Weir, Alison "Katharine Parr. The Sixth Wife"

Weir, Alison "Katharine Parr. The Sixth Wife" (Six Tudor Queens #6) - 2021

The sixth wife of Henry VIII. And the sixth book in the Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir.

I think I knew far too little about Katharine Parr. She was Henry's last wife. She survived him. She had two husbands before him. She married again when he died only to die herself in childbed. That's about all I knew.

Of course, this is a novel based on the life of the queens. However, there is a lot in it that is history and where we can learn about that time in England.

We see through the eyes of Katharine Parr that women were just a commodity, and not worth a lot for that. At her first marriage, she doesn't even know the husband. Then she has to look for another one because otherwise a woman has no means to live. When she falls in love with Thomas Seymour, she has to marry the king who also wants her. What a life!

In any case, Alison Weir has brought the Tudor queens to life in a way no history book could ever have done. For that, I thank her profoundly.

From the back cover:

"Two husbands dead; a life marred by sadness. And now Katharine is in love for the first time in her life.

The eye of an ageing and dangerous king falls upon her. She cannot refuse him. She must stifle her feelings and never betray that she wanted another.

And now she is the sixth wife. Her queenship is a holy mission yet, fearfully, she dreams of the tragic parade of women who went before her. She cherishes the secret beliefs that could send her to the fire. And still the King loves and trusts her.

Now her enemies are closing in. She must fight for her very life.

KATHARINE PARR – the last of Henry’s queens.

Alison Weir recounts the extraordinary story of a woman forced into a perilous situation and rising heroically to the challenge. Katharine is a delightful woman, a warm and kindly heroine – and yet she will be betrayed by those she loves and trusts most.

Too late, the truth will dawn on her."

Book Quotes

"From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings." Helen Hayes

True. Even if your parents are the smartest and most educated in the world, nobody knows everything. But we can learn so much from books that it will almost make us fly.

"If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them." George Orwell

Even truer. As we can always see when there have been elections.

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." Plato

Another true statement. Worst are those who think they know everything but really know nothing. They will shout loudest. And those who shout loudest are usually in the wrong.

Find more book quotes here.

#ThrowbackThursday. November 2012

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. So, I post more than one Throwback every week. These are my reviews from November 2012.

Bach, Richard "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" - 1970

If you are interested in everything spiritual, anything that contributes to world and inner peace, this book is just the right one. The novel is very positive yet very thought-provoking. And it's still very meaningful today. It advises us not to put people in a box, to keep an open mind.

Brumbeau, Jeff/de Marcken, Gail "The Quiltmaker’s Gift" - 2001
Larsen Line, Joanne/Loving Tubesing, Nancy "Quilts From The Quiltmaker's Gift" - 2000

A beautiful book with great illustrations about the most beautiful quilts ever and a great sewing book accompanying it.

Buck, Pearl S. "Peony" - 1948

This book is the reason why I fell in love with Pearl S. Buck. She tries to incorporate the multi-cultural theme into this one, the trial of assimilation. How far does an immigrant want to become like the people in his host nation? A wonderful account of two worlds colliding.

Dickens, Charles "A Tale of Two Cities" - 1859
Two of the most famous quotes in one book, how often do you get that? And the rest of the book is as good as the beginning and the end.

Huxley, Aldous "Brave New World" - 1931
This dystopian novel is so up-to-date, it might as well have been written yesterday. That's how great it is, you can tell good writing.

McGarry Morris, Mary "Songs in Ordinary Time" - 1995

An American town in 1960, a time I remember a little. Almost anyone in this novel is poor but that's not all. My family was poor when I grew up but there is a huge difference, we had a family. 

The book is well written, it builds anticipation, you hold on, you hope for something good to happen to the characters, you feel for them. 

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

Alphabet Authors ~ L is for Lamb

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.

This was a tough letter to choose from I really love Mary Lawson but I read more books by Wally Lamb. Maybe one day, Mary Lawson will write more books and I can put together a list of hers, as well.

