MissWatson ROOTs again

Hi, my name is Birgit and I have way too many books unread on my shelves. Last year I managed to read 115, but I hope to read more non-fiction this year, so I am scaling down to 75 this year.
Happy ROOTing everyone!

And here’s the reading log...I have decided not to add touchstones in the list, in case it becomes too long to load.
ETA: An asterisk marks physical books that have left the house. I really want to clear some shelf space...

January
1. *Die Prinzessin von Banalien by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
2. *The talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
3. *Keep the aspidistra flying by George Orwell
4. *Un día después del sábado by Gabriel García Márquez
5. *Hagen von Tronje by Wolfgang Hohlbein
6. *Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye
7. Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser
8. *Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
9. Nachsaison by Doris Gercke
10. Dorf- und Schloßgeschichten by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
11. Leibniz, Newton und die Erfindung der Zeit by Thomas de Padova
12. *A clergyman’s daughter by George Orwell
13. Dodger by Terry Pratchett
February
14. *Das Geheimnis der Ordensfrau by Monika Küble/Henry Gerlach
15. Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
16. *MASH by Richard Hooker
17. Ferragus, chef des Dévorants by Honoré de Balzac
18. *Hochamt in Neapel by Stefan von der Lahr
19. *Brennende Wahrheit by Monika Küble
20. Out on the Rim by Ross Thomas
21. *Bretonische Geheimnisse by Jean-Luc Bannalec
22. The Samurai Detectives Vol. 1 by Shotaro Ikenami
23. Impfen : Grundlagen, Wirkung, Risiken by Stefan Kaufmann
24. *Olaf Braren by Mia Munier-Wroblewski
25. *Skipper Worse by Alexander Kjelland
26. *The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton
March
27. *Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches by Suraiya Faroqhi
28. *Die Festung by Ismail Kadaré
29. Die Tote im Götakanal by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
30. *Chronik in Stein by Ismail Kadaré
31. *Die Maske by Siegfried Lenz
32. *Weinschröter, du mußt hängen by Doris Gercke
33. Eline Vere by Louis Couperus
34. Zwischenfall in Lohwinckel by Vicki Baum
35. *Krokodilwächter by Katrine Engberg
36. *The man who fell to Earth by Walter Tevis
April
37. Une page d’amour by Émile Zola
38. *The noise of time by Julian Barnes
39. *Erebus by Michael Palin
40. *The British Museum is falling down by David Lodge
41. *The sense of an ending by Julian Barnes
42. *Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
43. *Unter dem Sternbild der Trauer by Juri Rytcheu
May
44. *Collected Short Stories by E.M. Forster
45. Löwentor und Labyrinth by Hans Baumann
46. Die römische Stadt by Paul Zanker
47. *Die englische Episode by Petra Oelker
48. *Mörderischer Mistral by Cay Rademacher
49. *L’œuvre au noir by Marguerite Yourcenar
50. *Sörensen hat Angst by Sven Stricker
51. *Der Weihnachtskarpfen by Vicki Baum
52. *The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett
53. *Eine brillante Masche by Jan Zweyer
54. *Die Legende der Adlerkrieger by Jin Yong
June
55. *Tigerman by Nick Harkaway
56. *Marazan by Nevil Shute
57. Le ventre de Paris by Émile Zola
58. *Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
59. *Requiem for a Wren by Nevil Shute
60. *The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
61. *Benelux by Ute Schürings
62. *The gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
July
63. *Unter Wölfen by Alex Beer
64. *The Saint goes on by Leslie Charteris
65. *Der Tote im Eiskeller by Petra Oelker
66. *Der falsche Abt by Frank Goyke
67. *Der Richter aus Paris by Ulrich Wickert
68. *Gilgi, eine von uns by Irmgard Keun
69. *Nordlicht – Die Spur des Mörders by Anette Hinrichs
70. *Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
71. *Novecento by Alessandro Baricco
72. *Entschlüsselte Geheimnisse by Karl-Heinz Göttert

Hi Birgit, Am I to early for saying 'hello'?

Glad to see you here.

Good to see you here, Birgit. I hope to be a more frequent visitor this year.

