Ich bin letztes Jahr bis zur Hälfte gekommen und habe dann das Interesse verloren. Es war mir irgendwie zu merkwürdig, ohne dass dabei was besonderes rausgekommen wäre. Schade.
Reviews and Comments
So many books, so little time (and space)...
The original plan was to work through the piles of unread books in my flat, not to mention the e-books I have and the audiobooks I bookmarked on Spotify/lismio. But somehow, those keep growing. Also, I re-discovered the library. ;)
I mostly read Sci-fi, Fantasy and historical fiction. Also non-fiction (mostly history of one kind or another). I read in English and German and occasionally French.
Posts in English and German
flauschtext@mastodon.de on Mastodon
This link opens in a pop-up window
Flauschbuch stopped reading Die Nibelungen by Felicitas Hoppe
Flauschbuch reviewed Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Not my cup of tea
3 stars
This is the first book I read for the book club my friends and I have now. We're following the illumicrate calendar. Reading the description, I expected this to be a fun romp but it's really more of a slow romance. Unfortunately, I found almost all characters annoying. Mei (the reaper) verges on manic pixie dream girl and Nelson comes off as pretty mean. Even though Wallace is very unsympathetic I couldn't help but feel exasperated on his behalf as Mei and Nelson weren't very helpful or were even having him on, given that finding out you're dead is a difficult situation to be in. They grow more sympathetic over time, though. After the initial excitement the book is rather slow moving and I lost interest. Not sure I would have finished it if it wasn't a book club book. The pace picks up again in the second half and …
This is the first book I read for the book club my friends and I have now. We're following the illumicrate calendar. Reading the description, I expected this to be a fun romp but it's really more of a slow romance. Unfortunately, I found almost all characters annoying. Mei (the reaper) verges on manic pixie dream girl and Nelson comes off as pretty mean. Even though Wallace is very unsympathetic I couldn't help but feel exasperated on his behalf as Mei and Nelson weren't very helpful or were even having him on, given that finding out you're dead is a difficult situation to be in. They grow more sympathetic over time, though. After the initial excitement the book is rather slow moving and I lost interest. Not sure I would have finished it if it wasn't a book club book. The pace picks up again in the second half and it gets very moving towards the end. I liked that many characters were queer and that that was treated as something normal and accepted.
Still unsure how I feel about the version of afterlife depicted in this book.
Flauschbuch started reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Flauschbuch started reading The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
Accidentally checked it out of the library - I had it on hold and forgot to extend the pause on that hold and Libby's UI is kind of confusing. Let's see how far I get with it alongside the other books I'm reading.
Flauschbuch reviewed The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Intriguing, a little short
4 stars
I had been wondering about this series for a while - how is it possible to read the books in any order? I believe I understand that better now. I this one, a lot of the world is laid out sort of in the background with the help of the framing story and the story told by Rabbit. A lot is left unsaid but still adds layers to the world and the narrative. I especially liked how each chapter began with objects that were then given meaning and context. While I felt that this story was perhaps a bit too short to really get to know the characters I'm interested in reading the other books in the series.
Flauschbuch started reading Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Flauschbuch started reading Die vor den Toren by Clara Viebig
Als ob ich nicht schon genug Bücher angefangen hätte zur Zeit, jetzt noch ein weiteres Hörbuch. Ich war/bin etwas deprimiert und dachte, dass so eine ruhige Geschichte aus der Gründerzeit da vielleicht etwas hilft. Bin positiv überrascht: das Buch ist von 1910, aber von der Sprache her sehr zugänglich. Auch unterhaltsam gelesen. Und das Tempelhofer Feld kommt sehr oft und prominent vor. ;)
Ist noch eine Weile in der ARD-Audiothek: www.ardaudiothek.de/sendung/rosemarie-fendel-liest-die-vor-den-toren-von-clara-viebig/12913849/
Flauschbuch finished reading Ein Winter in Nizza by Christian Schärf
Très poétique
4 stars
Mes résolutions pour cette année contiennent aussi le plan de lire plus des livres en francais. Mon vocabulaire est trop constraint es je veux l'augmenter comme ça. Cette livre étatit une bonne choix pour ça parce que l'autrice et la protagoniste réfléchissent beaucoup sur la langue. J'aime beaucoup l'idée que le silence est une part intégral de la langue et aussi une langue en soi-même. L'imagination de la protagoniste était un peu trop vivide quelquefois pour moi. Mais, dans l'ensemble, je recommanderai cette livre.
Flauschbuch reviewed She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
A sweeping tale
4 stars
I find it difficult to rate this one because - while it doesn't end on a cliffhanger - it clearly is the first part of a longer story. I loved the scale - both geographic and chronological - of the story. It starts with Zhu in her village, starving, leads to her coming of age in the monastery and continues on with her military and political rise. The characterisations are well done and we get insights into their thinking and motivations. Zhu's development regarding ethical behaviour was a little predictable but not unrealistic. Lately, I've also found myself thinking about having a fate or choosing a fate while reading a different book. I'm looking forward to the sequel.
Flauschbuch started reading Farbe bekennen by Katharina Oguntoye
Passend zum #BlackHistoryMonth - dieses Buch entstand 1986 aus einem Seminar von Audre Lorde in Berlin und steht für den Beginn der Schwarzen Bewegung in Deutschland. Die Grundlage ist May Ayims Diplomarbeit, für die sie afrodeutsche Frauen verschiedener Generationen interviewte, um die Geschichte Schwarzer Menschen in Deutschland zu beleuchten. Ich wollte das Buch schon lange lesen, es war lange vergriffen, aber es gibt seit 2020 eine neue Ausgabe, die auch in vielen Bibliotheken (auch als e-book) zu finden sein dürfte.
Flauschbuch started reading Februar 33 by Uwe Wittstock
Flauschbuch finished reading Identitti by Mithu M. Sanyal
Flauschbuch reviewed Mitte by Volker Kutscher
Spannend und schön gestaltet
4 stars
Die Story ist sehr spannend, das Buch sehr schön gestaltet. Dadurch, dass es ein Briefroman ist, wirkt die Erzählstimme von Fritze etwas zu gestelzt. An einigen Stellen wird es auch ein bisschen unglaubhaft, dass sich alle so detailreich und offenherzig schreiben, angesichts der Situation, in der sie sich befinden. Aber es liest sich gut weg.