Pieter

This was a quick read. I sped through it...
The author discussed several techniques on how to improve your reading speed and comprehension.
Some of those recommendations were stating the obvious, but in general it can be useful.

I can imagine it can help to get you through piles of study books and other material, as a fairly large part of the book is not so much about the speed reading itself as well about studying techniques and memortization.

Another fun read in this series. Getting a tad annoyed with the many interludes where Alcatraz is directly addressing the reader. An overload is lurking, so I am saving the remaining books in this series for later.

The book was okay, earning a solid 3 stars. The narrative is presented in a capstone project format, which gives it a refreshing start, but this wears off quickly and it becomes just another YA mystery novel. As a mystery, it is decent and entertaining with expected twists and turns. In the end, it wraps up nicely. I was persuaded to read it based on the high ratings it received, but it did not live up to my expectations. I may not have been the target audience.

Lastly, regarding the Dutch ebook publication, it was formatted as a PDF even though it is in epub format. This was likely done to mimic the layout of the printed version, but this did not work well on my e-reader as it was poorly scaled. I ended up switching to the English version, which was much more e-reader friendly. Buyers should be aware of this issue.

2.5 ster.
Ik heb de Nederlandse vertaling gelezen met een voorwoord van Rutger Bregman. Dit heeft zijn werk goed gedaan, want het was, na wat twijfel, een van de redenen om dit boek toch te lezen.

Dit boek is eigenlijk gebaseerd op een eerder geschreven opiniestuk/essay van dezelfde auteur over “bullshit jobs”. Aanleiding was een opinieonderzoek gehouden in verschillende landen waaruit kwam dat een groot gedeelte van de werknemers vindt dat ze een onzinbaan hebben.
Naar eigen zeggen heeft Graeber zoveel reacties gekregen op zijn essay dat hij heeft besloten hierover een boek te schrijven.
Vervolgens vraagt hij via twitter om ervaringen en anecdotes. Dit vormt vervolgens zijn “dataset van 100.000 woorden” waar hij dit boek en zijn theorieen op baseert.

Alle bewijs is bijna volledig anecdotisch, met de mededeling dat het lastig is om een onzinbaan te definieren, dus laten we er maar vanuit gaan dat de mensen zelf degene zijn die het het beste weten. Het probleem hiermee is dat je geen flauw idee hebt van de populatie en of deze biased is of niet.
Zoals het vaak gaat bij dit soort dingen is er een heel kleine, zeer vocale groep, die hun mening ventileert via de sociale media, waardoor het lijkt alsof een hele bevolkingsgroep iets vindt. De overgrote meerderheid zwijgt en gaat gewoon door met zijn leven.

Toch vond ik het eerste deel van het boek wel interessant, prikkelend en amusant. De anecdotes schetsten vaak absurde, maar ook herkenbare situaties. Als een cabaretier die alledaagde situaties uitvergroot zodat het absurd en grappig wordt, terwijl iedereen aanvoelt dat er een kern van waarheid in zit.
Maar het is geen cabaret of satire en ik heb het idee dat de auteur wil doen voorkomen dat het hier om een serieuze academische studie gaat.

Na het vermakelijke eerste deel, vond ik het tweede deel van het boek vermoeiend.
Mijn grootste probleem is de pedante toon en de manier waarop hij stellingen poneert. Bijvoorbeeld in het laatste hoofdstuk van het boek:
Hij stelt dat de mensen met een onzinbaan de meeste kans hebben op voortplantingsproblemen. Hij vervolgt: “Dat vermoed ik althans. Dat soort vermoedens kan alleen door empirisch onderzoek worden bewezen.” Het is een bekende truc, veel gebruikt in rechtbankdrama's. Je roept iets ongefundeerds, de rechter fluit je terug, maar ondertussen is het wel gezegd.