Happy ROOTING in 2026, Birgit

Welcome back, Birgit! Nonfiction books do take longer, don't they? Good luck on meeting your goal!

>3 connie53: And I am glad to be back, Connie. Thank yor for being my first visitor!
>4 Familyhistorian: You are always welcome, Meg, no matter when or how often.
>5 Robertgreaves: Thank you, Robert!
>6 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene. I could alternate between long non-fiction and short fiction. But we’ll see how it works out.

ROOT #1 is Die Prinzessin von Banalien by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

This is a very short book, a literary fairy tale with a moral. A pretty book, too, with nice illustrations, but I prefer her more realistic fiction and shan’t keep it. After all, one of the goals of my ROOTing is to remove physical books from the shelves.

I wish you a healthy and happy New Year filled with many exciting books. May all your wishes come true.

>1 MissWatson: Happy Reading and Rooting for 2026 Birgit.

>8 MissWatson: >one of the goals of my ROOTing is to remove physical books from the shelves
Ah mine also!

Welcome back and have a great year.

Hi, Birgit, hope 2026 brings you lots of good things, including getting plenty of books off the shelves (I’m in that club now too!)!

Happy New Year, Birgit! Good luck reaching your goal!

Welcome back, Birgit! Looks like you're off to a good start for the year. Have fun with your reading!

>9 Ameise1: Thanks for the brilliant fireworks, Barbara!
>10 AnishaInkspill: Thanks for visiting, Anisha.
>11 detailmuse: So many books, so little space. Something has to give.
>12 floremolla: Hi, Donna! I am finding that parting with a book becomes easier every year.
>13 Carmenere: And a Happy New Year to you, too, Lynda!
>14 rabbitprincess: Thanks, RP. The weather is very suitable for reading right now...

ROOT #2 is The talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

And another one off the shelf! I am afraid that I expected a little more from this famous crime novel, but possibly my memories of the movie version (with Alain Delon) distorted my view. I didn’t like Ripley at all, and his obsession with clothes and beautiful things bored me. The Vintage edition was full of typos, too, which distracted me a lot.

>16 MissWatson:. I think we are used to a more modern way of writing. As this book was written in 1955 that could very well be the case. Live was more slow back then (I was just 2 years old, imagine that) and books were slower too.

>17 connie53: Well, that could be part of the problem, things move very slowly in this book. But I think the author intentionally creates disagreeable characters, I recently finished her Strangers on the train and there was a similar nasty, creepy man in it.

O my, that is not real nice.

>18 MissWatson: I need te read that book, because one of the challenges of my real live bookclub is about a villain. This man sounds just right. ;-)

>19 connie53: Yes, as villains go he is perfect.

ROOT #3 is Keep the aspidistra flying by George Orwell

This is such a bleak, dispiriting read. A young man fancies himself as a poet and non-conformist, refusing to join the rat-race of "good" jobs and dreary lives. Instead he starves in his garret and has a dead-end job in a secondhand bookshop, despising the customers and pretty much everyone else.
I really need to read something more bright soon!

>21 MissWatson: Yes, you do! This book sounds horrible.

>22 connie53: Orwell is notorious for writing bleak stories, but here the main character is also unforgivingly selfish.

>16 MissWatson: I read this one a year or two ago, and I was quite fascinated by Ripley's character. He is a sociopath, but he is an extremely dull and uninteresting one, and at the same time his violence is so - practical. He is not driven by passion at all, and his ability to not reveal himself in the toughest situations is interesting. I just thought he got away with a little too much and was a bit too lucky ind the end.

>24 Henrik_Madsen: Yes, you describe him very well.

ROOT #4 is Un día después del sábado by Gabriel García Márquez

LT tells me I read this short story in 2015, but I had no memory of it. Probably because there is little or no plot, and the mystery of the birds crashing into the flyscreens and dying inside the houses is never explained. But I liked the language. The afterword says Faulkner was a big influence on the author at the time of writing (1955), so maybe I should try him, too.

i'm sure i've asked you this before but how do you read so much? i'm so jealous!

