I am touring the Vienna Habsburg Schönbrunn castle and it has changed my brain for what I am going to picture when a book says a Dovecote/ aviary.
Adding some new countries to #ReadTheWorld2025 in July and August: #NewZealand, #Finland, #Peru, #Pakistan, #SriLanka, #Hungary and #Sweden.
I now have covered 26 countries!
For some reason, this is my 2nd book in a row that features twins, but they're v. different books. This one is set (probably) in #Hungary, near an unspecified border during WWII (again, probably), with twins that harden themselves to survive all the hardships they may encounter. None of the characters are likeable. Warning for cruelty, abuse (including sexual), murder - all the wartime horrors and more. Thankfully short & sparsely-written. ⬇
so-so#BookerLonglist #3
I really liked Szalay‘s other books but I can‘t make much of this one.
István doesn‘t live his life, it just happens to him. He doesn‘t make choices or decisions. He just says okay to everything that is decided for him. There‘s just one time he does takes action, and it changes the course of his life. Yet it doesn‘t have any real impact on him or on me as a reader. So. Not very impressed.
And can someone explain the title?
My husband and I have made it to Budapest on our trek through Eastern Europe. I‘ve tried to pick up a book in each country (but I missed out in Bulgaria and Croatia—not enough time to track down bookstores in the towns where we were that sell English editions). Anyway, I couldn‘t decide between a nonfiction and a fiction for Hungary —so I got them both. 😀 My carry-on is bursting at the seams now. Good thing we‘re heading home this weekend! 😬
pick5-/5 ⭐️
Un romanzo struggente in cui non si capisce cosa sia realtà e cosa immaginazione
Una lettura che ti trasporta e ti lascia senza fiato
