The Classics Club: The Classics Spin #44

"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 17^th May 2026, 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 7^th July 2026 to read it.

This time, I only read the one book from my old list (Classics Spin #43) (Fathers and Sons). 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. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
2. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
3. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
4. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
5. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
6. Meigs, Cornelia "Invincible Louisa" - 1933
7. Krleža, Miroslav "On the Edge of Reason" (Na rubu pameti) - 1938
8. Némirovsky, Irène "All Our Wordly Goods" (Les biens de ce monde) - 1941
9. Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
10. Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953
11. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
12. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
13. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
14. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
15. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
16. Meigs, Cornelia "Invincible Louisa" - 1933
17. Krleža, Miroslav "On the Edge of Reason" (Na rubu pameti) - 1938
18. Némirovsky, Irène "All Our Wordly Goods" (Les biens de ce monde) - 1941
19. Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
20. Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953

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.

This time, we received #9:
Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951

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.

What's in a Name 2026 Reading Challenge

I have been participating in "What's in a Name?" ages ago (2014 and 2020) but then the person who did it finished and I somehow lost touch.

Now I found this on Margaret's page BooksPlease and decided to join again. This is currently hosted by Andrea at Carolina Book Nook. It was started by Annie, who was ten or eleven at the time, on her blog Words by Annie. First Beth @ Beth Fish Reads and then Charlie @ The Worm Hole took over hosting before handing it over to Andrea.

So, this is a ‘must‘ challenge for me!

The words we need to find this year are:

Six/6:
Titles for this category need to include the word "six" or number "6" somewhere in the title, even if they are part of another word or number.

Cold weather:
Your title for this category should include a word that describes cold weather such as "snow," "ice," "blizzard," "frozen," etc.

Peace:
Titles for this category need to include a word that describes peace: "peace," "serenity," "still," "calm," etc, even if it doesn’t directly mean "peace."

Pathways:
Titles for this category need to include a words that are types of paths: "trail," "road," "avenue," "sidewalk," etc.

Terrain:
Titles for this category need to include a word for a type of topographic terrain or the name of a particular part of terrain.
Lanschot, Reinier van "We are Europe" (NL: Wij zijn Europa: een nieuw Europees verhaal) - 2024

Flower:

Titles for this category need to include a type of flower or the word "flower."

I don't know whether I will manage to fill all the challenges but, as you say, have already done one.

Literary Wives - The Marriage Plot

The wives:

Becky from Sydney of Aidanvale
Kate from Melbourne of booksaremyfavoriteandbest
Naomi from Canada of Consumed By Ink
Rebecca from Maryland, USA of Bookish Beck
Kay from Washington State, USA of What? Me Read?
and now me.

The other day, I finished a book (Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus) and was led to the Literary Wives page by one of my blogger friends who had reviewed it before. They read four books a year with regards to wives in the book. I have read a few of them already. And I have more on my list that would be great to discuss with these ladies. So, I decided to join them.

The books:
This is the list of books they read so far, and I am going to add the other books that we are going to read. But you can always find the links to all the comments on the main page: Literary Wives (the links on this one here only get you to my page).

