Top Ten Tuesday ~ Top Twelve Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face

  

"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: Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face

Smile as in laughing or smile as in feelgood smile?

We had laughing earlier this year (see here), so I decided to go for the second option.

Sometimes, these are just nice reads. Most of these books made me find some trust in humanity. There are good people around us, we just have to look for them with open eyes and hearts.

Alcott, Louisa May "Little Women" - 1868
Calvino, Italo "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller" (Italian: Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore) - 1979
Chevalier, Tracy "The Virgin Blue" - 1997
Doerr, Anthony "All the Light We Cannot See" - 2014
Hislop, Victoria "The Thread" - 2011
Otto, Whitney "How to Make an American Quilt" - 1991
Powers, Richard "The Overstory" - 2018
Rhue, Morton "The Wave" - 1981
Schami, Rafik "The Calligrapher’s Secret" (German: Das Geheimnis des Kalligraphen) - 2008
Schmitt, Éric-Emmanuel "Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran" (French: Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran) - 1999
Turner, Nancy E. "These is my Words, The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901" - 1999
Vreeland, Susan "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" - 1999

Le Guin, Ursula K. "The Left Hand of Darkness"

Le Guin, Ursula K. "The Left Hand of Darkness" - 1969

I'm not the biggest fan of science fiction but my book club seems to select one every couple of months. What can I say, some of them are quite interesting, others not so much.

"The Left Hand of Darkness" can be fascinating in many ways. There is a different kind of life on planet Winter, it is a cold life, as the name of the planet already suggests. But it's also different to our kind of life as in all its inhabitants are ambisexual. They call it differently and anyone who is just one gender (like the inhabitants of our planet, Terra) is a pervert. Maybe this would help people who consider anyone who is not straight a weirdo. Though I doubt they would read a book like this.

So, other than making us understand the LGBTQ community better, what else is there to learn from this book. Well, the Ekumen reminded me a little of the United Nations or the European Union which have the same kind of problems because everyone wants a communion but it should, please, be moulded on their own culture.

Apparently, this book belongs to a series of novels called "The Hainish Cycle" but you are not supposed to read them all in order, they are published as single novels without any follow-up of one of the stories.

And it definitely gives us food for thought about our world and all the people living in it.

Some comments from our members:

• It gave much topics for discussion. Beside topics of what is Sci-fi, space travel, Mindspeak, gender difference, habitable ice planet, its people, politics and customs.
• I especially found the attitude towards time and societal progress interesting.
• IMO, her best book (not that I've read all of them) is The Lathe of Heaven. It's very different to her usual style. Highly recommend.
• While reading "The Left Hand of Darkness" I also reviewed Ursula Le Guin's rendition of Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching". It made for an enriched experience to consider the plot and characters of The Left Hand of Darkness through a Taoist lens. The shifting of Gethenian power and ways has a yin-yang quality that is very true to life.
  

We read this in our international online book club in August 2021.

From the back cover:

"A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction."

Urusla K. Le Guin has received many prizes for her works, i.a. the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award.

Six Degrees of Separation ~ Second Place

Second Place
Cusk, Rachel "Second Place" - 2021

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Second Place (Goodreads) to The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

#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 Second Place (Goodreads) by Rachel Cusk.

This month, Kate selected a book that was nominated for the Booker Prize. I have not been very lucky with those books so hardly ever touch them. However, there are always descriptions on Goodreads. This story is about "a woman who invites a famous artist to use her guesthouse in the remote coastal landscape where she lives with her family."

And that reminded me of a book that also centres around an old house and some artists.

Morton, Kate "The Clockmaker's Daughter" - 2018

When hearing the name clock in a title, I always have to think about a very important dystopian work:

Burgess, Anthony "A Clockwork Orange" - 1962

And when thinking about oranges, what else is there to think of than the city of oranges, Jaffa.

LeBor, Adam "City of Oranges. An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa" - 2006

I have several books with the word city in the title but this one is quite different because it is from a country we have all read little about: Albania.

Kadaré, Ismail "The Fall of the Stone City" (aka Chronicle in Stone) (Albanian: Darka e Gabuar) - 1971

And the same with stone, there are so many books with the word stone, so I chose one from another country whose authors are not that widely published abroad: the Netherlands.

