#ThrowbackThursday. April/May 2015

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 April and May 2015. 

Brown, Daniel James "The Boys in the Boat. Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Golad at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" - 2013

Funnily enough, this has just been turned into a movie. I'm looking forward to it. The story is based on real life.

The world in 1936. The Nazis are "hosting" the Olympic Games. Hitler wants to show the world how brilliant his country is. One of his hopes was the rowing competition, especially the Men's eights. "His" crew only made Bronze. Eight US boys from the lowest classes made it into a rowing team that until before had only been composed of rich students from elite universities. 

Deary, Terry "Horrible Histories" - 1993ff.   

The subtitles of most of these books are "History with the nasty bits left in!" Boys, especially boys, love a bit of gruesomeness. And the language is just right for kids.

Eco, Umberto "The Name of the Rose" (Italian: Il nome della rosa) - 1980

A monastery in the 14th century. One death occurs after the other, some of them seem very suspect, but for most of them it is very clear that another person caused the death. In other words, there is a mass murderer at large. Two visiting monks start to investigate and find a lot of links, some of them correct, others definitely false.

Munro, Alice "Runaway" - 2004

A brilliant collection of very interesting short stories that grip you from the first page.

Shteyngart, Gary "Absurdistan" - 2006

Certainly a funny book. Quite weird actually. A novel about sex, drugs and rock'n roll but in today's times. However, in a country that still lives in the sixties.

Yousafzai, Malala; Lamb, Christina "I am Malala. The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban" - 2013

Everybody talks about freedom all the time. Freedom of education, freedom of speech, freedom of religion. And here is a young girl who has always spoken out for freedom, who has been fighting for education her whole life, disregarding any threats she received.

#ThrowbackThursday. March 2015

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 2015. 

Dickens, Charles "The Pickwick Papers" - 1836

The first novel of one of the greatest authors in history. As many novels at the time, it appeared in instalments in the newspaper. This makes the novel so easy to read, even though it has about 1,000 pages. 
Samuel Pickwick, Esquire, has three good friends, Messrs. Nathaniel Winkle, Augustus Snodgrass and Tracy Tupman with whom he starts "The Pickwick Club", a group that wants to explore the country by travelling through it and then report back to the other members. 

Lahiri, Jhumpa "The Namesake" - 2003

A very interesting book about an immigration family and their children born in their new country. The author has the same background as the protagonists and you can tell that from her writing.

Lamb, Wally "We are Water" - 2013

A highly interesting story of a family full of secrets. Old secrets and new secrets. Secrets outside of the family and secrets inside. A very intense novel that brings up all kinds of emotions and fears. 

Montagu, Ewen "The Man Who Never Was. World War II's Boldest Counterintelligence Operation" - 1953
This is what the real "James Bond" is like, this is why "intelligence" and "intelligent" have the same root. Cunning ideas mixed with a lot of imagination and some thoughtful planning. An intriguing story, fascinating read. A real story.

Tanpınar, Ahmet Hamdi "The Time Regulation Institute" (Turkish: Saatleri Ayarlama Enstitüsü) - 1961
The story is satire at its best. What do we not need? Bureaucracy. And what do we need even less than bureaucracy? An institute that is worth nothing, that does not serve any purpose and that is full of people who are related to its creator.

#ThrowbackThursday. January/February 2015

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 and February 2015. Since I only had one book from January (Roald Dahl), I thought I just do the two months together.

Dahl, Roald "The Best of Roald Dahl" - 1978

I have never been a huge fan of short stories but I absolutely loved these. My favourites would be "Lamb to the Slaughter" and "Parson's Pleasure". They are both hilarious!

Berry, Wendell "Hannah Coulter" - 2004
Hannah Coulter led a long life in rural Kentucky, she had several children, lived through World War II, the Great Depression, and everything that that encounters. She talks about her life in a diary form. I came to like Hannah and her loved ones. 

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.

Harris, Joanne "Blackberry Wine" - 2000
This is an interesting story about some old wine, an old farm, everything old, really. It reminded me a little of Isabel Allende and her magic realism stories.

