Books

Review – The Light Between Oceans

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hi,

I hope you’re all having a great weekend. It was sunny over here the whole day long. And on this beautiful autumn day, I have a review of M. L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans for you. This is such a wonderful book. I finished reading just before I went to Frankfurt.

Image provided by Random House UK¹
Summary quoted from Random House UK¹:

A boat washes up on the shore of a remote lighthouse keeper’s island. It holds a dead man – and a crying baby. The only two islanders, Tom and his wife Izzy, are about to make a devastating decision.
They break the rules and follow their hearts. What happens next will break yours.

My Thoughts:

The main setting for The Light Between Oceans are the fictitious town of Point Partageuse on the west coast of Australia and Janus Rock, a small, and also fictitious, lighthouse island. The story is set in the first half of the 20th century. Through her descriptions, M. L. Stedman is able to make beautiful scenes come to life. I soon felt at home in this world accompanied by the constant sound of the sea.

The main characters are the married couple Isabel and Tom, and Hannah, who is of importance later in the novel. It is remarkable how each character’s feelings are transplanted into the reader’s heart and soul. It’s not surprising that in the course of the book, you will change your mind about a character that you have liked, or not liked before. You can feel the happiness, the pain, the grief. M. L. Stedman truly knows how to craft characters.

I really enjoyed the unique plot of The Light Between Oceans. Every time you think the story might get predictable something unexpected happens that turns things around. Stedman has thought about many details that, like in real life, can have a big impact when they interact.
The Light Between Oceans is like a glimpse into the main characters’ souls. A deeply touching novel that will lead you into a world full of yearning and hope.

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¹http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-light-between-oceans/9780552778473

Frankfurt Book Fair – We’re Back!

~ Hanna ~ 4 Comments

Hi y’all,

We’re back from our short but busy trip to Frankfurt Book Fair. In those few days, we met wonderful people, walked many miles, saw beautiful books and learned a lot.

usbornfbm13
Beautiful Usborne Booth

Our trip started with a snow storm that delayed our departure and arrival. The late arrival also prevented us from visiting the fair on Friday. Therefore, we weren’t able to meet Megan from Harper Collins International Sales who had to leave that day. We would have loved to chat with her but the weather and traffic weren’t on our side that day.

On Saturday, I met Kirsty Wilson from Canongate, who was awesome. She was flexible enough to just squeeze our interview between two appointments. Ain’t that great? After my interview with Kirsty, Miss Treegarden and I went to a Lovelybooks get-together to meet all those people I only knew from the internet. The only problem was that it was pretty cold and everyone wore jackets or coats that kept the unique blog t-shirts some attendees wore hidden. I only recognized the two girls working for Lovelybooks, the other attending people will stay a mystery to me. 😀

After the get-together, Miss Treegarden and I had a little stroll through halls 3.0 and 3.1 which are halls full of German publishers’ booths. These halls got overcrowded quickly, so Miss Treegarden and I decided to separate and she went to see the other German halls, while I went back to lovely and quiet hall 8.0, the international hall. It’s a little sad to see the difference between the international hall and the German halls, because you notice that the Germans don’t seem to be that interested in international literature. Still, it had a good side that hall 8.0 wasn’t crowded: I had room to roam 🙂 At the Telegram, Saqi, Westbourne Press booth, I had a great talk with Ashley Biles who supplied me with two interesting books. Thank you! A few rows down, at the Chronicle Books booth, I stumbled upon this wonderful poster. I even got a paper cup of Grumpy Cat to take home  😀

fbm13grumpy
Grumpy Cat didn’t agree with me.

On Sunday, time was short. We only had four hours until our departure. Nevertheless, we attended a talk by Frank Grafe of Random House Germany, who told us about their publishing house and the work they do at the book fair. Later on, I met lovely Thérèse Coen from Bloomsbury for an interview. We had a great chat and I left with a wonderful present, a book I’ve been waiting to read for months. Thank you SO much. I noticed much later just how precious this present was. At the bus on our way home, I had a closer look and saw that it was signed. I was barely able to breathe. Oh wow Thérèse, you sure made my week! After another quick stroll through hall 8.0, I had to say goodbye to my favorite hall, as I planned to join Miss Treegarden for a book signing that was very important to her. On our way out of the fair grounds, we also got a quick look at Cecilia Ahern (P.S. I Love You), who was also signing books at the fair. Boy, isn’t she young?

