to a girl.

Apparently, the book had a huge influence on the people at the time. But not only contemporary readers were influenced, there are still German and international authors referring to the novel.

Thomas Mann wrote "Lotte in Weimar" where Goethe meets the young girl, Charlotte, Ulrich Plenzdorf, a GDR author, wrote "Die neuen Leiden des jungen W." (The New Sufferings of Young W.) in 1970 and it is still as actual as it was then.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Visiting an idyllic German village, Werther, a sensitive and romantic young man, meets and falls in love with sweet-natured Lotte. Although he realizes that Lotte is to marry Albert, he is unable to subdue his passion for her, and his infatuation torments him to the point of absolute despair. The first great 'confessional' novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther draws both on Goethe's own unrequited love for Charlotte Buff and on the death of his friend Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem. The book was an immediate success, and a cult rapidly grew up around it, resulting in numerous imitations as well as violent criticism and even suppression on the grounds of its apparent recommendation of suicide. Goethe's sensitive exploration of the mind of a young artist at odds with society and ill-equipped to cope with life is now considered the first great tragic novel of European literature."

I also read "Iphigenia in Tauris".

Roberts, Karen "The Flower Boy"

Roberts, Karen "The Flower Boy" - 2001

"The Flower Boy is a deeply moving and enchanting novel - a story of love, town secrets and family divisions."

I read this book probably ten years ago. A story about Ceylon, as it was called then, in the 1930s. A story about a friendship, about Europeans in Asia, about masters and servants. A very well told story of the friendship between a little Ceylonese boy and the daughter of his English masters. I really liked this novel.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"An accomplished debut, The Flower Boy is the tragically romantic story of people from two cultures, one ruling the other, and the human passions that defy and nearly overcome social taboos.

In the colonial society of 1930s Ceylon, the separation between servant and master is clearly drawn. Young Chandi, however, knows that the baby born to his mother’s mistress will be his friend. And, indeed, their friendship blossoms in the lush gardens of the tea plantation on which they live. Many, English and Ceylonese, are troubled by the friendship, but the English planter is charmed by the children’s bond, and ultimately by Chandi’s mother, Premawathi. But the world encroaches on their Eden. Beautifully observed, compellingly plotted, The Flower Boy is a compassionate novel of a lost world and those who struggled to hold on to it."

Dinesen, Isak/Blixen, Karen "Out of Africa"

Dinesen, Isak/Blixen, Karen "Out of Africa" - 1937

Who didn't watch the fantastic film "Out of Africa"? I often read a book and then watch a movie which really is the wrong way around because you never really like the film if you've read the book and see your own images.

Now - "Out of Africa". I think I would have liked the movie even if I'd read the book first. Meryl Streep captures the narrator's language so beautifully, I don't think one can imagine it any different.

Isak Dinesen, aka Karen Blixen, moves to Africa where she marries a good friend and wants to start a dairy farm with him. Nothing happens as planned but we get to know a smart and wonderful woman with a big heart who really gets to like the continent and its inhabitants. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"From the moment Karen Blixen arrived in Kenya in 1914 to manage a coffee plantation, her heart belonged to Africa. Drawn to the intense colours and ravishing landscapes, Karen Blixen spent her happiest years on the farm and her experiences and friendships with the people around her are vividly recalled in these memoirs. Out of Africa is the story of a remarkable and unconventional woman and of a way of life that has vanished for ever."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Iphigenia in Tauris”"

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Iphigenia in Tauris" (German: Iphigenie auf Tauris) - 1787

A play by Goethe, one of the books you have to read in the German high school. Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon who offers her to the goddess Artemis. Even though the goddess rescues Iphigenia and takes her to the island of Tauris, a lot of things happen as a consequence.