I got to know Wally Lamb with my Dutch book club, we read "She's Come Undone" and were wondering what the German and Dutch translations were (this was before you could look up everything on the internet). Anyway, we were quite surprised to find the titles that both meant something like Music of the Whales.

- "The Hour I First Believed" - 2008 
- "I Know This Much is True" - 1998
- "I'll Take You There" - 2016
- "She's Come Undone" - 1997
- "We are Water" - 2013
- "Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story" - 2009

But I just had to carry on reading his books, they are all fantastic.

Facts about Wally Lamb:
Born    October 17, 1950 in Norwich, Connecticut, US

He is married to Christine and they have three sons: Teddy, Jared and Justin

He grew up with older sisters and he claims, that's why he can write both male and female voices, which he does beautifully.

He is a University professor for English and has done a lot of prison work.

He received several prizes for his works of fiction and non-fiction.

* * *

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.

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Covers with Clocks

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 Freebie. This means we get to choose our own topic. Last year, one of my blogger friends chose Covers with Clocks because she just had to change all of hers. (Thanks, Lark.) The same thing will happen to us this weekend, and I absolutely hate the change. So, I thought it would be a good idea to try and find five books with clocks. It wasn't as easy as I thought but I managed in the end.

Ansay, A. Manette "Vinegar Hill" - 1995

Gavalda, Anna "I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere" (F: Je voudrais quelqu’un m’attende quelque part) - 1999

Morton, Kate "The Clockmaker's Daughter" - 2018

Palma, Félix J. "The Map of Time" (E: El mapa del tiempo) - 2008

Tanpınar, Ahmet Hamdi "The Time Regulation Institute" (TR: Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü) - 1961

You probably noticed that some of the titles are not in English. Well, the English edition doesn't have a clock. But all the books are available in English and the links lead you to the Englisch review.

* * *

🕰 Happy Reading! 🕰

📚 📚 📚

Thoreau, Henry David "Walden"

Thoreau, Henry David "Walden; or, Life in the Woods" - 1854

Everyone told me I should read the book. I like to think about and speak about philosophy. But this was not for me. I saw it as the ramblings of a guy who thinks the world of himself. He reminded me of a certain president of these days ….

Yes, he had the idea to live on his own with no support from anyone. But he met people all the time, didn't live far from civilization where he could get help if he needed it. And - he didn't just live of nothing. He had a house to live in, albeit a cabin that was small and had just the bare essentials, but many, many people had to live with less than that. And still have. Not exactly the heroism he likes to portray.

I thought maybe it would get better and I could learn something in the end. I didn't.

Book Description:

"Originally published in 1854, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and compelling books in American literature. This new paperback edition-introduced by noted American writer John Updike-celebrates the 150th anniversary of this classic work. Much of Walden's material is derived from Thoreau's journals and contains such engaging pieces as 'Reading' and 'The Pond in the Winter' 

Other famous sections involve Thoreau's visits with a Canadian woodcutter and with an Irish family, a trip to Concord, and a description of his bean field. This is the complete and authoritative text of Walden - as close to Thoreau's original intention as all available evidence allows. For the student and for the general reader, this is the ideal presentation of Thoreau's great document of social criticism and dissent."

#ThrowbackThursday. October 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 October 2012.

Buck, Pearl S. "East Wind: West Wind" - 1930
This is history, life in Asia seen through the eyes of an American. The title already tells us about the divide between the East and the West, how people believe that they cannot be mixed. 

Ephron, Nora "I Feel Bad About My Neck And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman" - 2006
Great thoughts, great humour, a lovely memory of a wonderful woman.

Forster, E.M. "Howards End" - 1910
A great account of life within British society a century ago. The different classes and what it meant to a person born into a certain one.

Mandela, Nelson "Long Walk to Freedom" - 1994

I have always admired Nelson Mandela for how he coped with his life, for his struggle with oppression, for his fight for freedom. I mean, who wouldn't? He is one of the great heroes of our lifetime and the world would be a better place if everyone had just a little bit of Nelson Mandela in them.

