Books read in 2018

♦ December 31, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

January

  1. John Le Carré – Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy (1974).
  2. Renate Dorrestein – Het hemelse gerecht (1991).
  3. Madeleine Wickham – Het tennisweekend (1995).
  4. Suzanne Vermeer – Noorderlicht (2012).
  5. Carlos Ruiz Zafón – Het labyrint van de geesten (2017).

February

  1. Val McDermid – Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime (2014).
  2. Dana Stabenow – Prepared for Rage (2008).
  3. Mark Watson – Eleven (2010).
  4. David W. Walker – The Final Deduction: The Last of Sherlock Holmes (2011).
  5. H.G. Wells – The Star (1897).
  6. Dan Brown – Origin (2017).
  7. Anita Shreve – A Wedding in December (2005).

March

  1. Iain Ryan – Four Days (2015).
  2. Agatha Christie – Partners in crime (1929).
  3. Geert Mak – De levens van Jan Six (2016).
  4. Agatha Christie – The Seven Dials Mystery (1929).
  5. Tess Gerritsen – Diagnose besmet (1997).
  6. Toby Neal – Blood Orchids (2011).

April

  1. David Baddiel – The Secret Purposes (2004).
  2. Joël Goldman – Shakedown (2008).
  3. Camilla Ceder – Babylon (2013).
  4. Alexandre Dumas – The Count of Monte Cristo (1846).
  5. Haruki Murakami – De moord op Commendatore (2017).

May

  1. Iain M. Banks – Against a dark background (1993).
  2. Alex Kava – Damaged (2010).
  3. Beryl Bainbridge – Every man for himself (1996).
  4. Fingers Murphy – Everything I tell you is a lie (2011).
  5. Sue Grafton – M is for malice (1996).
  6. Suzanne Vermeer – Bella Italia (2011).
  7. Ian McEwan – The Children Act (2014).

June

  1. Nicci French – Blauwe maandag (2011).
  2. Graham Greene – The Ministry of Fear (1943).
  3. Nicci French – Dinsdag is voorbij (2012).
  4. Alexander Maksik – You deserve nothing (2011).
  5. Nicci French Wachten op woensdag (2013).
  6. Anita Shreve – The weight of water (1997).
  7. Nicci French – Donderdagskinderen (2014).

July

  1. Barbara Kingsolver – The Poisonwood Bible (1998).
  2. Nicci French – Denken aan vrijdag (2015).
  3. W. Somerset Maughan – Liza of Lambeth (1897).
  4. Nicci French – Als het zaterdag wordt (2016).
  5. George R. R. Martin – The Armageddon Rag (1983).
  6. Agatha Christie – The Murder at the Vicarage (1930).
  7. Nicci French – Zondagochtend breekt aan (2017).
  8. Agatha Christie – The body in the Library (1942).
  9. Nicci French – De dag van de doden (2018).

August

  1. Agatha Christie – The Secret Adversary (1922).
  2. P. G. Woodhouse – Love among the chickens (1906).
  3. Arthur Philips – The Egyptologist (2004).
  4. John Le Carré – The Honourable Schoolboy (1977).
  5. Anita Shreve – The Pilot’s Wife (1998).
  6. Jussi Adler-Olsen – De vrouw in de kooi (2007).

September

  1. Paul Auster – 4 3 2 1 (2017).

October

  1. Robert Galbraith – The Cuckoo’s Calling (2013).
  2. Robert Galbraith – The Silkworm (2014).
  3. Robert Galbraith – Career of Evil (2016).
  4. Matthew Lewis – The Monk (1796).
  5. Robert Galbraith – Lethal White (2018).
  6. Hans Vervoort – Eerlijk is vals (2001).
  7. Lee Child – Voltreffer (2005).

November

  1. Barbara Kingsolver – Animal Dreams (1990).
  2. David Baldacci – True Blue (2009).
  3. Avery Sawyer – Notes to Self (2011).
  4. Colin Campbell – A Woman’s Walks (1903).
  5. Agatha Christie – The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930).

December

  1. Jodi Picoult – The Pact (1998).
  2. Ben H. Winters – The Last Policeman (2012).
  3. Joël Goldman – Deadlocked (2005).
  4. Joël Goldman – Dead Times Four (Lou Mason # 1-4).

