„When you know someone’s pissed about what you’re writing – when you know you’re potentially in danger – that’s when you know you’re doing your job.“ (quotation page 36)
Content
Lela Falcon, reporter, is researching a story about a company called Undertown, that had now ownes a building connected to Lela’s first story, many years ago, about the serial killer Tusk. Now his sign, a red right hand appears again. He is dead – is he? Together with her niece Hannah, Mike Juniper, Josh, intern at her editor and his friend Derek, a genious of a hacker, she tries to stop an ancient dark force that is about to change the world through an internet virus.
Theme and Genre
This thrilling story is a combination of magic, horror and modern technology. It is gripping and makes you hope for the lives of the protagonists that try everything to stop the dark forces.
Conclusion
A book that makes you unable to put down, but for readers like me too much of „traditional horror“ with ugly figures to fight. I was hoping for more IT and dark net instead. But with the story developing and going on, it absolutely convinced me, drove me forward until the end. Definitely a book for readers that like the horror-genre and authors like Stephen King.
“But as our eyes adjust to the gloom, lit by a solitary light bulb in each room, Lucy and I gasp, because the only thing this place is, it could ever have been, is a bookshop.” (Quotation page 70)
Content
They are friends since University: Cath, Si (Simon), Josh and stunning Portia. While Portia has left to find her own way, Lucy, married to Josh, perfectly fits into the circle. Cath, successfully working for a London advertising agency, has an almost lifelong dream, to open a bookshop including a café and Lucy loves to cook and bake. Together they find a shop that had been empty for a long time, but is just perfect for them. Soon Bookends is open and running. Cath is very close to Si, her best friend, but while Si is trying everything to finally find the man of his life, Cath is sure that she definitely is not made for relationships. Maybe meeting kind, understanding James, their estate agent and a very talented painter, could make her rethink the advantages of her single life. Then Portia is back and with her exciting times.
Theme and Genre
This is not a book about literature and bookshops, but about friendship that lasts from the lighthearted student’s life to the different circle of life of adults who have to earn money, start a family and want to live their dreams. It is about misunderstandings and the fact that dealing with problems is easier if one has friends for support.
Characters
Cath, the main character, is single and happy with it, a little bit messy, but really cares for her friends, especially for Si, as he needs her. She just has to learn to trust herself and take care for her own happiness. Si is the perfect best friend as he loves to go shopping and is very good company. Lucy is an optimistic, loveable person and every character, such as Babysitter Ingrid, is special and well developed.
Plot and writing
This romantic story is written in the first person and told by Cath and is located in Hampstead, London, with interesting, precise descriptions of the surroundings and the urban lifestyle in busy London. There are some foreseeable and some unexpected twists as serious topics are entwined in the story.
Conclusion
A romantic, easy to read story about friendship, love, dreams and life – and about a bookshop. Entertaining, but with some lengths, because main protagonist Cath is just too indecisive in her behavior, with her thoughts circling almost endlessly around her fear to fall on love. I would have enjoyed to read a little bit more about the bookshop, café and its customers.
Two people in a car, driving on a cold winter day somewhere in the rural country. Jake and his girlfriend are going to visit his parents who live on a lonely farm. The girl is thinking about the future, but mostly about ending things. They could stay overnight but the girl wants to dive home, although it is late, snowing and freezing.
Theme and Genre
This is a gripping, dense, psychological thriller with many unforeseeable twists and chapters that seem not to fit into the story. A simple road trip that ends different from anything the reader would expect.
Characters
The girl, we do not even know her name, is thinking about ending things, maybe after having met his parents. She is scared by many calls and voice messages from a stranger, telling her “there is only one question”. Jack is intelligent and the girl seems somehow attracted to him.
Plot and Writing
It seems a simple car ride, written in the first person as told only by the girl and her thoughts. Interrupted by pieces of a written conversation that gives some frightening hints. A special twisted story, chilling and very entertaining the same time.
Conclusion
Words are missing to explain this gripping psychological thriller, the genius of the author, without giving too many hints. I would recommend just reading it and enjoying.
