#WhereAreYouMonday

Always happy to be in Japan 🇯🇵 I am in Tokyo this time with a mother and daughter who grief for their husband / father who died in an suicide with another woman.

Yes this is an excellent book. 16 years old Gabriel grows up in Chile with his American parents. He is ashamed of his capitalist parents and his imperialist motherland, infiltrating the world with propaganda. He is a Chilean communist and a supporter of Allende‘s socialist politics. He falls in love in the days leading up to the coup against Allende in 1973.
In 3 parts we read about this period in time and its aftermath. And about Gabriel‘s life.

#WeeklyForecast 04/25

I didn‘t get to Moshi Moshi last week because I had to read Short War first. I still haven‘t finished it because I went hiking this weekend with my girlfriends (cold!!!).

So that one will be next and also I can‘t wait to start Playground, where I‘ve heard such good things of!

#WeeklyFavorites

This was such a fun and touching read. Worth this week‘s favorite nomination 😀

SUCH an annoying bunch of people who keep ignoring their telephones and keep making stupid, hysterical decisions. All because of the kidnapping of their father decades earlier? I don‘t even want to know. I feel as irritated as I did when reading Fleishman. Although I managed to finish that one.
Note to self: ignore future works by this author!!

#ToB25Longlist

This book is a bit of a mess. I have no idea why I bought it in the first place but that was in 2008 so a few years ago 😀

It is about grief and the First World War and quantum physica and animal sex and traveling in Latin America. Well, it fits the #SomePlaceCold prompt for #FictionalTraveler2025!

It‘s here Samantha, my #jolabokaflod present. And you spoiled me!!! Thank you so much for all the yummy looking chocolate (handmade in Helsinki 🤩) and for the book I‘ve been wanting to read for so long but I couldn‘t find where I live.

I am super grateful that you were willing to send it again. I owe you 💕 and I am super happy.

Thanks Chelle for organizing again. It must be a hell of a job for you but for us it‘s so fun 🩷

What a delightful read!

Phoebe incidentally becomes mixed up in a wedding party at a hotel in Rhode Island where she herself booked a room to end her life. However, meeting and talking to the wedding people who are so different from her is refreshing and makes her reflect on her life in a new way.
Without getting cheesy this story is addictive and filled with romance, humor, depth and sadness.

WHY is it in the play-in round of the #ToB25?!!

#WeeklyForecast 03/25

I am reading the unputdownable The Wedding People. Super curious to find out where the story goes. Next will be the oldest book on my tbr (the tagged one) for #FictionalTraveler. Maybe there‘s time for another Banana Yoshimoto as well 🤞🏽

So much love for this book during #12Booksof2024 that I had to find out for myself!

It‘s the quiet story of Zorrie, a woman living in Indiana in the 20th century. Her life is a bittersweet one but she makes the most of it in her own way.

I kept waiting for something to happen during the first half, then surrendered to the gorgeous writing style and rhythm during the second half. That turned out to be a good idea! A pick for sure.

📸 Shiatsu

Amsterdam, 1888. Violin maker Vedder learns that a large hotel is to be built on the site of his house. At the same time rural pharmacist Anijs, is concerned about the local peat cutters, who suffer from abject poverty and have no future in the Netherlands. But emigration costs a fortune – exactly the amount that Vedder thinks he can get for the sale of his house to the hotel company. The men become involved in an oppressive adventure. Great HF!

Unputdownable again, the third book in Boyne‘s Elements series. We met Freya shortly in Earth, where she sat in a jury. Now it‘s her by herself. A doctor at the burn unit. You wonder why she chose this specialization.

It‘s so dark. I can‘t say much more. Just read it. And be prepared.

#weeklyforecast 02/25

After the fabulous Intermezzo I like to stay in Ireland a bit longer and am starting the third John Boyne in his Elements series. It‘s supposed to be very dark but I‘m sure I‘ll love it. It‘s short so I‘ll soon start the tagged book too, which is another from the #ToB25Longlist.
I kind of hated Fleishman so my hopes are not too high!

My Dutch teacher in high school has been a major influence on my life. For although I already loved reading, he learned me about motives and messages and all that was told that wasn‘t literally on the pages.

He must be around 80 by now but he just wrote this poetry collection and I adored it.

#FoodAndLit #Netherlands 🇳🇱

(In the background a very Dutch view of dirty snow 😉)

On my last day before work starts again I treated myself to this one. And I couldn‘t stop reading. I loved all characters and spending time with them. I wished for their happiness and felt their disappointments, helplessness, uncertainties and anger. I wanted to help out with the misunderstandings and things unsaid. That‘s what Sally Rooney is such a master in: creating characters who feel so real, having the most terrific dialogues. ⬇️

Hi all, the brackets for the #ToB25 are now live: https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/the-2025-shortlist

I‘ve been wondering if you‘d like to play along again in March and come to our own winner of the shortlist?
Please let me know if you‘d be interested, then I‘ll organize it again.

I am tagging some ToB regulars but everyone is welcome to join of course. If you‘d like to be (un)tagged, please let me know as well!