Het boek gaat als een nachtkaars uit, tegen de tijd dat hij bij de oplossingen aankomt ben ik inmiddels afgehaakt. Op zich vond ik dit wel jammer. Anecdotisch of niet, ik vind het fenomeen van de onzinbaan wel interessant om over na te denken.

Conclusie:
Net als de helft van de banen geschrapt kan worden als “onzinbaan” had ook, wat mij betreft, de helft van dit boek geschrapt kunnen worden.

The father of Stephen Donaldson was a medical missionary in India, where he worked extensively with leprosy patients. This undoubtedly served as inspiration for the character of Thomas Covenant. Thomas, the hero, or anti-hero if you will, is a writer with leprosy. Because of this, his wife left him, and he became an outcast. Survival is his key word.

Covenant finds himself in a fantasy world, where he is seen as the chosen one. He himself is convinced that everything is a dream or hallucination and chooses not to believe his new reality, hence his self-chosen title “unbeliever.”

The first two chapters are excellent. Thomas Covenant could easily be a character from Stephen King. A troubled writer, an outcast, strong character traits, vivid descriptions of the local setting. A very captivating opening.

Then the fantasy part begins. The way Thomas ends up in another world reminded me a lot of the Dark Tower.

Next, there's a first introduction to Lord Foul, which was a big monologue about how evil he is. Almost literally with an evil laugh at the end. Very caricatural. I couldn't reconcile this with the strong opening.

Now a fairly classic fantasy story unfolds, with the difference that Thomas is absolutely not a hero and not likable at all. Donaldson explores questions about reality and mortality, which is interesting in itself. But I didn't find the story itself and the quest very interesting. As the book progressed, it became a bit annoying. After 400 pages of self-pity, it gets old.

Nevertheless, this book is interesting within the fantasy genre. They say that this trilogy is the basis for the current grim dark fantasy genre. And I understand that label. Because of this and the strong opening, it's still a 3-star rating.

For me the book started of with a young adult vibe to it. And to be honoust, for me this is not a positive thing. I am not really into YA. So I was a bit worried at the start, but when the story progresses the YA vibe vanished quickly.

The story begins with a young protagonist who works her way into the most prestigious academy in the country, facing rejection from classmates from noble families and some teachers due to a “pure blood” trope similar to the Harry Potter series. Through history and strategy classes, the author begins to build the world, introducing themes of imperialism, genocide, famine, and war. Slowly, mysticism and religion are incorporated into the story.

As the war begins, the story takes a darker turn and becomes more violent. The reader is shown that ethical choices are not always clear in war and violence, and themes of vengeance and heritage play a big role. The story is powerful but can appear uneven at times, with an ending that sets up the reader for the sequel.

4,5 stars.

This was by no means an easy read. As a non-Brit, I was not really familiar with the history of Henry VIII. Of course, I knew bits and pieces, mainly that he just split the church because of a marriage, or a divorce if you like. But that's about it.

And if you are not familiar with this part of history, you need to do some work because Hilary Mantel is not going to make it easy for you. She starts the story and expects the reader to keep up; if you can't, too bad, she's not waiting for you. She provides some background information in the second or third chapter, but I found myself needing Wikipedia and family trees to get a contextual picture that made sense.

On top of that, everyone is called Thomas, which can be confusing. Sometimes she uses the person's titles (duke of Norfolk, or just Norfolk) and then all of a sudden she uses their real name (Thomas Howard, yes another Thomas...or even just Howard) and when you have found out, she turns back to Norfolk. And be aware, the “he” in the book is, in 90% of the cases, Thomas Cromwell, but not always. If you're lost, just assume the “he” is Cromwell and you'll probably be good.

So, having said that, this book is very rewarding if you're willing to put the effort in. Because of the somewhat unpersonal approach and writing style, you get the feeling that this is a real account of events, not a romanticized story. I can only recommend it to everyone. And, oh yes, read it in English if you can. I found the Dutch translation even more confusing at times; not the vocabulary, but copying the original writing style into the Dutch translation made it more unnatural than the original

I was looking forward reading this book. Interesting topic and with the writing skills of Robert Harris this only could be a great read.
However, I was underwhelmed (to say the least). Sure there were lots of interesting facts and you always learn something new in a Robert Harris book. But the story was bland and uninspired, partly because the characters were one-dimensional.
It looked like, at some point, Harris was done with the story and just ended it.
To me, this book is 2,5 star.