The book hasn't changed my mind about him. If anything, it has enhanced my admiration.

Morrison, Toni "Home" - 2012
Frank Money has survived the Korean War, well, physically. After a more than difficult childhood, he and his sister don't continue to have an easy adulthood, you find almost any form of abuse and problem in this novel.

Murasaki, Lady Shikibu "The Tale of Genji" (J: 源氏物語 Genji Monogatari) - early 11th century

This book is often considered the first novel ever written.

How was life a millennium ago in a completely different part of this world.

Rutherfurd, Edward "Awakening: The Rebels of Ireland" - 2006

The sequel to "Dublin", this novel picks up in 1597, right after the first one finishes, we follow the descendants of the brave characters from book one carrying on the struggle of their ancestors.

One thing this book teaches us more than ever, any religious war or dispute is not really about religion but about power and money.

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

Alphabet Authors ~ K is for Kingsolver

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.

When I read my first book by Barbara Kingsolver, I knew I had found something great, an author I would love.

- "The Bean Trees" - 1988
- "Demon Copperhead" - 2022
- "Flight Behaviour" - 2012
- "The Lacuna" - 2009
- "Pigs in Heaven" - 1993
- "The Poisonwood Bible" - 1998 
- "Prodigal Summer" - 2001 
- "Unsheltered" - 2018

Ever since, I have read several of her books, as you can see, and loved every single one of them. The Poisonwood Bible, the first one, is still one of my favourites, though The Lacuna certainly is just as great.

Facts about Barbara Kingsolver:
Born    April 8, 1955 in Annapolis, Maryland, US
Married Joseph Hoffmann (1985–1992)

and Steven Lee Hopp (1994–present)

She has one daughter each by her two husbands, Camille born 1987, and Lily born 1996.
Apparently, she never wanted to be famous.

She received several prizes, The Women's Prize for Fiction for The Lacuna and Demon Copperhead and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Demon Copperhead plus many other prizes for literature and her activism for civil liberties and humanities.

* * *

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.

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Emotion

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 Top 5 books with an emotion in the title. Meeghan says to this: "Whether it’s happy or sad, anger or excitement, any emotion is fine!

(Looking at my shelves, I am absolutely going to regret this one later, but that’s fine too!)"

I think, no matter what genre we prefer, there are emotions in many titles. I chose some different ones: Pride, Hate, Sadness, Joy, Love. And, because it is the Jane Austen Year,  had to include one of her books.

Austen, Jane "Pride & Prejudice" - 1813 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen) 

Emcke, Carolin "Against Hate" (GE: Gegen den Hass) - 2016

Scott, Mary "No Sad Songs" - 1960

Tan, Amy "The Joy Luck Club" - 1989
Tung, Debbie "Book Love" - 2005

* * *

❤ Happy Reading! ❤

📚 📚 📚

Clarke, Stephen "Talk to the Snail"

Clarke, Stephen "Talk to the Snail. Ten Commandments for Understanding the French" - 2006

I have read two books by Stephen Clarke, so far. This was my third. While the others were fiction about an English guy living in Paris (well, the story is based on the author's life), this is a non-fiction book about the French people and the French language. Quite funny at times. Unless you're a very serious French person who doesn't have a sense of humour. I've lived abroad half of my life (though not in France) and I can see where some of his frustration comes from. 

There are so many parts in this book where I just nodded - or where I had to shake my head. There were a lot of things that I remarked in England, e.g. when he complains that the French don't use French words for illnesses or medication. I had that same experience in England. Unless it's a common cold, the use mainly Latin or Greek words, even for the doctors they go to. 

Then there are the international problems, like not getting on with your neighbours, that's not just a problem an Englishman in France has. And not getting served in a restaurant. How often do you have to dislocate your arm or should in order to get the attention of a waiter? Not just in France, I am sorry to say.

Still, there are a lot of helpful hints in the book, language- and otherwise. And the author hasn't lost his humour, either. Lovely book.