>27 handshakes: I am retired now, I live on my own, and I don’t socialise much, so there are many hours in the day to spend with a book. But most of all: no social media, except LT. My sister and my BF are on WhatsAPP now, and it is slightly scary to observe how often they check their mobiles now. I probably won’t be able to hold out forever, but right now it feels good not be involved with this.

>28 MissWatson: Yes, What's app can take a lot of time but I like it.

>29 connie53: It is definitely a wonderful way to stay in touch with family and friends.

ROOT #5 is Hagen von Tronje by Wolfgang Hohlbein

I had planned a re-read of this, but my memories of the book were obviously deceptive. It is a re-telling of the Nibelungen myth from the POV of the main villain (the man who kills Siegfried and buries the treasure in the Rhine). I guess I liked that he is painted with understanding here and given proper motivation. But the writing style didn’t work for me anymore, and too many details rubbed me the wrong way, so I quit. And because it is leaving the physical shelf, making room for other books, I am counting it as a ROOT.

>28 MissWatson: ah! it must be wonderful to have all that free time. i'm glad that you spend it wisely. :)

>32 handshakes: Thank you. I am very grateful for my free time!

Good luck with the challenge this year! And good on you for not succumbing to social media. I'm honestly sorry I ever got a FB page, LOL. I'm definitely trying to pick up a book rather than a phone these days.

Thanks, Lisa!

ROOT #6 is Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

A retelling of Jane Eyre by an author whose enthusiasm for the original spills from every page. Her Jane calls herself a murderer, but the reader soon disagrees with her. And when she is hired by Charles Thornfield as a governess she proves an intrepid sleuth, too. This was fun all around, and I loved the clever way in which she weaves elements from the original into her version.

ROOT #7 is Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser

Reading Jane Steele reminded me instantly of Flashman, so I picked up this one, where our Victorian scoundrel gets embroiled in the First Sikh War, which looms large in Faye’s book. I enjoyed the usual irreverent comments of our hero, but the historical background wasn’t made clear enogh for me. I still would like to understand the situation of Punjab and the Sikhs at the time a little better, so I’ll have to find myself some non-fiction, I suppose.

When you posted about Jane Steele, I thought that title seemed familiar. It's in one of my book stacks. Now that you've reminded me, I'll probably go and look for the book and maybe even read it and send it on its way.

>38 Familyhistorian: Hi, thanks for visiting. It was fun, I hope you like it, too.

ROOT #8 is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

This is a classic of modern SF and was made into a movie, which I remember vaguely, but I think it differs from the book. Substantially, as I just found out from Wikipedia. Of course, it is much of its time in its attitude to women, but he was remarkably accurate about the development of modern media society. Scarily so, to be honest.

Very good idea, Birgit.

ROOT #9 is Nachsaison by Doris Gercke

This is a mystery from 1988 which I picked up because I had watched a few episodes of the TV series based on the books, but I never knew about these books. This is the second in the series, and Bella Block has quit the Hamburg police force to work as a private investigator. She is hired by a husband who wants to know what his wife is up in her vacation in Italy.
The story is told entirely from Bella’s point of view, what she sees and what she does. She is unusual (especially for the time, I think) in being in her fifties, single, independent and rather tough. Not surprising, given that she was brought up by a single mother working all over Europe. We get glimpses of a very checkered past, and I just ordered the first book in the series, hoping to find out more about her. Especially how she got to have Russian poet Alexander Blok for a grandfather...

I think I would have done the same, ordering the first in the series just out of curiosity. I hope you like it, Birgit.

>43 connie53: Yes, I was lucky to find a copy available on my usual bookswapping site. It will be a short read, too, and I am very curious to learn more about this character. It doesn’t happen very often that I am interested so much in a fictional character.

ROOT #10 is Dorf- und Schloßgeschichten by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

This is an anthology of short stories by a classic Austrian author, and I loved them all. They have an unmistakably Austrian feel about them, especially when the villagers talk in their own distinctive phrasing. Most of them are also sad as they are about young people woh can’t marry as they wish.

>40 MissWatson: Fahrenheit 451 is always a good one for a reread, and yes it is amazingly prescient in development of modern media society!

>46 kaida46: Yes, there’s a reason it’s regarded as a classic.

