Top 5 Tuesday ~ Books I want to reread

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 books I want to reread in 2025. "Are you planning to reread some favourites in 2025? Maybe that classic you read back in school. Or maybe there’s a new book coming out in a series, and you want to remind yourself what happened in the last book. Whatever it is, let’s share all of our reread plans!!"

I hardly ever plan on re-reading a special book but this year it's different. It's Jane Austen Year, she would have been 250 years old on the 16^th of December. So, the  the Classics Club has started a #ReadingAusten project here. We already started, and the first book was Sense & Sensibility. As I have read them several times already, there are also a few different reviews.

Austen, Jane "Emma" - 1816 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
- "Mansfield Park" - 1814 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
- "Northanger Abbey" - 1818 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen) 
- "Persuasion" - 1817 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
- "Pride & Prejudice" - 1813 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen) 

- "Sense & Sensibility" - 1811 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen) 

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✍Happy Reading!✍

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Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen"

Takahashi, Yuta "The Chibineko Kitchen" (Japanese: ちびねこ亭の思い出ごはん 黒猫と初恋サンドイッチ/Chibinekoteino omoidegohan kuronekoto hatsukoisandoitchi) (Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen #1) - 2020

This is an interesting story. I am sure we all have wanted to have one last conversation with a deceased loved one. Now, the Chibineko Kitchen makes this possible. You go there and order a Remembrance Meal. Then, when it is served, the person in question appears and you can have one very last talk with them until the food gets cold.

Sounds desirable, right? The story is heartwarming, it might even help some of us to get over the loss of a loved one.

And there are quite a few nice Japanese recipies in the book.

From the back cover:

"Follow the bank of the Koitogawa river until you reach the beach. From there a path of white seashells will lead you to the Chibineko Kitchen. Step inside, they'll be expecting you.

These are the directions Kotoko has been given. She arrives at the tiny restaurant, perched right by the water, early in the morning. Still reeling from the sudden death of her brother, she's been promised that the food served there will bring him back to her, for one last time.

Taking a seat in the small, wood-panelled room, she waits as Kai, the restaurant's young chef, brings out steaming bowls of simmered fish, rice and miso soup. Though she hadn't ordered anything, Kai had somehow known the exact dish her brother always used to cook for her. And as she takes her first delicious bite, the gulls outside fall silent and the air grows hazy . . .

Soul-nourishing and comforting, The Chibineko Kitchen will help you remember what matters most in life."

#ThrowbackThursday. May 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. One of my blogger friends always posts the reviews of one month but that would be too much. So, these are my reviews from May 2012.

Dickens, Charles "Great Expectations" - 1861

Dickens' way of creating suspense is incredible. I have often heard this was his greatest novel, and, even though I don't entirely agree (I love "David Copperfield"), I can very well understand that. The characters are described so vividly, their thoughts and actions, superb. 

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

Carol Drinkwater has a busy life as an actress but that did not seem enough. She married Michel, a French TV producer and together they bought an olive farm in the Provence. This is a beautiful story where the author talks about her love to her husband and their love to the olive farm, the work such an adventure encounters and the benefits. 

Gavalda, Anna "95 pounds of hope" (F: 35 kilos d’espoir) - 2002
35 kilograms or 95 pounds, that's exactly how much Gregory Dubosc weighs at the age of 13. Everything goes wrong in his little life. 

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

There is a lot of history of calligraphy both in the story and the annex. And that was highly interesting. The author liked to build anticipation by giving away a little beforehand.

Smiley, Jane "13 Ways of Looking at the Novel" - 2005

I didn't read this in a couple of days or even a couple of weeks, I read it in bits and pieces. I learned a lot about novels, reading novels and writing novels, the history of a novel, all sorts of interesting facts, quite fantastic.

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

Alphabet Authors ~ F is for Follett

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.

It was difficult to choose some of the authors for certain letters but this one was totally clear, I thought of Ken Follett right away. However, there are Ildefonso Falcones, Charles Frazier and Marianne Fredriksson whose books I also heartily recommend.

Let's start with his most popular series, the Kingsbridge stories:

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

- "The Pillars of the Earth" (Kingsbridge #1) - 1989

- "World Without End" (Kingsbridge #2) - 2007

- "A Column of Fire" (Kingsbridge #3) - 2017

- "The Armour of Light" (Kingsbridge #4) - 2023

The first two books have been turned into mini series.

The first book in the series (The Pillars of the Earth) is a novel about building a cathedral in a small English town in the 12^th century, the other novels pick up the theme in different centuries with a story about the beginnings of the village in "The Evening and the Morning".

And then there is the Century trilogy.

- "Fall of Giants" (Century Trilogy #1) - 2010

- "Winter of the World"(Century Trilogy #2) - 2012
- "Edge of Eternity" (Century Trilogy #3) - 2014

Five interrelated families from the United States, Germany, Russia, England and Wales live through the 20^th century.