“Understanding prepares us for the future.” (Quotation pos. 433)
Content
When she was a child, Miranda Brooks loved it, when her Uncle Billy took her to his bookshop “Prospero Books”. The last time she saw him was on her twelfth birthday. After a serious argument with her mother, his sister, he just disappeared. After sixteen years, she gets a package with the book “The Tempest” inside. The same evening her mother tells her that Uncle Billy had died. He has left his bookshop to Miranda. She returns to Prospero Books, also to find out what had happened twelve years ago that had made Billy leave …
Theme and Genre
It is not only a story about reading, books (especially Shakespeare “The Tempest”) and the problems of independent bookstores, but about family and hidden secrets, lies and the importance to talk to one another.
Characters
Miranda is a history teacher when she inherits Prospero Books and hopes to save it and not to have to close it down. She is a quite pleasant main character, but during the story going on, she got just too stubborn about the family secrets. Especially her conduct towards her mother was just too much drama for me and not understandable for a grown-up person. While Malcolm, the manager of the bookstore and the regular visitors of the store and included café are interesting and likeable.
Plot and Writing
The story is written in the first person, told by Miranda. There are some flashbacks included directly into to story, where necessary for better understanding. The family secret is slowly revealed during the plot and that makes the story interesting and gripping, even if the reader at a certain point might guess the truth. I definitely have enjoyed the parts about literature and books.
Conclusion
A fine-spun plot and gripping story about literature and family secrets buried in the past. Although not always happy with the main character, I really did enjoy the story that gives the reader some pleasant, entertaining reading hours.
Dieses Buch ist auch bereits in deutscher Übersetzung unter
dem Titel „Ein Himmel voller Bücher“ erschienen. Schon der deutsche
Titel macht für mich überhaupt keinen Sinn, wenn der Rest der Übersetzung von
ähnlicher Qualität ist, sollte man wirklich das englische Original lesen. Es
ist ein unterhaltsamer Frauenroman, sprachlich angenehm zu lesen.
„I need to know you, and I need you to know me.“ (pos. 5225)
Content – Book Cover
On the quayside next to the Endless Beach sits the Summer Seaside Kitchen. It’s a haven for tourists and locals alike, who all come to eat the freshest local produce on the island and catch up with the gossip. Flora, who runs the cafe, feels safe and content – unless she thinks too hard about her relationship with Joel, her gorgeous but emotionally (and physically) distant boyfriend.
While Flora
is in turmoil about her relationship. her best friend Lorna is pining after the
local doctor. Saif came to the island as a refugee, having lost all of his
family. But he’s about to get some shocking news which will change everything
for him.
As cold
winter nights shift to long summer days, can Flora find her happy-ever-after
with Joel?
Theme and Genre
This book is part two of a series and it tells again the story and struggles of Flora and Joel, but this time the main part is about Colton and Fintan. One theme are the damages, war does to children. Another theme is foster care. The story is also about how to deal with cancer as a fatal disease. All these topics are embedded in a romantic feel-good-story on the fictional, beautiful island of Mure.
Characters
We meet again the characters known from book one and they still struggle between misunderstandings and feelings.
Plot and Writing
Jenny Colgan is an experienced author with an enjoyable writing style and she knows how to plot stories that are funny and sad in the same time. Even though part one of the series, The Summer Seaside Kitchen, is the first book of Jenny Colgan that could nor really convince me because of the endless misunderstandings that made the reading a little bit boring, I tried to give part two a chance. Again lots of thinking and misunderstandings, together with many – in my opinion too many – very serious themes in a very cozy story, which for me did not work.
Conclusion
A nice read for summer afternoons, a beautiful island, friendly people. A heartwarming story for romantic readers where even tragic ends in happily ever after – for me just too much of everything.
„When was the exact moment that I might have found some courage and for once in my life done the right thing?“ (Quotation page 341)
Content
In 1945, sixteen years old Catherine Goggin gets pregnant. As she refuses to name the father of the child to the Catholic priest during Mass, she has to immediately leave her home village Goleen and goes to Dublin. After birth, she gives her baby to a nun who has found parents with money and status for the child, that adopt the boy, calling him Cyrus. He first meets Julian Woodbead in 1952, when he is seven years old. In 1959, they meet again as roommates at Belvedere College. He adores Julian but there are also strange feelings, which he thinks to be just some sentimental misinterpretation of a fourteen years old. However, neglecting the truth leads to many years of hiding his secret, misunderstandings, travelling, until he finds his identity and place in life …
Theme and Genre
This epic novel could also be a biography. Main theme is homosexuality in the years where it still was forbidden, especially in Ireland under the pressure of the very strict rules of the Catholic Church and society. Another topic is AIDS in a time when people believed that only gay people could get it. The story of Cyril is also about friendship, compassion and how a lie can have big consequences.