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Cecilia Ahern signing tons of books

Our days at Frankfurt Book Fair had come to an end and we had to board the bus back home again. Before leaving for Frankfurt, I was a little worried, but now, I’m glad everything worked out fine. I’m sure, I’ll be back soon. This was only a quick roundup of our trip. I promise you’ll read more about it in the upcoming weeks!

Review – Provence, 1970

~ Hanna ~ 2 Comments

Hello everyone,

Before we leave for Frankfurt, I’ve got another review for you. As you all know, Clarkson Potter provided me with an ARC of Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr a while ago. The book will be out on October 22 in the US, Austria, Germany,… and obviously on November 20 in the UK.

Image provided by Random House¹
Summary quoted from Random House¹:

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now. The conversations among this group were chronicled by M.F.K. Fisher in journals and letters—some of which were later discovered by Luke Barr, her great-nephew. In Provence, 1970, he captures this seminal season, set against a stunning backdrop in cinematic scope—complete with gossip, drama, and contemporary relevance.

My Thoughts:

Provence, 1970 is a historical non-fiction book that mainly deals with M.F.K. Fisher’s 1970 trip to Provence. The author Luke Barr was able to make me feel Provence in some parts of the book, which is more than I would expect of a work of non-fiction. Provence, 1970 even offers dialogues which sometimes made me wonder if I wasn’t reading a novel after all. The explanation for this comes at the end of the book (at least in the ARC), where Barr lists all his sources. Unfortunately, there weren’t any footnotes in the text (again, in the ARC). I would have liked that, but I do understand that there are people who feel disturbed by them.

Provence, 1970 was an informative and entertaining read. As I wasn’t well acquainted with any of the iconic culinary figures besides Julia Child, the book offered new information. I also really liked that Barr went to France to visit the Childs’ Provence home to get his own perspective. Overall, Provence, 1970 is a mouth-watering work of non-fiction for people who like good food, travel writing, the 1970s, France and American cooks.

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¹http://www.randomhouse.com/book/202688/provence-1970-by-luke-barr

We’re going to Frankfurt Book Fair

~ Hanna ~ 2 Comments

Hey,

I hope you’re having a relaxing weekend. Miss Treegarden and I have great news for you! In a few days, we’ll head north to attend the largest book fair in the world – Frankfurt Book Fair!

Image provided by Frankfurter Buchmesse

Miss Treegarden and I are both book fair first-timers and we are pretty excited by now. We’ve got months of preparation lying behind us and we hope we can bring back lots of pictures and stories. Of course, we will look out for new and upcoming books that could be of interest to you (and us 😀 ) and we hope to get to meet and talk to many interesting people!

Miss Treegarden found out that one of her favorite authors will be at the book fair and I already found my Mecca in Hall 8.0 which is the International Hall. That’s where most of the English-language publishers are. It will be a pretty intense trip with only two days time to explore hundreds of booths and thousands of books.

Image provided by Frankfurter Buchmesse / Peter Hirth

We still got a few days left and we want to know: Is there anything you’d like to know about Frankfurt Book Fair that we can find out while we are there? Please tell us. We’ll try to help!

Review – The Wishing Thread

~ Hanna ~ 1 Comment

Hi there,

It’s me again 🙂 I’m back with my review of Lisa Van Allen‘s The Wishing Thread. As I’ve told you before, I got a German-language copy for a book discussion at Lovelybooks. Aufbau Verlag even added a matching bracelet :).

It is very important to know that I read the German translation of the book because I’m going to say something about the writing style in my review and I am well aware that the writing style can change through translation. I also had a quick look at the fist 30 pages of the English original and they read better than the German version.