ROOT #11 is Leibniz, Newton und die Erfindung der Zeit by Thomas de Padova

A non-fiction book which looks at the the rise of modern sciences, including its downsides (such as the publish or perish pressure). I like the author’s style, and I especially appreciated the way he suggested small armchair experiments to test some of the statements he made (for instance when he explains rotating galaxies he offers the draining of a bathtub as an analogy).

ROOT #12 is A clergyman’s daughter by George Orwell

It would seem I am a litte masochistic, to be reading another of these depressing books that Orwell wroites. Unlike Gordon Comstock, however, Dorothy Hare had my full pity from the start. She is twenty-eight and does all the hard parish work for her father, the rector of a small country town, and she never complains, just carries on scrimping and making do with the little housekeeping money he allows her. And how much work is there involved in keeping house when you have to light fires every day, no running hot water, etc. It’s even worse for the cottagers who still draw their water from a well...
Orwell is very good at bringing home to you how the endless repetitive work and poverty grinds you down. It’s very bleak.

ROOT #13 is Dodger by Terry Pratchett

I picked this up, thinking it is a modern retelling of Oliver Twist. Not so, but definitely inspired by it. Dickens himself is a character, we meet other real people, and it is a romance, a spy thriller, a social critique and so much else. Most of all, it was a delightful read!

And I think this is the last ROOT in January, I have embarked on a very fat library book and want to concentrate on that. But 13 is a very good number, and more than half have left the house. That looks like a very successful month to me.

Well done!

>52 LisaMorr: Thank you, Lisa! Of course, the cold weather helped a lot. It’s so nice to curl up on the sofa with a book when it’s freezing outside.

>16 MissWatson: I have 4 Patricia Highsmith novels on my wishlist and Ripley is one of them. I haven't seen the Delon film version, but I enjoyed the Damon/Law/Paltrow version. If I ever acquire or borrow a copy, I'll manage my expectations based on what you say, Birgit!

Good job, Birgit.

>54 missizicks: I have an anthology of her shorter novellas on the TBR and I do hope that there will be some with a more likeable character than Ripley.

>55 connie53: Thanks, Connie.

ROOT #14 is Das Geheimnis der Ordensfrau by Monika Küble/Henry Gerlach

This is a very short and also very odd book, commissioned especially by two Swiss cantonal museums to coincide with their 600th anniversary expositions marking the annexion of Aargau and Thurgau by the Swiss Confederation, in 1415. The plot is woven around some of the exhibits and places involved in the celebrations, and the story was first published as a serial in two newspapers, all of which means that it feels choppy and rushed. It’s an interesting sideshow to the Council of Constance and most of the characters were real people, but it all feels rather like an academic exercise, not a cohesive narrative.

ROOT #15 is Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

This was a re-read after nearly fifty years, and what a difference that time makes. This time I just whizzed through the pages, enjoying the language and the idiosyncracies of his characters. It helps to know the city and its history, and to be familiar with the Mann family, there is so much in here that is based on their history.

ROOT #16 is MASH by Richard Hooker

This was a quick and short read, not the least because it was so familiar: the movie stays very close to the book, and the characters are so memorable. Sadly, it is a very ancient paperback and fell apart in my hands.

>59 MissWatson:. Wow, a book that falls to pieces in your hands, Birgit. That's not nice!.

>60 connie53: Well, it was an ancient paperback, 54 years old, and the glue cracked. The quality of these US mass market paperbacks is not very high. Cheap paper that becomes yellow and brittle.

>61 MissWatson: We're experiencing something similar. I had a set of three old mass market paperbacks from the '60's, and started reading the first one last year. By the time I got to the end of it, the front cover started to crack. My husband decided to read it after me, and when he read it, the front cover cracked and came off completely. He went on to read the remaining books in the set, and both covers cracked and came off the third book in the set. I guess we're lucky that the text blocks are still OK. It's just poor quality materials that don't hold up as they age.

>62 atozgrl: It didn’t matter so much at the time I bought them, I was just glad to find an affordable secondhand copy.

Recently a huge book distributor completely dropped the mass-market format, sad. They'd been intentionally made low-quality (affordable), and they democratized book buying. For me though, trade pbs are much more comfortable to hold and read.