From the back cover:

"The only book you'll need to understand what the French really think, how to get on with them and, and most importantly, how to get the best out of them. With useful sections on:

• Making sure you get served in a café
• Harassing French estate agents
• Living with bacteria
• Pronouncing French swear-words
• Surviving the French driving experience
• Falling in amour, Paris-style
• And beaucoup beaucoup more!

Don't go to France without reading this book!"

Wilde, Oscar "Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast"

Wilde, Oscar "Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast" - 1946

This is only a short book of 52 pages. Easy to take along on short trips.

And what a lovely title. I suppose Oscar Wilde considered himself a very boring person at breakfast.

While this sounds like another one of his not-so-well-known writings, it is really a collection of his aphorisms, quotes, anecdotes, witticisms. A delight to read. Again and again.

After reading this, I would have wished to be friends with him. I'm sure we would have really liked each other.

One of my favourite quotes, still as relevant today as it was a hundred years ago, especially with regard to certain politics:
"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live."

From the back cover:

"Wilde's celebrated witticisms on the dangers of sincerity, duplicitous biographers, the stupidity of the English - and his own genius.

'It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself'. Oscar Wilde"

This is a "Penguin Little Black Classics" edition and it looks like there are lots of other authors who 

There is even a box set with the following description:

"A stunning collection of all 80 exquisite Little Black Classics from Penguin

This spectacular box set of the 80 books in the Little Black Classics series showcases the many wonderful and varied writers in Penguin Black Classics. From India to Greece, Denmark to Iran, the United States to Britain, this assortment of books will transport readers back in time to the furthest corners of the globe. With a choice of fiction, poetry, essays and maxims, by the likes of Chekhov, Balzac, Ovid, Austen, Sappho and Dante, it won't be difficult to find a book to suit your mood. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of the Penguin Classics list - from drama to poetry, from fiction to history, with books taken from around the world and across numerous centuries."

It would be worth getting.

#ThrowbackThursday. September 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 September 2012.

Grass, Günter "Crabwalk" (German: Im Krebsgang) - 2002
A tough read, like anything by this author, but definitely worth it, also like everything he ever wrote.

Hartnett, Sonya "Thursday’s Child" - 2002
A book about the Great Depression in Australia, a novel about a family who struggles like any other family during the time, a story about a boy who is different, ...

Rasputin, Valentin (Распутин, Валентин Григорьевич) "Farewell to Matyora" (Russian: Прощание с Матёрой/Proschanie s Materoj) - 1976

A wonderful account of what development and progression can do to people. Matyora is a village in Siberia, a village like there are millions in this world. Or, in this case, it has been. The government decides to build a dam and float the whole area.

Spyri, Johanna "Heidi" (German: "Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre" and "Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat") - 1880-1881
The first book I ever owned. Heidi grows up with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps.

Tsypkin, Leonid Borissowitsch (Леонид Борисович Цыпкин) "Summer in Baden-Baden" (Russian: Ljubit Dostojewskowo - лджубит достоджэвсково) - 1981

A biographical novel about Dostoevsky's travels in Germany with this wife.

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

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Books with a Place in the Title

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 Top 5 Books With a Place in the Title. "Any location or place in a title is fine — just share your top five with us." I found quite a few towns, cities or other kind of locations but in the end, I opted for countries and a continent. The only one of those places that I have visited is Greece, though I've only been to Crete, not the mainland.

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

Hislop, Victoria "Cartes Postales from Greece" - 2016

Rosendorfer, Herbert "Letters Back to Ancient China" (GE: Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit) - 1983

Shakib, Siba "Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep" (GE: Nach Afghanistan kommt Gott nur noch zum Weinen) - 2002 

Thomson, Mike "Syria's Secret Library: The True Story of How a Besieged Syrian Town Found Hope" - 2018

* * *

🌍Happy Reading!🌍

📚 📚 📚

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Expats

     

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". It was created because they are particularly fond of lists. It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is Books that Include/Feature [insert your favorite theme or plot device here] (for example: unreliable narrators, coming of age, darkness vs. light, time travel, metafiction, a specific romantic trope, good vs. evil. cliffhangers, flashbacks, plot twists, red herrings, loose ends, stories within stories, meet cutes, symbolism, etc.) Since I lived half of my life abroad, I picked books about expats.

