#ThrowbackThursday. July 2013

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 July 2013.

Abdolah, Kader "My Father’s Notebook" (NL: Spijkerschrift) - 2000
The author manages to transport us to the country of his birth (Iran), not just in place but also in time. He tells us about the changes during the decades that he lived there.

Chevalier, Tracy "Falling Angels" - 2001
Two ordinary families who have not a lot in common, other than a family plot on an Edwardian London cemetery. Or have they?

Davis, Lee "P.B. Bear" - 1990s
P.B. Bear is a wonderful series about Pyjama Bear and his friends. They go through all kinds of childhood events, from a birthday party to the first day at school. There are board books and first readers but my boys first met him through his read along books, stories filled with pictures that the children can "read" while the parent reads the rest of the story.

Geti, Monica "The Year of Sunshine" - 2004
The author followed her husband to fulfill his dream of living on a sailboat. Well, she did it partially, they still spend half a year where she would like to live and the other half where he would like to. A wonderful compromise. If you are able to do it. A lot of women do not have the choice of where and how they live, like I didn't. They follow their husband to one or several locations wherever his job takes him. Their choice is to live with their husband, even if they dislike the place or circumstances, or leave him.

Grossman, David "To the End of the Land" (Hebr.: אשה בורחת מבשורה/Isha Nimletet Mi'Bshora) - 2008

A book that sounds both realistic and philosophical. With the background of the situation in Israel, the author tries to find out what the reason behind all this is

Hosseini, Khaled "And the Mountains Echoed" - 2013

I thought that this one was one of the best books I have read in a long time. I even read it before it was out in paperback.

Khaled Hosseini is a wonderful author. Such beautiful penmanship, such a gift for telling a story of his war-torn home country. He is an author where you don't think another great book like this will come along anytime soon. His book leaves you with a feeling that it can't be over yet, why are there only 400 pages?

Oates, Joyce Carol "A Widow's Story" - 2011

This book was the best one ever by one of my all-time favourite authors. It has touched me more than any book has for a long time. It spoke to me. I learned a lot about JCO, a lot that I have in common with her.

Prelutsky, Jack - Poems for Children - 1990-2000
Jack Prelutsky writes poems that make up a picture, he writes poems that are jokes, he writes poems that are very observant and he writes poems that are just nonsense. But what all of his poems have in common, they are really really funny and kids love them. 

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

I have always wondered what my grandmother who died in 1981 would say if she came back to earth. Would she wonder why people speak into little black boxes in the middle of the street? In this book, we get a glimpse of what would be happening. A man from China travelled a thousand years and is more than surprised about everything he sees. He knows no cars, no telephone, no buildings that go over one storey high.

Saramago, José "Cain" (PO: Caim) - 2009

I read that this is the last book of this atheist about the bible. The story starts with Adam and Eve and how they are thrown out of paradise ... well, we all know that story. Or do we? José Saramago finds a unique and satirical way of telling this story that is as old as mankind. 
Whether you believe in the bible or not, this is a highly interesting book, a very good starting point for deep discussions.