Books Read in 2017

♦ January 1, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

January

  1. Aravind ADIGA – Last Man in Tower (2011).
  2. Paula HAWKINS – The Girl on the Train (2015).
  3. Robert Louis STEVENSON – Treasure Island (1883).
  4. Hanya YANAGIHARA – Een klein leven (2015).
  5. Richard C. HALE – Frozen Past (2012).
  6. Richard C. HALE – Cache 72 (????).
  7. Beryl BAINBRIDGE –An Awfully Big Adventure (1989).

February

  1. Henry JAMES -The turn of the screw (1897).
  2. Iain BANKS – The Crow Road (1992).
  3. Linda CASTILLO – Zwijgplicht (2009).
  4. Margaret ATWOOD – In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination (2011).
  5. Shirley JACKSON – The Lottery (1948).
  6. Richard C. HALE – Father Figure (2014).

March

  1. Richard C. HALE – Blank (2014).
  2. Richard C. HALE – Sins of the Daughters (2016).
  3. H. Rider HAGGARD – King Solomon’s Mines (1885).
  4. Asa LARSSON – Zonnestorm (2004).
  5. Jo CLAES – Getekend vonnis (2013).
  6. Patricio PRON – Het begin van het voorjaar (2016).

April

  1. Lee CHILD – Jachtveld (1997).
  2. Ian MCEWAN – Solar (2010).
  3. Peg BRANTLEY – Red Tide (2012).
  4. Elizabeth VON ARNIM – Vera (1921).
  5. Gregg DUNNETT – The Wave at Hanging Rock (2016).
  6. Tim VICARY – A Game of Proof (2016)..
  7. Juli ZEH – Ons soort mensen (2016).
  8. Agatha CHRISTIE – Poirot Investigates (1924).

May

  1. Joel GOLDMAN – The Last Witness (2003).
  2. Åsa LARSSON – Midzomernacht (2005).
  3. H. Rider HAGGARD – She (1887).
  4. Åsa LARSSON – Het zwarte pad (2007).
  5. Åsa LARSSON – Tot de woede is geluwd (2009).
  6. Åsa LARSSON – De tweede zonde (????).
  7. Katherine OWEN – Seeing Julia (2011).
  8. Sue GRAFTON – K is for Killer (1997).
  9. Alexander MCCALL SMITH – De goede echtgenoot van Zebra Drive (????).
  10. Nathan HILL – The Nix (2016).

June

  1. Laurent BINET – HhhH (2009).
  2. Adam MAXWELL – The Dali Deception (2016).
  3. Agatha CHRISTIE – The man in the brown suit (1924).
  4. Anita VERKERK – Xandra (2001).
  5. Richard C. HALE – Eye Strain (2017).
  6. Richard C. HALE – Traffic (2017).
  7. A. C. BAANTJER – De Cock en moord op de Bloedberg (1985).
  8. Beryl BAINBRIDGE – Injury Time (2010).
  9. J. Mark BERTRAND – Back on Murder (2010).
  10. Sascha ARANGO – De waarheid en andere leugens (2014).

July

  1. Darryl DONAGHUE – A Journal of Sin (2016).
  2. Susan CAIN – Quiet (2010).
  3. Lee CHILD – Buitenwacht (2002).
  4. Anne BRONTË – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848).
  5. Pieter ASPE – Het Dreyse-incident (1999).
  6. Elizabeth Jane HOWARD – Lichte jaren (1990).

August

  1. Zadie SMITH – NW (2012).
  2. Agatha CHRISTIE – The Secret of Chimneys (1925).
  3. J. D. ROBB – Bij nacht vermoord (1995).
  4. Susan CAIN – Quiet (2010).
  5. Frans KAFKA – Metamorphosis (????).
  6. Cynthia d’Aprix SWEENEY – The Nest (2016).

September

  1. Agatha CHRISTIE – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).
  2. Paul AUSTER – Collected Prose (????).
  3. Stieg LARSSON – Mannen die vrouwen haten (2005).
  4. Stieg LARSSON – De vrouw die met vuur speelde (2006).
  5. Stieg LARSSON – Gerechtigheid (2006).
  6. David LAGERCRANTZ – Wat ons niet zal doden (2015).