Characters
Cyril, the main protagonist, tries to hide his feelings for Julian and his sexual orientation and it takes him many years to accept, who he is. Sometimes the situation makes him weak, deeply hurting other persons instead of just telling the truth. On the other hand, destiny bringst some twists and hazards into his life which are not his fault and which he has to handle. Therefore he remains likeable to the reader. This novel is full of interesting characters, their friendship, their struggles and especially the short scenes when Cyril and his real mother meet during the years without knowing who they are, are touching.
Plot and Writing
The novel is written like a biography, with Cyril as the first person narrative. He tells the story of his life in chronological order, beginning with the story of his birth 1945, which his mother many years later had told him, until 2015. There are many twists, changes of location that make the book gripping to read, very interesting how some of the characters in different times come into the story again. John Boyne shows a great feeling for the language and a fantastic ability of plot building.
Conclusion
A gripping, heartwarming but also entertaining story, that gives the reader every feeling between laughing and crying.
Deutsche Ausgabe: „Cyril Avery“ von John Boyne, Verlag: Piper, 2. Mai 2018, geb. Ausgabe 736 Seiten, ISBN-13: 978-3492058537
„All the secrets in the world worth knowing are hiding in plain sight.” (Pos. 3901)
Content
Clay Jannon, web-designer in San Francisco has lost his job and he finds a new one, working at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, but only the night shifts from 10 to 6. The shop looks quite small and offers a wide range of SF books, but deep in the background are huge shelves with very old, strange looking books. Clay notes that most clients do not buy books, but borrow one of these special books, bring it back and borrow another one. Therefore, this must be more than a normal bookstore. Together with his friends Mat and Neel, he begins with researches to reveal the story behind the bookshop that seems to be more a library, and its customers. However, not everybody likes these investigations and the organization in the background is powerful and dangerous.
Theme and Genre
This novel is not only about books and bookstores, but also about important knowledge and mysteries, hidden in books. IT market players like Google, the people and researches behind is also a topic.
Characters
Clay Jannon is more than a book-nerd and he definitely changes, his self-confidence growing with the dangers. He and his friends are witty, likeable specialists.
Plot and Writing
The novel is written in the first-person point of view, told by Clay Jannon. The language is enjoyable and humorous. The story is interesting and thrilling and there is some magic and mystery woven into the plot. This together makes the book a real page-turner.
The author has also written a short prequel pf 112 pages about how Mr.
Penumbra came to the bookstore: “Ajax Penumbra: 1969”, Kindle Edition, which I
have read first.
Conclusion
A gripping story for booklovers, with mysteries and exciting turns and likeable protagonists. Perfect for a weekend lost in a book.
“You know you’ve been cooped up writing for too many hours when the weak October sun seems unbearably bright and everything sort of shimmers.” (page 384)
Content
The newborn Alice Rose was abandoned in the Yorkshire moors near Haworth. Her father by adoption loves her and so does Lola, her best friend. She loves to bake and when her father by adoption suddenly dies, she works as a baker and pastry chef, until she finally returns to Haworth, hoping to find the woman who abandoned her. She has bought a little teashop that needs lots of work and renovation until she can start her afternoon tea emporium. But she has found friends who help her – with her teashop and with the research to find out who she is …
Theme and Genre
This is the story about adoption and the questions arising about the real parents, about abandonment, but most of all about having a dream, about friendship, helping together, and about baking (recipes included at the end of the book). The setting in Cornwall gives the reader a holiday feeling and there is enough humor and romance to make this book a perfect summer read.
