Books

Review – Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hi,

Right after finishing Rivers of London, I had to continue with book number two in Ben Aaronovitch‘ Peter Grant series, Moon Over Soho. And here is what I think about it.

Moon Over Soho
Image provided by Orion Publishing Group¹
Synopsis quoted from Orion Publishing Group¹:

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

My Thoughts:

In Moon Over Soho, we’re back in present-day London and author Ben Aaronovitch still helps us to create vivid images of the book’s setting in our minds. However, the history and architecture that impressed me in Rivers of London now fade into the background.

My favorite character shares this fate. In Moon Over Soho, Inspector Nightingale is a secondary character like many others in the book. Most of the time, he stands on the sidelines and doesn’t even watch what’s going on around the main character Peter Grant, who slowly turns into a testosterone-driven guy, unable to think clearly.

The plot of Moon Over Soho is quite engaging with an unhurried pace. The book picks up right where Rivers of London left off and it doesn’t flood you with information that you already have if you’ve read Rivers. If you aren’t that big a fan of Inspector Nightingale and historical facts, I’m sure this book will please you. For me, these two are important elements that make the series worthwhile. Moon Over Soho is a solid read, but cannot live up to Rivers of London.

3beans

¹ https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9780575097629

Review – Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hello,

Last Saturday, I was finding myself in a post-exam void, so it was the perfect time for me to finally raid my dad’s bookshelf and grab his copy of Ben Aaronovitch‘s Rivers of London. And this is what happened:

I was instantly hooked. After years of reading gazillions of vampire series that had started mixing up in my mind, I had sworn myself not to start another series for at least another year. But then there was my dad reading Ben Aaronovitch, telling me that the Peter Grant series was fun and clever. After my exam I needed something light and so I couldn’t resist any longer.

Rivers of London
Image provided by Orion Publishing Group¹
Synopsis quoted from Orion Publishing Group¹:

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit – we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to – and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden . . . and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos – or die trying.

My Thoughts:

Rivers of London is mainly set in present day London but those of us who have a soft spot for dated architecture won’t be disappointed. There’s enough of it in this book to make your heart beat faster. Did I mention that Mr Aaronovitch even gives us a library? An old one. Actually there is more than one, but he describes one of them in enough detail for me to fall in love with it. (Okay I’m a bookaholic and a history student, I might not be a reliable source in those matters.)

Peter Grant, our main character, is an apprentice wizard and police constable. He is a very likable fellow and great to be around. You really want to be friends with him. There is, however, another character in Rivers of London that I felt more drawn to: Inspector Nightingale. Inspector Nightingale, who likes to dress in an old-fashioned way, is clever and mysterious which somehow seems to make him attractive.

Rivers of London takes you on a fast-paced hunt for a mysterious murderer. As a matter of fact, the novel’s pace sometimes gets so fast I had to reread certain passages to make sense of what was happening. Rivers of London combines a great sense of humor with loads of interesting facts about English history and architecture and this is what makes the novel special. If you are interested in history, but you’d like to try urban fantasy for a change, Rivers of London might just be the book for you.

4beans

¹ https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9780575097582

Review – The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hello,

Two weeks ago, I finally got to read Nathan Filer‘s The Shock of the Fall which won the Costa Book Award in 2013. Thank you Nina from Nothing But N9erz for this wonderful novel that has been on my wish list for months.

The Shock of the Fall
Image provided by The Borough Press¹
Synopsis quoted from The Borough Press¹:

‘I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’

There are books you can’t stop reading, which keep you up all night.
There are books which let us into the hidden parts of life and make them vividly real.
There are books which, because of the sheer skill with which every word is chosen, linger in your mind for days.
The Shock of the Fall is all of these books.
The Shock of the Fall is an extraordinary portrait of one man’s descent into mental illness. It is a brave and groundbreaking novel from one of the most exciting new voices in fiction.

My Thoughts:

Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall is set in contemporary England. The scenes that build the base for Matthew’s (the main character’s) mental illness have a very dark feel to them that makes you anxious to your bones. Most settings in the book make you uncomfortable either because of the people who interact within these settings, the settings’ construction, or because of the memories Matthew connects with these places. This is great, as the settings mirror how Matthew must feel.

Matthew, the novel’s main character, turns from a grieving boy into a young man who isn’t able to cope with his feelings on his own. Mr Filer manages to create a very believable character and in the end, he supports this believability by showing us one of the reasons for Matthew’s problems that most readers, just as Matthew’s parents, probably haven’t noticed all along. And while we’re talking about parents, Matthew’s mother is another character that holds a lot of potential. She lost one of her sons and now she has to protect the one that is left. But just as things start to get interesting, Mrs Homes disappears from the novel’s focus.