October

  1. Julian BARNES – Talking it over (1991).
  2. Jussi ADLER-OLSEN – Het Wasgingtondecreet (2006).
  3. George R. R. MARTIN – Fevre Dream (1982).
  4. Agatha CHRISTIE – The Big Four (1927).
  5. Laia FÀBREGAS – Het meisje met de negen vingers (2008).
  6. Pieter ASPE – Grof wild (1998).
  7. Pieter ASPE – Blauw bloed (2000).

November

  1. Anita SHREVE – Resistance (1995).
  2. Dan BROWN – Het Juvenalis Dilemma (1998).
  3. Marijke SCHERMER – Noodweer (2016).
  4. Jonathan Safran FOER – Everything is illuminated (2002).
  5. Agatha CHRISTIE – The Mystery of the Blue Train. (1928).

December

  1. Elizabeth Jane HOWARD – Aftellen (1991).
  2. Sue GRAFTON – L is for Lawless (1995).
  3. Suzanne VERMEER – Après-ski (2010).
  4. David BALDACCI – The Christmas Train (2002).
  5. Agatha CHRISTIE – Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1939).
  6. Georges SIMENON – Maigret viert Kerstmis (1963).
  7. John GRISHAM – Skipping Christmas (2002).
  8. Suzanne VERMEER – Zwarte piste (????).
  9. Salman RUSHDIE – The Golden House (2017).

Books read in 2016…

♦ December 31, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

These are the books I read this year:

January:

  1. Agatha CHRISTIE – Het wespennest (1928).
  2. Agatha CHRISTIE – De eindeloze nacht (1966).
  3. Heinrich BÖLL – The train was on time (1949).
  4. J.R.R. TOLKIEN – The Hobbit (1937).
  5. Belinda BAUER – Darkside (2011).
  6. Amélie NOTHOMB – Dagboek van Zwaluw (2006).
  7. Judy BLOOME – Forever (1975).
  8. Justin CRONIN – Mary and O’Neil (2001).
  9. Elizabeth Cleghorn GASKELL – North and South (1855).
  10. Amos OZ – Judas (2014).
  11. Jaume XIOL – Descartes. Een filosoof die twijfel boven alles stelt (2016).

February:

  1. David BALDACCI – Wish You Well (2000).
  2. Agatha CHRISTIE – De pop in de schoorsteen (1969).
  3. Agatha CHRISTIE – Passagier voor Frankfurt (1970).
  4. Joan SOLÉ – Kierkegaard. De eerste existentialist (2015).
  5. Jean M. AUEL – The Clan of the Cave Bear (1980).
  6. Julian BARNES – The Noise of Time (2016).

March:

  1. E.A. DAL MASCHIO – Plato. De waarheid is elders (2015).
  2. Jean M. AUEL – The Valley of Horses (1982).
  3. Jean M. AUEL – The Mammoth Hunters (1985).
  4. Jean M. AUEL – The Plains of Passage (1990).
  5. Jean M. AUEL – The Shelters of Stone (2002).
  6. Matthias ROZEMOND – De duivelskunstenaar (2016).

April:

  1. Jean M. AUEL – The Land of Painted Caves (2010).
  2. Donna TARTT – De kleine vriend (2002).
  3. Agatha CHRISTIE – Een olifant vergeet niet gauw (1972).
  4. E.C. BENTLEY – The Woman in Black/Trent’s Last Case (1913).
  5. Aharon APPELFELD – Until the Dawn’s Light (1995).
  6. David BALDACCI – No time left (2010).
  7. Jane AUSTEN – Juvenilia Vol. 1 (1790).
  8. Jane AUSTEN – Juvenilia Vol. 2 (1790).
  9. Jane AUSTEN – Juvenilia Vol. 3 (1790).
  10. Lisa Tawn BERGREN – Waterfall (2011).
  11. David LAGERCRANTZ – De val van Turing.

May:

  1. Julian BARNES – Arthur & George (2005).
  2. Agatha CHRISTIE – Moord in de bibliotheek (1976).
  3. Ray BRADBURY – Fahrenheit 451 (1953).
  4. R. Austin FREEMAN – Helen Vardon’s Confession (1922).
  5. Agatha CHRISTIE – Het Regatta Mysterie (1939).
  6. Sue GRAFTON – F is for Fugitive (1989).
  7. Karen Thompson WALKER – The Age of Miracles (2012).
  8. Estelle RYAN – The Gauguin Connection (2012).
  9. Lauren GROFF – Fates and Furies (2015).
  10. Rainbow ROWELL – Eleanor and Park (2013).

