Six Degrees of Separation ~ Eats, Shoots and Leaves

  Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Truss, Lynne "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" - 2005

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Eats, Shoots and Leaves to The Story of English

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.

This month's prompt starts with Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss.

This is the first time since I participate in this challenge that I have actually read the starter book. I remember it as a very funny book about English spelling, grammar and punctuation and the problems of today's generation with it.

When I think of funny and non-fiction and language, Bill Bryson comes to mind. He has written several books about language, "Mother Tongue" probably being the one to start with but "Made in America" and "Troublesome Words" are just as great.
Bryson, Bill "Mother Tongue" - 1990

This reminds me of another funny book about languages, the title itself is already hilarious:
Croker, Charlie "Løst in Tränšlatioπ. Misadventures in English Abroad" - 2006
This is about language and how it can be understood and expressed quite differently in different countries.

And that leads us to another book with the same title, spelled correctly this time:
Sanders, Ella Frances "Lost in Translation. An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World" - 2014
The author collected words from across the globe that cannot really be translated.

We can always try to understand a culture better through their language and that is what the author Yu Hua tries to do in his work.
Yu, Hua (余華/Yú Huá) "China in Ten Words" (Chinese: 十個詞彙裡的中國/Shi ge cihui li de Zhongguo) - 2012
The book teaches us a lot about life in China during the lifetime of the author, born 1960.

Which brings me to another book about China, England and language.
Guo, Xiaolu (郭小橹) "Language" - 2017
This is like a diary of the young girl who comes to England with just a little knowledge of the language.

And we're back in England where Joseph Piercy tells us the story of English.
Piercy, Joseph "The Story of English: How an Obscure Dialect became the World's Most-Spoken Language" - 2012

I think it's interesting that the covers of those books are all one colour, mostly cream-y. The only really colourful exception is Bill Bryson's book but then his books are always quite special.

Look for further monthly separation posts here.

Book Quotes of the Week

Word cloud made with WordItOut

"Don’t walk in front of me… I may not follow
Don’t walk behind me… I may not lead
Walk beside me… just be my friend" Albert Camus

Those are the best kind of friends.

"So Matilda’s strong mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out in the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone." Roald Dahl, Matilda

I love how much books can do for us. They can teach us, they can be our comforting friends, they can make us laugh, they can make us cry.

"Stories are wild creatures, the monster said. When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?" Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls

Oh, they can wreak a lot of havoc, usually the right kind.

Find more book quotes here.

Eyewitness Guide Paris

Eyewitness Guide Paris
Top 10 Paris (DK Eyewitness Travel Guides)

It's Paris in July month. Since we can't travel there in real life, we travel online.

What do we need for any trip? That's right, a map and a guide book. So, that's where I begin my month of travelling to and through Paris.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Dorling Kindersley? Probably about a hundred times. They publish wonderful books and we have lots of them in the house and one of their Eyewitness Guide on every town and country we have visited since we discovered them about thirty years ago.

Now, with a big city like Paris, we have two choices. First, there is the big "Eyewitness Guide" (*), a beautiful book with pretty illustrations that make you believe you stand in the middle of a street and can start admiring the places already (see left picture and picture in the middle - the oldest and the newest edition). It shows so many details, gives wonderful explanations and doesn't let you miss a thing you might want to see.

It is also a brilliant non-fiction book to read, at least the first half. They give you so much information about the city itself, its history and many more interesting little tidbits. The very first edition was even advertised for "frequent flyers and armchair travelers alike".

(*) Eyewitness Guide by Alan Tillier, Anna Brooke (1993) and by DK Publishing (2020).

Top Ten
by Anna Brooke, Mike Gerrard, Donna Dailey, Paul Hines

At one point, they started the "Top 10" books. They are a lot smaller than the other ones and easy to put into your bag while walking through the city. It doesn't have the nice drawings for every single "quartier" as the original big one has but it's the best guide to the city. If you can afford it, get both, leave the large one in the hotel and take the small on your excursions. (see right picture)

From the back covers:

Eyewitness Guide:

"Discover Paris - a city synonymous with art, fashion, gastronomy, and culture.

Whether you want to be awed by iconic landmarks, lose yourself in the Louvre, or shop till you drop, your DK Eyewitness travel guide makes sure you experience all that Paris has to offer.

