(Sir)Thomas' way through the year - with books and friends

The New Year will rise soon, one can imagine it:

This was the view yesterday morning.
Have a good slide into 2019 for all of you and welcome to my thread.

Hi everybody, my Name is Thomas, I am 57 years young and I live in a small town in northern Baden Württemberg, Germany.
2015 we moved from a house with attic and cellar into an apartment without theese spaces. So I had to separate from books. This was hard, but with a little help from time and my ebook-reader I recovered from the shock. - Today it's not that bad.
This is my 7th year in this awesome group, and every year is going better and better.

Books are helpful in many ways, but there are also other media to educate oneself further, as Grocho Marx has already recognized:

Television educates.
Whenever the TV is on, I go to another room and read.

Das wenigste, das man liest, kann man brauchen; aber das meiste, was man braucht, hat man gelesen.
(The least you can read is what you need, but most of what you need is what you have read.)

Ernst R. Hauschka

A great idea from Paul Cranswick 2 years ago was A BOOK A YEAR FOR THE FIRST 55 YEARS OF MY LIFE
This is my updated list:
1961 Ein Mann in einer fremden Welt / Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
1962 Die Physiker / The Physicists: A Play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
1963 Platon im Stripteaselokal / Misreadings by Umberto Eco
1964 Am Freitag schlief der Rabbi lang / Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman
1965 Der Wüstenplanet / Dune by Frank Herbert
1966 Die phantastische Reise / Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov
1967 Die Vergangenheit der Zukunft (Future History) / The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein
1968 2001 - Odyssee im Weltraum / 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
1969 Papillon / Papillon by Henri Charrière
1970 Und die Großen läßt man laufen / Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö
1971 Der Exorzist / The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
1972 Sieh doch die Harlekins / Look at the Harlequins! by Vladimir Nabokov
1973 Momo oder die seltsame Geschichte von den Zeit-Dieben und von dem Kind, das den Menschen die gestohlene Zeit zurückbrachte / Momo by Michael Ende
1974 Carrie / Carrie by Stephen King
1975 Dhalgren / Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
1976 Interwiew mit einem Vampir / Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
1977 Sternentanz / Stardance by Jeanne Robinson & Spider Robinson
1978 Stadtgeschichten / Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
1979 Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis / The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
1980 Der Name der Rose / The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
1981 Cujo / Cujo by Stephen King
1982 Freitag / Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
1983 Christine / Christine by Stephen King
1984 Der Talisman / The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub
1985 Contact / Contact by Carl Sagan
1986 Es / It by Stephen King
1987 Der Elektrische Mönch: Dirk Gently's Holistische Detektei / Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
1988 Fool on the hill / Fool on the hill by Matt Ruff
1989 Hyperion / Hyperion by Dan Simmons
1990 The Stand / The Stand (unabridged) by Stephen King
1991 Sofies Welt / Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
1992 Fräulein Smillas Gespür für Schnee / Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
1993 Alpträume / Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King
1994 Asche zu Asche / Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George
1995 Dunkle Kammern / The Dark Room by Minette Walters
1996 The Green Mile / The Green Mile by Stephen King
1997 G.A.S. / Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy by Matt Ruff
1998 Wächter der Nacht / The Night Watch by Sergej Lukianenko
1999 Die 13 1/2 Leben des Käpt'n Blaubär / 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers
2000 Das Haus = House of leaves / House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
2001 Jack Taylor fliegt raus / The Guards: A Novel by Ken Bruen
2002 Die Bibel nach Biff : die wilden Jugendjahre von Jesus, erzählt von seinem besten Freund / Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
2003 Ich und die anderen / Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff
2004 Der Turm / The Dark Tower by Stephen King
2005 Olympos / Olympos by Dan Simmons
2006 Am Ende war die Tat / What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George
2007 Der Tod und der Dicke / Death Comes for the Fat Man by Reginald Hill
2008 Das Spiel des Engels / The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
2009 1Q84 / 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
2010 Raum / Room by Emma Donoghue
2011 5 Dinge, die Sterbende am meisten bereuen / The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing by Bronnie Ware
2012 Glaube der Lüge / Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George
2013 Das Dickicht / The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale
2014 Die Seiten der Welt by Kai Meyer
2015 Opferweg / Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
2016 Lovecraft Country / Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
2017 Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster by Susann Pasztor
2018 Von der Kunst, schlechte Nachrichten gut zu überbringen by Jalid Sehouli

Reading List for January
1. Macht's gut und danke für den Fisch / So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
2. Komm, süßer Tod by Wolf Haas
3. Einmal Rupert und zurück / Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
4. Und übrigens noch was ... / And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer
5. Die Nacht des Zorns / The Ghost Riders of Ordebec by Fred Vargas
6. Erhebung / Elevation by Stephen King
7. Einstein's beach house by Jacob M. Appel
8. Der Goldene Kompass / The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
9. Das Magische Messer / The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
10. Das Bernstein-Teleskop / The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
11. Das große Peanuts Buch by Charles M. Schulz
12. Die verrückten Abenteuer des Larry Laffer by Steve Whitton
13. Die Rätsel von Badger's Drift / The Killings at Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham

Reading List for February
14. Der Teufel von Chicago / The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
15. Requiem für einen Mörder / Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham
16. Silentium! by Wolf Haas
17. Wie die Tiere by Wolf Haas
18. Der goldene Esel / Asinus aureus by Apuleius
19. Der Sexmaniak / (Underground Sketchbook) by Tomi Ungerer
20. Eklips by Tomi Ungerer
21. Alias 1. Die Anwerbung / Alias. Recruited by Lynn Mason
22. Ich und die anderen / Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff
23. Jagd der Vampire / Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly
24. Das grobmaschige Netz / Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser
25. Das vierte Opfer / Borkmann's Point by Håkan Nesser
26. Das ewige Leben by Wolf Haas

Reading List for March
27. Das falsche Urteil / The Return by Håkan Nesser
28. Bretonische Verhältnisse / Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec
29. Die Deus-Maschine / The Deus Machine by Pierre Quellette
30. Die Chirurgin / The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
31. Der Meister / The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
32. Todsünde / The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
33. Schwesternmord / Body Double by Tess Geritsen
34. Miss Seetons kann's nicht lassen / Miss Seeton Draws the Line by Heron Carvic
35. Sexbomber / The erection set by Mickey Spillane
36. Sex im 21. Jahrhundert / Sex in the 21. century by Michael Parry
37. Menschenjagd in Manhattan / One lonely night by Mickey Spillane
38. Fünf / Five by Ursula Poznanski
39. Auf der Suche nach dem verlorenen Geschmack by Martina Meuth and Bernd Neuner-Duttenhofer
40. Die Eisprinzessin schläft / The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg
41. Der Prediger von Fjällbacka / The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg
42. Ein Ort für die Ewigkeit / A Place of Execution by Val McDermid

Reading List for April
43. Das letzte Ritual / Last rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
44. Einstein, Quantenspuk und die Weltformel by Janick P. Mischler
45. Der Krieg mit den Molchen / War with the Newts by Karel Capek
46. Mind over Medicine / Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin
47. Der Brenner und der liebe Gott / Brenner and God by Wolf Haas
48. Kurt by Sarah Kuttner
49. Ein Bär im Betstuhl / Rovasti Huuskosen petomainen miespalvelija by Arto Paasilinna
50. Der Rote Löwe / The Red Lion & The Elixir of Eternal Life by Mária Szepes
51. Wer schlafende Hunde weckt / Where the Bodies Are Buried by Christopher Brookmyre
52. Das Mädchen mit dem Stahlkorsett / The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
53. Kommissar Platow: Der Westend-Würger by Martin Olden

Reading List for May
54. Die Farbe des Himmels by Britt Reissmann and Silvija Hinzmann
55. Wir sind unfassbar: Neue ungewöhliche Todesanzeigen by Matthias Nöllke and Christian Sprang
56. Blackout - Morgen ist es zu spät / Blackout: A Novel by Marc Elsberg
57. Sorry, wir haben die Landebahn verfehlt by Stephan Orth and Antje Blinda
58. Katzenwiege / Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
59. Das Geheimnis des weißen Bandes / The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz
60. Mit dem Kühlschrank durch Irland / Round Ireland with a fridge by Tony Hawks
61. M.A.S.H by Richard Hooker
62. Aufzeichnungen eines Unsichtbaren / Memoirs of an Invisible Man by Harry F Saint

Reading List for June
63. Die Form des Wassers / The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
64. Der Hund aus Terracotta / The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri
65. Perry Mason und das ambulante Aktmodell / The Case of the Reluctant Model by Erle Stanley Gardner
66. Der talentierte Mr. Ripley / The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
67. Keiner von uns / The Black House by Patricia Highsmith
68. Der Gärtner war's nicht by Tatjana Kruse
69. Die stählerne Festung / The castle of iron by L. Sprague De Camp and Fletcher Pratt
70. Ein Mann sieht rot / Death Wish by Brian Garfield
71. Der Genitiv ist dem Streber sein Sex: und andere Erkenntnisse aus meinem Leben 2.0 by Markus Barth
72. Endstation Donau by Edith Kneifl
73. Angerichtet, herzhaft und scharf!: Aus meinem Tage- und Rezeptebuch by Vincent Klink
74. Hände weg von Zeitmaschinen / Starburst by Alfred Bester
75. Die Geheime Geschichte / The Secret History by Donna Tartt
76. Brennerova by Wolf Haas

Reading List for July
77. Der brennende Mann / The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
78. Demolition / The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
79. Was ich euch nicht erzählte / Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
80. Eine unbeliebte Frau by Nele Neuhaus
81. Mordsfreunde by Nele Neuhaus
82. Tiefe Wunden by Nele Neuhaus
83. Schneewittchen muss sterben by Nele Neuhaus
84. Die Mädchen von der Englandfähre / Fatal Crossing by Lone Theils
85. Bringt mir den Kopf des Märchenprinzen / Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming by Robert Sheckley and Roger Zelazny
86. McJesus / Cross Dressing by Bill Fitzhugh
87. Kind der Sterne / Starbrat by John Morressy
88. Ein herrliches Chaos / A Splendid Chaos by John Shirley

Reading List for August
89. Wer wind sät by Nele Neuhaus
90. Böser Wolf / Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus
91. Origin / Origin by Dan Brown
92. Der Kruzifix-Killer / The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter
93. Der Retter von Dent-All / Prostho Plus by Piers Anthony
94. Kaliber .50 / Calibre .50 by Robert Sheckley
95. Olympiade der Techniker / Profession by Isaac Asimov
96. Polt muß weinen by Alfred Komarek
97. Der Mann mit der Ledertasche / Post Office by Charles Bukowski
98. Die Auferstehung by Karl-Heinz Ott
99. Die Lebenden und die Toten / I Am Your Judge by Nele Neuhaus
100. Länger als sonst ist nicht für immer by Pia Ziefle
101. Die Blutlinie / Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen
102. Blumen für Polt by Alfred Komarek
103. Himmel, Polt und Hölle by Alfred Komarek
104. The Stand : 'Das letzte Gefecht' / The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition by Stephen King
105. Tod eines Tenors / Evanly Choirs by Rhys Bowen
106. Polterabend by Alfred Komarek
107. Polt by Alfred Komarek

Reading List for September

Reading List for October

Reading List for November

Reading List for December

And now let the reading begin!
...next year ;-)

Welcome back!

Happy New Year, Thomas!

Happy New Year Thomas!

What a stunning photograph at the top Sir Thom.

I agree with Caroline!

Welcome back!

Happy reading in 2019, Thomas!

Have a Happy New Year!

I wish you from my heart a healthy 2019 filled with happiness, satisfaction, laughter and lots of good books.

Welcome back SirThomas!

>20 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you Caroline.
>21 alcottacre: Thank you Stasia.
I was lucky, I was just sitting at breakfast watching the spectacle. That's why I was able to photograph it, usually I'm already sitting in the office at this time.

>22 FAMeulstee: Thank you Anita.
I wish you the same.

>23 mstrust: Thank you Jennifer.
By the way, I should read my Peanuts book again..

>24 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara.
The same to you.
I think with this georgeous group your wishes will come true.

>25 souloftherose: Thank you Heather.

Today's saying on my calendar:

Pessimisten stehen im Regen.
Optimisten duschen unter Wolken.
(Heinz Strunk)

Pessimists are standing in in the rain.
Optimists shower under clouds.

>27 SirThomas: Love that quote. Here we can see the sun for the first time since many days. It was always foggy or raining recently.

Happy 2019
A year full of books
A year full of friends
A year full of all your wishes realised

I look forward to keeping up with you, Thomas, this year.

