MarthaJeanne - Books 2025

I will probably finish Eine afrikanische Geschichte Afrikas today. It's definitely 5*, so a good start to the year.

All right. It took me an extra day. Don't know why I got bogged down on the last 20-30 pages. Probably just didn't want it to end.

I have enjoyed discovering the history of Africa along with Zeinab Badawi as she travelled and interviewed experts from the different counties. The excitement she felt exploring the continent's past and present came through loud and clear, even in German translation. She also made a particular effort to include the 'herstory', which made it a lot more interesting to me.

I won't be keeping this, as the library has it in English, should I want to reread it. Who shall I give it to?
I would prefer a young, black woman who reads German.

Which, of course, does not mean that you have to be young, black, or even a woman to enjoy this book.

Huckleberry Hill 4*

The touchstone doesn't seem to want to work. There.

Discarding.

Goddesses, Haynes has a hold on it, and it is due on Tuesday. Even if it were an easy read, I wouldn't finish it by then, and it is a very peculiar book. After 50 pages I am not at all sure what the author is trying to do. I might be willing to give it another chance if an English copy were to come along, but I'll happily quit trying to read the German.

One problem with the book is the number of references to art works (in various genres) that I would really have to look up to have a clear idea of what is being said. And I certainly don't have time to view all these paintings, films, books...

My 2* is the lowest rating it has so far.

>2 MarthaJeanne: Jerry took it to church, and announced that it was available to whoever got to him first after the postlude. Two young African women beat out a few older ones. He could have given several copies away.

Myself and Other Animals arrived today. I am looking forward to reading it, but also to passing it on. The friend who was a big Gerald Durrell fan died recently, but I think her daughter will probably appreciate it, and it will give me an excuse to check up on how she is coping.

Die leckersten Ofengerichte

I borrowed this because I opened it to something that gave me an idea for tonight's supper. But my dish will be very different from hers, and I didn't see anything else that inspired me. 2*

On the other hand, it was very short and gave me a third book in the first week of the year.

Such a fun age 4*

I'm getting close to the end of A History of Iran. This makes no effort to even appear to be an impartial account. Axworthy makes a major effort to convince western readers that this history is very important and that Iran's culture is greatly underestimated.

Well, I'm willing to say that it is probably me, but I haven't remembered all (or even any of) the names he's been praising. I'm not to clear on the geography, and anyway I'm sure it's good that Iran is its own country now, but I am just as glad that Armenia, Georgia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan ... are free of Persian rule. I am also sure that another author would have set the limits of what counts as Persia quite differently.

This history is certainly readable, and at 300 pages is a fairly reasonable length.

>9 MarthaJeanne: Finished. 3*

>6 MarthaJeanne: The first 50 pages are at least as good as I had hoped. Although I am rather glad none of my boys was the kind of budding naturalist he was.

BTW, in India in 1967 I had appendicitis. Our neighbour and mission 'uncle' went to great lengths to get the equipment together to operate on me safely. Following the operation I had the difficulty that not only was school on holiday, but it was too far a walk in my condition, so I did not have access to a library fora few weeks. The Doctor was German, his wife Swiss, so many of their books were not of interest to me. But they showed me one shelf of books that I worked my way through - Gerald Durrell. Of course, the good doctor wanted me to exercise my belly muscles, so he set his son Christian to tickle me every time I changed my book, which was quite uncomfortable. But for those books, it was worth it.

These days an appendix scar is tiny, but in those days the surgeon had to open you up enough to get his hands in. Uncle Manfred made the cut diagonal, in the crease above my hip, so that I would be able to wear bikinis if I ever chose to.

Myself and Other Animals Lee Durrell has done an amazing job of putting together a collection of Gerald Durrell's writing that takes us through his life and work. The selections all speak with his well loved voice, introducing us to wonderful characters both human and other. Lee limits her voice to occasional short introductions that bring Gerry closer.

A wonderful book and tribute. 5*

Oh, dear. I think I will end up enjoying Die Reise der Wale, but it isn't really fair to read this right after Gerald Durrell.

>14 MarthaJeanne: No, can't do it. The timing hasn't helped, but she really gets on my nerves.

Yinka, where is your huzband? 4*
I guess I'd have to call this British Nigerian chicklit. The cultural aspects are kept to a level where they enhance the story rather than distancing the reader from Yinka's problems. I won't be keeping this, but I can heartily recommend it.

I've just looked at the new work page, and I can't deal with it. Don't see a way forward.

>17 MarthaJeanne: I know. The phone version is not at all friendly.
The laptop version is better; but will take getting used to.

January - 8

I think The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo gets 5*.

Als die Beatles Österreich 3 1/2*
60 years ago the Beatles filmed part of Help! in Austria. This book tales that as a starting point to try to explain everything that connects the Beatles with Austria.

Well, parts were very good. Some parts got rather boring, as one Austrian musician after another is inspired by the Beatles. Somehow one story, which was fairly interesting got retold later in the book, when it was not. Some of these sections disintegrated into lists of names of somehow related promis.