June:

  1. G.K. CHESTERTON – The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914).
  2. Siri HUSTVEDT – The Blazing World (2014).
  3. Sue GRAFTON – G is for Gumshoe (1990).
  4. Haruki MURAKAMI – Ten zuiden van de grens (1992).
  5. Agatha CHRISTIE – An Autobiography (1965).
  6. Agatha CHRISTIE – Clues to Christie (2011).

July:

  1. Justin CARTWRIGHT – The Song Before It Is Sung (2007).
  2. Agatha CHRISTIE – The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920).
  3. Martin AMIS – Lionel Asbo (2012).
  4. Mary Elizabeth BRADDON – Lady Audley’s Secret (1862).
  5. Rudyard KIPLING – Jungle Book (1894).
  6. Lize SPIT – Het smelt (2016).
  7. Sue GRAFTON – H is for Homicide (1991).
  8. Arnon GRÜNBERG – Moedervlekken (2016).
  9. Elizabeth MURPHY – An Imperfect Librarian (2008).

August:

  1. Josie BROWN – The Housewife Assassin’s Handbook (2007).
  2. Jessica KNOLL – Luckiest Girl Alive (2015).
  3. Estelle RYAN – The Dante Connection (2013).
  4. Paul AUSTER – Man in the Dark (2008).
  5. Robert GALBRAITH – The Silkworm (2014).
  6. A.S. Byatt – The Matisse Stories (1993).

September:

  1. Lea O’HARRA – Imperfect Strangers (2015).
  2. Sue GRAFTON – I is for Innocent (1992).
  3. David BALDACCI – One Summer (2011).
  4. James Fenimore COOPER – The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
  5. Elena FERRANTE –Wie vlucht en wie blijft (2013).

October:

  1. Anthony HORROWITZ – Moriarty (2014).
  2. William BUTLER – Oblivion (2014).
  3. Sue GRAFTON – J is for Judgment (????).
  4. Elena FERRANTE – Het verhaal van het verloren kind (2014).

November:

  1. Joel GOLDMAN – Final Judgment (2012).
  2. Joseph HELLER – Catch 22 (1961).
  3. Lee CHILD – Tegendraads (1999). 
  4. Agatha CHRISTIE – The Secret Adversary (1922).
  5. Dave EGGERS – Helden van de grens (2016).

December:

  1. Terry HAYES – I am Pilgrim (2014).
  2. Kirsten SAWYER – Morgen ben ik de bruid (2008).
  3. Agatha CHRISTIE – Murder on the Links (1923).
  4. Amanda HODGKINSON – 22 Britannia Road (2011).
  5. R. Austin FREEMAN – Mr. Polton explains (1940).
  6. Robert GALBRAITH – Career of Evil (2015).

Books – What I’ve Read in 2015!