Which cover do you prefer? The German cover, or the English one? Tell me in the comments below 🙂

The German edition Ruetten & Loening Verlag (Aufbau)
The English cover provided by Random House¹
More on the German edition can be found here.
Summary of the English edition quoted from Random House¹:

The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they’re angels; some say they’re crooks. In their tumbledown “Stitchery,” not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters—Aubrey, Bitty, and Meggie—are said to knit people’s most ardent wishes into beautiful scarves and mittens, granting them health, success, or even a blossoming romance. But for the magic to work, sacrifices must be made—and no one knows that better than the Van Rippers.

When the Stitchery matriarch, Mariah, dies, she leaves the yarn shop to her three nieces. Aubrey, shy and reliable, has dedicated her life to weaving spells for the community, though her sisters have long stayed away. Bitty, pragmatic and persistent, has always been skeptical of magic and wants her children to have a normal, nonmagical life. Meggie, restless and free-spirited, follows her own set of rules. Now, after Mariah’s death forces a reunion, the sisters must reassess the state of their lives even as they decide the fate of the Stitchery. But their relationships with one another—and their beliefs in magic—are put to the test. Will the threads hold?

My thoughts on the German translation:

The Wishing Thread is mainly set in 21st century Tarrytown, a city south of Sleepy Hollow and north of Manhattan. Lisa Van Allen’s writing style is very descriptive and she uses a metaphorical language to describe the setting. I particularly liked the stitchery. Even though it is described as an old, rundown house, it has its charm. In the German translation, the writing style and the time the book is set in clashed. The writing style made me think of a setting in the 19th century. This stiff language seemed outdated to me and every time there was an indication of the 21st century (e.g. a mobile phone), I was shocked like a time traveler. What didn’t help either, was the German cover that (in my opinion) also suggests a historical setting.

There are quite a lot of important characters in this book. The main character, however, is Aubrey. She’s the guardian of the stitchery and she’s a tad old-fashioned. She was easy to identify with at the beginning of the book. The further I read on, the harder it got to identify with a young woman who grew up in the 20th century and thought like an oppressed and naive woman from the 19th century. In one scene, I also felt like this about her sister Bitty. Apart from this problem with Aubrey, the other characters were nicely crafted. I really liked Aubrey’s niece Nessa, who made the story more lively. The bit I read about aunt Mariah was great, because Mariah radiates warmth and comfort. I also enjoyed Mason Boss. From the second he entered the stage… I can’t tell you more. But I like how he was written to life.

The Wishing Thread is a creative and unique story. It’s a story about family bonds. Magic plays a minor role in this book just like the love story. If you are a knitter, you’re in for a treat. Knitting is a big topic and all the chapter headings involve knitting terms that somehow relate to the content of the chapters if you have the time to think about them (at least that’s what I think). There’s another treat for knitters, but I don’t want to tell you too much. In my opinion, The Wishing Thread is a light and entertaining read for people who like to read stories about families and knitting.

My rating for the German translation of The Wishing Thread:

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¹ http://www.randomhouse.com/book/221371/the-wishing-thread-by-lisa-van-allen

Review – Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall

~ Miss Treegarden ~ Leave a comment

Who comes to your mind when you are asked to think about post-colonial British authors? Close your eyes for a few seconds; think hard; then open your eyes and tell me what you came up with. Hmh, let me think …. Kazuo Ishiguro! Does the name ring a bell? Yes? Excellent! I think it’s time to talk about one of Britain’s most eminent writers. He has won the Booker Prize for The Remains of Day in 1989. Even though his last publication was some time ago, in 2009 to be exact, this does not mean that it’s too late to talk about Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall.

nocturnes
Image provided by Random House¹
Summary quoted from Random House¹:

With the clarity and precision that have become his trademarks, Kazuo Ishiguro interlocks five short pieces of fiction to create a world that resonates with emotion, heartbreak, and humor. Here is a fragile, once famous singer, turning his back on the one thing he loves; a music junky with little else to offer his friends but opinion; a songwriter who inadvertently breaks up a marriage; a jazz musician who thinks the answer to his career lies in changing his physical appearance; and a young cellist whose tutor has devised a remarkable way to foster his talent. For each, music is a central part of their lives and, in one way or another, delivers them to an epiphany.