It would probably help if I were a big Beatles fan or had paid more attention to Austrian pop music over the past few decades. Still I do not regret this purchase. If nothing else, it got me listening to their music again.

Giving up on The Parrot and the Igloo.

I'm currently reading Zuhause ist Anderswo a history of migration from and to Austria. It fits the news as we try to absorb the death and injuries caused by one Syrian immigrant that would have been so much worse if another Syrian immigrant hadn't attacked the attacker.

>24 MarthaJeanne: Panting to know how you rated it. Another title I hadn’t seen.

As always, I don't rate the individual books in my favourite 'series'. This one has a few fun characters, but the actual plot seems far fetched. I'm not sure either of the main characters ought to be married to anyone, never mind each other.

>23 MarthaJeanne: Parts of this were really grim. The vast majority of refugees and other migrants to and from Austria suffered terribly.

Sisters under the rising sun 4 1/2*
Again, very grim in places. This tells the story of women in Japanese POW camps in Indonesia during WWII. If you can stand it, it is very well written.

If you are going to make your first chapter a long introducion, It is a good idea to make it interesting to your readers. If you turn them off in the first few pages, you won't have readers.

Warum Kirche

Deleted, Discarded.

That makes 5 for February, 13 so far this year.

From Entangled Life

"Scientists are - and have always been - emotional, creative, intuitive, whole human beings, asking questions about a world that was never made to be catalogued and systemised."

When the introduction is this interesting, you really look forward to the rest of the book.

>31 MarthaJeanne: Fungi are very weird.

>31 MarthaJeanne: I sent my copy home with daughter. But there is another on its way. Do you have the one with a multitude of gorgeous photos?

No. This has drawings made with fungus ink.

One of my go to searches while testing at MPOW is "zombie ants" or "zombie fungus" (aka Cordyceps). Also, have you ever seen the TED talk with the woman dressed in her mushroom death suit? It's a fascinating talk.

Most of May ended up in https://www.librarything.com/topic/362380

I'll try to stay here now.

Blue Trout and Black Truffles 2* Food Snob. Discarding.

That makes 9 for March. 22 for the first quarter.

No! Can you believe it? There are more people who can tell lots of butterflies apart than can tell the difference between several kinds of dark beetles that are less than a centimetre long and live in deadwood. I'm reading Vom Leben im Totholz (Life in Deadwood) and the author gets full points for enthusiasm, but less for his assumption that most people can have that same enthusiasm.

I'll finish this in the next few days, and it is really a good book, well suited to be read by the general public, just now and again Hörren looses track of the fact that most of us do not have his capacity to really care about dozens of similar bugs.

The book might cause some teenagers to look into this more, which would probably be good. At the very least it is getting attention. I had to wait to borrow this copy at the library, and it needs to go back quickly, as there is another hold on it. 4*, and only about 160 pages long, so if this is your kind of thing, and you read German, I can recommend it.

>39 MarthaJeanne: Finished.

I thought Voll Viel Wert might be interesting. I was wrong. This is a cookbook of recipes developed for a boarding school kitchen. They had made an effort to create dishes that would both be healthy and also be eaten by the teenagers. Most of them would not be eaten by me. The individual recipes are generally for 10 servings. making x-times as much would probably not be a problem, but making smaller quantities would be difficult. Spice mixture ingredients are enough for 1 kilo of the spice.

Even without the use of a handful of spice mixtures, the spicing started to look very similar, and often had little to do with the culture the food was supposed to come from.

Discarding.

ETA Hmm. I totally deleted it, which means it won't show up in my statistics.

I'm working my way through Time is the Fire. I just read Even the Queen. Oh, wow! Every woman who has ever had a period will love this one.

>42 MarthaJeanne: Your first touchstone goes to The Best Of Connie Willis short story collection. Is it contained in?

I will order the book nevertheless

Ah. I see it is an alternative title on one edition.

The talented Mr Ripley 3* We are apparently all agreed that Tom Ripley is an amoral sociopath. So why do so many other readers like him? He horrifies me. I admit that the book was very well written. And this was the start of a series of 5 books. I will not read the others.

Oh, good. The library entry includes the ISBN. Someone else is waiting for it, so I returned it while we were shopping, but I hadn't entered it before.

Time is the Fire 4*

Death comes to Pemberly I find that I had totally forgotten the book since my previous reading in 2012. I think I enjoyed it more then. 4* can stay.

Citizen, Clinton 3* I enjoyed the first part of the book, but after a while I got tired of more and more statistics. I also got tired of lots of famous names I have never heard of. Also US politics. By the end I was at best skimming.

Giving upon Cold People 1*

If you are writing a book dumping the world's people in Antartica without much warning, you cannot just dump them there, then suddenly start the story again 20 years later.

Giving up on After Sappho after 48 pages. Not bed, just boring.

Fragen hätte ich noch

This book is made up of stories that various people tell about their grandparents. As in any anthology, there are very good chapters, and not so good chapters. The relationships between the writers and their grandfathers are very varied. As you would expect when German-speakers talk about their grandparents, a lot of the chapters talked about the Nazi era.