Dorrestein, Renate "A Heart of Stone" (Dutch: Een hart van steen) - 1998

Which leads us to the last book this month. We have to get to the heart. And where do we hear the heartbeats? In Burma or Myanmar as it is also called.

Sendker, Jan-Philipp "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" (German: Das Herzenhören) - 2002

Do the first and the last book have anything in common? Probably not. Though the word "art" appears in the last book and the first one is about artists. So, there you go.

Look for further monthly separation posts here.

Book Quotes of the Week

    
Word cloud made with WordItOut

"Books do not age as you and I do. They will still speak when we are gone, to generations we will never see. Yes, the books must survive." Corrie Ten Boom, The Rabbi of Haarlem in The Hiding Place

Isn't that fantastic? A book can be hundreds of years old and still as new to us as if it had been written yesterday.

"Books aren't like broccoli. You don't have to eat it because it's good for you. Books drag you in because they are fascinating." Jackie French

Nevertheless, books are good for you and, at times, we can devour them.

"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope." Dr. Seuss

He might be true there, yet, I prefer to look from the right end of the telescope. Still, I know many agree and love and need fantasy, so it's good that it's there for us. I remember when Harry Potter came out and even the kids who never wanted to read started reading, especially the boys.

Find more book quotes here. 

Orth, Stephan "Couchsurfing in China"

Orth, Stephan "Couchsurfing in China: Encounters and Escapades Beyond the Great Wall" aka "High Tech and Hot Pot: Revealing Encounters Inside the Real China" (German: Couchsurfing in China. Durch die Wohnzimmer der neuen Supermacht) - 2019

I already got to know Stephan Orth with his book about Russia (Couchsurfing in Russia: Friendships and Misadventures Behind Putin’s Curtain/Couchsurfing in Russland. Wie ich fast zum Putin-Versteher wurde = Couchsurfing in Russia: How I almost started to understand Putin). When I came across this edition about China, I couldn't resist, I just had to read it.

And again we can take a little glimpse into the life of normal people in China. Although, most hosts are probably not completely represenative, after all, they are very social and offer total strangers a roof over their head and a bed to sleep in, guide them through their city and talk about their lives, the average citizen probably doesn't do that in any country.

Nevertheless, or perhaps because of it, Stephan Orth's books are very interesting. I've read about giant cities that are bigger than the largest European cities that you had never heard of before. But his reports from his hosts are also totally exciting and make you want to go on such a trip yourself.

Another great book. On the one hand, I will see that I will soon read "Couchsurfing in Iran" and for the second time I am curious to see where our globetrotter will take us the next time.

From the back cover:

"An award-winning writer reveals a changing China - one conversation and adventure at a time.

When Stephan Orth lands in China, he knows it’s his last visit, having lied about his job as a journalist to get into the country. So, he makes the most of it, couch-surfing with locals instead of hitting the nearest hotel. Starting in Macau - a former Portuguese colony and now gambler’s paradise - Orth takes on the world’s biggest casino. Next, he visits Shenzen, where more than 200 million sidewalk cameras monitor citizens who win and lose points on Sesame Credit, an app that sends data to Alibaba - and to the government. As his adventure continues, Orth encounters a bewildering mix of new tech and old traditions. Over a steaming bowl of hot pot, he learns ancient chopstick etiquette from a policewoman who later demos the facial recognition app she could use to detain him. He eats dog meat as a guest of honor one day - and finds himself censored on live TV the next. He even seriously considers joining an outlawed sect. Self-deprecatingly funny, compassionate, and observant, High Tech and Hot Pot is a formidable addition to a well-loved series, and offers a timely travelogue of an enigmatic country poised to become the world’s next superpower."

Spell the Month in Books ~ September

 

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.

This month, I was lucky again to find some books with just one title. Hurrah!

S
Chabon, Michael "Summerland" - 2002

This is fantasy mixed with a little sports and adventure. A youth novel but interesting for adults, as well.

E
Austen, Jane "Emma" - 1816

Not necessarily the most famous of Austen's novels. However, there is something likeable in Emma, Jane Austen's only heroine without money problems which makes it different to her other books.

P
Rutherfurd, Edward "Paris" - 2013

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

T
Dash, Mike "Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused" - 2000

This book gives a lot of extra information about the craze about Tulips in the 17^th century and almost reads like a crime story.