The Shock of the Fall gives us insight into the mind of a young man with mental illness who tells us his story. But Matthew doesn’t immediately give away what happened to his brother years ago in that rainy night. This way, Mr Filer is able to maintain a certain level of suspense, although I don’t think the story would have needed it. Matthew’s routines and his thoughts alone are worth the read. If you are interested in coming-of-age stories and books with protagonists that have mental illnesses, this poignant novel is for you.

4beans

¹ http://boroughpress.co.uk/titles/9780007491452/the-shock-of-the-fall

Review – Hector and the Search for Happines by Francois Lelord

~ Hanna ~ 3 Comments

Hello,

For a while now, I’ve wanted to read Francois Lelord’s famous bestseller Hector and the Search for Happiness. And as I found myself in need for some happiness recently, I gave it a shot.

Hector and the Search for Happiness
Image provided by Penguin USA¹:
Synopsis quoted from Penguin USA¹:

“Once upon a time there was a young psychiatrist called Hector who was not very satisfied with himself. . . . And so he decided to take a trip around the world, and everywhere he went he would try to understand what made people happy or unhappy.”

Hector travels from Paris to China to Africa to the United States, and along the way he keeps a list of observations about the people he meets. Combining the winsome appeal of The Little Prince with the inspiring philosophy of The Alchemist, Hector’s journey around the world and into the human soul is entertaining, empowering, and smile-inducing—as winning in its optimism as it is wise in its simplicity.

My Thoughts:

Hector and the Search for Happiness is a novel set in various countries around the world and at first, I found it interesting that Mr Lelord doesn’t call those countries by their names but rather prefers to describe what they are famous for. As I read on, I noticed that this was one of Lelord’s quirks that would become annoying the more I encountered them.

Hector, our main character, is a psychiatrist but I really didn’t buy that. Sure, sometimes he thinks and says very smart things, but most of the time he acts and thinks like a child or maybe a pubescent. Or is this what men are really like?

Plot-wise, Hector and the Search for Happiness is a bit repetitive. Hector visits various countries, but what he does there doesn’t differ much from what he did in the last country, with one tiny exception that helps to speed up the story. What I really can’t stand is the writing style. The novel is written like a children’s book. And maybe it is one. I don’t know. While this writing style was original at the beginning, it started to get so annoying I was considering quitting the book. Well, I sat through it ’til the end. If you think you can handle a novel targeted at adults with the writing style of a children’s book, buy it. I mean, it’s a bestseller after all. I don’t know why.

 1bean

* A quick note: I love children’s books, but this didn’t work for me.

¹ http://www.penguin.com/book/hector-and-the-search-for-happiness-by-francois-lelord/9780143118398

The Winners – World Book Day: Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (Bloggers Give Books)

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

To celebrate World Book Day and my First Blogoversary, I was doing a giveaway of the following three books: Life After Life by British author Kate Atkinson, the German edition of Y (“Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen”) by Canadian author Marjorie Celona and the German edition of The Art of Fielding (“Die Kunst des Feldspiels”) by US author Chad Harbach.

Just so you know, all your answers were correct! 🙂 Unfortunately, not all of you lovely entrants got to win something. The winners were chosen at random by Giveaway Tools. I’ve already contacted them, but to make things official, here they are. They’ve got 72 hours to reply to my e-mail.

Thank you for entering!

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude Banner

Also: A big “Thank You” goes out to Dumont Verlag and Insel Verlag for offering the two German-language books to give away to two lucky readers!

 Kate Atkinson Life After Life
Life After Life
Image provided by Transworld¹
Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life goes to: Melanie D.
You can also double-check in the Entry-Form
 Marjorie Celona “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“
Hier könnte Ich zur Welt kommen
Image provided by Insel Verlag²
Marjorie Celona’s “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen” goes to: Bettina
You can also double-check in the: Entry-Form
Chad Harbach “Die Kunst des Feldspiels”
Die Kunst des Feldspiels Cover
Image provided by Dumont Verlag³
Chad Harbach’s “Die Kunst des Feldspiels” goes to: WolfgangB
You can also double-check in the: Entry-Form
¹ http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/editions/life-after-life/9780552776639
² http://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/hier_koennte_ich_zur_welt_kommen-marjorie_celona_17562.html
³ http://www.dumont-buchverlag.de/buch/Chad_Harbach_Die_Kunst_des_Feldspiels/12836

