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This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Bere Nike rated it liked it Nov 13, Robert Gerling rated it liked it Nov 19, Medusa by Hammond Innes Der Pirat Napoleons by Wolfram zu Mondfeld Erfolg by Lion Feuchtwanger Die Aula by Hermann Kant Don Gesualdo by Giovanni Varga. Now this looks interesting This is for spontaneous acquisitions, bought just because they caught my eye.
The prince and the pilgrim by Mary Stewart 4. Biikebrennen by Hannes Nygaard 5. A year in Provence by Peter Mayle 6. Der Spion des Dogen by Stefan Maiwald 7. The vanquished by Robert Gerwarth Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell Georg by Siegfried Kracauer Reigen des Todes by Gerhard Loibelsberger Husaren der See by Ole Groothus War in Europe by Lauro Martines Wolves eat dogs by Martin Cruz Smith.
Die Ballade vom Fetzer by Tilman Röhrig
Since I'm going on vacation next week, this seemed like a good time to set up the new thread for the second half of the year. Have a great time on your vacation! Looking forward to seeing what new challenge you'll do to replace the Bingo card now that you've finished: Happy new thread and congratulations on completing your Bingo Card. I have been working on the PopSugar Challenge this year and have found it to fit in well with my regular reading, there will just be a couple of topics that I will have to hunt for a book to fit.
If you are going to do the PopSugar Challenge, there is a thread in the 75 Group set up for some of the various challenges to give us some book ideas and some motivation. You can check it out at http: Thanks for the link, Judy. I'll check it out. Something else I have finally tackled The Colosseum which I bought a few years back. A very useful introduction to the history of the building.
It has stung a young woman and is watching while the doctors fail to find out that she is suffering from malaria. There is a bit of history too, as the insect tells how the cycle of transmission was discovered. It is a short book and won several prizes when it was published but I didn't really see why. The observations about the diagnostic shortcomings felt horribly true.
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Together with the even shorter story Das Fest zu Kenelworth it covers three stages in his career: In the first part we meet Christopher Marlowe and Henry Greene, and Will is not named until the final pages, it is more about the state of poetry and theatre in general. The second also shows him at some sort of turning point in his writing, as far as it could be put in chronological order at the time we're talking here.
Tieck is famous for popularising Shakespeare in Germany, and this is pure hero worship. Very wordy too, and hard to swallow nowadays. It also happens that Lila, although it is a name here of course, is the German word for purple, and there was little else in my TBR that fit for this CAT. Turns out this is a wonderful book and and a great writer. I had a little trouble first putting this in time and place, but the tale sucks you in gently.
It reminded me of a novel by Pearl S Buck which I read ages ago, also set in such rural isolation, where the inner life of the main character was also the main attraction of the book. Herd instinct Jacques Offenbach und das Paris seiner Zeit was mentioned recently in an article about Siegfried Kracauer, and as I was reading a book set in Paris I was instantly interested. Well, I'm signing off for my vacation. I'll be offline for two weeks.
Au revoir en juillet! While I enjoyed Lila my favorite is Home , with Gilead in very close second place. We had lovely weather, lots of fun, did much sightseeing and little reading. Now I'm trying to catch up with LT Catching up sometimes seems to take longer than being away in the first place!
I think I'm up-to-date with threads now, and I have entered all the books I bought museum shops are such a dangerous invention. I still need to sort the photos and select the best. Something else Well, I didn't expect to read a lot while travelling, and I guessed right. Just an ebook from my Kobo: A house of pomegranates by Oscar Wilde, which contains four of his fairy tales. They are quite sad, but written in luscious style. But I also borrowed two from my sister! The plot is less important than the glimpses we get at life in Paris as seen through the eyes of the gardienne of an 18th century mansion.
Not remarkable, but written much better than other offerings in this genre. It features a prominent rock formation off the Normandy coast at Etretat, which is where and why I bought it. It is a mystery with a twist and I am tempted to seek out the books. Ah yes, those acquisitions. I have decided to give myself dispensation, because it was a holiday, and not to count them. Most of them were non-fiction booklets about Normandy history, but I also spontaneously acquired a few novels just on the strength of the blurb, such as: Durch Nacht und Wind. German poets Goethe and Schiller solve a murder in Weimar, related by Schiller.