Facts about Ken Follett:
born 5 June 1949 as Kenneth Martin Follett in Cardiff, Wales
He is married to Barbara Hubbard, a British politician. They have two children.

He is mostly known for his crime novels and spy thrillers.
He has also written books under the names Bernard L. Ross, Zachary Stone, and Martin Martinsen. Thanks to CyberKitten @ Seeking a Little Truth for making me aware of this. I quite like it when authors do that, publish different genres under different names, but Ken Follett has also written a lot of his other genres under his real name.

There is a statue of him in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain.

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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.

The Classics Club: The Classics Spin #40

"Words and Peace" is a blog I've been following for a couple of years and I have always found some interesting new (or old) books there, especially French ones.

On her page, I found the posts by "The Classics Club" asking us to create a post, this time before next Sunday 16^th February 2025, and list our choice of any twenty books that remain "to be read" on our Classics Club list. They'll then post a number from 1 through 20 and we have time until Sunday 11^th of April 2025 to read it.

This time, I read only the one book from my old list (Classics Spin #39) ("Nicholas Nickleby. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby"). I do want to concentrate on a couple of books in the near future, so I have listed only ten books and repeated them. The books are all in chronological order.

1. Aristophanes "Lysistrata and Other Plays" (Lysistrata) - 411BC
2. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Urfaust. Faust Fragment. Faust I" (Faust) - 1772-1808
3. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
4. Flaubert, Gustave "Madame Bovary" (Madame Bovary) - 1857
5. Turgenjew, Iwan Sergejewitsch "Fathers and Sons" (Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862
6. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
7. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
8. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
9. Faulkner, William "The Sound and the Fury" - 1929
10. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
11. Aristophanes "Lysistrata and Other Plays" (Lysistrata) - 411BC
12. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Urfaust. Faust Fragment. Faust I" (Faust) - 1772-1808
13. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
14. Flaubert, Gustave "Madame Bovary" (Madame Bovary) - 1857
15. Turgenjew, Iwan Sergejewitsch "Fathers and Sons" (Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862
16. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
17. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
18. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
19. Faulkner, William "The Sound and the Fury" - 1929
20. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929

This is a great idea for all of us who want to read more classics. Go ahead, get your own list. I can't wait to see what I get to read this time.

So, the number has been picked and it is #4. That means for me:
Flaubert, Gustave "Madame Bovary" (Madame Bovary) - 1857

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.

#ThrowbackThursday. April 2012 Part 2

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. One of my blogger friends always posts the reviews of one month but that would be too much. So, these are my reviews for the second part of April 2012.

James, Henry "The American" - 1875
1875, towards the end of the 19th century, society thinks it has become more modern. But has it really? There are still a lot of class differences.

Moyle, Franny "Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs. Oscar Wilde" - 2011
Franny Moyle describes Constance Wilde's life from the beginning to the end, her youth in poverty, her ascent into society after marrying Oscar and the inevitable fall after his secret life was unveiled. How much power a woman has when it comes to the task to prevent her loved ones from disaster. 

Smucker, Barbara "Underground to Canada" - 1977
The novel tells the story of two slave girls who escape from a plantation in Mississippi, and steal toward Canada on the Underground Railroad.

Vonnegut, Kurt "Breakfast of Champions" - 1973

The author is playing with words just for the sake of it. This book is hilarious, it gives you a good laugh. But it is also very critical. I loved it.

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

Alphabet Authors ~ E is for Ephron

 

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.

I had to choose between Ephron or Eliot and it was a hard decision but in the end, I had to go with Nora Ephron.

Doidge, Kristin Marguerite "Nora Ephron: A Biography" (Goodreads)

- "Heartburn" - 1983

- "I Feel Bad About My Neck And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman" - 2006 (short stories)

- "I Remember Nothing. And Other Reflections" - 2010 (short stories)

- "The Most of Nora Ephron" - 2014 (short stories)

- "When Harry Met Sally ..." - 1990

Facts about Nora Ephron:

Born    May 19, 1941 New York City, U.S.

Died    June 26, 2012 New York City, U.S. (aged 71)

Nora Ephron was married three times, her second husband was the journalist Carl Bernstein who investigated the Watergate Scandal and is the co-author of "All the President's Men". She based her novel "Heartburn" on her marriage and divorce. It was later made into a film with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.

The characters Harry and Sally from the film (portrayed by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) are based on director Rob Reiner and herself. I once saw an interview with Nora Ephron where she told this story that she was on an airplane and explained precisely what she wanted to eat and how she wanted it. The flight attendant asked her whether she'd ever seen the movie When Harry Met Sally. Nora Ephron showed her sense of humour by laughing about it still years later.

The Tribeca Film Festival has awarded a Nora Ephron Prize for a female writer or filmmaker "with a distinctive voice" since 2013. 

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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.