Characters
Trisha Ashley writes about loveable, quite funny and special persons, easily to be found in small villages. Especially the member of the Giddings family, helpful and welcoming to Alice, warmhearted people, I liked every single person of them. There are two quite stubborn, old-fashioned, witty waitresses, helping Alice to reopen the teashop. Alice, the main character is used to be abandoned, sometimes just because and sometimes by fate. Also struggling she keeps her hopes, dreams and moves on to make things happen. Sometimes sad, but never lamenting, she believes in solutions and maybe wonders.
Plot and Writing
There are three entwined storylines, what makes this book special and gives exciting turns. The story begins with a prologue in 1978, the story of the abandoned baby, told by the woman, who is her mother, between the chapters of Alice today, 36 years old, and her struggles to make a go of the run-down old teashop. The third story is a fairy tale, but with new interpretations, written by Alice, mainly during long nights. Especially this third story is very funny and lets the reader sometimes laugh aloud – as the whole story does. The author has a big sense for creating funny situations and makes the story an enjoyable read.
Conclusion
A story about some bad times, but lots of good times, of friendship, about the comfort of small villages and about delicious baking. Written with a good sense of humor and romance. A book for readers who love settings in Cornwall, bakeries, funny misunderstandings and who enjoy entertaining stories. Perfect for a relaxing and comfortable weekend.
“Everything in life has its time to happen. A time to plant, a time to grow and a time to harvest. And if you take things steady, you´ll bring your harvest home.” (Citation pos. 3113)
Content
Hanna Casey had lived in London, when she divorced after almost 30 years of marriage. Therefore, she came back to Crossarra to live with her mother and she works as librarian of Lissbeg Library. Her great-aunt Maggie had left her old house to Hanna, and with the help of old Fury O’Shea, a local builder, she is going to restore it and make it her home.
Conor is
Hanna’s assistant at the library and in his opinion, the library could be
really changed and successful. But Hanna would have to change things, be more
relaxed about her stringent rules and open to new ideas.
When the
Government plans to invest in the area, to close the library and move it to
Carrick everything changes. In the convent garden of her former school, Hanna
meets Sister Michael and step-by-step plans are developed how to fight back …
Theme and Genre
This is the story about a small village somewhere at the west coast of Ireland and the people living there. Different Governmental ideas about town and area development together with property speculations are an issue too. It is also about family, relationships between parents and children, between neighbors and inhabitants of small places, gossip and misunderstandings. It definitely is a story about books, readers and book lovers and about the beauty of nature of an Irish landscape.
Characters
The author introduces the reader to a quite complicated main character, Hanna, who still mentally struggles about her failed marriage. But as the story continues, Hanna slowly changes, ready to be more open to other people and ready to call Crossarra the place where she now belongs. There may still be many misunderstandings between her and her mother, but family always sticks together, when necessary.
We also
meet different people living in the village community: Conor, the young book
lover with modern ideas about networking and libraries open to everybody, Fury
the builder, an old individualist, special but with a great heart and Sister
Michael, the old nun, a wise and excellent strategist, and many others. Each of
the characters is understandable and likeable.
Plot and Writing
As the story develops, it is interesting to see how everybody in the area starts to get together, the old-fashioned social networking as it was found for centuries in rural structures comes to life again, but combined with modern social media.
Conclusion
I have enjoyed every page of the book, there are no lengths in this story. I really liked the different characters and recommend this enjoyable, cozy read for a pleasant weekend, ready to be carried off to an imaginary trip to libraries and a small village in Ireland.
“I mean it but sadly the world doesn’t owe us happiness. We have to go out and find it …” (original quotation pos. 2864)
Content
Will Godrevy and his twin-sister Jessica, together with their mother Ann, are the owners of the St Saviour’s Flower Farm. Dr Gabriella Carter “Gaby” has a PhD in Poetry, but joins the flower farm but joins the flower farm on St Saviour’s island as a field worker. Feelings are sparkling between Will and Gaby, but she just needed some time for herself, just during the narcissi flower picking season and after that she will travel on, time for her to see other parts of the world. Jess and Adam are thinking about moving in together. But within one day, he leaves the island without explanations. However, there always is the flower farm and life somehow has to go on …
Theme and Genre
A romantic story that takes place on a flower farm on a small island.