>28 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara, we had a little sun too, now it is snowing with prediction on rain.
But this is no problem - my mount TBR is big enough for a full year of rain!
At the moment the plants have enough moisture, but we still need a lot of liquid for the groundwater.
With books and friends every weather is fine.

>29 PaulCranswick: Thank you Thank you for the good wishes, Paul the same and much more to you!

>30 Berly: Thank you, Kim, the first new book is in sight, I just have to go to the bookstore, the new King's here.

Now it is time for the first books of 2019:


1. Macht's gut und danke für den Fisch / So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
Arthur Dent is back on earth and finds a woman with a problem. But he knows a lot about problems.
Not so weird anymore, but still very good.


2. Komm, süßer Tod by Wolf Haas
Simon Brenner no longer works as a detective, but as an ambulance driver.
But then he has to solve murders again.
Bizarre, exciting, funny - I love the series.

>32 SirThomas: Yeh for the Brenner series.

Happy new year, a bit late, I know.
I wish, that you may find a good and solid path in 2019

>33 Ameise1: Thank God I still have some Brenner-books in the mount TBR ;-).

>34 paulstalder: Thank you Paul, you are on time - I am even later.
That's a wonderful wish and the picture fits very well - I love it.

3. Einmal Rupert und zurück / Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
I love the series and the quirky black humor, but this book has more black than humor - the spirit is gone.
The first books of the series are written in the mood of a imaginatively gifted child playing in its room with all the toys in the room, combining them and building strange and funny things.
This book is written in a mood after the mother said clean up the room! There are the same toys, but the result is different.

Frohes neues Jahr!

It's been a long time since I read the Hitchhiker series, and I don't think I've ever read this one (>36 SirThomas:). In fact, I think I read the series before this one was even published. Based on your review, I don't think I'll try it.

Dankeschön, the same to you!

Mostly Harmless has a lot of 5-star-ratings, so there is a chance that you could enjoy it. But there are so many good books out there, so it seems to be a good choice to read them.
I see you have Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency in your library. If you like it, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul could be a good choice.
I have good memories of it.

>33 Ameise1: Good Morning Barbara, if you have access to German TV, you have the possibility to watch Simon Brenner.
Der Knochenmann will be broadcast today at 22:45 in Bayern 3.
My television magazine gave the film a good rating.
I programmed my hard disk recorder and will watch the film later - with mixed feelings. It's rare that I like a book adaptation.

Good morning, Thomas. Thanks for the tip. I will take a look at it this weekend. Usually, I never watch the film of a book I've read. Mostly I'm disapointed.

>40 Ameise1: mee too.
Fate - and the weather - has decided for me.
There were long special broadcasts about the snow chaos in the Alps, so the end of the film is probably missing on the recording.
Therefore there is no danger that I have to be annoyed ;-).
Soon I will enjoy another volume of the series - Reading!

besides puzzling I found a little time to read:


4. Und übrigens noch was ... / And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer
A conciliatory conclusion to the Hitchhiker series.
The toys are there, the mood is to play again, but it is another child - not the same phantasy.


5. Die Nacht des Zorns / The Ghost Riders of Ordebec by Fred Vargas
Jean Baptiste Adamsberg is dealing with three cases:
An industrialist burns up in a car.
A woman has a vision of a horde of ghosts who have carried away 4 evil people, the first of whom have already been murdered.
A dove's feet are tied together.
The cases don't belong together, but they influence each other.
A melancholic investigator with unusual colleagues, who has unconventional investigation methods.
Adamsbergs methods reminds me a bit of Simon Brenner, but the books are not comparable, here the funny element is missing completely - I love both.

A quote - in connection witch the butterfly effect:
Einen Schmetterlingsflügel in einem Ballungsraum von zweitausend Seelen zu finden war ein utopisches Unterfangen im Vergleich mit der berühmten Nadel im Heuhaufen. Die zu finden Adamsberg nie unüberwindbar erschienen war. Es reichte, das Heu zu verbrennen, dann hatte man die Nadel.
(Finding a butterfly wing in a conurbation of two thousand souls was a utopian undertaking compared to the famous needle in a haystack. That Adamsberg never seemed insurmountable to find. It was enough to burn the hay, then you had the needle.)

Another recommendation from this georgeous group - Thank you, Anita!

Oh, I love Vargas' books, but haven't read tat one.

>42 SirThomas: So happy you liked Adamsberg :-)
Did you read any of the previous books?

>43 Ameise1: Welcome to the Club ;-).

>44 FAMeulstee: Thanks to LT I found the info:
I read 2 other books:
Es geht noch ein Zug von der Gare du Nord / Homme aux cercles bleu / The Chalk Circle Man
2016 I borrowed the book from a hotel, I didn't like it that much back then. I think it would be different today.

Der vierzehnte Stein / Sous les vents de Neptune / Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand
2010 I borrowed the book from a friend, at that time I have not yet rated in LT, but I have very good memories of the book.

I think, I'd have to see what the library has of Vargas in its inventory.
But my Mount TBR is already much too high - maybe later.

> 42 by the way - puzzling means Krimi-Puzzle:

- A short story about a crime.
- A puzzle of 500 pieces with the crime scene - but without a template.
- The resolution of the crime in an extra envelope.

It's a nice activity for dark rainy evenings / days.
We have several of them and have a lot of fun puzzling and investigating.

Hi Thomas!

Happy new year, happy first thread of 2019, happy reading.

>1 SirThomas: Excellent quote by Groucho Marx. My mom called TV ‘the idiot box’.

>36 SirThomas: I love your analogy of the gifted child in the room with all the toys then a different result with the same toys after the mother says to clean up the room.

>42 SirThomas: I keep saying I need to get to Fred Vargas's books. I really do!

>47 karenmarie: Thank you for the good wishes, Karen - the same and more to you!
I prefer a good book, but I have to confess from time to time I have look at the TV.
Thanks for the praise for the analogy - I am happy about it.

>48 alcottacre: You're absolutely right, Stasia.
I feel the same way, but I have the problem that I get the recommendations faster in this great group than I can read!

In the meantime, I was reading something, too:


6. Erhebung / Elevation by Stephen King
A very short work for King, but a very good one.
No horror, but with the other strength of the author - the description of small town life.
A parable about prejudices - Even the victims of prejudice have prejudices, but prejudices can be overcome.
Scott Carey lives in Castle Rock and gets lighter and lighter every day, although his body doesn't change. In the neighbourhood lives a lesbian couple who are excluded by the community.
King describes very nicely how life can change through a different perspective.

Hi Thomas.

>50 SirThomas: I have it on my shelves, really need to remember it the next time I have a fiction 'slot' available in my reading. Thanks for reminding me of it.

Hello, Karen, I'm glad I could be of service to you.
I get so many great book tips in this group that it's wonderful when I can give something back.

And its time for an update again:


7. Einstein's beach house by Jacob M. Appel
Another jewel from Member Giveaways, a collection of atmospheric and well written short stories:
HUE AND CRY
A sex offender moves into the neighborhood, the neighbors protest, 2 girls are curious. The father of one of the girls (he is terminally ill) wants to overcome prejudices and visits him.
But he can't change the situation.
Material for thinking - also about one's own prejudices.
LA TRISTESSE DES HERISSONS
A young couple is getting themselves a hedgehog. When he gets psychological problems, the situation gets worse and worse.
However, it becomes increasingly clear that it is not the hedgehog who is sick.
STRINGS
A rabbi gets a visit from a childhood friend, a musical genius. He wants to organize a concert with 400 cellos and asks her for a favor and another and another...
The concert takes place, but not as planned.
Not everything that glitters is gold - it is good to realize how much beauty you have, others may be better, but that also has its price.
LIMERENCE
The story of a childhood friendship, an unrequited love. A man who succeeds in life and a happy family. He appreciates it and still tries to help his former love.
A very beautiful story.
EINSTEIN'S BEACH HOUSE
The house of a family is mentioned in a travel guide - Albert Einstein is said to have lived here. However, this cannot be because the house has been in the possession of the father's family for a long time.
Soon the first visitors arrive. Since the money is scarce, they offer guided tours through the house.
This turns out to be quite lucrative, until a relative of Einstein appears.
A great story about unexpected side effects.
THE ROD OF ASCLEPIUS
A little girl goes with her father to hospitals, he gives syringes to patients.
Her mother recently died in hospital.
But her father is actually an architect - what does he do?
Harmlessly described from the child's point of view, but frightening to read.
SHARING THE HOSTAGE
Lovers, both with a past. An ex-husband who has custody of the turtle, a kidnapping.
Beautifully written.
PARACOSMOS
A girl whose father drives her girlfriend away. Since he doesn't buy her Parrot either (too many pathogens) she plays with her imaginary girlfriend who has a bird.
The parents try to convince her that she is too old for imaginary friends, but she doesn't let them stop her.
Her mother almost despairs, one day she gets an unexpected visit...
A great story!


8. Der Goldene Kompass / The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
A girl in a similar world gets into a big adventure. She follows her destiny and makes many new friends.
Very good and exciting.


9. Das Magische Messer / The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
A boy in our world gets into a big adventure. He follows his destiny and makes many new friends.
Very good and exciting.


10. Das Bernstein-Teleskop / The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
The adventures of the two and their friends lead to a great battle in several worlds. Really good to read and think about.

Sometimes when reading the series I had to think of the Lord of the Rings... hmmmm also worth to be read again.


11. Das große Peanuts Buch by Charles M. Schulz
A reunion with wonderful old friends.
>23 mstrust: Thank you Jennifer for reminding me

This morning I heard a quotation from Hermann Hesse on the radio:

"Man muss das Unmögliche versuchen, um das Mögliche zu erreichen"
"You have to try the impossible to achieve the possible."

If you expected a similar book after the highly spiritual quote, I must disappoint you:


12. Die verrückten Abenteuer des Larry Laffer by Steve Whitton
This is the solution guide for the computer game "Yacht nach Liebe" / "Love for Sail".
It is not an instruction guide, it is a novel.
Niveau? - No.
Ambition? - No.
Fun? - Yes
A reminder of the good old days when computer games were still delivered on floppy disks.

>54 SirThomas: A quote I like :-)

>55 SirThomas: Fun reads are good, I remember playing games on the computer from cassette tapes...

It is another reason why my mount TBR is growing and growing. I have some Hesse books in my library and I think I should read them.

My first computer was a 386 sx and had already 3,5" disks and a 42 MB HDD - I thought I will never be able to fill the space ;-).
But I remember a game to play on the TV-screen - PONG.
A reason to spend much time with friends moving 2 lines and a dot on the screen - good old days!

And the update for January:


13. Die Rätsel von Badger's Drift / The Killings at Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham
A nice old lady dies. Her friend doesn't believe in an accident.
Chief Inspector Barnaby starts investigating in the small village.
The idyll deceives, more murders happen.
A reading pleasure, with British humour and suspense.
This is not my last book in the series.

Time for statistics

January 2019:

Books read: 13
Pages read: 4,047 (longest 593 / shortest 102 / average 311)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:
Austria: 1
England: 4 (6 - counting multiole books by one author)
France: 1
Germany: 1
Ireland: 1
USA: 3

Gender:
female authors: 2
male authors: 9 (11)

date first published:
20th century: 1971, 1984, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1997 (2 books), 1998
21th century: 2000, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018

After a cold I feel a little better, so I can update my book list. It's not much - even reading was exhausting. But now everything is fine.


15. Requiem für einen Mörder / Death of a Hollow Man by Caroline Graham
A murder on an open stage.
Chief Inspector Barnaby knows the people involved, his wife participates in the amateur drama group.
Very interesting, how the individual participants are described.


16. Silentium! by Wolf Haas
Allegations of child abuse in the past against a bishop candidate. Simon Brenner is to clarify the matter.
But then a dismembered body is found in plastic bags - was it a homeless person who committed suicide after?
Brenner determines again in all directions - wonderful.

A quote:
Und das schönste war der rote Kranz, der sich um den Kopf der Leiche gebildet hat. Normalerweise wachsen ja die Haare aus dem Kopf, aber wenn du von einem Berg springst, ist es wieder umgekehrt, und der Kopf wächst aus den Haaren.

And the most beautiful was the red wreath that formed around the head of the corpse. Normally the hair grows out of the head, but if you jump from a mountain, it's the other way around and the head grows out of the hair.


17. Wie die Tiere by Wolf Haas
Brenner determines in Vienna. He is to find out who wants to kill dogs in the park. Is it the playground mothers?
Again he lets himself drift, again everything comes completely different.
Dogs, prostitutes, club owners, mothers, children, helicopters, thugs, architects, animal rights activists play a role - but not necessarily in this order.

This was once again a paper book - a nice change.

Edit: Numbering corrected - see below.

