Tuesday 4 January 2022

Spell the Month in Books ~ January 2022

 

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.

JANUARY

New Year, fresh start. I have decided to go with the rules this year, as far as I can, of course.

J
Mak, Geert "Jorwerd: The Death of the Village in late 20th Century" (NL: Hoe God verdween uit Jorwerd) - 1996
The subtitle of this book says it all. This story about a small village in Friesland could be the story of most small villages in Europe. 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 is universal.

A
Collins, Wilkie "Armadale" - 1866
Victorian literature at its best. The confessions on a death bed and what they lead to.

N
Zweig, Stefanie - "Nowhere in Africa" (GE: Nirgendwo in Afrika) - 1995
We are writing the year 1938 and Jewish attorney Walter Redlich manages to flee Nazi Germany in the last minute. An almost-autobiography of author Stefanie Zweig.

U
Whitehead, Colson "Underground Railroad" - 1916
The story of a slave, who tries to run away from her abusive "master" - brilliant description of everyone involved, the slaves, their helpers, ordinary people who just think it's not right to own other human beings. Written from many perspectives, it also gives us a new idea about the "underground" part of the railroad.

A
Doerr, Anthony "All the Light We Cannot See" - 2014

A different kind of war story, a story about the little people, on either side of the war, those that had not much to say about what was happening to them and who paid the highest price. The story of a German orphan boy and a blind French girl who both suffer from what happened, who were probably not even in school when the election in Germany decided about their fate and who had to pay the highest price.

R
Nafisi, Azar "Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books" - 2003
A beautifully written memoir about a dark time, not just a book about different books and a class discussing them, it is a precise account of a country turning from modern times into the past, taking away the human rights of half of their population, something that happens all over this world.

Y
Schrobsdorff, Angelika "You Are Not Like Other Mothers" (GE: Du bist nicht so wie andre Mütter) - 1992
The life of a Jewish mother at the beginning of the last century.

8 comments:

  1. Read "You are not like other mothers" some time ago. I like it.
    I'm your new follower. May you follow me back?
    Happy New Year and regards.

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    1. That's lovely, Annabel. Angelika Schrobsdorff isn't all that well known outside of Germany but I think it is quite an international novel.

      Welcome to my blog. I happily follow other readers and writers back, that's why I have many more people whom I follow than readers who follow me. But I don't do this for any money, just for my pleasure and that of my friends. So, I happily follow you back. My Spanish isn't as good as your English, well, far, far from it, but it gives me an incentive to read some regularly.

      Happy New Year to you, as well.

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  2. You always find the best book titles for your monthly posts. I loved Reading Lolita in Tehran! :)

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    1. Thanks, Lark. Due to my "old age", I have read a lot of books, so have a large choice. And I try to use books I liked.

      I read "Reading Lolita in Tehran" with a book club, it was totally interesting, especially since we were quite an international group. Yes, loved it.

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  3. You picked some great books for this challenge...Reading Lolita...Underground Railroad...All the Light. Enjoy.

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    1. Thanks, Deb. I try to only use books I really liked and I love those great books. And since this is January, none of the titles had been taken before. ;)

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  4. Fun!
    Just read somewhere that they have picked a real blind girl to make the film All the Light We Cannot See

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    1. Ooooh, that sounds fantastic, Emma. I didn't know they're making a film of it but it is such a great story, I'm not surprised someone picked it.

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