Women in the Ottoman Empire goes back tomorrow whether or not I manage to finish it. I feel that 3* is generous. It is probably unreasonable to try to encompass the experience of women over 500 years in an empire that stretched over large areas in Asia, Europe and Africa, with populations following various forms of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, speaking Turkish, Arabic, Greek Armenian, Bulgarian Ladino... in a work with only 200 pages of text. It gets even harder when the repeated and repeated complaints that there really aren't a lot of sources, and that what sources there are deal mostly with royal women, elite women, and only very rarely with even the well to do. There are lots of interesting tidbits here and there about various individuals, but no sense of any overarching conclusions except that the women involved had very different experiences.

I suppose the repetitions of the lack of material were necessary. Without them the author might have struggled to find even 100 pages of text.

ETA Finished.

Gennaros Verdure 3* The descriptions of the various vegetables are printed on dark paper according to the colour of the vegetable. These are very hard to read, but if you do make the effort, don't say much. If you have other vegetable cookbooks, most of the recipes will look quite familiar.

I'm finding Königin in der Fremde very hard to read. giving up.

I fixed the author on the work.

Tea Time mit Jane Austen 2* This is a pretty gift book with a few Jane Austen quotes about rea and several recipes that have nothing to do with Austen.

I finally succeeded in correcting the author. Saying this is 'by Jane Austen' is ridiculous.

The weaver and the Witch Queen 4 1/2* I really enjoyed this.

No! I am not going to read Tiger. I'm not really sure what is going on, as the chapters aren't in order of time, but I have come in a very short time to really dislike, maybe even despise the main character. The work page gives abandoned as one of the tags. Not going to enter it, but if I did, I could use that tag, too.

Kinder des Radiums 4* A man of Jewish heritage discovers that his great grandfather developed poisonous gases for the Nazis, first in Germany, then in Turkey. The various attempts to uncover the family history and then come to terms with it are very interesting.

One problem in reading the German translation is reading in German about how he couldn't deal with the German documents.

21 Balloons I suddenly got the urge to reread this.I'm happy to leave the 5* rating, although I see problems with some of the fantastic inventions.

You are Here 4* Nice hiking descriptions.

Arrows of the Queen Just over two years since the last reread.

How the World made the West 4 1/2*

This is very well written history of the world that shows that 'the West' is the result of many centuries and millenniums of history, trade, and conquest during which Europe was on the side lines.

I don't think I ever said - 8 books in May. That makes 36 for the year up to the end of May.

I went into the bookstore at the mall to order two books I want. Somehow or other I walked out with 7 others.

I got the books all entered, and am quite happy with my choices. Only mistake is one that was originally written in German, but I really do want to read it. If the translation starts to bother me, there is always the library.

Hmpf! Well actually I could borrow it right off in English, but the German is out right now from my branch.

Kleopatra : Ägyptens Letzte Königin 4* An interesting biography that tries to undo thousands of years of bad press.

I think something must be wrong with me. I have been trying to read My Father's House. In the beginning I was enjoying it. Interesting characters doing interesting things in WWII Rome. Now I'm almost half way through, and the suspense is building up. And I am getting bored. I think it goes back to the library today.

I have been trying to read My Father's House? In the beginning I was enjoying it. Interesting characters doing interesting things in WWII Vatican City. But now I am nearly halfway through; the suspense is building; and I am bored. Back it goes today.

Disobedience 4 1/2* Apparently I read this 6 years ago. No memory of it at all. I have upped the stars from 3 1/2 because I really enjoyed it. I have not bothered to enter the library copy as well as the previous ebook.

The Stories Old Town Tell 2*

Not sure why I finished it. I'm certainly not going to keep it.

If you are getting tired of post-WWII Polish politics before the end of the Warsaw chapters, the good news is that most of that will soon be over. The bad news is that it will still stay mainly concerned with the second half of the 20th century. Once Warsaw has been dealt with, the book slowly develops an interest in Jewish remains in the various cities, and these anecdotes are often fairly interesting, at least compared to the rest of it.

What this won't do is make you want to visit the modern rebuildings of Europe's old towns.

Granny Squares (Moleta) 4 1/2* I borrowed this from the library just from idle curiosity, because I can't crochet any more, but if I could, I would want a copy of my own. The squares are very varied, using interesting techniques. Each one has both text directions and a chart. There are well thought out example projects and instructions in the back of the book. She even encourages the reader to make changes. What more could you want?

That makes 8 books in June. 44 for the year so far.

I forgot to renew my library books yesterday. One I had started to read, but didn't really enjoy. I just looked through the other 5, and I'm not really sure I want to read any of them. I might give the vegetable cookbook a look through today.

(Why do five star raves about the best YA fantasy book ever not inspire me with the desire to open the book? Sometimes I'm in too much hurry at the library.)

>75 MarthaJeanne: I was going to look at the sections on eggplant and chard, but they aren't there.

On the other hand, I got two more emails from the library today that the two books I wanted from other branches are both ready for me. This is extraordinary, because one was still listed as being borrowed still this morning. Too hot still tomorrow to go downtown for a shopping walk, but I can do library.