Review – The Quick by Lauren Owen

~ Hanna ~ 8 Comments

Hello,

I’ve been very excited for Lauren Owen’s The Quick to be out since I’ve first heard about it. Naturally, I had to get it as soon as it hit the stores. You probably heard that the novel holds a plot twist that should remain secret under all circumstances. For me, this plot twist was spoiled by comparisons of The Quick to other novels. If something similar happened (or happens) to you, I can still recommend reading this novel, as the plot twist isn’t what should make you read it in the first place. 😉

The Quick
Image provided by Random House UK¹
Synopsis quoted from Random House UK¹:

You are about to discover the secrets of The Quick

But first you must travel to Victorian Yorkshire, and there, on a remote country estate, meet a brother and sister alone in the world and bound by tragedy. In time, you will enter the rooms of London’s mysterious Aegolius Club – a society of some of the richest, most powerful men in fin-de-siecle England. And at some point – we cannot say when – these worlds will collide.

It is then, and only then, that a new world emerges, one of romance, adventure and the most delicious of horrors – and the secrets of The Quick are revealed.

My Thoughts:

In The Quick, Lauren Owen takes us to 19th century England. I particularly like the different moods she creates. The Norburys’ childhood home in Yorkshire has a fairytale-esque touch to it. It’s like seen through a crystal globe. London on the other hand, has its bright and glamorous and its dark, mysterious sides that will become very clear to you.

James and Charlotte Norbury are the main characters of this Gothic novel. James is a well-read young man, but I find Charlotte more interesting than him. Her sweet and caring character develops into a strong-minded and brave woman without losing her original traits.

The Quick is divided in five parts. Each part has its strengths and weaknesses. My favorite part is “Part One”. Something is revealed in this part and could be rather shocking for some of you. What Ms Owen does here is genius. (This isn’t the plot twist I was talking about above). The novel slows down in “Part Two” and only starts to pick up speed during “Part Three” again. Fortunately, the last two parts make up for the dragging middle of the novel. The Quick finishes with an exciting, emotional and fast-paced story. But still, Ms Owen leaves us with some loose ends. One of them is very obvious and I don’t mind it at all, because it’s a good stylistic device. But there is another one concerning a secondary character who did something and whose fate is left unmentioned. It seems like he was forgotten about.

I recommend The Quick to fans of beeep who like to read beeep. Well this doesn’t work. You shouldn’t be thin-skinned for this novel, but don’t be afraid, even someone as easily scared as I am was able to read it. The Quick isn’t a thriller, it isn’t romance either. The Quick is a good novel.

4beans

¹ http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-quick/9780224096386

Review – Humans: An A-Z by Professor Andrew Martin edited by Matt Haig

~ Hanna ~ 2 Comments

Hi,

It’s been almost a year since I’ve been thoroughly entertained by Matt Haig‘s The Humans. Now, his main character Professor Andrew Martin takes the stage and presents us with a dictionary that also acts as a survival guide: Humans: An A-Z

Humans: An A-Z
Image provided by Canongate¹
Synopsis provided by Canongate¹:

DO YOU
A) Know a human?
B) Love a human?
C) Have trouble dealing with humans?
IF YOU’VE ANSWERED YES TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU

Whether you are planning a high level of human interaction or just a casual visit to the planet, this user-guide to the human race will help you translate their sayings, understand exotic concepts such as ‘democracy’ and ‘sofas’, and make sense of their habits and bizarre customs.

A phrase book, a dictionary and a survival guide, this book unravels all the oddness, idiosyncrasies and wonder of the species, allowing everyone to make the most of their time on Earth.

My Thoughts:

It is great to finally have someone explain humans to us and it is much better if this someone is Professor Andrew Martin. Only he, not being a human himself, can give us quasi-objective descriptions of certain characteristics unique to this species.

Don’t be afraid, this book isn’t your usual dry, scientific text-book. You will hop from term to term and you probably won’t get enough. Professor Andrew Martin has lived with humans long enough to know what they are like. More than once, you will be nodding in agreement. Sometimes, you will have to laugh out loud. Once in a while, you will ask yourself if this alien has found a way to look inside the human soul.

No matter if you are human or alien, Humans: An A-Z is a must-have companion. After reading, you will know much more about humans than you knew before and it will give you comfort in times of distress.

5beans

¹http://www.canongate.tv/an-a-z-of-the-human-race-ebook.html

Win Books – World Book Day: Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (Bloggers Give Books)

~ Hanna ~ 7 Comments
Happy World Book Day Book Lovers!