My Thoughts:

Nocturnes is Ishiguro’s first collection of short stories and consists of five parts: “Crooner”, “Come Rain or Come Shine”, “Malvern Hills”, “Nocturne” and “Cellist”. What bind the stories together are recurring themes and characters which are all tightly connected with music, musicians and music lovers. They are all written in prose style and every story has its own delightful and charming twist.

Basically, Nocturnes tells the story of people who have not yet fulfilled their dreams, about people who live ordinary lives and about the sacrifices they have to make every day. We all have a vision of who we are, but very often the world does not allow us to fulfill your dreams. All the characters in Nocturnes struggle with their lives; some get it right, some get it wrong, but they all have to overcome obstacles. I guess this is what makes the book so attractive to us normal ones. It shows that fictional characters are not superheroes after all.

When I got hold of Nocturnes, I expected to really love this collection and I have to admit that I found it wonderful in parts. It would be a lie to claim that Nocturnes is absolutely superb, because there are a few flaws in the novel. But all in all, it’s a nice and entertaining read for everyone who likes humorous, cynical and serious stories.

bohnen3s

¹ http://www.randomhouse.com/book/85610/nocturnes-by-kazuo-ishiguro

Liebster Award

~ Miss Treegarden ~ 8 Comments
liebsteraward1
Joana from Joana in the Sky with Books nominated us for the Liebster Award. Thanks Joana 🙂 We really feel honored!
And to the creators of this award: Thanks for this wonderful award. 🙂 But do you have any idea how hard it is to find 10 blogs with less than 200 followers? We found 4 among those we were already following and then we spent about 2 hours to find another 6 that fulfilled the criteria and that we liked. Of course we only wanted to give the award to blogs that we really liked. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any search engine out there to look for recently created blogs. How awful is that? (not that you, dear award creators, are responsible for that) Rant over 😀 Still, we feel very honored and are very happy to have received this award 🙂
The Liebster Award is a way to help new blogs with less than 200 followers to gain new followers. By awarding the Liebster award, we can show our followers that there are other great blogs out there to explore.
 
Rules:
  • Link back the blogger that tagged you;
  • Nominate 10 others and answer the questions of the one who tagged you;
  • Ask 10 questions for the bloggers you nominate;
  • Let your nominees know of their award.

Joana has prepared 10 questions for us to answer:

1. What are you currently reading?

Darklittle: The Wishing Thread by Lisa Van Allen and Provence,1970 by Luke Barr

Miss Treegarden: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

2. Do you have any weird bookish habits?

Miss Treegarden: Not that I can think of.

Darklittle: I like to smell and stroke books, but I think that’s something most book lovers do, right?

3. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

Darklittle: That’s a though one. I could be biased here, but right now that would be Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 😀

Miss Treegarden: Tricky question, but I guess I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on Night Train to Lisbon by Peter Bieri alias Pascal Mercier.

4. Which is your favourite secondary character?

Miss Treegarden: Difficult to decide on. I really like Ben’s grandmother from Gangsta Granny by David Walliams. She’s hilarious!

Darklittle: Oh dear… I don’t like these decisions. I think it’s Eeyore from A. A. Milne’s Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh.

5. What is your main blogging goal at the moment?

To make us and our readers happy 🙂

6. Do you prefer series or stand-alones?

Darklittle: Until about a year ago, I really liked series, but I became tired of them. Now I really prefer stand-alones!

Miss Treegarden: Usually I decide on stand-alones, because I’m eager to experience a great variety of stories. But should I get hold of book which is part of a series and I like it, I am happy to read the sequels and often can’t wait for the latest books to be released. Sometimes, there are books with an open ending and I really wish for a sequel, which might, however, never be published.

7. What made you decide to create a blog?

Darklittle: I wanted to share my thoughts on English-language literature.