Winds of Fate

I'm almost finished with Die Gerüche der Kathedrale (The Smells of the Cathedral) 4 1/2*

Did you always want to visit a late medieval cathedral? This book may be as close as you can get. Wendy Wauters goes into great detail about what we know about the Antwerp cathedral in the 15th and 16th centuries, pulling in other churches to fill in gaps in the record. We discover the sights, sounds, and, yes, smells that you would have experienced if you had been there. She tells us of the results of plague, fire, and economic problems.

In fact, getting back to those smells, the book might just be more enjoyable than the reality.

XOXO 4* Korean-American Cellist High School girl moves to Korea and falls in love with a K-Pop idol. But it was very good, and I really enjoyed it.

>78 MarthaJeanne: Finished.

So far I've only read about a third of Pfefferminzpesto but I have already written a nasty review. It's not getting more than 2* from me.

>81 MarthaJeanne: Finished Have not changed my mind. Glad I saw it at the library and not a bookstore.

I borrowed 24 hour Viking from the library in German. I have now read 3 of the hours, and have no intention of reading more.

In the first hour a man sneaks out of the house in the night to murder his brother-in-law.
In the second hour a man with an arrow wound after a battle pulls the arrowhead out with part of his heart.
In the third hour a woman who has been badly treated by her menfolk dies in childbirth.

For some funny reason I am not enjoying this.

Finished Mark as Story.

Picked up Gryphon in Light. When I ordered it I browsed and came how with 7 books. Today I browsed and came with this one, one extra, and one Jerry wanted. But a lot of the books on display were the same, and besides, I haven't read all of that first batch yet.

The extra book I bought is listed as book 1 of a trilogy, except so far it seems to be the only book in the trlogy.

Winds of Change

That makes 6 for July. August should be better, as I expect to be able to include three Mark commentaries.

Tried to read The Rachel Incident. 50 pages are quite enough.

A History of Women in 101 Objects 4* This is hardly a history, but it is an amusing collection of anecdotes. Mostly about women, and mostly loosely connected to the object pictured. It would probably help to be better informed about US culture in the late 20th an 21st centuries than I am.

The Doll Factory 2* Ugh!

How to take over the world is an interesting concept. Ryan North's job is creating super villains, and in this book he explains how to be one yourself.

The first chapter doesn't work. Even if his preferred method for creating a secret base would work, which I doubt, a mile wide sphere over Antarctica would not be secret. He seems to miss this point. But I'm ready to try the second chapter. Not that I want my own country, you understand, but just in case.

>91 MarthaJeanne: No. Chapter 2 doesn't work either. Apparently your best chance of getting your own country involves lots of money, at least 30 years, and that living in Antarctica, which is where your country would be. If it works, which I doubt very much.

Chapter 3 is about creating the ultimate entry. Nobody can outdo you if you ride into the room on the back of a dinosaur. Except, even if you follow all his steps, and it actually works, at best you will end up with an ostrich that sort of looks like a dinosaur. Doesn't seem very useful to me. Nor do I see how it would help me take over the world if I wanted to do that. But at least we are no longer in Antarctica.

>90 MarthaJeanne: ff You know what? This book gets more and more ridiculous. I'm going to the library tomorrow, and I'm going to take it back.

>94 MarthaJeanne: I borrowed How to Invent Everything. But if it’s just attempted humor, it will go back too.

Mark for Everyone This is less a commentary as such, and more a series of sermons on the readings. Still, Tom Wright has a lot of helpful insights.

The Gospel According to Saint Mark, Hooker
This would have been my favourite if she weren't so verbose.

Mark, Beavis

Welcome to Glorious Tuga 4 1/2* I have the next book on order.

>97 MarthaJeanne: Ah! 4.5 stars. Your second sentence now makes sense.

Dang. Another BB!

>98 2wonderY: Fixed.

Island Calling is waiting for me at the shopping centre.

I'm not sure I have the energy to go get it. Plus I need to finish The Midnight Rose, which is due in 2 1/2 weeks and has over 600 pages, but is way too good so far to just discard. Although I have no idea how the two story lines are going to meet up. But I feel committed to both. Nope. Got to read it.

Mark and Method 3*

That gives me 8 for August. 58 for the year so far.

I picked up Island Calling and then asked myself if I wanted to check out the English fiction section while I was there. Strangely, the answer was, "No."

On the one hand, I still have over 299 pages of The Midnight Rose, which keeps getting better and better. Then I am eager to read Island Calling. AND when I renewed my library books that were due today, I was informed that this is my last renew for The Witch's Heart which I borrowed because I loved The Weaver and the Witch Queen so it has to go back in 4 weeks. And, of course, I have other library fiction, and unread purchased fiction, and a few series I would really like to reread, including one that I have an unread book in if I get through the books leading up to it... You know what? I don't actually need any new books right now. Does that sound shocking?

BTW, Jerry's errands had gone quickly, and he was at the car when I found it, so I really did not have the time, anyway. Drat, just remembered another errand I should have done while we were there. On the other hand, the mall was really crowded today, so maybe better left for next time anyway.

