Wodehouse, P.G. "Leave it to Psmith"

Wodehouse, P.G. "Leave it to Psmith" - 1923

We already know P.G. Wodehouse from the Jeeves & Wooster novels, all of which are simply delightful.

So I thought a book about his other protagonist would certainly be quite good. And it was. P.G. Wodehouse is more of a mix of Jeeves & Wooster, and I think that's excellent.

Rupert Psmith (Ronald in this book, though) is a jack of all trades, trying to make ends meet through all sorts of odd jobs after leaving his uncle's fish business. He doesn't shy away from the occasional petty crime. But he's also a true gentleman and is concerned about the welfare of his people.

This was the last book in the Psmith series, but that didn't bother me at all. I want to read the others as well.

This book is truly delightful, hilarious and gripping at the same time.

From the back cover:

"Ronald Psmith ('the 'p' is silent, as in pshrimp') is always willing to help a damsel in distress. So when he sees Eve Halliday without an umbrella during a downpour, he nobly offers her an umbrella, even though it’s one he picks out of the Drone Club’s umbrella rack. Psmith is so besotted with Eve that, when Lord Emsworth, her new boss, mistakes him for Ralston McTodd, a poet, Psmith pretends to be him so he can make his way to Blandings Castle and woo her. And so the farce begins: criminals disguised as poets with a plan to steal a priceless diamond necklace, a secretary who throws flower pots through windows, and a nighttime heist that ends in gunplay. How will everything be sorted out? Leave it to Psmith!"

#ThrowbackThursday. March 2014

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 March 2014.

Fo, Dario "My first seven years (plus a few more)" (Italian: Il Paese dei Mezaràt: I miei primi sette anni (e qualcuno in più)) - 2004
You can see from this book how the writer Dario Fo developed from a small child into a Nobel Laureate.

Ionesco, Eugène "Rhinoceros" (French: Rhinocéros) - 1957
The story starts with two men sitting in a café and they see a rhinoceros walking by. I don't want to give away the plot, so that is about all I will say about the story.

Karystiani, Ionna (Ιωάννα Καρυστιάνη) "The Jasmine Isle" (Greek: Μικρά Αγγλία/Mikra Anglia) - 1997
This is the story about the seafaring Greek guys before and during World War II and the women they leave behind on their little island.

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" (German: Das Herzenhören) - 2002
A Burmese man who has been living in the United States for ages, goes missing and his Burmese-American daughter follows a trail to Burma. 

Thackeray, William Makepeace "Vanity Fair, or, A Novel without a Hero" - 1848
Seldom have I seen such a persiflage of aristocratic England and its surroundings. The author tries to answer the old question how important rank and money really is? 

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Times of Day

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.

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This week’s topic is a Times of Day. Meeghan says, well, as last week, I have no idea what Meeghan says. She published a list for the remainder of the year with no extra explanation. But this topic does not really need any explanation, I think.

Abulhawa, Susan "Mornings in Jenin" (aka The Scar of David) - 2010
Everyone who is only slightly interested in world peace should read this and see how much heartache there can be, how much trouble things can cause if not thought through well enough.

Calvino, Italo "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller" (I: Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore) - 1979

One of the most weird - but also most interesting - books I ever read, a reader is trying to read a book called "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller". The book is partly about the reader's life and partly about the books he is trying to read.

Follett, Ken "The Evening and the Morning" (Kingsbridge #0.5) - 2020

I love the Kingsbridge series. This one is just as fabulous as the ones before this, or the ones that come after, chronologically in the story.

Haig, Matt "The Midnight Library" - 2020
Have you ever wondered what your life might have been if something had or hadn't happened? If you hadn't visited that school you went to, if you had decided to get another profession, if you had met another partner in life? Well, here you can find how it might be if you could explore your life in different circumstances.

Mercier, Pascal "Night Train to Lisbon" (GE: Nachtzug nach Lissabon) - 2004
A Swiss Professor of ancient languages happens to meet a Portuguese woman and finds a book in Portuguese, so he gives up his whole life and goes to Lisbon to find the author. He is going on a quest, tracking down the origin of the book and the life of the author. But in the author he also finds himself.