The cold was worse than I thought - I forgot a book!


14. Der Teufel von Chicago / The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Two stories are told in parallel:
The world exhibition in Chicago and the story of a mass murderer.
It's a mixture of documentation and fiction.
I didn't get really familiar with the book.

Hi Thomas!

>58 SirThomas: Have you watched any of the long-running Midsomer Murders? It’s based on the Chief Inspector Barnaby novels. There are only 7 novels, but twenty seasons of the BBC series!

>61 SirThomas: I think I liked this book better than you did. Have you read anything else by Larson?

Hi Karen,

The Midsomer Murders series was on TV last year. However, I didn't know the books at that time.
I often have problems with films about books I have read. The real cinema and my head cinema (from the books) often don't fit together.
I think there will be a repetition of the series, then I'll give it a try.
With 7 books and 20 film sequences, the distances to the book should be so large that I could enjoy the film adaption ;-).
I have a dark memory of the film version of Smiley's People, which I liked a lot, but there were 6 parts with almost one hour per episode.
The film was very close to the book - and Alec Guiness was great.

I've only read this book by Erik Larson.
It's not a bad book, I had some problems to get into it.
I got the suggestion for the book from the 75 books group (it's been a while, so I can't tell who from anymore), and I don't regret having read it.
I think it's good that you like the book better than me.
It would be bad if we all had the same taste ;-).

Yesterday I finished the Valentine’s Day Heart Hunt - just in time!
It was a great pleasure again.

A little bit reading was possible, too:


18. Der goldene Esel / Asinus aureus by Apuleius
Another book bullet by this gorgeous group - thank you Anita!
Lucius is travelling through greece and he passes many adventures, he spends most of it as a donkey - he has caught a false potion.
Many other stories are embedded in his stories, e.g. Amor and Psyche.
Hearty, suspenseful, instructive, great.
The book is old (more than 1800 years) but still up-to-date - I've read some books that were more old-fashioned.

Last weekend Tomi Ungerer died, so I searched my shelves:


19. Der Sexmaniak / (Underground Sketchbook) by Tomi Ungerer
Drawings and cartoons at its finest.
The book is an excerpt from the Underground Sketchbook.


20. Eklips by Tomi Ungerer
In 2010 a big Tomi Ungerer exhibition took place near us.
We visited it and were thrilled. That's why we bought the exhibition catalogue - we're still thrilled.

Edit: Cover Eklips changed

>64 SirThomas: I am glad you liked Der goldene Esel, Thomas!
I was pleasantly surprised how readable it was.

I also had fun with the Valentine Hunt. I needed some hints, but finally got them all.

Wishing you a splendid weekend, Thomas.

Thanks, Paul, I think we will.
The sun is shining and I cleaned the barbecue yesterday - we are opening the barbecue season today!
If it gets cooler, we can sit in our beach chair and read there in the sun.
What more do we want?

Happy barbeque season!

I assume that we will also open our barbecue season when we are back from our skiing holidays in Davos. Sunny greetings from Davos.

>68 karenmarie: thank you Karen - It was fine - and sitting in the beach chair on the terrace was also very relaxing.
I don't know if beach chair is the right translation, so there is a picture of ours:


>69 Ameise1: I wish you beautiful holidays, Barbara - snow and skiing fits better to the season than barbecue, but both are fun.

Time for books:


21. Alias 1. Die Anwerbung / Alias. Recruited by Lynn Mason
A 19-year-old girl is trained as a secret agent and solves her first case.
The book on the television series - quickly read, quickly forget.


22. Ich und die anderen / Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff
A 19-year-old girl is trained as a secret agent and solves her first case.
A fascinating story about multiple personalities and how to live with the effects.
I found the book even better when I read it a second time - Matt Ruff is one of my favourite authors.


23. Jagd der Vampire / Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly
Another book bullet from this group - Thank you Roni!
A vampire story settled in the Edwardian England. James Asher, a professor and ex-spy is blackmailed by a vampire.
Asher has to clear some murders of vampires, or his wife will die.
So he begins to investigate - with his wife. Both of them has individual strengths, she is not only "little wife".
Thrilling, exciting, great written and logical (I know, it is a vampire story ;-) )
Only the german cover is a bust - without Roni's suggestion the cover would have deterred me and I would not have read the book.

>71 SirThomas: So glad you gave it a try and liked the book. See, I told you it was logical!

What ZZ Top said:
You didn't have to make it like you did
but you did but you did
And I thank you.
:-).

And another birthday book:


24. Das grobmaschige Netz / Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser
A woman dies in the bathtub, her husband finds her in the morning and gets under suspicion.
But then he is murdered himself. A tragedy with roots in the past.
The first volume of a series with Commissioner Van Veeteren, melancholic, a bit poetic, a Commissioner who listens to his intuition to get facts - and he's unsure if he has the right profession.
a quote:
"Warum ein deprimierter Obergärtner oder Busfahrer sein, wenn man auch ein deprimierter Kriminalkommissar sein kann."
(Why be a depressed gardener or bus driver when you can also be a depressed detective commissioner?)

Good to read, but I think I need a little time -and other books of the series- to get warm with it.

I wish you a blessed weekend - soaring like this jackdaw

Thank you, Paul, we had.

Friday after work and Saturday morning we visited my mother-in-law and beautified her home.
She had beautiful moss on her grave, but it had severe frost damage.
So we tore it out and planted everything with new soil and plants, after the winter we will have some work to do.
And we had a long sun-walk.

Sunday we slept late and went with our neighbours to a "Kulturfrühstück" - the event started at 11 am, a rich breakfast and a Jazz-band (Salon du Jazz).
We enjoyed the afternoon, especially after I got new book recommendations. They wrote a song inspired by a book by Jean-Luc Bannalec.
I have one in stock - let's see how I like it.
The rest of the day we spent in our beach chair in the sun - reading.
I think this is a kind of soaring...

And your wish and your picture is a beautiful post for reaching my first 75 posts in my thread, the 75 books-goal will take a moment.

Yes, keeping a grave tidy gives some work. But it's nice to see the changes during the year.

I have Bannalec's Bretonische Verhältnisse somewhere in the house, so it is worthwhile reading it?

You were soaring ion the sun - me, too. Saturday I was in the cemetery, cleaning up Suki's grave and Sunday we had a good church service and the afternoon I spent at a little lake - reading (and photographing a bit - other people sighted a Eisvogel/kingfisher there, but I didn't spot it).

>77 paulstalder: Friday we had spade and soil with us, so we went by car. Normally we walk to the grave and the way leads through the town park, so the visit has several pleasant aspects.
And we like graveyards and are visiting them at our holidays - we are not morbid, but it is interesting to see other grave decoration and there is more nature than in many parks.

I am currently reading Bretonische Verhältnisse, the start was a little bit bumpily - a german author describes how a metropolitan police officer from Paris (transferred for disciplinary reasons) lives in the Bretagne - a special landscape and special people.
I'm staying on it and I'll report after reading.

Eisvogel - beautiful birds, I didn't see often one of them and never had the chance to took a picture.

And the weekend had some books:


25. Das vierte Opfer / Borkmann's Point by Håkan Nesser
Van Veeteren is on vacation, people are murdered with an axe nearby.
He is supposed to support the local police. The local police chief is competent and sympathetic.
First the investigation does not progress, then another murder and a kidnapping happens.
Exciting and well written.

Edit: adding the description of the correct book.


26. Das ewige Leben by Wolf Haas
Brenner at his best, he comes home to Graz and gets shot in the head - the assassin was the police chief, a childhood friend.
So he has to investigate on his own behalf.
I love story and style - strange and humour.

Some quotes:
"Du musst wissen, wie der Brenner jung war, hat es in den Zeitungen noch weitaus nicht so viele ekelerregende Fotos gegeben, sprich Krieg oder Unfall oder Amputation oder Manager des Jahres."
(You have to know as Brunner was young, there haven't been so many disgusting photos in the newspapers, like war or accident or amputation or manager of the year.)

"Weil interessant. Wenn du jahrelang viel Wasser trinkst, lagert sich deshalb kein Alkohol in deinem Gesicht ab, aber wenn du jahrelang viel Alkohol trinkst, lagern sich ganze Schwimmbäder in deinem Gesicht ab."
(Because interesting. If you drink a lot of water for years, no alcohol will accumulate on your face, but if you drink a lot of alcohol for years, whole swimming pools will accumulate on your face.)

"Dabei hat ein negatives Selbstbild in den meisten Fällen durchaus seine Berechtigung, und negatives Selbstbild sogar oft das einzig Positive an einem Menschen, und das will er auch noch ablegen."
(In most cases, a negative self-image is justified, and a negative self-image is often the only positive thing about a person, and he wants to get rid of it.)

"Da hat so manches Greuel auf der Welt mit Zärtlichkeit und Mitleid angefangen, ja was glaubst du, und vor lauter Liebe würde ich den linken Arm geben für dich, aber eines Tages, man hat es selber nicht richtig gewollt, steht der andere, dem man gerade noch den eigenen linken Arm spendieren wollte, ohne seinen linken Arm da, und du hast drei und weißt nicht wohin damit."
(Many an abomination in the world began with tenderness and compassion, yes, what do you think, and out of sheer love I would give your left arm for you, but one day, you didn't really want it yourself, the other, to whom you just wanted to give your own left arm, stands there without his left arm, and you have three and don't know where to put it.)

I love Bannalec's books. Enjoy it.

>78 SirThomas: I am often in cemeteries. Some years ago I started to photograph gravestones and their symbols. When Suki was very ill we went to the cemetery to look the part where she might be buried if she dies within the year. She liked the place - a sunny patch. Then we looked around the gravestones and she pointed out what kind of gravestone she would like and what should be on it.

So I started to think about the other gravestones and what people might have thought when putting on a football or knitting tools on the stone - was that the wish of the deceased or were their relatives responsible for the things put in stone? I sometimes ask people directly: What would you chose to have on your gravestone? Most people avoid answering referring to their young age.... not wanting to discuss anything which has to do with dying.

>80 Ameise1: Thank you Barbara - I do. As I said in >78 SirThomas: the the start was a little bit bumpily, but the book is getting better now.

>81 paulstalder: The gravestones and their style - really stuff to think about.
And it is astonishing how every region has its own style in styling the graves inspite individuality of every single grave.
I Think choosing the grave together can be beautiful and helps to deal with the situation. Even if the cause is terrible.
We have our own experiences with the topic and have already thought about the design of our last resting place.
But for me it is important that the bereaved person designs the grave in such a way that he can deal with his/her grief and physical possibilities. For him or her it is more difficult. For the dead it does not play such a big role, (s)he is completely somewhere else.
An acquaintance has ordered that he has to be buried in a Friedwald (forrest cemetery) so that his wife has no work with the grave. Now she is handicapped and cannot visit the grave any more regularly - The local cemetery is only 500 m away.

and again a month has passed....

Time for statistics

February 2019:

Books read: 13
Pages read: 4,031 (longest 600 / shortest 77 / average 310)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:
Algeria: 1
Austria: 1 (3 - counting multiple books by one author)
England: 1
France: 1 (2 - counting multiple books by one author)
Sweden 1 (2 - counting multiple books by one author)
USA: 4

Gender:
female authors: 3
male authors: 6 (10)

date first published:
1 st 2 nd century: 170
20th century: 1968, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1999
21th century: 2001, 2002, 2003 (3 books), 2010

Edit: wrong century

>81 paulstalder: >82 SirThomas: I was just at my dad's grave a few days ago and having to hunt him down. He's in a military cemetery and they are all flat plaques, flush in the ground. It's all neat and uniform, and easy for the grounds staff to mow. But so hard to locate a grave. Add to it that every time we go there has been another 30 burials and more trees and grass planted so any markers I started out with are long gone.

Yes, this is also a problem of the Friedwald - besides the distance and the uneven ground.
The graves (urns) lie under trees, there are no grave ornaments or flowers.
There are only many trees, with something like lockbox numbers on them.
The place is very beautiful, but difficult to find a particular grave.

>82 SirThomas: You're right Thomas, the living are those who watch at the graves and try to make connections from the name and symbols on the stone to the person laying there. For photographers there are so many worthwhile motives to take pictures of. My in-laws in Korea are buried in the country in the mountains under some earth hills with a stone stele behind it.

>84 mstrust: Our cemetery is divided into sections (with bushes, guideways), so it is much easier to find the right section, then the graves are numbered (but I don't remember Suki's grave number). There is an info station where you can search for a grave. But you need to punch in the exact name and year of death. But it's so close that I often go there when going for a walk. But I understand that army cemeteries are quite different places.

27. Das falsche Urteil / The Return by Håkan Nesser
A double murderer is released from prison and later found dead and mutilated. Was it an act of revenge? Or was he innocent?
The investigation is difficult, Van Veeteren has to make a hard decision. Another melancholic and somewhat poetic novel - I like Van Veeteren better and better.

A qoute:
"Er schaute auf die Uhr. Halb sechs. Noch ein paar Stunden Akten wühlen im Hotelzimmer und dann etwas essen... genau das richtige Programm, um die Zeit totzuschlagen.
Das war wohl die einzige Eigenschaft, die er im Laufe der Jahre hatte entwickeln können: die Fähigkeit, die Zeit totzuschlagen.
Ja, und natürlich eine gewisse Veranlagung, Gewaltverbrecher dingfest zu machen."
(He looked at the clock. Half past six. A few hours more files digging in the hotel room and then something to eat... just the right program to kill time.
That was probably the only quality he had been able to develop over the years: the ability to kill time.
Yes, and of course a certain disposition to arrest violent criminals.)


28. Bretonische Verhältnisse / Death in Brittany by Jean-Luc Bannalec
The first novel of a series, a policeman (disciplinary transferred from the metropolis of Paris) investigates in the province. The landscape and the people are very special, but so is he himself.
A 90 year old hotelier was murdered, the motive is completely unclear. But Commissioner Dupin always finds new tracks. Then another body is found.
The beginning was somewhat difficult, the description of the people and the landscape read like in a tourist guide, I found the peculiarities of the reclusive commissioner somewhat exaggerated.
But then the story developed and became very exciting. The resolution of the murders is very appropriate.

>87 SirThomas: "Das falsche Urteil": Does the German title give away the question of his innocence?

The other book looks interesting. Amazon says that the English title of book 1 of the series is "Death in Pont-Aven", and I grabbed a sample. I would try it in French, but it looks quite long so maybe I will read it in translation.

>88 sirfurboy: Hi Stephen, the German title can be related to it, but the suspense is still there. Besides, there are not only judgments of the court ;-).

It seems that the Bannalec book was published in two English versions - Death in Brittany and Death in Pont-Aven.
This has happened many times in German versions, especially in science fiction.
Sometimes I bought a new book and noticed while reading it at home that I already had it in my bookcase with another title :-(.
Since I manage my books with Librarything, this hasn't happened to me anymore :-).

>89 SirThomas: That makes a lot of sense, thanks.

29. Die Deus-Maschine / The Deus Machine by Pierre Quellette
A thriller, a dystopia, a horror novel,...
The USA in decline, genetic manipulation, biotechnology, high-performance computers, neural networks, artificial intelligence, monsters, supernatural things,...
Too much at once, very much is explained in detail, only stupid that the described technology is already obsolete (floppy drives,...)
Many single action threads that are slowly merged, the good ones are almost all geniuses in an field that is needed right now.
All very superficial.
It was no problem to stop reading to do something else. With other books it happened that I forgot to eat, here this was never the case.


30. Die Chirurgin / The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

There's a serial killer going around in Boston. Before he kills the women, he removes their uterus.
The surgeon Catherine Cordell was raped years ago, all traces point to the fact that it concerns the same perpetrator - but she could free herself at that time and kill the perpetrator. Where is the connection?
Jane Rizzoli wants to assert herself in the men's world of the police and sometimes goes a little too far.
The first volume of the series, still without Maura Isles.
Well written, exciting, believable plot and characters. The medical part is described in detail, one notices that Tess Gerritsen used to be a doctor.
However, I don't believe that a policeman is asked to reach into the abdominal cavity during an autopsy and finds out by touch that the uterus is missing.
But this is the only inconsistency I noticed ;-).

31. Der Meister / The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
...and again an obscure German title - translated back: The Master.
More Rizzoli, a little bit Isles, Rizzoli has matured, has found more to herself.
A new series of murders shakes Boston, the handwriting reminds of Warren Hoyt, but he's in prison, so it can't be him, can it?
Then he breaks out. Rizzoli has to deal with an FBI agent who seems to be better informed than the police, can they trust him?
Again very exciting and great to read.
I like the series more and more...

32. Todsünde / The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
A nun is beaten to death, another is seriously injured. Maura Isles states that the dead nun must have recently delivered a child.
Then another female body is found, without face, hands and feet, she had leprosy. Is there a connection with the murders?
Both main characters have depth and evolve from book to book.
A true joy of reading.

Another year another holiday at the North Sea. The picture is from last year, but the view is beautiful again this year:
Wind, sun, rain, long beach walks, tasty food and wines - we are having a good time.

And there are books, too:


33 Schwesternmord / Body Double by Tess Geritsen
Maura Isles comes back from Paris and the Police is at her home. A woman was murdered, she was her sister. She and Jane Rizzoli are trying to bring some light to the family relationships. Then there are tracks to disappeared pregnant woman, is there a connection?
I like the series more and more.


34 Miss Seetons kann's nicht lassen / Miss Seeton Draws the Line by Heron Carvic
An old lady and the police, a children-killer, robberies, a little town, neigbours,... The book wants to be funny, it is - a little bit.

Lovely beach--what's the temperature like?

Glad you're having a good trip! It's a pretty beach.

>96 ronincats: Thank you, Roni, the water is too cold for swimming: 5' C. The air had 8' C today, but we had tea on the balcony in the sun without a coat. We love the climate at the North Sea - and the fine food :-).

>97 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer, we enjoy our holidays.

An actual snapshot:

I was succesful trying to upload a picture by smartphone ;-).
Last year we had wind from the east, so the sea was smoother, this year we have western winds - from the seaside, so there are more waves.

And the next book:


35 Sexbomber / The erection set by Mickey Spillane
Dogeron Kelly comes home after a long time to get his heritage. His relatives are not amused to see him again. But there are killers behind him - from his former life? Dog is the perfect action hero, hard, good looking, strong, a fast shooter,... The book plays with stereotypes, it is a really fun reading.

36 Sex im 21. Jahrhundert / Sex in the 21. century by Michael Parry
A bunch of short stories about sex and intergalactic problems, not slippery, but a pleasure to read and stuff to think about it:

Robert Silverberg - Einer mehr in der Herde / Push no more
A Teenager wants to have his first sex and is frustrated. This leads to telekinesis, this leads to his first sex. But he is frustrated again...

John Novotny - Seine ganz besondere Gabe / A trick or two
A man discovers his special psi-power and wants to impress a woman. But he is not the only one...

Robert Sheckley - Spüren sie etwas, wenn ich das mache? /Can you feel anything, when I do this?
A vacuum cleaner falls in love to a frustrated woman and tries to defrustrate her. But the effect is not as wished.

Robert Silverberg - In der Gruppe / In the group
Sex is practiced in the group, real and virtual at the same time. What if a man wants a girl for his own?

Charles Beaumont - Nicht normal / The crooked man
What if homosexuality is the norm and the love between a boy and a girl is a crime? Again stuff to think about it.

Isaak Asimov - Liebe, was ist das? / What is this thing called love?
Aliens investigate the earth, they cannot imagine how bisexuality works. This prevents the earth from destruction.

Fritz Leiber - Spiele im Liebesnest / Game for motel room
A man loves a girl, she is an alien on holiday and her husband is jelaous.

R. J. McGregor - Ein perfekter Gentleman / A perfect gentleman
A beautiful woman stranded on a lonely planet, she can build her own man. Will the experiment be succesful?

Robert Sheckley - Blind vor Begierde / Love, incorporated
A man comes to Earth to find real love. He is succesful, but this love is not what he wanted.

Alain Doremieux - Die Vana / The vana
Animals from another planet are looking like beautiful women. What if a man falls in love with one of them?

Miriam Allen de Ford - Ausweg / A way out
An alien ambassador feels uncomfortable on earth and wants to go back home. He does everithing for is goal.

Stephen Utley - Intergalaktische Kontaktanzeigen / Intergalactic lonely-hearts adverts
What the title says.

>98 SirThomas: Nice picture, Thomas!
I love to look at the waves at the beach.

>101 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita.
We love that too.
It is the same beach, the same sea, the same horizon, the same sky,...
But every time when we look, it is a different view.
And as a side effect, when I hear the waves I don't hear my tinnitus.

Beside walking and eating I found time for reading:


37 Menschenjagd in Manhattan / One lonely night by Mickey Spillane
A Mike Hammer novel, he is hardboiled, not in water, but in fluid steel. Before he asks he shoots. Mike fights against communists, again a straight, hard story, thrilling and good written. But for my taste too much hate.

38 Fünf / Five by Ursula Poznanski
A dead woman with a tatoo on her feet, coordinates for geocoaching. They lead to a cache with a hand in it - another corpse. The killer correspondents with a police officer, she is divorced and has two kids. A man who lost his family in a fire. Witnesses are found and are dying. How does it fit together? Very well written and a pleasure to read.

wünsch Dir ein entspanntes Wochenende

Vielen Dank, Paul.
We had. Long walks at he beach with wind and sun and fine food.
Saturday we went to the local farmer's market.There was a fisherman who sold North Sea crabs wich did not have been in "Holidays".
It is perverse, the crabs are catched nearby, then they are treated with preservatives and driven by truck to Morocco where they are shelled.
Then they come back and are sold as a local speciality.
Our crabs where shelled by the fisherman himself, without preservatives. The taste is marvelous.
We had scrambled eggs from lucky hens with the crabs. Simple but delicious.

Today it is raining, so it is time for an update:

39 Auf der Suche nach dem verlorenen Geschmack by Martina Meuth and Bernd Neuner-Duttenhofer
A book about fine food and how we can find it again. It describes how the food industry degenerates our taste and how we can develop it again. Nice little stories about some incredents and fine recipees. Easy to read and the recipes sound tasty.

Edit: Cover changed.

40 Die Eisprinzessin schläft / The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg
Ericas parents died at a car accident, now she is cleaning up their house in a small village in Sweden. An old school friend is found dead in a bathtube. At first the police is supposing suicide, but soon it is clear that she has been murdered. An athmospheric thriller with a lot of flair. It is a pleasure to read how the story develops and the characters are described.

It looks like you have a wonderful vacation. It's such a shame that food must be transported to be prepared for selling it. It's a really nonsense.
Wishing you a wonderful Sunday.

And all just to make it a little cheaper.
We place more value on quality than on price, life is so much more pleasant with good products. Usually they are not so much more expensive than mass products.

Thank you for the good wishes, Barbara.
The vacation were really wonderful, we came back friday night. Saturday our first suitcase arrived, so the washing machine could start working.
We always send our suitcases in advance by post when we are not travelling by car. So we can enjoy with light luggage also the journey.
Saturday and Sunday we were invited to birthday parties, today I still have vacation to recover.
Tomorrow the work starts again.

41. Der Prediger von Fjällbacka / The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg
The second book of the Erica Falck & Patrik Hedström series.
A dead woman is found, under her were the remains of two other women who had disappeared many years ago.
The traces lead to the family of a preacher who is at odds with each other.
Again very atmospherically and excitingly written.


42. Ein Ort für die Ewigkeit / A Place of Execution by Val McDermid
Winter 1963 in a secluded village: A 13 year old girl disappears and a young police officer has to solve his first big case.
The case ends with a sensational trial.
1988: A journalist wants to write a book about the case, the now retired policeman supports her.
But suddenly he forbids the publication - why?
The reading was as if I had been there. Great!

Again a BB from this gorgeous group - Thank you Paul (Cranswick)!

Time for statistics again

March 2019:

Books read: 16
Pages read: 5,998 (longest 572 / shortest 216 / average 375)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 1 / 1 / 1
Germany: 3 / 3 / 3
France: 0 / 1 / 1
Scottland: 1 / 1 / 1
Sweden: 3 / 3 / 2
USA: 8 / 19 / 13

Sum: 17* / 29 / 22

Counting mode: Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / all authors of the books / only different authors
* One book with 2 main authors

Gender:
female authors: 9 / 10 / 6
male authors: 8 / 19 / 16

date first published:
20th century: 1951, 1969, 1972, 1979, 1993, 1995, 1999
21th century: 2001, 2002 (2 books), 2003, 2004 (2 books), 2011, 2012, 2014

>112 SirThomas: March was a good reading month for you, Thomas, both in books and pages read.
I always love to see the monthly statistics.

Have a great weekend, Thomas.

Just re-checked your list @ >2 SirThomas: and I have read 8 of them to date.

Sorry for the absence.
We had really great holidays with a lot of long walks, but afterwards some health issues.
My wife had some pain in a foot in the last days of the holidays. At home she went to a doctor, he made some blood tests.
One value was significantly increased - a sign of thrombosis or embolism.
So she had to go to the hospital very quickly - she has a chronic disease, so the doctors are more careful with her.
There she was thoroughly examined, thank God with no results.
The pain is still there, now we have to go to an orthopedist.
In this time LT was not my main thing.

>113 FAMeulstee: Yes March was good in many ways ;-).
I like the statistics, too - this one is something special, the first time I read more books written by female authors than by male authors.

>114 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul, we had - my wife was at home again that weekend and we've been to a show of 2 comedians at Friday and a Leonard Cohen Cover Band at Sunday.
Things to laugh, lyrics to think about and good music to hear.
This weekend ist time to clean up the apartment and tomorrow we have a lunch with the family.
I have read only four of your list but some other books of your authors - again thank you for your great idea for this lists!

Some impressions from our holidays - Like I said - hiking and eating:


A few starters and a dessert.


Sushi and main courses

April had some books, too:


43. Das letzte Ritual / Last rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
A German student is murdered in Iceland. He investigated witch hunts. The murderer is found quickly, but the family does not believe his guilt, they send an investigator who hires an Icelandic lawyer as an interpreter. She is a single mother.
They find out that the dead man belonged to a witch cult, does his death have anything to do with it?
Quite exciting, some interesting insights into the history of witches, but the spark didn't really leap over.

44. Einstein, Quantenspuk und die Weltformel by Janick P. Mischler
A treatise on Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum physics and the world formula.
Interestingly written, easy to understand.
It is not a scientific reference book for physicists, but an aid to understanding for you and me.

>119 SirThomas: The Mischler sounds interesting - I wonder if there's an English translation.

Poor Paris, Notre Dame is on fire.
Terrible!

I wish your wife a speedy recovery! And your holiday meals look quite delicious.
We watched Notre Dame yesterday. It is terrible.

>120 drneutron: The book is really worth it to be read, unfortunately I did not find an English translation. The author has a website - http://www.einsteinswelt.ch, there is a contact form.
Probably aou can ask him about an available translation. But the page is not really up to date.

>122 mstrust: Thank you for the good wishes, Jennifer.
We're glad it's not a thrombosis or embolism. Next week she has an appointment for an MRI. We hope for the best.
Our holiday meals tasted terrific and it is a long time until we can go back there.
But if you search, you'll find good food everywhere - and my wife also cooks very well. (Sometimes I may help a little bit ;-) )
The fire is really bad, but thank God nobody was seriously injured.
The damage is immense, but probably not as great as feared at first, the church can be repaired.
And the willingness to help has been overwhelming. So far, over 700 million euros have already been donated for reconstruction.

Some books to be uptated:


45. Der Krieg mit den Molchen / War with the Newts by Karel Capek
The book was written in 1936, it is still up to date.
A skipper finds a small group of newts who can live in water and onshore. He distributes them on different islands to look for pearls.
The animals are intelligent and they reproduce. World wide business relationships are developing. But slowly the situation gets out of hand.
A satire about capitalism and communism - I love it.

And again a BB from this gorgeous group, I got the first suggestion already in 2013, this year Paul C reminded me again.


46. Mind over Medicine / Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin
A book about the self-healing powers of the body and a guide on how to activate them.
You should not reject orthodox medicine, but you can contribute much to healing oneself.
The topic is interesting and well described. But when I need more than half a year to finish a book, then the book and I don't fit together so well.

I wish you all a peaceful and restful Easter.

and the next one:

47. Der Brenner und der liebe Gott / Brenner and God by Wolf Haas
Simon Brenner is working as a chauffeur for a 2 year old girl. He is fired when she is kidnapped during a fuel stop.
He starts investigating - in the end, seven people are dead, but what does this have to do with the kidnapping?
Again a pleasure to read!

Some quotes:

"Ein richtiger Auflauf war zwar selten vor der Abtreibungsklinik, aber die stille Bedrohung von den Betschwestern fast noch beängstigender, weil seufzende Aggression immer am schlimmsten, und altbekannte Tatsache: Hinter jedem Massenmörder steht eine Massenseufzerin."
("A real crowd was seldom in front of the abortion clinic, but the silent threat from the prayer nurses was almost even more frightening, because sighing aggression was always the worst, and a well-known fact: Behind every mass murderer there is a mass sigh.")

"Der Shopfernseher hat das Handy zum Glück auch ein bisschen übertönt, weil eine blonde Moderatorin hat einfühlsame Worte zu Problemmenschen gesagt, aber ihre Stimme war so aggressiv, als hätte ihr der Schönheitschirurg beim letzten Besuch aus Versehen die Stimmbänder hinter die Ohren genagelt."
(The shop TV fortunately drowned out the mobile phone a bit, because a blonde presenter said sensitive words to problem people, but her voice was so aggressive as if the plastic surgeon had accidentally nailed her vocal chords behind her ears during her last visit.)

"»Fanatismus« hat der Knoll so ausgesprochen, als hätte er eine verdorbene Buchstabensuppe gefrühstückt, in der nur Anführungszeichen drinnen waren, die ihm in diesem Moment hochgekommen sind."
(Knoll pronounced "fanaticism" as if he had a corrupt alphabet soup for breakfast in which there were only quotation marks inside that came up to him at that moment.)

Weil er ist nie wegen den Sachen hingegangen, die es dort sonst noch gegeben hat, also geschmuggelte Zigaretten oder eine gefälschte Uhr, und das Hauptgeschäft hat das Cafe Liliputbahn natürlich mit den Eltern gemacht, die vom Geschrei ihrer liliputbahnsüchtigen Kinder zur Verzweiflung gebracht worden sind, und die haben im Cafe Liliputbahn ihre Beruhigungsmittel bekommen, günstiger als in der Apotheke und qualitativ besser, also wirksamer und alles, wo man sagt, es ist nicht ganz legal, aber dafür schaffe ich es wieder drei Tage, mein Kind anzulächeln, statt dass ich es mit dem Kopf voran durch die Wand zu den Nachbarn hinüberschiebe, damit die es anlächeln.
(He never went because of the things that were there else, smuggled cigarettes or a fake watch. And the main business of course the cafe Liliputbahn made with the parents who were brought to despair by the screams of their liliputbahnsüchtigen children, and they got their sedatives in the Cafe Liliputbahn, cheaper than in the pharmacy and qualitatively better, therefore more effective and everything, where one says, it is not completely legal, but for it I manage again three days to smile at my child, instead of pushing it head first through the wall to the neighbours, so that they smile at it.)

Happy Easter weekend, Thomas.

>127 Ameise1:, >128 mstrust: Thank you Barbara, thank you Jennifer, I wish you the same.

48. Kurt by Sarah Kuttner
Lena and Kurt live in a small house they bought recently. Kurt wanted to take better care of his son Kurt, who lives nearby with his mother.
Lena begins to cope with the situation of the patchwork family, now that little Kurt comes to visit more often and longer.
But then little Kurt dies. Kurt excludes Lena from his grief. Both must learn to cope with the new situation. It is not clear whether they can manage it together.
A great book about how to deal with grief from the perspective of an outsider who is despite in the middle of it.
A sad topic, but a very beautiful book.

49. Ein Bär im Betstuhl / Rovasti Huuskosen petomainen miespalvelija by Arto Paasilinna
A bear chases a cook on a tree and dies together with her from an electric shock.
The two baby bears stay behind, one comes to the zoo, one is given to the priest on his 50th birthday.
The priest raises it and travels around the world with it. The bear learns to clean, magic tricks and to help with sermons.
A typical Paasilinna story, funny, strange and wild. There are better books by him.

The book was again a birthday book, I started reading it on April 20, Paasilinna's birthday.

Yesterday was World Book Day, my ebook supplier offered several free books.
So I increased my Mount TBR again. They're books I wouldn't necessarily have bought otherwise:
Das fabelhafte Haus des Glücks
Wo bist du?
Die Farbe des Himmels
Sternschnuppenwünsche
Natürliches Entgiften: Freiheit für Körper, Geist und Seele
Kommissar Platow: Der Westend-Würger
Endstation Donau
Unter Fremden - I love the "Kühlfach" novels.

>132 SirThomas: A good haul, but those giveaways and sales are a nightmare for those of us trying to reduce our TBR lists! :)

World Book Day is a worthy reason to buy more. Great haul!

>133 sirfurboy: You're so right, Stephen!
Nevertheless, I like to stand halfway up Mount TBR and look down at the fields of the books I have read. And upwards on the many discoveries to be made and the summit cross, which will certainly be out of reach for me.
To stand on top of the Mount TBR and not have another goal - a nightmare!

>134 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer, so it is.
Especially when the books are for free ;-).
But besides the special book days every day is a good day to get books.

>123 SirThomas: A health update:
Yesterday we were at the MRI: It is a stress fracture of a toe. And it is healing already.
That's good news.

>135 SirThomas: Ah yes, very true, and nicely put. :)

>132 SirThomas: Nice haul, Thomas.
And e-books are great, as they don't take space on the shelves :-)
Lately I am replacing some physical books by e-books, as we keep buying books and we can't expand shelf space.

>136 sirfurboy: :-).

>137 FAMeulstee: I know this problem very well.
Especially as we moved from a house to a condo.
Smaller, no cellar, no attic - it was hard.
The e-book-reader helps me a lot - especially on holiday.

But the next one is a physical book - ebooks are a good thing, but turning the page is also very beautiful:

50. Der Rote Löwe / The Red Lion & The Elixir of Eternal Life by Mária Szepes
A journey through time and history.
Hans Burger, born in 1535, is in search of knowledge and eternal life. He meets a master of the Circle of Alchemists, who takes him to apprenticeship.
But Hans wants too much at once, kills his teacher and takes the elixir. He dies immediately and from then on is forced to relive the cycle of rebirth and to remember his previous lives.
Until he is so purified in the 19th century that he can become a master himself.
A very beautiful book, towards the end it becomes a bit too esoteric.

After a physical book about a man written by a woman now an eBook about a woman written by a man:


51. Wer schlafende Hunde weckt / Where the Bodies Are Buried by Christopher Brookmyre
Jasmine Sharp is a young woman who is not sure what she wants in life. She assists her uncle, who works as a private detective.
She is very insecure and does a lot wrong. Then her uncle disappears and she begins to investigate.
She gets into danger and gets to know dangerous people, she doesn't know who she can trust. Also the police is not always a help.
Exciting, varied, a little humour - nice to read.

The weekend was rainy, so there was time to read:


52. Das Mädchen mit dem Stahlkorsett / The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
England at the age of Queen Victoria.
Finley Jayne, a young handmaiden is resisting an attempted rape by her employer.
She has dark powers and hurts him, so she flees and is taken in by Griffin King.
He also has dark powers and fights for the good - with some friends.
Slowly they find trust in each other when a criminal threatens the queen.
A story with steam engines, robots, superpowers, connections to the afterlife.
Not serious but a nice to read.
The term "Steampunk" fits here very well.

and the first of my new acquisitions:

53. Kommissar Platow: Der Westend-Würger by Martin Olden
Frankfurt in the middle of the 70's, 3 callgirls are murdered, Kommissar Platow is on the hunt.
The arrest of the serial killer comes as a bit of a surprise, the clarification of other acts is conclusive in itself.
The mood of the 70s with its fear of terror in Germany is well described.
A nice reading pleasure, but nothing outstanding.
A nice detail: Platow and his dog can communicate telepathically.
But the dog is otherwise a normal animal without any special powers.

Time for statistics again:

Abril 2019:

Books read: 11
Pages read: 3,804 (longest 686 / shortest 135 / average 346)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 1 / 1 / 1
Czech Republic: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 1 / 1 / 1
Finland: 1 / 1 / 1
Germany: 3 / 3 / 3
Hungary: 1 / 1 / 1
Iceland: 1 / 1 / 1
Scottland: 1 / 1 / 1
USA: 1 / 1 / 1

Sum: 11* / 11 / 11

Counting mode: Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / all authors of the books / only different authors
* One book with 2 main authors

Gender:
female authors: 5 / 5 / 5
male authors: 6 / 6 / 6

date first published:
20th century: 1936, 1946, 1995
21th century: 2005, 2009, 2011 (2 books), 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019

The best start into a new month - books!


54. Die Farbe des Himmels by Britt Reissmann and Silvija Hinzmann
Thea Engel, a young police officer investigates a murder of a textile manufacturer in Stuttgart.
Then another murder happens.
The case gets diffficult and then traces emerge that also reflect Thea's past.
Exciting and well written.


55. Wir sind unfassbar: Neue ungewöhliche Todesanzeigen by Matthias Nöllke and Christian Sprang
A collection of obituaries with comments of the authors.
Quiet nice.

Today's saying of my calendar:

Wenn jemand zu mir sagt:
"Du kommst mir irgendwie bekannt vor".
frag ich immer:
"Entzugsklinik oder Knast?"