Plot and Writing
The story tales place on one of the Isles of Scilly, on a narcissi flower farm. The main characters are likeable, and especially the sparks that fly between Will and Gaby, are described in a funny, humorous way. Hints and twists keep the reader with the story, as we have more than one main character and each of them has own decisions to make, including personal crises. There are some interesting descriptions of planting and growing different kinds of narcissi, as well a about rowing.
This
romance is also about family values, trust and friendship. Experiences in the
past, lead to some misunderstandings, caused by not-outspoken words. At a certain
point of the story, the circling around the same questions and
misinterpretations in my opinion lead to some lengths and stop the enjoyable
reading flow.
Conclusion
A perfect pre-springtime read in a lovely setting, perfect for an enjoyable, relaxing weekend.
Tom Hazard is a history teacher in London and he likes what he does. But what seems to be a normal life, for him does not mean normality at all, because he was born on the third of March 1581, which means that now he is 437 years old. Not that he is immortal, it is only that he is aging very, very slow. In 1890, a doctor had called this condition “anageria”, his lifelong mentor Hendrich calls people like them (and there are more) albatrosses, or just albas.
The problem for people like Tom is that they have to change identity, places to live, before their neighbors are wondering and become suspicious. In 1603 he fell in love with Rose, they got married in 1607 and as she got older, the difference between him and her was even more visible. The 17th century was an especially dangerous period for people being somehow different, but also in our modern times, for Tom there seems to be no place to just live a normal life – but, what if? … what if he falls in love again?
Theme, plot and Writing
This story is much more than “fantasy” and definitely not “science fiction”. It is more a travel through time and centuries, with vivid descriptions of the Shakespearian London and Paris in the “Golden Twenties”. But it is not about time-travelling, as Tom cannot go back into the past.
Written in
the 1st person and in chapters, the story is set in nowadays London
and Tom thinks and speaks about his life in form of many flashbacks, each
chapter heading defines time and location.
Based on
his experiences during more than 400 years, Tom now is ruled by the situation,
by the time, by his fears that have grown from the risk of discovery of his
special condition and above all he feels his loneliness. Based on his
experiences he never wants to fall in love again. Some of his fears and concerns
are given rise by Hendrich, who is much older than Tom and who is the Head of
the Albatross Organization, who helps Albas with new identities. But Tom during
the complete story is and remains a really loveable, often struggeling main
character.
Conclusion
The story is enjoyable and entertaining to read, with exciting turns. For readers who like historical fiction and plots in different time settings.
„With you at the helm, Bookends will start a new chapter in its life and I know that I couldn’t be leaving my beloved shop in better hands.“ (Quotation)
Content
When Lavinia Thorndyke dies at the age of 84, she leaves “Bookends”, her bookshop, to Posy Morland, who almost grew up in the shop and loves books and the shop means home for her and her younger brother. But “Bookends”, quite hidden at Rochester Mews, Bloomsbury, with old, now closed shops around, for years did not make any profit, with book chains like Waterstones just around the corner. Posy has only two years to make it a success, if not, it goes to Sebastian Thorndyke, Lavinia´s grandson. Together with her crew, Nina, Verity and Tom, she plans to rename the shop into “Happy Ever After”, paint it grey and pink as signature colors and to specialize on all kinds of romantic books, love stories, happy endings included. But Sebastian also found a new name for the shop “The Bloody Dagger”, painting it in black and red and selling only crime books …
Plot and Writing
This romantic novel is written in narrative form, with a personal narrator, focused on Posy. The story of Posy´s parents and of her childhood is given by Posy´s memories and flashbacks and leads to a better understanding of her character, behavior and acting. A special and witty story within the story is “Ravished by the Rake”, written by a very angry Posy.
The
bookshop, the surroundings, the people of the neighborhood are well described
and easily to imagine. The author finds a special personality for every member
of the bookshop´s crew and together they are amiable.
At the age
of 21, when their parents had died, Posy had taken the responsibility for her 8
years old brother and until today, eight years later, she still is firmly
connected to the past and memories of her parents. She somehow is afraid of the
responsibility for the bookshop and sometimes behaving like somebody much
younger. I quite liked the character, but on the other hand I cannot understand
why all female main protagonists since Bridget Jones have to be chaotic, messy,
chubby biscuit eaters? In my opinion, the story with a just a little bit more
self confident main character would have remained funny, enjoyable and
romantic.
