Wulf C. Krueger

“Politics doesn't have to be what people think it is. It can be something more.”When Barack Obama started his rise to power, I felt hopeful but sceptical as well: Would America, of all nations, really elect a Black man as its president? And who was that guy anyway? As a German, I had been vaguely aware of Obama but I knew next to nothing about him. That would change over time but do little to alleviate my scepticism: Even if this guy was for real, even if he truly believed what he said about change and equality - would this man stay true to his ideals? Would the power he was seeking corrupt him? The first surprise came when he was actually elected as the next President of the United States of America. I became a little more hopeful. That was a powerful sign for the better - the first Afro-American president. Obama didn't deliver on all his promises - Guantanamo Bay detention camp still exists today for example. And yet... Obama helped the world through a recession that could have been much worse. He made “Obamacare” reality. Obama helped further LGBT rights in America and all over the world.To me, personally, Barack Obama is an example for an honest, realistic but idealist politician. Thus, it was with some worry that I started reading the first part of his presidential memoirs, “A Promised Land”.Would I be disenchanted? Would Obama be honest? Had I been deluded about him? The answers to those questions are a resounding “No!”, “Yes!” and “No!” respectively.»Whatever vision I had for a more noble kind of politics, it would have to wait.«Obama tells us about his rise through the ranks and, to my relief, he might not always have acted as “cleanly” as I had hoped for but he mostly did. Obama is quite honest about it and he strives to be better.Throughout the entire 1.000 pages, Obama is not only honest about himself but fairly often self-deprecating and employing a dry humour:»I mean dumb choices in the wake of considerable deliberation: those times when you identify a real problem in your life, analyze it, and then with utter confidence come up with precisely the wrong answer.«From humble beginnings (»She [Michelle] reminded me that we had student loans, a mortgage, and credit card debt to think about.«), armed with the best intentions (»the best we can do is to try to align ourselves with what we feel is right and construct some meaning out of our confusion, and with grace and nerve play at each moment the hand that we're dealt.«) Obama rises to the daily challenges during his political career and always keeps that “moral compass” close at hand to try and do what feels right.Obama obviously knew what was at stake because »I know that the day I raise my right hand and take the oath to be president of the United States, the world will start looking at America differently.«. And many of us did. It was Obama who paved the way for “a skinny Black girl” (Amanda Goreman, at Biden's inauguration) to dream of becoming president. Even before Goreman recited that, Obama wrote: »I know that kids all around this country—Black kids, Hispanic kids, kids who don't fit in—they'll see themselves differently, too, their horizons lifted, their possibilities expanded. And that alone...that would be worth it.”«This book is testament to Obama's efforts, his successes as well as his failures. On the down side, it's long, often very “dry” and especially the deliberations about dealing with the financial crises were very extensive and, to me, too long. Most of the time, Obama is conciliatory towards his political opponents. At times, though, he is very outspoken about his feelings:»I wondered when exactly such a sizable portion of the American Right had become so frightened and insecure that they'd completely lost their minds.« Truth to be told, I'm not sure I'm going to read the next part of Obama's memoirs, though: These one-thousand pages were - at times - the hardest “literary nut” I had to crack and I barely made it through the book. If you - like me - appreciate what Obama stands for and what he accomplished and “just” want to know if he was acting truthfully and honestly then, yes, I fully believe so after reading this. That gives me hope. The fact that America went on to elect the orange menace into office was a setback that might yet be balanced by President Biden and, potentially, the first female Afro-American president. Let's hope together that Obama will keep playing a role in international politics because I truly believe we need more people like him, or, in Obama's own words: »So long as young men and women like that exist in every corner of this earth, I told myself, there is reason enough to hope.« Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

I'm German. I've never watched an inauguration of an American president. The one of today's President Joe Biden was no exception even though I was hoping for something better than what had come before... (“It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid dream for four years, and now the nightmare is gone.”)Amanda Gorman's amazing poem hit the German news very quickly, though, and I got curious and looked it up, watched Gorman perform it at the inauguration. It hit me unexpectedly hard; so hard, in fact, I cried.Her presentation was so powerful, emotional, touching and uplifting; representative - to me - of all that is right and just about the United States.Gorman envisions a country “committed To all cultures, colors, characters, And conditions of man” and while, of course, she primarily addresses the USA, she also spoke to the world and of the world.If we, the peoples of the world, made into reality in our countries what Gorman wishes for her own one, if we truly and honestly, sought “harm to none, and harmony for all” - regardless of gender, skin colour, sexual orientation, etc. - then, yes, then “We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.”Today, I was finally able to read the poem in its own ebook while simultaneously watching Gorman's recitation which lent the experience further depth. Try for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz4YuEvJ3y4 Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

It must have been around 2014 when I was at Mannheim's (south-western Germany) Paradeplatz (the former parade grounds near Mannheim Palace). I was smoking and watching people when a young woman approached another nearby male smoker - only to be shouted at aggressively. I, in turn, shouted at the guy, went there and he left whereas I proceeded to offer the woman a cigarette which was what she had asked that other guy for.I asked her what that guy's problem had been. She looked at me curiously and told me to take a good look at her. Somewhat embarrassed I did - had I missed something about her?! I didn't notice anything - to me, she looked just like you and me.I apologised for obviously being daft to which she deadpan replied “I'm black”.Yes, I can be a bit on the naïve side but I honestly hadn't consciously noticed and I had hoped that especially in my country, Germany, with its history, in a major city and in modern times, the skin colour had ceased to be an issue. The conversation that ensued changed my mind about that for much, much worse.I'm grateful for making me aware of what I had hoped had gone with the bad old times.This book challenged my perceptions again. First of all by omitting most punctuation, almost universally using lowercase characters (apart from names!) and cleverly using formatting to transport content.I was truly annoyed at first but quickly got used to the style and when Evaristo used it to create ambiguity I started even liking it - to the point where I basically fell in love with the author's style.Nothing could have prepared me for the stories of her very diverse cast which simply blew me away. When I read in the blurb about this book being “Joyfully polyphonic and vibrantly contemporary” I immediately discounted that as marketing hogwash whereas it's probably the best and most concise description of its contents.Most of the cast are in some way related to each other - from Carole who tells us about her teacher “Fuckface King” whom we later get to know as Shirley and from whom we learn why she became the way she was to Morgan whose story broadened my mind with respect to gender.The intricately interwoven lives of those 12 people - girls, women, others - stand for the diversity of society as a whole and for lots of lives into which we are allowed some intimate insight on a level most of us wouldn't dare to ask.Lightly told in modern language but not once shallow, we pretty much witness discrimination, equality issues on many levels and coping strategies. Evaristo avoids judgement and instead tries to help her readers come to their own understanding - and fairly often succeeded when I found my own prejudices being challenged. At times, I felt ashamed of myself. Never judged, though, but rather challenged.Thankfully, despite its challenging stories and style, “Girl, Woman, Other” is also full of humour, e. g. when Amma finds herself living in a derelict building with very diverse and politically charged co-inhabitants: »the Marxists demanded they set up a Central Committee of the Workers' Republic of Freedomia, which was a bit rich, Amma thought, seeing as most of them had taken ‘a principled stand against the running dogs of capitalism' as an excuse to not work«If this wonderful book has a tiny flaw it's that it's - at one point - very slightly longer than it should have been. I was about to withhold one star for that reason but when I was finished, I felt I couldn't award less than a full five stars to a book that changed my mind. The dedication couldn't be more fitting:»For the sisters & the sistas & the sistahs & the sistren & the women & the womxn & the wimmin & the womyn & our brethren & our bredrin & our brothers & our bruvs & our men & our mandem & the LGBTQI+ members of the human family«Ultimately, I've read twelve simple, powerful, unforgettable stories that I cannot recommend highly enough to anyone with an open mind.Or, to use this books own words:»a five-star review has already been uploaded online from one usually savage pit-bull of a critic who's been uncharacteristically gushing: astonishing, moving, controversial, original« Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