Hislop, Victoria "The Last Dance and Other Stories" - 2012

Even though her previous stories also tell about historic problems, these here talk about the life in Greece today, about the life of modern Greeks in an ever changing world.
I loved these stories, whether they were about an abandoned kafenion, fighting brothers, a love lost or political protests.

Pamuk, Orhan "My Father's Suitcase" (Turkish: Babamın Bavulu) - 2007
The title of this collection refers to the first story in the book, the lecture Orhan Pamuk gave in Stockholm when he accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Shields, Carol "The Stone Diaries" - 1993
Daisy Stone Goodwill goes through many hardships in her life, being born an orphan under weird circumstances, she manages her life quite well. She is a smart woman and gets an education at a time where that is far from the norm for any woman let alone one in her circumstances.

#ThrowbackThursday. November 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 November 2014.

Bradbury, Ray "The Martian Chronicles" - 1950

This is a highly interesting novel about the human invasion on another planet. A dystopian novel that couldn't envisage anything better. Or worse.

Döblin, Alfred "Berlin Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf" (German: Berlin Alexanderplatz: Die Geschichte vom Franz Biberkopf) - 1929

If I have said about "Ulysses" that it was the most difficult book I have ever read, I probably have to put this as number two. The novel is the story of Franz Biberkopf and starts with his release from prison. Throughout the book, we see how he cannot find a way back into normal life, just as the Weimarer Republik couldn't get back to a normal state after World War I. There are a lot of allusions to the political time as well as to biblical stories, there are so many layers in this book. 

Nietzsche, Friedrich "Thus spoke Zarathustra. A Book for All and None" (German: Also sprach Zarathustra. Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen) - 1883-85

A philosophical book. The title itself is mere poetry. Even for non-German speakers, it sounds magical, or at least it should.

#ThrowbackThursday. August-October 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 August to October 2014.

Gaarder, Jostein "Sophie's World" (Norwegian: Sofies verden) - 1991

This is not a book you will want to read within a couple of days. There is a lot of information in this book. We could call it a philosophy class. 

McCulloch, Colleen "The Thorn Birds" - 1977
An epic saga. The story of the Cleary family over two generations coming from New Zealand to Australia in the early Twenties of the last century and also moves to London and Rome. But the main story is told in New Zealand, how a family settles in a strange country and goes through all the hardships you can imagine.

Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud) "Anne of Green Gables" - 1908
An orphan girl is taken in by a childless couple and she really loves both her new parents as well as the school and the neighbours and everything but still gets into a lot of trouble all the time. The novel is both humorous as well as serious.

See, Lisa "Peony in Love" - 2007 

This is a magical story about a young girl called Peony who lives in the seventeenth century.

#ThrowbackThursday. June/July 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 June/July 2014.

Heller, Joseph "Catch-22" - 1961

If you love dark humour (which I do), this is a great book. I never thought I could laugh about a war book. But I did. A lot. The novel still illustrates the insanity of war, probably even more than any serious book every would. Even though there is a lot to laugh about, it's the kind of laugh you do despite the situation not because of it.

Palma, Félix J. "The Map of the Sky" (E: El mapa del cielo) - 2012  

Félix J. Palma makes a spin on an H.G. Wells novel, this time it was "The War of the Worlds".

In this novel, we have a lot of adventures to pass. We are stuck on a ship in the frozen North Sea and we have to fight alien machines who want to overtake the whole world. At that point, we arrive in a dystopian environment.

Sienkiewicz, Henryk "Quo Vadis" (PL: Quo Vadis) - 1895
This is a surprisingly easy book to read with an astonishing story and a lot of historical background. I have read other books about the early Christians in Rome and I have always been fascinated by them. 

#ThrowbackThursday. May 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 May 2014.

Christie, Agatha "Poirot Investigates" (Hercule Poirot #3) - 1924 

Monsieur Poirot is one of my favourite characters in any crime series, past or present. 

Dallaire, Roméo "They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers" - 2010
If you are interested in what is going on (mainly) in Africa and would like to know what can be done for a hopefully peaceful future, read this book. Roméo Dallaire fights a great fight and needs all the support he can get.