- Silence (The Word of God Encyclopedia Book 7).
- in münchen - Das Stadtmagazin, Ausgabe 19/ by InMagazin Verlags GmbH - Issuu.
- THE PSYCHICS PREDICTIONS!
The audioversion lacks the fun of seeing the old-fashioned spelling the author employs. I also found the voice of the narrator a little grating, he spoke too fast and put too much excitement into his sentences. Otherwise, quite fun, especially the episode where they borrow a balloon from the Montgolfiers without permission. I would have liked to see some consequences, though, the author just breezed over it. I belatedly realised I could use this for the Popsugar challenge: Herd instinct I went to the mall on Saturday and browsed in the bookstore and walked home with two new books: But I didn't buy at least five others, though sorely tempted, so I'm rather pleased with myself.
I'm not sure how many more books I will manage this month, festival season has started and we're going to four concerts this week. The venue is a bit superannuated Coming out of a bookstore with 2 books rather than the 6 or seven that you wanted to buy is indeed a good reason for a pat on the back!
I know you kindred spirits would appreciate the willpower required. I agree with Judy! That is amazing willpower on your part to leave books behind: I had to be very stern and remind myself that I used up my book-buying budget for July. Mein kleiner Hund Mister und die Katze im Haus is about a man and his conversations with his dog, sometimes a bit odd. The other is Ahoi, Kater Nelson! Well done on your restraint at the bookstore - I recently displayed something similar, but that was due to NOT checking any luggage and having to fit my purchases in my carry-on.
Something different On the long drive to Dalheim made longer by snarled-up holiday traffic we listened to a very funny audiobook: He did this very well, the whole concept of a talking cangaroo moving in with a Berlin comedian would not have worked half as well in print. We reached Kloster Dalheim in time for the play: Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing reworked as a summer musical for two actors and two musicians, which was amazing fun.
I missed their version of a Midsummer Night's Dream last year, and I do hope they will repeat this some time. Dalheim is a former monastery, refurbished as a museum, where they have a small culture festival in the summer. My sister lives close by, which is how we got wind of it. And I finished the evening with another children's book: Money is tight, so she and her brother Luis decide to earn some holiday money walking the neighbour's dog. Very nice illustrations, too. And now I'm back in Kiel, hoping to catch up with my category reading. RandomCAT Altes Land features two women, Vera who belongs to the generation of my mother, and her niece Anne, who could have been my daughter.
Vera has inherited an old farm house in the fruit growing region south of Hamburg known as "Altes Land" where she has lived since she arrived with a refugee treck from East Prussia. Her niece moves in with her on separating from her partner, trying to get a grip on her life. Their lives are told in short episodes, things from the past crop up, and they finally come to some sort of arrangement.
This was a surprise hit in Germany a few years ago, and I can see why. There are some snarky swipes at well-heeled Hamburgers invading the countryside, buying up old farms and playing at countrylife. The author shows little patience with this kind of worldview. Her description of farmers' lives and how they have changed rings true. Something different Schwarze Flagge Rote Segel was a run-of-the-mill naval yarn set in the Caribbean, with a young Royal Navy Lieutenant fighting pirates, spies and smugglers working for the American Revolutionaries in , which adds nothing new to the genre, even if it was written by a German.
Herd instinct I have almost reached my goal of books, so I thought I could allow myself an acquisition, namely the second Sam Wyndham novel A necessary evil. Unfortunately, I also stepped into the charity shop and found a few others. But what else can you do in this heat but sit and read? Congratulations on reaching your reading goal - and I agree with you about reading is about all one can do in the heat! I fully endorse sitting and reading as the only way to deal with the heat.
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It feels like an eternity since we've had proper rain. Nicolas Guerlain, bodyguard to a French minister, makes a bad mistake and is sent off to Deauville, to liaise with local police for the upcoming G8 summit set to take place there. Immediately on his arrival, he finds a human hand on the beach Unlike many mysteries set in favourite holiday destinations, this was actually well written and shows lots of local knowledge the author is half French and has an unusual protagonist and plot.