I am not a big fan of reading plays, I rather watch them. However, this is a very interesting story that teaches a lot about Greek mythology.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Goethe wrote in the early 1800's. His works encompassed poetry, drama, literature, theology, science, painting, and humanism. This romantic play begins in tragedy and progresses through several perilous adventures to its happy conclusion. Iphigenia is sacrificed to the goddess Artemis by her father. Artemis saves her and makes her a priestess. It was Iphigenia's role to consecrate the barbarian victims before they were sacrificed. She wants revenge on the Greeks and waits for one to come to be sacrificed. When a Greek finally arrives she does not initially recognize him as her brother."

I also read "The Sorrows of Young Werther".

Ilibagiza, Immaculée "Our Lady of Kibeho"

Ilibagiza, Immaculée with Erwin, Steve "Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa" - 2008

I read  Immaculée Ilibagiza's harrowing tale of the genocide in Rwanda "Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust" which was written before this one but happened later. During the first book I was always amazed about her faith, her indistructible faith in God that he would spare her. How could someone so young be so faithful?

After reading this book, I am not surprised. She was born like that, her family was very religious and then she saw the visionaries.

A remarkable book by a remarkable young woman.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2023.

From the back cover:

"Thirteen years before the bloody 1994 genocide that swept across Rwanda and left more than a million people dead, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ appeared to eight young people in the remote village of Kibeho. Through these visionaries, Mary and Jesus warned of the looming holocaust, which (they assured) could be averted if Rwandans opened their hearts to God and embraced His love.

Mary also sent messages to government and church leaders to instruct them how to end the ethnic hatred simmering in their country. She warned them that Rwanda would become "a river of blood"-a land of unspeakable carnage-if the hatred of the people was not quickly quelled by love. Some leaders listened, but very few believed. The prophetic and apocalyptic warnings tragically came true during 100 horrifying days of savage bloodletting and mass murder.

Much like what happened at similar sites such as Fátima and Lourdes, the messengers of Kibeho were at first mocked and disbelieved. But as miracle after miracle occurred in the tiny village, tens of thousands of Rwandans journeyed to Kibeho to behold the apparitions. After the genocide, and two decades of rigorous investigation, Our Lady of Kibeho became the first and only Vatican-approved Marian (related to the Virgin Mary) site in all of Africa. But the story still remained largely unknown.

Now, however, Immaculée Ilibagiza has changed all that. She has made many pilgrimages to Kibeho, both before and after the holocaust, has personally witnessed true miracles, and has spoken with a number of the visionaries themselves. What she has discovered will deeply touch your heart!"

Bryson, Bill "At Home"

Bryson, Bill "At Home. A Short History of Private Life" - 2010

One of my favourite authors, Bill Bryson. He travels around the world and makes everyone laugh with his books. This time, he doesn't even leave the house, he describes the history of the world (well, mainly Britain and America) while walking through the different rooms in his house. Highly interesting, highly amusing. One of the easiest way to pick up a lot of knowledge.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2023.

From the back cover:

"What does history really consist of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - sleeping, eating, having sex, endeavouring to get comfortable.

And where did all these normal activities take place? At home.

This was the thought that inspired Bill Bryson to start a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, to consider how the ordinary things in life came to be. And what he discovered are surprising connections to anything from the Crystal Palace to the Eiffel Tower, from scurvy to body-snatching, from bedbugs to the Industrial Revolution, and just about everything else that has ever happened, resulting in one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live."

I have read so many different books by this guy that I have an extra page for him: Bill Bryson - Funniest Author Ever

Tellkamp, Uwe "The Tower"

Tellkamp, Uwe "The Tower" (Der Turm. Geschichte aus einem versunkenen Land) - 2008

I loved this book and couldn't wait to recommend it to all my friends. Now it was translated! Go, read it.

Uwe Tellkamp describes life in East Germany in the 1980s. I grew up in the Western part of the country and - as most of us - didn't have any contacts to the East. Which means I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the lives depicted. But I do have a feeling that it's pretty close, yet, not for everyone, only those who lived a more privileged life because of their jobs.

The length of the book enabled the author to go into so many details of so many different characters. Without that, he would have had to restrict himself to fewer characters or a more superficial description.

