I thought The Paper Palace is about a woman in her 50s who is at a point in her life where she feels she has to choose between her husband and her childhood sweetheart/best friend/ the love of her life. Mind you, they have been friends for many years, so why now? But ok… It isn‘t. The themes are incest, sexual abuse, rape of children. I wish I had known this before I started reading the book. I‘m confused and disgusted. Not for me

Told through thoughts and the inner lives of the characters, the story - if there really is one in the traditional sense - moves slowly, but the writing is wonderful and gripping. Quite a unique book, especially after we‘ve by now all experienced cabin fever during various lockdowns - the claustrophobic feelings, the boredom are relatable. It‘s not been raining here, but snowing all afternoon …

Fallada turned real life events into fiction. Alone in Berlin is based on the true story of a working class couple in their 40s who wrote postcards against the Nazi-regime and distributed them anonymously all over the city for two years. Raw, brutal, tough, crude. Fallada switches perspectives masterfully from one character to another from thoughts to dialogues. An important but difficult book, not for everyone

The Covid setting is depressing. But. It‘s a good thriller, didn‘t guess the twists. Highly recommend!

It is a pick, but just barely. I liked it, didn‘t love it and there is a lot to love about this book: the writing, the wit. However, the story progressed too slowly for me and the humour seemed a bit forced at times. I wish he had developed the character of Catherine Goggin more. I LOVED her and the first pages of the book. But fair enough - that‘s not the story Boyne wanted to tell.

Long-distance runner Edison Eskeets honored the Diné‘s forced march in 1864, named the Long Walk, by running from Arizona to New Mexico, retracing their steps.Jim Kristofic accompanied Eskeets and wrote this book.It documents the run, and remembers the history of Spanish colonization, cruelty, genocide, enslavement.I didn‘t like the writing style and wish Eskeets had written it himself giving insight into his inner world during the run.

This book was not for me. It is too slow and meanders into nothing.

Poems written in a variety of styles - song, verse, or prose- by poets from different parts of the country and different nations. Topics range from colonialism, decolonization, nature, tradition, to genocide. Impressive collection of voices I had never heard before.

Trevino L. Brings Plenty

Trevino L. Brings Plenty

“To simply pass it on, to share what I have found and seen.” Stephen Drew walked the Camino for over 700 km in Spain all the way to Santiago de Compostela. He walks with the reader, people he meets and loved ones he has lost. He recalls painful memories and describes the beauty of the Camino and its history. A love song to nature, kindness and the act of walking. A spiritual, uplifting, compassionate, deep and gentle book.

Its lyrical language and writing is why I give this book a so-so and not a worse rating. The storyline was difficult for me to follow. I lost interest in the characters and place. Hung in there to the end only to see if it got any better but no, not for me.

Halloween-Horror. Women directors. This is not a review about the tagged book, but movie written and directed by Jennifer Kent. If you get through the horrors depicted in the film (trigger warnings: rape, infanticide, genocide), it becomes so much more than a story about pure evil we human beings are capable of. I wish some metaphors would have been explored more, nevertheless an intriguing, haunting horror film.

(Not yet translated into English.) The 34 year old narrator has lived in Germany since he was 8- his family had immigrated from the Ukraine. To obtain German citizenship he needs to navigate first German and then Ukrainian bureaucracy when he travels to Kiev for documents, but his journey ends up being much more than a Formalie (formality). Major themes in the book are identity, nationality, family. Witty, moving, powerfully eloquent.

This is a hard book to rate. It is brilliant. Beautifully translated from Yiddish by Daniel Kennedy, BUT the content is hard to digest: an obsessive love affair with a revolver, the oppressive thoughts of suicide, the claustrophobic feeling of being locked into the main character's head almost suffocate the reader, are grim and unsettling. But my! What a book! First published in 1909, it is original, modern and needs to be read.

WW2 memoir by a woman whose love of literature and books transpires on every page. Owner of the only French bookstore in 1920s Berlin, Françoise Frenkel is forced to flee the city in 1939. She survives several periods hiding in France and finally manages to escape into safety - Switzerland. Without the help of people who were courageous and risked their own lives, she would not have made it. Beautifully written and translated, heartbreaking.

Ahhhhh - this book! Enjoyed it and then didn't. I'm a bit disappointed because I expected more. There was so much potential in the characters, writing and plot, but - Alas! Forced myself to finish the last pages... that's how bad it got for me.

Last lines of poem:
The sex of rivers and concrete
comes from the love making of thick
forests and springs.

I LOVE Michael Garrigan's poems. Beautiful, funny, profound.

I discovered this wonderful publishing house called homebound publications and subscribed to their literary magazine, then ordered two of their books. Michael Carrigan is a poet, Stephen Drew writes about his pilgrimage experience on the Camino de Santiago in Into thin air. Both books arrived today, wrapped in this pretty paper. 💞 https://homeboundpublications.com/

Shirley Jackson is brilliant. She lulls you in with her descriptions of small town idyll and then smacks you over the head with her brutal reality. Imagery, metaphors, dialogues - everything is brilliant. Highly recommend

Difficult to rate since it's a series of poems Martha Collins wrote to her husband after his sudden death. It's a very intimate 'exchange' of thoughts and feelings of loss, love and longing with someone who is no longer alive. Very powerful at times.

Important topic and I liked the female detective, but overall only ok for me.

I liked reading Adam Clay's poems very much.
I loved:
In bed and where is the sun?
Broken Form,
and No longer yours

A whole lot happens in the story of Egger's whole life but it is told in a quiet, calm and poetic way. Horrible things happen to Egger but he carries on and so does the reader. He is 4 when he arrives at the small mountain village in Austria in the early 1900s where he will spend most of his life alone. Solitude, nature, resilience are themes in this beautiful book. Highly recommend it.