When someone says to me:
"You look kind of familiar."
I always ask:
"Withdrawal clinic or jail?"

Ha!

I love the "Raben Kalender", every day a saying, a cartoon or a quote, often from a book. This also gives me ideas for reading.
Last year I rediscovered the Brenner series by Wolf Haas - a pleasure!
There are also English translations, but I can't tell if the verbal wit is preserved.

56. Blackout - Morgen ist es zu spät / Blackout: A Novel by Marc Elsberg
Power outage in Europe, no one knows how this could have happened.
A former hacker has an idea and gets on the trail of a conspiracy. But he himself is also hunted.
Exciting and very well written.
The book shows how vulnerable civilization is and what dangers can lurk in the Internet of things.
It's scary.


57. Sorry, wir haben die Landebahn verfehlt by Stephan Orth and Antje Blinda
A collection of funny sayings from airline personnel.
Some are funny, some not.

Book recommendations don't just come from calendars or this awesome group:
On Sunday morning the lyrics of cats in the cradle by Ugly Kid Joe were discussed on the radio and the song was played.
After hearing the song for the third time in the evening, I thought it might be fine to read a book with the same title.

Cat's cradle is a great book...

I had totally forgotten that Ugly Kid Joe had re-made "Cats in the Cradle". Isn't it funny how we can get inspiration to grab a certain book?

>149 mstrust: Thank you for the "re-made" - I've heard the original by Harry Chapin and I like both versions - music and lyrics.
The book is as good as well, update will come soon.

I love to have different inspirations for grabbing a book - above all the suggestions from this group.
Sometimes I just stand in front of the bookshelf and wait to see which book spine jumps at me. (Unfortunately this does not work with ebooks).

Or I do it like today and look at the birthday list on LT.
Today is Tony Hawks Birthday, the fridge man. I have very good memories of Round Ireland with a fridge, after almost 10 years a re-read is certainly a pleasure.
The first pages are promising.

Time for an update:


58. Katzenwiege / Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
A book about a journalist who wants to write a book about the scientists who designed the atom bomb.
A book about the the consequences of scientific work.
A book about a new religion.
A book about a career in a banana republic.
Cat's cradle is a thread play, you pick some threads and you get a complete other picture, so it is in this book.
It is a georgeous satire - what should I say - read it!

Some quotes:

Der erste Satz in den Schriften des Bokonon lautet:
»All die Wahrheiten, die ihr nun vernehmen werdet, sind schamlose Lügen.«
The first sentence in the writings of the Bokonon is::
"All the truths you will now hear are shameless lies."

Meine Seele stank wie der Rauch eines brennenden Katzenfells.
My soul stank like the smoke of a burning cat fur.


59. Das Geheimnis des weißen Bandes / The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz
The story begins with an art dealer begging for Sherlock Holmes' help.
During the investigation, a young helper dies. Now it becomes dangerous for Sherlock himself, the invisible enemies are very powerful.
It is Sherlock Holmes, it is Dr. Watson, it is Inspector Lestrade. It is not the same.
And I don't think Doyle would have let Holmes fall into such a clumsy trap.
Nice to read, but the originals are better.


60. Mit dem Kühlschrank durch Irland / Round Ireland with a fridge by Tony Hawks
A drunken bet: Tony has to hitchhike through Ireland with a fridge.
The bet is 100 pounds, the fridge was 130 pounds.
Completely unprepared, Tony drives off and finds himself in abstruse situations.
But he gets to know a lot of helpful people - especially in pubs.
He and the fridge go surfing, they meet a king, they take part in a bachelor auction,...
The book made me think about the meaning of life - when I could stop laughing.

Today on Folly:

Du bist LibraryThing am 2010-05-20 beigetreten. Dein 10-jähriges Thingaversary ist in 364 Tagen.
(You joined LibraryThing on 2010-05-20. Your 10-year Thingaversary is in 364 days.)

I think I missed something - I should probably spend a little more time here after all.

A belated Happy Thingaversary, Thomas!

Happy Thingaversary! I hope it was a good one.

Thank you Rony, thank you Jennifer.
It is better to miss a Thingaversary than the wedding day ;-).
The day didn't start so well, we slept badly because we coughed.
In the morning I was with colleagues on the way to a training and was stuck in traffic when we were informed that the lecturer was ill.
So we turned around and drove to work.
But otherwise it was a pleasant day.
Unfortunately my wife still has pain in her foot and couldn't drive either, so I had to drive her to the doctors.
I also had several meetings away from home. Soon we will have an owners meeting and I had to do the cash audit at the property manager and write the report.
That's why I wasn't active in LT.

May had some books, too:


61. M.A.S.H by Richard Hooker
I love the TV-series, I like it better than the book.
Usually it's the other way around.
There are great ideas and a very good story, but the writing didn't impress me so much.
Maybe it is the translation...


62. Aufzeichnungen eines Unsichtbaren / Memoirs of an Invisible Man by Harry F Saint
An accident in a research lab.
A man becomes invisible - and is hunted.
He has big problems with his situation, but he grows with his tasks.
Interesting and exciting.

And the stats:

May 2019:

Books read: 9
Pages read: 2,766 (longest 476 / shortest 200 / average 307)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 2 / 2 / 2
Germany: 6 / 6 / 6
USA: 3 / 3 / 3

Sum: 12* / 12 / 12

Counting mode: Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / all authors of the books / only different authors
* Three books with 2 main authors

Gender:
female authors: 3 / 3 / 3
male authors: 9 / 9 / 9

date first published:
20th century: 1963, 1968, 1987, 1998
21th century: 2005, 2010 (2 books), 2011, 2012

A rather poor performance

>155 SirThomas: I hope your wife gets rid of her foot problems as soon as possible.

>157 SirThomas: Not the best reading month, Thomas, but on the bright side: you did read in May :-)
May was also my worst reading month in years....

Number 62 sounds interesting!

>158 FAMeulstee: Things are getting slowly better. She's getting massages and lymphatic drainage.
A month without books? - Terrible!
My best month and your worst - There are still worlds in between ;-).

>159 drneutron: Reading was fun, Jim.
The book was filmed in 1992 by John Carpenter, with Chevy Chase, Daryl Hannah and Sam Neill.
The film is said to be very good, I haven't seen it myself yet.

And now to important things:


63. Die Form des Wassers / The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
Inspector Montalbano mystery series part one.
A body is found in a car, he was a politician and had contacts with the Mafia.
A natural cause of death is found. Salvo Montalbano nevertheless begins to investigate and triggers an avalanche of events.
A fast reading pleasure.


64. Der Hund aus Terracotta / The Terra-Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri
A mafia boss asks Salvo Montalbano for his arrest, but is later murdered.
Two bodies are found during the investigation, but they have been dead for 50 years.
While he tries to solve the old mystery, the people involved in the first murder gradually die.
I like the series better and better.


65. Perry Mason und das ambulante Aktmodell / The Case of the Reluctant Model by Erle Stanley Gardner
Crooks are trying to trick Perry Mason, but he can see through the game.
A false picture, blackmail and beautiful women.
Exciting, straightforward, the hero is a superman and the wicked receive their just punishment.

I hope both you and your wife are feeling better now.
I still haven't read any Inspector Montalbanos.

Thank you, Jennifer, the cough is gone and we went out for a walk today - It worked!
The Inspector Montalbano series is definitely worth to be read, the books are well written, not too long, they doesn't take themself too seriously.
Whereby - I have to read even more of it to really be able to talk about it - 2 books are not enough.

Time for books:


66. Der talentierte Mr. Ripley / The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Tom Ripley lives a lifeless life. He's a cheater and a bum.
Then he is given the chance of a lifetime to persuade a friend to come home.
He is finding more and more pleasure in his life and is doing everything to be able to lead this life himself.
Very atmospheric.


67. Keiner von uns / The Black House by Patricia Highsmith
A collection of short stories, some are good, some are not.
It was ok.

68. Der Gärtner war's nicht by Tatjana Kruse
Two older sisters are opening a hotel. The guests are a band and a hotel tester, he is incognito.
The gardener is aphasic after a stroke. Then a guest dies - was it the gardener? The sisters are investigating.
Funny and well written.

Some quotes:
Wenn wir älter werden, sollen wir nicht jünger aussehen, sondern glücklich!
(When we get older, we shouldn't look younger, we should look happy!)

"Warum passiert mir das immer? Ich bin nur meinem Bauchgefühl gefolgt" - "Das ist es ja eben, Bauchgefühle sind meistens einfach nur verkappte Blähungen!"
("Why does this always happen to me? I just followed my gut feeling" - "That's what it is, gut feelings are mostly just disguised flatulence!")

"Zählen Sie etwa keine Kalorien?" Man hörte Sara deutlich an, dass es eine rhetorische Frage war. 
"Nein, tue ich nicht. Ich vertraue einfach darauf, dass sie alle da sind."
("Don't you count calories?" You could clearly hear Sara that it was a rhetorical question. 
"No, I don't. I just trust that they're all there.")

Ich bin sozial nicht kompetent genug, um mit Leuten, die mich langweilen, über Dinge zu sprechen, die mich nicht interessieren.
(I'm not socially competent enough to talk to people who bore me about things that don't interest me.)

Manchmal möchte ich spontan mit dir ans Meer fahren – nur du, ich und ein Sack Zement.
(Sometimes I want to go to the sea with you spontaneously - just you, me and a bag of cement.)

Katzen fällt, ebenso wie Hunden, natürlich auf, wenn ihre Menschen weg sind. Es kümmert sie nur nicht.
(Cats, just like dogs, naturally notice when their humans are gone. They just don't care.)

Je älter man wird, desto besser wird man! Außer natürlich, man ist eine Banane …
(The older you get, the better you get! Unless, of course, you are a banana ...)

There's bad news.
One of my favorite bookstores closes at the end of the year.
Buchhandlung zum Wetzstein in Freiburg.
There is an essay ba Martin Walser in "Der Spiegel". It seemes to be one of the two most beautiful bookstores in Germany - maybe - it is the most beautiful bookstore I know.
I will miss it.

So I changed my way to pick up a book from birthday-book to death-anniversary-book.
Yesterday Fletcher Pratt had his anniversary of death, so this one came up to be read:


69. Die stählerne Festung / The castle of iron by L. Sprague De Camp and Fletcher Pratt
A wild mixture of literature-jumping, science, magic,... (It could be, that Jasper Fforde was inspired by this series, but he went his own way)
Harold Shea is beamed into a parallel universe and searches his wife who has amnesia.
Short and funny. Reading this book I imagined the authors sitting with some alcoholic beverages, figuring out what trap they can let him fall into.
They must have had fun writing this story.

Sorry to hear of your bookstore closing. A lot can happen in six months, and maybe it can be saved. Here's hoping somebody has a plan.

A bookstore is always a very individual and personal affair.
In Freiburg it is like elswhere many owner-operated stores are closing, the rents are high and the shops are taken over by large chains.
Times are changing but books remain - thank god there are alternatives.

Although I was busy with the rainbow hunt for a while, I could read a bit:


70. Ein Mann sieht rot / Death Wish by Brian Garfield
While reading, memories of youth came up, I loved the movie with Charles Bronson.
The book is a bit different and shows the inner struggles a bit better.
Somewhat brutal and not very complex, but good to read.


71. Der Genitiv ist dem Streber sein Sex: und andere Erkenntnisse aus meinem Leben 2.0 by Markus Barth
Wisdoms of life of a comedian, interesting and funny. Very well observed and caricatured.
I like the motto:
Das Leben ist ein Ponyhof.
Aber mit angeschlossener Pferdemetzgerei.

Life is a pony farm.
But with an attached horse butchery.

In Germany there is a saying when someone complains that life is hard or unfair:
Life is not a pony farm - so get over it!

>166 SirThomas: Sorry to read about closing bookstore, Thomas, it is sad so many go down these days :-(
Do you live near Freiburg?
We shortly visited Freiburg in February 2013, and thought it was a lovely city.

Yes, Freiburg is really a beautiful city, my wife was born in Freiburg, so we are there from time to time.
We now live further north, closer to Heilbronn than to Nuremberg.

My wife must love me very much that she moved away from Freiburg ;-) although it is beautiful here too.

This week I had a meeting in Freiburg and we spent some nice days with good food:

I also visited the bookstore zum Wetzstein and bought a signed book from Vincent Klink: Angerichtet, herzhaft und scharf!: Aus meinem Tage- und Rezeptebuch
A mixture of diary and recipe book. He's a Michelin-star chef from the Stuttgart area, unfortunately I haven't been there for dinner yet.
But I was already at one of his concerts, he plays flugelhorn and is a great entertainer.
I am very much looking forward to the book.

