Paul S' attempt to read at least 75 books and acquire less books in 2016 ; part 3

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Paul S' attempt to read at least 75 books and acquire less books in 2016 ; part 3

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1paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 8:43 am



a helicopter from the Swiss Rescue mission (REGA) tries to reach the Chäserrugg on 10th July 2016
(below the Walensee)

2paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 8:18 am

--

Suki on the Chäserrugg with the new wooden restaurant on top (2268 m) -- we had 27° C below, up here the fog came in and it became pretty cold (11° C)

3paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 8:43 am

books read in 2016
1) Lord Peters schwerster Fall : Roman by Dorothy L. Sayers
2) "Einsamkeit 19" : Erzählung by Fr. Lehne
3) Bahnwärter Thiel : novellistische Studie by Gerhart Hauptmann
4) Das Muschelessen : Erzählung by Birgit Vanderbeke
5) Die Taube by Patrick Süskind
6) Tag für Tag in Christus : Andachten fürs ganze Jahr by Neil T. Anderson
7) Die Jagd nach dem gelben Krokodil by Wolfgang Ecke
8) Kaffeepause für die Seele : was Sie aufmuntert und entspannt by Dorothee Dziewas
9) Eifel-Gold : Kriminalroman by Jacques Berndorf
10) Das Geheimnis der Dinosaurier by David Unfred
11) Perry Clifton oder Der Herr in den grauen Beinkleidern by Wolfgang Ecke
12) S Chamäleon Sowieso und anderi Tiergschichte by Elisabeth Heck
13) Fäbu, Regi & Thundi auf der Suche nach dem Schatz vom Thunersee by Eveline Brand
14) Ds Lukas-Evangelium bärndütsch translated by Hans Bietenhard
15) Das Kind von Noah : Erzählung by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
16) Pater Brown und der Hammer Gottes by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
17) Das Spiel des Engels : Roman by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
18) Die Todgeweihte : Basileia und die letzten Tage des Mittelalters by Titus Müller
19) Maigret und die junge Tote : Roman by Georges Simenon
20) Die Hetzjagd : Roman by Alejo Carpentier
21) Playgrounds 1972 - A plea for Utopia or the re-cycled empty lot by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
22) Ich warte auf dich : Gespräche zwischen Gott und Mann by Heinrich Christian Rust
23) Paul und Virginie : nach Bernardin de Saint-Pierre by Emil Ernst Ronner
24) Gut gebrüllt, Löwe by Max Kruse
25) Noah's compass by Anne Tyler
26) Der Löwe ist los by Max Kruse
27) 4 ½ Freunde und die Spur der stinkenden Socke by Joachim Friedrich
28) Jan, wir kommen! : eine Detektivgeschichte für Buben und Mädchen by Knud Meister
29) Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer by Michael Ende
30) 'G' is for gumshoe by Sue Grafton
31) Geheime Botschaften für Tanja by Sophie Rosenberg
32) Wein aus Graubünden : eine Kulturgeschichte by Heribert Küng
33) Unheimliche Ferien für Tanja by Sophie Rosenberg
34) Der rote Kimono : Kriminalroman by Agatha Christie
35) Geschichte der Stadt Basel : dritter Band by Rudolf Wackernagel
36) Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 by Michael Ende
37) Sturm by Miguel Angel Asturias
38) Der Banküberfall by Damaris Kofmehl
39) Emily und Cambridge : Roman by Caryl Phillips
40) Mord auf Alemannisch : der badische Krimi by Ralf H. Dorweiler
41) Bilderräuber : die grössten Kunstdiebstähle by Mario Giordano
42) Schalkhafte Geschichten by Felix Moeschlin
43) Der Seemann, der die See verriet : Roman by Yukio Mishima
44) Der Schatz auf der Insel by Damaris Kofmehl
45) An account of the Grisons or, a description of the free and independent common-wealth of the Three Rhætish Leagues by John Leonhardi
46) Muttertag : Kriminalroman by Alexander Heimann
47) Sutters Gold : die Lebensgeschichte von General Johann August Sutter by Werner Lüthi
48) Frau Regel Amrain und ihr Jüngster by Gottfried Keller
49) Mord in Monticello : ein Fall für Mrs. Murphy ; Roman by Rita Mae Brown
50) Der Besuch : die Geschichte einer unverhofften Wiederkehr by Adrian Plass
51) Psychopolis : Abschied aus L. A. by Ian McEwan
52) Die Physiker : eine Komödie in zwei Akten ; Neufassung 1980 by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
53) Korea 1945-1960
54) Blumhardts Kampf by Johann Christoph Blumhardt
55) The house at Pooh Corner : the color edition by A. A. Milne
56) Zeit wie Wasser : Roman by Christiane Höhmann
57) Maigret hat Angst : Kriminalroman by Georges Simenon
58) Otto Stockmayer : Lebenserinnerungen by Jakob Vetter
59) Wiedersehen mit Mrs. Oliver : ein Hercule-Poirot-Krimi by Agatha Christie
60) Gefahr im Zeltlager by Damaris Kofmehl
61) Meeting God in quiet places : the Cotswold parables by F. LaGard Smith
62) Die rote Katze : aus dem Tagebuch des Kriminalkommissars Allan Wilton by Jules Charpentier
63) Die Fülle in Jesus Christus by Eduard Thurneysen
64) The day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
65) Tod auf Schloss Bremont : ein Provence-Krimi by Mary L. Longworth
66) Der fünfte Zeuge : Roman by Stefan Albert
67) Bärndütsch : vier Schweizer Radio-Vorträge in Mundart von Werner Zimmermann
68) Schiffsmeldungen : Roman by E. Annie Proulx
69) Jesus, unser Friede by Wilhelm Busch
70) Polterabend : Kriminalroman by Alfred Komarek
71) Der Barometermacher auf der Zauberinsel by Ferdinand Raimund
72) Flucht in die Wüste by Marie Luise Röschli
73) Salon Moderne by Fabienne Eggelhöfer
74) Berechtigung und Aufgabe der Predigt by Franz Eugen Schlachter
75) Das Brandopfer : eine Erzählung by Albrecht Goes
76) Kekkaishi 1 by Yellow Tanabe
77) Weisse Apokalypse : Kriminalroman by Jean-Baptiste Baronian
78) Vom Schaf zum fertigen Wollstoff ed. by the International Wool Secretariat
79) Kekkaishi 2 by Yellow Tanabe
80) Polt muss weinen : Kriminalroman by Alfred Komarek
81) Wir haben gewusst, dass du früher gehen würdest : drei Jahre Zeit zum Sterben und Leben by Walter Weyrich
82) Kekkaishi 3 by Yellow Tanabe
83) Kekkaishi 4 by Yellow Tanabe
84) Die Chronik des Zeichners : Graphic Novel by Hannes Binder
85) Müsli für den Mörder : ein Goldy-Bear-Krimi by Diane Mott Davidson
86) Der Salamander : ein Tanner-Kriminalroman by Urs Schaub
87) Olaf, der Elch : eine Weihnachtsgeschichte by Volker Kriegel
88) Fruits basket 1 by Natsuki Takaya
89) Fruits basket 2 by Natsuki Takaya
90) Älplerchilbi : Volksstück in 4 Akten by Andreas Zimmermann
91) Die fromme Helene by Wilhelm Busch
92) Fruits basket 3 by Natsuki Takaya
93) Haralds Brautfahrt by Heinrich Hofmann
94) Als Robin nicht mehr singen wollte by Anne Velghe
95) Wien : Stadtführer für Kinder by Brigitta Höpler
96) Fruits basket 4 by Natsuki Takaya
97) Die schönsten Sagen aus Niederösterreich by Wolfgang Morscher
98) Young bride's story 1 by Kaoru Mori
99) Ikkyu 1 by Hisashi Sakaguchi
100) Herz aus Eisen : der erste Fall der Marie Machiavelli by Anne Cuneo
101) Vom Oel zur Seife
102) Der Seelenbräu : Erzählung by Carl Zuckmayer
103) Globi's Weltreise by Robert Lips
104) Der grosse Schnee by Alois Carigiet
105) Licht in der Finsternis by Frank E. Peretti
106) Lotterie des Todes : Kriminalroman by Edgar Wallace
107) Das Geheimnis eines siegreichen Lebens by Georg Steinberger
108) Young bride's story 2 by Kaoru Mori
109) Wein & Tod : ein Mira-Valensky-Krimi by Eva Rossmann
110) Fruits basket 5 by Natsuki Takaya
111) Fruits basket 6 by Natsuki Takaya
112) The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins
113) A daughter of the Narikin by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto
114) Geschichte der Stadt Basel : erster Band by Rudolf Wackernagel
115) Polt : Kriminalroman by Alfred Komarek
116) Ich bin gewiss : Ratschläge an Timotheus by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
117) Personalien und Leichenrede gehalten bei der Begräbnisfeier der Frau Ingenieur Anna Gelpke geb. Carmesin den 26. Mai 1902 by Martin Locher
118) Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
119) Der vierte Kranz : Thriller by Claude Cueni
120) Jan siegt zweimal : eine Detektivgeschichte für Buben und Mädchen by Knud Meister
121) Olga Frohgemuth : Erzählung by Felix Salten
122) Auf Umwegen by Andrew Smith
123) Young bride's story 3 by Kaoru Mori
124) Chopsticks : a cultural and culinary history by Q. Edward Wang

4paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 9:15 am

books read by authors coming from:
A 7
AUS 1
B 4
CDN 3
CHN 1
CH 30
D 24
DK 1
E 1
F
GB 9
Guatemala 1
J 6
Korea North 1
Kuba 1
NL
NZ
S
SF
St. Kitts 1
SU
USA 10

read in
English 12
Swiss German 4
German 108

- translated from:
- French 5
- English 19
- Greek 1
- Spanish 3
- Danish 2
- Dutch
- Korean 1
- Japanese 15
- Finnish
- Icelandic

add-ons listed: 150

5paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 9:49 am

-- -- -- --

some flowers we have seen on the Chäserrugg ('the Back of a Cheese Maker')

6paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 10:12 am

I went to the MPS (Middle Ages - Fantasy - Spectacle) in Weil 2016

-- -- --
pirates and Scots playing music

-- --
drinking met (Honey wine) and whiskey

7paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 10:16 am

-- -- --

help me, I need untying -- on stilts -- elves ears (I asked if I could take a picture of her silicon ears)

8paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 10:21 am

-- -- --

dangerous people

9paulstalder
Edited: Jul 12, 2016, 10:28 am

-- -- --

nice --- very nice --- okay, poor --- well, I better go now

10paulstalder
Jul 12, 2016, 10:34 am

Why do we have shins? They help us to find the furniture in the dark.

11thornton37814
Jul 12, 2016, 6:26 pm

12paulstalder
Jul 13, 2016, 6:42 am

>11 thornton37814: that's what shins are for. Imagine you have to search with your head? more ouch!

13paulstalder
Jul 13, 2016, 6:49 am

125) Liebe mit drei Sternen : Roman by Kajsa Ingemarsson. Agnes is molested by her boss in the restaurant she works and fights back in grabbing a bottle of wine - a Château Pétrus 1890. Well, she loses that job and gets a phonecall from her lover the same night telling her that he is leaving her for another girl. Now what? No job, no lover. But then she meets Kalle who wants to open a new restaurant and who asks her to work for him... A Swedish chick lit romance with some insights about growing up, independence, and friendship.

14paulstalder
Jul 14, 2016, 2:55 am

126) Die Farbe des Windes 1 by Jae Ah. Jun-Seok is a Korean living in Tokio. He finds a nice, but shy and sad girl friend. She tells him of doppelganger of hers living in Hokkaido. Then when he proposes to marry her, she commits suicide a day later. He later wants to be sent to Hokkaido by his company and has this longing for Yuri or her doppelganger ... a sad story with beautiful drawings. (Korean stories are often sad.)

15paulstalder
Edited: Jul 14, 2016, 5:29 am

--

taken from Die Farbe des Windes 1 by Jae Ah

16charl08
Jul 14, 2016, 8:09 am

>14 paulstalder: Gosh that does sound bleak.

I'm hoping to pick up a copy of Pachinko about a Korean family in Japan. Hopefully not so bleak.

Happy new thread. Love the flowers - and those bagpipes in >6 paulstalder: are new to me! (I used to walk past a bagpipe shop everyday on my way to work. I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore).

17harrygbutler
Jul 14, 2016, 10:14 am

Happy new thread, Paul. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

18paulstalder
Jul 14, 2016, 10:47 am

>16 charl08: The beginning is pretty bleak: It starts with the news of Yuri's suicide but then there is some glimpse of hope: Yuri told Jun-Seok that there lives a girl on Hokkaido who looks alike her ...
I used to walk past a bagpipe shop everyday on my way to work. I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore were they playing so badly?
I learned that these bagpipes were made according to old descriptions...

>17 harrygbutler: you're welcome, Harry :)

19paulstalder
Edited: Jul 14, 2016, 11:12 am

127) Die Farbe des Windes 2 by Jae Ah. Also Jun-Seok has a doppelganger in Hokkaido, a magician. After several strange twists of the story they meet .... Interesting solution



not so bleak anymore :)

20Ameise1
Jul 16, 2016, 12:30 pm

Great photos! Thanks for sharing them, Paul. Happy weekend.

21SqueakyChu
Edited: Jul 16, 2016, 11:50 pm

>14 paulstalder: >15 paulstalder: Wow! Interesting story! Beautiful pictures!!

22PaulCranswick
Jul 17, 2016, 12:21 am

Have a great weekend, Paul and be careful of those shins in the dark.

23Whisper1
Jul 17, 2016, 1:47 am

As always, I enjoy your photos! Thanks for posting them.

I hope your weekend is a good one, filled with wonderful books.

24paulstalder
Jul 21, 2016, 5:04 am

>20 Ameise1: Hej Barbara, welcome. The MPS has some very interesting 'sujets'.

>21 SqueakyChu: Yeah, it was a fascinating story, with a lot of suspense in the beginning.

>22 PaulCranswick: Hej Paul, last night it was full moon, so I had no shin problems :)

>23 Whisper1: Thanks for coming by, Linda

25paulstalder
Edited: Jul 21, 2016, 5:13 am

I drove Suki and a friend of hers to the Lake of Walen. There is a car-free village, you can reach it only by foot or by boat. From there they hiked to some waterfalls (which look more impressive up close).