One of my new year‘s resolutions is to read a Japanese novel each month. This is my first and it wasn‘t great.
It‘s two short stories. The first is about a couple having sex for 4 days in a so called Love Hotel on the brink of the Iraq War. That one is pretty good although I don‘t get it completely.
The second is about a woman who stays in bed for a whole day, thinking of her home and her husband. That one I didn‘t get at all 🤷🏻‍♀️

Mixed feelings about my first 2025 read. The writing, the ingredients, this strange family: all was there to create a great story. But we only follow two of the siblings and we don‘t even get to know them that well, let alone the other family members. There are no real answers and while this may resemble real life, it‘s not what I expect after almost 500 pages. #ToB25Longlist

#WeeklyForecast 01/25

I am reading Wolf at the Table, which I am enjoying. Next will be the tagged book. In 2025 I want to read at least one Japanese book a month.
And because I am still off work I hope I‘ll find the time to start the Rooney, a good beginning of the new year I hope!

#WeeklyFavorites

All my books were strange and good this week, love that. This one is my favorite though, I even added it to my #Top24of24 list!

Ida and Arnold are both working in the Norwegian literary world when they meet and fall in love. Both are married however and have kids.
What follows are over 300 pages about an all consuming destructive love affair.
Very well written, I could feel their unhappiness, feel for Ida and their wish to be together but it was also hard and frustrating to read.

Not as good as Is Mother Dead.

Iōunn‘s story pulled me in from the first page and didn‘t let go until I finished it some hours later.

Iōunn wakes up exhausted every morning. She has no idea what causes this until her fancy new pedometer watch reveals that she‘s walking over forty thousand steps at night. From there things start spiraling in her life which seems so ordinary but isn‘t.

I am not sure about the ending but I loved this contemporary and atmospheric creepy story.

Amy is a chambermaid but that‘s just temporarily: she‘ll become an EMT. When things don‘t really work out she decides to speed things up a bit by using a placebo method. In a whirlwind of a summer Amy becomes acquainted with a bunch of people, among whom her landlord who‘s about to get married. We learn about her dark backstory while Amy keeps making wrong decisions. ⬇️⬇️

Happy holidays everyone! Wishing you a relaxed Christmas day filled with the people and things you love.

My view this morning is very promising ❄️🤍❄️

Another solid psychological thriller by John Marrs. I have just one more book to read by him and still enjoying them but none was as good as the first ones I read: The Passengers and The One.
This one is about a woman who takes care of her mother when an attractive man enters into their lifes who charms them both. As always, nothing is what it seems. Entertaining and full of twists.

📸 A LOT of snow in Chatel, France

#WeeklyForecast 52/24

I am reading the Marrs, which is always a good idea when on vacation. Next will be the tagged, a Christmas gift from Meg. I also hope to read another #ToB25Longlist book, Wolf at the Table.

When a man shaves off his moustache, the people around him react as if the moustache had never been there, leaving the man in great confusion. Are his wife and friends fooling him? What starts out as a joke, quickly turns into something much darker. Are his friends plotting against him? What is illusion and reality?
An impactful little book about identity and a mental breakdown. A typical Emmanuel Carrère book.

? Lausanne, Switzerland

Three sisters are destroyed by the death of their fourth sister. All three deal (or don‘t) in their own way, not looking out for each other because being together makes them feel so incomplete without Nicky. Their stories make a raw and tender portrait of grief and unconditional love.

#ToB25Longlist
📸 Frankfurt, Germany

Just two weeks until the end of the year, it‘s time for our tradition to share our #Top24of24.

This is mine so far. And yes, if you look good it are actually 25 books 😉.

I‘ll tag a few people to get things started, please share your favorites and tag a few more 💝

In this post-modern classic, nothing is what it seems. The main character, Nicholas Urfe, goes to teach on a Greek island, and is impressed by his erudite and art-loving host. But along the way, Nick becomes entangled in a labyrinth of truths and untruths, of the psychological games of a master trickster, which become increasingly dark and serious.

#1001books #Audiobook
(📸 Utrecht, Netherlands)

Another Claudia Piñeiro, whose backlist I am eager to read. This one is completely different again. An architect is living a very predictable live at the agency where he works an at home with his wife. Three years ago however something happened that returns to him unexpectedly. A fun mystery, wit a surprising and rewarding ending. Not as good as her more recent work but still very readable. Recommended!

#WeeklyForecast

I am almost finished with A Crack in the Wall and will continue with Blue Sisters. After that, the tagged one and after that I am not sure. I will probably read more because I am off work from Thursday on, but am still changing the books I want to take with me to France, where we‘ll spend Christmas. To be continued!

I so enjoyed this one. Dolly Alderton writes from a man‘s perspective after his break-up with Jen and it felt completely believable and funny. I felt for him and felt sorry they didn‘t make it.
Then the perspective changes and we learn Jen‘s take on things. All the pieces fell into place. A light and hopeful read. Recommended! #ToB25Longlist

Fantastic, interconnected stories set in three centuries in New England. I loved most of the stories. Each so different and yet an unmistakable part of the whole. A favorite on the #ToB25 shortlist for sure!

