I did not love The Guest by Emma Kline, I just didn't really want to spend time with the main character...
For those interested in Prussia at the end of WW2, Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is a great young adult read about various people making their way from the Baltics/Ukraine/Poland try to avoid both the Nazis and Russians.
Thank you for linking to that article about The Guest! I could not put it down and was so puzzled by the ending. Not throw-it-across-the-room mad, but definitely felt disappointed.
A friend and I like the concept of "book flights" where you read a few books together that are excellent alone but even greater than the sum of their parts when taken together. It sounds like your German reading this summer was just that. I read All For Nothing a few years ago at the same time that I read Svetlana Alekseivich's book about women in WWII, "The Unwomanly Face of War" and Shaun Walker's book The Long Hangover, about the way that Putin coopted and re-wrote the Soviet role in WWII to suit the modern Russian state. It was a fine book flight. A good Northern Ireland book flight would be Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, Transatlantic by Colum McCann, and Trespasses, by Louise Kennedy.
I have thrown a book across the room (although it was actually my phone since I was reading on my Kindle app and scared the heck out of my husband...) Daisy Jones and the Six. I did not like any of the characters and just kept pushing through because so many friends had loved it. When I got to the ending it felt like such a betrayal. A twist that didn't need to be a twist and then just left me hanging. I hollered and pitched it across the room.
I threw Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine across the room. Everyone else in the world seems to love it, so after a decent interval I gave it another try and threw it AGAIN, then crossly read the last page to make sure it was really over. 😉
Fatherland: fantastic. So good I actually ordered a second copy after I left the first, unfinished, in a vacation rental and all the copies at my library were backordered! Read it shortly after The Postcard, and found it far more compelling. Different genres, I know, but it hit in a way that The Postcard did not.
Did not realize Burkhard Bilger had written a book!! I adore his writing; will have to check that out immediately. I nearly threw Jackson’s Dilemma across the room while I was reading it, just out of sheer confusion - probably not the best place to start with Iris Murdoch.
Love these reading newsletters! I read Girl, Woman, Other a few years ago and really enjoyed it--as it turns out I knew nothing about the history of people of color in the UK, and it was fascinating to hear from so many different characters over time. I also recently read Small Island, by Andrea Levy, which is specifically about Jamaicans coming to the UK during and after WWII, and mentions how things were for Black American GIs in England too. Not exactly a fun read but really good.
Both Fatherland and All for Nothing have been on my reading list for months! Currently reading Fatherland, and wow, the writing is phenomenal, and the history is fascinating (I’m a HUGE European history fan). Thank you for the push to read this book!
I wanted to recommend Valerie Perrin’s books to you, specifically, Fresh Water for Flowers. xx
I always feel about 7% smarter after reading your newsletters. I've got a new determination to get my German citizenship - just waiting for the doppelte Staatsbürgerschaft law to pass (Daumen drücken!) The three books you list are going to make up my citizenship study prep 🇩🇪.
I am coming back late to this post to say that I got Shortest History from the library last week, and it is blowing my mind. I need to get my own copy so I can freely fold down pages and underline things. Thank you so much for writing about it here! I feel like all everyone should read this -- it's such an amazing overview of not just German, but whole-western-world history, and how things connect. I keep reading bits out loud to my family, who are like, You're still talking about this book? (Yes! I never thought of the Franco-Prussian war from Germany's perspective. I knew Bismarck's name but little else. So enlightening.)
I did not love The Guest by Emma Kline, I just didn't really want to spend time with the main character...
For those interested in Prussia at the end of WW2, Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is a great young adult read about various people making their way from the Baltics/Ukraine/Poland try to avoid both the Nazis and Russians.
I threw The Farm by Joanne Ramos. Loved it until the epilogue, which totally ruined it for me.
Thank you for linking to that article about The Guest! I could not put it down and was so puzzled by the ending. Not throw-it-across-the-room mad, but definitely felt disappointed.
A friend and I like the concept of "book flights" where you read a few books together that are excellent alone but even greater than the sum of their parts when taken together. It sounds like your German reading this summer was just that. I read All For Nothing a few years ago at the same time that I read Svetlana Alekseivich's book about women in WWII, "The Unwomanly Face of War" and Shaun Walker's book The Long Hangover, about the way that Putin coopted and re-wrote the Soviet role in WWII to suit the modern Russian state. It was a fine book flight. A good Northern Ireland book flight would be Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, Transatlantic by Colum McCann, and Trespasses, by Louise Kennedy.
That ending!!!! I mean, what??!! I kept flipping back and forth the last few pages, sure I had missed something.
I have thrown a book across the room (although it was actually my phone since I was reading on my Kindle app and scared the heck out of my husband...) Daisy Jones and the Six. I did not like any of the characters and just kept pushing through because so many friends had loved it. When I got to the ending it felt like such a betrayal. A twist that didn't need to be a twist and then just left me hanging. I hollered and pitched it across the room.
I threw Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine across the room. Everyone else in the world seems to love it, so after a decent interval I gave it another try and threw it AGAIN, then crossly read the last page to make sure it was really over. 😉
Fatherland: fantastic. So good I actually ordered a second copy after I left the first, unfinished, in a vacation rental and all the copies at my library were backordered! Read it shortly after The Postcard, and found it far more compelling. Different genres, I know, but it hit in a way that The Postcard did not.
Did not realize Burkhard Bilger had written a book!! I adore his writing; will have to check that out immediately. I nearly threw Jackson’s Dilemma across the room while I was reading it, just out of sheer confusion - probably not the best place to start with Iris Murdoch.
Love reading what you’re reading. I’m a retired librarian and read a LOT of different things.
Love these reading newsletters! I read Girl, Woman, Other a few years ago and really enjoyed it--as it turns out I knew nothing about the history of people of color in the UK, and it was fascinating to hear from so many different characters over time. I also recently read Small Island, by Andrea Levy, which is specifically about Jamaicans coming to the UK during and after WWII, and mentions how things were for Black American GIs in England too. Not exactly a fun read but really good.
Both Fatherland and All for Nothing have been on my reading list for months! Currently reading Fatherland, and wow, the writing is phenomenal, and the history is fascinating (I’m a HUGE European history fan). Thank you for the push to read this book!
I wanted to recommend Valerie Perrin’s books to you, specifically, Fresh Water for Flowers. xx
I always feel about 7% smarter after reading your newsletters. I've got a new determination to get my German citizenship - just waiting for the doppelte Staatsbürgerschaft law to pass (Daumen drücken!) The three books you list are going to make up my citizenship study prep 🇩🇪.
I am coming back late to this post to say that I got Shortest History from the library last week, and it is blowing my mind. I need to get my own copy so I can freely fold down pages and underline things. Thank you so much for writing about it here! I feel like all everyone should read this -- it's such an amazing overview of not just German, but whole-western-world history, and how things connect. I keep reading bits out loud to my family, who are like, You're still talking about this book? (Yes! I never thought of the Franco-Prussian war from Germany's perspective. I knew Bismarck's name but little else. So enlightening.)
"I ended up throwing it across the room" may be the best book review I've ever read!!