Paris is a treasure trove of things to see and do. Packed full of world-famous palaces, museums, and galleries, the city shines with opulence and elegance. But Parisians know that there is more to life than glitz and glamour. Simpler pleasures are offered in abundance - think tiny winding streets, quirky old bookshops, and centuries-old cafés.

Our annually updated guide brings Paris to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with expert-led insights and advice, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, photographs on practically every page, and our hand-drawn illustrations which place you inside the city's iconic buildings and neighbourhoods.

You'll discover:

- our pick of Paris' must-sees, top experiences, and hidden gems
- the best spots to eat, drink, shop, and stay
- detailed maps and walks which make navigating the country easy
- easy-to-follow itineraries
- expert advice: get ready, get around, and stay safe
- colour-coded chapters to every part of Paris, from Champs-Élysées to Belleville, Montmartre to Montparnasse
- our new lightweight format, so you can take it with you wherever you go

Want the best of Paris in your pocket? Try our Top 10 Paris for top 10 lists to all-things Paris."

Top Ten:

"With a new design and unbeatable price, DK raises the bar on travel guides with its new Top 10 Travel Guide series. Whether on business or vacation, take the work out of planning any trip with DK's Top 10 Travel Guides. Building on the success of the Eyewitness Travel Guides, DK has created a new series that makes finding the best every destination has to offer even easier than before. Whether searching for the finest cuisine or cheapest places to eat, the most luxurious hotels or best deals on places to stay, the coolest family destination or hottest nightspot, the Top 10 format allows travelers to use the insights of experts to make the most of their vacation. Accompanied by a companion website, readers can share their experiences and vote for their own personal Top 10s."

For those, who don't read through all the comments, my blogger friend Lectrice just added a link to the Dorling Kindersley page where you can get a closer look into the book.

Happy July!

Happy July to all my friends and readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Frank Koebsch

"Schmetterlinge naschen von den Distelblüten"
"Butterflies Nibble on the Thistle Blossoms"

I love thistles. The blossoms are beautiful. And the artist has managed to portray both the flowers and the butterflies so well, don't you think?

* * *

The official name for the month in Low German is "Haimaond" which is easy to translate into English because it's "Hay Month". I guess the reason for that is self-explanatory. In English, we have the idiom "Make hay while the sun shines" which in German we "translate" into "forge the iron while it's hot". Maybe it says something about our countries why we have that different kind of proverbs but they both mean the same, do what you can while you can, take advantage of your chances, don't let them go by. Both good advice. Try that during non-lockdown.

Since in Germany, June and July both sound the same over the phone, Juni and Juli, we often pronounce it differently: Juno ['ju:no] and Julei ['ju:lai] (so almost like the English July, at least at the end).

There are no national holidays in July in Germany but in most states, the summer holidays begin at some point. We stagger the beginning of all holidays because otherwise, the streets would be even fuller than now with everyone going on holidays when the kids are out of school. We can't take them out of school in Germany for any other reason than an illness or something serious, like a funeral in the family or so.

But there are a few very famous national holidays this month in other countries, starting with Canada on the 1^st, then followed by the USA on the 4^th, and - of course - France on the 14^th and Belgium on the 21^st. Of course, there are many others but these are the countries where I know people.

So, happy Canada Day, Independence Day, Bastille Day (Quatorze Juillet) and National Day!

* * *

Weather lore (or farmers' rule) for July:

Bringt der Juli heiße Glut, gerät auch der September gut.

If July brings hot embers, September is also good.

There is a British one about Saint Swithun's day (July 15): St. Swithun's day, if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain; St. Swithun's day, if thou be fair, For forty days 'twill rain na mair. Apparently, the meteorological explanation for this is that the jet stream has a pattern that holds the weather pretty steady in most years. If it lies north of the British Iles, the high pressure from the continent can move in, when it lies south of them, the weather comes in from the Atlantic and the Arctic. So, a lot of the old predictions can be confirmed today, interesting.

* * *

Have a happy July with this beautiful watercolour painting by Frank Koebsch. Enjoy the summer while you can, while Corona gives us some reprieve, but don't overdo it so we can hopefully avoid a new lockdown. To my friends in the Southern hemisphere, who just go through a rougher patch, stay safe!


You can find many more wonderful pictures on their website here.

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

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Most Anticipated Books of the Second Half of 2021

 

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish".

It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is: Most Anticipated Books of the Second Half of 2021

I know, some of them have been released before but they will come out (hopefully) in paperback during the summer.