The subplot, a revenge for something that took place in , was a bit too much, though, sort of gilding the lily. And the backstory about Nicolas' vanished girlfriend ended on a cliffhanger, so I've got to read the next book, too. But it's not unusual enough to keep or re-read, so off to a new home it goes. And we have had rain, at last! A heavy thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, with some very heavy showers in some regions. It cooled down enough to get a proper night's sleep. Lots of the action is set on land, and some of it could have easily been excised, such as a French sailor's trek back to his Acadian family.
I suppose he put it in to give names and destinies to the losers of the American Revolution. It is amazing how little he changes over the years, he's already 45 years old in this, big and happily married. I was surprised to learn that June is a month where the entire nation is on holidays, today the season starts on July And some modern forensics is supplied by a young man who attempts to decipher letters burnt in the chimney.
Saved from shredding I was waiting at the bus stop with a few minutes to spare, and to escape the heat I entered the charity bookshop with predictable results: I found The woman in black and Marina. It's high time this weather changes! My July reading has been thrown out of whack by the vacation, and we still have tow weekends planned with concerts, so August may be similarly difficult for some of the CATs.
But at least I enjoyed most of what I read, and the best of the lot was definitely Altes Land. August starts off badly as regards acquisitions. Reigen des Todes caught my eye because of the striking cover, it shows a detail of Klimt's Beethovenfries. And I found those intriguing historical fiction books about twin brothers ending up in opposite navies Money in the title Sitting on the balcony late at night in the dark to cool off means I have to read books on my Kobo.
Monsieur Favoral is arrested for fraud and his family fret what is to become of them. Interesting look at financial speculation, the instruments may have changed, people's greed has not. The most remarkable thing about the book, however, is that it makes an interesting companion read to my lunchtime book, Mademoiselle de Maupin. It covers similar ground, namely the preoccupations and narcissism of a young aestete with too much money to spend. There are passages that strongly reminded me of Gautier's book with its endless descriptions of flowers, clothes and jewelries, and there is sexual ambiguity in both.
I think Ackroyd dismisses this influence too easily in his introduction, especially as Gautier is quoted twice. Wilde is a much better writer, though, and I came across quite a few well-known quotes. It felt twice as long as that, because of the Chevalier d'Albert's extremely wordy letters, endless descriptions of his fantasies. Most of them insufferably conceited, narcissist, self-absorbed and somehow puerile, as if he were still in puberty. There were times when I wondered why I stuck with this. I was rewarded with a surprise ending from a very unusual heroine.
We heard a great concert, though, so it was worth the wet umbrellas. And my sister brought some books she highly recommended. Turns out that Qualityland has just been awarded the German Science Fiction Prize, so that's an added incentive. All I need now is a knitting project to occupy my hands while I listen. Man lernt nie aus, Frau Freitag Which is not an easy endeavour if you have to learn how to drive on Berlin streets. Hilarious, and at the end she still hasn't decided whether to buy a car or not. Public transport is so much more comfortable for getting around in a city, and much less stressful.
It is set in the near future, Germany has been re-branded as QualityLand and everything we fear about the internet giants, social media and politics has come true: TheShop knows what you want before you know it and drops it off by drone without orders, people get rated into one of levels and your rating decides what services are offered to you, an android is running for president etc. Basically, it is the present just a little exaggerated, and whenever you laugh it is a hollow laugh because you can easily see it coming true. It has just been awarded the German Science Fiction Prize, and it is well deserved.
And this is the th book I've read this year.
Another goal achieved, yay. Herd instinct I was looking for something the other day and found a newspaper cutting with a review for Venedig, Wien und die Osmanen. Ten years old, so I figured there could be used copies available. Yep, found one in mint condition. If only I can find the time to read it soon! The latest medical fad is drinking whey, which he duly does. He is accompanied by his niece and her maid, they explore the countryside, make excursions into the mountains and meet new people. At the end of the book the maid is married and the niece engaged.
Apparently it was a beststeller in when it was first published, and it is refreshingly realistic and un-Gothic. The first part consists entirely of letters written by the Colonel to his friends back home, and he often reminded me of the old men in Fontane's novels. A very gruesome death, much political intrigue. The sleuthing ended rather abruptly, Le Floch says he needs one more week to make his case, and in the next chapter we're a fortnight later and he reports to his boss all that he found out, summarising what went on before.