Alexievich, Svetlana "Second Hand Time. The Last of the Sovjets" (Russian: Время секонд хэнд = Vremja sekond khend) - 2013 

Russian-Soviets abroad

Barnes, Valerie "A Foreign Affair. A Passionate Life in Four Languages" - 2004 

An Australian in Switzerland

Brontë, Charlotte "Villette" - 1853

An Brit in Belgium

Buck, Pearl S. "My several worlds: A Personal Exile" - 1954

A US American in China

Drinkwater, Carol "The Olive Series" - 2001-2010

A Brit in France

Clarke, Stephen "A Year in the Merde" - 2004

Another Brit in France

McLain, Paula "The Paris Wife" - 2012

A US American in France

Russell, Helen "The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country" - 2015

A Brit in Denmark

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "Whispering Shadows" (German: Das Flüstern der Schatten) - 2007 

A US American in China (written by a German)

Zweig, Stefanie "Nowhere in Africa" (German: Nirgendwo in Afrika) - 1995

A German in Kenya

It seems like there are a lot of British people living abroad but that could also be because I just happened to read many books by Brits.

Alphabet Authors ~ J is for Joyce

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.

Sometimes, you read hundreds of books by one author, other times only a few but you still know he or she is one of the greatest authors ever. James Joyce is such an author. He has written some extraordinary works.

- "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" - 1916  
- "Dubliners" - 1905 (short stories)
- "Ulysses" - 1922

Facts about James Joyce:
Born    February 2, 1882 in Rathgar, Dublin, Ireland
Died    January 13, 1941 in Zürich, Switzerland, aged 58
Married Nora Barnacle 1931

They had two children together, Girgio born 1905, and Lucia born 1907.
They moved around a lot from Zürich to Pula in Croatia, then Trieste, Rome, Dublin again, Zürich, Trieste, Paris, London and again to Zürich. They got married in London, so his son would get an inheritance when he died.

* * *

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.

Backman, Fredrik "Britt-Marie was here"

Backman, Fredrik "Britt-Marie was here" (Swedish: Britt-Marie var här) - 2014

This was my second book by Fredrik Backman. And my last. The first one was quite nice, funny, but I couldn't care for this one. I didn't like the protagonist, Britt-Marie because I'm not OCD even though I like order, I don't like football, so that didn't allure me, either. The story is described as "funny and moving", I couldn't find either.

This was a book club book, otherwise I might not have finished it.

We read this in our international online book club in February 2025.

Some comments from the other members:

"It scored pretty low by most others in the discussion.

Some commented that it felt more like a movie script than a real novel. Which makes sense as Backman's books have many of them been filmed both in Sweden and internationally. For me it was a nice light humorous read, maybe more like a fun summer read than real thought raising literature. This despite me hating the main character from the very start. I guess much of Backman's stories are like that, with quite stereotypical characters, and predictable plot and then an uplifting twist at the end. The timeline of the book felt familiar in terms of what was happening in small towns here in the Nordics in maybe 90-s or early 00s. Services being closed down and some neighbourhoods being quite poor. Not really something I believe can be saved by one determined lady and the community. But a nice thought."

From the back cover:

"Britt-Marie can’t stand mess. A disorganized cutlery drawer ranks high on her list of unforgivable sins. She is not one to judge others—no matter how ill-mannered, unkempt, or morally suspect they might be. It’s just that sometimes people interpret her helpful suggestions as criticisms, which is certainly not her intention.

But hidden inside the socially awkward, fussy busybody is a woman who has more imagination, bigger dreams, and a warmer heart that anyone around her realizes.