This review is going to be quite a bit different from what I expected after eleven of the thirteen chapters this book comprises... Let's start at another angle, though: I like to read what one of the greatest of the genre, [a:Tony James Slater 5005420 Tony James Slater https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1326400289p2/5005420.jpg], likes to call “travel memoirs”. If written by the right person, they're often funny, interesting and, at times, even insightful and inspiring. Unsurprisingly, they often include “romantic encounters” of a very intimate nature or - as Newman's mother is quoted “Grown-ups don't just hold hands.”.I went into this book expecting amusing anecdotes of female solo travel - a travel memoir. What I got to read was very, very different because the twenty-ish Kristian Newman listens to her boyfriend's voicemail and reads his diary of all things...When she writes about Lesbian relationships that a »social scientist might argue that the girl-on-girl trend started with rave culture ... and Ecstasy.« I found myself taking a note that reads “And someone with a brain might disagree”.On her first trip to Russia, she finds herself at a dinner among Russians and, not speaking Russian, she finds that being unable to express herself, she completely relaxes. Newman doesn't shy away from putting her xenophobia into words that she defends by stating that her friend Sasha, who emigrated from Russia at the age of three to go to America, and, thus, for all intents and purposes (apart from becoming president) is as American as Newman herself was actually »first to note that, so it's more about self-loathing than xenophobia«:»A side note about Russian women: good God are they hot when they are eighteen. The girls in this club were all legs and cheekbones, pouty lips and exquisite big eyes. But, quite tragically, every woman over forty in Russia looks like a tiny, shriveled, ancient little gnome. That cold, pessimistic, vodka-and-cigarette-filled, fresh-vegetable-free life is hard—it drives over women's faces like a Soviet tank. Now that Sasha is a fantastic-looking forty, I can tell you it is not the genes, it is the life.«And this is how the book goes on for a much-longer feeling eleven chapters. Newman runs away from what she calls “the Void”. She's fleeing true intimacy whenever it rears its - for her - frightening head and travels to some “exotic” locale at which she immediately proceeds to have sex with any available guy.Now, don't get me wrong: I have no beef whatsoever with that but, unfortunately, the actual travel stories not only take a backseat compared to her sex stories but the travel part is pretty much non-existent. Even that could have been ok if the writing and the sex stories had been funny. Sadly, they weren't. Plus: The more I read of these escapades the sadder I felt for Newman: Not only was she having completely meaningless sex to try and fill the void in her life, she is immensely egocentric, crying at her friend's wedding because said friend wouldn't be exclusively available as a travel partner anymore:»I wept at losing my single buddy. Not those emotional, joyful, smiley wedding tears you shed because you're so happy. Big, heaving sobs of genuine grief sprang out of me as I stood under the chuppah, watching a person who felt like a piece of myself walk toward me, while somehow really walking away.«“Genuine grief” because someone she calls a friend marries and, thus, inconveniences her...Newman is judgemental as can be; about one of her travel companions she pretentiously writes...»Before I launch into what was wrong with Sally,«... as if Newman herself was the measure of how travelling should be...» [I] probably should say that this is what makes you a good traveler in my opinion, but deep down I really think this is just universal, incontrovertible truth.” Newman owns the “universal, incontrovertible truth” - even if that was meant to be sarcastic, the entire book makes this one sentence universally, incontrovertibly ring true.Almost all over the place, Newman is ignorance impersonated...»We were seated with a group of six people from Mauritius, which, it turns out, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, about twelve hundred miles east of Africa.«... interspersed with racial condescension...»The country is a mix of Indian, African, and French descendants, and if this little table of gorgeously colored people was any indication, the mix is a good one.«... that is only ever rivalled by the condescending title - “Breeding”... What a word when applied to human beings, friends of the author's even. Meanderingly, Newman tells us clumsily about her ancestors...»So it was my maternal line's wandering, ambivalent soul that made its way to me. And at thirty-one, I had one regret in my life: I had never lived in another country. I decided to dodge depression and the dates my friends were finding me on the Internet by spending this last job-hunt-free hiatus pretending that I lived in another country for a few months.« ... and she's going to fulfill her life's dream to live abroad, among the common people. Lacking the practical skills and common sense to actually do so, she does the next best thing: She pretends to. Newman desperately tries to be funny or at least provoking in order to get noticed: »The nice thing about a gay club is there is no possible way to be the sluttiest person in the room.« Either she really means that or she thinks she's being funny. I'm not sure what I find more disturbing. At one point, Newman really seems to find love: In Argentine, Newman meets an almost-priest who she promptly calls “Father Juan”. Juan is one of the few guys Newman seems to let come close and when she talks about Juan, you feel for once real warmth and true feelings. Which Newman immediately destroys: »And I met a lot of other Juans.« Tragically for her, she doesn't. In fact, whenever she gets to take a breath - from her work as a comedy writer for television or travelling, her thoughts and her loneliness are creeping up on Newman: »Well, hello, Void! How'd you find me way down here?! And so I asked out my Spanish teacher.« As you can see, her answer is always the same. It's not only the dim-witted local whom Newman seduces but it's much less “tiresome”... »So I would trill at cocktail parties how I loved romance abroad because I could abandon my tiresome Stateside need for quick-wittedness in a mate.« ... no, it's her supposed friends as well. When a travelling companion, a friend of Newman's falls ill abroad, these are her first thoughts we learn about: »It's hard to talk about exactly how disappointed I was about this, because it rightly makes me sound like a selfish monster. But I was. The trip was already not perfect.« Ultimately, she gets help: »Another thing happened in 2007: I went back to therapy, and started taking antidepressants.« Meanwhile, Kristin Newman has told us all of the above plus how she was a stalker, in an imaginary romantic relationship, how she actively sabotages her relationships and how entitled she is (»My life was starting to become what it was supposed to be.«).Ironically, after all this ignorance, willfully hurting people and - in hindsight, it seems - regretting it. After having been a horrible friend, in the last two chapters (and the epilogue) - those chapters that most people who liked this book did not like - in those last two chapters, Newman grows and “gets over herself” as another reviewer puts it. We finally get to know that she knows her obsessive travelling, the random sex was actually running away and the experiences kind of... cathartic... for Newman. Nevertheless, Newman stays Newman and her comments on the horrible death of her stepmother - culminating in »Ding-dong« - sound just like the younger her. Thus, Kristin Newman, promising a travel memoir, delivers anecdotes about sex in exotic places and tries to be funny, knowing full well... »But my story wasn't ultimately a sad story« ... but still mostly so. All the more reason to wish her and her family best of luck! Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Ich fühle mich angewidert und beschmutzt von diesem Buch. Der Autor, der offenbar das letzte Quäntchen Geld aus seinem Namen machen möchte, ist sich für kein rassistisches Klischee zu schade. Gleich zu Beginn lesen wir über Hitler, den der Autor verharmlosend-kumpelhaft als “Adolf” tituliert:»Was zum bis dato größten Krieg der Menschheitsgeschichte führte. Adolf verlor ihn und starb.«Eine der kenianischen Figuren (eigentlich sogar alle) wird als dummer, tölpelhafter, ungebildeter Wilder dargestellt:»Schlimm genug war es, dass einen der Strom beißen konnte, bloß weil man einen Nagel in ein Loch in der Wand steckte. Aber die Maschine zum Schreiben war ja regelrecht lebensgefährlich!«Noch ein Beispiel für den geradezu beiläufigen Rassismus in diesem Machwerk:»Denn über den typischen Kuh- oder Ziegenhirten der Savanne gab es prinzipiell viel Gutes zu sagen, aber wer tiefschürfende Einsichten in den Sinn des Lebens erwartete, suchte sich besser andere Gesprächspartner.«Auch Frauen sind offenbar für den Autor allenfalls dann etwas “wert”, wenn sie den Anstand haben, für uns Männer attraktiv zu erscheinen:»Jenny wuchs heran, ohne auch nur das kleinste bisschen attraktiv zu werden. Sie hielt sich im Hintergrund. Besaß null Ausstrahlung. Kleidete sich unvorteilhaft.«Diesen Satz legt der Autor übrigens seinem Erzähler in den Mund, nicht seiner neo-nazistischen Figur...Nein, danke, ich habe dieses wirklich unerträgliche Buch nach 13% abgebrochen, nachdem meine Frau, die sich die volle Länge dieses Schunds angetan hat, mir sagte, es würde eher noch schlimmer und nicht besser.Wer mehr über das Buch erfahren möchte, ohne sich dessen Ekelhaftigkeit selbst auszusetzen, dem sei ein exzellenter Beitrag des Deutschlandfunks empfohlen.(Und wer diese Rezension bei Amazon liest, der google “massai dlf”.)0 von 5 Sternen und “Hausverbot” für alle weiteren Bücher dieses Autors. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