♦ December 31, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

Here are the books I read this year, in the order in read them in…

  1. Agatha CHRISTIE – In Hotel Bertram (1965)
  2. Oscar WILDE – The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
  3. Jonathan FRANZEN – The Corrections (2001)
  4. J.K. ROWLING – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997)
  5. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
  6. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
  7. William SHAKESPEARE – Othello (1604)
  8. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
  9. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
  10. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (2005)
  11. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
  12. Peter HOEG – Smilla’s gevoel voor sneeuw (1992 – DNF)
  13. Rachel JOYCE – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2012)
  14. Arthur C. DANTO – Wat kunst is (2014)
  15. Toni COPPERS – Dood water (2014)
  16. Jessie BURTON – The Miniaturist (2014)
  17. Paulien CORNELISSE – Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding (2009)
  18. Amy CHUA – Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (2011)
  19. John LE CARRÉ – The Spy who came in from the Cold (1963)
  20. J.K. ROWLING – Quidditch throughout the Ages (2001)
  21. Ransom RIGGS – Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2011)
  22. G.K. CHESTERTON – The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)
  23. Miriam TOEWS – De familie Troutman (2008)
  24. Alexander PUSHKIN – The Daughter of the Commandant (1836)
  25. Arthur Conan DOYLE- The Musgrave Ritual (1893)
  26. H.P. LOVECRAFT- Herbert West (1922)
  27. Gillian KING – O, o, Olivia (2012)
  28. John LE CARRÉ – The Looking Glass War (1965)
  29. Alex BOOGERS – Wanneer de mieren schreeuwen.
  30. Adaobi Tricia NWABANI – I do not come to you by chance (2009).
  31. Arnon GRUNBERG – Het bestand (2015)
  32. Charlotte BRONTË – Jane Eyre (1847)
  33. Marla MADISON – She’s not there (2011)
  34. Eleanor BROWN – The Weird Sisters (2011)
  35. Ali SMITH – How to be both (2014)
  36. James PATTERSON – Witch and Wizard
  37. James Patterson – Witch and Wizard: The Gift (2010)
  38. James Patterson – Witch and Wizard: The Fire (2011)
  39. Paul MOYAERT – Iconen en beeldverering. Godsdienst als symbolische praktijk (2007)
  40. Pieter Aspe – De kinderen van Chronos (1997)
  41. Patricia DE MARTELAERE – Het onverwachte antwoord (2004)
  42. Jo CLAES – Tot de dood ons scheidt… (2013)
  43. Henry MACKENZIE – A Man of Feeling (1771)
  44. Alexander MCCALL SMITH – Corduroy Mansions (2009)
  45. Alexander McCall Smith – The Dog Who Came in from the Cold (2009)
  46. Alexander McCall Smith – A Conspiracy of Friends (2011)
  47. Agatha CHRISTIE – De zaak Styles (1920)
  48. Umberto ECO – Het nulnummer (2015)
  49. Tom PERROTTA – Little Children (2004)
  50. Lisa ZUNSHINE – Why We Read Ficton (2006)
  51. Bradner BUCKNER – The Day Time Stopped Moving (1956)
  52. Anthony DOERR – All the Light We Cannot See (2014)
  53. Herman KOCH – Zomerhuis met zwembad (2011)
  54. Georges SIMENON – De horlogemaker van Everton (1954)
  55. Henry JAMES – The Portrait of a Lady (1881)
  56. J.R. ELLORY – Een mooie dag om te sterven (2014)
  57. Vendela VIDA – The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty (2015)
  58. Pieter ASPE – De Vierde Gestalte (1998)
  59. Elizabeth VON ARNIM – The Enchanted April (1922)
  60. Elena FERRANTE – De geniale vriendin (2011)
  61. Agatha CHRISTIE – Het mysterieuze manuscript (1925)
  62. Edith NESBIT – The Incomplete Amorist (1906)
  63. Georges SIMENON – In geval van nood (1957)
  64. Susan BARKER – The Incarnations (2014)
  65. Georges SIMENON – De neger
  66. Georges SIMENON – De president
  67. Jane AUSTEN – Emma (1815)
  68. David BALDACCI – The Winner (1997)
  69. Beryl BAINBRIDGE – The Bottle Factory Outing (1974)
  70. Jonathan COE – The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim (2010)
  71. Dennis BATCHELDER – Soul Identity (2007)
  72. William SHAKESPEARE – A Midsummer’s Night Dream (1600)
  73. Judy BLUME – Are You there, God? It’s me, Margaret (1970)
  74. Cheryl BRADSHAW – Whispers of Murder (2012)
  75. Georges SIMENON – De roman van de mens (1959)
  76. Carol BIRCH – Jamrach’s Menagerie (2011)
  77. James M. CAIN – The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
  78. David BALDACCI – Saving Faith (1999)
  79. Heidi W. DURROW – The Girl Who Fell from the Sky (2010)
  80. Georges SIMENON – De oude dame (1959)
  81. Georges SIMENON – De weduwnaar (1959)
  82. Georges SIMENON – De man met het hondje (1964)
  83. Elena FERRANTE – De nieuwe achternaam (2012)
  84. Emily STJOHN MANDEL – Station Eleven (2014)
  85. Susanne VERMEER – De vlucht (2008)
  86. Susanne VERMEER – Zomertijd (2009)
  87. William SHAKESPEARE – The Tempest (1611)
  88. Anne BRÖNTE – Agnes Grey (1847)
  89. Agatha CHRISTIE – Het derde meisje (1966)
  90. William GIRALDI – Hold the dark (2015)
  91. Colin DEXTER: Inspector Morse: The First Three Novels (1970’s)
  92. William SHAKESPEARE – As You Like It.
  93. Jonathan FRANZEN – Purity (2015)
  94. Anne RICE – The Feast of All Saints (1979).
  95. Robert GALBRAITH – The Cucoo’s Calling (2013)
  96. Celeste NG – Everything I Never Told You (2015)
  97. Agatha CHRISTIE – De zeven wijzerplaten (1929)
  98. Charles DICKENS/ Wilkie COLLINS – A House to Let (1858).
  99. Blake CROUCH – Thicker then Blood.