The book “Billy Summers” is seen by some as an atypical King book. Presumably, this means that there is nothing unexplained or supernatural in it. Let's leave aside the cameo of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining for a moment.

But it's not that atypical. King's vast body of work contains quite a few books and stories without supernatural phenomena and monsters. And Billy Summers is one of them.

As always with King, the writing style is like a hot knife through butter. No hiccups, no strange turns of phrase, and no stylistic breaks. And if they are there, it's intentional. Once again, there's nothing to criticize about the translation. Stephen King is usually well translated into Dutch, so kudos to the translator. This is also the reason why I often read King in Dutch.

The book was surprising but still predictable. The first part of the book reminded me a bit of 11/22/63. The description of Small Town America. King is a master at this. Not much happens, but in a few strokes of the pen, he sketches a complete neighborhood with its characteristic residents, social norms, and customs. The reader becomes almost a part of it. A six-pack, a few burgers, and MAGA.

My expectation was that this part would be the main focus of the book, but nothing could be further from the truth. For me, this was surprising. But once it becomes clear how King wants to continue the story, the ending is not very surprising anymore.

Although the plot itself is not very special, King manages to create a gripping story. He slowly brings together the past and present of Billy Summers. Intentionally awkward at the beginning but gradually becoming a smooth whole. Here, you can clearly see King's mastery and experience.

Furthermore, it's not an exceptionally outstanding book. A good story, a few hours of entertainment without pretensions.
4 stars.

Anekdotes in een typische ‘t Hart stijl. Ik heb er enorm van genoten.
De toon is vaak ironisch, sarcastisch en bij tijd en wijle een vileine steek onder water naar zijn collega schrijvers.
Sommige personen lijken zo uit een fictieve roman weggelopen te zijn zoals de vrouwelijke dominee in Amsterdam die er een SM kelder op nahoudt om het inkomen van de kerk wat te ondersteunen.
Maarten maakt heel wat mee voor iemand die beweert dat hij het liefst met rust gelaten wil worden op een zolderkamer.
Of het nu allemaal werkelijk zo gebeurd is of dat sommige verhalen lichtelijk zijn aangedikt maakt mij eigenlijk niet uit.
‘t Hart kan smakelijk vertellen met een onderkoelde humor. Ik heb er openlijk om moeten lachen.

Fermat was a fascinating figure, juggling several roles as a civil servant, lawyer, and amateur mathematician. Though brilliant, he often failed to provide sufficient proof for his mathematical discoveries, which ultimately led to the creation of “Fermat's last theorem.” This theorem, which states that xn+yn=zn has no solutions for n greater than 2, is relatively straightforward for those with a high school math education. However, Fermat's claim that he had a “marvelous demonstration” of the proposition that was too long to fit in the margin left mathematicians baffled for centuries.

In his book, Singh takes readers on a journey through the history of mathematics, beginning with Pythagoras and working his way to Fermat's theorem and the centuries-long hunt for a proof. He weaves in the story of Andrew Wiles, who began working on the proof at age 10 and became utterly obsessed with it, working alone for years until he finally presented a three-part lecture in Cambridge. His proof was initially celebrated, but a gap was found, sending Wiles into despair. He eventually had a breakthrough and fixed the gap, culminating in a triumphant success that reads like a Hollywood plot.

This book is not just for math enthusiasts but for anyone who loves a good story. It's a tale of perseverance, failure, and ultimate triumph, with plenty of fascinating history along the way. Highly recommended

Rostov, a fictional count, is placed under house arrest at the luxurious Metropol Hotel in Moscow after the Russian revolution. He stays here for decades. This is the plot.

