#ThrowbackThursday. The Golden Notebook

 

Lessing, Doris "The Golden Notebook" - 1962

I read this book in my teens. It is one of those books that I still remember after many, many years. Many years. I thought it was very good and very sensitive, approached the subject of women's liberation in a very unique but helpful way.

When we read this in our international book club, I discovered that many of the younger members didn't "get it". I don't think the book is outdated, just that the young women don't understand what women before them had to fight for them to arrive where they are today. I don't want to say that the fight is over but we have come a long way.

Read more on my original post here. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ My first international book club

Thanks, Deb @ Readerbuzz for the idea.

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Books I Still Haven't Read

            

"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, our topic is Books I Was SO EXCITED to Get, but Still Haven’t Read (bonus points if you tell us how long it’s been since you got them!)

There are many books on my TBR pile. And many have been on there for a long time. Some have been pushed aside because the author published a new book, others because similar subjects came up all the time, sometimes a book is not there to read but to leaf through.

I have only one excuse: Too many books, too little time.

I got the following books in the following years. So, where do I redeem my bonus points? 😉

2004
Allende, Isabel "City of the Beasts" (Spanish: La ciudad de las bestias) (Memories of the Eagle and the Jaguar #1) - 2002 

Dallek, Robert "An Unfinished Life - John F. Kennedy 1917-1963" - 2003 - Goodreads

Le Faye, Deirdre "Jane Austen, The World of Her Novels" - 2002 

2005
Walker, Alice "Now is the Time to Open your Heart" - 2004 - Goodreads

Ghosh, Amitav "The Hungry Tide" - 2004 - Goodreads

Delaney, Frank "Ireland" - 2004 - Goodreads

2006
Tobin, Jacquelin L. and Dobard, Raymond G. "Hidden in Plain View" - 1999 - Goodreads

Mehta, Suketu "Maximum City. Bombay Lost and Found" - 2004 - Goodreads

Jacq, Christian "Ramses - Son of the Light I" Ramsès, tome 1: (French: Le Fils de la Lumière) - 1995 - Goodreads

2007
Danielewski, Mark Z. "House of Leaves" - 2000 - Goodreads

Now I'm curious how long other readers have had their books on their TBR piles.

📚 Happy Reading! 📚

Watterson, Bill "Calvin & Hobbes"

Watterson, Bill "Calvin & Hobbes" - 1985-95

My sons absolutely loved Calvin when they were younger. I believe they still do. But they were part of their lives and hence the life or our whole family for so long. Wherever I went, there was a "Calvin & Hobbes" book somewhere in the house.

This is a picture of the first book about little Calvin and his stuffed pet Hobbes. Everyone thinks, Hobbes is just a toy tiger but for Calvin, he is real and they talk all the time. That is definitely part of the charm of this series. But that's not all. Calvin is precocious and cheeky. In German I would call him a "neunmalkluger Dreikäsehoch" (word by word: nine times smart - three cheese high guy). But he is so cute, he makes fun of everyone, his parents, his teachers but also of himself. My favourite stories are when he builds all kind of snowmen. They make me laugh every time. Well, all his stories do.

Unfortunately, the cartoonist seems to be a very private person, didn't just forbid any merchandizing of his characters but stopped drawing them altoghether after ten years. What a shame. But, at least we have the 18 books he produced during his productive years. They can all be found in "The Complete Calvin and Hobbes" from 2005 (see below).

From the back cover:

"This is the first collection of the popular comic strip that features Calvin, a rambunctious 6-year-old boy, and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, who comes charmingly to life."

Book Quotes of the Week

 

"I have nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine." Emily Dickinson

I think all the bloggers totally agree with that .

"The spirit of a language reveals itself most clearly in its untranslatable words." Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

So true. Same as they say you receive a new soul with every new language you learn. Out of experience I can say that at least you get the ability to look at anything from a different point of view.

"I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn." Anne Frank

I understand that someone can say that but how someone like Anne Frank can still find courage through writing is beyond me. She was a very special girl indeed. How much she could have achieved had she been allowed to live on, we never know. And if we think of all the million others. So much knowledge that was just destroyed. Same as today. War isn't good for anyone. We all can only lose.

Find more book quotes here. 

#ThrowbackThursday. Jane Austen

 

Austen, Jane
"Emma" - 1816 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
"Mansfield Park" - 1814 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
"Northanger Abbey" - 1818 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen) 
"Persuasion" - 1817 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
"Pride & Prejudice" - 1813 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
"Sense & Sensibility" - 1811 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)

Eleven years ago, I posted my first Jane Austen review. It was not my favourite (Persuasion) or the one that is probably most popular (Pride & Prejudice), probably because this comes first alphabetically.

 

I reviewed all of Jane Austen's novels in the meantime, plus her short or unfinished stories, plus some books about the author, you can find them all here.

I also reread the books with an online reading group, The Motherhood and Jane Austen.

Read more on my original posts here or under the links above.

Sampedro, José Luis "The Etruscan Smile"

Sampedro, José Luis "The Etruscan Smile" (Spanisch: La sonrisa etrusca) - 1985

The Etruscan Smile is set in Italy but written in Spanish by a Spaniard. It is about an old farmer in Calabria who was a resistance fighter in his youth. Now he is ill and has to go to his son in Milan. From the South to the North. The transition is pretty tough.

But this way he also gets to know and love his grandson. Through him he finds the meaning of life. He mixes the little boy's problems with his experiences from the war. He learns many new emotions, especially to forgive his enemies, but also to see the good in people.

An excellent book, very touching and heartwarming.

Book Description:

"A tough old farmer from southern Italy takes pride in his time served as a partisan during World War II. Due to a serious medical condition, he must move in with his son and daughter-in-law in Milan. While disliking life in the northern city, the relations between the old man and his tender grandson evolve, transforming his life during his final days."

I took the picture from the movie they made where they have changed the location but you can find the English text of the book here.