To get one thing out of the way right at the beginning: It's just a disguise. Creed himself says so.Nevertheless, I've been informed by my daughter - who tends to be right (woe be me!) - the author proudly presents views the Dark Ages are rightly about to reclaim. Those views of the author are deeply offensive to many - me as well. And, yet, they do not diminish the greatness of this piece of art.2021 starts out well, reading-wise. I've liked [a:Robert Galbraith 383606 Robert Galbraith https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]'s “Strike” novels from the beginning because Galbraith's characters were so relatable.The eponymous Cormoran Strike, former soldier, now a detective, who lost one of his legs in war. Robin, who starts out as a temporary worker at Strike's then-struggling agency as a secretary, but who becomes Strike's business partner and confidante.Then there's Strike's glamorous ex-fiancee, Charlotte, his estranged rockstar father Johnny Rokeby and Leda Strike, Cormoran's groupie mother.In the beginning of the series, that's pretty much the entire primary cast - apart from the victims, the perpetrators, the witness, etc. - and that would already have been enough because the chemistry between Strike and the others is interesting and vibrant. Especially with respect to Robin...At this point in the overarching story arc Galbraith is obviously in full command of his cast and at the top of his game so far. So, where are we? (Potential mild spoilers for the previous novels follow in the next paragraph solely which you can safely skip if you intend to read the first Strike novels.)Strike's and Robin's detective agency is booming with business. In spite of getting two sub-contractors on-board, Barclay and Morris, Robin and Strike actually have to make use of a client waiting list. Robin has finally gotten rid of her soon-to-be ex-husband, Matthew. She finally realises what she really wants - namely her job as a detective.“Troubled Blood” primarily focuses on a cold case which an annoyed Strike only actually takes to get rid of someone buggering him. Strike and Robin are supposed to find out whatever they can about the disappearance of a GP (general practitioner) - 40 years after the fact!While England at large strongly suspects convicted serial killer Dennis Creed - who sometimes disguised himself as a woman - did away with Dr. Margot Bamborough as well, her daughter Anna isn't quite as sure. As are Robin and Strike after taking a closer look...Thus ensues the longest (at 1.200 pages) and yet most entertaining mystery I've read in recent years. It is not often that I read such a monument of a book and actually enjoy every minute spent “inside” it. Not only do we get to see the cold case to its fascinating conclusion, but we learn a lot about Strike but never explicitly so or heavy-handedly...»The truth was that his feelings contained nuances and complications that he preferred not to examine.«Robin also feels spring coming...»In spite of her tiredness she found her spirits buoyed by the glorious morning, and the idea of Strike waiting at journey's end.«In spite of being mostly story-driven, we get to know a lot about Strike's family, too - especially his aunt Joan - as well as his immediate friends, like his oldest friend from school, Polworth.It's in the way how Polworth especially would be willing to let the world burn but not Strike down that we really get to know who Strike really is.As well as in his relation to his (half-)siblings, their offspring (“a whiny little prick”, “a complete arsehole” (death-defyingly said to their mother...) and a decent boy) and his father, Rokeby. In all these relationships, Strike tries to be honest and this makes the entire book feel honest.One might wish as I did, that both Strike and Robin talked more to each other. There were many scenes during which I wanted to actually shout at both of them (and during one particular scene I did...).Due to all this, it was entirely and unreservedly enjoyable to read these 1.200 pages - and this is truly rare. In its genre, “Troubled Blood” is probably the best book I've read in years and near-perfect.Five out of five stars! Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

»This morning I delivered little baby Sayton – pronounced Satan, as in King of the Underworld.«Wow, what a ride! [a:Adam Kay 17160706 Adam Kay https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1594843517p2/17160706.jpg], doctor gone writer, describes what he experienced in six years of medical practice in the United Kingdom.In about 10 chapters, Adam first introduces us to the new position or posting he's in now. He then proceeds to write in usually short passages in anecdotal style to explain the manifold lows and highs of his profession.There were passages I laughed out loud at (something I rarely do and which garnered me curious and worried looks from my family), some that I thought couldn't be true and others again that really truly hurt.So, first information if you want to read this book: On multiple levels, the title is extremely well chosen.Definitely dominant, though, is a wonderfully dry humour that, I imagine, in part allowed Adam to pull through those obviously at least partly hard, harsh years.»Clearly blood isn't the delicious post-delivery snack she imagines placenta might be.«(She probably simply hasn't read the right cookbooks!)Another part seems to be Adam's deeply ingrained empathy for his patients - even though the latter ultimately drove him out of his profession.He honestly describes some horrible experiences, e. g. when having to take samples from a still-born baby:»I dress him again, look up to a God I don't believe in and say, ‘Look after him.'«It's this kind of doctor I would wish to treat me or my family. One that will, like Adam explains his doctor persona, go »for a ‘straight to the point' vibe – no nonsense, no small talk, let's deal with the matter in hand, a bit of sarcasm thrown into the mix.« This kind of approach is applied in “[b:This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor 35510008 This is Going to Hurt Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor Adam Kay https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498340278l/35510008.SY75.jpg 56583337]” as well: You get dumped straight into the “action” - be it sweet (as in the case of the baby named after him) or bitter (as the incident that made Adam leave his medical profession). Every word he writes feels honest and rings true in every respect. And just like that, Adam Kay single-handedly improved my opinion on doctors - because I don't see a huge influx from the UK to my country, Germany, I suspect things aren't all that much better over here either... If you just want to read an excellent book beyond all its merits mentioned before, you're on the right track as well: Instead of “just one more page” I was like “just one more diary entry” and kept repeating that till I noticed I had read the same diary entry a few times already and I simply couldn't concentrate anymore - it's just that good.If you remember (and hopefully like) [a:James Herriot 18062 James Herriot https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1258249907p2/18062.jpg]'s wonderful stories from his life as a country vet in Yorkshire, you might, at times at least, feel reminded of Herriot - a younger, sharper and more sarcastic version, though.A brilliant, hilarious, heart-breaking book. Unreservedly recommended to anyone who reads. Five out of five stars. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

An investigator in an alternative Egypt with ghuls, djinn, angels, other-worldly foes, a plethora of faiths and all set in a steampunk world.The writing is nothing special, the plot still mostly to-be-found at the end of this thankfully very short novella - this is pretty much the most boring novella I've read in years. The most redeeming feature of the simplistically named “A Dead Djinn in Cairo” is its brevity. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

This was very different from what I expected. I expected a regular trashy romance but what I actually got was some kind of teeny romance...I wrote quite a bit more, originally, but decided not to elaborate because I'd very likely do this book an injustice. 14-year-old me probably would have liked this. Thirty-one years later, I simply found a book I'm too old for. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

I'm not exactly into faith and even less into “intelligent design” which is pretty much the premise of this short story.Moreover, the idea of humanity (and the universe) being “created” to mature a new “god” is, in fact, abhorrent to me: The protagonist is supposed to be both Hitler and the millions he murdered? Maybe I'm overly critical but using the suffering of millions to “mature” a single individual - what kind of “god” would that be? And what kind of author is it who stoops so low?Altruism - rare enough under “normal” circumstances - becomes a weird kind of egoism if you're the only true individual, if you're everyone.Initially, I was about to award three stars but the longer I think about it, the more uncomfortable I become. One star. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