When Britt-Marie walks out on her cheating husband and has to fend for herself in the miserable backwater town of Borg—of which the kindest thing one can say is that it has a road going through it—she finds work as the caretaker of a soon-to-be demolished recreation center. The fastidious Britt-Marie soon finds herself being drawn into the daily doings of her fellow citizens, an odd assortment of miscreants, drunkards, layabouts. Most alarming of all, she’s given the impossible task of leading the supremely untalented children’s soccer team to victory. In this small town of misfits, can Britt-Marie find a place where she truly belongs?

Funny and moving, sweet and inspiring, Britt-Marie Was Here celebrates the importance of community and connection in a world that can feel isolating."

#ThrowbackThursday. August 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 August 2012.

Elwell Hunt, Angela "The Tale of Three Trees" - 1989

This has been one of the best books for children about religion that I have ever seen. 

Gao, Xingjian "Soul Mountain" (Chinese: 灵山, língshān) - 1989

An extraordinary book. A biography, a search for someone's soul in a world where the individual means nothing.

Grisham, John "Skipping Christmas: A Novel" - 2001

Not a thriller. It is a comedy, and quite a hilarious one.

Rutherfurd, Edward "Dublin: Foundation (The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga)" - 2004

Reaching from the fifth into the 16th century, this novel introduces us to the Ireland of the druids and the ancient Celts until the beginning of the Tudor reign.

Shute, Nevil "A Town Like Alice" (US Title: The Legacy) - 1950

A young English woman works in Malaya (now Malaysia) during World War II and becomes a prisoner of war of the Japanese.

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

Alphabet Authors ~ I is for Ingalls Wilder

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.

First I thought, I wouldn't find any author with the initial I that I could use but then I remembered Laura Ingalls Wilder. I do not remember whether I read any of her books as a child. Probably not. My first recollections of Laura Ingalls and her family is from the TV series.

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

And then there is the book
Rylant, Cynthia "Old Town in the Green Groves: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Lost Little House Years" - 2002
This story was based on Laura's memoirs.

Facts about Laura Ingalls Wilder:
Born    February 7, 1867 in Wisconsin
Died    February 10, 1957 in Missouri, aged 90
Married Almanzo Wilder 1885

Her life was more or less how she describe it in her books. Her parents were pioneers who moved around and settled in South Dakota. Laura first worked as a teacher until she got married and became a farmer's wife. They had two children but only her daughter Rose survived.

If you live in the United States or go there on holidays, maybe you would like to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder House and Museum.

There is also a lovely website about her books, mainly for children.

* * *

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.

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Pronoun

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 Top 5 Books With a Pronoun in the Title. "Find all of your he, she, they, we or you books and then shout them from the rooftops!! Or just on your blog page." Yes, I have chosen my blog page for that, I'm getting too old for climbing rooftops. 😉 I found quite a few different ones, all great ones.

Ephron, Nora "I Remember Nothing. And Other Reflections" - 2010

Bythell, Shaun "Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops" - 2020

Trotter, Derek "Del Boy" (Family of John Sullivan) "He Who Dares" - 2015

Cristofano, David "The Girl She Used to Be" - 2009

Clinton, Hillary Rodham "It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us" - 1996

* * *

🔖Happy Reading!🔖

📚 📚 📚

Spell the Month in Books ~ March 2025 xxx

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

Science Fiction is not my genre and I was wondering whether I would be able to fill even five letters. But, as you can see, I managed. Some are more dystopian than science which (which I really prefer) but I even managed to find five books that I like that fit the subject.

MARCH

M

Weir, Andy "The Martian" - 2011  

A
Stephenson, Neal "Anathem" - 2008
R
McCarthy, Cormac "The Road" - 2006 
C

Mitchell, David "Cloud Atlas" - 2004

H
Adams, Douglas "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - 1979

* * *

Happy Reading!

📚 📚 📚

Happy March!