Conclusion
All in all, I have to say that I have enjoyed the book but as I love stories about books and bookshops, that I have read better ones and am a little bit disappointed.
Anyway, I am sure that readers and fans of Bridget Jones like books will love this one too, and enjoy a relaxed, entertaining reading time.
Deutsche Ausgabe: “Der kleine Laden der einsamen Herzen“, 9.
Mai 2017, TB ISBN 978-3328100980
„A novel about first impressions and second chances.“ (Book cover)
Content and Theme
Merry Knight works as a temp for Matterson Consulting, just twelve month to earn money to finish her studies at the college. Beeing it December, her work there is almost over. So her mother and brother Patrick are sure that it is time to do something for her social live and as a birthday present for Merry they set up her profile at Mix & Mingle, a famous dating platform. The put in “Smith” instead of Knight and a foto of their dog Bogie.
Jayson
Bright, vice president of the company she is working for might be, as the other
women say, good-locking, but he never seems to smile, sticks to the employee
handbook for lots of rules and is under extreme pressure preparing a very
important contract with Boeing, scheduled still before Christmas. But when his
cousin and best friend fiends the love of his life through Mix & Mingle, he
is just curious, logs on the dating site, searching for women in the aerea –
and finds the foto of a dog, a golden retriver like his childhood friend Rocky
…
Debbie
Macomber knows how to write romance. Merry and Jayson are both likeable
characters, but still remain realistic. This book is about family, about caring
for each other and about the spirit of Christmas- and about two people who need
time to see what is just in front of their noses.
Conclusion
An entertaining, cosy and enjoyable read for comfortable hours in the time around Christmas, where readers are ready for some dreaming and romance, happy-ending included.
„Every December J.R.R. Tolkien´s children would receive letters from Father Christmas.“ (Quotation cover)
Content and Theme
This book is a collection of the famous author´s letters he wrote to his children as Father Christmas from the North Pole. Every year´s letter tells stories about how Father Christmas, together with his assistant Polar Bear, prepares everything for Christmas, but also about their helpers, the Elves, and the troubles they have with the bad Goblins that try to steal all the presents. Each letter tells about adventures and funny troubles, especially connected with Polar Bear.
The Book
includes photos of the original written letters, envelopes and the beautiful
drawings that were sent together with the letters.
From 1939
until 1943 Father Christmas also writes about the war and low storages because
of the war, explaining that he could not get everything the the children´s
wishlists worldwide.
Conclusion
This is a book for children, to be read by the parents to the smaller children and will sure be read by the children themselves as soon as they can read. But also adults will really enjoy the stories and the illustrations. The perfect read to shorten the days before Christmas.
„And in that moment, as the old year paused before the new arrived, it was as if the world took a breath.“ (Quotation page 338)
Content Bookcover
Polly Waterford loves running the Little Beach Street Bakery. She’s at her happiest when she’s creating delicious treats and the festive season always inspires her to bake and knead something extra special for the village residents. In fact, the only thing she loves more than her bakery is curling up with her gorgeous boyfriend, Huckle. She’s determined that this Christmas is going to be their best one yet, but life doesn’t always work out as planned…
When Polly’s best friend Kerensa turns up with
a secret that threatens the life Polly and Huckle have built together, the
future begins to look uncertain. And then a face from Polly’s past reappears
and things become even more complicated. Polly can usually find solace in
baking but she has a feeling that’s not going to be enough this time. Can she
get things back on track so that everyone has a merry Christmas?
Theme and Genre
Generally, the story is about friendship, mistakes and how to keep a secret – or to share it with the partner at any cost.
Plot
Jenny Colgan is one of my favorite authors for “very british, cosy” and I love her series such as these stories about the Cornish bakery and Polly Waterford, the gifted, creative baker. But in this third book about the Little Beach Street Bakery are so many pages about Polly, who this time around Christmas seems to be quite unable to make her own decisions, somewhat sliding between Yes and No – this is not the protagonist Polly as known the former two books. Huckle too begins to act more like a teenager than a grown up. This altogether lenghtens the plot.