St Michaels, MD. Michener wrote his book Chesapeake near St Michaels. On a stroll through the little town, we came across this free library ... ta-da.. books 💞

and the flock reverses its circling." (Swift)

I'm fascinated by Baker's skill and rich observation. He plays with language and style. He confronts death, extinction, divorce, nature and its destruction. Poems are arranged in 'reverse' order from most recent to earlier work.

Reads like poetry. A bit slow at times but lovely. What an achievement, considering that this is a debut. Lots of references to music. I found myself reading and listening to songs or musicians mentioned in the book. Definitely recommend!

Hmmm. Good premise, good writing, but the twist ... you can figure out most of it very early on.

First bookstore visit in over a year with my family. I didn't buy anything - too many unread books at home, but read a few pages of The Word for Woman is Wilderness. The story sounds great, but somehow the writing didn't draw me in ...anyhow, so nice to be book browsing again :)

I give up. I bail. I tried several times, also skipping pages and skimming parts of the book but the "blunt voice that makes this memoir such a standout" is actually what I dislike. And I truly hate to admit it because it is such a remarkable book written by a remarkable woman. Sorry.

Biography of the Bavarian author Lena Christ.Born in 1881 out of wedlock she grew up in rural Bavaria with her grandparents until at age 7 her mother decided to take her back.Her life after that is tragic (sexual abuse, violence)Highly intelligent, a talented painter, singer and storyteller, she finally published her memoirs and then several other novels. She was a nun, prostitute, writer, cook, waitress and painting forger.Fascinating!

A sweet book about 4 people who meet on a train from Edinburgh to London and their love stories. Their love stories are somehow connected to the train journey. Not what I normally read, but I liked it.

3 stories that the author connects at the end. There is nothing wrong with the stories, the writing, the characters, I just couldn't connect and didnt enjoy the book much.

It felt like reading a Jewish version of True Grit set in Russia. Strong characters, unusual story. Weird but in a good way ;). I enjoyed it!

I read this book on our first short holiday since 2019. Wonderful translation from Hebrew by Jessica Cohen. Set mainly in New York in 2003, it is about a passionate love affair between a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is what stands like a wall between the lovers. I didn't like the ending, but overall ADORED this beautiful book.

Mr Wagamese writes about his journey in life to feel whole, to belong and connect.Dedicated to his son, it contains teachings for him.The book ends on a positive note, Mr Wagamese seems to have found roots and self-love, but this sounds as though it is what people need to hear, too happy and positive... - maybe my opinion is too pessimistic?I really hope he found the healing and belonging he writes about in this book and reconnected with his son.

"I am struck richer by a pure solitude that allows me to feel the world around me and lean into my place in it. I am not the rush of words in my life's narrative. I am its punctuation. Its pauses and stops. I am my ongoing recharge; in this silence I am reborn."

Beautiful book. ❤

It's between a pick and a so-so because the actual story - missing father, father-son issues - is not really resolved. The ending was rushed and odd. Still, I enjoyed reading it.

Focusing on 3 families, Michener illustrates history,1600-1970s, of the Chesapeake area.I loved the first 300 pages and then the life stories of his characters in each generation became a bit banal and repetitive.BUT M. is a fantastic storyteller, researcher. Slavery, shipbuilding, religion,geography are just some of the topics he focuses on.An accomplished writer of dialogues, settings-this is not the last Michener book I'm reading.

Adventure/wilderness/mystery
Loved adventure and wilderness in this book. Felt as if I was transported into the story paddling with them, but couldn't care less for the mystery and suspense, that didn't work for me. Overall a good writer and book, but I would have enjoyed it more if there had not been the crime bit squeezed in. Wouldn't be surprised if they turn it into a movie...

This book sounded like it would be right up my alley, but it wasn't. I couldn't connect to the story and characters. I finished it because I had read so many positive reviews and was hoping for a change, but didn't enjoy it.

Just had to share - my first bookish t-shirt and my son wanted to be in the pic too 😍

This is so much more than a recipe book. It's a trip through Tel Aviv, exploring food, culture, restaurants and introducing us to the chefs and their lives. Beautiful photos. An homage to food, people, culture, diversity and life! Wonderful!

Nature writing by women: Every poet and writer is briefly introduced and there is a sample of her writing. If you're looking for something in depth, I don't recommend it as every nature writer gets only a few pages and the reading samples are short, but highly recommend it for a reader who wants an overview of women's history through nature writing. And it's a good starting point for further exploring the authors you are interested in.

Brilliant. The writing is sublime, the storytelling and themes (women in history, their vulnerabilty, immigration, ...) and character development are fantastic. Margaret Atwood is one of the best writers of all time.

The problem with this book is that it is extremely well written but utterly boring.
Every morning the narrator gets up before dawn to drink a cup of coffee and reflect on the banal every day things that happen to him in his journal. That's it.

A small, thin book with early stories by Thomas Mann beautifully translated by Peter Constantine. Loved this quick intense read.

I loved Benjamin Hoff's short introduction/biography of Opal Whiteley. Wow! How this child's / young woman's talent, voice and brilliant mind were squelched by her environment and the time is horrific. Who knows what she could have become if she had lived today. Her diary is extraordinary, but not for me. Still, a beautiful book that should be read.

My first YA novel - historical fiction. It started out strong, but there are just too many stories that the author tried to squeeze into one book. The main character is well developed but also too stereotypical - the smart girl that wants an education so desperately ... on the other hand, the target audience is not adults, but teenagers... maybe I'm too old to appreciate this book.