I had been planning to read some short International Booker books this weekend and then this happened… so everything changes! I‘ve been anticipating this book for months.
Now I have to finish my current read quickly and cancel all my plans for the weekend!

#FebruaryStats
Not my most satisfying month.

4.25⭐️
Poor Deer
4⭐️
Point Zero
The Test
3.75⭐️
The Last Murder at the End of the World
3.5⭐️
Daddy‘s Gone A-Hunting
Liars
3.25⭐️
The Miniaturist
Deep Water
3⭐️
The Invisible Hotel
The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories
Wayward
The Book of George
2.75⭐️
Bury Your Gays
2.5⭐️
Weather Underwater
2⭐️
Gliff

DNF
Oroppa

#ReadTheWorld2025

Hi @GatheringBooks here‘s my first update on your challenge. In January and February I read 6 books set in countries and/or written by authors from all over the world. These countries are #Mexico, #Japan, #SouthKorea, #Netherlands, #FrenchPolynesia and #Chile. I hope to read at least six more in March and April!

This book is by the author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and while it‘s just such a puzzle this book is also very different. Set on an island after the apocalypse a group of scientists tries to hold on to humanity and safe the world. Until there is a murder. An entertaining read that should be turned into a movie. So much scenery and settings that I could not visualize for myself and would love to see!

📸 Beach life Tenerife!

Just one week until the #ToB starts! Here‘s a reminder to those who expressed interest in playing along in our #LitsyToB25 and haven‘t filled in the form yet. If you still want to join (you don‘t have to have read all the books!), please vote for your winners in the opening round. Also, vote for 2 zombies: https://forms.gle/jKTvVdCaRPVy16RL7

You can change this form until March 6: you‘ll get a copy in your inbox (check junkmail!)

I added all my unread books to the #ISpy overview in Storygraph. In the bingo you see the books that I own for February prompts of which I actually read just four ✅. And I did tick off some more books of my January bingo card. Anyhow, lots to read 🤦🏻‍♀️😉

Very excited about the #InternationalBooker longlist. So many I want to read! Recommendations are very welcome!

I bought this based on @Lesliereadsalot and @Chelsea.Poole review and I was right to. It‘s a very timely book about an Iranian man doing the British Citizenship Test. I can‘t say much more without spoilers. Just read it if you can. It‘s short but packs a punch!

📷La Teida, Tenerife

I am all for dystopian, even in times like these, but I‘m not even sure if this book is dystopian or post apocalyptic- in fact I didn‘t get it at all.
Two sisters, a horse, left by themselves. But why and what happened and what‘s going on?
Beautiful dialogue between the sisters but again I am clueless about the world they‘re living in. If they‘re still alive. There‘ll be a sequel but not for me.

📷 Las Lagunas, Tenerife

#WeeklyForecast 09/25

I am reading Gliff and it‘s so strange! And because I‘m on holidays and busy I have read way less than I want to and it‘s hard to get into the book.
Next will be the tagged (thanks to @Lesliereadsalot !) and the third one is a Belgian author whose work I have enjoyed before.

#WeeklyFavorites

Such a good old school Japanese whodunnit, loved it. And there was little competition since all my other reads were in the end forgettable.

That husband! He is really the worst, she must have lied to herself a lot to stick with him through all the years. Giving up her career and her freedom and it‘s never gonna be enough. I felt for Jane and for the child and I totally understand her anger.
Very well written and in parts recognizable and uncomfortable. Another light pick. #ToB25

📷 My hotel room 🤩 on Tenerife, Canary Islands

I loved Mr Ripley years ago, and I‘ve wanted to read more by Patricia Highsmith ever since.

This one reminds me of Ripley in its setting: rich ruthless people living a lazy life and hating each other.

Melinda and Vic are married but she‘s having lovers on the side all the time. It‘s a matter of time until Vic is fed up with the situation.
I wanted to know what happened but it wasn‘t such a rewarding read as Ripley. A light pick.

Quite the spontaneous idea but tomorrow I‘ll be traveling to Tenerife (one of Spain‘s Canary Islands) with a friend. She‘s in need of some sunshine and I thought why not join her?!

I haven‘t had much time to curate what books to take with me but I hope these will do for the week!

This book had been on my shelves for years and I now finally picked it up. It‘s set in Amsterdam, where I live, in the 17th century, when we sailed the oceans and colonized countries and were a very wealthy trading country. That background is interesting to me, more interesting than the plot to be honest. But all in all a fairly good read and a light pick.

I didn‘t hate this book. At all. It‘s an easy read about an Oblomow kind of guy who fails to make something of his life and just accepts that. That makes him annoying but that‘s what the author aims at I think. At least as annoying are the women who tolerate, facilitate and even justify his behaviour and deeds. A fun read with a deeper message. Just not worth to be shortlisted for the #ToB25.

📷 Groningen, Netherlands

#WeeklyForecast 08/25

I am reading George for the #ToB25. So far so good. On audio I am listening to The Miniaturist, which is set in my city. That‘s always nice. The tagged will be my next read. I‘ve been wanting to read more Highsmith ever since Mr Ripley.

A great crime story for everyone interested in Japan and Japanese culture. Written in 1958 it‘s right after WWII and Japan is dealing with a dark past. A woman marries but within a month her husband goes missing. She travels by train through the country, looking for clues. Everyone is polite, everyone is calm but oh, beneath the surface! Loved it - especially for its atmosphere!
#Roll100 #FictionalTraveler #APlaceYouLove

📷 Vondelpark, Amsterdam

Such a lovely read. After her best friend dies, little Margaret turns inwards and creates her own reality. She is a wonderful unreliable narrator, surrounded by people who have a big impact on who she becomes.

Years later she writes the story of het life, trying to stay close to the truth.
A worthy #ToB25Longlist read!

Another menopause oriented book, a subject I am not really interested in. It‘s an important subject but it mostly isn‘t that interesting to me. I didn‘t like Sandwich much either. All Fours is an exception of course!

Anyhow this one is about a woman who leaves her husband and daughter to get caught up in working out and feminism. And there is the shooting of an innocent black boy of course. And cancer. A lot of subjects. Not much told.

#WeeklyForecast 07/25

I am about to start Poor Deer of which I‘ve heard so many good things. The tagged one is a classic Japanese murder mystery. I‘ve been curious about that one!

It‘s the 1950s and Ruth has a dull and unsatisfying life. Her husband is in town during the weeks and with her sons at boarding school and her daughter in Oxford, she leads an empty and lonely life. On the verge of a breakdown her daughter comes home with a secret. This makes her reflect on her marriage and being a mother. My heart broke for Ruth.

You know I love Japan and Japanese fiction but these short stories often didn‘t work for me.
It took me a long time to read them all and although some stories and authors are super good mostly I am glad I finally finished it.

The speculative tale of Yewon, a young woman adrift, and of the relationship between the Koreas. At first it is rather realistic, with Yewon wondering about her life while driving a North Korean woman to her long lost brother in prison and while worrying about her mom, who keeps and daily washes the bones of family members. Yewon doesn‘t eat and dreams of an invisible hotel. And are the Koreas heading for peace or war?Very weird. #ToB25Longlist

The UK is sinking and to make sure the people who matter stay dry, the government takes far fetching measures against people who are not a 💯 English. In these circumstances two old friends meet again. An interesting premise, well worked out. Good choice, @TrishB!

This book gets high praise in the Netherlands but I didn‘t like it at all. A parade of northern African people travel between Amsterdam and Paris where all of them live and meet and tell stories. Because there are so many of them it all feels kind of disconnected . So after 50%, I bailed.

#WeeklyForecast 06/25

I am reading Oroppa, which is a Dutch book that has gained much praise and I had to find out what‘s it about. Next will be the tagged, gifted to me by @TrishB during #Gladstones24 which seems so long ago already! The Invisible Hotel is another #ToB25Longlist book that did appeal to me when I purchased it but @sarahbarnes review has made me temper my expectations!

Horror meets Hollywood is this #ToB25Longlist book and it was fun reading it. Towards the end it spun a bit out of control and I lost track of what was happening but over all I am always happy to read this kind of books thanks to the #ToB! And I‘ll have nightmares of that worm 😱😱

See @squirrelbrain we‘re in sync again 💕

📷 The flu 🤒

#JanuaryWrapUp

5⭐️
Playground

4.75⭐️
Intermezzo

4.5⭐️
Fire
Wounded

4.25⭐️
The Wedding People
Short War
Address Unknown

3.75⭐️
Publieke werken (Dutch)
Zorrie

3.25 ⭐️
Wolf at the Table
Moshi Moshi
No Time for Goodbye

3⭐️
The end of the Moment we Had

2.75⭐️
Random Acts of Heroic Love
The Family Experiment

1.5⭐️
The Fury

DNF
Long Island Compromise

#ToBLonglist25

I felt ancient reading this book. It‘s about coming out, about first love and first loss during freshman year. Everyone in the book is sooo gentle and good: it was all a bit too cheesy and YA for me.

📷 Zeeland, Netherlands

Percival Everett really is a must read.

Wounded is a modern western about John, a black horse trainer who lives with his uncle in Wyoming. He is tolerated but when a gay man is brutally murdered the atmosphere in town turns grimly. John cannot ignore it. In the mean time his life gets busy with guests on his farm, animals and love.
And all his characters are so fabulous again. I am saying it again: I love Everett!

📷 The Hague, Netherlands

I added all my unread books to the #ISpy overview in Storygraph. In the bingo you see the books that for January prompts of which I actually read five.
Love this challenge!

#WeeklyFavorites

The last favorite of January is my favorite of the month too! I can‘t stop thinking of Playground!

I was blown away by The One and The Passengers by John Marrs and read everything he wrote after that. The fact is, he never was that good again. Entertaining sure, full of twists too but I always end up being a little underwhelmed nevertheless.

This is his most recent speculative book and I am just glad it‘s over even though I liked the dystopian world in which reality shows become next level. 🤷🏻‍♀️
#Roll100

#WeeklyForecast 05/25

On this lazy Sunday I started The Family Experiment, John Marrs‘s most recent book. Next will be one from another author whose backlist I am making my way through. I came upon this cheap edition of this Percival Everett so had no choice but to buy it.
Bury Your Gays is another one from the #ToB25Longlist which is excellent this year.

I loved this book right up until the end. It‘s probably me but I don‘t get the ending.. I am left with so many questions, it‘s such a thought provoking story.
I loved the friendship between Todd and Rafi, I loved Evelyn‘s diving, her love for the ocean and her marriage, I loved Makatea, its inhabitants, I loved Powers‘ style and love for nature. But I feel like I have to start it again to really get it. All the stars nevertheless! #ToB25Longlist

The people of Makatea in French Polynesia have to decide about their future in this book. The mayor‘s wife is mostly quiet but I love that she speaks out about future generations. In real life people in power hardly seem to think of the future of next generations anymore. This quote touches me deeply ❤️‍🩹

Another on audio. A quick read fortunately because I really disliked it. Not the main character although he wants me to but the time I spent listening to the same story from different sides. About a murder at a Greek island where seven annoying people have gathered from London to work some things out.
Don‘t bother reading it I‘d say.

An epistolary novella about how anti-semitism was raised and Hitler praised in the 1930s in Germany.
Looking for excuses (the poverty in the country in the aftermath of WWI), denying the truth, hiding behind the ambition of the Gentle Leader as they call him, choosing not to see what‘s happening.
It‘s horrible and haunting and feels painfully timely today. How we got to this point again is beyond me.

To me thrillers are often a good audio choice because they keep me focused. This one is good, not great. A girl wakes up one day and finds her parents and brother gone without a trace. Have they left her? Were they kidnapped? Murdered? Twentyfive years later she still has no answers and decides to go actively looking for them.

Yoshie‘s father dies along with his mistress and Yoshie and her mother have come to terms with both having a death and the circumstances.
And they do, after moving to an old neighborhood in Tokyo, where they live and work and eat. Again, food plays in important role in a Japanese story!
It‘s a very Japanese novel, quiet and melancholic. A light pick.

#ReadTheWorld2025 Book 3 #Japan 🇯🇵#ATY25 #IntriguingTitle

Yes this is an excellent book. 16 years old Gabriel grows up in Chile with his American parents. He is ashamed of his capitalist parents and his imperialist motherland, infiltrating the world with propaganda. He is a Chilean communist and a supporter of Allende‘s socialist politics. He falls in love in the days leading up to the coup against Allende in 1973.
In 3 parts we read about this period in time and its aftermath. And about Gabriel‘s life.

#WeeklyForecast 04/25

I didn‘t get to Moshi Moshi last week because I had to read Short War first. I still haven‘t finished it because I went hiking this weekend with my girlfriends (cold!!!).

So that one will be next and also I can‘t wait to start Playground, where I‘ve heard such good things of!

SUCH an annoying bunch of people who keep ignoring their telephones and keep making stupid, hysterical decisions. All because of the kidnapping of their father decades earlier? I don‘t even want to know. I feel as irritated as I did when reading Fleishman. Although I managed to finish that one.
Note to self: ignore future works by this author!!

#ToB25Longlist

This book is a bit of a mess. I have no idea why I bought it in the first place but that was in 2008 so a few years ago 😀

It is about grief and the First World War and quantum physica and animal sex and traveling in Latin America. Well, it fits the #SomePlaceCold prompt for #FictionalTraveler2025!

What a delightful read!

Phoebe incidentally becomes mixed up in a wedding party at a hotel in Rhode Island where she herself booked a room to end her life. However, meeting and talking to the wedding people who are so different from her is refreshing and makes her reflect on her life in a new way.
Without getting cheesy this story is addictive and filled with romance, humor, depth and sadness.

WHY is it in the play-in round of the #ToB25?!!

#WeeklyForecast 03/25

I am reading the unputdownable The Wedding People. Super curious to find out where the story goes. Next will be the oldest book on my tbr (the tagged one) for #FictionalTraveler. Maybe there‘s time for another Banana Yoshimoto as well 🤞🏽

So much love for this book during #12Booksof2024 that I had to find out for myself!

It‘s the quiet story of Zorrie, a woman living in Indiana in the 20th century. Her life is a bittersweet one but she makes the most of it in her own way.

I kept waiting for something to happen during the first half, then surrendered to the gorgeous writing style and rhythm during the second half. That turned out to be a good idea! A pick for sure.

📸 Shiatsu

Amsterdam, 1888. Violin maker Vedder learns that a large hotel is to be built on the site of his house. At the same time rural pharmacist Anijs, is concerned about the local peat cutters, who suffer from abject poverty and have no future in the Netherlands. But emigration costs a fortune – exactly the amount that Vedder thinks he can get for the sale of his house to the hotel company. The men become involved in an oppressive adventure. Great HF!

Unputdownable again, the third book in Boyne‘s Elements series. We met Freya shortly in Earth, where she sat in a jury. Now it‘s her by herself. A doctor at the burn unit. You wonder why she chose this specialization.

It‘s so dark. I can‘t say much more. Just read it. And be prepared.