Now it is too hot to sit outside, so there is time for an update:


72. Endstation Donau by Edith Kneifl
Volume 4 of a series about Katharina Kafka, a Roma and Orlando, a drag queen.
Both are mediated by Kafka's uncle as bartenders on a Danube steamer.
Soon a sailor disappears, Katharina sees his corpse swimming past the porthole, but nobody notices the disappearance.
More people disappear, who can she trust, who is involved in the matter.
At the same time, the story of two jeweller robbers in Vienna is told. Both cases are connected...
Many landscape descriptions, which partly disturb the reading flow, the language is somewhat bumpy, there are small mistakes.
A man is shot in the right upper arm (thank God he's left-handed, so it's not so bad), later he sews and connects the left arm.
Quite nice.


73. Angerichtet, herzhaft und scharf!: Aus meinem Tage- und Rezeptebuch by Vincent Klink
A mixture of diary and recipe book. He's a Michelin-star chef from the Stuttgart area, unfortunately I haven't been there for dinner yet.
A pleasure to read, I love his concise way of writing.


74. Hände weg von Zeitmaschinen / Starburst by Alfred Bester
A collection of short stories:

Verschwindibus
A war to preserve the American culture that no longer exists because of the war.

Adam – und keine Eva…
A man alone on a destroyed earth, for whose condition he is responsible. Hallucinating and yet he has a destination, the sea.

Stern des Glanzes, Stern der Pracht
Three men are looking for a child who knows children with special abilities. But the child they are looking for also has special abilities, as the three of them have to find out to their regret.

Achterbahn
A man in search of action - a very special kind.

Oddy und Id
A boy has the gift to always get what he wants, 4 professors want to guide him for the best of the world.
In the beginning everything works according to plan.

Eine schwerwiegende Entscheidung
A man wants to save an artist who's gone mad. But he himself is not quite normal either.

Reisetagebuch
The diary of a journey across the universe - a nice irony on tourism, no matter where you go, it looks the same everywhere.

Geliebtes Fahrenheit
An android goes crazy - or is it the owner? A game with language.

Hände weg von Zeitmaschinen!
A statistician tracks down a phenomenon, there are more people in the cities destroyed by the war than there might be statistically.
But his investigations have unforeseen consequences for him.

Er wollte nicht sterben
An old man no longer understands the world, but has everything really developed for the better?

Von der Zeit und der Third Avenue
A man rents a bar for an hour to meet another man, something's weird.

The stories are short, good and with a mostly surprising ending.

75. Die Geheime Geschichte / The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Six students, one of them murdered.
This is the story of how it happened and what happened afterwards.
Great!

And as a reward, I granted myself a special book:


76. Brennerova by Wolf Haas
The last one of the series, Brenner gets married.
But this wasn't a normal wedding.
It is again be very bloody and abstruse, nice to read
Again a lot of language wit.
The Cliffhanger gives hope for another book.

Congratulations on reaching 75 already, Thomas.

Have a lovely Sunday.

Thank you, Paul, the same to you!

We sit in the (still) cool apartment and wait for it to cool down a bit outside.
Outside it is 34°C (94°F) and the wind is now a bit too strong for our awning.
So now we sit inside and I can pack my suitcase, tomorrow I have to go for a 2 days meeting.
My wife is looking forward to have free house ;-).

And the stats:

June 2019:

Books read: 14
Pages read: 3,984 (longest 576 / shortest 157 / average 285)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 2 / 2 / 2
Germany: 3 / 3 / 3
Italy: 2 / 2 / 1
USA: 8 / 8 / 7

Sum: 15* / 15 / 13

Counting mode: Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / all authors of the books / only different authors
* one book with 2 main authors

Gender:
female authors: 5 / 5 / 4
male authors: 10 / 10 / 9

date first published:
20th century: 1950, 1955, 1958, 1962, 1972, 1978, 1992, 1994, 1996
21th century: 2011, 2014 (2 books), 2017, 2018

I wish you a good start into July with a wave of a popcorn

>173 SirThomas: Congratulations on reaching 75, Thomas!

>174 SirThomas: Nice stats!
I am working on my own monthly stats, it is late, so I will probably finish the stats tomorrow.

Congrats on gliding past the goal!

Congratulations on 75!
I've seen on our news the stories about the excessive heat all over Europe. I'm glad you're staying cool. Of course, here in Phoenix we're having a high of 110F today and would kill for 94F, but for a place where that isn't the norm, it would be stressful.

>178 paulstalder: Thank you Paul.
Edible arts with imagination - I love the idea.

>179 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita.
I still have to do the half year stats, but I don't get to.
Now it is cooling down a little bit, so it could be possible soon.

>180 drneutron: Thank you, Jim.

>181 mstrust: Thank you Jennifer.
Yes, the heat makes me driveless and sluggish - even in the still cool apartment.
I feel most comfortable at 25°C (77°F) - the forecast for next week is around this - i hope for the best.

After it's a little cooler, it's time for a supplement:


77. Der brennende Mann / The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
A man, driveless and sluggish, auxiliary mechanic in a spaceship, survives an accident.
As a ship flies by without saving him, he suddenly gets a motivation.
He saves himself and goes on a vendetta.
He overcomes bigger and bigger obstacles.
Ironic and exciting.


78. Demolition / The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
How's a killer doing in a society where there are telepaths?
A man tries to trick the investigators.
Something too over-excited.


79. Was ich euch nicht erzählte / Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
A girl's drowning.
The family (mother, father, brother, sister) is stunned and almost breaks up.
The book tells the story of how this happened and how the family deals with it.
A very precise drawing of a family in which much remains unsaid.
A great book.

And as promised the stats of th first half of the year:
Wow half of the year is gone - New Year's Eve seemed to be just yesterday.

Books read: 76
Pages read: 24,630 (longest 576 / shortest 77 / average 686)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Algeria: 1 / 1 / 1
Austria: 9 / 9 / 4
Czech Republic: 1 / 1 / 1
England 11 / 11 / 7
Finland 1 / 1 / 1
France: 3 / 4 / 3
Germany: 16 / 16 / 16
Hungary: 1 / 1 / 1
Iceland: 1 / 1 / 1
Ireland: 1 / 1 / 1
Italy: 2 / 2 / 1
Scotland: 2 / 2 / 2
Sweden: 5 / 5 / 2
USA: 26 / 38 / 30

Sum: 80* / 93 / 71

Counting mode: Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / all authors of the books / only different authors
* Some books with 2 main authors

Gender:
female authors: 27 / 28 / 22
male authors: 53 / 65 / 49

date first published:
1st century: 170
20th century: 1936, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1968 (2 books), 1969, 1971, 1972 (2 books), 1978, 1979, 1984, 1987 (2 books), 1988, 1989, 1992 (2 books), 1993 (2 books), 1994 (2 books), 1995 (3 books), 1996, 1997 (2 books), 1998 (2 books), 1999 (2 books)
21th century: 2000, 2001 (2 books), 2002 (3 books), 2003 (4 books), 2004 (2 books), 2005 (2 books), 2009 (2 books), 2010 (3 books), 2011 (6 books), 2012 (3 books), 2013, 2014 (4 books), 2016, 2017, 2018 (2 books), 2019

Another quote from my calendar:
(from "Die Toten von Salzburg" - a movie):

Erfahrung ist die Summe des Scheiterns.
Experience is the sum of failure.

I have a lot of experience ;-).

Time for some books again:


80. Eine unbeliebte Frau by Nele Neuhaus
A DA commits suicide.
A young woman falls from a lookout tower. Later it turns out that they were murdered.
A sympathetic investigator duo begins to investigate and uncovers more and more abysses. But the murderer remains unidentified for a long time.
Very nice to read, but a bit laid on thick.


81. Mordsfreunde by Nele Neuhaus
An environmentalist is murdered. There are a lot of suspects, including the zoo director.
In the course of the investigations, bribes in connection with road construction are uncovered.
Is this a motive?
Again a fun read.


82. Tiefe Wunden by Nele Neuhaus
A concentration camp survivor is murdered.
But why does an old Jew have an SS tattoo?
The investigation also takes Oliver von Bodenstein and Pia Kirchhoff to Poland.
They bring the unbelievable to light.
I always like the series better.

>186 SirThomas: You are on a roll with Nele Neuhaus, Thomas!
I finished the 4th book earlier this month, and already feel a bit sad that there are only 4 more to go ;-)

Yes, and it is getting better and better.
It is hard to stop reading once you've started.
Thank you for mentioning me the series. I love this group almost like reading!
It is hard to see that the end is coming, that's how I was with Simon Brenner by Wolf Haas.
But there are a lot of alternatives - and I think you have 5 books to go - The series currently includes 9 books ;-).
And there is a possibility for some books more.

No calendar motto this time - there's a Peanuts comic strip in our daily newspaper.
Today a wisdom from Snoopy:

Dinge, die ich gelernt habe, nachdem es zu spät war:
Ein ganzer Haufen Erinnerungen kann einer kleinen Hoffnung nicht das Wasser reichen.
Things I learned after it was too late.
A whole bunch of memories can't hold a candle to a little hope.

And a book - not from Nele Neuhaus, I want to save her up a little bit:

84. Die Mädchen von der Englandfähre / Fatal Crossing by Lone Theils
Nora Sand, a danish journalist in England buys an old suitcase.
The suitcase belonged to a convicted murderer and it contains some pictures of young girls. Some look familiar to her.
They disappeared on a ferry to England many years ago.
Nora begins to investigate with an old friend, a danish policmen who is in London for a further training.
Thrilling and well written - and another BB. This time from Barbara (Ameise1) Thanks a lot for that!

>188 SirThomas: The last Nele Neuhaus isn't translated, Thomas, so I don't count it yet. I am almost sure it will be translated in time, as it is fairly popular. Sometimes it happens that publishers suddenly quit publishing in the midst of a series.

This is a good method, then you won't be too disappointed if the book is actually not available.
I hope you can enjoy the series for a long time.

Yesterday was the hottest day ever measured in Germany: 42.6 ° C (107.6 F)!
We had almost 42°C - too hot for every activity.

For cooling an impression from New Year 2017:

Wow, who would have thought that Europe could reach Phoenix temps!? I saw on our news yesterday that Belgium had reached 104F. And not many people have air conditioners, do they?
I'm sending you an igloo to live in for the summer.

Yes the temperatures are getting higher and higher, it's worrisome.
We have no air conditioner, but the apartment has good thermal insulation, so we have stayed below 27°C (80.6°F) so far.
Thank you for the snow - it worked very well!
Today we have a forecast of 27°C outside, so we can finally ventilate during the day.

In spite of the heat, there were some books:

85. Bringt mir den Kopf des Märchenprinzen / Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming by Robert Sheckley and Roger Zelazny
The fight between good and bad - in the year 999 it is decided who will be allowed to determine the fate of mankind for the next 1000 years.
There is a competition, a demon comes to earth, a fairy tale is staged.
Literature? - No
Thoughtful? - No
Seriousness? - No
Fun? - YES


86. McJesus / Cross Dressing by Bill Fitzhugh
Dan is an advertising agent. He is broke and unemployed.
He slips into the role of his recently deceased brother - a priest who had his own problems.
He supports a home for poor people and uses his abilities.
Criticism of the society and the church, and a lot of fun to read.


87. Kind der Sterne / Starbrat by John Morressy
An orphan is kidnapped by slave hunters and trained as a gladiator.
He escapes, travels through the galaxy and passes many adventures.
A one-dimensional hero story.

>193 SirThomas: >195 SirThomas: The same here, although we do have a (small) airco upstairs. We kept the temp inside below 25°C and are ventilating now. It is slowly cooling down, no much needed rain here.

Hi Thomas, finally caught up here. You did some great reading. I've not some on my shopping list and will have a look at my library.
I hope it isn't too hot anymore at your place. We got rain on Sunday and the temps are much better now.

>197 FAMeulstee:, >198 Ameise1: Hi Anita, Hi Barbara, it is much better now, the temperatures are at 25° C and we had some rain, saturday about 15 l, sunday about 20 l.
It could have been more, Nature needs it.
Saturday we had a street party with our neighbourhood, so we went into our underground garage and put the tables on 2 parking places.
We were happy about the rain and celebrated in the dry.
The barbecue was outside, as the rain got stronger we had already eaten - and the barrel of beer was already downstairs.
The mood was good.

>198 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara
Many reading suggestions came from this great group - and also from you - and Anita.
I love being here.

>199 SirThomas: Glad to hear that you had a fab party. I got lots of books ideas from this group too. BTW I've got a copy from Tatjana Kruse's Bei Zugabe Mord. Have you read that one?