But this is a minor quibble. A very enjoyable book. Group reads I have finished Boule de suif et autres nouvelles , a collection of stories by Guy de Maupassant. This was my first encounter with Maupassant and I'm glad we didn't read him in school. I'm sure I would have hated the title novella back then, and some of the stories are very hard to take. They all share a rather bleak, pessimist outlook on life. I was intrigued enough by Gautier's Mademoiselle Maupin to look a book on the real person and I found one. A very obscure title by some French gentleman written in , so no touchstone yet: La Maupin — Sa vie, ses duels, ses aventures.
Given the dearth of primary sources, it contains much speculation. Herd instinct I saw this reviewed in the Economist and couldn't resist the impulse to buy: Pretty much like today, actually. I had only vague memories of Anthony Hopkins treading sedately through a country house without the slightest awareness of other people's emotions. I was surprised to find this written as a first person narrative. Who exactly is this monologue addressed to? When and where does Stevens write it down? And the stilted prose requires concentration, this was not a quick read. The inflationary use of "one" made him sound like a caricature aping his betters.
Not to mention the soul-crushing suppression of all emotion, this was not an easy read. So much is left unspoken and vague. A book I need to re-read at some time. The words conjure up images of trench warfare in Flanders and Picardy, but these hail from the opposite end of the continent, written by an Austrian, and they centre on the battlefields of the Isonzo and Russia.
They have different protagonists, most of them middle-aged officers or invalids, but what they share is the furious, feverish rage in which they denounce the politicians and generals praising the war, and the women who let their men march off without protest. His descriptions of shell-shocked veterans are some of the most vivid and yet clinical I've ever read. Not an ideal book for lunch, as the subject matter is bound to spoil your appetite.
Luckily it was a quick read: Goethe and Schiller pay a visit to Goethe's mother in Frankfurt and get roped in to investigate the death of two city councillors. The French are bleeding the city dry with contributions, and the two poets foil an attempt at grain racketeering. Some nice local colour, but I found the relationship between the two men not entirely convincing. A little pedestrian, but enjoyable nonetheless. This is set in Vienna and should not be read on an empty stomach: Inspector Nechyba likes his food, and there's lots of delicious Viennese meals, not to mention the coffee in the coffee-houses.
The pace of the mystery is leisurely, there's lots of other events going on, among them the 60th anniversary of Franz Josef's reign. Great local colour, and I'll be on the lookout for the other books in the series. So, time for the August roundup. Lots of different books, and the best were the least comfortable: All of them very powerful writers. Saved from shredding The new month started off badly, acquisition-wise. The Hugendubel branch in one of our malls had a very different selection of books in their remainders bin than my usual branch, so I got carried away and brought home six new books, four of them published by Aufbau the former GDR's flagship publisher.
If only they sold the time to read them! Glad to hear you found some interesting titles. Most of them are of the "I always wanted to read this" variety which means they will probably spend some time on the shelf. Luftschiff by Stefan aus dem Siepen, who was born in Essen where I lived in my youth for two years. I'm not sure how to classify this: The journey should last only three days, but somehow the ship veers off-course and they continue flying He's quite content to spend his days doing nothing, in this strange kind of limbo. As a reader I wonder how they manage to feed the passengers over such a long time when space is at a premium and they must strictly minimise weight.
Weird, but in a good way. If you ever find a way to buy this, let me know! A bit too short, the characters didn't have time to come into their own. I spent half of Sunday browsing our monthly fleamarket and came away with two very big books: And it is increasingly difficult to keep the political players straight. Something different Spent my lunchtime reading a short novella by Gina Kaus: It was her first published work and won a prestigious award.
This is a very strange subject for a young woman: He is a very unsympathetic person, vain, arrogant, greedy. I can't help wondering if he is based on other famous social climbers. Time to read Bel-Ami? The blow-by-blow accounts of the fistfights were tedious, and the clunky German translation doesn't help. Silver Rock by Luke Short.