--

the Walensee -- the ferry -- the Seerenbach Falls

26paulstalder
Edited: Jul 21, 2016, 5:15 am

We also found this very friendly, welcoming letter box



As a mail man I'd probably take the mail back to the office and not fill this ... hole

27charl08
Jul 21, 2016, 5:15 am

Beautiful pictures Paul. Looks like a great place for a visit.

28paulstalder
Edited: Jul 21, 2016, 5:20 am

>27 charl08: It is really worthwhile. The path from Quinten to Weesen is pretty steep and stony, so one needs good shoes



always a nice view over the lake

29paulstalder
Jul 21, 2016, 9:58 am

128) Die Monogramm-Morde : ein neuer Fall für Hercule Poirot by Sophie Hannah. Hercule Poirot is taking a break in a London hotel and sometimes meets a friend from Scotland Yard. When having a quick encounter with a frightened woman his curiosity and anxiety for the life of this woman moves him to solve that mystery together with his friend from the Yard.
Some good insights into Poirot's character, some good other characters, but the story is so twisting and bending that I lost the interest in guessing the murder and just read on. It's not an atmospheric book and has its lengths. But nice to meet Poirot again.


30PaulCranswick
Jul 23, 2016, 7:19 am

>29 paulstalder: Not sure about modern takes on old familiars, Paul. There have been a large number of Bond books after Fleming but not many will be remembered for long unless the title was part of the film franchise. Poirot should probably have retired with Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes should no longer venture abroad on Baker Street.

Have a great weekend.

31paulstalder
Jul 29, 2016, 3:05 pm

>30 PaulCranswick: you're right being skeptic about resurrected/regurgitated mystery heroes. I didn't like the Bond nor the Sherlock successors. A good friend talked me into accepting Hannah as a gift and finally reading it. Hannah has captured some traits of Poirot, others she exaggerated too much. It's a book for long train rides through a sleepless night :)

32paulstalder
Jul 29, 2016, 3:11 pm

Suki has flown to Korea to visit her relatives for the next seven weeks. Our daughter accompanied her and is doing a Korean language course at a university in Seoul.

Suki decided to stop all chemotherapy. The adverse reactions to the medication were getting worse and the quality of life was too low. She is getting tired pretty fast but going 'home' (to the family) is a bigger help than any chemical poison could give. She is fighting cancer with a healthy nutrition and a healthy trust in God.

33paulstalder
Edited: Jul 31, 2016, 10:57 am

In order to prepare myself for my visit to Lower Asutria, I read not only mysteries by Alfred Komarek and Eva Rossmann, but also a bit of Jewish history. Since one place we were going to visit was Holabrunn, I found this book:

129 "Ihr müsst hier weg" : die jüdische Gemeinde Hollabrunn von 1850 bis 1938 by Alfred Fehringer. There was a well assimilated Jewish community in this Austrian city since the 1850s. They had a synagogue (tempel), a prayer house, and a cemetery. In the 1930s there were around 12'000 inhabitants in Hollabrunn, around 300 with Jewish background. When the voting for the 'Anschluss' of Austria to Nazigermany came, they voted 100% for Germany (3869 voters, 3864 voted and 3864 voted 'yes'). Then they started chasing the Jews out of 'their' city: within half a year Hollabrunn was 'judenfrei' (free of Jews). All the properties were forcibly sold and far below worth, mainly to the City of Hollabrunn. Most Jews were killed in concentration camps and other such places outside Austria. Only a handful survived and very few came back to Hollabrunn - the city was very reluctant to give back all the stolen property and never made any gesture of admission of guilt or reconciliation. The synagogue was destroyed, the cemetery devastated. The cemetery was partially restored in the 1970s. Only after the publication of this book (2008) and others started a slight change of thinking. Not until 2012 the City donated a commemorative plaque at the place where the synagogue was.
A tragic story of the wiping out a whole community by the majority. The books documents the story of the Jewish community and 33 families/households of Hollabrunn. A book against forgetting

34paulstalder
Edited: Jul 29, 2016, 4:06 pm



the commemorative plaque about the Jewish temple in Hollabrunn, Lower Austria. 2012 !!!

'In diesem Haus befand sich seit dem Jahre 1899 die Synagoge der Hollabrunner Mitbürger mosaischen Glaubensbekenntnisses. Die Glaubensgemeinschaft bestand hier seit 1880 und umfasste rund 300 Mitglieder, davon 80 Personen in 25 Familien in der Stadt Hollabrunn.
Die Israelitische Kultusgemeinde wurde im September 1938 durch ein menschenverachtendes politisches System brutal ausgelöscht.
Die ihr Andenken ehrende Stadtgemeinde Hollabrunn 2012'
('In this house was located the in 1899 founded synagogue of the Hollabrunner citizens of Mosaic creed. The religious community was here since 1880 and had some 300 members, including 80 people in 25 families in the city of Hollabrunn.
The Jewish community was brutally extinguished by a cynical political system in September 1938.
Honouring the memory of these people, the city borough of Hollabrunn 2012 ')

35paulstalder
Jul 29, 2016, 4:28 pm

--

The old department store of Emil and Oskar Skutetzky --- The buildings 2016

worth of Emil's property: 65'666 Reichsmark (RM), the city of Hollabrunn paid 16'480 RM into a blocked account, they were able to escape to Bolivia, in 1947 they returned and got back the property

worth of Oskar's property: 92'095 RM, the city of Hollabrunn paid only the mortgages of 78'762 RM to the banks, Oskar and his wife were forced to move to Vienna and had to struggle until the government gave them a monthly pay of RM 300 (for 5 people). They were murdered October 19th, 1941 in Treblinka.

36Ameise1
Jul 30, 2016, 6:43 pm

Thanks for sharing all these photos. >35 paulstalder: wonderful comparison. I hope Suki has a wonderful time in Korea. Thinking of her and sending lots of good vibes.
Happy Sunday, Paul. Will you go to Korea, too.

37SqueakyChu
Edited: Jul 30, 2016, 7:32 pm

Wishing Suki and your daughter a comforting visit to Korea. I think it would be fun to learn Korean!

So sad about Ihr müsst hier weg. I only read these books at intervals because they are so upsetting to me. During WWII my dad was a refugee from Germany and my mom from Yugoslavia, both to the United States. Sadly my mother's parents died in Auschwitz. I'm now reading the first memoir of Elie Wiesel because I am so sad he is no longer alive. He was the voice of all those who suffered in the concentration camps.

38PaulCranswick
Jul 31, 2016, 1:39 am

>32 paulstalder: I hope Suki and your daughter have a great time in Seoul. Seven weeks will allow you to smuggle all manner of books into the family home. Have a good weekend, Paul.

39paulstalder
Jul 31, 2016, 11:21 am

>36 Ameise1: You're welcome, Barbara. It was an interesting trip to Lower Austria. To compare the different fates of the Hollabrunner Jews is sad, disturbing and amazing.
I will not go to Korea this year. I think if would have joined Suki now her siblings would not be too happy - not because of me but because they would feel obliged to entertain me and would not be able to mourn together with Suki about their mother's death. I don't know enough Korean for such occasions.

>37 SqueakyChu: I think it would be fun to learn Korean! Go ahead, Madeline :) I had the same idea when I saw a book at the Wycliffe Bible Translators and took it home and started learning Korean - before I met Suki. The Hangul alphabet is pretty easy, but then it gets complicated
I am sorry to hear about the sad memories about your family. I feel the same about reading such books: one at a time is good enough, they are unsettling. But a necessary read for understanding our world. I wasn't aware of the dark brown past of Lower Austria before reading that book.

>38 PaulCranswick: Hej Paul, Suki and Naomi do have a good time in Seoul. They sent us pictures of the good Korean food they are having there, making me salivating *sigh*
I went to the hairdresser yesterday but they rescheduled me so I had to go for a walk and sure enough, I found another free book place I didn't know yet. I found Paulo Coelho, Harry Kemelman, Margaret Millar and a few others *sigh* difficult to let them there

40paulstalder
Aug 1, 2016, 2:54 am

130) Dirndl Porno : erotischer Heimatkrimi by Andreas Karosser. A young student is found dead on the alp, wearing a dirndl. Inspector Hölzl and his colleague solve the mystery around that student who is earning her money with nude pictures...
I just read it for Madeline's challenge to read a book with some clothing in the title. I saw 'Dirndl' and took it along from the library. Waste of time. The best is the way the story is told: He starts with some hours after discovering the corpse, then in the next chapter he tells things which happened some days ago, then switches back to a few hours later and back to a few days before the event and so on. That structure is good but the content is bad. The characters are not alive, the end does not fit the suspense which is partially built up.

41paulstalder
Aug 1, 2016, 3:34 am

statistics for July

1938 pages, 8 books

7 books were written in German, 1 in English, and 0 in Swiss German

nationalities: CH 0, J 1, A 1, GB 1, ROK 1 , S 1, CHN 1, D 1
dead 0, alive 7
male 3, female 4
collective

2x Jae Ah

oldest 2008, newest 2015 (all these are first-edition-copies)

42paulstalder
Aug 1, 2016, 7:33 am

131) Psychic Detective Yakumo 1 Manabu Kaminaga, Haruka's friend fell into a coma after having been into a hunted house. She now goes to ask Yakumo for help, for he can see the dead. A detective story wherein Yakumo gets messages from the spirits of some dead and so can solve the problems.

43charl08
Aug 1, 2016, 8:39 am

Sending best wishes for your wife's health and that she has a relaxing and restorative time in Korea.

Your pictures of the buildings looking so beautiful with their dark history linked to the Holocaust are very moving to me. I feel so sad we seem to have forgotten (my country) that we could have taken more people in WW2 and saved lives: and that we have a similar situation now and have focused on protecting ourselves (from what, I am not sure) by making borders tougher, not trying to help people who are in need.

44paulstalder
Aug 2, 2016, 4:56 pm

>43 charl08: Thank you, Charlotte, for the good wishes - they are quite happy in Korea. Naomi's language course has started now and they told her that is talking 'old' Korean :) well, she learned from her mother here in Switzerland. Languages always change.

It is a difficult and complex situation we are in today in Europe. I read many reports from WWII refugees coming to Switzerland, I also heard from my grand parents who had a farm and had some refugees on it as well. The huge majority of the refugees were poor, thankful, eager to adapt, and taking on any work they were given. Today we meet some refugees who were rich (they paid several thousand € for their journey), want to live in the same way as they lived at home, and often want to earn money - they do not want to work for their living they want to work for money (the living is paid for by the host country). There are so many refugees here (okay not as many as there are in Germany or Austria) but those who are loud and unhappy are those we notice and they start to change the atmosphere against them. I miss the idea of a guest honoring the rules of the host.

There is a church close by where they go to refugee 'camp' (Refugee reception office in Basel) and invite them to Sunday services and lunch. They also give away clothing they collected. There are always around 30-50 people coming from different nations. And they are very thankful for being able to come along and meet with other people, get a simple lunch and some fitting clothes. Others do not come because they want better food and new clothes, not things already worn.

Then we meet families here who have lost a child or more on they way coming here. Experienced sufferings and hardship on the way to Europe that one starts to cry...
Then I meet a man in the Caritas shop. He comes to me with a sandwich and asks me what kind of meat it has in it. When I tell him that it is pig he cries out 'Shit!!' and hurls it back through half the shop.

My experiences are mixed and so are my feelings. I try to concentrate on such help I can manage myself and not get too much disturbed by the behavior of some who have no idea of receiving hospitality.

45paulstalder
Edited: Aug 2, 2016, 5:06 pm

132) Sprung übern Zaun : Roman by Grete von Urbanitzky. A young English man, Bill, a snob, is on holidays in France when he has a little accident hitting a parked vehicle during the night. Because he doesn't want to pay he is put in prison where he meets a vagabond, Richard, who is in prison because he has no papers. The English snob realizes that having no money can cause injustice - because a poor man is never able to proof his innocence and his word doesn't count. So Bill changes his world view during his weeks in prison and finds a friend in Richard. He then takes this vagabond along to his rich family home ion London. Can a vagabond live in a rich home? A social novel about crosses social barriers. Published in 1940 in Switzerland by an Austrian author.

46paulstalder
Aug 4, 2016, 6:11 am

133) Dorothea Trudel 1813-1862 by Lydia Locher. Miss Dorothea Trudel was born 1813 in Hombrechtikon Zürich as the 11th child into a Christian home but with an alcoholic as father. When a school friend of her died suddenly she started to think about her own life and put her life into Jesus' hands. She became a professional flower maker (Blumenmacherin) and often prayed for sick people. Many of them became healthy and so others came to her home in Männedorf. She then built a second house in order to accommodate all these people. She never told people not to take medications or not to go to a doctor. She prayed for them with the laying on of hands. Then a jealous doctor indicted her that she was acting against the laws of medical personnel. But the court acquitted her because she never used any medication or made any therapies with the patients - more became well again than the doctors around could heal themselves... (report in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung of 14.-17. November 1861). She herself became then ill during the typhus epidemic in 1862. Samuel Zeller then took on the institution and it became pretty famous.

47paulstalder
Aug 5, 2016, 4:07 am

Propaganda for Basel: Pokemon go the revenge
https://youtu.be/6-RerthVB54

48Ameise1
Aug 5, 2016, 4:28 am

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing it.

49SqueakyChu
Edited: Aug 5, 2016, 9:26 am

>47 paulstalder: I'll be more careful when I go out for my walk this morning. Thanks for the warning. LOL!

50PaulCranswick
Aug 5, 2016, 9:30 am

>47 paulstalder: I don't see me biting the pokemon bullet Paul.

Have a great weekend.

51paulstalder
Aug 6, 2016, 8:46 am

>48 Ameise1: >49 SqueakyChu: >50 PaulCranswick: Thank you all. My son has the pokemon go game and thought I start as well. But I only like collecting these pokemons - the rest is of no interest to me, and I have no subscription on my cell phone, so I can only play when I have free net access. Well, at least I know how it looks like :)

52paulstalder
Aug 6, 2016, 8:58 am

134) Das zweite Zeichen : Roman by Ian Rankin. Inspector Rebus is called into a run-down house where there a corpse was found, apparently died on an overdose. But certain things are suspect and Rebus starts to investigate. He is finding a whole web of rich and influential people of Edinburgh who are not exactly law abiding. A good mystery but not the best of Rankin's.