8. If you could meet any author, who would you choose?

Miss Treegarden: This one I know for sure: Roald Dahl.

Darklittle: Hmm… another tough one. J. M. Barrie, or Michael Bond perhaps 🙂

9. What has been your happiest moment as a blogger?

Darklittle: I think the day I realized that there were a bunch of people following my blog and that some of them were actually reading what I wrote 😉

Miss Treegarden: Reading my first post and getting three likes in a row 🙂 I thought, wow, someone is actually reading this and they seem to like it 🙂

10. What made you want to start a blog?

Darklittle: Didn’t I already answer this question? 😀

And this are our 10 questions:

  1. What is the first book that you can remember “reading”?
  2. Do you have a book recommendation for Halloween?
  3. What is your opinion on memes like “Waiting on Wednesday”? Do you like them? Do you use them?
  4. What do you like most about blogging?
  5. How do you prefer to read? / Where is your favorite place to read?
  6. What is your favorite genre?
  7. Which three adjectives would choose to describe your favorite character.
  8. Do you think the names of the characters in novels are important?
  9. Which place would you set up as a meeting point (fact of fictional), if you got the chance to meet your favorite character.
  10. Which book would you like to see turned into a movie?

We nominate the following 10 blogs:

English-language blogs

zeteticat from Bookish Habits

Ciska from Ciska’s Book Chest

Rose from i LIVE LITERARY

holliekins from Much Ado About Books

Scentfragrance from Scentfragrance

Helois from Stain On The Page

Melanie from the coffee club (and me) (We can’t see how many followers you have, but we like your blog, so we nominated you)

German-language blogs:

Donata Bichler from Donatas Bücher

RoteZora from Dreams about Books

Ina_Kzeptabel from Ina_Kzeptabel(t)

Incoming – The Wishing Thread

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Look what the postman brought today: It’s the German edition of Lisa Van Allen‘s The Wishing Thread. It’s next on my TBR pile and the lovely people at Aufbau Verlag even added this bracelet which matches the topic of the book. Thank you so much ❤ I love the colors!
(Btw.: I got the book through Lovelybooks 🙂 )

Oh and if my male followers are wondering when I’ll be reading something more “manly” again. The time will come, I promise. Science Fiction and my beloved Pirate Tales are waiting 😀
wuenscheschwestern

More on the German edition can be found here.
An English summary quoted from Random House¹:

The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they’re angels; some say they’re crooks. In their tumbledown “Stitchery,” not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters—Aubrey, Bitty, and Meggie—are said to knit people’s most ardent wishes into beautiful scarves and mittens, granting them health, success, or even a blossoming romance. But for the magic to work, sacrifices must be made—and no one knows that better than the Van Rippers.

When the Stitchery matriarch, Mariah, dies, she leaves the yarn shop to her three nieces. Aubrey, shy and reliable, has dedicated her life to weaving spells for the community, though her sisters have long stayed away. Bitty, pragmatic and persistent, has always been skeptical of magic and wants her children to have a normal, nonmagical life. Meggie, restless and free-spirited, follows her own set of rules. Now, after Mariah’s death forces a reunion, the sisters must reassess the state of their lives even as they decide the fate of the Stitchery. But their relationships with one another—and their beliefs in magic—are put to the test. Will the threads hold?

¹ http://www.randomhouse.com/book/221371/the-wishing-thread-by-lisa-van-allen

Review – Life After Life

~ Hanna ~ 4 Comments

Hello there,

I’ve just finished what could become my personal book of the year 2013. I’m practically speechless, but I should write a review here, so I’ll see what I can come up with 😉 Oh, I almost forgot. The book I’m talking about is Life After Life by Kate Atkinson which was shortlisted for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Lifeafterlife
Image provided by Hachette Book Group¹
Summary quoted from Hachette Book Group¹:

What if you could live again and again, until you got it right?
On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war.
Does Ursula’s apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can — will she?