October 2013: Ahab’s Wife: or, The Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund
December 2013:  The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon
February 2014: The Inquisitor’s Wife by Jeanne Kalogridis
April 2014: The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
June 2014: The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
August 2014: The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy
October 2014: Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
December 2014: The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani
February 2015: The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson
April 2015: The Bishop’s Wife by Mette Ivie Harrison
June 2015: My Father’s Wives by Mike Greenberg
August 2015: The Astronaut Wives Club by Melanie Benjamin
October 2015: The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
December 2015: The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
February 2016: A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante
April 2016: The Happy Marriage by Tahar Ben Jelloun
June 2016: The Disobedient Wife by Annika Milisic-Stanley
August 2016: How to Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman
October 2016: American Housewife by Helen Ellis
December 2016: Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood
February 2017: The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
April 2017: Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Theresa Fowler
June 2017: The Awakening by Kate Chopin
August 2017: On Beauty by Zadie Smith - 2005
October 2017: Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
December 2017: A Lady and Her Husband by Amber Reeves
February 2018: The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt
April 2018: The Headmaster’s Wife by Thomas Christopher Green
June 2018: Stay With Me by Ayòbámi Adébáyò
August 2018: First Love by Gwendolyn Riley
October 2018: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
December 2018: The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve
February 2019: They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple
April 2019: Wait for Me, Jack by Addison Jones
June 2019:  A Separation by Katie Kitamura
August 2019: Ties by Domenico Starnone
October 2019: Happenstance by Carol Shields
December 2019: The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
March 2020: War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen
June 2020: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett - 2019
September 2020: Alternate Side by Anna Quindlen
December 2020: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
March 2021: Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
June 2021: Monogamy by Sue Miller
September 2021: The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
December 2021: The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams
March 2022: I’m Fine and Neither Are You by Camille Pagán
June 2022: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
September 2022: Red Island House by Andrea Lee
December 2022: State of the Union by Nick Hornby 
March 2023: His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie
June 2023: The Harpy by Megan Hunter
September 2023: Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
December 2023: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell - 2020
March 2024: Mrs. March by Virginia Feito
June 2024: Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown
September 2024: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
December 2024: Euphoria by Elin Culhed
March 2025: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - 2020
June 2025: The Constant Wife by W. Somerset Maugham
September 2025: Novel about My Wife by Emily Perkins
December 2025: The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
March 2026: Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
June 2026: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - 1999 (Literary Wives) 
September 2026: Family Family by Laurie Frankel - 2024
December 2026: The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh
March 2027: Wedded Wife by Rachel Lennon - 2023
June 2027: Liars by Sarah Manguso - 2024
September 2027: Brick Lane by Monica Ali - 2003
December 2027: Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose - 1983
March 2028: The Course of Love by Alain de Botton - 2016
June 2028: My Husband (Mon Mari) by Maud Ventura - 2021

I also read the following books with "wife" in the title:
Buck, Pearl S. "The First Wife and Other Stories" - 1933
Hay, Ashley "The Railwayman's Wife" - 2013
Joinson, Suzanne "The Photographer's Wife" - 2016
McLain, Paula "The Paris Wife" - 2012
Shalev, Zeruya "Husband and Wife" (Hebr: בעל ואישה) - 2000
I will probably add one or the other to this list later.

There is also a Facebook page here.

Spell the Month in Books ~ March 2026

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.

March: Pi Day, March Madness or Green Covers

Pi Day, mmmh, I have no idea, maybe books about maths. But then I thought, maths is also a part of science and I am more likely to find books about any kind of science in my reading list. And here I am:

MARCH

M

Bohjalian, Chris "Midwives" - 1997

A
Stone, Irving "The Agony and the Ecstasy" - 1961
R
Chevalier, Tracy "Remarkable Creatures" - 2009
C

Vonnegut, Kurt "Cat's Cradle" - 1963

H
Harari, Yuval Noah "Homo Deus. A Brief History of Tomorrow" - 2016

* * *

Happy Reading!

📚 📚 📚

The Classics Club: The Classics Spin #43

 

"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 8^th February 2026, 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 29^th March 2026 to read it.

This time, I read two books from my old list (Classics Spin #42) (The Sound and the Fury" and "Urfaust. Faust Fragment. Faust I. Faust II"). 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. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
2. Turgenev, Ivan "Fathers and Sons" (Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862
3. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
4. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
5. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
6. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
7. Meigs, Cornelia "Invincible Louisa" - 1933
8. Krleža, Miroslav "On the Edge of Reason" (Na rubu pameti) - 1938
9. Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
10. Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953
11. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
12. Turgenev, Ivan "Fathers and Sons" (Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862
13. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
14. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
15. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
16. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
17. Meigs, Cornelia "Invincible Louisa" - 1933
18. Krleža, Miroslav "On the Edge of Reason" (Na rubu pameti) - 1938
19. Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
20. Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953

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.

This time, we received #2:
Turgenev, Ivan "Fathers and Sons" (Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862

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.

Statistics 2025

     

My statistics for the last years are here:
2009-12, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 

2023, 2024  

* Statistics 2025 *

 

I did 235 posts in 2025 which was 57 more than last year.

And these are the results of my reading lists for 2025:

My regular posts are either weekly (Book Quotes, Top Ten Tuesday, ThrowBack Thursday, Wordless Wednesday) or monthly (Happy Month, Six Degrees of Separation, Spell the Month in Books), so I posted more or less the amount of weeks or months in a year. I didn't do them all regularly, though. Especially the Top Ten Tuesday, I've participated so long and have done a lot of the topics already, so I just do them from time to time.