To celebrate World Book Day and my First Blogoversary, I’m giving away books to three lucky people. Life After Life by British author Kate Atkinson, the German edition of Y (“Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen”) by Canadian author Marjorie Celona and the German edition of The Art of Fielding (“Die Kunst des Feldspiels”) by US author Chad Harbach. Please be aware of the terms & conditions of each giveaway. While the Life After Life giveaway is open internationally (some restrictions do apply), the “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen” giveaway and the “Die Kunst des Feldspiels” giveaway are only open to participants with an Austrian mail address*. You have time to enter from today until April 30, 2014. Good luck!

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude Banner

A big “Thank You” goes out to Dumont Verlag and Insel Verlag for offering the two German-language books to give away to two lucky readers!

*I would have loved to open these giveaways for EU participants, but the Austrian Post is ridiculously expensive. Mailing a book within Austria costs more than Germans pay at German Post to mail a book within the EU. The Austrian Post charges almost 10 € to mail a book from Austria to a EU country. 😦 I hope you understand. You can still enter the Life After Life giveaway if The Book Depository ships to your country for free.

 Kate Atkinson Life After Life
Life After Life
Image provided by Transworld¹
  • You can participate as long as The Book Depository ships to your country for free.
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2014 until April 30, 2014.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. There will be one winner who will receive one English language paperback copy of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, sponsored by All That Magic.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to enter the Life After Life giveaway, click this link: Entry-Form
 Marjorie Celona “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“
Hier könnte Ich zur Welt kommen
Image provided by Insel Verlag²
  • You have to have an Austrian shipping address!
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2014 until April 30, 2014.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. There will be one winner who will receive one German language hardcover copy of Marjorie Celona’s “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen”, sponsored by Insel Verlag.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to enter the “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen” giveaway, click this link: Entry-Form
Die Frage ist auf Englisch. Die Antwort ist aber in beiden Sprachen fast gleich. Solltest du Probleme haben etwas zu verstehen, kannst du mich gerne fragen.
Chad Harbach “Die Kunst des Feldspiels”
Die Kunst des Feldspiels Cover
Image provided by Dumont Verlag³
  • You have to have an Austrian shipping address!
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2014 until April 30, 2014.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. There will be one winner who will receive one German language paperback copy of Chad Harbach’s “Die Kunst des Feldspiels”, sponsored by Dumont Verlag.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to enter the “Die Kunst des Feldspiels” giveaway, click this link: Entry-Form
Die Frage ist auf Englisch. Die Antwort ist aber in beiden Sprachen gleich. Solltest du Probleme haben etwas zu verstehen, kannst du mich gerne fragen.
¹ http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/editions/life-after-life/9780552776639
² http://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/hier_koennte_ich_zur_welt_kommen-marjorie_celona_17562.html
³ http://www.dumont-buchverlag.de/buch/Chad_Harbach_Die_Kunst_des_Feldspiels/12836

Review – Die Seltsamen / The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Hi,

About two weeks ago, I got to read the German edition of Stefan Bachmann‘s The Peculiar which was originally published by Harper Collins in 2012. It’s called Die Seltsamen and Diogenes publishers provided me with a review copy. Thank you.

What’s worth mentioning, is the effort Diogenes made to promote the upcoming release of the book. Weeks before the release, bloggers all over Germany were sent black feathers and got the message that Bath had vanished. They were encouraged to find out what had happened and were fed more clues at the Magisches Labor (translates to Magical Laboratory) where they were also able to speculate and communicate with each other.

Die Seltsamen Cover
German book cover provided by Diogenes¹
The Peculiar Cover
English book cover provided by Harper Collins²
Synopsis quoted from HarperCollins²:

Don’t get yourself noticed and you won’t get yourself hanged.

In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings—Peculiars—and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them.

One day a mysterious lady in a plum-colored dress comes gliding down Old Crow Alley. Bartholomew watches her through his window. Who is she? What does she want? And when Bartholomew witnesses the lady whisking away, in a whirling ring of feathers, the boy who lives across the alley—Bartholomew forgets the rules and gets himself noticed.

First he’s noticed by the lady in plum herself, then by something darkly magical and mysterious, by Jack Box and the Raggedy Man, by the powerful Mr. Lickerish . . . and by Arthur Jelliby, a young man trying to slip through the world unnoticed, too, and who, against all odds, offers Bartholomew friendship and a way to belong.

My Thoughts:

For The Peculiar, Stefan Bachmann uses a 19th century England backdrop to create an alternate steampunk world. Bachmann’s love for detail is apparent and it is his great talent. I particularly liked how he described the clockwork birds that play an important role in the novel.