Falcones, Ildefonso "Painter of Souls" (El pintor de almas) (Goodreads)
(waiting for translation)

Harmel, Kristin "The Book of Lost Names" (Goodreads)

Hislop, Victoria "One August Night"

Jonuleit, Anja "Das letzte Bild" (Goodreads)

Kampfner, John "Why the Germans Do it Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country"

Powers, Richard "Bewilderment" (Goodreads)

Pamuk, Orhan "Nights of Plague" (Veba Geceleri) (Goodreads)
(waiting for translation)

Rimington, Celesta "The Elephant's Girl" (Goodreads)

Whitehead, Colson "Harlem Shuffle" (Goodreads)

Zeh, Juli "Über Menschen" (Goodreads)
(waiting for paperback)

Kästner, Erich "Lisa and Lottie"

Kästner, Erich "Lisa and Lottie" (aka The Parent Trap) (German: Das doppelte Lottchen) - 1949

Most English-speaking girls of my generation grew up with the "Little House Books", "Little Women", "A Little Princess", "Anne of Green Gables" and other stories about little girls growing up.

But I grew up as a German-speaking girl and one of the books I read as a child was "Lottie and Lisa", the German title being translated into "Double Lottie", in the English-speaking world better known through the US American films that were made from it, "The Parent Trap", one in 1961 with Hayley Mills, the other one in 1998 with Lindsey Lohan.

Lisa is a spoiled brat and lives with her single father in Vienna. When she is nine years old, she is sent to a summer camp in Northern Germany. There, she discovers that she seems to have a lookalike. Whilst at first she is so angry that the girls fight all the time, even though Lottie is a quiet girl, they soon discover that there is something wrong. Their birthday is the same day, Lottie only has a mother, so many things that are weird. They assume they are twins separated because the parents divorced. So, they decide to switch places, Lisa goes to Munich to stay with the mother as Lottie whereas Lottie takes on the role of Lisa in Vienna.

Sounds familiar? I guess almost everyone has watched a movie called "The Parent Trap" at one point or another. Either the one from 1961 with Hayley Mills who played both roles or from 1998 with Lindsey Lohan, also representing both twins. There are many more adaptations but these are probably the best known internationally. The German film from 1951 was the first to receive the German Film Award. The screenplay was written by Erich Kästner himself and if you know even a little German, try to watch the film (look here at IMDb), it's a lot better than both the American versions. And the twins are played by real twins.

This book (Double Lottie if you translate it literally) was already written in 1942 but since the pacifistic author was banned by the Nazis, it took a while until it was published.

Even then, it led to a lot of discussions. Divorce was not considered a good subject for a children's book and a single, successful working mother wasn't exactly the picture people wanted to see.

Erich Kästner was a very successful German author. This book is a little different from his other books as its main characters are girls and the mother is a strong woman.

I read this book when I was quite young and really loved it. I re-read it when my kids were young. It doesn't matter how old you are and whether you have children or not. It is a great book to read.

From the back cover:

"Imagine what a surprise it would be to discover you are a twin, and you never knew it! This is just what happened to Lisa of Vienna and Lottie of Munich when they met at summer camp.

The shock of meeting was followed by many pleasant hours while the girls got to know each other and exchanged stories about Father and Mother. And then the nine-year-olds decided on a daring plan - they would switch places and hope to find a way to bring their parents back together!"

Book Quotes of the Week

Word cloud made with WordItOut

"'I would have thought,' said the prime minister, 'that Your Majesty was above literature.' 'Above literature?' said the Queen. 'Who is above literature? You might as well say one is above humanity.'" Alan Bennett, The Uncommon Reader

Wise words by Alan Bannett, or were they by the Queen herself???  

"You read for your life. You read to enrich your own life, and you read for the life of your family as you read together and talk about the books that you've read, and you read for your community to understand other people, and you read for your country, because you have to understand in order to be a good citizen, an informed citizen, and you read for the world so you can understand other people who are quite different from yourself." Katherine Patterson

I didn't know I was reading for so many people but, hey, the more the merrier.

"A true friend is like a good book, the inside is better than the cover." N.N.

So, so true. I have never given much about the "cover" of a person, it's always the inside that counts.

Find more book quotes here.  

* [If anyone can tell me the originator of this quote, I'd be very thankful and would happily include the name.]