Books – The Classic Tales Podcast

♦ January 28, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

Podcasts© leaguefreak.com

I discovered podcasts some years ago, when I bought my first iPod, and have loved them ever since.  Of course, most of the podcasts I regularly listen to are all book-related: Here are a few of the ones I like most, in alphabetical order (because I honestly could not say which are my favourites of these): Adventure with Words, BookRiot, Books and Authors, Books on the Nightstand, Hear… Read This, NPR Books Podcast, The Bookrageous Podcast, The Guardian Books Podcast, The Readers, and World Book Club.  You can find all of these in the iTunes Store.

But there is one podcast I would like to give some attention to today, because it is, I think, rather unique and worth wile listening to, Classic Talesespecially if you like classics: The Classic Tales Podcast, brought by B.J. Harrison, who releases a new episode once a week and who does a good job reading some famous, and less famous classic tales and novels.  Lately I listened to The Picture of Dorian Gray (released in 8 parts), by Oscar Wilde and The Island of Dr. Moreau (released in 5 parts) by H.G. Wells.  In the past I enjoyed listening to, among many others, The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Anthem by Ayn Rand, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, The 39 Steps by John Buchan, The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Right ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, ….

B.J. Harrison also reads many short stories by e.g. H.P Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling, G.K. Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, and so on.

In short, if you do not know this podcast, you should go and check it out; here you can find an overview of the podcasts released over the latest months.  I am sure that, if I hadn’t discovered this podcast, I wouldn’t have read many of these classic stories.

Books – The Elegance of the Hedgehog

♦ January 21, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

 Egels© bol.com & www.indiebound.org

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Elegant als een egel by Muriel Barbery was my favourite read of 2014.  I have to admit I bought this book mostly for its title, which I loved and, yes, found so elegant 🙂 .  I didn’t know anything about the book, nor of the author, and bought it really impulsive.  And was soooo glad I did.  The story got me immediately, it was thoughtfully and beautifully written, with great characters and much philosophical sidetreads and references to pop-culture (Barbery is a professor of philosophy).  I loved this smart book so much, in fact, that I read it again two days after I had finished it.

This is the plot (on Goodreads):We are in the centre of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Renée, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Renée is a cultured autodidact who adores art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With humour and intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the building’s tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence.

Then there’s Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius. She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian, a talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to end her life on the sixteenth of June, her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high on adolescent subculture, a good but not an outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter.

Paloma and Renée hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma’s trust and to see through Renée’s time-worn disguise to the secret that haunts her. This is a moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.

I can only add one more thing here: if you have not read The Elegance of the Hedgehog yet, go out now and buy it.  Now!

Reviews in The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

An interview with the author on BookBrowse and 25 quotes from The Elegance of the Hedgehog on GoodReads.

Books & TV-series: I, Claudius

♦ January 18, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

I watched the TV-series I, Claudius when I was in my teens and had no idea it was based on a book.  Only when I was in my twenties, did I see the two books by Robert Graves, I, Claudius and Claudius, the God in the book-store.  I didn’t hesitate and bought them immediately and started to read them when I got home.  And I haven’t stopped reading them after all these years.  I have so often re-read them, that it became sort of a joke between my husband and me.  When I again take up the book to re-read it, and he notices, he says something like: “O, you are reading a new book.  Is it something good?”.

I, ClaudiusAnd again and again, I love it.  I can see the characters before me, and I have to say I have learned a lot about the history of Rome, even so much, that, when I was taking classes in archaeology of Rome, I caught myself thinking sometimes, “oh, no, that is not what happened according to Claudius”. 🙂

I_Claudius_titles Wikipedia

And then, somewhere in 2001 or 2002, I was taking to someone about my fascination for the books and said I would love to see the TV-series again.  She suggested I should go to a DVD-store and ask if the series wasn’t available.  And what do you think?  It had come out on DVD that month and would be available in the store the next month.  Of course I pre-ordered it, and when I now re-read the books, I also always watch the TV-series again.  It seems I cannot get enough of the story and the characters and I really love Derek Jacobi as Claudius.