Conclusion
It was a nice read and I nevertheless would recommend it to all fans of Jenny Colgan, and as cosy Christmas read to all readers who love to cuddle up with an enjoyable story, tea and biscuits, on dark afternoons.
‚Tis the season to be jolly … or is it’? (Book cover)
Content (Book cover)
Christmas Eve. While the world sleeps, snow falls gently from the sky, presents lie under the tree … and murder is afoot. In this collection of ten classic murder mysteries by the best crime writers from the 1920s to today, death and mayhem take many festive forma, from the inventive to the unexpected. From a Santa Claus with a grudge to a cat who knows who killed its owner on Christmas Eve, these are stories to enjoy – and by mystified by – in front of a roaring fire, mince pie in hand.
Theme and Genre
A collection of classic short stories, written by well-known authors. We meet a cat that helps uncover the truth, strange “Footprints in the Sky”, a valuable unique manuscript and a thoughtful making story about “On a Christmas day in the morning.
Conclusion
Special, thrilling and enjoyable short stories, perfect for this time of the year.
„A bookshop keeps many secrets …“ (Quotation book cover)
Content
Loveday Cardew works in a bookshop in York. Due to a terrible childhood experience that made her lose her parents, she definitely prefers books to people. Archie, the owner of the bookshop and more fatherly advisor than boss, really cares without asking too many questions. Meeting Nathan, poet and part-time magician, and falling in love with him, seems to give Loveday new confidence to open up and learn to trust people. But hints from the past suddenly appearing in the bookshop mean for Loveday that she has to face up to the past. But can she?
I like stories that take place in bookshops or are about books. But in this case, the bookshop seems to be just the location of the plot, together with some books quoted, meanwhile the story, written in the first person, is about Loveday´s past. More than three quarters of the book give lots of hints, which begins to be a little bit boring because the reader soon has figured out what might have happened. As Loveday seems to be unable to trust people again, the plot also is about the problems of traumatic childhood expriences and how these influence the future life. Mostly, the plot twists only around a few main characters, I would have liked to know more about the setting, for example customers and their stories. The end was expectable but for me not coherent, considering the plot.
Conclusion
I would recommend “Lost for words” for readers who like stories about physical problems, inner moods and the struggles of a female main protagonist.
„May our philosophies keep pace with our technologies. May our compassion keep pace with our powers. And may love, not fear, be the engine of change.” (Originalzitat)
Content (Book Cover)
Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever”. The evening’s host is his friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old tech magnate whose dazzling inventions and audacious predictions have made him a controversial figure around the world. This evening is to be no exception: he claims he will reveal an astonishing scientific breakthrough to challenge the fundamentals of human existence.
But Langdon and several hundred other guests are left reeling when the
meticulously orchestrated evening is blown apart before Kirsch’s precious
discovery can be revealed. With his life under threat, Langdon is forced into a
desperate bid to escape, along with the museum’s director, Ambra Vidal.
Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic
password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.
In order to
evade a tormented enemy who is one step ahead of them at every turn, Langdon
and Vidal must navigate labyrinthine passageways of hidden history and ancient
religion. On a trail marked only by enigmatic symbols and elusive modern art,
Langdon and Vidal uncover the clues that will bring them face-to-face with a
world-shaking truth that has remained buried – until now.
Handlung
Der erfolgreiche, geniale Zukunftsforscher Edmund Kirsch hat seinen Freund und früheren Professor Robert Langdon eingeladen, im Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao zusammen mit einigen hundert weiteren Gästen an der Präsentation seiner sensationellen Entdeckung teilzunehmen: die Antworten auf die beiden größten Fragen der Menschheit „Woher kommen wir“ und „Wohin gehen wir“. Ein Gott als Schöpfer ist bei diesen streng wissenschaftlichen Fakten keine Option mehr. Doch bevor Edmund Kirsch die eigentliche Präsentation, die gleichzeitig weltweit übertragen wird, starten kann, wir er vor den Augen aller erschossen.
