I wish I could give the book a better rating due to its content but it just doesn’t measure up higher than a 3 out of 5. It’s not incredibly well written, it is extremely repetitive & the “stuck in the 90s” design of the cover as well as of some randomly inserted illustrations (of…
Category: Read in 2017
“Wonder” – R. J. Palacio
There are few words that can describe the impression “Wonder” leaves after reading it & I think you would see best by making your own opinion of it. It’s sweet, enchanting, heart warming, extremely emotionally touching (leaving you laughing out loud or even getting teary-eyed at times) & besides all that, so so well written….
“À propos d’un gamin” (About a Boy) – Nick Hornby
Out of the 3 Nick Hornby books that I’ve read, this is definitely the one that I hated the least 😁 The characters were better developed, in my opinion, than the ones in “A Long Way Down” & “High Fidelity”. Nevertheless, what seems to have saved the rating of the book, was the fact of…
“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…
“Underground” – Haruki Murakami
Murakami’s “Underground” has definitely nothing to do with the author’s other works of fiction. Nevertheless I mostly reached out for the book because of Murakami – I didn’t end up being completely disappointed but it also wasn’t a groundbreaking book in my opinion, therefore the 3 out of 5 stars rating. What I read out…
“Couchsurfing im Iran” – Stephan Orth
Nach dem fertiglesen des “Couchsurfing in Russland” Buches, bin ich von der iranischen Version sogar mehr begeistert! Der Unterschied zwischen den beiden ist, dass in der Iran-Ausführung mehr Zeit genommen wurde, über die Personen und die Interaktionen mit den Leuten zu schildern, anstatt eher nur über das Land im Allgemeinen. Der angenehme & die Spannung…
“Vous descendez? (A Long Way Down)” – Nick Hornby
The only reason why I keep on reaching out to Nick Hornby’s books is the fact that I’ve got them standing around in French on my bookshelf. In my opinion, that’s also the only plausible reason to read them – translated in other languages to learn a foreign language, since the style & the vocabulary…
“Chernobyl Prayer” – Svetlana Alexievich
Chernobyl Prayer is one of those books that simply takes you on an emotional roller-coaster ride while reading it. The collected stories are probably the most authentic ones you’ll get to read when trying to find the real background stories of people affected by Chernobyl. With tears of sadness, feeling touched by the stories of…
“Confessions of a Sociopath” – M. E. Thomas
I would have given the book a 4 out of 5 rating, but unfortunately it is too noticeable that the author absolutely isn’t a professional writer. I just started with “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer & the difference couldn’t have been bigger, the 2 books seem like 2 absolutely different worlds judging by the…
“The Dark Road” – Ma Jian
Ma Jian’s story definitely gives an absolutely different perspective on China’s “one child policy” than what you would expect. The narrative proceeds in a way that feels a bit like a roller-coaster ride, which can be perceived from both a positive & a negative side. It doesn’t manage to captivate your attention completely but nevertheless…
“The Girl on the Train” – Paula Hawkins
I started with “The Girl on the Train” longing for a similar read to “Gone Girl” but it simply ended up being too similar. I even checked the publication years, if Hawkins might have gotten some inspiration from Flynn, which might very well be possible. The way both stories developed were very much alike, the…
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