Childfinder Naomi is back. Still looking for her long lost sister, she finds herself among the homeless kids in the streets of Portland.
The plot isn‘t that strong, to be honest. It‘s all a bit too convenient and unbelievable.
But does it even matter when Rene Denfeld does her magic with her characters and their traumas? It doesn‘t: Celia, Rich, Naomi, Jerome feel so real.
I want to read everything Denfeld writes.

📸 Amsterdam Light Festival

#WeeklyForecast 50/24

I am reading both The Butterfly Girl and The History of Sound, cherishing each story. I am glad it made the #ToB25 shortlist. I‘ll also continue to read from the longlist. The tagged book will be my next one.

Margo is a single mom and, not surprisingly, she‘s got money troubles. Becoming active on OnlyFans means financial security for herself and her baby but there are many more insecurities. You have to root for Margo and her team, consisting of father Jinx (a pro wrestler), roommate Suzy and influencers KC and Rose. A fun read and a light pick for me. #ToB25Longlist

Way too soon to my taste the #ToB25 shortlist has been published!

I am a bit disappointed by the predictability of the chosen books. Many are quite popular and well known, many are too “light” to my taste. And I‘ve read almost all of them, while I hoped for some obscure ones.

Never mind, it‘s TOB so it will be fun!

What a ride!! Over 500 pages but I flew through. Whitaker‘s characters are the best, along with the many many plot twists. I was hooked and touched and except for getting a bit bored my the Grace-character over the years, this is in my opinion a pretty perfect literary thriller!

#ToB25Longlist In the 1st part of the book a woman, living in a Paris apartment, is coming to terms with a miscarriage and the fact that her husband works in London.
The 2nd part is set in the same apartment, years earlier. A couple lives there and the wife is very much into female liberation
Both parts are terrific. The 3rd part is a continuation of the 1st and that one fell a bit short. I‘m not sure what it adds even though it was engaging

#WeeklyForecast 49/24

I have started All the Colours of the Dark and am enjoying it very much! Not sure how much time I‘ll have this week but I hope to finish it and start Marjo.
In the meantime I am still listening and reading Scaffolding, which I am loving too!

#NovemberStats #NovemberWrapUp

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Echoes
The Followers
August Blue
A Stranger Like You

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
The Marriage Act
The People in the Trees
Fruit of the Dead
Yr dead

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Self
The Gate
De mens is een plofkip (Dutch)
Colored Television
Banal Nightmare

⭐️⭐️✨
Dimes Square

#ToB25Longlist

Millennials in a Midwestern university town, unhappy with their situation, or maybe not but everyone is feeling sorry for themselves anyway and nagging and complaining about their situation (just like in The New Me, Halle Butler‘s other book I read).
Nothing much happens and it is kind of engaging but definitely not worth to be shortlisted.

NB Why is there a visiting artist? What does he add to the book? I really have no clue!

WeeklyFavorites

This week favorites is the Elizabeth Brundage, a super surprising read filled with fun twists and very well written.

November hasn‘t been my best month but these four books absolutely made up for some meh 🫤 reads!

#ToB25

I have mixed feelings about it this book. I felt a bit irritated by all the stupid decisions Jane makes, one after the other to be successful as a mulatto author in Hollywood, leaving behind so much chaos and damage. I can‘t however pinpoint the moment when I became totally absorbed by the story and finished it in one go. So I must rate it a pick, a light one though!

#ToB25 makes me so greedy. So many books on that longlist appeal to me and so many Littens recommend them… I can‘t resist and bought these seven. For now! And I already had 8 more on my TBR-shelves so that makes 15 🤦🏻‍♀️

The shortlist always follows way too soon after the announcement of the longlist so I‘ll never read them in time but hey, maybe they all end up on the shortlist 😉

Thanks for the link @Chelsea.Poole to the NYT Notable Books of the Year.
So many I haven‘t even heard of, while I‘ve been thinking I‘m on top of things 😂

I‘ve read just these twelve (to be honest, one of them I am still reading!) and have five more sitting on my shelves. I had more books in common with the NPR Books We Love-list!

Ever since reading All Things Cease to Appear I've wanted to read more Brundage. This one is completely different yet just as good.
Set in Hollywood a man who's script has been denied by a famous producer, is looking for ways to make her change her mind. That's just the start, which leads to a whirlwind of actions, just like in a movie. A hard boiled thriller on the one hand but also a very thoughtful novel about war veterans. Highly recommended!

In between the space of time when Ezra lights themself on fire in front of the Trump Tower and when Ezra dies, life flashes before their eyes. People Ezra loved, people who left or betrayed them, places they‘ve felt at home or estranged, good and bad feelings of being queer. Written in short fragments , Ezra dissolves into everything that made them into the person that‘s decided on this final act of protest.

#ToB25Longlist A light pick

#WeeklyForecast 48/24

I remember @Cathythoughts writing about the tagged book so when I found a copy in a free library I had to pick it up of course. I am going to read it after finishing Yr Dead from the #ToB25 longlist.
I want to read so many of the longlisted books and have a couple of them on my shelves. I‘ll read one each week. Except for this week lol because I also want to read Colored Television!