53SqueakyChu
Aug 6, 2016, 11:02 pm

>44 paulstalder: Paul, that's a real interesting discussion about refugees you gave from your personal perspective. It is those who try to scam the host country, take benefits to which they're not entitled, or bad-mouth the host country who give all refugees a bad name. I think you are being very fair in what you say. In the end, it's really all about the individual refugee and that person's arrogance or humility which says it all. I've known both kinds of immigrants to the United States as well. I don't know the answer to this issue, but it's not good to cast all immigrants as the "bad guy".

54SqueakyChu
Aug 6, 2016, 11:05 pm

>51 paulstalder: Haha! You are so willing to try things! You were so great with reading manga...and now you're collecting Pokémon!

Do you have a favorite Pokémon? I don't think I have one just yet, but my least favorite Pokémon is the Zubat! :D

55paulstalder
Aug 7, 2016, 8:07 am

>53 SqueakyChu: It is not an easy issue. Also, taking Biblical verses where God remembers us (first the People of Israel, but also the Christians) that we were all 'Fremdlinge' (strangers) and therefore should not suppress them. But the Law also makes it clear that those strangers living among the People of Israel had to obey the law of the land (except the cultic laws). I think we today often make the mistake in this area where we consider our own laws applicable only to 'natives' and not for the refugees. An interesting verse is Isaiah 16.3: Sammelt Rat, haltet Gericht, mache deinen Schatten des Mittags wie die Nacht; verbirg die Verjagten, und melde die Flüchtlinge nicht! (Luther) = Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. (KJV) The German talks of refugees. As far as I understand the OT laws I guess the refugees (and outcasts) were given food when hungry, clothes when naked, but then they had to work for their livelihood or move on.

56paulstalder
Aug 7, 2016, 8:12 am

>54 SqueakyChu: I like collecting things :) so, I have no favorite pokemon, I like some of the names (Bluzuk, Taubsi, Sterndu, Rattfratz) (well, assuming that they have the same names in your country) and some looks.

So, you are further into the game? Not just collecting? I don't get the rest (I should ask my son, but I prefer reading books).

57paulstalder
Aug 9, 2016, 4:10 am

135) Echt mutig : Frauen setzen sich aktiv für Gottes Sache ein by Deborah Meroff. A disturbing, thought provkoing and hope giving book. 9 stories of 9 women who became Christians and went out to reach others and change their surrounding. A deaf young teenager is nearly killed by her father who shot at his family, she met Christians who taught her to trust God's love. She learnt the sign language and went to Israel to teach the deaf there. I didn't know that translating the sermon or Scripture on a Sabbath in a synagogue is forbidden because that is regarded as work, forbidden to do on a Sabbath. A American couple are called to serve in the frontier region of Tajikistan and help the refugees coming from Afghanistan. they were able to bring medical equipment, food, and Bibles to the refugees. A couple were living in Turkey when their child was born with Down syndrome. Through friends they were able to reach other parents with handicapped children (who are regarded as a punishment of Allah in their environment), help them train and educate their children and bring them the Christian hope of love and forgiveness.
The book gives also a lot of details and statistics about the fate in women in the world: prostitution, widow burning, marriage to the Koran in Pakistan (where a young girl can be married to the Koran and then is locked away for the rest of her life), marriage for time (in Iran a man can pay a fee and then a judge signs a marriage contract for this man with a woman for a few days only), female genital mutilation, honor killings, salvery, E-brides (where one may buy a bride online) ...

58SqueakyChu
Aug 9, 2016, 8:37 pm

>55 paulstalder: In the Jewish religion, it is a mitzvah (honor/good deed) to be a host. Guests must behave properly, though! It's a two-way street. :)

>56 paulstalder: According to my older son (and now I see why), Pokemon GO loses some of its luster as one's level increases as it becomes harder and harder to catch Pokemon and level up. I am collecting Pokemon, but I'm also trying to train at the gym, which just happens to be my own Little Free Library of Twinbrook (#7720), which is located on my front lawn. The problem is that my Pokémon have such low CP (combat points) that it is impossible to win any battle. Therein lies the problem with this game. If you're just collecting Pokémon (which is what my son is also doing), you'll have fun and probably will not get frustrated with this game.

I use Pokemon GO for walking. I try to walk 1-2 miles per day by walking from Pokestop to Pokestop. This is the most exercise I've had in about a year! :D

59SqueakyChu
Edited: Aug 9, 2016, 8:39 pm

>57 paulstalder: I didn't know that translating the sermon or Scripture on a Sabbath in a synagogue is forbidden because that is regarded as work, forbidden to do on a Sabbath.

It's not the translation. It's the act of writing on Shabbat (Sabbath).

Your book sounds interesting...but very depressing!

60paulstalder
Aug 10, 2016, 3:55 am

>58 SqueakyChu: Thanks for pointing out the host/guest aspect of the situation. I agree here wholeheartedly. There are people here who only see the admonition to not bewray (funny word) the strangers - and not asking whether they are refugees and whether they behave as guests.

I deleted my pokemon go. I realized that I was too much absorbed when walking and couldn't read anymore when riding on the tram. It was some fun but it became too time absorbing.

>59 SqueakyChu: It's the act of writing I never regarded hand signs as writing, I regarded them as speaking. So someone conducting a choir with hand signs is working?

Sorry that I gave such a depessing impression by mentioning all the statistics of True grit. It is very encouraging to read the testimonies of these nine women telling their stories. So many of them had a bad start into life, found faith in Christ and then were able to be a blessing for others. I was tempted to flip over the statistical parts but then thought that it is good to have facts about what the situation of women are. And these facts are really depressing.

61SqueakyChu
Edited: Aug 10, 2016, 11:38 am

>60 paulstalder: I deleted my pokemon go. I realized that I was too much absorbed when walking and couldn't read anymore when riding on the tram. It was some fun but it became too time absorbing.

Agreed that it is a time sink. For that reason, I never played video games for the past many years either on my own computer or on my phone. The only reason I succumbed to Pokémon GO was that my Little Free Library inadvertently became a part of the game, and I wanted to see why a crowd was gathering around my Little Free Library. Fortunately I can Pokémon GO it for increased exercise as well. :)

>59 SqueakyChu: So someone conducting a choir with hand signs is working?

I would think not. It is the actual performance of writing which is forbidden. In reality, only the very observant observe these laws strictly.

More information about Shabbat prohibitions can be found here on the Chabad website.

FYI:
Melachot (Hebrew): plural of melacha which means work/task
Mishkan (Hebrew): The Tabernacle (in which was the divine presence of G-d and carried by the Jews through the desert)

62paulstalder
Aug 10, 2016, 2:40 pm

>61 SqueakyChu: I caught a pokemon in the economics library and a few others in the public library :)

I think I will not dive further into the Sabbath laws right now. Thanks for the link. I will keep it in my mind for later.
We had a model of the tabernacle here in Germany (just over the border) some years ago (similar to the one in the Timna Park) and I helped guiding people through the exhibition. That was very fascinating.

63paulstalder
Aug 10, 2016, 2:47 pm

136) Young bride's story 4 by Kaoru Mori. Mr. Smith and his guide travel further eastward on the Silk Road. But then he falls off his camel into the Aral Sea. Two girls help him out of the water and bring him home because he calls himself a medic. So he helps relocate a dislocated shoulder. The word spreads and the other day the town is filled with sick people who want to that doctor .... Then the story tells of the two girls, twins, who are eager to look for suitable husbands...

64paulstalder
Aug 12, 2016, 9:46 am

137) Wir sind sieben : Roman by Una Troy. Bridget Monaghan has seven children but no husband and all children look very much alike some men from the little village in Ireland ... A humorous story about the growing up of these different children.

65paulstalder
Aug 14, 2016, 5:06 pm

138) Herzschlag : Krimi by Hansjörg Martin. Paul is a free lance journalist when he gets the diagnosis 'cancer'. At the same time a new right wing party is winning local elections and is regarded as winning the national German elections. The leader reminds Paul of his past during the Nazi time. So he decides to kill the new Führer with a suicide bomb ... The idea for this polit thriller is good, but the characters are flat. The philosophical discussions about politics, ethics and terminal illness are fine but the plot is week.

66paulstalder
Aug 16, 2016, 3:56 pm

139) Timm Thaler, oder, Das verkaufte Lachen : die Geschichte von dem kleinen Jungen und dem grossen Geld, vom Lachen und vom Weinen, vom Wettgeschäft und einem sehr karierten Herrn ; erzählt von Timm, dem Marionettenspieler ; aufnotiert für alle, die noch lachen können by James Krüss. Timm, 14, is living with his stepmother and quite unhappy but he has a very specific and positive way to laugh. So one day a fine lord approaches him and offers him to be able to win each and any bet in return for his laughing. The boy wins every bet in the horse racing and gets reach - but he loses his laughter. But Timm wants his laughter back.
A very good book not for children only: what is more important to be reach or to be able to laugh? what makes one happy? A book I read as a teenager ages ago and now enjoyed again.

67paulstalder
Edited: Aug 20, 2016, 2:17 pm

140) Auftrag in Tartu : Roman by Ulrich Knellwolf. A young docent from the university of Zürich is sent to Tartu, Esonia, in order to teach Swiss church history there. He meets former Estonians resistance fighters, collaborators, Chechens, and Russian Mafia people. The students seem not too much interested in his lectures and the faculty of the university shuns him.
Each chapter plays in a different centuries from the 30-Year-War till 1998 and gives historical insights about different, mainly theologians, important people of the time. A bit confusing at times but gives a lot of fascinating historical details. A well written Swiss historical novel.

68paulstalder
Aug 23, 2016, 2:46 am

141) Die Form des Wassers : Commissario Montalbano löst seinen ersten Fall by Andrea Camilleri. A well known politician is found dead in his car, naked, death caused by a heart attack. Commissario Montalbano has the feeling that there is more to that and starts to investigate despite the pressure of the Sicilian politicians etc. A bit a weird case. The crime was not the death of the man but the circumstances of the finding of the corpse. New to me Italian mystery series.
Interesting title: the form of water - what form does water have in a jar, in a bottle, in the sea? A bit similar are people in different places: when found in such a place, they must have been doing that... etc.

69thornton37814
Aug 23, 2016, 1:06 pm

>68 paulstalder: I love Montalbano!

70paulstalder
Aug 25, 2016, 3:31 pm

>69 thornton37814: It looks that I have a few more Montalbani here somewhere. Did you read them all?

71thornton37814
Aug 25, 2016, 3:45 pm

>71 thornton37814: I haven't read quite all of them yet, but I've read a lot. Actually I love the audio books read by Grover Gardner so I like to listen to them.

72paulstalder
Edited: Aug 25, 2016, 3:49 pm

add-ons
151) Komm näher : Roman by Sara Gran
- Im Januar musste ich meinem Chef, Leon Fields, einen Vorschlag für ein neues Projekt vorlegen.
152) Glaube am Montag by Ulrich Eggers
- Hatten Sie schon mal ein Montagsauto - ein Modell, das besonders durch Produktionsfehler belastet ist?
153) Nothing to envy : real lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
- If you look at satellite photographs of the far east by night, you'll see a large splotch curiously lacking in light.
154) Das lose Glück by Matthias Zschokke
- Sie sind zu viert und sitzen auf ihrer Jacht.
155) Mord undercover : Offensive Krimi by Claire McNab
- Die Tontaube schwirrte über das türkise Meer.
156) Der Rabbi und die Katze : Geschichten zur jüdischen Mystik by Osho
- Ein junger Rabbi klagte dem Rabbi von Rizhyn sein Leid: "Während der Stunden, da ich mich meinen Studien widme, fühl ich Leben und Licht; aber sobald ich damit aufhöre, ist alles weg. Was soll ich tun?"
157) Der Käfer : 30 exotische und nostalgische Postkarten vom berühmtesten Auto der Welt ; zum Sammeln, Verschicken und Verschenken
- Wer hat nicht nach dem Krieg mit ihm seine Fortbewegung neu auf die Füsse bzw. schmale Diagonalreifen gestellt, gar die Freuden und Leiden der Fahrschule durchgestanden, mühsam verdientes Geld - für heutige Verhältnisse herzlich wenig - investiert, um mit stolzgeschwellter Brust seinen Volkswagen zu besteigen, der später in den USA den Namen "Käfer" erhielt?
158) Mord in Monticello : ein Fall für Mrs. Murphy ; Roman by Rita Mae Brown
- Lachend betrachtete Mary Minor Haristeen die Nickelmünze in ihrer Hand.
159) Flieh, Kleiner, flieh by Nicky Cruz
- "Haltet den verrückten Kerl fest!" schrie jemand.
160) Geister, die Allah rief : der Islam und seine Unterwelt by Moussa Afschar
- Es waren die Missionare, die zum ersten Mal vom "Volksislam" gesprochen haben.

-- -- -- --

73paulstalder
Edited: Aug 25, 2016, 4:06 pm

add-ons
161) Der Connaisseur : "eines Junggesellen Klage über das Benehmen verheiratheter Leute" von Charles Lamb und elf Ehegeschichten by Marie D. Hottinger
- Als dieser Witz vor vielen Jahren erschien, rief er in England wahre Lachstürme hervor.
162) In Basel ist die Göttin los : Kriminalroman by Michèle Sandrin
- Und dieses Blut!
163) Nein! : Antwort an Emil Brunner by Karl Barth
- "Es ist die Aufgabe unserer theologischen Generation, sich zur rechten theologia naturalis zurückzufinden."
164) Kloster auf Zeit : Antworten auf die 50 häufigsten Fragen by Hanspeter Oschwald
- Immer mehr Menschen suchen in Klöstern nach einer Auszeit von ihrem Alltag.
165) Bruderland : Kriminalroman by Matti Rönkä
- Die Schneeflocke war schön und makellos.
166) 2 a.m. at The Cat's Pajamas : a novel by Marie-Helene Bertino
- It is dark, dark seven A.M. on Christmas Eve Eve.
167) Master and commander by Patrick O'Brian
- The music-room in the Governor's House at Port Mahon, a tall, handsome, pillared octagon, was filled with the triumphant first movement of Locatelli's C major quartet.
168) Die Frau des Generals by Charlene Curry
- Es waren einmal zwei Kinder in McKeesport - Jerry Curry und ich - die sangen dieses Lied.
169) Der Ort der Bewahrung by Francis Frangipane
- Jesus stellte die letzten Stunden unserer Zeit unter ein prägnantes Schlagwort.
170) Elisabeth II. und ihr Hof : das wahre Leben einer Königin by Andrew Duncan
- "Aus welchem Blickwinkel möchten Sie mich haben?" fragte die Queen an einem sonnigen Novemberabend bei einer Cocktailparty in Santiago de Chile.