I was surprised to find this takes place shortly after the First World War, the main character is a veteran. Otherwise, a typical western story about an outsider trying to set up a mine and overcoming local vested interests. Just with cars and telephones tacked on. Saved from shredding It was raining, so I stepped into the charity bookstore and came away with two books. If the rainy weather continues, I may even get around to reading them. One of my guilty pleasures, a late 19th century romance set among the Austrian aristocracy in Bohemia.
I do remember the movie, one of the seminal examples of noir, and it is much better than the book. Compared to other books in the genre it is almost tame, and there are far too many exclamation marks. Herd instinct Two new books: Here's hoping I get around to it soon. It's very short, hence very condensed, but it provided some of the information I miss in Heinrich Mann's book. Gallo quotes extensively from the papers of Sully and Henri, I assume, he fails to list his sources.
However, despite this failing it is a very readable account. The most interesting part was the first, which is told from the perspective of his murderer, Ravaillac, probably taken from his interrogation transcripts. Now back to Mann's version Childhood memories, so to speak, she was the illustrator of our Grimm's fairy tale book, and she has worked on other fairy tale collections. These are aimed at young readers, so the tales selected here are of the non-erotic kind. Some are well-known, like Sindbad, Ali Baba and the 40 thieves and Aladdin, others less so. The author does a very good job of adapting them to his readership, making the language modern but not too modern, and without dumbing down the convoluted sentences.
Very enjoyable for adults, too. Something different I also finished a short book by Julius Stinde, Martinhagen , a slightly moral tale about a young governess taking up her first job on a farmstead in Schleswig-Holstein. She's a spoiled little thing choosing her profession because it is fashionable, and she has to learn a few lessons herself. September RandomCAT By accident I came across Rudolfs Blaumanis who shares my birthday not year and because I have, to my knowledge, never read something from Latvia before, I downloaded one of his novellas.
It is set on one of the huge Baltic estates with lots of personnel and rigid hierarchies. The main characters are Christine, a maid, who is in love with Edgar the groom. Her mother strongly opposes him because he is a drunkard and she herself had a miserable life with Christine's father who also drank. This is a fascinating glimpse into a vanished world.
However, there are so many people running around on this estate that I wasn't always able to identify them, which could be sloppy writing or sloppy translating — the ebook was produced from a translation made in the GDR in According to Wikipedia, Blaumanis wrote first in German, later in Latvian, but did his own translation into German. I'm intrigued enough to go hunting for more.
Vicki Baum was a very popular author in the first half of the 20th century, and this was her last book, as far as I can find out. It was published two years before her death. The theme here is art, in the form of ballet dancing, and how to combine it with married life. And there's a lot about being at home anywhere and nowhere. The main character is at the high point of her career and has gone from Vienna all over the world with her various companies. The countries and the audiences vary, but the closed world of ballet is the same everywhere.
Intriguingly, I have been unable to find out if she wrote this in German or English, no cataloguing record names a translator for either version. I think she wrote both versions, but it would be fascinating to know how she did this: Her German struck me as a little rusty, and the flavour is still Austrian, although she spent much time in Germany. But she left for America when Hollywood called after the success of Menschen im Hotel , just in time before the Nazis seized power.
Her autobiography will be re-issued next month, and I think I'll pick it up. This is a volume of potted biographies of the queens of the Valois kings, starting with Anne de Bretagne. She also figures on the cover wearing a spectacular gown of gold cloth, which is why I'm counting this for the ColourCAT.
The next volume is already ligned up which will concentrate on the Wars of religion and Catherine's rule, and Henri IV will show up there. However, this book focuses on the queens, and the author handles her subject deftly. She concentrates on the queens and a few members of the family, and the main events shaping the lives of these women. Usually it is difficult to tell these people apart, since they all share a handful of names, but she gives them individuality, which is no mean feat. She explicitly says that her book is not aimed at historians, but lay readers, so no footnotes. I think this is a pity.
You can always ignore them while reading, but I believe many readers would have liked to know whom she quotes. MysteryCAT Another short one was Point Blank by Richard Stark, and although it doesn't feature a private eye, mysteries don't come much more hardboiled than this. Very high body count, well written, and it would have been a five star read if it had not been for the starting point. I found Lynn's betrayal of her husband entirely unconvincing.
All the women in this book get a raw deal which is par for the course at the time, but still annoying. I prefer the movie. Ormond is the story of a young orphan who spends time in two very different households, and we follow his progress from a wild, untamed youth to a serious young husband. A bit moral and edifying, set in the middle of the 18th century in Ireland and Paris, a time she did not know from her own experience, having been born in Herd instinct I succumbed to the lure of new books again, because Henri IV: Machtmensch und Libertin caught my eye and fits perfectly with my read of Heinrich Mann's voluminous book about him.
I can't wait to start on The empire of ashes , the final book in Anthony Ryan's dragon trilogy but have told myself to do some serious reading first. And I learned that the city of Vienna awards a prize named for Leo Perutz , an author I admire very much, so I went to look which books have won this prize so far, and Der zweite Reiter was the one that jumped out at me. This was rather short at pages and basically compiled from recent at the time of writing, which was French biographies.
There are no new stunning revelations, and I'm still on the fence whether to keep this or not. There are some ridiculous spelling mistakes and a rather convoluted style, at times it was difficult to work out to whom he refers. He chose to start his book with Henri's assassination, just like Max Gallo, which I found a curious coincidence. I gave the book to my sister for her library. Should I ever feel the urge to re-read, I know where to find it. But we had fun going to the autumn market at the local farmhouse museum, and a fleamarket, and generally spending time together.
The weather was almost perfect, too, crisp, but no rain on Sunday and Monday for our outdoor activities. And she brought books which I need to return soon Something different Eduard von Keyserling died one hundred years ago, so I picked one of this novellas for a quick read: His descriptions of gardens and nature are incredibly atmospheric, you can smell the flowers. Sounds like a lovely weekend. My husband and I took a drive yesterday to check out the fall colors, we drove up the Fraser Valley from Vancouver on one side of the river and came back down on the other.
We stopped for a short walk and enjoyed scuffing along through the fallen leaves. Sounds like you and your sister took full advantage of the offerings at hand. Hi, Judy and Lori! Thanks, we had a wonderful time indeed. The leaves haven't really turned colour yet, but the hazelnuts and beechnuts are falling and from my office window I can see squirrels chasing after them Something different My sister gave me Mein wundervoller Garten where a Berlin woman moves to the outskirts and has to take care of a garden for the first time.
She is much more interested in the wildlife passing through, especially the birds. Enjoyable, but not going to leave a lasting impression. Herd instinct I ran afoul of a used book store again and came away with The son , which was favourably reviewed a while back, and Der stumme Tod. I missed the latest TV event, Babylon Berlin, because of my sister's visit and decided I could just as well read the books on which it is based.
Now I need to find the first in the series It is a non-fiction history book about Italy in the Middle Ages and I found it less than satisfactory. Lots of typos, one embarrassing mistake where she confuses konzertant and konzertiert , and she relies far too much on people being familiar with the times and the people. Time to pass it on. It's the Cold War, MI6 has seen a major reshuffle after some disastrous event, and Charlie Muffin finds himself relegated to the lower ranks despite having brought down a major Soviet spy ring.
And now an even bigger fish looms: Cue rivalries between the Brits and the US, inflated egos, backstabbings, secret meetings in Eastern Europe, and a very clever man playing two ends against the middle.
Follow the Author
Herd instinct We're running out of superlatives for the weather we're having. Last Saturday I walked around Hamburg in a shortsleeved t-shirt, browsing for books, and spent Sunday more or less all day on the balcony in the sun. The temperatures have finally dropped, but it's still sunny and pleasant outside. Anyway, I forgot to mention that a few books came home with me last weekend: I was surprised how easy it is to read.
And today I acquired a pristine copy of Empire: How Britain made the modern world on my bookmooching site. So now I'll go and read. But I can't see myself re-reading this, so I'll try to find a new home for it. I found the writing very stilted. But the description of the marsh landscape was very atmospheric, I was instantly reminded of Rosemary Sutcliff and the Romney Marsh. I remember The Woman in Black as quite a good ghost story, it's hard to find one that doesn't go too far over the top and become silly.
Great atmosphere as you said. I wondered a little about the time this takes place, there's obviously electricity on the island, but how did they manage it for a single house on a remote island?