It's admirable that Amor Towles was able to write such a captivating book with such a simple plot. The book is a remarkable mix. It's heartwarming, at times emotional with a hint of sadness. Through it, a picture is painted of Russia from Lenin to Khrushchev. As a reader, you feel like a spectator, just like Count Rostov. The events pass before your eyes without significantly impacting the world within the Metropol.

The scenes are, without exception, interesting and lively. The language is to the point. Very well done. The entire book maintains a subdued humorous tone, sometimes bordering on absurdism. One of my favorite scenes is when Rostov discovers that all the labels on the wine bottles have been removed because in the new Russia, there's no distinction even in wine. Only red and white are served.

With Andrey a few paces behind him, the Count began walking the cellar's center aisle, much as a commander and his lieutenant might walk through a field hospital in the aftermath of battle. Near the end of the aisle, the Count turned down one of the rows. With a quick accounting of columns and shelves, the Count determined that in this row alone, there were over a thousand bottles—a thousand bottles virtually identical in shape and weight.Picking up one at random, he reflected how perfectly the curve of the glass fit in the palm of the hand, how perfectly its volume weighed upon the arm. But inside? Inside this dark green glass was what exactly? A Chardonnay to complement a Camembert? A Sauvignon Blanc to go with some chèvre

I can recommend this book to absolutely anyone, regardless of genre preferences.

5 stars

Een aanspreker is een oud beroep van iemand die de nabestaanden op de hoogte bracht van een overlijden. Ook wel aanzeggers genoemd.
De dood is een rode draad door dit boek. De dood van Maarten t Hart zijn vader zelf, maar ook door het beroep van zijn vader is de dood altijd aanwezig.
Maarten ‘t Hart worstelt in deze roman met de ongeneeslijke ziekte van zijn vader, zonder dat zijn vader zelf weet dat hij ongeneeslijk ziek is. De huisarts heeft namelijk Maarten, als oudste zoon, op de hoogte gesteld van de ziekte en vervolgens Maarten opgezadeld met het dilemma om het zijn vader te vertellen.
Binnen dit raamwerk worden anekdotes opgehaald, over Maarten zijn jeugd, de relatie met zijn vader en over de verhalen die zijn vader vertelde over zijn beroep als grafdelver.
Hilarisch zijn vooral de anekdotes van Maarten zijn vader, maar juist de perfect getimede afwisseling van humor en droefheid zorgt voor een grote emotionele impact.

Een aangrijpend boekje, geschreven vol tederheid, humor en droefheid.

‘we went hunting...through the bones of the damned city. And then, with the captain's help, we crawled outa that grave.'
The Adjunct's gaze left the ragged man, travelled slowly along the line, the gaunt faces, the deathly eyes staring out from dust-caked faces, the naked, blistered skin. ‘Bonehunters in truth, then.'

“The Bonehunters,” part 6 in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, has been noted by Erikson himself in interviews and talks as essentially two books combined. This is evident in the structure of the novel.

While the first five books introduce various independent storylines, they converge one by one in this book. The initial part of the book culminates in a 120-page chapter, which could have been a novella on its own. This chapter vividly describes the siege of a city that captivates the reader. In this single chapter, Erikson showcases his writing prowess - a fantastic segment. Following this, the aftermath is detailed, setting the stage for the second half of the book.

The latter part involves a less focused storyline but a more tactical maneuvering of players on the Malazan chessboard. Erikson introduces new storylines and ensures that the resolution of the book provides an opening for the rest of the series. Personally, I find the conclusion very intriguing.

Despite containing fantastic chapters, the overall impression is somewhat messy, lacking the tight composition seen in Midnight Tides. Erikson also explores themes such as religion, fanaticism, progress, and civilization.