My Thoughts:

Life after Life is mainly set in 20th century England and boy does Ms. Atkinson know how to create setting. I lay there in the grass, looking up at the sky. I breathed sun-filled air as well as gas. I saw the clear skies on the mountains and the darkness of muggy cellars. And then I went to war and found myself on top of a collapsed building, searching for survivors, while bombers were still dropping their deadly cargo all over London.

As you can see, Ms. Atkinson not only did a great job describing the setting, she also created a main character that I could easily identify with. This main character is Ursula and I loved to follow her through her many lives. Although follow seems to be the wrong word, as I often became one with Ursula. We simply merged. I seldom thought that one of her decisions was the wrong one. There are many other characters in Life After Life. Each of them is unique. I like how Ursula has a stronger bond with some and a weaker with others. Just like in real life.

I have never read a story like Life After Life and I think it is brilliant. In the beginning, I had no idea how the story is going to work out. The only thing I knew was that Ursula was able to live her life over and over again. I like where Ms. Atkinson takes her and how she let the story end. I love that this book offers so many emotions. Throughout the story there is love, loss, pain, hope, sorrow and happiness. You get the whole package. Life After Life is a book that shows you how much can change by deciding to do something different. I fully recommend this book to everyone!

bohnen5s

¹https://www.hachettebookgroup.biz/titles/kate-atkinson/life-after-life/9780316176484/

Review – A Tale for the Time Being

~ Hanna ~ 2 Comments

As I’ve already told you a few days ago, I finished a book that took me a while to read. This book is A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, which is currently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. I had a copy on my bookshelf from my Book Depository win this spring, so I decided to give it a go.

A Tale For The Time Being
Image provided by Canongate¹
Summary quoted from Canongate¹:

‘Hi! My name is Nao, and I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you.’

Ruth discovers a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the shore of her beach home. Within it lies a diary that expresses the hopes and dreams of a young girl. She suspects it might have arrived on a drift of debris from the 2011 tsunami. With every turn of the page, she is sucked deeper into an enchanting mystery.

In a small cafe in Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao Yasutani is navigating the challenges thrown up by modern life. In the face of cyberbullying, the mysteries of a 104-year-old Buddhist nun and great-grandmother, and the joy and heartbreak of family, Nao is trying to find her own place – and voice – through a diary she hopes will find a reader and friend who finally understands her.

My Thoughts:

A Tale for the Time Being is mostly set in the 21st century in Japan and Canada. The dominance of the setting changes with the location. The island where Ruth lives felt very clear to me. However, this could be because I’ve already been to British Columbia and Vancouver Island and know what the landscape looks like. But also the temple in Japan and its surroundings were clear, in contrast to Tokyo, which seemed blurry to me. Ms. Ozeki also uses the weather to create and intensify mood especially in Ruth’s chapters. I really like this concept.

The two main characters are Nao and Ruth. Even though Nao is 16 years old, she often acts like she is 14 or younger but on the other hand, she does things that (in my opinion) don’t fit her childish behavior. Well, let’s say, Nao has problems, which is hardly surprising if you read her story. Nevertheless, Nao’s character wasn’t always very believable throughout the book. I preferred Ruth. Her character seems to lead a steady life, but if you take a closer look, it isn’t all roses. Ruth is fascinated by Nao’s diary and wants to know all about that girl from Japan. I was really able to connect with Ruth, at least until the last few pages. Two other characters that I think were great are Nao’s father Haruki and Nao’s great-grandmother Jiko.

Now on to the hardest part (at least for me). The story. For the first ~125 pages, I had massive problems getting into the book. I was thinking about giving up on reading, because I didn’t care what was going to happen to Nao or to anyone else in the book. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I hardly give up on a book. So I read on and it did get better. I finally wanted to know about Nao’s (and her father’s) fate. Sometimes, I even felt distracted by Ruth’s story between Nao’s passages. But there were still things that I didn’t like. There was too much talk of Zen Buddhism in the book and, unfortunately, the book started to get quite boring again towards the end (even though I like the main idea of the ending). Maybe A Tale for the Time Being just wasn’t meant for a time being like me.

bohnen3s

¹ http://www.canongate.tv/a-tale-for-the-time-being.html