E
Glover, Douglas "Elle" - 2003

This award winning novel is based on a true story or legend, not a favourite among our book club members but interesting.

M
Eliot, George "Middlemarch" - 1871-72

A wonderful book, a must for anyone who loves classic novels. "Middlemarch" is more difficult than, let's say, a Jane Austen novel but it is definitely worth reading.

B
Mann, Thomas "Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family" (German: Buddenbrooks) - 1901

I have read "Buddenbrooks" a couple of times and think this is one of the best books of German literature. A great family saga.

E
George, Margaret "Elizabeth I" - 2011

The story of Elizabeth I. 680 pages of it. Told by herself and her cousin Lettice, the granddaughter of her mother's sister. So we can see various sides of the Virgin Queen's life.

R
Munro, Alice "Runaway" - 2004

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

Happy September!

 Happy September to all my friends and readers

New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Hanka Koebsch

"Unter der Sonne Afrikas"
"Under Africa's Sun"

Normally, Hanka and Frank surprise us with a picture from their home area, the Baltic Sea. But this time we can travel with them halfway around the world, to Africa's savanna. And Hanka painted my favourite animal, an elephant. And what a wonderful picture it is. Just beautiful.

* * *

The Low German name for September is "Harwstmaond", the English translation is "Autumn Moon" (or "Fall Moon", as the Americans say). The High German word for autumn is Herbst, so you can see where that word went. And that's a good word for this month as it is the beginning of autumn, at least in our Northern Hemisphere. And autumn is my favourite season.

* * *

So, my favourite animal, my favourite season, and my birthday month. Could it get better? Yes, indeed, it could and it can. Last month, our youngest son found a new apartment in Brussels and in order for him to move in, he needs some of his stuff. So, he came round in August and we could see him for the third time in two years. And this month he will come again with his brother, picking up some furniture. We will then have seen them for the third and fourth time in two years.

 Let's all hope, Covid will allow us more get-togethers in future. If you haven't been vaccinated and have the chance, please, do so, you're making it harder for all of us to get back to a normal life if you don't.

* * *

As I mentioned last month, schools have started or will start again. The holidays were not the same as usual, it wasn't very full anywhere, even though most people did not go on a long and faraway trip. Everyone is still very cautious.

* * *

This month is very important for us Germans. Every four years, we have elections to the federal parliament (Bundestag). It is going to be quite hard this year as many parties have used the Covid pandemic as a basis for their campaigns. We all hope that things will get better after the elections but I doubt it.

The biggest problem will be: who will be the new chancellor? Angela Merkel has been IT since 2005 and nobody knows who would be good enough to replace her. But she is definitely retiring. She doesn't belong to a party I would ever vote for but she has my respect. She knew how to get people to do something and I am sure we would have had a lot more problems during the pandemic than we have had if it hadn't been for her.

So, wish us luck that we get a good new chancellor and a good new party (or parties) to govern our country.

* * *

Weather lore (or farmers' rule) for September

Am feinen Septemberregen ist dem Bauer gelegen.
The farmer cares about the fine September rain.

Maria Geburt fliegen die Schwalben fort.
Marymas (Nativity of Mary) the swallows fly away. (= 8^th of September)

* * *

Which reminds me of another "Mas" day, Michaelmas (29^thSeptember). It was traditionally a popular legal date to pay rent, lease or interest and to hire new servants (same as Candlemas on 2^nd of February).
And farmers believed that when they opened gall apples on Michaelmas, their content predicted the fertility of the coming year.

To this day, it's tradition to bake Michaelibrot (St. Michael's bread) from freshly ground cereal grains.

St. Michael is supposed to be the highest of the archangels and hence the greatest of all the angels.

* * *

Since the early 1990s we celebrate Open Monument Day as part of the European Heritage Days. A lot of monuments that are usually not open to the public, are free to be visited. Always a nice way to see something you don't get to visit otherwise.

This year's motto is "Existence and appearance - in history, architecture and monument preservation". (Sein und Schein - in Geschichte, Architektur und Denkmalpflege)

I wish you all a wonderful "autumn month" with many great books to read.

* * *

Have a happy September with this beautiful watercolour painting by Hanka Koebsch.


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.