-- -- -- --

74paulstalder
Aug 25, 2016, 4:29 pm

add-ons
171) The bone clocks by David Mitchell
- I fling open my bedroom curtains, and there's the thirsty sky and the wide river full of ships and boats and stuff, but I'm already thinking of Vinny's chocolaty eyes, shampoo down Vinny's back, beads of sweat on Vinny's shoulders, and Vinny's sly laugh, and by now my heart's going mental and, God, I wish I was waking up in Vinny's place in Peacock Street and not in my own stupid bedroom.
172) Gefährliche Stille! : Wie die Mystik die Evangelikalen erobern will by Maleachi-Kreis
- Tök - tök - tök - tök - tök: Toastbrot, Schinken, Frühlingsquark, Toilettenpapier, eine Packung Glühbirnen.
173) Leben im Gleichgewicht von Gnade und Glauben by Andrew Wommack
- Seit Tausenden von Jahren herrscht ein erbitterter Streit darüber, ob Errettung ein souveränes Werk Gottes ist oder ob der Mensch sich Errettung durch sein Handeln verdienen muss.
174) Flucht in die Wüste by Marie Luise Röschli
- "Wir befinden uns jetzt direkt über der Insel Kreta", ertönte die ruhige Stimme unseres Piloten aus dem Lautsprecher, "und wir fliegen auf einer Höhe von ..."
175) Licht und Schatten in Aethiopien by Marie Luise Röschli
- Ein zweimaliges, kurzes Klingeln.
176) Zehn Kinder und viel Federvieh by Marie Luise Röschli
- Puuup, puuup, pup!
177) Zugvögel kehren heim by Marie-Luise Röschli
- "Chchch" fauchend, mit weit offenen Augen und gespitzten Ohren sprang unsere Mieze hoch.
178) Fäden fein gesponnen by Marie-Luise Röschli
- Drrrr, Drrrr, Drrrr! Das Klingeln des Telephons riss mich aus tiefstem Schlaf.
179) Hauptsache weg : Flüchtlinge erzählen by Tobias Kley
- Sommer 2011, in Afghanistan.
180) 15 Teesorten und ihre Wirkung
- Teekräuter sind nur begrenzt haltbar.

-- -- -- --

75paulstalder
Edited: Aug 25, 2016, 4:57 pm

When in Austria, I discovered three free 'telebookings' (telephone booths full of free books). But my luggage was limited, so I didn't take any books home *deep sigh*

-- --
two telebookings in Hollabrunn and one in Mistelbach

i lost my tooth in the morning running to the tramway to catch the flight to Vienna, so I had some troubles biting things off. Now I have a brand new tooth (the dentist didn't send the bill so far, so I still can smile).

76paulstalder
Edited: Aug 25, 2016, 5:05 pm

The 'Kellergassen' (wine alleys) are quite famous in Lower Austria. Some villages still have these alleys where the people dug cellars into the earth and made and stored (and drank) their own wine.

-- --
a Wine Alley --- a wine cellar --- a cellar cat (Kellerkatze)
The saying goes that where the cat lays on a barrel, this barrel will contain the best wine. So look out for the cat!

77paulstalder
Aug 26, 2016, 3:49 pm

142) Der Stümper : Roman by Patricia Highsmith. Walter is unhappy married and dreams about killing his neurotic wife. She fells over a cliff - and he behaves so strange that the people start to believe he killed her. A weird plot with manipulative characters and an unsatisfying ending.

78paulstalder
Edited: Aug 26, 2016, 4:18 pm

--
Ferdinand Raimund (1790-1836) was born in this house --- Stephansdom and Haas Haus

--
part of the Memorial against War and Fascism in Vienna --- Kneeling and street washing Jew

79paulstalder
Edited: Aug 27, 2016, 2:55 pm

We were staying in a Presshaus (a house for making and store wine)
--
front entry: cellar --- back entry: the flat

--
the wine press --- the cellar

when the house was built, they started with the cellar, then laid the base, put the wine press on it and then built the rest of the house. There is no way to get the press out of the house now without cutting it in pieces.

80paulstalder
Edited: Aug 27, 2016, 3:35 pm

add-ons
181) Heilkraft der Natur by Eugen Fischer
- Als Heilpflanzen werden im Bereich der einheimischen und fremden Flora jene Pflanzen bezeichnet, die in der wissenschaftlichen Medizin und Volksheilkunde aufgrund ihrer chemisch erkannten Bestandteile oder beim Volk überlieferungs- und erfahrungsgemäss zu Heilzwecken direkt verwendet werden oder als Ausgangspunkt für die Gewinnung von Arzneimitteln dienen.
182) Vogelzug by Bruno Bruderer
- Naturerscheinungen waren und sind für Menschen aller Kulturkreise stets eine Herausforderung.
183) Der Mann, der das Geld erfand by Janet Gleeson
- Ein Novemberabend des Jahres 1708 im Pariser Salon der Marie-Anne de Chateauneuf.
184) Polt : Kriminalroman by Alfred Komarek
- Still war es.
185) Iwan der Schreckliche : Leben und Zeit des ersten Zaren, unter dessen Herrschaft das Grossrussische Reich entstand und Russland in die europäische Geschichte eintrat by Nikita Romanow
- Grossfürst Wassilij hielt sich für den unglücklichsten aller Russen.
186) Unter dem Tagmond : Roman by Keri Hulme
- Er geht die Strasse hinunter.
187) Die fromme Helene by Wilhelm Busch
- Wie der Wind in Trauerweiden
Tönt des frommen Sängers Lied,
Wenn er auf die Lasterfreuden
In den grossen Städten sieht.
188) Arche Noah, Touristenklasse : neue Satiren aus Israel by Ephraim Kishon
- Ich sitze im Wartesaal eines grossen Bahnhofs.
189) Alarmierende Nachrichten by George Giersen
- Nach den aufregenden Geschehnissen der vergangenen Wochen war auf der Martin-Farm wieder Ruhe eingekehrt.
190) Die Botschaft ist unterwegs! : Erlebnisse und Kurzgeschichten by Wilhelm Busch
- Verzweifelt kämpfte ich um mein Haus.

-- -- -- --

81paulstalder
Edited: Aug 27, 2016, 4:13 pm

add-ons
191) Charleston 1862 by F. van Wyck Mason
- Vier Mann in triefendem weissen Ölzeug und Südwestern klammerten sich an die Brücke des Blockadebrechers und beobachteten gespannt, wie eine zerrissene, gelblichgraue Nebelwolke nach der anderen über den scharfen Rammsporn ihres Schiffes kroch.
192) Olaf, der Elch : eine Weihnachtsgeschichte by Volker Kriegel
- Eigentlich war Olaf ein ganz normaler Elch.
193) Galápagos : a novel by Kurt Vonnegut
- The thing was: One million years ago, back in A.D. 1986, Guayaquil was the chief seaport of the little South American democracy of Ecuador, whose capital was Quito, high in the Andes Mountains.
194) Cat's cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
- Call me Jonah.
195) 20 Joor telegenbasel : e gleini Hommage an's Basler Fäärnseh by Christian Wehrli
- Basel hat eine Vision.
196) Der Online-Tote : ein Basler Krimi by Philipp Probst
- 46. Minute - Gleich nach dem Anpfiff zur zweiten Halbzeit übernimmt der FC Basel das Zepter.
197) Vittorio : dramatische Erzählung aus dem Weltgeschehen 1913-1937 by Niklaus Bolt
- Die junge Gräfin Severino, offenbar gelangweilt, lehnt sich in ihrem Sessel zurück.
198) Därvarns Reise by Mats Wahl
- Auf Fårö lebte ein Mann namens Thorbiörn Svarte.
199) Schokoladeneis by Kéthévane Davrichewy
- Ich habe Angst vor der Leere.
200) Der Teufel kommt um vier : Roman by Max Catto
- An einem Märzmorgen zerbarst im Pazifik die Insel Taluha.

-- -- -- --

82paulstalder
Aug 30, 2016, 3:13 pm

143) Wer ist Goldauge? by Heiner Gross. A young girl is found unconscious in an elevator in a hotel in Zurich. She was brought to the nearby private hospital of Dr. Eisen. His son fells in love with that silent beauty, she has golden spots in her eyes and is therefore called 'Goldauge = Golden Eye' in the hospital. So This begins to investigate, he wants to find out where this girl came from and wants to help her to get her memory back. His first hint leads him to the prison in Lucerne ... A good story for young adults.

83charl08
Aug 30, 2016, 3:24 pm

Hey Paul
The wine press building looks like a great place to visit. I would never guess from the outside that it had such a big practical cellar.

And I love the cover of >82 paulstalder: Really striking.

84paulstalder
Aug 30, 2016, 3:36 pm

>83 charl08: Hej Charlotte, our holiday house was really a nice surprise (especially for me). When planning the trip with the Austrian friends, I told them about Alfred Komarek and Eva Rossmann and their mysteries from that area. And so they had the idea to bring us to that house, owned by a policemen married to a speech therapist. When they came for the bill during our last evening there, we were asking to see the cellar. We were so impressed and did not save with compliments, so much so, that he offered us some of his wine and we drank 4 bottles of wine together (8 people all together).
Here the address if you plan a trip to the Wine district of Lower Austria:
http://www.ferienhaus-wiesenblick.at/

85paulstalder
Aug 30, 2016, 3:45 pm

144) Der letzte Weynfeldt : Roman by Martin Suter. Adrian Weynfeldt is the last of a very rich family, leading an orderly but sometimes boring life. Then one day he meets Lorena, a nice 30-year-old-ex-model, who takes each day after the other and finds a protoector in Adrian whom she tries to hold out for financial reasons. Adrian is an art expert and works for an auctioneer. He knows the owner of the picture 'Femme nue devant une salamandre' by Felix Vallotton (see cover below) and who wants to sell it. ... A Swiss art thriller with some infos concerning Swiss art and auctioneering. Slow, but very interesting read.

86paulstalder
Sep 2, 2016, 2:56 pm

145) Der Affe und der Tiger : zwei Kriminalfälle des Richters Di by Robert van Gulik. Judge Di (Dee) solves two historical mysteries. In the first a gibbon drops a golden ring with a gemstone and some blood on it in the garden of the Judge. They then found a corpse in a nearby shack in the forest ... In the second story the Judge travels ahead of his entourage when a flood destroys a bridge behind him. He finds shelter in a land house but there are also the Flying Tigers, some bandits besieging this place ... fun, easy read.

87paulstalder
Sep 2, 2016, 3:18 pm

add-ons
201) Lotterie des Todes : Kriminalroman by Edgar Wallace
- London, Stadtteil Kensington. Eine Villa mit dem Namen Mount Lodge.
202) Dein Sonntag by Walter Lüthi
- Jedes gute Land- und Arbeitspferd pflegt den Montagmorgen mit freudigem Wiehern und übermütigem Scharren zu begrüssen.
203) The moonstone by Wilkie Collins
- In the first part of Robinson Crusoe, at page one hundred and twenty-nine, you will find it thus written: 'Now I saw, though too late, The Folly of beginning a Work before we count the Cost, and before we judge rightly of our own Strength to go through with it.'
204) Dracula : with a foreword by Bram Stoker
- Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late.
205) Reportagen #28
- Hätte ich gewusst, dass Rung Li dort wohnt, wäre ich viel früher schon nach Chongqing gereist.
206) Reportagen #29
- Er ärgert sich nicht.
207) Die Zeit der Ungeduld : Roman by Jurij Trifonow
- Gegen Ende der siebziger Jahre war den Zeitgenossen klargeworden, dass Russland krank ist.
208) Das Washington-Dekret : Thriller by Jussi Adler-Olsen
- Seit mindestens einer Stunde stand Pete Bukowski unter dem Schild an der Route 460 mitten in Wakefield und starrte in Richtung Jarratt.
209) Der Mann, der kein Mörder war : ein Fall für Sebastian Bergman ; Kriminalroman by Michael Hjorth
- Der Mann war kein Mörder.
210) Frei sein und unabhängig : journalistische Arbeiten 1974-1995 by Gabriel García Márquez
- Ende 1969 assen drei Generäle des Pentagons mit vier chilenischen Militärs in einem Vorort von Washington zu Abend.

-- -- -- --

88paulstalder
Sep 2, 2016, 4:18 pm

146) Asterix der Gallier by René Goscinny. The whole of Gaul is occupied by the Romans, well, everything? No, a little village is still free and fights them. They have a secret which them strength and a Roman spy should find it out. Fun comic

89harrygbutler
Sep 2, 2016, 4:58 pm

>86 paulstalder: I really enjoy van Gulik's Judge Dee books. I think it must be about time to revisit them.

90paulstalder
Sep 3, 2016, 3:16 pm

>89 harrygbutler: That was my second van Gulik and I got another one in petto.

91paulstalder
Edited: Sep 5, 2016, 1:02 pm

147) Die Lorbeeren des Cäsar by René Goscinny. Majestic, the chief, agrees to a bet to cook a stew with leaves of Caesar's laurel wreath. So Asterix and Obelix are sent to Rome to get the spices ...

92paulstalder
Edited: Sep 5, 2016, 1:00 pm

148) Der Kampf der Häuptlinge by René Goscinny. The Romans succeed in setting the druid out of action and to hinder him making anymore magic potion. So the Romans asks a Rome friendly Chief to challenge Majestix. When he wins, the whole tribe is obliged to follow the new ruler ...

93paulstalder
Edited: Sep 5, 2016, 1:01 pm

149) Asterix und Kleopatra by René Goscinny. Clepatra and Julius Caesar bet that the Egyptians are too decadent to a palace as they used to in the past. But the Egyptian architect asks his friends from Gaul to help with the project. So Asterix, Obelix and Miraculix travel to Egypt...