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🌅🌠 Happy Reading! 🌠🌅

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Top Ten Tuesday ~ Honorifics

"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 a Books With Honorifics in the Title

("… an honorific is a form of address conveying esteem, courtesy or respect. These can be titles prefixing a person’s name, e.g.: Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Mx., Sir, Dame, Dr., Cllr, Lady, or Lord, or other titles or positions that can appear as a form of address without the person’s name, as in Mr. President, General, Captain, Father, Doctor, or Earl.")

This was an easy one. The word Lady appears dozens of times in titles. So, I could choose books that I really liked for this one.

Austen, Jane "Lady Susan" - 1795

Bernières, Louis de "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" - 1994

Carnarvon, Countess Fiona of "Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle" - 2011

Chevalier, Tracy "The Lady and the Unicorn" - 2003
García Márquez, Gabriel "The General in His Labyrinth" (E: El general en su laberinto) - 1989

Guterson, David "Our Lady of the Forest" - 2003
Ilibagiza, Immaculée with Erwin, Steve "Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World From the Heart of Africa" - 2008

Pasternak, Boris "Doctor Zhivago" (RUS: Доктор Живаго) - 1957
Schmitt, Éric-Emmanuel "Oscar and the Lady in Pink" (F: Oscar et la dame rose) - 2002
Trollope, Anthony "Doctor Thorne" - 1858 from "Barchester Chronicles"

They are all good reads, my favourites are probably "Doctor Zhivago" and "Barchester Chronicles", all of them.

📚 Happy Reading!📚

Aristophanes "Lysistrata and Other Plays"

Aristophanes "Lysistrata and Other Plays" (Greek: Lysistrátē/Λυσιστράτη) - 411 BC

For the Classics Spin #41, we received #11 and this was my novel.

I had found this book a while ago in a used book sale. I am grateful for that because that way, I only paid €1 for it.

My edition included not just "Lysistrata" but also "The Acharnians" (Acharnes) and "The Clouds" (Nephelai).

As you can see in the description, they praise the author's "ribald humour". Ribald it was indeed but I couldn't find humour in that, it was far too rough, coarse and crude. Probably the times. I wouldn't be surprised if this book was on the banned book list in the States.

But the stories itself also weren't too interesting. I think one must see this and not read it. Someone told me that the play is indeed hilarious and that the costumes added a lot to that. Well, Aristophanes didn't explain that. LOL

Book Description:

"Writing at the time of political and social crisis in Athens, Aristophanes was an eloquent yet bawdy challenger to the demagogue and the sophist. The Achanians is a plea for peace set against the background of the long war with Sparta. In Lysistrata a band of women tap into the awesome power of sex in order to end a war. The darker comedy of The Clouds satirizes Athenian philosophers, Socrates in particular, and reflects the uncertainties of a generation in which all traditional religious and ethical beliefs were being challenged.

For this edition Alan Sommerstein has completely revised his translation of these three plays, bringing out the full nuances of Aristophanes’ ribald humour and intricate word play, with a new introduction explaining the historical and cultural background to the plays."

Here are all the books on my original Classics Club list.
And here is a list of all the books I read with the Classics Spin.

Book Quotes

"It is the artist's job to create sunshine when there is none." Romain Rolland, Nobel Prize in Literature 1915

And it always works, if we let them into our minds.

"Books have the power to make everything better, but it's hard to engage with that power if we've forgotten that reading is supposed to feel good, first and foremost." F. Scott Fitzgerald (Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby)

And no matter the subject of the book, if we enjoy it, it makes our lives a little better, page after page.

"Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind." Virginia Woolf

There is a German folk song "Thoughts are Free" (Die Gedanken sind frei). It's really old but it still matters. A lot.

Find more book quotes here.

#ThrowbackThursday. February 2014

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 February 2014.

Droste-Hülshoff, Annette von "The Jew's Beech" (Die Judenbuche) - 1842
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff is to Germany what Jane Austen is to Great Britain, the most famous female author of the 19th century.The novel is based on the true story of a murder, actually two murders but both the story before as well as after the act are fictional. An intriguing account about life in Germany or Middle Europe at the time which we can compare to life in other countries at the time as well as life today.

Joyce, James "Ulysses" - 1922
This is probably the most difficult book I have ever read. It is hard to follow the stream of consciousness, actually it is hard to follow the stream at all. A lot of books are easier once you get into them, not this one. I had the feeling with every chapter it got more confusing.However, the longer I distance myself from this novel, the more it makes sense and the bigger an impact does it have on me. I am glad I read it.