Book Quotes of the Week (12 posts)

Happy Month (12)
Top 5 Tuesday (26)
Top Ten Tuesday (18)

ThrowBack Thursday (45)
Wordless Wednesday (2)
Six Degrees of Separation (12)
Spell the Month in Books (12)

I also did a few lists that are more or less statistics about half of the year and a comparison to ten years ago:

Mid Year Freak-Out Tag

I also participated in Non-fiction November.

******

And then there are, of course, all the challenges I have done over the years.
I read books that contributed to the following challenges. Some of them count for more than one category:

Challenges (number of books read for the challenges in brackets)

The 10 Greatest Books Ever (1)
The 100 best Non-fiction Books of All Time as Chosen by The Guardian (1)

100 Books by the BBC (2)
100 Greatest Fiction Books as Chosen by the Guardian (1)

13 Ways of Looking at the Novel (1)

2025 TBR Pile Reading Challenge (23)

Anti-Racism Books (3)

I read more on this topic but they were not on this list.

Barack Obama Reading Lists (2)

Thanks to a present by my son and a loan from a book club member, I was able to add two more books to the list.
Best European Literature (2)

Bildungsroman (2)

Children's Books (2)

The Classics Spin (5)

Dutch and French Books (1 Dutch, 3 French)

German Books (30)

My Favourite Books Ever (24)

Every year I find some more books I can add to my list of favourite books. 24 this year. Not too bad, I guess.

Nobel Prize Winners and Their Books (3)

Oscar Winning Books (1)

Paris in July (4)

Some books taking place in France or written in French.

Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (1)

(German: Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels)

Read the Year Club (2)

We read 1925 and 1952 this year. It's a good idea to add some reads from former years that we might not have touched before.

Reading Challenge - Chunky Books 2025 (17)

I read 17 chunky books in 2025 of which 4 are considered a chunkster. Mor-book-ly Obese again.

Suggestions from Friends (lots)

I read suggestions from friends all the time, just haven't kept up with who recommended which book.

Voracious (1)

Book Clubs:

International Online Book Club 2017 etc. (7)
One of the books was not available in English or German and I had read four of the others.

German Book Club (10)

We took a break in the summer and at Christmas, so only read 10 books this year.

******

Some of the challenges are older and I only add to them if I happen to read one of the books. No new books on these lists:

100 Greatest Fiction Books as Chosen by the Guardian 

101 Best Selling Books of All Times 

20 Classic and Important Books 

I already said this last year. Only three more books on my list, maybe I'll get to "Slaughterhouse Five" one day.

7 Books That Will Radically Shift Your Perspectives 

Books That Changed the World 

A Century of Books 

Emma's Book Club - Our shared shelf 

Esperanto Books 
Here we mostly read short stories.

Favourite (German) Independent Books

(Das Lieblingsbuch der Unabhängigen = The Favourite Book of the Independents)
When they are German books, it usually takes a couple of years until they appear in paperback. So, this year, I didn't get to read the newest one:
Nelio Biedermann "Lázár"

Le Monde - The 100 Books of the Century 

Modern Library 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century 
Nobel Peace Prize 
Unfortunately, I didn't get to read any of the peace prize winners this year, but I read many by people who would have deserved it (not the one who was so keen on being awarded only to start a war right after that).

Oprah's Book Club

Reading the World 

The non-western books that every student should read 
The only thing I miss from our old place is the library that would get me any book I wanted. Not so easy here where we only have a small church library and they only get the biggest best-sellers. And all of them in German only, of course.

Travel the World Through Books 

******

Books Read: 88
Pages read: 26.884 which results in 306 pages/book, 73 pages/day, 7 books/month

Last year (2024), I read 73 books with 25,412 pages which resulted in 348 pages/book, 73 pages/day, 7 books/month. So, it looks like I read a little more in 2025.

The average novel contains between 140 and 320 pages, i.e. 230 which would make 117 average books (compared to 116 last year, so not that much better, just shorter books).

Books dating from which year:

Pre 1800s: 3

1800s: 12

1900-1949: 7

1950-1999: 14

2000s: 52 (3 of which from 25)

Male Authors: 48 + 1

Female Authors: 40 +1

Nobel Prize Winners: 3

Fiction: 62
Non-Fiction: 26

I might have to include some of the reference books I read and use.