Doch es gibt ein Passwort und einen Ort, wo dieses Projekt
des Zukunftsforschers gespeichert ist, und somit auch nach seinem Tod noch
veröffentlicht werden kann. Nur einer kann diese Rätsel lösen und so das
Geheimnis um den Inhalt der wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse seines Freundes
lüften: Robert Langdon. Gemeinsam mit Ambra Vidal, der Direktorin des
Guggenheim Museums Bilbao, die für die Präsentation eng mit Edmund Kirsch
zusammen gearbeitet hatte, beginnt für den Professor ein gefährlicher Wettlauf
gegen die Zeit, gegen mächtige Feinde, die genau diese Veröffentlichung auf
jeden Fall verhindern wollen. Hat Robert Langdon Erfolg und was genau ist diese
bahnbrechende Entdeckung?
Fazit
Bis vor wenigen Tagen hätte ich auf die Frage nach dem meiner Meinung nach besten Buch von Dan Brown (einer meiner Lieblingsautoren) ohne zu zögern geantwortet: „Inferno“. Ich weiß, da gehen die Meinungen auseinander. Wie auch immer, seit heute ist meine Antwort: „Origin“. Diesmal begibt sich der Autor in ein neues Setting, in dem Symbole und Rätsel zwar eine Rolle spielen, jedoch geht es hier vor allem um die essentiellen und zeitlosen Fragen der Menschheit „Woher kommen wir“ und „Wohin gehen wir“ und auch um die Tatsache, dass Wissenschaft, Technik und Religion hier völlig kontroverse Antworten geben.
Für mich ist es großartig, wie Robert Langdon hier einen
spannenden Thriller entwickelt hat, der mögliche Antworten anbietet, ohne
jemals unlogisch zu werden.
Eine beeindruckende Geschichte, die auch zum Nachdenken
anregt.
Ich empfehle dieses Buch von Dan Brown nicht nur Dan Brown
Fans, sondern auch Technik-interessierten Lesern, die auch einen spannenden
Roman zu schätzen wissen. Wer, so wie ich, die Stadt Barcelona und Gaudi liebt,
wird die vielen präzisen Schilderungen einzelner Orte, Bauten usw. ebenfalls
genießen. Manchmal hatte ich während des Lesens in Wikipedia nachgesehen – Dan
Browns Beschreibungen sind wieder exakt und entsprechen absolut der Realität.
„Two sisters. One must be brave. One should be afraid.“ (Quotation)
Content – Book cover
Bravery, courage, fear and love in a time of war
Despite
their differences, Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder
Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French
countryside with her husband Antoine and their child. But when the Second World
War breaks out and Antoine is conscripted to fight, Isabelle is sent to the
country by her father to help Vianne.
As war
develops, the strength of the sisters‘ relationship is put to the test. With
life changing, and confronted by unbelievable horrors, Vianne and Isabelle find
themselves responding in ways they never thought possible, as bravery and
resistance take differing forms for each of the two sisters.
Theme and Genre
The story is set in the time of the German occupation of France during WWII and tells the life conditions of two sisters with quite different characters and how they react to what is happening to the country and people arount them. It is a gripping tale based on the well known events happening in France.
Conclusion
It is very interesting for the reader to follow the development of the main characters, the more cautious Vianne and rebellious Isabelle in this plot full of danger, thrilling action and suffering. A story, readers will remember for long time after turning the last page and closing the book.
This is Susan Hill at her best, telling characteristically creepy and surprising tales of thwarted ambition, terrifying revenge and supernatural stirrings that will leave you wide-awake long into the night. (Citation book cover)
Content – Back cover
From the foggy streets of Victorian London to the eerie perfection of 1950s suburbia, the everyday is invaded by the otherwordly in this unforgettable collection of ghost stories from the bestselling author of The Woman in Black.
Theme and Genre
I normally do not read short stories, because I prefer novels. But this collection of ghost stories caught my eyes and definitely did not disappoint me.
Five
gripping stories, written in the best tradition of the well-known Gothic
stories and novels of the 18th and 19th century, kept me
reading, wondering and sharing the thrills with the protagonists. Susan Hill
knows perfectly how to develop stories with hints to supernatural and ghostly
events, offering almost logical explanations to the reader, but each story
finishing with new twists, facts, that are no longer explainable.
Conclusion
For readers that enjoy a really good ghost story, safely nestled up in a wing chair on a dark November evening.
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