»The lights go out. In an instant, everything is in darkness. The band stop their playing. Inside the marquee the wedding guests squeal and clutch at one another.« These are the strong, foreshadowing first words of this guilty pleasure of a book... There's a wedding on a deserted island, several dark (slightly convoluted) mysteries from the past and on this brightest of days, a severe storm is brewing... This, with a small omission maybe, could have been the blurb to this often-reviewed Goodreads Choice Awards winner of 2020. This slightly Agatha-Christie-inspired setting lent itself to some good whodunnit murder mystery and I fully expected one. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite what I got: What I got was an attempt at showing me the true characters of the bride, the groom, their families and friends, down to Hannah, the Plus-one. That attempt wasn't even bad and rather entertaining. It was slightly marred by the fact that everyone basically “sounded” and “felt” alike. We spend much time “in the head” (or rather: the thoughts) of our heroines and heroes and all their thoughts are expressed similarly. Plus: Only on its last pages does the book finally reveal the actual murder victim. It took us “only” about 75% of the book to get to the “main course” - but at least the voyage was pleasant. From that stems, this is not a fast-paced or true whodunit book at all: The victim wasn't exactly likeable and most of their guests would have had a reason to kill him. And we know all that at this point - so it kind of doesn't matter who the culprit is. The ever-changing perspectives were actually interesting, well-implemented and clearly marked, which, I think, is important to avoid potential confusion. Less helpful were the annoying jumps between “now” (the night of the wedding day) and a day or a few hours before. Such a classically-inspired mystery would have probably benefited from a chronological order. And despite all these flaws I felt mostly interested, entertained and wanted to keep turning the ‘pages' of my Kindle. The brief, fast-paced chapters leading to the finale were a very entertaining feature as well. Of course, this is literary fast food but at least it's good fun. All in all, I had a truly pleasant time reading “The Guest List” and will take a look at the further works of Foley. Four of five stars. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

I didn't have the slightest idea about how to write this review. The story still resonates within me; simple, and yet hauntingly beautiful. Soul-devouring and yet hopeful.I still have no idea how to write this review so I'll start with the characters since those will be who make or break this book for you. Desiree and Stella Vignes, twins, grow up in Mallard; a small town not on any map comprised of mostly coloured inhabitants. In addition to the ever-present racism of the time - we're starting in 1968 - the inhabitants of Mallard are proud of their town which was founded by a man for “men like him, who would never be accepted as white but refused to be treated like Negroes.”.Adele, their mother, whose husband - their father - has been murdered by white people for no particular reason, stays in Mallard for all her life whereas Desiree and Stella flee it as soon as they reasonably can, at 16.While at first both twins stay together in New Orleans, Stella ultimately leaves her sister behind to pursue another life - “passing over” into a “white life” with a white husband, Blake Sanders, and their soon-to-be daughter Kennedy.Desiree stays behind and goes on to marry the “jet-black” Sam Winston from whom she soon conceives her daughter, Jude. Sam turns out to be a violent abuser, though, and so Desiree flees with Jude back to her hometown Mallard and her mother Adele.Jude, being “Blueblack”, never has a chance in Mallard and takes the first real opportunity to leave. Not in the dark of the night like her mother and aunt but - a new generation's privilege - openly to build herself a new life.Over the decades (covering mostly the 60'ties to the 90'ties of the 20th century) we're following the fates of both “The Vanishing Half”, Stella, Desiree and, most importantly, those of their children, Jude and Kennedy.Because, almost inexplicably, the lives of both Jude and Kennedy intertwine and while they stay just shy of friendship, Jude and Kennedy build upon the familial bonds they share. Much more than that, though, Jude immensely grows through her relationships: Her friendship with Barry who likes to become Bianca or her sometimes-rocky but unending, boundless and unconditional love of her partner, Reese.In fact, the relationships in “The Vanishing Half” are what makes this book so immensely appealing to me. Their credibility and the truthfulness of the emotions displayed raise this book far beyond the ordinary. And, yet, the book is also very, very accessible - no stilted or complicated language, simple truths expressed effortlessly...»When you married someone, you promised to love every person he would be.«Take into account the beautiful and weirdly fitting cover and you get a book that will stay with me for a long time, I think.I cannot recommend this book highly enough for what it achieves - and effortlessly at that.»She did not know that Jude and Reese had talked, once or twice, about marriage. They wouldn't be able to, not without a new birth certificate for Reese, but still they talked about it, the way children talk about weddings. Wistfully.«Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

I'm not even sure when I got this book. It probably was part of some Kickstarter campaign of Michael's and Robin's which I had the honour to participate in. So I simply had to read it!This “Making of” book was simply supposed to answer the age-old questions every author gets asked: »Where do you get your ideas? How long does it take you to write a book? How do you come up with the names? Do you write every day?«Michael J. Sullivan is one of my favourite authors and, thus, I was highly interested in these rather standard questions; I just didn't expect answers as good as these: »In school, they may have learned about symbolism and metaphors, but no one said anything about which software program to use, how much of an outline to build before you begin writing, or what music to listen to while typing.«Starting with the initial questions, Michael explains how he works. This will likely not entirely work for everyone but the techniques and ideas Michael presents are an excellent starting point to actually and consciously think about how to get started with writing. A great many of said ideas make a lot of sense to me at least.It doesn't even stop at the playlists but even includes interesting material about the hardware (including Moleskin notebooks, a fountain pen and an inkwell!) and software (Scrivener) Michael uses, how he uses it and even employs screenshots and photos to make sure everyone gets at least an idea. It's not too much either - just the amount needed to - figuratively - taste blood!The creative process Michael describes in great detail, using his book “[b:The Death of Dulgath 24683898 The Death of Dulgath (The Riyria Chronicles, #3) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440823815l/24683898.SY75.jpg 44301324]” as an example, is indeed absolutely fascinating. Spoilers are unavoidable in such a situation but, as always, Michael warns us about that fact and truly prominently marks spoilers for his other books. Exemplary.We also get tiny glimpses into Michael's past, e. g. ...»When I first started writing, I worked on a manual typewriter. It was 1975, personal computers didn't exist.«... and some other interesting ones - including photos of manuscripts from that time. You'll have to get this book to get to know more about all that stuff that any “Sullifan” - your's truly included - might want to know!So far, I've only taken into account Michael's parts of this book but his wife and co-author, Robin, takes meticulous care to describe the business side of things in several chapters. The most prominent and interesting one to me was “Contracts and Deadlines” in which she describes what to be careful about in contracts, etc. While I have no immediate relation to these topics, it was nevertheless highly interesting to learn about them. Engagingly presented, even the rather “dry” contract subject matter becomes an almost riveting account of the adventures in the publishing world.Last but not least, Robin tells us about her tiring and yet tireless work on the Kickstarter campaigns she famously runs together with Michael. »I want to explain what we did in the hope of helping other authors run successful campaigns.«In fact, this is what the entire book is very clearly about: Helping and supporting others. No other author I know of has published such a fascinating account on his work.The only minor criticism I have is that the Kickstarter campaign information could have been a bit more verbose. A little more about that would have been nice but maybe that could be the next one's stretch goal! ;-)This book is highly recommended to any “Sullifan” but those probably don't need any encouragement anyway. It's also recommended to any aspiring author or generally anyone interested in learning about how Robin and Michael J. Sullivan work hand-in-hand to create literature for the 21st century. Thanks, Michael and Robin!Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

That didn't quite hit the spot: An old derelict ship selected as a last-ditch effort to save humanity from an alien invasion. A fleet of semi-autonomous bots. A single outdated first-generation bot that saves the day.It slightly reminded me of Murderbot but, I'm sorry, it lacks the latter's innocence and... logical purity. These bots seem logical at first glance but have nothing better to do than emulate humans, citing pseudo-religious “Rites of Something”... »Bot 9 approached to speak the Rites of Decommissioning for it as it had the destroyed silkbot, only to find its activity light was still lit. “4340-H?” the bot enquired.«One would think, a vastly superior AI should know better.Nice enough but I'll stick with Murderbot.Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram Merged review:That didn't quite hit the spot: An old derelict ship selected as a last-ditch effort to save humanity from an alien invasion. A fleet of semi-autonomous bots. A single outdated first-generation bot that saves the day.It slightly reminded me of Murderbot but, I'm sorry, it lacks the latter's innocence and... logical purity. These bots seem logical at first glance but have nothing better to do than emulate humans, citing pseudo-religious “Rites of Something”... »Bot 9 approached to speak the Rites of Decommissioning for it as it had the destroyed silkbot, only to find its activity light was still lit. “4340-H?” the bot enquired.«One would think, a vastly superior AI should know better.Nice enough but I'll stick with Murderbot.Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