Pamuk, Orhan "The White Castle" (TR: Beyaz Kale) - 1985

The author transports us back into the Venice and Istanbul/Constantinople of the 17th century. His tale is about two men who are as different and yet as similar as possible to each other who come from the two different parts of the world. We learn about the differences between the Orient and the Occident at the time but also about their common goals, about man's goals through the ages.

Trivizas, Eugene "The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig" - 1997
As the title already suggests, the wolves are little and the pig is bad, so the whole story is just the opposite from the usual fairy tale. It shows kids how every story can have two sides and how you can understand every story differently.

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Sizes

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.

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This week’s topic is a Books with Sizes in the Title. Meeghan says, well, I have no idea what Meeghan says. She published a list for the remainder of the year but I haven't heard from her since. She had mentioned that she had problems posting, so let's hope that is the reason. However, it's weird that I can't find that list again. Luckily, I had copied it.

Bourgeois, Paulette "Big Sarah's Little Boots" - 1988
A favourite book of both my boys even though the main character was a girl. It's all about growing up and how it can be both a painful and a joyous occasion.

Bridwell, Norman "Clifford. The Big Red Dog" 

- 1963-2015

Clifford is huge, he is taller than a house. But he is the best friend of Emily Elizabeth, a little girl who tells us his stories. There are around 80 books where little children can read about the special bond between a dog and his little girl, about the adventures they have together.

Prelutsky, Jack - Poems for Children - A Pizza the Size of the Sun 

- 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. 

Trivizas, Eugene "The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig" - 1997
As the title already suggests, the wolves are little and the pig is bad, so the whole story is just the opposite from the usual fairy tale. It shows kids how every story can have two sides and how you can understand every story differently.

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🐕🐕 Happy Reading! 🐕🐕

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Top Ten Tuesday ~ Books I'd like to Re-Read

"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 a Books I'd Like to Re-Read

As part of the commemoration of Jane Austen's 250th birthday, the Classics Club has started a #Reading Austen project. We are reading a book by her every other month. But I've mentioned that several times in the last couple of months and I will not bore you with that again. If you would like to see my latest post about her books, you can find it here: Alphabet Authors ~ A is for Austen.

I will therefore, add some of my all-time favourite books other than by Jane Austen which I might re-read next year. A lot of them are the first books I read by some of my favourite authors that I haven't read again since the first time.

Eliot, George "Middlemarch" - 1871-72 
Falcones, Ildefonso "Cathedral of the Sea" (E: La catedral del mar) - 2008
Ghosh, Amitav "The Glass Palace" - 2000 

Kingsolver, Barbara "The Poisonwood Bible" - 1998
Lamb, Wally "She's Come Undone" - 1997
Mercier, Pascal "Night Train to Lisbon" (GE: Nachtzug nach Lissabon) - 2004

Oates, Joyce Carol "We Were the Mulvaneys" - 1996

Pamuk, Orhan "My Name is Red" (TR: Benim Adım Kırmızı) - 1998
Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The Shadow of the Wind" (E: La sombra del viento - El cementerio de los libros olvidados #1) - 2001

Schami, Rafik "The Calligrapher’s Secret" (GE: Das Geheimnis des Kalligraphen) - 2008

I was surprised that I had re-read many of the first books I read by a lot of my favourite authors. So, I might choose the second book the next time.

Although, having said that, I might have read one or two of the books again before.
But this will probably take me longer than a year since I have so many books on my TBR pile.

📚 Happy Reading!📚

Vonnegut, Kurt "Cat's Cradle" - 1963

Vonnegut, Kurt "Cat's Cradle" - 1963

We read this with our international online book club in June 2025.

While science-fiction is not really my thing, I would say this is more a dystopian novel. And a very good one. Granted, part of it is sci-fi though that is the case with a lot of dystopian novels. Here, the author even explained, how it happened that the world came into this distress.

I have only read one other book by Kurt Vonnegut before (Breakfast of Champions) and that was fantastic. So was this one. Kurt Vonnegut loves to play with words. And he always finds new ones that we haven't heard before but that makes a lot of sense.

As it says in the book description, our deepest fears are witnessing Armageddon and, even worse, surviviing it. My sentiments exactly. Should there be one, I'd rather not survive it than having to build up the earth again. Must be terrible.

