4/5 ★ – KHV BOOKS

“The Shallows” – Nicholas Carr

Even though “The Shallows” was initially published in 2010, I found it to still be relevant while reading it in 2023. Not much has changed in the updated edition from 2020 except for a new introduction and an afterword, surely a lot of insights are missing linked to the usage of smartphones, apps, etc. but…

“Kummer Aller Art” – Mariana Leky

Mit diesem Buch hätte ich am liebsten das Jahr 2023 begonnen gehabt! Obwohl ich bisher nur ein Buch von Mariana Leky gelesen habe, “Was Man Von Hier Aus Sehen Kann“, hat mir der Stil der Autorin so gut gefallen, dass ich mir sofort das neu veröffentlichte Buch von ihr geholt habe. In dem Fall von…

“Conversations with Friends” – Sally Rooney

If you have some holidays planned this year and don’t know which book(s) to bring along with you yet, I’d strongly suggest you to pack a copy of “Conversations with Friends”! This is the author’s second book that I’ve read after having been a bit disappointed by her “Normal People“, which I rated with 3/5…

“To Paradise” – Hanya Yanagihara

For the fans of the author’s “A Little Life” (I sure was one of them 🙋🏻‍♀️) the waiting finally had an end on the 11th of January 2022, when a new long awaited book of hers was released – “To Paradise”. I instantly started reading it once I picked up a copy at my local…

“My Body” – Emily Ratajkowski

This book has taken me by surprise. I somehow ended up pre-ordering it without planning to, simply because I was curious about Emily’s writing after having read her article “Buying Myself Back” (Ratajkowski, 2020) on The Cut website. And luckily, I wasn’t disappointed! 239 pages long, comprised of 12 essays, this was quite a short…

“A New Earth” – Eckhart Tolle

The review of this book could start off with a game of “never have I ever”… Never have I ever taken along so much valuable knowledge after finishing a book. Never have I ever highlighted as many passages within a book. Never have I ever come across a book that would feel so life-changing. Never…

“Couchsurfing in Saudi Arabien” – Stephan Orth

Jedes Mal wenn die Nachricht erscheint, dass bald ein neues Buch von Stephan Orth veröffentlicht wird, mache ich wortwörtlich einen Freudentanz! Ich habe in der Zwischenzeit vier seiner Bücher gelesen und habe mich in jedes davon Hals über Kopf verliebt!!! Zu “Couchsurfing im Iran“, “Couchsurfing in Russland” und “Couchsurfing in China” kommt jetzt das vierte…

“Schreibtisch mit Aussicht” – Ilka Piepgras

Dieses Buch, das zu meinem zuerst gelesenen im Jahr 2021 wurde, ist vor allem eines – wahnsinnig vielseitig! Die größten Unterschiede bestehen in der Länge der insgesamt 23 Essays, die zwischen drei und dreißig Seiten lang sind, und deren Qualität. Man liest sowohl originale, für dieses Sammelwerk geschriebene Erzählungen auf deutsch, als auch Übersetzungen von…

“The Queen’s Gambit” – Walter Tevis

Having decided to read this book before watching the Netflix series, I was more than positively surprised by it! I would even say that it ended up being one of the favourite discoveries of the year for me. My biggest hesitation (as I can imagine it being for a lot of other readers), was the…

“Future Crimes” – Marc Goodman

Did you know that the technology to simply control gadgets (like your Google Glass) with your thoughts already exists? Did you hear about the 2013 story of electronic teakettles and irons manufactured in China that spread a virus to all your electronic devices through WiFi? 😀 Or that we’ll be able to literally “bring back…

“Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed” – Meghan Daum

This book was an incredibly impactful one for me and that’s surely because its topic is of immense interest at this certain time in my life. I’ve never liked kids and have never felt any longing to give birth to some of my own ones. There was a moment in my life when I felt…

“Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” – Reni Eddo-Lodge

My hunt for non-American literature on the topic of (anti-)racism continued and that’s how I came across Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book. It’s very heavily centred on British history, stories and statistics, so do be aware of that when you’re going into the reading. I specifically chose it for that reason because even though all the purely…

“Everything I Never Told You” – Celeste Ng

Celeste Ng’s novel “Little Fires Everywhere” was the book I rated the highest during the month of June 2020, so that’s why I was curious to tackle her debut novel. With “Everything I Never Told You”, I wasn’t disappointed either and settled on a 4/5 ★ rating, just like for the other book. The first…

“The Honeymoon Effect” – Bruce Lipton

This book is a prime example of the category of books “I would never have bought myself”. It has presented itself as a lesson of the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, throwing in an additional one on “Don’t judge a book by its title”. It looks cheesy, it sounds cheesy, which it…

“Little Fires Everywhere” – Celeste Ng

Diving into my first Celeste Ng book, I luckily wasn’t disappointed! I devoured up “Little Fires Everywhere” in just about a day & a half & I now completely understand why Reese Witherspoon jumped on the opportunity of getting the rights to film a series based on this book. It’s all you could wish for…