»Dupin spürte, wie eine gewisse Aufregung in ihm aufkam. Er hatte Hunger, ja, aber es war noch mehr: pure lukullische Lust.« Da wären wir also mal wieder - der neunte Bretagne-Krimi um Kommissar Dupin. Wenn eine Buchreihe diesen “Reifegrad” erreicht, dann wird mir bei jedem neuen Band ein wenig “mulmig”, denn allzu oft verliert sich der Autor in der Routine und für treue Leser wie mich, wird es dann leicht langweilig. Nicht so hier, denn Dupin ist diesmal nicht in seiner (schon lange nicht mehr) neuen Heimatstadt Concarneau, sondern in Saint-Malo. Eigentlich soll er mit seinem Präfekten, Locmariaquer, an einem Seminar zur Département-übergreifenden Zusammenarbeit teilnehmen - wer Dupin ein wenig “kennt”, wird wissen, mit welcher Unlust er dies tut. Um so interessanter wird es, als direkt in seiner Nähe in einer belebten Markthalle ein Mord geschieht. Ganz in seinem ermittlerischen Element ist Dupin, der diesmal weitestgehend auf die Unterstützung von Nolwenn, Riwal und den anderen verzichten muß, als weitere Morde geschehen. Stimmungshebend ist für Dupin auch das kulinarische Umfeld (Rum, gutes Essen, nette Cafés!). Ein wenig skeptisch ist er allerdings schon, als Dupin nun mit der lokalen sachlich-nüchternen Kommissarin Huppert und dem leicht geckenhaften Nedellec den Fall unter den Augen ihrer jeweiligen Präfekt_innen lösen soll, aber... »Das ging alles in die richtige Richtung, so langsam konnte er sich die Gemeinschaftsermittlung vorstellen.« ... und genau so sah ich das beim Lesen auch! Nach dem Versuch im vorherigen Band, zwei neue Polizistinnen einzuführen, der bestenfalls mittelprächtig gelang, erleben wir hier einen Dupin in guter Form und mit zwei Kolleg_innen, die erfolgreich mit Leben und Charakter ausgestattet werden. Diesmal also etwas erfreulich Neues! Wie immer sind Sprache und Schreibstil sehr gelungen, aber durch das andere Umfeld, die “Erkundungen” desselben durch Dupin und die geänderte Figuren-Konstellation fühlt sich alles “frischer” an und die eingangs erwähnte Gefahr der Routine besteht nicht einmal. »Ein behaglicher Teppich aus Klängen. Müßiggängerisch. Eine Bucht von sagenhafter Schönheit und Eleganz.« Außerdem zeigt Dupin im Umgang mit einer schwer an Demenz erkrankten alten Dame einen hohen und überaus sympathischen Grad an Empathie. Er nimmt sie ernst und versucht - letztlich erfolgreich - in ihrer Welt »die Ordnung wiederherzustellen«.Dies läßt Dupin in meinen Augen menschlich wachsen und sich entwickeln - was mehr könnte ich mir wünschen? Der Fall selbst ist spannend, interessant und originell. Nicht alle Elemente sind neu, aber mir hat sowohl die Cleverness Dupins wie auch diejenige seiner Gegenspieler_innen ausgesprochen gut gefallen. Insofern: Dupin ist weitgehend der alte, der sich aber doch sehr wohl entwickelt. Alles andere ist im Fluß. Das weckt Leselust - fünf wohlverdiente Sterne von mir! Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

This was the worst disappointment in years... I loved “[b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741]” and was eagerly awaiting this second instalment. After all, a sequel to an instant classic? What could possibly go wrong?! Turns out the answer is “everything”: Wade Watts was an underdog; orphaned, hunted but optimistic and positive with a great group of friends. In this book, though, he has turned into a vengeful spoiled brat: »I gleefully zeroed out hundreds of trolls in this fashion. If someone talked shit about me, I found them and killed their avatar.« And that's not the only instance in which Wade is completely unrecognizable. Our young hero has turned into a complete idiot. Even his one-week-girlfriend Art3mis has understood what a douchebag Wade has become and left him.His friends are mostly avoiding him but Wade doesn't really act upon any of that - apart from stalking (!) Art3mis, invading the others' privacy, etc. etc. We get told all that during almost the entire first quarter of the book. There's pretty much just Wade summing up how badly he messed up. Even that isn't really well presented: This entire part is mostly just boring and partly disillusioning. Exactly the opposite of the light escapism of the first book. Even worse: It's the exact same premise as in the first book. In “[b:Ready Player Two 26082916 Ready Player Two (Ready Player One, #2) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594220208l/26082916.SY75.jpg 59016474]” we get to read about yet another easter egg hunt - it even uses the same website... Not only does this feel lazy on the author's part but very risky as well because you cannot simply use the same plot devices over and over - which is exactly what Cline tries, though. Plus: Whereas IOI was the big evil corporation, now Wade turned things around and... »GSS absorbed IOI and all of its assets, transforming us into an unstoppable megacorporation with a global monopoly on the world's most popular entertainment, education, and communications platform.« ... now GSS is not much better, “weed[ing] out” whatever they deem “unsavory”. I found my hope somewhat renewed when Cline introduced “L0hengrin” and her “L0w Five” as the spiritual successor of both Parzival and his “High Five” but apart from a few “guest appearances”, this entire (promising) angle remained unused. The entire book feels like a badly implemented game with tons of repeating “fetch item quests'': Wade and his entourage are running one errand after another. Due to the time-limit Cline has imposed upon our fallen heroes they basically have to rush through those quests as well and everything remains pretty bleak and bland. At no point was I ever excited or rooting for anyone at all. At some points, to use the author's own words from the book, “I felt no sense of victory, because I had no idea what had just happened.”. Even Art3mis who was very critical of Wade for a long time, suddenly comes around and practically jumps back into his arms without any obvious motivation or reason... Worst of all is the ending, though... A certain device gives Wade the key to (virtual) immortality and he revels in his new-found abilities in a way that's outright horrifying. Wade's hybris in these final moments seems to reflect the author's who probably wrote this book not as a labour of love (like the first book very obviously was) but as one of simple, basic greed. For an in-depth review of this book, read this one: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3432736506Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