Authors – Haruki Murakami

♦ January 14, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

Murakami Wikipedia

I first discovered the Japanese author Haruki Murakami when a Belgian magazine offered a reduced copy of his 1999 novel Sputnik Sweatheart.  I liked the book, but thought nothing special of it.  Then I heard about the title Kafka on the shore, published in Japanese in 2002.  Because this title intrigued me, I bought the book (in Dutch) and read it, and loved it.  I wanted more.

But, and I am sure everyone who loves books, recognizes this, Murakami kind of slipped out of my mind, because, well yes, there are a lot of other books to read.  And so next thing I know, Murakami has published a trilogy 1Q84 (2009-2010), and after some hesitation (it is a lot to read), and because @HannieJe, with whom I have a little Bookclub for Two, also wants to read the three books, I buy them and read them together with her (one a month).  And they are good.  Really good.  I begin to feel Murakami might become one of my favourite authors.

And he definitely does so, after I have read, again with Hannie, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (2013).  This also is a fantastic book with a great story and intriguing characters, written in a beautiful prose.

If you haven’t read him, I advise you to do so.  I still have a lot of books by him to read, and I hope I will enjoy them all. One thing is for sure, however, he will always be one of my favourites.

 

Movies – Erin Brockovich

♦ January 11, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

Erin Brockovitch© IMDb

If there is one film I can’t seem to get enough from, it is Erin Brockovitch, brought out in 2000 and starring Julia Roberts.  I think this is really one of Robert’s best films: great characters (although perhaps some a bit too ‘characteristic’), a strong plot-line and a captivating story, based on real facts. I think I have seen it now half a dozen times, and every time when it is programmed again on TV, I tell my husband I don’t want to see it again because I almost know it by heart.  And every time again, I end up looking, and enjoying it, and laughing and crying at the same moments.

For the facts on the real Erin Brockovitch, check out these sites: Wikipedia, and her own site Erin Brockovitch,

This is the very short synopsis on IMDb: An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city’s water supply.

I cannot really say why I love it so much, I guess it is a combination of reasons, but if you have not seen it yet, do try to do so… It is worth your time.

 

(Books!) What we see when we read

♦ January 7, 2015 ♦ Leave a comment

what we see© GoodReads

I’ve already heard about this book here and there and, so it seems, everywhere.  And everywhere, people, that is, readers, are enthusiastic.  And so am I.

This is what is says on GoodReads:

A gorgeously unique, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of reading-how we visualize images from reading works of literature, from one of our very best book jacket designers, himself a passionate reader. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.
What do we see when we read? Did Tolstoy really describe Anna Karenina? Did Melville ever really tell us what, exactly, Ishmael looked like?
The collection of fragmented images on a page – a graceful ear there, a stray curl, a hat positioned just so – and other clues and signifiers helps us to create an image of a character. But in fact our sense that we know a character intimately has little to do with our ability to concretely picture our beloved – or reviled – literary figures.
In this remarkable work of nonfiction, Knopf’s Associate Art Director Peter Mendelsund combines his profession, as an award-winning designer; his first career, as a classically trained pianist; and his first love, literature – he thinks of himself first, and foremost, as a reader – into what is sure to be one of the most provocative and unusual investigations into how we understand the act of reading.

How can someone who loves books not want to read this?  I certainly do. And then I heard Rebecca Schinsky, one of the editors of BookRiot, rave about it on Episode 70 of the Bookrageous podcast, And then I’ve heard Ann Kingman of the popular podcast Books on the the Nighstand talk about it. (By the way, if you are not familiar with these podcasts, do check them out, they are great!).  And because these are all people I trust in their book choises, my mind was made up.  I have to read this.  The book came out here in Belgium on the 10th of September, and the book shop I usually go to did not have it in its collection, but I could order it, and of course I will do so.  However, I still haven’t found the time or the occasion to do it, because the last months of 2014 were rather hectic.  But it sits on top of my to-do list, and I will order it as soon as possible.

This is what The Boston Globe, The New York Times, Literary Exploration and the Paris Review think about the book.

Here’s an interview with the author on The New Yorker.