94Trifolia
Sep 4, 2016, 1:14 pm

Asterix and Obelix are the best! That reminds me of a man who visited our archives and when he left, my colleague noted he looked just like Panoramix (Miraculix in German / Getafix in English). Later on, the man sent us some leaflets... He invited us to a Celtic event where he played the part of a druid!

I hope you are doing well, with your wife and daughter in Korea. Keep reading!

95paulstalder
Sep 5, 2016, 10:44 am

>94 Trifolia: Thank you Monica for visiting.

I reread my Asterix & Obelix collection again. Fun.

Wife and daughter will return 13th September. I was bathing all the orchids yesterday, so I hope they look fresh and glorious when Suki sees them again :)

96paulstalder
Edited: Sep 5, 2016, 12:56 pm

150) Asterix und die Normannen by René Goscinny. A nephew of Majestix is sent to the village from Lutetia to learn life. He is captored by the Normans who are on an expedition to learn to fly - they know of no fear and therefore want to learn about fear which give wings...

97paulstalder
Sep 6, 2016, 3:56 pm

151) Der Dieb der süssen Dinge : Commissario Montalbanos dritter Fall by Andrea Camilleri. A boy is steeling the lunches from other school kids. His mother has been kidnapped and Commissario Montalbano is investigating. A spy-intrigue-mystery, with a bit of a love story between Montalbano and Livia...

98paulstalder
Sep 7, 2016, 4:25 pm

152) Asterix bei den Olympischen Spielen by René Goscinny. The Romans want to take part in the Olympic Games in Olympia, and Asterix thinks that, since they belong to the Roman Empire, they can join the Roman team. But they are not allowed to make use of their magic potion...

99paulstalder
Edited: Sep 9, 2016, 9:47 am

211) Dorothea Trudel von Männedorf : ihr Leben und Wirken by Konrad Zeller
- Dorothea Trudels Lebensbild muss mit der Geschichte ihrer Mutter beginnen, wie die Tochter sie selbst erzählt hat: Mein Grossvater war von wohlhabender Familie, deren Gut aber nicht gedeihen konnte, weil es nicht mit Gott erworben war.
212) Im Schattenreich : ein Leonie-Simon-Roman by Renate Kampmann
- Tief drang der Dorn der Brombeerranke ins zarte Fleisch des Kinderfingers ein, und ein dicker roter Blutstropfen quoll augenblicklich hervor, gefolgt von einem zweiten, einem dritten.
213) Globi's Weltreise by Robert Lips
- Globi's Start
214) Mit offenen Karten : ein Hercule Poirot Krimi by Agatha Christie
- "Mein lieber Monsieur Poirot!"
215) Jan stellt zwanzig Fragen : Detektivgeschichte für Buben und Mädchen by Knud Meister
- Noch fünf Minuten vor dem Schlusspfiff stand das Spiel unentschieden 3:3, und zu aller Verwunderung war es Jan, dem Mittelstürmer der A.Mannschaft, nicht geglückt, auch nur ein einziges Tor zu schiessen.
216) Das Wenkenross : 12 Geschichten durchs Riehener Jahr by Hermann Schneider
- In der Nacht vom 13. auf den 14. Januar 1972 schwenkten von Basel her drei Schlitten ins Dorf Riehen ein, wie solche seit vielen Jahrzehnten in dieser Gegend nicht mehr anzutreffen sind.
217) Nahtlos braun : Krimi by Werner Schmitz
- Emil hatte nur kurz angehalten, um sich an Erna Skomrocks Trinkhalle Zigaretten zu kaufen.
218) Nächstenliebe zahlt sich aus : Krimi by Pit Murad
- Dass ihm an einem Tag ein und dieselbe Leiche gleich zweimal begegnen würde , hatte er sich in seinen kühnsten Träumen nicht ausgemalt.
219) Dienst nach Vorschuss : Krimi by Werner Schmitz
- Draussen schlug die Uhr dreimal.
220) Herzschlag : Krimi by Hansjörg Martin
- Der Stuhl ist unbequem.

-- -- -- --

100paulstalder
Sep 10, 2016, 12:03 pm

153) Die Go-Spielerin : Roman by Shan Sa. A Chinese 16-year-old girl is a very good baduk(go) player in Manchuria. She plays every day on the Place of the Thousand Winds. One day she meets a stranger who challenges her. They start to play not saying anything during the game. Every evening she notes the stones on a piece of paper and they continue the game the next day. Both do not know the other's name or anything else. But each can feel the soul of the other through the game. And all happens during the Japanese attack on China ...
A very sensitive, poetic but depressing novel. Two souls suffering, each finding life and purpose in playing go. A tale of love, trust, betrayal and war, and some good mention of the game (go in Japanese, baduk in Korean). The story is a bit written in a play of go: each opponent puts his/her stone on the board and then is waiting for the other to move, and so the story line goes from one person to the other, occupying 'houses' with 'eyes' on the board and also setting the borders of their own lives.

101paulstalder
Sep 11, 2016, 12:12 pm

154) Obelix GmbH & Co.KG by René Goscinny. Technocratus, a Roman delegate, has a good idea how to occupy the rebel Gauls with something else: Gold. So he asks Obelix to sell him menhirs. And Obelix gets greedy, stops hunting wild boars, employs some people to help him and spends his money on things he has no use for. Modern economics ...

102paulstalder
Edited: Sep 15, 2016, 3:16 pm

155) Der Sohn des Asterix by Albert Uderzo. A baby is left outside of Asterix's hut. Whose baby is it? And why are some Romans hunting it)

103Ameise1
Sep 11, 2016, 4:58 pm

I finally caught up here. Great photos from Vienna. I love the charm of this city. Oh my goodness, you got such a lot of books or are these older ones and you haven't catalogised them? Did you had a 'Stiftzahn' before or is it your first one?
Wishing you a great start into the new week.

104paulstalder
Sep 12, 2016, 3:47 am

>103 Ameise1: Hey Barbara, that was my fourth trip to Vienna and I always discover new things there. Amazing city.
The books are all new additions to my library since the beginning of the year. More collecting than reading *happy sigh*
I had a Stiftzahn already and I lost that one, so I have got a new one. But now the tooth next to it is making troubles... *hurting sigh*
Suki is coming back tomorrow, so I should clean and clear the house *deep sigh*

105paulstalder
Sep 13, 2016, 4:42 am

156) Der Schrei des Tigers : die erstaunliche Geschichte von Tony Anthony, einem Kung-Fu-Weltmeister by Tony Anthony. Tony is born in London and then sent to China as a 4-year-old in order to live with his grandparents. There he learns the teachings of kung-fu and becomes a grandmaster. Later he worked as a body guard and then caught stealing and robbing in Cyprus. In the prison of Nikosia he became a Christian. A gripping story and well written. Sadly later inquiries showed that the story is not all true.

106paulstalder
Sep 13, 2016, 11:08 am

157) Lupus in Fabula 1 by Kamineo. FBI agent J. gets a new partner with strange powers against his will. They have a murder case to investigate, where both victims were exploded, dissolved, dissambled without any traces of explosives or so. Witchraft was involved. Later they find a werewolf shot dead with a bullit with aconitum...
A new German manga set in the USA, full of strange things like unicorns, undead and others. But not a gripping story line. I think I don't look for the next issues.



A manga that starts at the end, so read it from left to rigth. There are no 'chapters' but 'files'.

107paulstalder
Edited: Sep 15, 2016, 3:13 pm

158) Asterix und Maestria by Albert Uderzo. The women of the village invite Maestria from Lutetia in order to teach their kids. But Maestria wants more: She challenges the domination of men and wants become chieftain of the village ...

108paulstalder
Edited: Sep 15, 2016, 3:11 pm

159) Die Odyssee by Albert Uderzo. Miraculix is missing a part for making the magic potion: oil. So Asterix and Obelix are sent to the Near East to get some. The meet Greeks, Jews, Phoenicians, Yemenites etc on the way. Their opponent being a Roman spy à la 007...

109Trifolia
Sep 16, 2016, 3:08 pm

You really tempt me to pick up my old Asterix-books again.
I hope you have a lovely weekend, Paul!

110paulstalder
Sep 16, 2016, 3:56 pm

>109 Trifolia: It is fun to read them again. I am thinking of buying those new volumes I haven't got yet.
Thanks for the good wishes. Have a good and quiet weekend yourself.

111paulstalder
Sep 16, 2016, 4:03 pm

160) Streit um Asterix by René Goscinny. The Romans send a spy who is always stirring up trouble wherever he appears. So the Gauls in the village start fighting among each other and so forget about the Romans ...

112Trifolia
Sep 16, 2016, 4:09 pm

>160 paulstalder: - How come Asterix always seems so modern to me?

113charl08
Sep 16, 2016, 5:04 pm

Love the Asterix. Like >109 Trifolia: tempted to pick them up again!

114paulstalder
Edited: Sep 17, 2016, 2:24 pm

>113 charl08: It is fun to read them again. The only thing is that I find no development: the goal is always to bash the Romans and the end is always a feast - the only thing which changes from book to book is the circumstances in which the Romans are bashed.

115paulstalder
Edited: Sep 17, 2016, 2:52 pm

add-ons
221) Totentrakt : Krimi by Sergej Guk
- Aus Eilmeldungen der Nachrichtenagenturen dpa, UPI, Reuter, AFP und AP für Zeitungen, Rundfunk und Fernsehen: "Eine Gruppe bewaffneter Personen hat heute, gegen zwölf Uhr mittags, die ... Botschaft besetzt.
222) Wenn die Wale fortziehen by Juri Rytchëu
- Nau suchte mit den Augen diesen überraschenden Glanz, der sich zum Ufer hin immer deutlicher abhob - die Fontäne schoss hoch auf, und das Sonnenlicht liess in ihr einen vielfarbigen Regenbogen funkeln.
223) Alternativ-Medizin : ein kurzgefasster Leitfaden über die Hintergründe alternativer Heilmethoden by Rolf Nussbaumer
- Man kennt heutzutage hunderte von alternativen Methoden und Prinzipien.
224) Winter in Anders by Dirk Bareiss
- Anders legte den Stift aus der Hand und sammelte die auf dem Pult vor ihm liegenden Antwortbögen ein, auf die er soeben sein finales Staatsexamen niedergeschrieben hatte.
225) Farben im Schnee : Roman by Kate Fenton
- Der Oktober war bislang enttäuschend.
226) Herrlichkeit : Roman by Margaret Mazzantini
- Er war der Sohn des Portiers.
227) Die Löwin : Roman by Iny Lorentz
- Caterina wollte den Becher zum Mund führen, hielt aber mitten in der Bewegung inne und musterte ihren Gastgeber, als suche sie auf seinem Gesicht nach Spuren beginnenden Wahnsinns.
228) Amerikanischer Whiskey : Erzählungen by Andrzej Szczypiorski
- Onkel Nikodem war schön.
229) Zarte und grausame Mädchen : Erzählungen by Ljudmila Ulitzkaja
- Wie Anna Markowna später erzählte, war Simka mit einer Umsiedlungswelle noch vor dem Krieg in ihren Moskauer Hof geschwemmt worden.
230) Irische Freundschaften : Roman by Maeve Binchy
- Im Saal des Coroners herrschte eine sehr nüchterne und sachliche Atmosphäre.

-- -- -- --

116paulstalder
Edited: Nov 27, 2016, 3:24 pm

161) Der grosse Graben by René Goscinny. A neighboring village of the invincible Gauls has two acting Chiefs fighting each other. They divided the village in two parts. But two young people falling in love ask Asterix and co. for help. Romeo and Juliet in Gaul...

117paulstalder
Sep 20, 2016, 3:43 pm

162) The haunted mesa by Louis L'Amour. Mike Raglan is unmasking fraud magicians and the like. One day he receives a call for help from an old friend, who tells he vanished into another dimension, the Third World of the Anasazi. Mike doesn't believe at first that other world but he starts to investigate anyway. an interesting tale and theory for the disappearance of the Anasazi. The reiterating dialogues of Mike with himself make the reading a bit hard and it has its lengths. But an interesting idea of the parallel worlds of the American Indians.

118paulstalder
Sep 21, 2016, 3:39 pm

163) Asterix bei den Pikten by Jean-Yves Ferri. My first Asterix by Ferri/Conrad. A deep frozen Pict is washed ashore in Gaul. He was betrayed by another clan and Asterix and Obelix bring him back home and help him ...
The text tries a bit too hard to be compatible to the old Asterix', also the drawing is different. the main figures like Asterix and Obelix and some others are the same, but the drawing of other figures has got a slightly different style.

119paulstalder
Sep 21, 2016, 3:56 pm

164) Asterix : Tour de France by René Goscinny. The Romans wall the little Gaulian village in and the Gauls make a bet that they are able to leave the country, travel through the whole of Gaul and return safely back with (edible) souvenirs from all stops on the way...

120paulstalder
Edited: Sep 23, 2016, 5:16 am

165) Wie Obelix als kleines Kind in den Zaubertrank geplumpst ist by René Goscinny. The old story of how Obelix fell into the magic potion, told by Asterix.

121paulstalder
Sep 26, 2016, 7:28 am

166) Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. A Dutch banker marries an English woman and they move to New York NY just before the 11. Sept. 2001. His wife gets more and more estranged and finally moves back to London with their son. He lives a few years alone in New York and takes up cricket again. He befriends an interesting fellow from Trinidad and travels back to his family every fortnight.
I didn't like that book. The prose was fine and some paragraphs seemed to me just going nowhere, it looks lie a collection of short stories with always the same characters as a connection. Some informative bits about New York and cricket.


122paulstalder
Sep 29, 2016, 3:44 am

167) The moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner. A pit has accicently opened near a hotel and strange things start to happen. Susan and Colin are longing for having contact again with magical persons. They are drawn into 'Old Magic' and help the sorcerer and the dwarf to save the world.
A bit weird and no satisfactory ending. The authro draws upon mythical ideas/characters from Scandinavia, Wales, England and a few more I guess. The children act sometimes as children (especially when they don't do what they are told) and sometimes as adults, emotionless. Interesting for all the mythical references.


123paulstalder
Sep 29, 2016, 3:13 pm

168) Das Geschenk Cäsars by René Goscinny. Caesar offers a retiring soldier the little village of Asterix as a retirement gift. So the soldier sells the ownership certificate to an owner of a restaurant and this man comes into the village and starts a bar there. He has a young daughter and a scheming wife who wants her husband to become the chief of the village... Well, in the end the Romans get their beating.


124paulstalder
Sep 29, 2016, 3:28 pm

169) Asterix als Gladiator by René Goscinny. The Romans kidnap Troubadix (the singer) and bring him to Rome as a gift to Caesar. Asterix and Obelix also travel to Rome and join the Roman circus in order to become gladiators ...

125paulstalder
Sep 30, 2016, 3:40 am

170) Der Maulwurf : Thriller by Dani von Wattenwyl. Denis is a young, slightly talented actor, whose girl friend just wanted some distance. Now the Swiss secret service approaches him and sponsors him a trip on a cruise ship int the Mediterranean. The boss of a drug cartel is the owner of the ship and is also on board. So Denis should try to get information. He resembles the former fiancé of the boss' daughter who recently died.... Slow in the beginning, gets more exciting later.
The author is a local radio and TV moderator from Basel.

126Trifolia
Oct 1, 2016, 3:52 am

>125 paulstalder: - That certainly is a change from all the Asterix you've been reading lately. I wish you a lovely weekend!

127charl08
Oct 6, 2016, 6:58 pm

>121 paulstalder: I didn't like it either - thought the guys in the novel were difficult to understand - what was their motivation? I never really cared what happened to them.

128paulstalder
Oct 7, 2016, 7:28 am

>126 Trifolia: It is a change, but not exactly thrilling. Good for a first work.

>127 charl08: It had some good critiques. I got never through to the motivation/intention of the characters.

129paulstalder
Edited: Oct 9, 2016, 10:10 am

We are in the Italian part of Switzerland on holidays.


Sun rise in Pura. The sun rises behind Mt Generoso in Italy, below the lake of Lugano.

130paulstalder
Edited: Oct 9, 2016, 10:08 am


Mt San Salvatore from Lugano

131paulstalder
Edited: Oct 9, 2016, 10:06 am


the back of the Library of the Canton of Ticino in Lugano

132PaulCranswick
Oct 9, 2016, 12:40 am

Shucks I can't see the pictures, Paul.

I am sure that they are great. Have a wonderful weekend.

133paulstalder
Oct 9, 2016, 10:11 am

>132 PaulCranswick: I changed the pictures, so I hope you can see them now, Paul.
Thanks for pointing that out.

134Trifolia
Oct 9, 2016, 10:49 am

>133 paulstalder: - I loved the pictures. I hope you enjoyed Ticino and are enjoying the weekend so far.

135paulstalder
Edited: Oct 9, 2016, 2:45 pm

add-ons
231) Vorsätzlich herumlungern : Roman by Muriel Spark
- Eines Tages in der Mitte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts sass ich auf einem alten Friedhof, der noch nicht demoliert worden war.
232) Angstspiel : Roman by Jonathan Nasaw
- Als Wayne Summers die Augen aufschlug, befand er sich im Dunkeln, umgeben vom Rascheln und Flattern unsichtbarer Vögel.
233) Once upon a crime by Carol Hedges
- The young free-runner leaps between the two buildings.
234) Wir sind sieben : Roman by Una Troy
- "Ich traf ein Bauernmädel,
Das sagt, es sei acht Jahr,
Es hatte ... es hatte ..."
235) Dead beat : a novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
- On the whole, we're a murderous race.
236) Mit Schirm und blinkender Pistole by Martha Grimes
- Er war schon wieder da. Im Trench, mit Schirm
und blinkender Pistole stand er am Wegesende
knietief im Laub.
237) Tod in stiller Nacht : ein Fall für Thomas Andreasson by Viveca Sten
- Wenn sie erst auf Sandhamn wäre, würde alles gut werden.
238) Sechseläuten : Kriminalroman by Michael J. Theurillat
- Ich bin das Kind einer Feckerin.
239) Mexiko by Bernard Villaret
- Mexiko ist nicht ein Land wie andere: es ist vielmehr ein Kontinent.
240) Anne Frank und Basel : eine Familiengeschichte über Grenzen by Katia Guth-Dreyfus
- Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank ist eines der meist-gelesenen Bücher überhaupt.

-- -- -- --

136paulstalder
Edited: Oct 9, 2016, 3:12 pm

more add-ons
241) Das Lachen des Clowns by Anne Gold
- Aus der Hard drangen Trommel- und Pfeifenklänge.
242) Gesetze sind wie Spinnennetze : Roman by Margaret Millar
- Bitte sich zu erheben.
243) Gelber Mond über der Steppe : Roman by Hildegard Plievier
- Es war eine kalte Winternacht.
244) Die späte Trauung : Roman by William Babington Maxwell
- Ein seltsamer Antrieb veranlasste die kleine Mildred Parker, in der ersten grossen Not ihres jungen Lebens bei Miss Verinder Rat und Beistand oder wenigstens Mitgefühl zu suchen.
245) Unter Wasser atmen : Storys by Julie Orringer
- Es war Thanksgiving und heiss, wie fast immer in New Orleans, und sie fuhren in einen Aussenbezirk der Stadt, um bei fremden Leuten zu Abend zu essen.
246) Untreue : Roman by Paulo Coelho
- Jeden Morgen, wenn ich die Augen zu einem "neuen Tag" öffne, wie man so schön sagt, möchte ich sie am liebsten gleich wieder schliessen und noch etwas weiterschlafen.
247) Tödliche Energie : ein Europa-Thriller by Jan Bergrath
- D1871 - Gegen halb sechs gab Dieter Dahm den fünfstelligen Code an der Haustür ein, holte aus dem Briefkasten im Treppenhaus die Post und stieg beschwingt in die oberste Etage hinauf.
248) Die Rückkehr des Fremden by Tamera Alexander
- Larson Jennings hatte diesen Augenblick schon tausendmal durchlebt, und er jagte ihm noch immer einen Schauer über den Rücken.
249) Die Pilgerjahre des farblosen Herrn Tazaki : Roman by Haruki Murakami
- Vom Juli seines zweiten Jahres an der Universität bis zum Januar des folgenden Jahres dachte Tsukuru Tazaki an nichts anderes als an den Tod.
250) Paradies verloren : Roman by Cees Nooteboom
- Dash 8-300. Ich bin weiss Gott schon mit allen möglichen Flugzeugen geflogen, aber eine Dash war noch nie darunter.

-- -- -- --
-- -- -- --

137paulstalder
Oct 9, 2016, 3:18 pm

>134 Trifolia: Thanks, Monica. We had a good journey home by train - not through the new tunnel at the Gotthard. I like that travel by train 'over' the Gotthard Pass. Our daughter surprised us this morning: She stayed here over night and went out this morning and brought croissants for breakfast - like in the hotel last week. Lovely

138Ameise1
Oct 10, 2016, 3:50 pm

Hi Paul, I was absent several weeks on LT but I try to do better in the future. Nice to hear that you had a great time in Ticino. I love lots of places there. As I can see you've been very busy with your reading. I'm far away of keeping up.
I wish you a wonderful start into the new week.

139paulstalder
Oct 11, 2016, 4:12 pm

>138 Ameise1: Hej Barbara, nice to see you again here. It was my first time around Pura/Caslano/Mte Lema. I know the Onsernone, Maggia and Verzasca valleys better.

Wish you a good week, too.

140paulstalder
Oct 11, 2016, 4:13 pm

'Duty calls!'

'Tell her, I'll call back.'

141charl08
Oct 11, 2016, 4:47 pm

I admire the photos - just stunning images - and the Murakami cover with the butterfly is worth framing.

And croissants for breakfast! Lovely.

142paulstalder
Edited: Oct 14, 2016, 10:06 am

>141 charl08: Thank you. And yes, some of the covers are really pieces of art.


our menue card, they changed that every three days


up on Monte Lema

143paulstalder
Oct 14, 2016, 10:13 am

171) Jan schöpft Verdacht : eine Detektivgeschichte für Buben und Mädchen by Knud Meister. Jan and his friends observe how a young woman escapes from a boat in Hellerup and start investigating... In this book Jan appears even more self-assured and proud than in earlier parts of the series.

144paulstalder
Edited: Oct 14, 2016, 10:29 am

172) Das 1 x 1 der Häuserbefreiung : was soll man tun, wenn es daheim spukt? by Beat Schulthess. a little booklet with some examples of people who suffered from inexplicable things going on in their houses (sounds, lights, strange accidents and the like). The author gives some information concerning occult actions he met in different parts of Switzerland but doesn't give a '1x1' for cleaning the house of such phenomena as the title suggests.

145PaulCranswick
Oct 14, 2016, 10:55 am

I can see all the pictures now Paul and they were worth waiting for.

Have a great weekend.

146paulstalder
Edited: Oct 14, 2016, 11:24 am

Pleased to know that you can see them now. Thanks for coming over

147paulstalder
Oct 18, 2016, 4:51 am

173) "K" is for killer by Sue Grafton. A mother wants the death of her daughter re-investigated by Kinsey, a year after the event. I like the humour Kinsey shows, so sometimes she comes over as bitchy. The end was dissatisfying and rushed.

148paulstalder
Edited: Oct 21, 2016, 4:49 am

174) Ueber Eisenbahnen in der Schweiz und insbesondere einer Stammeisenbahn von Basel nach Olten und Fortsetzung der benachbarten grossen Bahnen by Andreas Merian (1845). André Merian was an engineer in Basel at the time when the railways were invented. He wrote a pamphlet about the importance of that new mode of transport. He compared different other railways in Europe and the USA and came to the conclusion that it would be no problem to build a railway from Basel to the Lucerne, take a boat over the Vierwaldstättersee (Lake of Lucerne) to Flüelen, there change to stagecoaches over the Gotthard, and take up the train on the Southern side again. He also wanted to integrate the ship traffic on the Swiss lakes. And he promoted strongly the way over or through the Hauenstein (a pass between Basel and Olten). He predicted a good economic value added if Switzerland took on building railways.
He calculated different routes (in Schweizer Stunden = Swiss hour = 4.8 km = 16000 feet)
- from Basel to Olten 8 Schw.-St. which would give a journey of 83 Minutes to and 74 Minutes back
- from Olten to Lucerne 10 Schw.-St.
- from Lucerne to Flüelen (boat) 6 5/8 Schw.-St.
- over the Gotthard to Giornico (new road) 22 1/8 Schw.-St.
- from Giornico to Magadino at the Lago Maggiore (near the Italian border) 9 Schw.-St.
He gives other calculations for other paths, like from the Lake of Constance to the Lake of Geneva.

Interesting historical reading, with a lot of figures in it.



Fun fact: He had to use 'Swiss hour' because there were no standard measurements then in Switzerland, we unified them all late in 1877, before that there were different measurements in use.
( 1 Elle = 2 feet = 0.6 m; Aarau = 0.59387 m; Bern = 0.6 m; Luzern 0.6277 m; Neuchâtel =1.111 m; Vaud = 1.2 m etc.) Some cantons had different Ellen depending on measuring wool or canvas (e.g. Appenzell, St. Gallen, Zürich). Appenzell canvas-Elle = 0.8017 m; wool-Elle = 0.616 m

149paulstalder
Edited: Oct 23, 2016, 8:55 am

175) Bob Dylan song book by Bob Dylan. I took out my old Dylan song book I bought in the late 1970s and read the texts again. I learned to play the guitar back then with 'Blowin' in the wind' and 'Mr. Tambourine Man' ... reveling in old memories ...

150paulstalder
Edited: Oct 21, 2016, 5:48 am

add-ons:
251) Veroneser Finale : Kriminalroman ; Commissario Fontanaros erster Fall by Marta Donato
- Er hatte Glück.
252) Mauerfall : Mannheim-Krimi Teil 3 by Alexander Emmerich
- Sie ist so alt wie die Menschheitsgeschichte selbst. Die Rache.
253) Due north by Mitchell Smith
- Sara stood on the fox until it died.
254) Der Maulwurf : Thriller by Dani von Wattenwyl
- Denis Benz wurde jäh aus dem Schlaf gerissen.
255) Bedingungslos geliebt : von zwei verlorenen Söhnen und einem liebenden Vater by Timothy Keller
- Die meisten Auslegungen dieses Gleichnisses haben sich auf die Flucht und die Rückkehr des jüngeren Bruders konzentriert - des "verlorenen Sohnes".
256) 40 Jahre Ateliergenossenschaft Basel by Bruno Gasser
- Zufrieden? Nein, ignoriert wird es.
257) Princess Ai - the prism of midnight dawn 1 by Misaho Kujiradou
- Ai-Land - ein Jahr nach dem Ende der Zweiten Revolution.
258) Princess Ai - the prism of midnight dawn 2 by Misaho Kujiradou
- Mama! Wer bezahlt die Vögel fürs Singen?
259) Feuervolk by Joanne Harris
- Montagmorgen, sieben Uhr, fünfhundert Jahre nach dem Weltuntergang, und schon wieder hatten sich die Kobolde im Keller zu schaffen gemacht.
260) Licht über dem Land : Roman by Jim Harrison
- Man vergisst allzu leicht, dass wir in der Regel nur siebenmal langsamer sterben als unsere Hunde.

-- -- -- --

-> 258 good question: 'Mama! Wer bezahlt die Vögel fürs Singen?' (mom, who pays the birds for singing?)

151PaulCranswick
Oct 22, 2016, 11:47 am

>149 paulstalder: Very topical Paul! I like some of the lyrics from his Street Legal and Blood on the Tracks albums.

Have a great weekend.

152paulstalder
Oct 23, 2016, 8:54 am

>151 PaulCranswick: well, it was a good reason hunting the Dylan Song Book. And I just listened to his album 'Slow Train Coming' again, where I find his voice less 'grating' than the older albums. (but that may be just biased memories....)

Our younger daughter is soon leaving for Myanmar, Laos, Taiwan for the next two months. flying back from Kuala Lumpur. Big adventure for her and her friend and some thinking for us at home. We will see her next year again.

153paulstalder
Oct 23, 2016, 9:09 am

176) Der Virtuose : Roman by Margriet de Moor. Gasparo is singing in church as a boy and Carlotta fells in love to his voice. then he disappears from the village. Carlotta marries and later meets Gasparo again as a castrated singer in the opera. And she fells again for him. A historical novel mingling singing and sex. He talks about the mechanics of singing and she thinks about sexual feelings. Could have been a quite good background story but the way Moor tells the story (she uses backflashs and changing of the perspectives), I didn't find into the story. It had some smooth parts and good wording, but somehow there was no flow to it.