In this eleventh instalment of [a:Benedict Jacka 849723 Benedict Jacka https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1325965585p2/849723.jpg]'s “Alex Verus” series, “[b:Forged 50740363 Forged (Alex Verus, #11) Benedict Jacka https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1591956617l/50740363.SY75.jpg 75767304]” (as aptly titled as ever!), Alex is back at fixing lots of problems. Let's take a quick look back first, though. In “[b:Fallen 43670629 Fallen (Alex Verus, #10) Benedict Jacka https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554395647l/43670629.SY75.jpg 63342276]” we saw how Alex had to harden and tackle things differently than he used to. He ‘fell' away from trying to be the nice guy and concentrated on what he felt had to be done. He picked himself up and re-emerges ‘forged' by the blows he received and the hits he delivered. “Forged” picks up right there: Alex is back in force and at the height of his game. He quickly realises he currently has three major issues: - The Council of (Light) Mages- Richard Drakh, his former master (and his (former) entourage)- (Dark) Anne, his (ex-?)lover, recently possessed by a Jinn To be able to solve them, he has to solve them separately because he can't deal with all three at the same time. We get to know this ‘forged' Alex a lot better in this penultimate book of the series: »I was left crouching, surrounded by three dead men, alone once more.« This Alex is harder than ever before. Most of the time, he doesn't even consider how to deal with his enemies non-lethally - not because he's turned to “evil” but because he's running out of time and alternatives on many levels. Over the years, Alex has found (and lost) friends he cares for deeply. Even mortal enemies are given chance after chance to walk away. Only now under enormous duress does Alex resolve to the ultima ratio... Everything Alex does is to protect those he loves from harm. Most prominently Anne, Luna, Variam but others as well. That's his cause for which Alex is willing to kill and, if necessary, die.It started showing in the previous book already but by now it's crystal clear that Alex has developed the will to power, but not for the sake of power, but for the sake of his cause. Which, to me, is just. As a result, we're confronted with more blood and gore but never unnecessarily or crossing the border beyond which it would become disgusting. Some loose threads are being picked up again, e. g. Shireen...»“Tomorrow, Shireen,” I said. “It's time to end this.” I stepped out of Elsewhere, and back into my own dreams.« Or... others... »“Enough chances,” Cinder said. “I get it.”« Nothing in the narration is over the top but it's mostly tense and suspenseful. There are some scenes of serene beauty, though, and they counter what otherwise might have become too bleak. Most importantly, we witness Alex neither being “light” nor “dark” - he's somewhere in between and even former enemies can acknowledge and, in some cases, respect that. Those self-righteous zealots who reject Alex' offer of safe conduct and might redeem themselves if it weren't for their fanaticism, in turn fall - never to rise again. While Alex' methods might seem extreme at times, when his enemies tempt his allies they choose to stand at his side based on their own free will. When I read “Fallen”, I wasn't sure I liked the direction Jacka was taking. Now I know he was right and what's coming was and is inevitable... “Forged” is on many levels the culmination of everything that came before it and does its author great honour. I can hardly wait for the final instalment, “[b:Risen 56358066 Risen (Alex Verus, #12) Benedict Jacka https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png 87821781]”, which is expected in December 2021.Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Ich kam mit [a:Marion Gräfin Dönhoff 518038 Marion Gräfin Dönhoff https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1361829081p2/518038.jpg] zum ersten Mal bewußt in Berührung als ich über den 20. Juli 1944 las. Denn bereits zum ersten Jahrestag 1945 schrieb Dönhoff »In Memoriam 20. Juli 1944. Den Freunden zum Gedächtnis« über ihre Freunde aus dem Widerstand gegen Hitler, die von den Nazis ermordet worden waren.Daraus entstand ihr 1994 veröffentlichtes Buch “[b:Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli 3214942 Um der Ehre willen. Erinnerungen an die Freunde vom 20. Juli Marion Gräfin Dönhoff https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358849759l/3214942.SY75.jpg 3248782]”, das ich als überaus beachtlich empfand und dessen lebendige Schilderungen einen kleinen Einblick jenseits der Geschichtsbücher in diese Persönlichkeiten erlaubt.Die Namen - allen voran Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg - sind mir wohlbekannt und doch gewinnen sie im Rahmen der behutsamen Aufarbeitung der Dönhoff'schen Erinnerungen an sie durch eine großartige [a:Alice Schwarzer 59576 Alice Schwarzer https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1477212420p2/59576.jpg] neues Profil. Ganz besonders Dönhoffs Gefährte aus Kinder- und Jugendtagen, Heinrich Graf Lehndorff.Wenn es um “Heini Lehndorff” geht, ist es das eine, um diesen Mann aus Wikipedia zu wissen. Etwas völlig anderes aber, wenn Dönhoff sich an diesen Jungen erinnert, mit dem sie auf Bäume geklettert ist, den sie im Eiskeller vergessen hat und dem sie “Kräheneier direkt ins Gesicht geprustet” hat. Die Unmittelbarkeit dieser Erinnerungen, die zumindest eine blasse Ahnung von dem Menschen ergibt, ist mir sehr tief unter die Haut gegangen.Ob aber als einziges Mädchen ihrer Klasse auf dem Jungengymnasium, als Teils des “harten Kern des Widerstandes gegen Hitler” oder - nicht schön, aber doch für die Zeit beachtlich, “mit dem von ihr in Kenia erlegten Leoparden”; Dönhoff tat, was ihrer Meinung nach zu tun war. Vor, während und nach dem Krieg; unbeirrbar und unbeugsam.Auch das “zweite Leben” als Journalistin für “Die Zeit” (und zeitweise auch andere Zeitungen) wird von Alice Schwarzer ruhig und in wohltuend gediegener Sprache dargestellt. Mehr als 50 Jahre lang hat Dönhoff “Die Zeit” maßgeblich in verschiedenen Rollen geprägt.Ein bißchen kurz kommen die einzelnen Stationen zum Teil schon, aber dafür ist das durch Alice Schwarzer von Marion Gräfin Dönhoff gezeichnete Bild doch klar: Es muß sich um eine Frau gehandelt haben, die ihren Weg auch gegen alle Widerstände gegangen ist und die sich einerseits gegen Hitler verschworen hat, sich aber Jahrzehnte später “über Pumuckl halb tot lachen kann”.Trotz dieser Nähe gelingt es Schwarzer dennoch, eine gewisse Distanz aufrecht zu erhalten und ihr Sujet ehrlich und manchmal auch ein wenig kritisch zu beleuchten. Es ist diese Mischung von Distanz und Nähe, von offensichtlicher Bewunderung und kritischem Hinterfragen, die aber das große Verdienst Alice Schwarzers ausmachen.Die ersten zwei Drittel des Buches bestehen also einer guten Biographie Schwarzers über Gräfin Dönhoff, die danach noch in Interviews mit Schwarzer sozusagen selbst zu Wort kommt. Auch diese Gespräche sind überaus lesenswert.Zum Schluß finden sich noch eine Sammlung von Auszügen wichtiger Artikel Dönhoffs aus der “Zeit”, so z. B. “Was heißt Widerstand” von 1989 und viele weitere. Beim Schreiben dieser Rezension habe ich mich immer wieder in diesen Artikeln “fest gelesen” und festgestellt, wie modern und progressiv Marion Gräfin Dönhoff gewesen sein muß.Immer wieder “angereichert” wird diese wunderbare Biographie noch durch zahlreiche Fotos von den verschiedensten Stationen des Lebens von Dönhoff.Insofern ist “Marion Dönhoff: Ein widerständiges Leben” ein überaus lesenswertes Werk, das Geschichte lebendig und beinahe erlebbar werden läßt. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

This was such a nice idea: A Christmas romance! Ok, the author added “office romance”, “enemies-to-lovers” and “fake dating to evoke jealousy in an ex” but if that actually had worked out, I probably would have loved it. The beginning is very promising even: The banter between our heroine, Olivia, and her grumpy boss, Asher, is amusing, sometimes even witty and almost always funny.The atmosphere is charged between both of them and had Shepherd kept doing this, added some kind of conflict to solve before the “happily ever after”, everything would have been great.»“Cozied up on the couch. Snuggled under blankets. Snow falling outside. Christmas movies. Cake. We're living a Lifetime special.”«When I read that, I was sure this had to be great! And it was until I came to the second half of the book which manages to derail it completely...If you still want to read this book, take care, huge spoilers follow...Unfortunately, every minor issue is blown out of proportion: Olivia and Asher are caught almost in the act in the office - and Asher's reaction is to call it all off? What kind of guy does that? Ok, I thought, this shouldn't be hard to salvage...Olivia goes out for a kind of “girls night” to console herself and I expected something to go wrong. I did not expect Olivia to have poor enough judgement to accompany a known sexual predator, Levi, whom both her circle of friends and Asher warned her strongly about into a »curtained off rooms his handler is guarding«. Olivia is sexually assaulted there and has to find out the next day that Asher knew exactly about said predator and his methods.She decides that...»Levi is never going to touch another girl the way he touched me tonight. I'm going to make sure of it.«At this point, I thought, ok, this will be harder to recover from because the man Olivia loves knew and didn't do anything about it. I was still holding out hope because the book started out so well and Olivia's courageous decision not to let Levi get away with it was something I appreciated.Even though, I must say, I don't think a book that's basically supposed to be a light Christmas romance is the best place to deal with the very real problem of sexual harassment or assault.Then comes the next sexual assault, Asher making a fool out of himself, Olivia allowing Asher (who knew and did nothing) and her boss, Ana (who knew and did too little), to lull Olivia into complacency and waiting for something big to happen about Levi...This is the point where the book started losing me - further entanglements, e. g. a kiss, ensue - and when Asher and Olivia finally make it up with each other it's just too late for me. Shepherd has already managed to completely derail her storytelling “train” which was moving along so nicely in the beginning...Last and least, I do enjoy a certain amount of well-written smut in a romance. In this case, the “build up” is rather nice but (anti-)climaxes in a meagre »“Well,” I say after I've been sufficiently ravished.«...Ultimately, “Faking Under the Mistletoe” started with a bang, went shortly serious and ended in a whimper. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