Well, here we get the chance, We meet all sorts of different kind of quirky people who meet on a fictional Caribbean island where they witness the "End of the World". With his dark humour, the author manages to describe the encounters everyone has with Ice-Nine, a chemical that can destroy everything. And their reasons for getting engaged in the turmoil. His irony shows especially when he describes the fictional new religion Bokonon. So many witty insights that make us think about every existing religion.

He more or less ends with this quote: "Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, It might have been". One of the most true sentences there are.

If I haven't said it before, this is a great story. Definitely makes me want to read more of his books.

And here are some comments from the discussion:

• Most members thought it was really well written, and humorous in a satirical way. While at the same time having some underlying themes of criticism of religion, dictatorships, science, all in a writing style very unique to Vonnegut.
• I really liked the chapter layout, with short chapters of about only 1-2 pages, that as the chapter is read you realize the title of the chapter was really descriptive and inventive. While the end-of-world-science that happened was very quickly unfolding at the end of the story and not at all believable, it was written as a quite humorous conclusion to the story.

From the back cover:

"With his trademark dry wit, Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle is an inventive science fiction satire that preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon - and, worse still, surviving it. 

Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding 'fathers' of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he is the inventor of ice-nine, a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. Writer Jonah's search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three eccentric children, to an island republic in the Caribbean where the religion of Bokononism is practised, to love and to insanity. Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction is a funny and frightening satire on the end of the world and the madness of mankind."

Six Degrees of Separation ~ Theory & Practice

Michelle de Kretser
"Theory & Practice" - 2024
#6Degrees of Separation: 
from Theory & Practice (Goodreads) to A Tale of Love and Darkness 

#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 "Theory & Practice" by Michelle de Kretser. Again, I have not read the starter book. But I know I am not the only one.

This is the description of this novel:

"With echoes of Shirley Hazzard and Virginia Woolf, a new novel of startling intelligence from prize–winning author Michelle de Kretser, following a woman looking back on her young adulthood, and grappling with the collision of her emotions and her values

In the late 1980s, the narrator of Theory & Practice—a first generation immigrant from Sri Lanka who moved to Sydney in her childhood—sets up a life in Melbourne for graduate school. Jilted by a lover who cheats on her with another self-described "feminist," she is thrown into deeper confusion about her identity and the people around her. 

The narrator begins to fall for a man named Kit, who is in a “deconstructed relationship” with a woman named Olivia. She struggles to square her feminism against her jealousy toward Olivia—and her anti-colonialism against her feelings about Virginia Woolf, whose work she is called to despite her racism.

What happens when our desires run contrary to our beliefs? What should we do when the failings of revered figures come to light? Who is shamed when the truth is told? In Theory & Practice, Michelle de Kretser offers a spellbinding meditation on the moral complexities that arise in this gap. Peopled with brilliantly drawn characters, the novel also stitches together fiction and essay, taking up Woolf’s quest for adventurous literary form."

As I mentioned before, I usually like going from one word in a title to another book that has that same word in their title and so on. I prefer this because it leads to all sorts of different genres.  In the past months, I couldn't do that, so I had to go with the subject. I had neither a book that hat the word "theory" nor "practice in its title, so I started with the book by another Michelle, one I admire deeply: Michelle Obama.

Obama, Michelle - "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times" - 2022

Such a wonderful woman, such a strong personality. We need more women like her who tell us how they lead their successful lives without pointing a finger, without letting the book be a "self-help book" (I loathe them).

It's a huge privilege to be let into the thoughts of Michelle Obama, she shares so much that can be helpful to all of us. We can always learn from each other but especially from successful people.

Faulkner, William "Light in August" - 1932
What a book. This could be a follow-up to "Gone With the Wind" seventy years later. A book about the Deep South, about country life, families, hard work, racism, crime, religion, morale, everything a story about this region and time should have.

Hamill, Pete "Snow in August" - 1998
Brooklyn, two years after World War II. An 11 year old Irish Catholic boy whose father died in battle and who lives alone with his mother befriends a Czech Rabbi and learns about Judaism and the Holocaust. Together they face racism and violence. 

Ivey, Eowyn "The Snow Child" - 2012
Now, this was a mixture between magic realism and fairy tale, it is based on an old Russian fairy tale but takes place in Alaska in the 1920s.