Chunky Books - more than 450 pages: 17, of which more than 750: 4
Library/Borrowed: 7
Re-Read: 6 (all Jane Austen)
TBR Pile: 23

Oldest Book: 411 BC
Aristophanes "Lysistrata and Other Plays" (GR: Λυσιστράτη, Lysistrátē) - 411 BC
Newest Book: 2025

Harris, Kamala "107 Days" - 2025

Longest book: 1,022 pages

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (Goethe German) - "Faust I + II" (GE: Urfaust. Faust: Erster und zweiter Teil) - 1772-1808

Shortest book: 52 pages
Wilde, Oscar "Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast" - 1946

Longest book title: 57 letters

Kaminer, Wladimir "Little Red Riding Hood smokes on the balcony … and other family stories" (GE: Rotkäppchen raucht auf dem Balkon … und andere Familiengeschichten) - 2020

Shortest Book Title: 2 letters
Schöfer, Maike "Nope: An incitement to say no" (GE: Nö: Eine Anstiftung zum Neinsagen) - 2025

Funniest Book:

Schnoy, Sebastian "Learn from Napoleon how to avoid doing the dishes" (GE: Von Napoleon lernen, wie man sich vorm Abwasch drückt) - 2013

Saddest Book:

Rushdie, Salman "Knife" - 2024

Weirdest Book:

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

Most disappointing:

Hopmann, Sophie/Heidelore Mais "Cucumber Sandwich in the Glove Compartment" (GE: Gurkensandwich im Handschuhfach) - 2019

New author (for me) that I would like to read more from: 8
Michel Bergmann, William Deresiewicz, Tahsim Durgun, Michael Köhlmeier, Benjamin Monferat, Jasmin Schreiber, Yuta Takahashi, Lucy Worsley

Translated Books:

7 from 7 languages

1 ea from Finnisch, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

Books read in another language:

Dutch: 1

French: 3

German: 30

Numbers in Book Titles: Sixth, Seven, Ten, 107
Place Names in Book Titles: Brüssel, England, Europe, Mansfield, Mariana Trench, Northanger Abbey, Walden

Names in Book Titles: Artemisia, Austen, Bovary, Britt-Marie, Chekhov, Chibineko, Chuzzlewit, Emma, Faust, Feld, Felix Krull, Gretchen, Hamnet, Jane, Judith,Katherine, Klee, Luzie, Lysistrata, Mann, Mariana, Martin, Mary, Max, Moormann, Napoleon, Parr, Peanuts, Psmith, Rose, Rotkäppchen, Sonneborn, Thomas, Tiffany, Tolstoy, Unrat, Wunder

Colours in Book Titles: Rot (red)

My Favourite Books: 24

Austen, Jane "Emma" - 1816 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)

- "The History of England: By a Partial, Prejudiced and Ignorant Historian" - 1791
- "Mansfield Park" - 1814 (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) 

Brooks, Geraldine "Year of Wonders" - 2001

Deresiewicz, William "A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter" - 2011

Heidenreich, Elke "Dr. Moormann & I" (GE: Frau Dr. Moormann & ich) - 2023

Hyun, Martin; Kaminer, Wladimir "Instructions for neighbours" - (GE: Gebrauchsanweisung für Nachbarn) - 2024  

Hislop, Victoria "The Figurine" - 2023

Kaminer, Wladimir "Little Red Riding Hood smokes on the balcony … and other family stories" (GE: Rotkäppchen raucht auf dem Balkon … und andere Familiengeschichten) - 2020

- "Tolstoy's beard and Chekhov's shoes, excursions through Russian literature" (GE: Tolstois Bart und Tschechows Schuhe, Streifzüge durch die russische Literatur - 2019)

Loriot "The Yodeling School and other dramatic works" (GE: Die Jodelschule und andere dramatische Werke) - 1981

Monferat, Benjamin (Stephan Rother) "World in Flames" (GE: Welt in Flammen) - 2014

Schreiber, Jasmin "Mariana Trench" (GE: Marianengraben) - 2020

Stelter, Bernd "Fashion, murder, and the sound of the sea. Camping crime thriller" (GE: Mode, Mord und Meeresrauschen. Camping-Krimi) - 2024

Sullivan, Margaret C. "The Jane Austen Handbook. A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World" - 2007

Weir, Alison "Six Tudor Queens. Katharine Parr. The Sixth Wife" - 2021

Worsley, Lucy "Jane Austen at Home" - 2017

Added  after an idea by Emma:

Adjectives in Book Titles: brilliant, crazy, dull, last, weird; dramatische, gut, klein

Adverbs in Book Titles: andere. hier

Animals in Book Titles: Penguin, Snail, Whale

Nationality in Book Titles: French

Preposition in Book Titles: about, as, at, for, from, in, of, on, out, to; auf, durch, für, im, mit, nach, oder, vom, von, über, zur
Questions in Book Titles: 

Brandreth, Gyles "Have You Eaten Grandma?" - 2017

With my books, I visited places in the following countries:

Africa (5):Botswana, Cameroon, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Arctic (1):

Asia (9):

Armenia, Dubai, India, Israel/Palestine, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Syria, Turkey, Vietnam

Australia/Oceania (2):
Australia, New Zealand
Europe (19):
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, Yugoslavia
North America (4):

Canada, Caribbean, St. Lucia, USA

South America (3):

Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

Countries "visited" in total: 43

Authors come from:

Africa (2):
South Africa, Zimbabwe
Asia (7):
India, Israel/Palestine, Japan, Korea, Syria, Turkey, Vietnam

Australia/Oceania (2):

Australia, New Zealand
Europe (10):
Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom

North America (2):

Canada, USA
South America (1):

Uruguay
Author countries in total: 24

See also "My Year in Books" (and here on Goodreads).

You may find some even greater statistics by better bloggers than me, e.g. at "Stuck in a Book".

 

If you want more information on any of the lists mentioned, please, let me know.

My Year in Books 2025

26,884 pages read (my count, Goodreads didn't give one this year, though it would have been worthless as they indicate a wrong one from time to time. My copy of "On the Yankee Station" had 226 pages as opposed to the 0 given by GR)

88 books read

Average book length: 314 pages

Average rating: 3.6

I am still doing my usual statistics (which you will find here) but this is what Goodreads tells me. You can find links to all my books on Goodreads here or on my page under My Reading List. 

🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄

🎅 Merry Christmas! 🎅

May your holiday be filled with awkward family photos

and too much food!

I have been trying to find a good list of the the most popular Christmas carols of all time. Unfortunately, there are a hundred different sites with a thousand different lists. So, I have used AI to help me and here is their list:

Traditional:

Silent Night: A German carol known for its peaceful melody, famously sung during the WWI Christmas truce.

O Holy Night: A French carol reflecting on the birth of Jesus.

Joy to the World: A classic praising the coming of the Lord.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: A popular hymn celebrating the birth of Jesus.

O Come, All Ye Faithful: An invitation to worship the newborn king.

The First Noël: Tells the story of the first Christmas. *

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen: A traditional English carol.

Away in a Manger: A gentle carol about Jesus's birth.

In the Bleak Midwinter: Based on a poem by Christina Rossetti, with music by Gustav Holst.

O Little Town of Bethlehem: A reflective carol describing the town where Jesus was born.

🎄🎄🎄

 
Popular:

Jingle Bells: A quintessential winter and Christmas song.

Deck the Halls: A festive Welsh tune with "fa la la la la".

We Wish You a Merry Christmas: A carol with wishes for good cheer.

Frosty the Snowman: A beloved winter classic.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A story about Santa's most famous reindeer.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree: A popular, upbeat holiday song.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: Celebrates the festive season.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: A warm, comforting song.

Feliz Navidad: A bilingual Christmas hit.

Winter Wonderland: A joyful song about a snowy scene. 

🎄🎄🎄

What do you think? Did you recognize them all? Is your favourite song among them? And which one is missing in your opinion?

* Yes, I know they write Noël differently in English but it's a French word and I refuse to write it incorrectly.😉

What's in a Name 2025 Reading Challenge

What's in a Name 2025 Reading Challenge

Have a look at Carolina Book Nook. The blogger Andrea posted about this year's reading challenge "What's in a Name". According to Andrea, this challenge was hosted by Charlie at The Worm Hole in years past. She took over in 2019 and I’m very grateful that she did.

I had first found this ages ago on Emma's page at Words and Peace (like so many other interesting challenges) and then participated in 2014 and 2020 and included all the books with a name in the title in my statistics ever since.

So, I was happy to find this again the other day and just in time to join for this past year.

The challenge runs from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025. You can sign up any time, but only count books that you read between those dates.