On religion and fanaticism, for instance:
“All those bickering worshippers, each one convinced their version is the right one. Imagine getting prayers from ten million believers, not one of them believing the same thing as the one kneeling beside him or her. Imagine all those Holy Books, not one of them agreeing on anything, yet all of them purporting to be the word of that one god. Imagine two armies annihilating each other, both in that god's name. Who wouldn't be driven mad by all that?”“Show me a god that does not demand mortal suffering. Show me a god that celebrates diversity, a celebration that embraces even non-believers and is not threatened by them. Show me a god who understands the meaning of peace.”

And regarding progress and civilization:
“And so you still do not comprehend the great gift of civilization—' ‘I comprehend it fine,' Karsa Orlong replied around a mouthful of meat. ‘The savage proceeds into civilization through improvements—' ‘Yes!' ‘Improvements in the manner and efficiency of killing people.' ‘Hold on—' ‘Improvements in the unassailable rules of degradation and misery.' ‘Karsa—' ‘Improvements in ways to humiliate, impose suffering and justify slaughtering those savages too stupid and too trusting to resist what you hold as inevitable. Namely, their extinction.”

In this context, he also casually touches on the theme of the assimilation of many indigenous cultures by colonial cultures. The commentary on these themes by various characters in the story adds relevance that goes beyond just being a good fantasy tale.

Rated 4.5 stars.

First of all, I read the mistborn trilogy in a Dutch translation, as English is not my native language. I cannot judge whether this influenced my reading experience but it is what it is and I am not planning to re-read this trilogy in English trying to find out..

So this review is more or less about the whole trilogy and not so much about The Hero of Ages.
My rating for the separate books would be respectively 4, 3, 3.5 stars.

Although this is my first review on Goodreads, I am a member for quite some time now and I value the ratings on books very much. It plays a huge part in my reading decisions.
So when I decided to get into fantasy a bit more this trilogy was a safe choice. Ratings on par with books like LOTR is definetely a huge pro.

So I might have started this with the wrong expectations, which is in the end my own fault of course, you can hardly blame thousands of readers for rating a book higher then you would do ;)

Sanderson started of quite strongly, the premise is a good one. He has a great imagination, original. His writing style is fluently, it reads like a rolls royce. Smooth, slick. The man can write and the man can tell a story.
He builds up his world bit by bit and he uses snippets of italic text before each chapter to unveil info in an interesting way. At least in the first 2 books. In the last one he misuses this format for info dumping not to loose the reader...
He clearly thought about his world building and his magic system. It is something to admire.
So why not the highest praise and give 5 stars hands down?

Two things:
It was way too long, boring middle sections, especially in the second book.
Total pages, of the 3 books together, mounts to around 2500 (ebook version, dutch translation). He should have cut this in half. If he would have been able to keep this within 1500 pages he would have had a far more powerful story. At least, that is what I believe.

Second thing. This might be a personal thing...but I had the feeling I was reading a YA flick. And not a story for grown ups.
I entire blame this one on myself. I might not have been the targeting audience for this. If I would have read this 20 years ago (I know this is not possible) I might have had an entire different experience, but with quite some years of reading experience under my belt in different genres I was underwhelmed.

Did I enjoy this one, certainly. Was I blown away, absolutely not.

It is what it is;)

There are those books where the concept is so stimulating, interesting, and original that you want to read it for that reason alone. The fact that the story and characters are mediocre is something you accept.

While reading the book, I wasn't so much focused on the main characters or plot, but I found myself increasingly wondering how the author would navigate through an increasingly complex plot. You know how it goes, someone gives a speech or presentation and makes it so convoluted that an entire audience becomes more interested in how that person will get themselves out of it rather than what they have to say...

Then it hit me, it doesn't really matter how Blake Crouch will end his story because in the theory of multiverses, every possibility inherently exists. There's no grandfather paradox, just like with time travel, it's just a door earlier or later... and if the protagonist takes a door later, it doesn't mean the earlier door doesn't exist, it's just not described. But then I wonder whether the book would have become more interesting if the author had described a different set of doors.

At that moment, it became difficult for me to feel any connection with the main characters, especially since one of those characters is abandoned by the author in a universe, without it becoming clear what became of him.

If this had been a typical thriller, I wouldn't have found it interesting at all; the strength of this book lies in its concept, not the story. A better storyteller could have turned this idea into a classic, but perhaps this classic exists in a different universe, and we're just unlucky to live in this one.

I would rate the thriller element as two stars and the concept as five stars. That adds up to 3.5 stars.

Dune is een klassieker die op mijn lijst ontbrak. Ik ging er redelijk blanco in aangezien ik niet veel van het verhaal wist. Ik wist dat het over een woestijnplaneet ging en iets met wormen.
Tot nu toe heb ik ook nog geen enkele verfilming gezien

Vanaf het begin heeft dit boek de uitstraling van een epos. Dit wordt versterkt door de citaten aan het begin van elk ‘hoofdstukje'. Het geeft de illusie van een enorme diepte in het universum van Dune.
Ik moet eerlijk bekennen dat het in het begin hard werken was. Termen worden niet gelijk duidelijk en Herbert doet niet aan een geleidelijke aanloop. De lezer wordt direct ondergedompeld in zijn universum.

Ik weet niet of het de tijdgeest is, waarin dit boek geschreven is, maar ik kreeg een “foundation” vibe. Veel nadruk op world building, politieke intriges en het uitwerken van concepten en een wat minder actie-gedreven plot.
Voor mij is dit positief, maar ik kan me voorstellen dat de wat jongere lezer dit boek een beetje taai of “langzaam” vindt.

Toch krijg ik absoluut nergens het idee dat dit boek gedateerd is, wat best bewonderingswaardig is voor een boek uit 1965. Herbert gebruikt hiervoor een slimme truc door te beschrijven dat er ergens in het verleden een ‘pogrom' is geweest tegen ‘computers' en ‘AI'. Om dit ‘probleem' te omzeilen roept hij een soort van verhoogde staat van bewustzijn met AI-achtige capaciteiten bij mensen, in het leven. De zogenaamde ‘Mentat' en de orde van de ‘Bene Gesserit'. Dit verschaft Herbert de speelruimte om relevant te blijven. Ik heb geen idee of dit bewust om deze reden is gedaan, of niet, maar het pakt 60 jaar later nog steeds goed uit.

Tot slot een persoonlijk irritatiepuntje.....waarom vinden veel schrijvers van epic fantasy en SF het noodzakelijk om allerlei gedichten en liederen in te voegen? Het grijpt allemaal terug op de romantische middeleeuwse minstrelen, terwijl ik alleen maar met mijn ogen kan rollen....
En kan je echt niets anders bedenken? Toch blijft het een ding binnen de fantasy en SF. Ik zal het Herbert niet erg aanrekenen, hij weet zich nog redelijk te beperken ten opzichte van andere auteurs........

Om tot een conclusie te komen. Voor mij is dit boek meer dan 4 sterren, maar het haalt ook de 5 sterren niet. Misschien in combinatie met de sequels wel, maar als standalone is het wat mij betreft 4,5 ster.

The second installment in this series is just as funny as the first one. Sanderson must be careful not to overdo these witty interuptions, though. It is funny, it didn't bother me yet, but maybe tone it down a bit.

Still funny, but the series slowly is starting to lose its magic.
The Shakespeare quotes shouted out randomly (because it makes you look mysterious) are really funny. There are some real gems in the chapter numbering and there is a fun reference to one of the mysteries in the Wheel of Time series.
The story is slowly getting a bit darker and I think Sanderson slipped in shades of grey regarding the morality of the characters. This is cleverly done.
But the constant addressing of the reader has its limits. Re-using jokes starts to be annoying.
As mentioned, some of the jokes are clever and funny, but dosing the humour is an art.