When I was around the age of 18 - the age of majority in Germany - I felt like I had broken through some magical barrier to adulthood. (I hadn't.)Now, I felt, it was my sacred duty (it wasn't) to find out about - imagine a drum roll if you will - nothing lesser than the meaning of life itself. (Didn't find it.)Young me contacted the most well-meaning, wisest and awe-inspiring people I knew (not my parents) and asked them indirectly what the meaning of life is. I think I received exactly one answer and that went like “You'll have to find out for yourself.”. It took me about 20 years to figure that one out:There is no “meaning of life”. There is just what we figure out we want to do with our lives and how we live it. I have a vague idea for myself but I'm still figuring it out and I think the “figuring it out” part matters much more than the result - especially since for me, said result is always changing. Not in substance but in nuances.Along comes a book whose author states:“The subject was The Meaning of Life. It was taught from experience.”As if that wasn't pretentious enough in itself, we all have to figure it out for ourselves. And who is either Mitch Albom or Morrie to judge that “So many people walk around with a meaningless life.”?Albom isn't a great writer either: His simple style and his child-like adoration of Morris Schwartz drives him to try writing his idol into a pseudo-religious transcendent figure:“And the things he was saying in his final months on earth seemed to transcend all religious differences.”I'm sorry, I can buy into Morrie having been a very kind and interesting person but to basically glorify him like that cannot do any person justice.In its entirety, “Tuesdays with Morrie” feels like a collection of anecdotes, the glorification of the mundane and stating the obvious. Beyond its inherent merit of paying its subject's medical bills, it wasn't worth reading for me. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Update, because this made me ridiculously happy: As of right now, I'm actually still undecided how many stars I'm going to award “The Dark Archive” as, unfortunately, I cannot do five stars but oscillate between three and four starts... Let's get going and see where reflection leads me...So, the seventh instalment of “The Invisible Library” lies behind me - and a whole new field of opportunities for further books has been opened on several levels.That's good because just as we change throughout life, so must a series of books as it evolves or it will outlive its welcome - at the very least with me.Evolution does have its risks and drawbacks, though, and to get all the characters - new and old - to where they need to be; to set the stage for what's to come, Cogman seems to have lost a little bit of the plot. More on that later, though. Let's start with the good news: This is, indeed, undeniably and recognizable “The Invisible Library” how we know and love it: Irene Winters, the protagonist, is at the height of her game and, as usual, chasing after another important book.With her is Catherine, the woefully-absent Lord Silver's niece, Irene's new apprentice. Silver himself has fled London due to immediate threats. Catherine aspires to become a librarian - an archetypal one, of course, which leads to some... challenges... in her relationship with Irene.While Catherine starts out as your “run-of-the-mill” Fae, she organically and believably develops throughout the novel which I truly enjoyed witnessing. This speaks highly of Cogman's ability to create and nurture convincing characters.Speaking of “development” inevitably leads me to Kai: Kai gets a few scenes only to himself which I liked and which were nicely integrated into the story as a whole. There's not much outward relationship development between Kai and Irene - with the exception of one crucial point... Not perfect but I liked its unobtrusiveness.Another welcome new addition to the cast is Shan Yuan, Kai's older brother, whom Kai defers to but who, in turn, seems to loathe Kai. While I don't like him as a person, Shan is an interesting character at the very least whose addition I enjoyed.Vale is with us throughout most of the book as well: London's great detective hunts “The Professor” - which is a lovely pseudonym, paying homage to both [a:J.R.R. Tolkien 656983 J.R.R. Tolkien https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1564399522p2/656983.jpg] (you can do, too, with the Tolkien Birthday Toast) and Sherlock Holmes' greatest adversary, Moriarty, whom every devotee worth his salt will know. Said Professor understandably doesn't really enjoy being hunted and, thus, sends assassins after several of our heroes which makes for a fast-paced and action-loaded novel. It's just like always when you're enjoying a book - “just one more chapter” stole me quite a few hours of sleep (but fortunately, I'm on holidays right now!).Cogman's light-hearted and (mostly) friendly trademark humour is present as well, for example, when Irene and Kai philosophize about universal healthcare and other current issues. (Still unforgotten, last book's witty reference to a certain hare-brained Prime Minister who is, unfortunately, still leading his country back into the bad old times...)With so much light, there is some shadow as well: The plot itself is a bit thin for me. Yes, we do get a story but it doesn't really hold water. There are no real “leaks” but in the heat of the action said water dissipates and once we're in a calmer phase, we do get to wonder about what's behind all this... The epilogue might hint at what lies ahead but, still, this is a small blemish on an otherwise good book.A secondary blemish is one choice of Irene's, a casual cruelty, which was not strictly necessary and feels out of character. Yes, she admonishes herself immediately for it and that somewhat relativises it but it still marred my picture of Irene.Despite these blemishes, though, this is a fast-paced, enjoyable and oftentimes funny book that fits well into Cogman's fictitious universe - and ours, of course.Well, my reflection finished and all said and done, I'm now ready to decide upon the initial question of awarding stars: A slightly-generous four stars it is.Oh, and a huge “Thank You” to you, Genevieve, for writing this book - and for gifting me a copy! (In contrast to the former, the latter had no influence on this review!)Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Well, I'm sitting here in front of my keyboard, thinking what to write about this book... Don't get me wrong, it's clearly Josie Quinn and I like Josie and I like the series... but...Anyway, we're in Denton once more; this time under complicated circumstances: Flooding has hit the city and Josie is stressed out seeing her city sinking. Fortunately, she isn't immediately impacted as her home seems to be on a hill or something. I forgot and it doesn't really matter.Josie and Noah, probably soon to be declared patron saints of Denton, take in Misty - Josie's dead ex-husband Ray's ex-stripper lover - their, Misty's and Ray's, kid, Harris, and their dog in. (Yes, everyone and their dog...)Misty, starting to turn from bimbo to actual human being, immediately counters any kind of normal cognitive reaction by... excessive cooking.And here's the “but” from the beginning: I feel I'm starting to tire a bit of the cast. Noah, the too-good-to-be-true saviour type; Misty, the bimbo; Gretchen the “strong silent type” in a female version and - tada - fresh from the mayor's office: Amber Watts, the mayor's plant or truly an excitable woman who even steals in the course of the investigation.It's just nothing new. That's not bad in itself but we're exposed to so many reminiscences of earlier books and Josie's past, it feels somewhat repetitive. Moreover, we get to see her almost succumb to her demons once more - which seems to pretty much happen in every Josie Quinn novel these days, too.Some loose threads (why doesn't Vera want to enter the policy HQ?) never really get picked up.And, yet, the story is... serviceable. Nothing spectacular but an ok'ish book, featuring ok'ish people.If you like the books (which I still do), you can safely pick this one up; you'll feel right at home. If you're new to Josie Quinn, start with one of the earlier books and know it never gets any better (but rarely worse either!). Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