Of course, Christian Hoffmann was the protagonist, and I loved his portrayal. But my favourite character was Meno Rohde because he seemed the most "alive".

I certainly want to read more of this author and more of other GDR authors.

I read the original German edition of this novel.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"In derelict Dresden a cultivated, middle-class family does all it can to cope amid the Communist downfall. This striking tapestry of the East German experience is told through the tangled lives of a soldier, surgeon, nurse and publisher. With evocative detail, Uwe Tellkamp masterfully reveals the myriad perspectives of the time as people battled for individuality, retreated to nostalgia, chose to conform, or toed the perilous line between East and West. Poetic, heartfelt and dramatic, The Tower vividly resurrects the sights, scents and sensations of life in the GDR as it hurtled towards 9 November 1989."

Bacon, Charlotte "Lost Geography"

Bacon, Charlotte "Lost Geography" - 2000

"Lost Geography" is a story about migration, a Canadian-Scottish family with their daughters, one of whom lives in France with her Turkish-English husband.

I especially like the description "'Lost Geography' teaches us, in a luminous sequence of intense personal dramas, that what keeps us alive isn't so much our ability to understand the details of our past as having the luck and courage to survive the assaults of both the present and history.

This is what the story is all about, how do people with a different background relate to each other, what are the consequences of migration, inter-racial marriages.

The novel is full of tragedies, with the people fighting. And this is the real message of the book, how you can overcome obstacles and make the most of it. Make the problems a challenge instead of a dead end road.

Very interesting novel for which the author received several awards, quite deservedly.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"A heart-breaking novel by a prize-winning young writer

In a debut novel that is a triumph of wit and feeling, Charlotte Bacon explores the transitions that sixty years visit upon the members of an unforgettable family - a Saskatchewan woman and her Scottish husband; their plucky daughter, who moves to Toronto; and her remarkable daughter, who lives in France with her Turkish-English husband. 'Lost Geography' takes the complexity of migration as its central subject: Why do landscape, work, and family lock some people in place and release others? In settings both rural and urban, these stalwart, tragically dispersed yet resilient people respond not only to new environments and experiences but to the eruption of sudden loss and change.

As the settings and characters shift in this wise, resonant book, readers are invited to see how habits of survival translate from one generation to another. How are we like our forebears? How does circumstance make us alter what our heritage has told us is important? With unfailing subtlety and elegance, 'Lost Geography' teaches us, in a luminous sequence of intense personal dramas, that what keeps us alive isn't so much our ability to understand the details of our past as having the luck and courage to survive the assaults of both the present and history."

Shalev, Meir "Four Meals"

Shalev, Meir "Four Meals" (Hebrew: כימים אחדים aka "As a Few Days" or "The Loves of Judith") - 1994

Three men love Judith, two farmers and a cattle dealer. Even though they all want to marry her, she doesn't marry anyone but has a son instead.

When Judith dies, all three men want to be the father of the boy and invite him to a meal to get to know him better.

Very short description of an extraordinary story. The boy doesn't just learn about his mother's past but also about life and love, relationships, destiny. This novel contains so many different characters and so many different traits in those characters. The author manages to describe not just those few people but almost everyone in the village. And the meals have a certain meaning, too.

A very deep account of love and life.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"From the author of the critically acclaimed A Pigeon and a Boy, the extraordinary story of Zayde, his enigmatic mother Judith, and her three loversWhen Judith arrives in a small, rural village in Palestine in the early 1930s, three men compete for her attention: Globerman, the cunning, coarse cattle-dealer who loves women, money, and flesh; Jacob, owner of hundreds of canaries and host to the four meals which lend the book its narrative structure; and Moshe, a widowed farmer obsessed with his dead wife and his lost braid of hair which his mother cut off in childhood. During the four meals, which take place over several decades, Zayde slowly comes to understand why these three men consider him their son and why all three participate in raising him. A virtuoso performance of spellbinding storytelling, this is a deeply satisfying read - sensuous, hilarious, compassionate, and profound."

Streatfeild, Noel "Ballet Shoes"

Streatfeild, Noel "Ballet Shoes" - 1936

Three adopted orphan girls take dance lessons. That's the main plot. They all have different kind of talents and different kind of views, that makes the story interesting.

I must admit, I never heard of this author before watching "You've Got Mail". But Meg Ryan described it so nicely, when I saw the book in our library (helping my son to find books), I just had to borrow and read it. It is a little old and you notice this when you read it, but, it's quite a nice story that you can still read more than half a century after it's been written.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Pauline longs to be an actress.

Petrova is happiest playing with cars and engines.

And if she could . . . Posy would dance all day!

But when their benefactor Great-Uncle Matthew disappears, the Fossil girls share a future of a dazzling life on stage, where their dreams and fears will soon come true . . ."

Høeg, Peter "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow"

Høeg, Peter "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" (Danish: Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne) - 1992

I remember everyone raving about this book. Smilla is a native Greenlander, an Inuit who lives in Denmark. She is friends with a neighbour boy who is killed by a fall from the roof. It is declared an accident but Smilla doesn't' believe it and starts her own investigation. A murder mystery with a twist.

Even though I don't usually enjoy crime stories, I thought this was quite fascinating.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

Book Description:

"When caustic Smilla Jaspersen discovers that her neighbor - a neglected six-year-old boy, and possibly her only friend - has died in a tragic accident, a peculiar intuition tells her it was murder. Unpredictable to the last page, Smilla’s Feeling for Snow is one of the most beautifully written and original crime stories of our time, a new classic."

Tyler, Anne "Digging to America"

Tyler, Anne "Digging to America" - 2006

 Two very different American families meet while adopting a Korean baby. One family are immigrants themselves, from Iran. The families become friends and start a tradition for both of them. The book demonstrates all the different parts of family life, the joys and the problems.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Anne Tyler has a great way of giving her characters life, describing both ordinary and extraordinary lives.

A lot of topics come up for discussion. How far do you want to keep your adopted child from another culture to stay in touch with this culture, how much are you as a family willing to adjust to this culture? How much are they willing to adapt themselves? How much is a marriage threatened or able to grow through an act like that? All these questions show what a great book this would be for a book club.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Two families meet at the Baltimore airport while waiting for their baby girls to arrive from Korea. The Iranian-American Sami and Ziba Yazdan, with Ziba's elegant and reserved mother, Maryam, in tow, wait quietly while brash and all-American Bitsy and Brad Donaldson, plus extended family, are armed with camcorders and a fleet of balloons proclaiming "It's a girl!" After they decide together to throw an impromptu "arrival party," a tradition is born, and so begins a lifelong friendship between the two families.

As they raise their daughters, the Yazdan and Donaldson families grapple with questions of assimilation and identity. When Bitsy's recently widowed father sets his sights on Maryam, she must confront her own idea of what it means to be other, and of who she is and what she values. Rich, tender, and searching, Digging to America challenges the notion that home is a fixed place, and celebrates the subtle complexities of life on all sides of the American experience."

I also read "The Accidental Tourist" and "A Patchwork Planet"  but wasn't that impressed with either of those novels. However, I loved "A Spool of Blue Thread".

Tyler, Anne "A Patchwork Planet"

Tyler, Anne "A Patchwork Planet" - 1998

The story of a man who is socially regarded as a "loser", his failure, the disappointment of his family. Same as "The Accidental Tourist", I read this ages ago but the book didn't leave a huge impression. Nicely told but I couldn't warm to the characters.