Bartholomew Kettle and Arthur Jelliby are the main characters in The Peculiar. This way, Bachmann manages to capture both adult and young adult readers – at least theoretically. Unfortunately, I couldn’t empathize with neither of them. Bartholomew is just a little boy who wants to live a normal life and Arthur Jelliby seems actually quite insecure (sometimes even heartless), no matter his actions. I also always imagined the latter to be a middle-aged man rather than the young man he is said to be.

Most of the time, The Peculiar is a slow-paced book, even though the plot would require the considerably faster pace that it picks up near the end. As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t able to empathize with the main characters. This is why, at some point, I stopped caring about the future of Bartholomew, Hettie and Mr Jelliby. I really enjoyed the world Bachmann created, but he just couldn’t hook me with his story that ends with a huge cliffhanger and left me indifferent.

One more thing though: Stefan Bachmann wrote The Peculiar when he was 16 years old! I think he did great for that age. Not many can write a book at 16. Still, my review was not written with his age in mind. It should simply show you what it was like for me to read his novel.

2beans(actually 2.5 magic beans)

¹ http://www.diogenes.ch/leser/katalog/nach_autoren/a-z/b/9783257068887/buch

² http://harpercollins.com/books/The-Peculiar-Stefan-Bachmann/?isbn=9780062195180

Blog Birthday – One Year Of All That Magic

~ Hanna ~ 5 Comments

Hello there,

It’s our birthday today!

A year ago I started this little blog and I had no idea what it would turn out to be. And here it is, ready for toddler’s group 😀

I’m reading a lot more than I used to read which is time well spent I think. I’m also spending way too much time reading tweets. Something I didn’t do before I started blogging. So this is something that I probably shouldn’t do. I’m still not writing as many culinary blog posts as I want to, simply because they are very time-consuming, just like university is right now. (kudos to all those food bloggers out there) So I try to combine things that easily match: Reading and writing for pleasure and reading and writing for university. 😉

birthday balloons

I have two birthday presents for you, my loyal readers!

The first one is the book-related questionnaire down below. (I got tagged by Sandra a couple of weeks ago).

The second present is actually more than one. On World Book Day (April 23), you’ll get the chance to win one of three books. This is part of a huge blogger giveaway called Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (unofficial translation: Bloggers Give Books) and is organized by Christina and Dagmar. But more about that at a later date.

And now, let’s be merry 😀 I hope you enjoy this little tag. I won’t tag anyone. If you, however, insist to be tagged, I can do that. Just drop me a line.

Either – Or
Slim book or weighty tome?

I love books with lots of pages to get lost in. 🙂

Second-hand or new?

That depends. Of course, who doesn’t love a new book, fresh out of the press? I do! But I don’t mind a clean second-hand copy if I know I’ll just read it once and bring it back to the open book exchange.

Historical fiction or fantasy?

Can I please have a mix of both genres?

Hardback or paperback?

Paperbacks are so convenient if you have a low-budget (like I do) and if you want to take them with you everywhere you go! I love them. But I also don’t say no to beautiful and special hardcover editions of great books I’ve read.

Funny or sad?

I love drama. I love to read books that hurt. So if I have to choose, I’ll choose sad. Nevertheless, books with the right amount of humor are great!

Summer or winter reader?

I think I read as much in winter as I read in summer. I don’t have any preferences concerning the right reading temperature or weather. Imagine that: “Oh it’s way too hot outside. I don’t read when it’s hot,” or “Did you hear the news? They issued a storm warning. You can’t read during a storm!”

Classics or contemporary fiction?

It all depends on how you define classics…

Self-help books or novels?

If I’m in a situation that requires a self-help book, I’ll go for that. They can come in very handy sometimes! Other than that, I prefer novels.

Crime fiction or thrillers?

Neither! I’m easily scared.

Ebook or print book?

Same answer as for paperbacks vs hardbacks.

Hoarding or throwing out?

Hoarding. I admit it. I’m a book hoarder. And so is my dad. There is no denying who I got that from. Although he started putting some of his read books into the open book exchange.

Online bookshops or traditional bookstores?

I love to browse traditional bookstores. Unfortunately, over here many of them have hardly any English books for sale. Forget browsing. And the few books they have are irrationally expensive. This is why I have to buy most of the books I read from online stores.

Bestseller or shelf warmer?

I read what I like. No matter if it’s a bestseller or not.

Cook book or baking book?

As many cook books include baking recipes, I’ll choose the cook book. Clever, eh?

 
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