There is talk about Bes-Dur music scale, which confused me. There is no bes in German notation. Apparently the translator didn't check that out. Bes-majeur in Dutch is B-Dur in German and B-flat major in English. This translatoral mistake negatively influenced my reading the novel.

154paulstalder
Edited: Oct 23, 2016, 9:27 am

add-ons
261) Die Schatten von La Rochelle : Roman by Tanja Kinkel
- Es war noch dunkel, als sie sich erhob.
262) Die Kinder von Ameland by Corry Blei-Strijbos
- Es ist Frühling!
263) Ewige Liebe : ein Black Dagger-Roman by J. R. Ward
- "Verdammt, V, du machst mich echt fertig."
264) Vampirherz : ein Black-Dagger-Roman by J. R. Ward
- Marissa materialisierte sich auf der Terrasse vor Rehvenges Penthouse und kollabierte fast.
265) Racheengel : ein Black-Dagger-Roman by J. R. Ward
- "Der König muss sterben."
266) Der Berg des Grossen Adlers by Federica DeCesco
- Die Mittagshitze war drückend.
267) Der Kojote wartet : Roman by Tony Hillerman
- Der Streifenwagen zog leicht nach rechts.
268) The moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner
- It was bleak on Mottram road under the Edge, the wooded hill of Alderley.
269) Arrows of the queen by Mercedes Lackey
- A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the tree, but the young girl seated beneath it did not seem to notice.
270) Arrow's flight by Mercedes Lackey
- Thwack!

-- -- -- --

155paulstalder
Oct 24, 2016, 4:23 am

I forgot the statistics .....

statistics for August

3218 pages, 14 books

14 books were written in German, 0 in English, and 0 in Swiss German

nationalities: CH 4, J 2, A 1, GB 1, I 1, USA 2, D 2, IRL 1
dead 7, alive 7
male 8, female 6
collective

oldest 1930, newest 2011 (all these are first-edition-copies)

156paulstalder
Oct 24, 2016, 4:40 am

statistics for September

3298 pages, 26 books

23 books were written in German, 3 in English, and 0 in Swiss German

nationalities: CH 1, F 3, I 1, CHN 1, NL 1, GB 2, D 1, USA 1, IRL 1
dead 3, alive 9
male 10, female 2
collective

13x Goscinny, 3x Uderzo

oldest 1972, newest 2016 (all these are first-edition-copies)

a sweep in the TIOLI challenges, thanks to Asterix

157paulstalder
Oct 25, 2016, 8:07 am

177) Inselgäste : Roman by Vonne van der Meer. A house on the Dutch island of Vlieland. Van der Meer tells the stories of different people making holidays in that house. A woman who took along the daughter of her friend and discovers that this 20-year-old girl is pregnant.... A woman who is coming to terms with the news that her husband betrayed her a few weeks previous.... An elderl man who lost his wife a year ago and wants to end his life...
Good idea for telling different short stories all connected by the same house. And well written. No mystery, no thriller, but real life characters.

158paulstalder
Oct 25, 2016, 10:33 am

178) Als die Tiere noch sprachen : ein Bilderbuch für die Jugend von 8 bis 80 Jahren by Jean Effel. A collection of over 70 drawings by this French caricaturist.

159Trifolia
Oct 25, 2016, 2:27 pm

Hi Paul, I finally managed to read your thread (it takes forever to open with all the pictyres you add :-)).
Your daughter must be excited about her trip to Asia. I hope she'll have a great time and that you don't worry too much.

160paulstalder
Oct 25, 2016, 3:29 pm

>159 Trifolia: Thank you, Monica, for honouring my thread with presence - despite the long wait. I know how it feels, for my laptop is also not the fastest, so it takes time loading my own thread (threat ??)
2nd Daughter will be okay (I guess). She took up paragliding (Gleitschirmfliegen) in summer. They went to Peru and the Galapagos islands last year. They will have a great time and I will, äh, not worry. :)
I remember me interrailing to Sweden and not being able to phone home till I was in Stockholm a few days later. I was travelling for a few weeks and sent postcards twice a week - that was communication back then. Now, we'll get a KakaoTalk (a Korean mixture of Skype and WhatsApp) whenever they have free wireless lan. That helps worrying sooner ...

161paulstalder
Edited: Oct 25, 2016, 3:43 pm

some cartoons from Effel >178 paulstalder: (the pictures are all on my LT member gallery)
-- --
The marmot: 'When do you want to be woken up?' '21st of March' -- 'Nothing can happen to us - I have eaten lucky clover!'

--
'Theater is a twisted world - they whistle to us to go away!' -- the gourmet (nibble on Selected Pieces)

162Trifolia
Oct 29, 2016, 4:29 am

>160 paulstalder: - The pleasure's all mine, Paul. There's always something interesting to discover here.
Ah yes, I remember when I went travelling in my late teens and early twenties, I only phoned home once a week or less. My parents did not worry (too much :-)). It's hard to escape from your parents nowadays :-)
Have a pleasant weekend, Paul!

163paulstalder
Nov 1, 2016, 9:52 am

>162 Trifolia: Our daughter gave an sms when she landed, no news since then.

164paulstalder
Edited: Nov 2, 2016, 2:59 pm

179) Das Mönchskraut : Roman by Ellis Peters. An elderly couple wants to give a farm to the monastery for free living in the vicinity of the monastery. But before the willing becomes official the husband is murdered with a poison which was actually a remedy to rub the back of a sick brother made by Brother Cadfael. Cadfael starts talking to all the relatives and servants of the man, even travels to Wales in order to find the true killer...
A good historical mystery.

165paulstalder
Nov 2, 2016, 3:44 pm

180) Die letzte Fähre : Roman by Vonne van der Meer. A follow up of Inselgäste. The same house on the island of Vlieland with different guests coming for a week or two. Some guests are the same as in the first part, like the women who was here the previous year with her friend's daughter, now she is here and longs for her new lover but comes with bad news... The husband of the woman who tore some pages from the guest book comes as well, saying goodbye to his wife who died shortly after her visit on the island. Short stories about different characters making holidays on the island. This time, I feel, there were not so many happy endings as in the first part.

166charl08
Nov 3, 2016, 5:25 pm

>161 paulstalder: I love the mouse eating the book. Cute cartoon.
(Not in real life, of course).

>165 paulstalder: The cover of this book is so striking. Are they beach chairs? The idea is a clever one - I read a Nigerian book recently with a similar basis.

167paulstalder
Nov 5, 2016, 7:18 am

>166 charl08: Yeah, there were some funny cartoons in the book.

Yes, these are beach chairs on vna der Meer's book cover. It was good read, these two books by her. In that way she could develop different characters and dropping one without having to find any explanations whatever.

168paulstalder
Nov 5, 2016, 7:29 am

181) Der Bibliothekar, der lieber dement war als zu Hause bei seiner Frau : Roman by Dimitri Verhulst. The Dutch title is 'De laatkomer' (= The latecomer), the German title translates like 'The librarian who prefers to be senile than to be with his wife'.
Désiré is a retired librarian who suffers under his wife and wants to escape her rigid rules. So he starts to act as Alzheimer patients would. The doctors believe him and he is transferred to an old people's home where they care for such patients.
I liked the idea of pretending to be senile and to escape the world. Interesting idea. I also liked the writing, the humour. But still I didn't get warm with the story.

169paulstalder
Nov 5, 2016, 9:40 am

182) Wilsberg und die Wiedertäufer : Kriminalroman by Jürgen Kehrer. Georg Wilsberg is a private eye in Münster, an old centre of the Anabaptists. One day the cages in which the Anabaptists were held, were painted yellow, a few weeks later a painting of the bishop of the time of the reformation (who was responsible for the killing of the Anabaptists) was attacked with acid. A historian finds out that a the same dates in 1534 the Anabaptists were executed (22 January) and the Anabaptists destroyed several pictures in the old churches (24 February) ... but is behind the actions? The a 'Commando Jan van Leiden' (one of the executed Anabaptist) blackmails the Catholic church and asks for 500'000 DM ... Georg finds the group and is facscinated by one of their members ...
A good detective story with some historical background about the Anabaptists in Münster. A abit an unclear/unclean ending for me.

170paulstalder
Edited: Nov 6, 2016, 10:50 am

183) Jüdische Feste - christliche Deutung by David Jaffin. A Messianic Jew compares the Christian and Jewish festivals like Christmas, Chanukka, Passah, Easter and Pentecost with each other. There are all elements which refer to the Messiah and so to Jesus. Fascinating read.

171paulstalder
Nov 6, 2016, 10:35 am

184) Asterix und die Goten by René Goscinny. The Goths want to attack the Romans and therefore hijack the best druid from the yearly druid-meeting. And who is the best? Well, Miraculix, who else? So Asterix and Obelix go to get him back. The German edition is printed in Fraktur whenever the Goths are talking.

172paulstalder
Edited: Nov 6, 2016, 11:04 am

statistics for October

1418 pages, 9 books

7 books were written in German, 2 in English, and 0 in Swiss German

nationalities: CH 2, F 1, DK 1, NL 2, GB 1, D , USA 2,
dead 4, alive 5
male 5, female 4
collective 0

oldest 1845, newest 2008 (printed)

173Trifolia
Nov 6, 2016, 1:40 pm

>168 paulstalder: - I noticed you read Der Bibliothekar, der lieber dement war als zu Hause bei seiner Frau by Dimitri Verhulst.
I can understand what you write about the book. I also thought it was good, but there was something lacking and I did not know what is was. I think Dimitri Verhulst is an excellent writer, but his story-lines are sometimes a bit too light to match his style. Have you read Madame Verona comes down the hill? I think it's his best book yet and very much worth reading.
Enjoy the remains of this weekend, Paul.

174PaulCranswick
Nov 6, 2016, 6:15 pm

Hope you had a splendid weekend Paul.

175paulstalder
Nov 7, 2016, 4:22 am

>173 Trifolia: Monica, I am not sure what made me uneasy about the Latecomer. I like his idea for the plot and also his style, but ... No, I haven't read Madame Verona. But thanks for the hint, I will check the public library for it.

>174 PaulCranswick: Welcome Paul. I wish you a good start into the new, hopefully peaceful, week.

176paulstalder
Nov 7, 2016, 4:49 am

add-ons
271) Arrow's fall by Mercedes Lackey
- We could be brother and sister, Kris thought, glancing over at his fellow Herald.
272) Das Labyrinth der Geister : Roman by Tony Hillerman
- Der Südwestwind liess sich von den San Francisco Peaks ein paar heftige Böen und Wirbel mitgeben, er heulte über die Leere des Moenkopi-Plateaus und verursachte tausend seltsame Geräusche in den Fenstern der alten Hopi-Dörfer in Shongopovi und auf der Second Mesa.
273) Fremde Federn : Roman by Martha Grimes
- Der blinde roch etwas Neues in der Cider Alley, einen neuen Gestank, der sich mit dem nach Urin und Schweiss, Bier und Whisky vermischte und aus einem Hauseingang kam (glaubte er zumindest), in dem sonst immer eine Gruppe Männer herumstand.
274) Das Blut der Nibelungen : Roman by Bernd Frenz
- Bruder Konrads grösste Schwäche war es, dass er seine Gefühle nicht im Zaun halten konnte.
275) Das Flüstern der Walfrau : Roman by Alonso Cueto
- Mein Termin war um sechs, ich war spät dran.
276) Alle Rache will Ewigkeit : Kriminalroman by Val McDermid
- Was ist Ihre früheste Erinnerung?
277) Der Samurai : Roman by Shūsaku Endō
- Es schneite
278) Kein schöner Land : Roman by Silvio Blatter
- Es war, als ob die Landschaft warten müsste, vorsommerlich heiss war es, still - und nichts geschah - im Freiamt, Ende Mai - seit Tagen hielt das gute Wetter an, Schwalben, hochfliegende Schwalben verbürgten es, und Katrin, die mit dem Rad über Land fuhr, sah sie als kleine schwarze Sicheln am Himmel ziehen.
279) Gletschertheater : Roman by Steinunn Sigurðardóttir
- Der Vorstand des Schauspielvereins von Papavík beschliesst, im kommenden Winter die "Drei Schwestern" von Anton Čechov aufzuführen.
280) Tell Walti by Elias Raabe
- Es lebte vor langer, langer Zeit ein tapferer Jäger.

-- -- -- --

177paulstalder
Edited: Nov 7, 2016, 7:21 am

add-ons

178paulstalder
Edited: Nov 7, 2016, 7:19 am

add-ons
281) Phantastische Geschichten by Edgar Allan Poe
- Einst, um eine Mitternacht graulich, da ich trübe sann und traulich
müde über manchem alten folio lang vergess'ner Lehr' -
282) Felix Guttmann : Roman by Peter Härtling
- Ich traue ihm alles zu.
283) Wer hat mein Gehirn ausgeschaltet? : toxische Gedanken und Emotionen überwinden by Caroline Leaf
- Hast du manchmal das Gefühl, dass dein Gehirn "ausgeschaltet" wurde?
284) 1813 Kriegsfeuer by Sabine Ebert
- "Blücher überschreiten die Oder?", brachte Friedrich Wilhelm III., König von Preussen, fassungslos in seiner eigentümlichen Sprechweise heraus.
285) Killing lessons : Thriller by Saul Black
- Im gleichen Augenblick, in dem Rowena Cooper aus ihrer warmen, von Keksduft erfüllten Küche trat und die beiden Männer bei der Hintertür im Hausflur stehen sah, während der schmelzende Schnee von den Rändern ihrer Stiefel troff, wusste sie genau, was dies war: ganz allein ihre Schuld.
286) Fotofalle : Krimi by Leo P. Ard
- Behutsam tastete sich Rolfs Hand vor, aber obwohl Ingrid den Bauch einzog, ging es nicht weiter.
287) Die Testamentsklausel by Hedwig Courths-Mahler
- "Wollen wir zum Presseball gehen, Armin?"
288) The miracle of Fatima Mansions : an escape from drug addiction by Shay Byrne
- It was hours since my last hit, and I was on edge, to say the least.
289) Sie waren stille Helden : Frauen und Männer, die Juden vor den Nazis retteten by Eric Silver
- "Israel verlieh mir eine Medaille", sagte mir ein pensionierter polnischer Aussenhandelsfachmann eines Abend in einem Jerusalemer Hotelzimmer.
290) Die Zimtgärten : Roman by Shyam Selvadurai
- Annalukshmi Kandiah hatte oft das Gefühl, dass der Vers aus jenem grossen Werk tamilischer Philosophie, dem Tirukkural - "Ich sehe das Meer der Liebe, aber kein Floss, es zu überqueren" - sich auf ihr eigenes Leben bezog, wenn man "Liebe" durch "Wünsche" ersetzte.