Huston, Allegra "Love Child" - 2009
When her mother dies in an accident, Allegra is only four years old, she gets introduced to her "father" John and is raised by him and various helpers. 

Oz, Amos "A Tale of Love and Darkness" (Hebr: סיפור על אהבה וחושך) - 2002
This is not just the story of a young man and his family, it's a saga about the whole Jewish people from Europe to Israel. Despite all the troubles they went through, this is a very loving story told with much emotion about some very moving subjects.

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In the end, I found a connection between the first and the last degree, they both have the word AND in its title. But don't you think I touched many different subjects, eras and areas this way?

📚📚📚

Spell the Month in Books ~ July 2025

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.

July: Set in a fantasy world or fictional place

I am not the biggest fan of fantasy books, so I had a hard time finding books for this challenge. Y is always a problem, and I am sorry that I have to use "Your guide ..." again, I have used it before but there is no other of my books that starts with this letter and fits the topic. Midsomer is definitely a fictional place.

JULY

J

Clarke, Susanna "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" - 2004

It is a lot more a Grimm's fairy tale with a little bit of Victoriana mixed in than a JRR Tolkien kind of fantasy novel. It is also more an alternate history book with a lot of links to non-existing literature. It almost feels like a Dickens novel. Quite entertaining, actually.

U

More, Thomas "Utopia" - 1516

Less a novel than a "little red book" that states rules for a dream country. 

L

Lewis, C.S. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" - 1950
This almost reminded me of fairy tales. They usually show a lot about a people's character, their values and myths.

Y

Johnson, Maureen; Cooper, Jay "Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village" - 2021

If, like me, you like to watch the British crime series "Midsomer Murders", the title jumps right into your eyes. This books tell you what to avoid: the vicar, high places, low places, dark places, any places, empty houses, bridges and tunnels, any kind of events, village, sports or otherwise, any kind of family gatherings etc. etc. So, stay away!

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Happy Reading!

📚 📚 📚

#ThrowbackThursday. January 2014

 

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 January 2014.

George, Margaret "Elizabeth I" - 2011
Historical Fiction. The story of Elizabeth I. Told by herself and her cousin Lettice, the granddaughter of her mother's sister. So we can see various sides of the Queen's life.

Grjasnowa, Olga "All Russians Love Birch Trees" (GE: Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt) - 2012
The protagonist is a young woman not unlike the author. She grew up in Azerbaijan and speaks several languages. So does Masha, our main character. She lives in Frankfurt with her boyfriend. After a tragedy, she goes to Israel where she tries to settle. Her home could be everywhere, yet, she finds it is nowhere. 

Scott, Mary - New Zealand novels

- "Breakfast at Six" - 1953

For many years, Mary Scott was one of my favourite authors. Her most famous books were probably the Susan and Larry stories. Susan is a young newlywed in the fifties, her husband Paul having recently acquired a sheep farm in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand after returning from the war. We read about the life of farmwives, how they manage their chores in the house as well as on the field but also try to play the matchmaker, help an escaped convict, perform in a theatre play.

She is hilarious!

Woodhouse, C.M. "Modern Greece. A Short History" - 2000
Great overview over Greek history. But not just Greek history. If you are at all interested in the history of the world, this is an excellent account of Ancient and Modern Greece and how it developed into the country it is today.

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Top 5 books of 2025… so far!!

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.

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This week’s topic is a Top 5 anticipated reads for Q3 2025. Meeghan says, "Uhh, I’m trying not to do this every week (or every month in my TBR), but can I just say WOW. We’re halfway through 2025 friends. And honestly, I really thought I was going to get here under my redaing goal for…"

I have given up on these and would have skipped this week if Meghan hadn't done another topic for her freebie last week: Top 5 books of 2025… so far!! 

I have done two lists on that: and Mid Year Book Freakout and Six in Six. However, choosing my five favourites is not really among them.

Brooks, Geraldine "Year of Wonders" - 2001
A story about a village that struggled during the plague, that hat the idea to shut themselves off from the rest of the world in order not to bring this horrible disease to others. The village existed, the people in the book were based on real people.

Hansen, Dörte "Zur See" [At Sea] - 2022
We meet the family of a captain, who live on an unknown island in the North Sea. Many of the residents make their living from tourism, since fishing is no longer profitable. You'll see the world through the eyes of the landlords and the islanders, who have to endure all the tourists in the summer. (Unfortunately not translated into English but one of her others has, so maybe one day ...)