From the back cover:
"Barnaby Gaitlin is a loser - just short of thirty he's the black sheep of a philanthropic Baltimore family. Once upon a time he had a home, a loving wife, a little family of his own; now he has an ex-wife, a 9-year-old daughter with attitude, a Corvette Sting Ray that's a collectors item but unreliable, and he works as hired muscle for Rent-a-Back, doing heavy chores for old folks. He has an almost pathological curiosity about other people's lives, which has got him into serious trouble in the past, and a hopeles charm which attracts the kind of angelic woman who wants to save him from himself. Tyler's observation is more acute and more delicious than ever; her humour slyer and more irresistible; her characters so vividly realised that you feel you've known this quirky collection for ever. With perfect pitch and poise, humor and humanity, Anne Tyler chronicals, better than any writer today, the sublime and the rediculous of everyday living, the foibles and frailties of the ordinary human heart."

Not at all like "Digging to America" which I enjoyed very much.

Read my other reviews about Anne Tyler's novels here.

Hesse, Karen "Letters from Rifka"

Hesse, Karen "Letters from Rifka" - 1992

I picked up this book at a school book fair because it looked quite interesting. The story is told by Rifka, a Jewish girl who has to leave the Ukraine with her family to go to America. On the way, she gets sick and cannot go with the family but has to stay behind in Antwerp. She writes down imaginary letters to her cousin in the margins of a Pushkin book and that way we learn about the lives of the Jews in Eastern Europe and the troubles they had to go through in order to get to lead a decent life.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"In letters to her cousin, a young Jewish girl chronicles her family's flight from Russia in 1919 and her own experiences when she must be left in Belgium for a while when the others emigrate to America."

The novel is recommended for 9 to 12 year olds but I am sure it is still interesting for older teens.

I also recommend "Out of the Dust" by the same author, about life during the Great Depression. 

Dorrestein, Renate "A Heart of Stone"

Dorrestein, Renate "A Heart of Stone" (Dutch: Een hart van steen) - 1998

Ellen tells the story of her family, she grows up as one of five children and buys her parents' home when she is in her late thirties and pregnant herself. Through old family albums, she tries to understand the tragedy that happened to her family years ago.

Very interesting story about memory and understanding, a psychological thriller. Renate Dorrestein is quite well known in the Netherlands, this is one of her few books that have been translated into English. She received several nominations for prestigious Dutch literature prizes for it. I am not surprised.

I read this in the original Dutch.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2024.

From the back cover:

"Renate Dorrestein is that rare storyteller who dazzles critics and captivates readers. Provocative, stylish, and emotionally resonant, A Heart of Stone (her first book to be translated into English) is certain to cause a sensation on the international scene and Viking is proud to introduce her to the American public.This beautifully woven masterpiece, spare yet richly told, plumbs the undercurrents of family life and tragedy in a startling and wise story of love, fate, and survival. Ellen Van Bemmel lives with her parents, who run an American news-clipping service, and her three siblings in an old Dutch house in a suburb of Amsterdam. Ellen's idyllic childhood is suffused with Americana, both the frivolous fringes like potato chips and Coca-Cola as well as milestones like Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, until family disaster strikes on her twelfth birthday. From that moment on her world begins to unravel. Years later, Ellen plunges us into the past as she leafs through a faded photo album and confronts the literal and figurative ghosts of her child-hood. Seamlessly alternating the past and present, taut with Hitchcockian tension and warmed by a redemptive love story, A Heart of Stone tells a darkly humorous, yet ultimately compassionate tale."

Bennett, Alan "The Uncommon Reader"

Bennett, Alan "The Uncommon Reader" - 2007

The driver of a mobile library meets Queen Elizabeth II who finds her passion for books, almost an obsession, she reads all the time and neglects her duties as the monarch.

A little satirical, a little funny, overall a pleasant book. I quite liked the references given to different other authors and novels.

And it's not just about the Queen but also about the question: How selfish is a reader? Do we exclude the real world by venturing into literature?

From the back cover:

"From one of England's most celebrated writers, the author of the award-winning The History Boys, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of reading

When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) and intelligently, she finds that her view of the world changes dramatically. Abetted in her newfound obsession by Norman, a young man from the royal kitchens, the Queen comes to question the prescribed order of the world and loses patience with the routines of her role as monarch. Her new passion for reading initially alarms the palace staff and soon leads to surprising and very funny consequences for the country at large."