Unfortunately, I don't know this book yet.
I liked the Kommissar Seifferheld series very much last year.
They were exciting, somewhat black humorous and well written. I also know Schwäbisch Hall quite well.
I also have good memories of the other two books.
So I think you can give it a try.

And another calendar saying:

Wer das, was schön war, vergisst, wird böse.
Wer das, was schlimm war, vergisst, wird dumm.
(Erich Kästner)

Who forgets what was beautiful, becomes evil.
Who forgets what was bad, becomes stupid.

And the last book of JulY:

88. Ein herrliches Chaos / A Splendid Chaos by John Shirley
A group of people are transferred to a foreign planet. There they live together with many races of other planets.
Life is hard and dangerous, a war between the races threatens. Zero tries to mediate, Fiskle wants to rule.
Who will win? Who are the observers who brought them here?
Adventure and excitement, sometimes I was reminded of the Riverworld series .

Stats-Time for July:

Books read: 12
Pages read: 4,307 (longest 545 / shortest 222 / average 359)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Denmark: 1 / 1 / 1
Germany: 4 / 4 / 1
USA: 8 / 8 / 7

Sum: 13* / 13 / 9

Counting mode: Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / all authors of the books / only different authors
* One book with 2 main authors

Gender:
female authors: 6 / 6 / 3
male authors: 7 / 7 / 6

date first published:
1st century: 170
20th century: 1953, 1956, 1972, 1988, 1991
21th century: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017

and a supplement - how could I forget this great book?


83. Schneewittchen muss sterben by Nele Neuhaus
A young man comes out of prison, he is said to have killed 2 girls, the bodies were never found.
His parents have separated, his mother is pushed off a bridge and seriously injured.
Only a few friends stick by him, but what are their intentions?
What does the autistic neighbour have to do with it?
In the course of the investigation, monstrous things come to light.

>205 SirThomas: Yes, how could you forget, Thomas, I though it was well plotted.
I have the next one: Wer Wind sät from the e-library.

We are enjoying cooler weather and the plants in the garden are happy with the rain :-)

>206 FAMeulstee: To forget a book is unforgivable, Anita ;-).
But thank God I only forgot the report, not the book. Yesterday I found a book on the floor of a public toilet. I left it there - because of the germs - and maybe the owner will come back.
Wer wind sät is also very good, but what I liked best was the next one Böser Wolf. Report to follow.
Die Lebenden und die Toten is on loan in our e-library, I reserved it, it should be available by the end of August.
We also have cooler weather and some rain - we (and nature) feel much better.

>185 SirThomas: me, too !



found that at the Buchcafé Augustin in Lindau

>208 paulstalder: LOL.
Times are changing - In my youth there where other shocks for my parents.
The area around Lindau is very beautiful, I think I should go there again.

And the readiung-update for August:


89. Wer wind sät by Nele Neuhaus
A company that designs wind turbines, a citizens' initiative, bribes and a murder.
Again, the investigations uncover abysses.
Again well written, exciting, with sympathetic investigators who are also well described with their own problems.


90. Böser Wolf / Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus
The best book in the series - so far.
A dead girl is pulled out of a river, nobody knows her or misses her.
A television journalist is kidnapped and tortured.
What does a former gang leader have to do with this? The tracks lead to the highest circles.
Exciting, profound and frightening. Behind some respectable facades lurk abysses.


91. Origin / Origin by Dan Brown
Actually I had enough of the series with Robert Langdon, but then I got an offer which I couldn't refuse, a new hardcover for 5,-- €. So I bought it.
It's the same as always, a breathless hunt, this time through Barcelona, with many descriptions of the town and the artworks.

Just catching up to wish you a wonderful weekend, Thomas.

Thank you, Paul, the same to you.

Now it is time for books again:


92. Der Kruzifix-Killer / The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter
A police officer with an academic education, his new assistant - the best one ever on the hunt for a serial killer - the cruelest ever.
The deeds resemble an old pattern - was the wrong perpetrator executed at that time?
Good to read, but a little bit too much of all.


93. Der Retter von Dent-All / Prostho Plus by Piers Anthony
A dentist is kidnapped by aliens and has a career.
A fun read.


94. Kaliber .50 / Calibre .50 by Robert Sheckley
A crime story about arms smuggling and revolution from 1961.
The science fiction stories are much better. This was very bumpy to read.

Happy Sunday, Thomas.

Oh, I love your #93 in >214 ronincats:. It is so silly and so much fun! This is my cover:


I've been on a reread marathon this summer, and I think I'm in just the mood for this one next. Even though I've gone pretty much sour on Piers Anthony, this is one I'll always keep.

Stopping in to wish you a good week, Thomas!

Sorry for the delay, i'm pretty busy right now.

>213 Ameise1: Thanky you, Barbara Happy Thursday to you.

>214 ronincats: You are right, Roni, it is a really fun read - and I like your cover much more than the one of my book.
The first words of the book are:
"Dr. Dillingham was forty-one years old: a conservative, successful, twentieth-century bachelor prosthodontist."
In your cover you see this character, in my cover you see a kind of galactic super hero - this is not the protagionist of this book.

>215 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer, the same to you!

And now to the books:


95. Olympiade der Techniker / Profession by Isaac Asimov
A great little parable about the failure and dangers of specialization.
In the distant future you don't need to learn any more, as a child you get a treatment and can read, as a teenager you are tested, it is determined for which specialty you are best suited and you also get the necessary knowledge automatically.
At George no occupation can be determined, he comes into a special institution, he feels as a failure, but has he really failed?


96. Polt muß weinen by Alfred Komarek
A story like a yoga lesson - very relaxing to read.
A man dies in a wine cellar, everything looks like an accident.
A village policeman begins to investigate the village.
A lot of flair, a lot of local colour, a lot of wine.
At the end it gets a bit exciting.
Quick and easy to read.


97. Der Mann mit der Ledertasche / Post Office by Charles Bukowski
An autobiography of a hard life.
A book about drinking, fucking and working.
Laconic and unvarnished - great.
This is another birthday-book - Charles Bukowski he would have been 99 years old today.
This is a "Schnapszahl" - In our region, this is a reason to drink a booze. Cheers!

There were some more comics - Gaston by André Franquin, I love them, but they run out of competition.

98. Die Auferstehung by Karl-Heinz Ott
The father lies lifeless in his house. His 4 children and 2 partners come to save the inheritance, they suspect he left everything to his nurse.
Little by little secrets come to light, actually all children have failed in life.
You can see that the author spent a lot of time formulating and decorating the sentences. Unfortunately, it takes even longer to read them.
I never found the right reading flow - maybe it's me.

The comparison may be unfair: The Bukowski-book has half as many pages and I read it in a few hours, this one took more than 2 weeks.

recovering from a summer flu it is time again for books:


99. Die Lebenden und die Toten / I Am Your Judge by Nele Neuhaus
The City Library finally had it available!
A sniper shoots an elderly lady.
Then further persons - apparently indiscriminately.
Pia Kirchhoff cancels her honeymoon to help with the investigation.
The book is again very well written, this time everything runs off in a very breathless speed. So that investigators and readers hardly come to thinking.


100. Länger als sonst ist nicht für immer by Pia Ziefle
The story of three people with problems whose lives are intertwined:
Ira, a single mother who works in a small bakery and cares for her dying father.
Fido, abandoned as a child by his mother, fled Yugoslavia with his grandfather.
Lew, grown up in the GDR, his parents fled without the children, the brothers lived with foster parents.
Now he is in India, looking for his father.
A wonderful calm book about fate and hope.


101. Die Blutlinie / Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen
FBI agent Smoky Barrett's family was killed by a serial killer, she could escape badly injured and kill him. Now she tries to return to the service. A new case is waiting, even more terrible.
Her best friend is murdered and leaves her her traumatized daughter.
Exciting, breathless and well written. But a little too much of everything for me.


102. Blumen für Polt by Alfred Komarek
Another short crime story with Simon Polt.
This time the village policeman investigates a car accident and the accidental death of a mentally handicapped person.
Again there is a lot of talking and drinking.
I love the mood of the novels.


103. Himmel, Polt und Hölle by Alfred Komarek
Stupid boy pranks in the village - or is it more?
The beautiful pastor's cook dies, she had an eventful past.
Polt investigates in his proven and calm way.

I'm feeling better now.
After the rather short Polt novels it's time for something longer.
Flu, long, good? A suggestion from Jennifer's (mstrust) thread:
The Stand, one of my favorite books.
Let's dive in...

Sorry to hear you had the flu, but glad you are better now.

I'm glad you're better, Thomas. And happy to make you think of The Stand! I've been pecking away at it for eight months now, so you'll likely finish before I do. :-D

Glad to hear that you feel better.
Happy Sunday, Thomas.

>221 ronincats: Thank you, Roni, I'm doing pretty well. I went back to work yesterday.

>222 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer. Yeah, I might overtake you. This is one of those books I really dive in and forget the world.
Sunday after lunch: I think I will read a bit. Suddenly it is too dark to see anything. I start up and realize the sun has set.

>223 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. Sunday was fine - sun, a walk in the morning and a good book in the afternoon.

I wish you all a wonderful week.

Greetings from Switzerland


do you know about 'Frederick's Day'?

Thank you very much, Paul. Unfortunately I didn't know this series of events before, but it seems to be aimed at younger readers.
This year we have the "Baden-Württembergische Literaturtage" nearby.
There are many events that we want to visit.
E.G. there is "Öhringen liest ein Buch" - the whole city reads Länger als sonst ist nicht für immer (See my book #100).
There are always reading circles where you talk about it - even with the author.
A special exhibition about one of our favourite books Der kleine Prinz - we had quotes from it at our wedding (in another century ;-) ).
A lecture by Denis Scheck on The 100 Most Important Works of World Literature.
A Menu Surprise with Martin Walker - Delicious food, books and jazz, what more could you want?
... and much more.

>226 SirThomas: Wow, that sounds gorgeous. Enjoy it.
Happy Sunday, Thomas.

Thank you Barbara, I'm looking forward to it.

Update time:


104. The Stand : 'Das letzte Gefecht' / The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition by Stephen King
Nothing more to say as one of my favourite books!


105. Tod eines Tenors / Evanly Choirs by Rhys Bowen
A small village in Wales.
A village policeman.
A world famous tenor dies.
A lot of local colour, nice to read.


106. Polterabend by Alfred Komarek
A small village in Austria
A village policeman.
A frozen corpse in the wooden vat of a wine press.
Simon Polt is back, but he doesn't feel like it any more - and a new dynamic boss who doesn't fit in here.


107. Polt by Alfred Komarek
Simon Polt is now a private man - and a father-to-be.
A stranger lies dead in the vineyard, a friend of Simon Polt is suspected. So he starts talking to the people again.
A beautiful short book.

And the numbers of August:

Books read: 19
Pages read: 6,923 (longest 1.198 / shortest 61 / average 645)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 5 / 5 / 1
England: 1 / 1 / 1
Germany: 5 / 5 / 3
USA: 8 / 8 / 8

Sum: 19 / 19 / 13

Counting mode: Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / all authors of the books / only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 5 / 5 / 3
male authors: 14 / 14 / 10

date first published:
20th century: 1959, 1961, 1971 (2 books) , 1990, 1998, 1999
21th century: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009 (2 books), 2011, 2012, 2014 (2 books), 2015, 2017

>230 SirThomas: You have been reading a lot in August, Thomas.

Yes, even a flu can be good for something ;-).

Well, I said you'd likely beat me in finishing The Stand, but good lord, you did it in just a week! :-D

But I also had 3 advantages:

1. I had much mor reading-time than usual.


2. This was not the first pass of the book.


3. When I read this book I forget everything of the real world. The only action is turning the pages.

Since I am at work again my reading speed is dropping ;-).

Science is right again ;-) :

A study found that women
who are a bit overweight
live longer than men
who mention this.

I saw that study too. Now I know that I'm immortal.

:))

>232 SirThomas: I need the flu too then Thomas if I am going to reach my reading goals!

Have a great weekend.

Thank you Paul, I had that and the weekends afterwards...

Excuse my absence, I had other things to do.
Now I'm back and trying to follow the threads.

>239 SirThomas: Glad to see a message from you, Thomas, it was quiet here in September.
Probably less reading this month for you.

>235 SirThomas: Ha! So true :)

Have a wonderful weekend

>240 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita - maybe August has overstrained me ;-).
I don't really know what was going on - a lot of work, even at home. Some parties, a nice holiday.
That slowed down my activity with books and LT.
But now everything is getting better - I promise.

>241 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita, it was very fine.

Now it's time for me to break into new realms for the first time - my first second thread.