“Unorthodox” – Deborah Feldman

Having been too impatient & having watched the Netflix series of “Unorthodox” first, I was definitely in for a positive surprise with this book. After overcoming the annoying fact that I wouldn’t be able to get a copy with a different cover than the one with the actress Shira Haas on it, I finally gave…

“After the End” – Clare Mackintosh

“After the End” isn’t a book I would normally reach out to myself. Somehow the name & the cover of the book screamed out kitsch, cliché & chick flick to me. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a chance, having stumbled across it through a friend of a friend on instagram, saying that it was…

“Qualityland” – Marc-Uwe Kling

This book had quite a unique balance to it. It was light & fun, as well as deep & meaningful, when touching on an analysis of our current world and the future we’re heading towards. I believe that your opinion on “Qualityland” will depend on how you read it & what you decide to take…

“A Good Wife” – Samra Zafar

This book & Samra’s story is such an important one portraying abusive relationships, as well as the dangers of strict (religious) traditions, such as arranged marriages. While reading it, you manage to live through that suffocating feeling of being trapped & at times, it even sounds like something out of a horror movie. The most…

“The Handmaid’s Tale” – Margaret Atwood

Re-reading this book 2 years later, in preparation for starting “The Testaments”, I still agree with the rating of 4 out of 5 stars I gave back then! Brilliantly written, with a style that goes down as smoothly as butter, “The Handmaid’s Tale” was an absolute delight to read. It’s so refreshing to finally have…

“The Art of Making Memories” – Meik Wiking

“The Universe is made up of stories. Not atoms” – Muriel Rukeyser I picked this book up at an airport shop after a birthday trip to Canada, which I would now describe as one of the best trips of my life. Already then I was afraid of the memories fading away or of losing them…

“Stoner” – John Williams

This book left a really strong impression on me, even though it is once again one of those that I wouldn’t have picked up myself. I stayed awake until 2am finishing the last 100 pages & that’s a sure sign of a well written book for me. One of the most striking things to me…

“Havana” – Mark Kurlansky

I absolutely adored this book & couldn’t have wished to stumble upon a better intro to Cuba before my upcoming trip! The biggest tip I could give, is to read it with Cuban music in the background & you’ll feel directly immersed into the story & the country. What others criticised, I actually enjoyed a…

“Slaughterhouse-Five” – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Having read this book during a beach vacation, “Slaughterhouse Five” has been a perfectly short, yet impactful read. The writing style is one of a kind, which leaves you perplexed in the beginning & wondering what kind of a book you have stumbled across & whether it’s worth getting through it or not… As the…

“Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” – Haruki Murakami

I have recently found out how I can explain Murakami’s style to people not known to him – you could compare him to Dali or Magritte in the world of artists. He’s the surrealist of the writers, constructing unbelievable worlds, at times disturbing, at others completely mesmerising. This book is no exception to it. Deep…

“Factfulness” – Hans Rosling

When I started “Factfulness”, I had quite mixed opinions about it. One of the first things that I noticed, was that you could literally hear the frustration in the author’s voice about people’s perception of the current world. Getting deeper into the book, I did understand the roots of this feeling better though. What I…

“Couchsurfing in Russland” – Stephan Orth

Ein Buch das ich jedem weiterempfehlen würde, der Lust hat, einen Einblick in die echte russische Kultur zu bekommen. Ohne Vorurteile, abseits der Klischees & der Stereotypen, unbeeinflusst von den aktuellsten politischen Ereignissen. Für jemanden der mit der Art der russischen Menschen vertraut ist, kann ich mit Sicherheit sagen, dass mit dem Buch ein absolut…

“A Strangeness in My Mind” – Orhan Pamuk

Going through my 2nd Orhan Pamuk book, it once again had the effect of pulling you into a completely different world & making you feel as if you’ve known the characters for years. The way its written is absolutely effortless & the transitions of seeing the story from different people’s perspectives gave it even more…

“The Vegetarian” – Han Kang

“The Vegetarian” was a short, yet an impactful read, which manages to grasp you emotionally if you open up to the story. Regardless the name, the topic of vegetarianism, though playing a decisive role in the development of the story, is only a marginal one. It’s much more of a tale of the freedom of…

“Influence” – Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen

As far as the format of this book goes – it’s much better than what I’ve expected it to be. What I’ve thought would just be a narrative about the lives of the Olsen twins, led on by their portraits embellishing the cover, turned out to be something completely different. A gorgeous book full of…

“The Prisoner of Heaven” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I’ve heard a lot of praise for the works of Carlos Ruiz Zafón from friends who have read his books. “The Prisoner of Heaven” was picked up by chance at an airport, mostly because I was intrigued by the description on the back. The secret World of the Cemetery of Forgotten books, hidden in the…