Fowles, John "The French Lieutenant’s Woman" - 1969
A lovely story. A love story in the Victorian era between a man and a married woman. Quite a lot to talk about. This is one of the rare occasions where I liked the movie better, maybe because of its great actors.

Lindgren, Astrid "Seacrow Island" (Translation: Vi på Saltkråkan) - 1964 
One of my favourite stories by Astrid Lindgren besides "The Six Bullerby Children". Similar as in that story, there are a couple of families in Sweden with children of the same age.

Lindgren, Astrid "The Six Bullerby Children" (Swedish: Barnen i Bullerbyn) - 1947

Next to "Seacrow Island", my favourite story by Astrid Lindgren. This is a trilogy about six children who live in the little village of Bullerby, Lisa,

Mann, Thomas "Death in Venice" (German: Der Tod in Venedig) - 1912
This book is about a dream and the hope of its fulfillment. It is a story of defeat but also of love. It is as actual as it was a hundred years ago when it was written. Maybe one of the most actual books written on the subject of homosexuality.

Nafisi, Azar "Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books" - 2003 

A beautifully written memoir about a dark time. It is not just a book about different books and a class discussing them, it is a precise account of a country turning from modern times into the past, taking away the human rights of half of their population, something that happens all over this world.

Tartt, Donna "The Goldfinch" - 2013

The book is a wonderful account of friendship and endurance. But it isn't a "happy" book, lots of difficulties occur in Theo's life. It is as much a dark book as an uplifting one.

#ThrowbackThursday. April 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 April 2014.

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

A german classical children's book. The two boys are very mischievous, anything young boys would like to do they do. But in the end they get punished hardly. 

Calvino, Italo "Why Read the Classics?" (Italian: Perché leggere i classici?) 1991

If you enjoy reading classic literature, this is a great way of getting a list of worthwhile books to read and maybe getting a glimpse of what it might be.

Pamuk, Orhan "Snow" (Turkish: Kar) - 2002

Ka is a Turkish poet who lives in Germany but visits a town in Turkey called Kars. While he is there, they have a heavy snowfall and nobody can leave or enter the town. The Turkish name for snow is "kar". What a coincidence!

Seth, Vikram "Two Lives" - 2005

The author describes not just the life of his great-uncle and his Jewish wife, he describes his own life, he describes the life and death of ordinary people during the holocaust as well as the terrible fate of the Jews. But he also describes life in India pre- and post independence. Quite an undertaking.

#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? 

#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.

#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.

#ThrowbackThursday. December 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 December 2013.

Anderson, Leith "Jesus. An Intimate Portrait of the Man, His Land, and His People" - 2006

This is an interesting read both for Christians and those who know almost nothing about the New Testament.

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.

Garfield, Simon "On the Map. Why the World Looks the Way it Does" (aka On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks) - 2012

I have always loved maps. They are beautiful, they tell tales of far away countries, exotic worlds, people I will never meet, life at different times. How can anybody not like maps. They teach us so much, yet they are also an art form to admire and enjoy.

Simon Garfield has put together a collection of stories about maps through the ages.

Pool, Daniel "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" - 1993

Even though this book is a non-fiction one, the first part reads like a novel. If, like me, you love your English classics, this is the book for you. It's not just about food but, as the second part of the title already suggests, about every important or not so important fact about life in the 19th century in England. 

Roth, Philip "The Ghost Writer" - 1979

Why I have not read any books by this extraordinary writer is a big mystery to me. I wondered whether this book was partly autobiographical, it certainly had tendencies that sounded like it. I liked the alternate history part, a genre I cherish a lot.

A young writer meets an older writer, his writing hero. And there he meets an interesting young girl who seems to have a fascinating past. That is the basic story. However, it's the way Philip Roth tells the story that makes it interesting, makes you want to know all about Nathan Zuckerman, the young author, and his life, makes you want to read the whole series.

#ThrowbackThursday. November 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 November 2013.