In my youth, I loved comics. I regularly read Asterix, Spirou & Fantasio, The Adventures of Tintin and Gaston; just to name a few. I still love those dearly, despite quite a few of them (especially Tintin) not aging very well because those comics are “children” of their time - they're ranging from “culturally insensitive” to “fairly damn racist” which I realised when I started re-reading Tintin after all those decades. So, lesson number one: Be careful if you revisit the heroes of your childhood.Another thing I've learned long ago: I don't like post-apocalyptic stories. Call me an incurable optimist but in spite of all the challenges we, as humans, face, I'm sure we will overcome those challenges and prevail. So, apocalypse? Go away.In 2012, I played Telltale Games' adventure game “The Walking Dead”. Pretty much a post-apocalyptic interactive novel. The game - as its successors - focuses strongly on character development and emotion.Despite the setting I originally hated, I was captivated. Then I found out this entire thing was based upon a “graphic novel”. A graphic novel... sounded a) rather pretentious and b) a lot like my good old comics so I decided to give it a try. I hated the setting, I hated the violence, I hated the gore - and yet, I liked it. After binge-reading all the novels available at the time, I had fallen in love with this modern kind of comic. And I came to understand why the term “graphic novel” is actually very fitting (in this case at least!): “The Walking Dead” featured highly interesting characters, a strong storyline and it touched upon a LOT of ethical and moral issues which are never “dealt with” and “done with” easily but are most often explored, a journey embarked upon and never taken lightly.The most intriguing part, though, was the amazing cast of characters: From the eponymous “Walking Dead”, the roamers or walkers who everyone is destined to become, to the small-town cop Rick Grimes who pretty much becomes the centre of world of “The Walking Dead” (very much against his will and to his chagrin!), heroines like Andrea (no, it's just that something flew into both of my eyes!) or Maggie and remarkable villains (who sometimes developed immensely!) like Negan to all the diverse and non-discriminating (I think we've seen all of LGBT) other characters. Speaking of LGBT: This is one of the very few brilliant examples of how to be non-discriminating - by simply not caring AT ALL. As can be imagined, considering we're talking about an adult graphic novel, we see deep love of every kind among the characters and their gender simply doesn't matter (or at least not to the “good” people).As if the great cast and the story and all that wasn't already enough, the character development during its entire run among said cast was fantastic as well. I don't think I've ever found the characters so believable and relatable in some cases and, in other cases, sometimes so outlandish and yet still so conceivable. What Negan was and what he became and, especially, HOW he became it, for example, is textbook-worthy. A truly masterful achievement of storytelling.As can be imagined in the afore-mentioned post-apocalyptic scenario, a lot of that cast will, unfortunately, die. Now, you can just kill Star Trek's red-shirts off. You can kill the nameless masses. Beware of killing off major characters as had to be done in this graphic novel: If you just kill off your character in, e. g. a “red wedding”, and that's pretty much it, you leave your readers alone in their astonishment, their shock and, yes, even in their grief.You might get away with it but you WILL alienate a part of your audience.If, on the other hand, you kill if and when you simply HAVE to (e. g. because the story demands it) and you do it in a way that respects the character and preserves its dignity, then I can accept and respect that. That said, Kirkman gets even that right: At one point, a MAJOR character dies. And, damn, did I cry. The novel ends with an optimistic perspective and that would have worked already.Kirkman improves on that, though, and adds:“I'm sorry.I'm sorry to my fans and to myself and to [...]. I feel like I killed a close friend. The deaths in this series are never taken lightly, they're never done with a sense of glee. They weigh on me the same way they weigh on you. These characters are very real to me, and their deaths are upsetting even to me.[...]”As you can see, this reflects my view on killing characters and puts it very clearly.So, let's see: Great story, great cast, great author - what's there not to like?Well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself. There are 193 regular issues but I didn't quite binge-read them actually. In fact, my interest was slightly like the moon waxing and waning - I'd read, let's say, 50 issues and, feeling sated, I would move on to something else. After a few months or a year, I would read the next 50 or so and, thus, the cycle started anew. So, yes, for me there was enough “Walking Dead” and so I took my leave of that world for quite some time and, yet, would succumb to its lure all the same.I've been told (and read in reviews of people whose opinions I value highly) that the quality among the story arcs varies. That could be true. Maybe it wasn't just feeling sated but stumbling upon a weaker story arc that made me read something else.I simply do not know.What I DO know, though, is that I will sorely miss being able to revisit the world of the “Walking Dead” which I have come to respect and love just like any other wonderfully and skillfully crafted fantastic world.If you're just into comics/graphic novels, try “The Walking Dead”. If you don't like reading or some such nonsense, try “The Walking Dead”.If you're beyond comics but are still willing to give the genre another chance, let it be “The Walking Dead” to make you feel the magic (albeit a completely different kind!) once more. If you're basically anyone, try “The Walking Dead”. They ARE that good. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

Wow, this was a huge let-down for me. I've never been the greatest Dresden fan but with Harry being a character one can relate to, I always found something to actually really like. Not so in this book.Basically, we're reading about a huge battle during which everyone and (sometimes literally) their dog makes an appearance - oftentimes just for the sake of appearing and showing that, yes, they still exist and Butcher hasn't forgotten about them.Unfortunately, as pitched as the battle must be, I never really “connected” with the story. Yes, all of Chicago and its inhabitants are at risk but I was rather indifferent about that.I was even repelled by some aspects of the way the story is told, e. g. There are many places during which it gets overly gory for no reason at all. I actually tried to find a somewhat moderate part to quote here as an example but, alas, I failed. There is no example I could quote here with a clean conscience towards younger readers.Fortunately, though, the good-natured trademark humour is still around, though:»“Guys!” I said. “The pizza—all the pizza—is in danger!” That got their attention.«So, yes, the small folks are around as well but even they - who sometimes played rather prominent roles in earlier books - feel like they only get a few “honourable mentions”. They're not really in any way integrated into the story albeit the potential for that existed.Yes, it's still the Dresden Files but it feels like Butcher wrote himself into a corner from which he couldn't really escape. The path he chose feels like that of a pubescent boy in a frenzy - because Butcher can rest assured I don't care about Harry's scrotum or the gore I mentioned before.Over-the-top battles, feverishly written about and bringing in everyone doesn't really endear the book to me either.Nevertheless, Dresden Files - if you liked them so far, you might grind your teeth a bit while reading this book but you'll probably still like it to some extent, like I do.If you didn't like Harry Dresden by now, after 16 books (“Battle Ground” being no. 17), this instalment won't change your mind and you should probably abstain.Let's just hope that Jim Butcher will find his way back from epic megapolis-scale wars to what he did early on: Portraying the foremost wizard of Chicago, a deeply mixed character who tries to do “the right thing” to the best of his abilities. That's what makes Harry relatable (despite the urban fantasy setting); that's what makes Harry Harry.»The real battle for your own soul isn't about falling from a great height; it's about descending, or not, one choice at a time.«This holds true not “just” for souls but books as well...Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

I'm writing this review with a heavy heart because I've been a fan of Armand Gamache since the very first book.Gamache is the most human investigator I've had the pleasure to “accompany” him through 16 books now. His cases were never easy or clear-cut. There were rarely any truly, irredeemable evil perpetrators.Gamache himself wasn't always the knight in shining armour but a believable human being. Three Pines, the almost mythological home of the Gamaches', basically became a beloved part of (almost) all the books. Its inhabitants - Clara, Gabri, Ruth - they usually played an important role.In this book, though, Armand and his entire family find themselves in Paris for the birth of Annie's and Jean-Guy Beauvoir's child where the latter live after Jean-Guy got a job at an engineering company.Also in Paris is Stephen Horowitz, Armand Gamache's godfather, who took care of young Armand after the death of Armand's parents.After a family dinner, an attempt on Stephen's life is made and, thus, the game is afoot!I was immediately sceptical when I realised we would stay in Paris for (almost) the entire book. Three Pines is so atmospherically important that I missed it.As an IT guy I couldn't really tolerate this either:“Beauvoir could see past Loiselle, into Arbour's office. Something was happening. The computer had come back to life, and images were flashing across the screen. Even from a distance, he could see what it was. Emails. Schematics. Being erased.”This is just nonsense and only ever happens in films. In real life, you wouldn't see a thing. The data would silently be deleted and none would be the wiser for it. This is, of course, just a detail but it annoyed me.Attention to details in an author has always been important to me and Louise Penny didn't majorly disappoint so far but in this book, she just does away with some things, e. g. Horowitz' children:“I do need to point out that in a previous book Horowitz has children. In this book he does not. I'm afraid I made a mistake in that first mention of Horowitz, in being far more specific than I needed to be.Lesson learned. Children erased.”Children erased. Just like that. Annoying.These are just my minor qualms with the book, though. What really disappointed me was that Armand Gamache almost turns into an action hero in this book. His more philosophical traits take a backseat to a mystery that's not even very interesting intrinsically.The solution feels a lot like a deus ex machina after a rather complicated, convoluted and far-fetched plot that wasn't hard to follow but wasn't really interesting either.In her afterword, Penny explains why she wrote the book the way she did:“I've tried to bring that wonderment. That awe. That love of place because of the place, but also because of the memories a place holds, to this book. That love of Paris that I discovered with Michael.”I love Paris myself but apart from the fact that I bought a mystery novel and not a book about Paris, Penny regrettably even fails to convey how Paris “feels”: Yes, she describes it well enough but the bustling streets, the Parisians themselves, the contrasts of the touristic Paris and its darker sides - they're all missing. It's a pretty sterile description of places but the “awe” she mentions is absent for me.I can absolutely relate to “explore” Paris with your significant other (been there, done that) but unless you write about Paris, you cannot really convey that to your readers.A bit later Penny writes...“This is a book about love, about belonging. About family and friendship. It's about how lives are shaped by our perceptions, by not just our memories, but how we remember things.”... and she's right: She wrote about the Gamaches' and their love for each other. Unfortunately, that's not enough for a good Gamache mystery, though.Especially when the (few) conflicts among the family (Armand and his son Daniel) feel mostly superficial. The one potential major conflict among the family in this book that is not about Daniel is, disappointingly again, solved within six sentences (the new-born child...) and feels artificial and “tacked-on”. Just as the ending made me roll my eyes (Stephen).No, sadly, this is the one Gamache you should probably skip if you want to remember Armand Gamache as he used to be. Let's hope for a better 17th instalment next year. Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram