Hurt and hatred are stubborn guests, but time softens even the sharpest blades and we're left with the lightness of letting go.

Jonathan Safran Foer's “Everything Is Illuminated“ is beautifully layered, rich in humour, emotion and heartbreak. A stunning exploration of memory, history and identity. One of my favourite books!

★★★★★

“It's barely any difference at all, and the profoundest difference in the world.“

It made me think, choice and chance. A choice, ever so insignificant, can change the whole course of a life. The same with a chance, being at a certain time in a certain place by chance can change everything. The outcome might be of little difference, but choice and chance differ greatly from each other.

Page 39 / printed copy
“You have your life and it can't be moved.“

Page 38 / printed copy

If I imagine being high up and seeing our earth as a marble, would my views on life change?
We're mere specs of dust in the grand scheme of things, our life is a blink of an eye. The universe is vast and we have explored only a fraction of it. But exactly that, this rarity and fragility, it makes our lives seem so peculiar and special.
If you could see the earth from afar, what do you think you would feel or reflect on?

Page 48 / printed copy

„All The Light We Cannot See“ by Anthony Doerr is a beautiful story set in tragic times weaving together the lives of a sheltered blind French girl and a German orphan boy.

The main characters' emotions and decisions in the book polarise. They navigate the moral complexities of WW2 and it‘s definitely not an easy read with the weight of that era‘s tragedies.
The ending was deeply touching, though I felt it lingered a bit too long.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Samantha Harvey's “Orbital“ was a book that instantly caught my eye in one of Berlin's small bookstores. It's a book on the thinner side, but sometimes the most profound ideas come in compact packages. The premise sounds promising. I'll report back once I've finished!