Allende, Isabel "Maya's Notebook" (E: El Cuaderno de Maya) - 2011

If she hadn't been on the list, yet, with this book Isabel Allende would have made it onto my favourite author's list. I absolutely loved this book. Maya is a girl with a tremendous story. She has a Chilean father and a Danish mother and is brought up by her Chilean grandmother and her second husband who is African American. 

Dai, Sijie "Once on a Moonless Night" (F: Par une nuit où la lune ne s’est pas levée) - 2007
This deep and complex story revolves around a French student in China and a Chinese greengrocer. 

Fforde, Jasper "Lost in a Good Book" - 2002
But Thursday Next can enter books and move from one to the next, this is called "bookjumping". This time, she spends a lot of time in "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens but also visits other places. A device I would like to have in real life in order to visit friends on the other side of the world within a couple of hours.

Hessel, Stéphane "Time for Outrage!" (F: Indignez-vous!) - 2011

Stéphane Hessel is 93 years old and he was a member of Résistance during the war. When he published his book in France, it caused a lot of attention. The author encourages us to be outraged. 

Mann, Thomas "The Magic Mountain" (GE: Der Zauberberg) - 1924

The title sounds enchanting. Who wouldn't want to step into it, even if it means you have to go through 1,100 pages to get to the end? I think this book deserves five stars just for the brilliant title which is as magical in the original as well as the translated title.

Regener, Sven "Berlin Blues" (GE: Herr Lehmann) - 2001
This is the story about a guy who would probably be called a loser by many. Frank comes from Bremen but lives in Berlin and works in a pub. His parents think he could do better, his brother certainly thinks that. His friends call him Herr Lehmann, one girl after the other leaves him.

Scieszka, Jon; Smith, Lane "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" - 1989
This is the true story of the "Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf" as retold by Alexander T. Wolf. Or is it "The Three Bad Pigs and the Nice Little Wolf"?

#ThrowbackThursday. October 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 October 2013.

Basti, Abel & van Helsing, Jan "Hitler in Argentina" (GE: Hitler überlebte in Argentinien) - 2011
A great and interesting book, whether you believe the authors or not. According to their research, Hitler survived the end of the far and fled to Argentina.

Bernières, Louis de "Birds Without Wings" - 2004
Greece and Turkey at the beginning of the last century with a lot of information about their history, a great addition to Victoria Hislop's "The Thread" which I read earlier.

Binet, Laurent "HHhH" (F: HHhH) - 2010

German subtitle: "Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich". The translation: "Himmler's Brain is called Heydrich". The story is not about Hitler or Himmler but about Reinhard Heydrich, a high ranking German Nazi officer and Jozef Gabčík, a Slovak soldier, and Jan Kubiš, a Czech solider and their "Operation Anthropoid" whose goal was Heydrich's assassination.

Civardi, Anne; Cartwright, Stephen "Things People Do" - 1986
Little kids just love the illustrations of animals and people in all sorts of jobs and activities. When they get older, they love the humour behind the names. 

Collins, Wilkie "Armadale" - 1866
Like in his other books, the author partly lets his characters tell his different characters tell the story, either through their letters or their diaries. It takes us from the deathbed of an old man in Germany to various other places in Europe but is definitely an English novel through and through.

Guterson, David "Ed King" - 2011
This is the story of Ed King as well as his parents and foster parents, a child born out of wedlock at a time where this was definitely not possible to raise a child alone without the support of anybody. You only notice to the very end that you know the story already and I am not going to reveal here what I mean but if you read any other description

Pamuk, Orhan "Silent House" (TR: Sessiz Ev) - 1983
Turkey in the late 20th century. Three siblings, a sister and two brothers, visit their grandmother who lives outside of Istanbul. Everyone seems to have their own problems. 

#ThrowbackThursday. September 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 September 2013.

Aleichem, Scholem "Tevye the Dairyman" (yidd: Tewje, der Milchiger טבֿיה דער מילכיקער, Jidd. und טוביה החולב, Hebr.) - 1894-1916

"Fiddler on the Roof" is one of my favourite movies and this is the original book. This is not just the story of Tevye and his wife Golde but even more that of their daughters Tzeitel, Hodel, Chawa, Shprintze, Teibel and Beijke. Every single one of them has their own story. I love the language in the book.