These are her conditions:

Read a book in any format (hard copy, ebook, audio) with a title that fits into each category.

Don’t use the same book for more than one category.

Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!

You can choose your books as you go or make a list ahead of time.

Sign up using the Mr Linky on Andrea's page (here) with a link to your WIAN challenge page/post, not your main blog URL. Feel free to save and use the graphic at the top of the page! Also, link back to her sign up page in your challenge post so others can join too.

The categories below are links to each category sign up link.  Add your book review for each category so we can see what you’ve read and discover ideas as needed.

In 2025, choose 6 books that have titles that contain:

(Andrea gives links with more examples and info)

1. Cardinal direction
2. Wanderlust
3. First & last name
4. Alliteration
5. Deity
6. Crime

And here are my books:

Category 1: 

Cardinal direction
Mason, Daniel "North Woods" - 2023

Category 2:

Wanderlust
Mak, Geert "The Dream of Europe. Travels in a Troubled Continent" (NL: Grote verwachtingen. In Europa 1999-2019) - 2019

Category 3:

First & last name
Worsley, Lucy "Jane Austen at Home" - 2017

Category 4:

Allilteration
Austen, Jane "Pride & Prejudice" - 1813 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen) 
And yes, even though I wrote this review ages ago, I re-read the book this year.

Category 5:

Deity
I doubt that I will be able to include a book for this challenge. I might have found one had I known about this earlier but I really couldn't finish another one before the end of the year.

Category 6:
Crime
Osman, Richard "We Solve Murders" - 2024

The Classics Club: The Classics Spin #42

"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 19^th October 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 21^st December 2025 to read it.

This time, I read two books from my old list (Classics Spin #41) ("Lysistrata"  and "Martin Chuzzlewit"). 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. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Urfaust. Faust Fragment. Faust I. Faust II" (Faust) - 1772-1808
2. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
3. Turgenev, Ivan "Fathers and Sons" (Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862
4. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
5. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
6. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
7. Faulkner, William "The Sound and the Fury" - 1929
8. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
9. Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
10. Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953
11. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von "Urfaust. Faust Fragment. Faust I. Faust II" (Faust) - 1772-1808
12. Dumas, Alexandre fils "Camille: The Lady of the Camellias" (La Dame aux Camélias) - 1848
13. Turgenev, Ivan "Fathers and Sons" (Отцы и дети/Otzy i deti) - 1862
14. Conrad, Joseph "Victory: An Island Tale" - 1915
15. Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
16. Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
17. Faulkner, William "The Sound and the Fury" - 1929
18. Hemingway, Ernest "A Farewell to Arms" - 1929
19. Cela, Camilo José "The Hive" (La colmina) - 1951
20. Plaidy, Jean "The Sixth Wife: The Story of Katharine Parr" - 1953

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.

This time, the number that has been picked is #17. That means for me:
Faulkner, William "The Sound and the Fury" - 1929

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.

Eccleshare, Julia "1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up"

Eccleshare, Julia "1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up" - 2009

While reviewing a children's book, I found this list on Wikipedia: 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. And discovered, that there is a book with all the descriptions.

I wish this would have existed when my kids were little but I think we still did quite well. I have listed all the books I can remember reading with my boys thoug I have not reviewe all of them. I also sorted them in chronological order rather than by age as on the list. This means, if you are looking for a book for a certain age-group, you better consult the original list. Some of those books are not for 3-year-olds. Or - even better, get the book.

Defoe, Daniel "Robinson Crusoe" - 1719

Defoe, Daniel "Gulliver's Travels" - 1726

Bürger, Gottfried August "The Adventures of Baron Münchhausen" (GE: Wunderbare Reisen zu Wasser und zu Lande – Feldzüge und lustige Abenteuer des Freiherrn von Münchhausen) - 1786

Lamb, Charles and Mary "Tales from Shakespeare" - 1807

Grimm, Jacob und Wilhelm "Grimm's Fairy Tales" - 1812
(Jorinda and Joringel. Eight Fairy Tales/GE: Jorinde und Joringel. Acht Märchen der Brüder Grimm) - 1812

Hawthorne, Nathaniel "The Scarlet Letter" - 1815

Moore, Clement Clarke "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ('Twas the Night Before Christmas) - 1822

Andersen, Hans Christian "Fairy Tales" - 1837

Dickens, Charles "A Christmas Carol" - 1843 

Dumas, Alexandre "The Three Musketeers" (F: Les Trois Mousquetaires) - 1844

Hoffmann, Heinrich "Struwwelpeter" (GE: Der Struwwelpeter) - 1845

Busch, Wilhelm "Max and Moritz" (GE: Max und Moritz) - 1865

Carroll, Lewis "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" - 1865

Alcott, Louisa May "Little Women Series" - 1868-86

Twain, Mark "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" - 1876

Spyri, Johanna "Heidi" (GE: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre + Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat) - 1880/81

Stevenson, Robert Louis "Treasure Island" - 1881/82  

Twain, Mark "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" - 1884

Burnett, Frances Hodgson "Little Lord Fauntleroy" - 1886

Baum, L. Frank "The Wizard of Oz" - 1900 

Potter, Beatrix "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" - 1902

Molnár, Ferenc "The Paul Street Boys" (H: A Pál-utcai Fiúk) - 1907

Montgomery, L. M. "Anne of Green Gables" - 1908

Burnett, Frances Hodgson "The Secret Garden" - 1911

Milne, AA "Winnie the Pooh" - 1926

Hergé "Tintin" (F: Tintin) - 1929

Kästner, Erich "Emil and the Detectives" (GE: Emil und die Detektive) - 1929

Ingalls Wilder, Laura "Little House Books" - 1932-71

de Brunhoff, Jean "The Story of Babar" (F: Histoire de Babar le petit éléphant) - 1934

Leaf, Munro "The Story of Ferdinand" - 1936

Streatfeild, Noel "Ballet Shoes" - 1936

Tolkien, J.R.R. "The Hobbit" - 1937

Bemelmans, Ludwig "Madeline" - 1939

Rey, H.A. "Curious George" - 1941-1966 

Blyton, Edit "Five on a Treasure Island" - 1942

Forbes, Ester "Johnny Tremain" - 1943

Estes, Eleanor "The Hundred Dresses" - 1944

White, E.B. "Stuart Little" - 1945

Smith, Dodie "I Capture the Castle" - 1948

Lewis, C.S. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" - 1950

Schulz, Charles M. "Peanuts" - 1950
(Advent with the Peanuts"/Advent mit den Peanuts) - 1979/80

Salinger, J.D. "Catcher in the Rye" - 1951

White, E.B. "Charlotte's Web" - 1952

Bradbury, Ray "Fahrenheit 451" - 1953

Saint-Exupéry, Antoine "The Little Prince" (F: Le Petit Prince) - 1953

Golding, William "Lord of the Flies" - 1954

Jansson, Tove "Moominsummer Madness" (FIN: Vaarallinen juhannus/Farlig midsommar) - 1954 

Zion, Gene "Harry, the Dirty Dog" - 1956

Awdry, Rev. Wilbert "Thomas the Tank Engine" - 1956-2011

LeSieg, Theo (=Dr. Seuss) "The Cat in the Hat" - 1957

Ryan, John "Captain Pugwash" - 1957

Bond, Michael "A Bear Called Paddington" - 1958

Goscinny, René "Little Nicholas" (F: Le Petit Nicolas) - 1959

Goscinny, René; Uderzo, Albert "Asterix the Gaul" (F: Astérix le Gaulois) - 1959

Eastman, P.D. "Go, Dog, Go!" - 1960

Lee, Harper "To Kill a Mockingbird" - 1960 

LeSieg, Theo (=Dr. Seuss) "Green Eggs and Ham" - 1960

Dahl, Roald "James and the Giant Peach" - 1961

Juster, Norton "The Phantom Tollbooth" - 1961

Rawls, Wilson "Where the Red Fern Grows" - 1961

Berenstain, Stan and Jan "The Berenstain Bears" - 1962ff.

L’Engle, Madeleine "A Wrinkle in Time" - 1962

Preußler, Otfried "The Robber Hotzenplotz" (GE: Der Räuber Hotzenplotz) - 1962

Bridwell, Norman "Clifford" - 1963-2015

Bruna, Dick "Miffy" (NL: Nijntje) - 1963

Peyo "The Black Smurfs" (F: Les Schtroumpfs Noir) - 1963

Sendak, Maurice "Where The Wild Things Are" - 1963

Brown, Jeff "Flat Stanley" - 1964

Dahl, Roald "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - 1964

Silverstein, Shel "The Giving Tree" - 1964

Biro, Val "Gumdrop" - 1966

Lionni, Leo "Frederick" - 1967

Freeman, Don "Corduroy" - 1968

Kerr, Judith "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" - 1968

Scarry, Richard "What Do People Do All Day" - 1968 et al.