-- -- -- --

179paulstalder
Edited: Nov 8, 2016, 4:32 am

add-ons
291) Der Korallenstrand : Roman by Ravinder Randhawa
- "Angst? Ich doch nicht!"
292) Der Gesang der Zikaden : Roman by Annie Bruel
- Im oberen Teil des Var, im Herzen jener wilden Hügellandschaft, die sich wie ein vom Meer aufkommender Sturm den südfranzösischen Alpen entgegenwirft, lag hoch oben, wie auf einem Wellenkamm, in friedlichem Schlummer das Dörfchen Mons.
293) Der lange Winter am Ende der Welt : Roman by Julie Harris
- An dem Tag, an dem er aufwachte und seinen Namen wusste, brach fast die Sonne durch die Wolkendecke.
294) Der Mond über Kairo : Roman by Dominique Marny
- Mit einer Rauchwolke fuhr der Zug in den Bahnhof von Kairo ein.
295) Der Gesang der Wale : Roman by Adam Armstrong
- Dass die beiden vom FBI waren, wusste John-Cody in dem Moment, als sie hereinkamen.
296) Im Spannungsfeld von Gott und Welt : Beiträge zu Geschichte und Gegenwart des Frey-Grynaeischen Instituts in Basel 1747-1997 by Andreas Urs Sommer
- Einem Institut, das in der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts im Geist einer längst verblichenen Theologie gegründet worden ist, haftet auf den ersten Blick etwas vielleicht rührend Unzeitgemässes an.
297) Erbarmen : der erste Fall für Carl Mørck, Sonderdezernat Q ; Thriller by Jussi Adler-Olsen
- Sie kratzte sich an den glatten Wänden die Fingerspitzen blutig und hämmerte mit den Fäusten an die dicken Scheiben, bis sie ihre Hände nicht mehr spürte.
298) Der Zug der Dachse : Roman by Aeron Clement
- Die Abendluft war schwer vom Duft des neu spriessenden Laubs, der die Bewohner von Yellow Copse in erwartungsvoller Freude erschauern liess.
299) Gesammelte Spiele by Silja Walter
- Die Sonne sollt ein Kuchen sein,
Der Mond ein dicker Käse.
300) Stiftung Gott hilft : 100 Jahre sozial engagiert ; lebendig Jubiläumsausgabe 1916-2016 by Bernhard Heusser
- Innovation und Hingabe prägten die Entwicklung der Stiftung Gott hilft.

-- -- -- --

180paulstalder
Nov 8, 2016, 4:56 am

185) Ein Gesicht in der Menge by Stephen King. Dean Evers, a widower, watches baseball on TV, and there he sees old enemies who long ago died: his old dentist for example. Then one night the dead person takes her mobile and calls him - frightening. A good story

181paulstalder
Nov 8, 2016, 8:00 am

186) Asterix in Spanien by René Goscinny. Caesar kidnaps a kid from a Spanish chieftain and sends him into captivity in a Roman camp near Asterix' village. They take him away from the Romans and bring him back home.

182paulstalder
Nov 11, 2016, 5:26 pm

187) Tarabas : ein Gast auf dieser Erde ; Roman by Joseph Roth. A proud youth joined a revolutionary movement in old Russia, then left for New York, there he nearly killed a man and fled back home and joined the the Russian army of the Tsar. He is very superstitious, afraid of redheads, Jews and so on, when a Gypsy in New York read his hand and told him to first become a murderer and then change into a saint, he takes that as a true prophecy for his life and so follows that path. He is never loved by anybody and also never loves anybody. He follows superstitions rules and becomes a good soldier. But when the war is over his star is falling.
A historic novel of the time of the Russian revolution, and the start of a new nation now independent of the tsarist regime. Roth writers about a fictive nation, but describing true events of Ukrainian background, describing the longing of the simple people for there home and ground, the bravery and greed of the soldiers, the religious feeling of Jews and Catholics, the antisemitism of the time... not an easy read but giving a good idea about the 1910-1920s in Eastern Europe.

183paulstalder
Nov 11, 2016, 5:37 pm

188) Mit offenen Karten : ein Hercule Poirot Krimi by Agatha Christie. Mr Shaitana invites eight guests, 4 investigators (Hercule Poirot being one of them) and four others he believes they all had murdered somebody in the past, they all had committed a crime without ever having been suspected. The four investigators all work with different methods, all making discoveries, but the end the gray cells of Poirot's brain are solving the mystery. Fun read

184PaulCranswick
Nov 12, 2016, 8:24 am

>183 paulstalder: Wouldn't it have been great if, just once in his long career of twiddling his moustaches and solving the crime, Hercule got to the end of the book and said:

"You know, I'm sorry, I don't have the foggiest idea who killed him"

Have a great weekend.

185paulstalder
Nov 13, 2016, 10:08 am

>184 PaulCranswick: He is lacking some humbleness and that makes it difficult to read too many books with him in a year ...

186paulstalder
Edited: Nov 13, 2016, 10:24 am

add-ons
301) City of fortune : how Venice won and lost a naval empire by Roger Crowley
- Late in the evening of 9 April 1363, the poet and scholar Francesco Petrarch was writing to a friend.
302) Das 1 x 1 der Häuserbefreiung : was soll man tun, wenn es daheim spukt? by Beat Schulthess
- Hey, Leute! Es geht darum, dass ich in letzter Zeit immer irgendwelche Schatten sehe, manchmal aber auch Personen.
303) Einstieg in Fahrtrichtung : Begegnungen im Zug by Sia Bronikowski
- Erst sah ich nur seinen schwarzen, langen Ledermantel.
304) Das Tagebuch der Mattie Spenser : Roman by Sandra Dallas
- Hazel Dunn, meine Nachbarin, ist vierundneunzig Jahre alt und zieht demnächst in ein Altersheim.
305) Mitternachtsfalken : Roman by Ken Follett
- Ein Mann mit einem Holzbein ging über den langen Flur eines Krankenhauses.
306) Tarabas : ein Gast auf dieser Erde ; Roman by Joseph Roth
- Im August des Jahres Neunzehnhundertvierzehn lebte in New York ein junger Mann, namens Nikolaus Tarabas.
307) Sein Name war Flint : der Western-Klassiker ; Roman by Louis L'Amour
- Nur wenigen Menschen gelingt es, zweimal zu verschwinden.
308) Salat-Rezepte by Marianne Berger
- Salat-Grundsauce
309) Drachensee : Roman by Eric Van Lustbader
- "Er kommt!"
310) Als die Tiere noch sprachen : ein Bilderbuch für die Jugend von 8 bis 80 Jahren by Jean Effel
- Achtung! Spione!

-- -- -- --

187paulstalder
Nov 18, 2016, 5:52 am

189) Selig seid ihr ...! : Besinnungen über 20 Seligpreisungen des Neuen Testaments by Wilhelm J. Oehler. A pastor writes about 20 beatitudes of the New Testament. Good, short Bible studies.

188paulstalder
Nov 18, 2016, 2:56 pm

190) Muck but no money : humorous tales from a Cumbrian farm by Joyce Wilson. Jackson Strong is strong-headed, hard-working, and beer-loving farmer in Cumbria. These are humouros tales of family life on a farm, far away from the cities. Life with the bulls and cows, the horses and ponies, the children and the neighbors. An easy read.

189paulstalder
Nov 18, 2016, 3:18 pm

191) Mehr Raum im Herzen : zwei weihnachtliche Erzählungen by Anna Oehler. Two pious, a bit sentimental Christmas stories from this missionary daughter, linked with the Basel Mission. In the first story, Leni, a young woman is invited to visit a reach English woman whom she met as a tourist in the Swiss alps. She finds a sad family, the mother often suffering from headaches because her children are too noisy. Leni helps them to celebrate a nice Christmas and so helps to bring mother and kids closer together. the 2nd story is about a rich Swiss family visiting a poor family with a handicapped child (in Basel) and bringing them there own toys because the poor family can't afford toys, or a Christmas tree with candles.

190paulstalder
Edited: Nov 19, 2016, 3:20 pm

add-ons
311) Apolls Aufruhr : die Geschichte der Unsterblichen by Villy Sørensen
- Im Anfang waren Himmel und Erde in einer ewigen Umarmung vereint.
312) Lokomotiven in aller Welt by Milan Schijatschky
- Eine Lokomotive bewegt einen Zug, ohne selbst eine Nutzlast mitzuführen.
313) Spiegelbild im goldenen Auge. Frankie : Zwei Romane by Carson McCullers
- Eine Garnison in Friedenszeiten ist ein langweiliger Ort.
314) Sämi : Schicksal eines Verdingbuben by Siegfried Joss
- Vor drei Tagen hatte Gottfried Luginbühl, der Zelgbauer, mit einem derben Fluche einen grauen Brief hinter den halberblindeten Spiegel gesteckt und war dann polternd zur Wohnstube hinausgegangen.
315) Was wir vom Leben haben by Steppenblüte
- Zur "Steppenblüte" aus Basel gehören heute über zwanzig Leute: Lehrer, Schüler, Hausfrauen, Studenten u.a.
316) Mond über der Eifel : ein Eifel-Krimi by Jacques Berndorf
- Es war das Jahr, in dem der Muttertag auf den Pfingstsonntag fiel, er Eifelhimmel unglaublich blau und vollkommen wolkenlos war und die Temperatur bei zwanzig Grad lag.
317) Hüter der Erde : Begegnungen mit Indianern Nordamerikas by Harvey Arden
- Der Ute-Medizinmann sitzt an der offenen Tür seines leuchtendblauen Kleinlasters und mustert die zwei Fremden, deren staubbedeckter Mietwagen gerade bei seinem Aluminium-Wohnwagen vorgefahren ist.
318) And the mountains echoed by Khaled Hosseini
- So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one. But just the one.
319) Geschichten um Weihnachten by Jürg Jaggi
- Als die Glocken der Kathedrale zu läuten begannen, blieb er einen Augenblick mitten auf der Strasse stehen, so dass ein Auto brüsk bremsen musste.
320) Selig seid ihr ...! : Besinnungen über 20 Seligpreisungen des Neuen Testaments by Wilhelm J. Oehler
- In diesem einen kurzen Sätzchen steht das ganze Evangelium.

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191PaulCranswick
Nov 20, 2016, 5:04 am

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Paul

192paulstalder
Edited: Nov 21, 2016, 3:21 am

>191 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. We went to our lively church service, during that time our daughter was preparing coq-au-vin-blanc, and we had a nice walk in the autumn sun in the afternoon.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend, too.

193paulstalder
Nov 21, 2016, 3:26 am

192) Adschaka und seine Trommel by Anna Oehler. Adschaka is the son of a chieftain of the Yoruba. But he wants to learn to play the drum. And he becomes the best drummer of the area. He often drums for the gods of his people and for frivolous occasions. Then he becomes a Christian and rethinks his habits.
A missionary story based on the drum which was brought to a missions museum in London before World War I, published 1916 by the Basel Mission.

194FAMeulstee
Nov 21, 2016, 8:38 am

I just finished De laatkomer by Dimitri Verhulst. I liked it better than you did.
Like Monica >173 Trifolia:, I recommend Mevrouw Verona daalt de heuvel af as his best book.

195paulstalder
Nov 22, 2016, 5:05 am

>194 FAMeulstee: I still like the story of the Librarian, but something made me uneasy and I can't pin it down. But that will help me to remember the book far better :)
Our library doesn't have Verona, so I have to wait till I see it in a free book box :)

196paulstalder
Nov 22, 2016, 5:11 am

193) Der Prinz von Mexiko : Jugendroman by Federica de Cesco. Tecuichpo is the daughter of Montezuma, the emperor of the Aztecs. She is in love with an officer of Montezuma's army but the emperor has other plans for the two. But then comes Hernán Cortés and starts conquering the empire of the Aztecs (1519-1521). A well written historical tale for the youth with some good historical background and some inventions of the author's. A story of love and faithfulness on the background of a brutal war.

197paulstalder
Nov 23, 2016, 11:49 am

194) Wer hat mein Gehirn ausgeschaltet? : toxische Gedanken und Emotionen überwinden by Caroline Leaf. Our brain is quite complicated and is heavily influenced by the thoughts and emotions we cultivate. Bad, negative thinking and cultivating negative feelings lead to depression and also bodily illnesses. Interesting are studies which showwed a correlation between cells in the heart and the brain which apparently interact and are influenced by our constant negative or positive attitude, and faith for that matter. The books also includes quite helpful instructions how to check our negative thoughts/feelings/habits and retrain them to betterment. But it takes a lot of time doing that.

198paulstalder
Nov 23, 2016, 2:25 pm

195) Der Seher by René Goscinny. A soothsayer is coming into Asterix' village and prophecies bad news if they do not do him any good. So a lot of the village people believe him and bring everything he asks for. Only Asterix is suspicious...

199paulstalder
Nov 27, 2016, 11:36 am

196) The minister's restoration by George MacDonald. Jamie, a young Scottish man, wants to study theology in order to escape the unworthy background of his family. He wants to be a minister of the Word of God but has himself no idea about the character of that Lord. He falls into sin when making a poor servant pregnant and deserting her, and struggles with it till he finds forgiveness and restoration and becomes a new man. A good read
An old Scottish classic retold, but still many Scots wording in it ... "Toots, bairn! I dinna like t' hear ye speak scornful o' the good man that has the care o' oor souls." "To me it was like the moldy husks o' the half-famished swine! Man, I wish such provender would drive ye where there's better food, an' to spare! Yon was lumps o' brose in a pig-wash o' stourum! I'd think ye'd ken the differ' atween sich like an' true food!"