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

A favourite book series ion our house has always been the story of the little trains in Wales.

"Thomas the Tank Engine" is a little locomotive that lives on the fictional Island of Sodor in Wales. He has a lot of friends who all have a certain character.

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.

Jacobsen, Roy "The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles" (NO: Hoggerne) - 2005 
It says in the description: "The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles' is not a novel about war, but about the lives of ordinary people dragged into war." True. I think that's what makes this novel so interesting. 

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

Richard Scarry is the author of many wonderful stories about the activities of people in Busytown. Busy little animals portray the busy little people in Busytown.

#ThrowbackThursday. August 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 August 2013.

Alexievich, Svetlana "Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster" (RUS: Чернобыльская молитва/Černobylskaja molitva) - 2016

I knew about Chernobyl. We all do. We have all heard of the nuclear disaster in 1986. We have all heard about the dangers we all have been put in by nuclear power plants. 

We also knew that the Russians tried to hide the fact of the accident for as long as possible. 

If you are at all interested in the future of our planet, in the environment, you should read this harrowing account of what money can do to people.

Bryson, Bill "Icons of England" - 2008

A book about English Icons written by a true British Icon ... 

Well, this book wasn't really written by Bill Bryson, he is just the editor. But he loves England so much that he thought of this brilliant idea to ask British writers and other celebrities to write about THEIR British Icon.

Cabré, Jaume "Confessions" (Cat: Jo Confesso) - 2011
This book always plays on different levels, different times and stories, they all run alongise each other. The life of a Nazi henchman is interwoven with that of a Spanish inquisitor from the Middle Ages. And that way you find a lot of similarities.

Defoe, Daniel "Robinson Crusoe" - 1719

Classic novels are always interesting. We can "visit" a time long past and see what someone who lived at the time thought about his contemporaries, the political, economical, or social situation.

I can imagine why this book is still read three hundred years after its first publication.

Hargreaves, Roger "Mr. Men" - 1971ff.
Roger Hargreaves wrote 48 Mr. Men books. Books about all sorts of traits a person can have, always concentrated in one person. There is Mr. Bump who always bumps into everything, one of my boys' favourites. The absolute favourite in our family was Mr. Tickle.

Hislop, Victoria "The Thread" - 2011

While a young man visits his grandparents in Greece, they tell him the story of their life and at the same time the story of their town and country. Thessaloniki has gone through a lot of turmoil and so have its inhabitants.

Rutherfurd, Edward "Paris" - 2013

Paris, one of my favourite cities in the world. And Edward Rutherfurd is a wonderful writer of history related to places.

A story which unfolds around the construction of the Eiffel Tower and the changes it brings to the city. The book builds the history of Paris while its most famous icon rises.

Steinbeck, John "The Pearl" - 1947

The author manages to describe the characters so well, to let them come alive, to give you the feeling you are there. 

The story is a sad tragedy, telling of the problems of the indigenous inhabitants of Mexico, how they have to struggle through their daily lives and yet never can hope to get anywhere.

#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. 

#ThrowbackThursday. June 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 June 2013.

Aaronovitch, Ben "Rivers of London" (RoL 1) - 2011

- "Moon over Soho" (RoL 2) - 2011    

- "Whispers Under Ground" (RoL 3) - 2012  
- "Broken Homes" (RoL 4) - 2013
This is a police story, a crime novel mixed with fantasy elements. All genres I usually stay far away from. However, Ben Aaronovitch has such a unique and funny way to describe his characters and the story, the good guys as well as the bad guys, the living as well as the dead, the spirits, the events.

Ghosh, Amitav "Sea of Poppies" (Ibis Trilogy #1) - 2008
- "River of Smoke" (Ibis Trilogy #2) - 2011

- "Flood of Fire" (Ibis Trilogy #3) - 2015 
Amitav Ghosh manages to invite us into this world. In the first novel, he describes the fate of a ship and its passengers. In the second, other topics are introduced. One of them is morale and the difference between Hinduism and Christianity. In the third book, there is even more history of a part of the world I don't know much about.