Hislop, Victoria "The Figurine" - 2023

The heroine of the book has a Scottish father and a Greek mother. And her family does the best thing one can do to a bi-cultural child, they send her to her grandparents for the holidays so that she becomes a fully bilingual child.

The story is so exciting, not just from the language or the Greek point of view, there is so much going on and we can follow Greek history recent and ancient in this one novel.

Tartt, Donna "The Secret History" - 1992
A very impressive story.  A group of students does something really bad and can only get out of it by doing something even worse.

Worsley, Lucy "Jane Austen at Home" - 2017
A fabulous biography. Lucy Worsley really "visited" Jane Austen at home and accompanied her on all her visits to friends and family. 

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🗓 Happy Reading! 🗓

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Top Ten Tuesday ~ ThrowBack Freebie Eiffel Tower ~ Paris in July

"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 a Freebie

There are so many different topics that I missed but sometimes I can't decide which one to take next. This one was easy because it's July and we have "Paris in July" again.

I doubt I will read many books about Paris this month, so I thought I show you a few books with the Eiffel Tower on the cover. Some of them are originally written in another language but I will give you the English link if it is available.

Broerken, Hella "Paris Walks" (GE: Paris-Spaziergänge) - 2013

Clarke, Stephen "A Year in the Merde" - 2004
- "Merde actually" (aka In the Merde for Love) - 2005

Dorling Kindersley "Eyewitness Guide Paris" - 2020

Lundberg, Sofia "The Red Address Book" (SW: Den röda adressboken) - 2015

MacLeod, Janice "Paris Letters": A Travel Memoir about Art, Writing, and Finding Love in Paris" - 2014 (on my TBR pile, Goodreads)

Orwell, George "Animal Farm" "Down and Out in Paris and London" - 1933

Rutherfurd, Edward "Paris" - 2013

Stein, Gertrude "Paris France" - 1940

Wickert, Ulrich "Everything About Paris" (GE: Alles über Paris) - 2004

Find more information about Paris in July here on Emma's page: Words & Peace.

📚 Happy Reading! 📚 

Happy July!

Happy July to all my Friends and Readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Hanka Koebsch
"Sommerwiese"
"Summer Meadow"
Hanka and Frank say to this picture:

"In this watercolor, Hanka played with the colorful blossoms and flowers in summer colors on a meadow."
"Hanka hat in diesem Aquarell mit den bunten Blüten und Blumen in Farben des Sommers auf einer Wiese gespielt."

I love these wild flowers. They remind me of my childhood.

Read more on their website here. *

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No big outings this month, though some visitors and lots of meetings with friends.

The temperature changes are really bothering me. We're constantly changing: hot, then thunderstorms, then cold, then hot again, and just when we've gotten used to it, it gets cold again, only to climb again immediately afterward, and so on. This is really bad for me. I feel constantly nauseous and dizzy.

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My German saying this month goes with the picture above:

"Etwas durch die Blume sagen".

It means "Saying something through/with a flower" or "Saying something in a roundabout way". With this you hint at or allude to something, you make a hidden criticism. You express something indirectly, rather than directly and openly. You circumscribe it, or phrase it in a veiled way, often to convey criticism or an unpleasant message without hurting the other person.

I am sure other languages have similar sayings. If you know more in your languages, please, let me know.

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As I mentioned several times, it's Jane Austen year (see #Reading Austen project), and I am re-reading a book by her every other month. In the other months, I read another book about her. This month, it was "Miss Austen" by Gill Hornby. I don't really like people writing a sequel to a book where the original author died. I never did and I doubt I ever will. So, I guess my next book about Jane Austen (in August) will be a non-fiction again.

I've been reading a few less challenging books lately, partly through my book club, partly because friends lent me books I absolutely "had to read". I need to do something about that.

But, I had another successful attempt at bringing this fabulous author into my life. Lego issued another set about Jane Austen. It was a gift if you ordered something with them and since hubby always has some wishes, he had no problem getting it for me. Here is the finished set:

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* You can also have a look under my labels Artist: Frank Koebsch and Artist: Hanka Koebsch where you can find all my posts about the two artists. 

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🌸🌼🌺 I wish you all a very Happy July! 🌺🌼🌸