 Happy March to all my Friends and Readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Hanka Koebsch

"Am Fluss"

"Along the River"

Hanka and Frank say to this picture:

"Für den kommenden Frühling haben wir uns für Hankas Kinder Aquarell entschieden."

"For the coming spring we have chosen Hanka's children's watercolor."

This picture by Hanka remindes me of my childhood. We had a little stream behind our house that would go all the way into the village and we children used to go there and take the way to our favourite places.

Read more on their website here. *

* * *

In the middle of February, I heard someone saying on the radio "When will it finally be spring? And I thought, hey, it's only February. Shortly afterwards, we had two days of snow, the first this winter. And probably the last. I remember winters when we had snow from November until February at the least.

* * *

And there was a less amusing event for all Germans. Elections. After the last coalition collapsed, Chancelor Olaf Scholz (Wikipedia) asked for a vote of confidence which is one of the prerequisites to have new elections.

Of course, the conservative party won and the ultra-right gained 20% of the elections, something most of us feared. Now we hope they won't form a new coalition, that would certainly be a catastrophe. Wish us luck.

* * * 

With the book club, we read a German book by Michel Bergmann, "Herr Klee und Herr Feld", unfortunately not translated into English or any other language. Yet, I hope.

My favourite book of the month was "Jane Austen at Home" by Lucy Worsley. As part of the commenmoration of Jane Austen's 250^th birthday, the Classics Club has started a #Reading Austen project. We are reading a book by her every other month and I have decided do read something Austen-related by her every month. This was a fabulous biography.

* * *

And here is a picture from our two days of snow.

* * *

* 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 March 💐

Six Degrees of Separation ~ Prophet Song

Paul Lynch
"Prophet Song" - 2023

#6Degrees of Separation:

from Prophet Song (Goodreads) to The Discovery of Slowness

#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 "Prophet Song" by Paul Lynch, an Irish author who received the Booker Prize for this novel. The last ones I read were not to my taste, so I didn't even try to get it.

But since this book is not written by a British or an American author, I have tried to find some other foreign authors who were awarded prizes either in their country or internationally. I succeeded for all but one.

If you are interested, here is a description of this novel:

"A fearless portrait of a society on the brink as a mother faces a terrible choice, from an internationally award-winning author

On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find the GNSB on her step. Two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police are here to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.

Ireland is falling apart. The country is in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny and Eilish can only watch helplessly as the world she knew disappears. When first her husband and then her eldest son vanish, Eilish finds herself caught within the nightmare logic of a collapsing society.

How far will she go to save her family? And what – or who – is she willing to leave behind?

Exhilarating, terrifying and propulsive, Prophet Song is a work of breathtaking originality, offering a devastating vision of a country at war and a deeply human portrait of a mother’s fight to hold her family together."

I start with the word Song.

Liao, Yiwu "Testimonials or: For a Song and a Hundred Songs: A Poet's Journey Through a Chinese Prison" (CHN: Zheng-Ci) - 2000

Yiwu Liao received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (Friedenspreis) in 2012.

García Márquez, Gabriel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (E: Cien años de soledad) - 1967

Gabriel García Márquez received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982 "for his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts".

Giordano, Paolo "The Solitude of Prime Numbers" (I: La solitudine dei numeri primi) - 2008

Paolo Giordano won the Premio Strega literary award with this, his first novel.

Simmonds, Jeremy "Number One in Heaven – The Heroes Who Died For Rock 'n' Roll" - 2006
A fantastic book about all the rock stars we loved and who left us far too early.

Mulisch, Harry "The Discovery of Heaven" (NL: De ontdekking van de hemel) - 1992
Harry Mulish received several international awards, and the NRC Handelsblad readers voted this novel the greatest Dutch book ever written.

Nadolny, Sten "The Discovery of Slowness" (GE: Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit) - 1983

Sten Nadolny received many German and Italian literature prizes, i.a. the prestigious  Ingeborg Bachmann Prize.

We always try to find a connection between the first and the last degree. I think a prophet could be very helpful in the search for slowness.

📚📚📚