Mahfouz, Naguib "Children of Gebelawi" (aka Children of our Alley) (Arabic: اولاد حارتنا Awlād ḥāritnā) - 1959

In this book, all our monotheistic religions are retold, the beginnings of them, at least.

There is Gabalawi (God) who first throws Idris (Satan) and then Adham (Adam) out of his house, then there is Gabal (Moses), Rifa (Jesus) and Qasim (Muhammad), all three of them wanting to bring peace to their alley (the world) and creating their own religions. At the end we have Arafa who stands for the modern world or science.

#ThrowbackThursday. May 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 May 2013.

Ahlberg, Janet & Allan "The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters" - 1986
One of the favourite activity books my boys ever had. "The Jolly Postman" is full of letters and cards, letters from fairy ale and nursery rhyme characters.

Murphy, Jill "Five Minutes Peace" - 1986
The Large family is a family like yours and mine, only they are elephants. But Mama and Papa have to go through all the troubles human parents have to go through, as well.

Shriver, Lionel "We need to talk about Kevin" - 2003
What is going through the mind of a mass murderer? What is going through the mind of his mother? This book is trying to answer that question.

Hanff, Helene "84 Charing Cross Road" - 1970 and "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street" - 1973
Two lovely books. A writer who loves reading and orders used books from a bookstore across the sea at a time where it wasn't that easy to order anything "online". Helene Hanff orders books from this small bookshop, "Marks & Co." in London, and starts a lovely correspondence not just with one of the salespeople but with almost the whole shop.

Pamuk, Orhan "The Museum of Innocence" (Turkish: Masumiyet Müzesi) - 2008

This author has a wonderful eye for detail, he manages to describe anything in a way that you imagine having it in front of your eyes, feeling the sentiments the characters feel. You rejoice with them and mourn with them. 

In this story, shortly before marrying, a guy falls in love with another girl. He becomes totally obsessed with her, his whole life changes, he becomes one of those creepy guys who follow a girl around without ever having a chance of going out with her.

Segal, Erich "Love Story" - 1970
A beautiful story, one of the greatest love stories ever told. I teaches us that love is possible even if the circumstances don't seem to allow it. That love is without end even though the circumstances try to show us that is. That love can be beautiful, even if everything around us is ugly and terrible.

#ThrowbackThursday. April 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 April 2013.

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

My kids loved the Berenstain Bears. Not only was it a "normal" family, the characters just happened to be bears, but it was a funny family. They live in a lovely tree house, and there are hundred different books with all kinds of subjects, anything that can happen in a child's life must have their own book.

King-Smith, Dick "The Hodgeheg" and "King Max the Last" - 1995

Another favourite of my boys, the adventures of Max the hedgehog who tries to save his family and wants to find a safe place to cross the road. He gets hit and from now on jumbles all the letters, so he is a hodgeheg instead of a hedgehog.

Kingsolver, Barbara "Flight Behaviour" - 2012
Barbara Kingsolver brings the impact of environmental pollution, of climate change to the most rural area you can imagine, to a part where people think if they don't pay attention to the big bad world, nothing bad is going to happen to them.

Lamb, Christina "The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream" - 1999
This biography is about Sir Stewart Gore-Brown, someone I had never heard about in my life. And still, his life is interesting and the book was captivating. 

Palma, Félix J. "The Map of Time" (E: El mapa del tiempo) - 2008
This novel is based on "The Time Machine. It's the first time I really enjoyed a book about time travel, usually that is not my type of thing. Some reasons might be the time and place this is happening, I absolutely love Victorian and pre-Victorian England, the fact that there is a book background ... or maybe because I had the feeling that the author does not really believe in time travel, either, but had a lot of fun writing this story.

Tremain, Rose "Music & Silence" - 1999 
This can almost be called a saga, so much is in this story of  the Danish court in the 17th century.