The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz 3 1/2*

The Midnight Rose 4 1/2* Definitely worth reading the whole thing.

Just wondering why both my books, fiction and nonfiction are about herpetologists.

>105 MarthaJeanne: A converging universe? Did I miss the flip?

>105 MarthaJeanne: Re: Die ewige Jugend des Axolotls I am very glad none of my sons was a bugging herpetologist. Much rather read about it than have to live with it.

I am amazed that this Spanish book has been translated and published in both French and German, but not English. It is not what I expected, but it is very interesting to anyone without snake and lizard phobias. So far the only thing that really turned me off was eating scorpions. That I didn't even need to read about. But a teenager who interrupts his mother and her new boyfriend in their joint shower because his 4 meter long pet tiger python has bitten his hand and is squeezing his arm, I will happily read about - as long as it is not MY teenage son. BTW Years later the boyfriend is still with the author's mother.

Island Calling 4 1/2* Now I want the third book. What do you mean, it hasn't been published yet?

I've decided that I am not enjoying Witch's Heart enough to make the push to finish it before it goes back to the library on Tuesday. It probably is a 3 1/2 star. I've read over 100 pages, and I find that I don't really care what happens next.

Not going to enter it, but I did give one review a thumb.

Die ewige Jugend des Axolotls 3 1/2* >105 MarthaJeanne: The final real chapter is another connection to the Tuga books, being about another hard to reach island, this time North Pacific, rather than South Atlantic.

Gerald Durell is one of Hiriart's role models, and to a certain extent I can see that in his writing. However, when reading Durell, the emphasis, even when writing about himself, the emphasis is always on the animals. With Hilart, even when writing about the animals, he is always in the way.

High King of Heaven 3* I gave it 3 1/2 back in 2014. Discarding.

Harvest of Empire is a very good book, but also very depressing. I'm not going to finish it.

Storm Warning

Mein Leben für die Tiere Maybe 2 1/2*

Back over a decade ago, a German publisher decided that a book about women and animals would sell well, especially is it had lots of pictures. This was the result. It consists of short biographies of 13 women that fit their criteria. To be honest, I suspect that availability of pictures was the main one. There are 3 primatologists. 3 other biologists studying sharks, insects, elephants or wolves. A zoo director, two authors who include animal characters in their fiction. And then Queen Elizabeth II, Bridget Bardot, and Joy Adamson and a pianist who is obsessed with wolves.. The biographies are very basic. This is not a book that anybody is going to buy for herself. She might get it as a gift, or, like me, borrow it from the library. Except it is over 10 years old, and I'm the first to enter it here.

Storm Rising

I read 7 books in September. 65 this year through September.

Deutschstunden, Pippa 4* I hope that my having the only copy on LT is because it is new and only available in German.

Pippa Goldschmidt was a British astronomer living in Edinburg. After Brexit she and her father decide to claim German citizenship as the descendants of her grandfather who had to flee Germany and lost his German citizenship because he was Jewish.

After she gets her new passport, she and her partner move to Frankfurt, and she tries to learn more about her grandparents, her new country, and herself. This is not a straightforward journey. For one thing, soon after they move to Frankfurt COVID changes everything. Her chapters are often stream of consciousness, moving from some minor detail of her German class through parts of Ernst's past, the edges of the universe, and the birds in the Stadtwald. But somehow it all does fit together, and we get an engaging picture of someone living at the intersection of three cultures, two languages, the present and the past.

This was written in English, and translated into German for publication.

Warum schmecken Maulbeeren am besten Nackt. 3*I have no idea why I gave this 4 1/2* 12 years ago. Discarding.

Baobab 3*

Back to Font 3* This book would be much better if the authors were as expert at graphic art as they think they are. However if you have a taste for centuries of gossip about graphic designers of the past, you will enjoy it.

I'm about 1/4 through BushCraft jagen and I already know that it will get at most 2 stars from me. This may not be quite fair, as I am reading the German translation, and whereas the language translation seems to be competent, It is totally unusable in Europe. "You can buy any of these mixes at your local supermarket," if your local supermarket happens to be in the US. (In fact, I suspect that Hush Puppy mix is regional even in the US.) It isn't helpful to recommend replacing cheddar with Colby or Monterey jack where even the cheddar is still somewhat exotic, and the others haven't been heard of.

Of course, Canterbury also wants you to take everything but the kitchen sink with you even for short trips, which seems rather ridiculous. Also, at least so far, with all the advice on the best packaging materials, I still haven't seen "You packed it in, you packed it out. Do not leave your garbage in the woods."

So far, even 2* seems overly generous.

Good grief! At least he does mention making sure you put the fire out afterwards, but nothing about only building a fire where it is safe to do so.

My goodness. The editors actually decided to add a note that the book was written for the US, and laws and animals might be different in other places. This did not prevent them from including pictures of the tracks of coyotes and wild turkeys.

And if all else fails, cook your back to nature meal on your car motor, while you let it idle for half an hour or so.

Can I give this book negative stars? May have to settle for 1/2. This goes in the paper recycling.