De Aanslag is een van de bekendste boeken uit de Nederlandse literatuur van de laatste 75 jaar. Niet in het minst omdat het nog steeds veel wordt gekozen door scholieren om te lezen voor de verplichte leeslijst Nederlands.
Ook ik heb me hieraan schuldig gemaakt 30 jaar geleden. Dat was ook de laatste keer dat ik het boek gelezen heb. Ik kan me ook niet meer herinneren wat ik ervan vond, als ik er al iets van vond toen ik 16 was.

Maar dit boek heeft veel meer te bieden dan dat het lekker kort is en dat het verhaal wel spannend is. (mijn criteria toen der tijd)
Veel literatuur van na de Tweede Wereldoorlog hebben thema's als het geloof, calvinisme en diezelfde Tweede Wereldoorlog. Harry Mulisch is daar overduidelijk ook een product van.

Het is 1945, een paar maanden voor de bevrijding van West-Nederland. Anton Steenwijk is twaalf jaar oud en woont met zijn ouders en oudere broer in Haarlem. Op een avond wordt voor het huis van de buren een ‘foute' politiecommissaris doodgeschoten.
De buren leggen het lichaam van de man voor het huis van Anton omdat ze bang zijn voor represailles.
Zijn ouders en broer worden gefusilleerd en het huis wordt platgebrand.
De rest van zijn leven zal Anton moeten leven met dit trauma, wat hij in eerste instantie heeft weggedrukt, maar toch telkens weer de kop opsteekt door ontmoetingen en gesprekken met mensen uit het verleden.

Mensen zitten vast in het verleden en proberen goed te praten wat er is gebeurd. De oorlog is voorbij maar bij een hele generatie is de oorlog nooit afgelopen. Mulisch behandelt thema's als schuld en onschuld, causaliteit, zinloosheid, goed en kwaad, lot en toeval.
Heel langzaam weeft Mulisch grijstinten in een zwart-wit mozaïek. De goeden zaten in het verzet en de slechten heulden met de vijand. Maar de meeste mensen leefden gewoon hun leven, één enkele gebeurtenis en een paar cruciale beslissingen brengen een ravage teweeg in de levens van de betrokkenen die bijna 40 jaar later nog zijn sporen nalaat. Wie heeft er schuld?

Ik heb het boek ademloos gelezen. De taal van Mulisch is prachtig en de zinnen lopen moeiteloos in elkaar over.
Ik dacht dit boek te kennen en ook de film heb ik meerdere keren gezien, maar ik heb dit boek totaal onderschat.

“Het langverwachte boek van Maarten ‘t Hart over zijn moeder”. Aldus de eerste zin van de blurb.
Hier valt wel wat op af te dingen. Het boek is niet over de moeder van Maarten, maar voornamelijk over Maarten zelf. Het boek is eigenlijk een verzameling anekdotes uit het leven van Maarten ‘t Hart waarin zijn moeder in meer of mindere mate een rol heeft.
Als lezer krijg je het idee dat al deze anekdotes allang op de plank lagen, maar geen plaats hebben gekregen in zijn andere boeken om zijn moeder te ontzien.

Ondanks alle bizarre situaties en, wat wij tegenwoordig, emotionele chantage zouden noemen, komt duidelijk naar voren dat Maarten ‘t Hart erg van zijn moeder hield. Zijn moeder hield dan weer niet zo erg van zijn vader. Hoe waarheidsgetrouw het allemaal is kan de lezer niet beoordelen, maar het levert in ieder geval mooie, smeuïge, emotionele en soms grappige verhalen op.

Maarten zou Maarten niet zijn zonder zijn stokpaardje van het geloof.
Hele stukken over de bijbel en het geloof zijn helemaal niet gerelateerd aan zijn moeder, maar is meer een eigen afrekening met het Gereformeerde geloof uit zijn jeugd.
Het is allemaal best grappig, maar ook kinderachtig bij tijd en wijle en een beetje sleets. Er zit veel recycling in.
Alles is al eens voorbijgekomen in zijn andere boeken. Hier is verder niets nieuws of origineels te vinden, tenzij dit het eerste ‘t Hart boek is wat je leest. Het laatste verhaal waarin hij de Apostolische Geloofsbelijdenis en het Onze Vader fileert geeft een dissonant aan het einde. Niet dat het niet opgeschreven mag worden, maar het past niet in deze bundel.