Carle, Eric "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" - 1969

O'Dell, Scott "Island of the Blue Dolphins" - 1969

Tison, Annette; Taylor, Talus "Barbapapa" - 1970

Hargreaves, Roger "Mr. Men" - 1971ff.

Adams, Richard "Watership Down" - 1972

Briggs, Raymond "Father Christmas" - 1973

Silverstein, Shel "Where the Sidewalk Ends - 1974

dePaola, Tomie "Strega Nona" - 1975

Smucker, Barbara "Underground to Canada" - 1977

Ahlberg, Janet & Allen "Each Peach Pear Plum" - 1978

Barrett, Judi "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" - 1978

Briggs, Raymond "The Snowman" - 1978

Ende, Michael "The Never Ending Story" (GE: Die unendliche Geschichte) - 1979

Hill, Eric "Where's Spot?" - 1980

Cunliffe, John Arthur "Postman Pat" - 1981

Browne, Anthony "Gorilla" - 1983

Dodd, Lynley "Hairy Maclairy from Donaldsons's Dairy" - 1983

Holabird, Catherine/Craig, Helen "Angelina Ballerina" - 1983

Pausewang, Gudrun "The Cloud" (GE: Die Wolke) - 1987
- "The Last Children" (GE: Die letzten Kinder von Schewenborn oder … sieht so unsere Zukunft aus?) - 1983

Numeroff, Laura "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" - 1985

Ahlberg, Janet & Allan "The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters" - 1986

Jacques, Brian "Redwall" - 1986

MacLachlan, Patricia - Sarah, Plain & Tall Series - 1986-2004

Munsch, Robert "Love You Forever" - 1986

Murphy, Jill "Peace at Last" (Five Minutes Peace) - 1986

Paulsen, Gary "Hatchet" - 1986

Ihimaera, Witi "The Whale Rider" - 1987

King-Smith, Dick "The Hodgeheg" - 1987

Waddell, Martin "Can't You Sleep, Little Bear" - 1988

McKee, David "Elmer" - 1989

Rosen, Michael "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" - 1989

Scieszka, Jon; Smith, Lane "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" - 1989

LeSieg, Theo (=Dr. Seuss) "Oh, the Places You'll Go" - 1990

Inkpen, Mick "Kipper" - 1991

Scieszka, Jon; Smith, Lane "The Stinky Cheeseman" - 1992

Buchholz, Quint "Sleep Well, Little Bear" (GE: Schlaf gut, kleiner Bär) - 1993

Cannon, Janell "Stellaluna" - 1993

McBratney, Sam "Guess How Much I Love You" - 1994 

Pullman, Philip "Northern Lights" - 1995

Hesse, Karen "Out of the Dust" - 1997

Rowling, J.K. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" - 1997 

Sachar, Louis "Holes" - 1998

Curtis, Christopher Paul "Bud, Not Buddy" - 1999

Donaldson, Julia "The Gruffalo" - 1999

Colver, Eoin "Artemis Fowl" - 2001

Allende, Isabel "City of the Beasts" (E: La ciudad de las bestias) - 2002

Hartnett, Sonya "Thursday’s Child" - 2002

Zusak, Markus "The Messenger" - 2002

Funke, Cornelia "Inkheart" (GE: Tintenherz) - 2003 

Haddon, Mark "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" - 2003

Cottrell Boyce, Frank "Millions" - 2004

Boyne, John "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" - 2006

From the back cover:

"This is the best and most authoritative guide to classic and contemporary children’s literature today. It is the latest in the best-selling 1001 series, and its informative reviews are the key to differentiating the "must-read" books from all the rest in the realm of children’s books. Whether you are a parent seeking to instill a love of reading in your child, an educator or counselor looking for inspiration, or a young reader with a voracious appetite, this guide to the best writing for children and young adults covers the spectrum of children’s literature. It is organized by age group—from board books to YA novels and all the gradiations in between. Each entry features evaluations by a team of international critics complete with beautifully reproduced artwork from the featured title. The beloved classics are here, but the guide also takes a global perspective and includes the increasingly diverse contributions from African American and Latino authors and illustrators—not to mention important books from around the world."