It didn't even take that long to decide not to read even small birds fly free. Nobody has entered this here yet, and I agree with him/her/them. For one thing, 240 pages of fiction should not require 36 pages of footnotes.

I'm not sure how this got into my library, but it can go back there unread. The prose is overly flowery, the print job shoddy. Even the cover is a bit ridiculous, because the title and author are illegible. The title changes in the footnote section.

I know I can read The Jungle, because I did for American History in high school, and parts of it have stayed with me.

Das grosse Italien Backbuch I guess 4*. Honestly, if it still made sense for me to buy cookbooks, I would probably want this one, but might decide to resist. To begin with, it is too big and heavy to be easy to read. Of course, most of these recipes would be greatly changed if made with whole grain flour. A very high percentage of the filled pastries are chocolate. After a while, white dough around chocolate filling gets rather boring. It's not a book I would ever have baked a lot out of. But there are plenty of recipes that would be fun to try out.

>126 MarthaJeanne: That’s why you take photos of the pages that interest you.

>122 MarthaJeanne: Ha! Hahaha!

Die Spur des Silbers 4*. This is one of those books that doesn't tell you that much that you didn't already know, but pulls it all together so that it suddenly makes a lot more sense.

The Book of Miracles The reproduction is magnificent, but the plates get boring after a while, as so many of them depict comets or multiple suns... The first and lat sections showing biblical images are more varied and interesting.

That makes 11 in October. 76 for the year so far.

Jailbird's Daughter 3* This book has so many characters and plot twists it's hard to keep track.

For a classic that 'redefined travel writing', In Patagonia is very boring. Discarding.

Drat! I was at the bookstore with English books today, and found three things I wanted, but I seem to have not bought the one I wanted most. Finding my Way, Malala I remember vividly how impressed I was by her first book. Not just the content, but also the writing, so I am looking forward to catching up with her life. But, of course first I have to actually buy the book. I came home with Ocean, David Attenborough and Legenda, Ramirez. Both reliable authors, if rather thick volumes. The fiction selection was pretty bad.

Wolfssonate 3 1/2*

Hélène Grimaud has obviously found the right life for herself, but Oh, how glad I am that I didn't have to be her mother!

I read this because of the chapter about her in Mein Leben für die Tiere.

ASAP 4* Love this series.

Well, I didn't manage to read two books in the first week of November, however I have managed to finish two in the second week already. So I suppose if I finish another book by the 14th... Only problem is my next fiction is Owlflight at 342p, and nonfiction is Emperor of Rome at 457 p. Hmm. Doesn't look good.

Don't worry, Owlflight moves fast and isn't mentally demanding.

>136 reconditereader: Especially because I have read it so often that I know exactly what's about to happen. I'm working through some of the series to get ready to read Gryphon in Light. That will take a little longer because it is new to me.

>135 MarthaJeanne: I solved that problem by taking up Terra Preta. 3* I was interested in the topic, but there is a whole lot of blah, blah that makes it hard to get down to the practicalities of it. And they turn out to be not all that practical. I do not have a place in my kitchen for two 20l containers, one of chopped up fermenting organic waste, and one of powdered biochar mixed with stone meal and urine to add in every time I chopped up waster for the first bin. (pieces no bigger than a thumb nail). And once that is filled up, it sits for another month (in a warm place) before it is finished off for a few months in the compost heap. Then it's really great for whatever your garden needs. But of course it is best if you buy a special burner to turn your own garden waste into biochar, which only takes a few hours (2-8) each time you fire it up. Somehow the 'anyone can do this in their own garden' got left behind somewhere.

But this is after a lot of preaching and mixed in with more sermonising on how bad modern agriculture is. It makes the book very unattractive.

I'm surprised to see that there is an English translation, as this seems very concentrated on the German speaking speaking parts of Europe.

I have still read some of Emperor of Rome every day, which I am greatly enjoying.

ETA, I think I have done all the entering and combining needed. If not, it can wait for the next person. Actually, I didn't touch the translators, so there must be more to do. I have the German (from the library.) But there were 4 works, no Other authors... Some books are more work than others.

Owlflight I think Darian's Tale may be my favourite part of Valdemar, so I am looking forward to reading the rest of it and then moving on to Gryphon in Light.

I got through this faster than I ecpected.

We are all Completely beside ourselves 3 1/2*

Not really books.

A few weeks ago we made a day trip. On the way home we heard a really virtuoso flautist in the radio. She made such am impression on me that I went back and found her name. Gabi Pas-van Riet My favourite CD store was able to order two CDs with her which I picked up today. So far I have only listened to Georg Abraham Schneider, Three Flute Concertos. This is lovely music, and I actually enjoy it more than what we heard in the car. She is fantastically good, but the piece we heard then somehow her playing took the attention, and here I hear the music as a whole better. Schneider (1770-1839) is a new composer for me, and I very much enjoy these concertos.

I watched the Shirley Temple version of The Little Princess (film) and found that the first half wasn't too bad, but the second half totally ignored the book. Now I have to go read A little Princess again.

The film is from 1939. Interesting the propaganda for joining the British army.