Desondanks is ‘t Hart een geweldige verhalenverteller en heb ik dit boek met veel plezier gelezen.

This was a fun read. Sanderson's take on Harry Potter but funnier. I actually liked this Sanderson quite a bit more then the “serious” epic fantasy Sanderson
I do regret however there is no Dutch translation so I could read this to my kids.

Summer of Night is a novel about a group of children who fight against evil in their hometown during the summer of 1960. Simmons carefully sets up the stage by introducing all the characters with care. At times, he can be a bit long-winded with his descriptions, but as a reader, you begin to care about the children, their families, and the village.

Spooky events begin to occur right from the start, and the tension slowly builds up to a climax. In many ways, it is a classic setup with a group of kids riding their bikes around the village, noticing strange occurrences while the adults remain oblivious. There are a lot of familiar character archetypes like the “leader”, the “foul mouth”, the “nerd,” the “bully”, the “drunken dad” and the “white trash family”, amongs others.

There is a striking resemblance between Summer of Night and Stephen King's IT. Since Summer of Night was published in 1991, five years after IT, it is possible that Simmons was influenced by King's work. However, this book stands on its own merit and is by no means a weak imitation of King's masterpiece, earning a rating of 4.5 stars.

This book was better then I anticipated. I have to say that I see myself as an intermediate piano player. Like a lot of people, I used to have keyboard/piano/organ lessons when I was a kid (for quite some years) and I picked it up a few years ago.

I expected this book to be very basic, at the brink of being useless for an intermediate player. And to be honest, it started off this way. I don't need tips not to connect too many electrical devices (instruments in this case) to the same socket....
But then it got into music theory, styles, technique. And although basic, it is very thorough. The part with the technique exercises is actually not that easy. All styles are being treated equal: pop, rock, jazz, blues, ragtime, classical...
To me it was a breeze of fresh air and I wished I was taught like this 35 years ago.

Can one play a piano or keyboard after reading this book? Of course not, but I dare to say, if you actually learn and practice what is being preached in this book, you will be a better player then many, many people who have had lessons in their childhood for over 5 to 10 years.

I can highly recommend this one.

I came across this book and while investigating, I read a lot of bad reviews. Instead of running away, I got curious whether it was that bad.
Some kind of a twisted version of disaster tourism.

Spoiler alert: yes it is that bad!

Suppose ChatGPT was there in 2002..
“Dear ChatGPT, can you write a book with the following requirements:
• Epic fantasy because that is the popular thing around nowadays.
• Take ALL the fantasy tropes you can think of.
• Create some Disney-animation-like slapstick scenes, for example a horse that nudges someone over a cliff or playing fetch...just think of something.
• Add some fairy tales from the Grimm brothers into the mix
• Don't bother too much creating a coherent magic system
• Patch plot holes with the deus-ex-machina style figure
• Don't bother too much with character development, card board figures are good enough.
• Excessive info dumping via endless monoloques or flahsbacks are preferred.
• Mysogyny, sexism and homophobia are not an issue at all, it might even spice it up a bit.
• It needs to be at least 600-700 pages, no matter how you do it.
• Add some gore and excessive violence.
• Leave room to expand to a trilogy”

“Dear Mr Newcomb and publisher, please find the requested book, shall I just go ahead and publish?”

“Dear ChatGPT, go ahead, it looks great. Couldn't have done a better job myself.”

And the rest is history.

Is there really nothing positive to mention? Yes, I was able to push my speed reading practice to the limit without being afraid loosing comprehension.

If you are like me and want to check it out yourself, go ahead. For the readers who are less masochistic, I would strongly advise to skip it.