Finished Emperor of Rome last night. 4 1/2* SPQR is waiting for me at the library. Slight problem. We have ice and snow, and Jerry is due to get his snow tyres on Thursday.

We are displaced 4 1/2*

Owlsight

Ruth, I borrowed the princess saves herself in this one today because I couldn't resist the title. You have entered it, but I didn't find any comment. Have you read it? Will I enjoy it?

A little Princess Much more satisfying than the film.

>142 MarthaJeanne: My first encounter with this book was an abridged version called Sara Crewe. Part of me understands the urge to cut some of the long descriptions and supposings to get down to the real story. But most of me thinks those parts are the most delightful parts of the book. I'm uping the rating to 4 1/2. I have loved this book for most of my life.

(That makes 10 for the month and 86 for the year.)

I will have to revisit Burnett in the coming year. I love her novels for adults.

Honeymoon in Paris 3 1/2*

Two women, nearly a century apart, who discover that they probably should have waited and considered better before getting married. Then "Happy end! Happy End!" This was a prequel so I will try to reserve judgement until I read the main book.

(That makes 11 for the month and 87 for the year.)

Ocean : Earth's last wilderness 4 1/2* One particularly good thing is that the many lovely colour plates are scattered throughout the book in groups of only 4 pages, and in each case closely related to the surrounding text.

(That makes 12 for the month and 88 for the year.)

I am almost done with We are not born submissive. Almost there. This is French feminist philosophy, and I'm finding it heavy going. This is sort of a preparation to reading Garcia's new book on Pelicot, or I might have given up on it. I read this in English, the other book I will be reading in German. One problem I am having with the English is the constant use of 'feminine'. I am female, but I do not really think of myself as feminine. I have not read most of the books the author refers to. Nor do I feel any inclination to change that. I think I looked at The second sex once and gave up on it before I began, and this book is mostly a commentary on that. I did take Philosophy 101 back whenever, but I don't recall much about it. And I find French culture rather bewildering.

I think I will have to give this book 3 1/2 *. I will finish it tonight. It has given me a lot to think about (not necessarily the things the author wanted me to think about) but I have not enjoyed it. Luckily the book is only 200 pages, so it has been doable.

In response to the idea of the moral necessity of taking one's freedom, I would like to suggest that two students are theoretically free to go out running late in the evening. The male knows that it is unlikely that guys in cars will catcall him. He doesn't think it likely that he could be attacked and raped running through the park, and if that were to happen, he would not get pregnant. The female can be fairly sure that she will get multiple catcalls. Some cars will follow her or come back. Other women were recently raped in the park, and a friend of hers recently had to go out of state for an abortion after date rape. So the male student morally decides to take his freedom, and she is morally inferior because she doesn't?

The situation is totally uncomparible.

OK Finished. I have to admit that some of my objections were dealt with in the last few pages. However the author does not make it clear how a woman with a baby, and pregnat with the next one is to be equally free as the children's father.

I may not stay with The Girl you left Behind Sorry. If you bury your grandfather clock in your carrot bed it does not start chiming every quarter hour suddenly after months in the ground. Just cannot happen. Admittedly, it males for a nice incident in the story, but it cannot happen. And now, how am I supposed to believe any of the rest of her story.

>154 MarthaJeanne: My question is WHY would you bury a grandfather clock?!!!!

>155 2wonderY: WWI occupied France. The Germans are looting everything they can get their hands on. That part I do get. The chiming is a disaster as the Germans will eventually hear it ... Just how is the clock running if it is not set up and being regularly wound, weights polled up, however this clock works? In fact, you would lock the pendulum in place before you moved it.

Giving ip. I am not getting lost in the story, I'm watching it for more blunders.

Did a really bad job at the library. I am not going to read Ryan and Avery YA LGBTQ+ is one thing, but this is soppy sweet, and I can't deal with it.

Nor am I going to read The princess saves herself in this one. I still like the title. I'm not big on poetry, but this doesn't feel like poetry to me, just prose written in short lines that are easier to read with my lens, so that doesn't matter. It fills up more pages this way, right? But the 'poetry' bit seems to be an excuse not to actually say what really happened.

Gryphon in Light This is a not totally successful attempt to upgrade a short story into a full book. The best parts are straight from the story. The details added to fit it into the standard Valdemar chronology don't quite work for me. I will go find the original story tomorrow.

Found. Larry Dixon's story Transmutation, Dixonin Crossroads (lackey) Was blown up into this.

Finding My Way 5*
Malala is an amazing young woman, and a very gifted writer.

I'm only halfway through One Pot, Amandine 1* but I have entered it and written my review. It's fast so I'll finish it to be able to take credit for reading it and on the very unlikely chance that there might still be something worth trying.

Some of these recipes are boring, sone are overly complicated, others require exotic ingredients, the recipes that say they are the style of a specific country where I know enough to judge are badly untrue to that cuisine. It is missing any comments on the specific recipe. I am so glad this is a library book and I can give it back.

Finished. Nothing in here I want to try.

>160 MarthaJeanne: I have her book but have not read it yet. I should make it a must in 2026,

Unaccustomed Earth 4* I apparently read this 8 years ago and also gave it 4*. No recollection of that read. The first part of the book dragged a bit, but the linked stories in part 2 pulled me in.

Excuse me! From Legenda, real women p.86 "Henry (4 of Castile) then dissolved his 13-year-old marriage with his first wife on the grounds that she had not given him any children due to his impotence."

I assume that if she was given some sort of suitable pension that she was probably glad to be rid of him, but still. BTW, the second wife did bear a daughter, but she was good friends with one of the men at court, and the baby took after him. ...

>164 MarthaJeanne: Found a mistake in Legenda. Ramirez states that the Waldensians "were destroyed, p171. There were certainly attempts to destroy them, and they never became numerous. Since the 16th century they have joined together with other churches, but there are still groups today that uphold their traditions.

Finished Pride and Prejudice
It is certainly deeper than the BBC video I usually watch.

I'm going to have to rewatch another film I have seen often. I saw The Third Man / The Fallen Idol at the library. The story of The Third Man was not written for publication, but as preparation for the screenplay. This is a classic of traditional Vienna, and so far it is interesting how much more Viennese the movie seems to me than the story. I'll rewatch The Third Man once I have finished the story. The second story in the book is also a Carol Reed film, and I have ordered the DVD from the library.

>165 MarthaJeanne: No! "the first religious settlement in Coventry was apparently founded by Saint Osburh in the Viking Age." Maybe, even probably the first Christian establishment which developed into the city of Coventry. But there were plenty of earlier settlements in the area, and to assume that there was no religious activity on the site when Celts, Romans and Saxons had been active in the area is at best careless.

The premiss of the book is interesting. In various European countries a notable medievat woman is compared and contrasted with one from the 17th or 18th century, and an attempt is made to clarify what are the facts about these women and what is legend. Who they really were as opposed to how their stories have been used and misused over the centuries.

Well, problem 1 is in finding comparable women. The author has to twist the stories to (and past) their breaking point to find connections.

2. If she finds anything useful to say at all. Even for the 'modern women' there really isn't much material to get close to the individual.

3. In some cases she ends up talking about, not one woman, but a series of women, not even closely connected to make her points.

We add to that that her stories are not reliable. It would not hurt her story to say that the Waldensians were NEARLY destroyed. Or to speak of a first CHRISTIAN settlement in Coventry. I would accept either. But I no longer trust her as a historian. And that rather diminishes my enjoyment of the interesting women she talks about.

I know that Graham Greene is a good writer. I also know that The Third Man is a great film. But the story is not great, or even good. I assume that if Greene had meant it for publication that it would be very different. It is very weird reading the lacklustre paragraphs that resulted in some of the greatest film moments I have ever seen.

The second story is shorter, and I have ordered the film from the library to see afterwards, so the experience will be very different.

The Third Man / The Fallen Idol

Legenda, real women can have 3*. Discarding.

>169 MarthaJeanne: In his preface to The Fallen Idol Greene says several things I agree with. This is a much better story than The Third Man; The original title (The Basement Room) makes a lot more sense; And I don't see how this can work as a film. I look forward to seeing how Carol Reed managed it. (Greene says a lot of changes were made.)

That leaves the problem of how to rate The Third Man/The Fallen Idol. One poorly written story with seeds of greatness. A well-written story that I didn't enjoy. I guess 3*.

I'm hoping I can finish 3 more this year to make 100. I'd rather have 104 to make two a week, but that is not really feasible.

Morgen Kinder wird nichts geben 3 1/2* A christmas book about the Christmases the way the really were.

I'm reading Sunburn which is supposed to be a lesbian coming of age story. I suppose it is better than a male coming of age, which I avoid, but about a quarter in it just makes me very glad not to be a teenager. Ditching it.

Picked up Green Mansions from the shelf. Back at that age it made a big impression on me. (I may not have read it since. No record that I have read it in the past 18 years.)

Gathering Moss 4* This is shorter and more focused than Sweetgrass. She mostly sticks to moss and related topics. I also found there was less mysticism mixed it.

99

I borrowed The End Crowns All! and was putting it out to be my next fiction book. But the author kindly gave a list of trauma warnings and described the current topics she wants to cover in the book. It's going back unread.

But you do have to be grateful for an author who warns you about the reasons you don't want to read her book.

I am so disgusted. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-removal-panels-honoring-black-...

I think The Chequer Board will be an early reread in 2026.

Geheimnisse aus der Krippenwerkstatt : Weihnachts- und Fastenkrippen 3*
This is designed to help and inspire those trying to create creche scenes in the Tyrolean tradition. It is probably of little interest to anybody else. Discarding.

100 for the year.
12 for December.

>178 MarthaJeanne: Ha! Looked on AbeBooks. $132 shipping from Europe.

I don't think you really want it. My copy goes to Carla next visit. Only reason I didn't totally delete it is that am the only one with a book by that author, and I have added a fair amount of CK.

Green Mansions is falling apart in my hands, so I am switching to the Gutenberg version. The story is rather unbelievable, but the descriptions are wonderful. I quite understand that this captivated me when I was a teenager.