>64 detailmuse: I hadn't heard that, but I'm not surprised. Mass market paperbacks were fine when I was young. They were inexpensive, so they were affordable for me, and they held up OK when I was young. They just don't do well when they get old--they're not built to last. I agree with you about trade paperbacks. I won't buy mass market ones any more. Trade paperbacks are more comfortable to hold and read. The print in some (most?) of the mass markets is small, and it's harder for me to read now that I'm older.

>64 detailmuse: Making books affordable is a laudable goal, and with paper prices today being what they are, it is probably more difficult.
>65 atozgrl: Yes, I am glad that the books (and replacement copies) I buy today have much larger font sizes (mostly).

ROOT #17 is Ferragus, chef des Dévorants by Honoré de Balzac

This is a pretty short book and would have been even shorter if the print had been smaller. But I am actually glad about the large font, it makes for easier reading. I also enjoyed the footnotes instead of endnotes. They are helpful with classics like these which often allude to things no longer known to later generations.

That said, I find again that I have little sympathy for Balzac’s characters, they are always so terribly intense in their feelings. Love and hate usually end with death, as in this story of a young officer who admires a married woman, follows her, and suspects her of adultery. Tragedy ensues, his own death included. It was part of a planned series about the thirteen members of a secret society, but after three episodes Balzac changed directions and embarked on his Comédie Humaine. Some characters that appear in these books return later in the Comédie.

ROOT #18 is Hochamt in Neapel by Stefan von der Lahr

This was a very wild ride! We have two separate investigations, one in Rome where two police officers accidentally witness as a man is killed by a car, the other in Naples, where a historican commissioned with writing a history of the bishopric stumbles across a letter from Winckelmann who says he knows the final resting place of Alexander the Great. The auxiliary bishop of Naples and his secretary take a closer look.
From there we run into Camorra clans disposing nuclear waste illegally, with a temporary storage in the catacombs of Naples, a dubious company donating medical technology to developing countries that turns out be junk, EU subsidy fraud, and the secret services are in it, too. The whole thing looks way over the top, and yet it is all too believable, you can find stuff like that in the news every day. Just not at the same time and happening to a couple of clerics and plain police officers. Unlike real life, the bad guys get their comeuppance at the end, with a helping hand from the Holy Father himself.

ROOT #19 is Brennende Wahrheit by Monika Küble

Short, undemanding historical fiction set in Radolfzell on Lake Constance (which is why I bought it, we’ve spent three vacations there). It features quite a few real people, such as the German poet Joseph Victor Scheffel, and made me want to re-visit the city.

ROOT #20 is Out on the Rim by Ross Thomas

This was re-read, and I picked it because it was the author’s 100th birthday on Monday. And of course, I like to spend time with Artie Wu and Quincy Durant, and their devious conmen activities. I am not going to part with these ever, I think.

ROOT #21 is Bretonische Geheimnisse by Jean-Luc Bannalec

I was looking for diversion from my dry economic history tome, after days of sitting mostly at home because it is freezing outside. I find it hard to concentrate on that. So when I saw that Bannalec turned sixty on Tuesday, I picked up the next instalment in his Brittany murder mysteries.
This time we are in the forest of Brocéliande and meet a group of academics who study Arthurian literature and remains. The scholarly competition for reputation and tenured posts is vicious and in this case also murderous, a veritable snakepit. I am not quite convinced there really is such a manuscript from the 9th century as the one that causes all the mayhem in here, but the book does what it aims to do: it makes you want to go Brittany.

>71 MissWatson: I'm in Brittany too right now with Little French Bistro by Nina George. I've been to the Brocéliande Forest and I can attest that it is a magical place. I can't wait to "revisit" as I continue with my reading :)

>72 Cecilturtle: I have made only a brief stop in the forest, so far, because we all prefer the coast, but I will put in a plea for it next time we go there. Brittany is a favourite for German tourists, and the bookstore shelves with mysteries and romances set there are bulging.

>73 MissWatson: Interesting! I did not know that! I was curious as to why George would choose Brittany as her setting (rather than the more popular South) but now I know! thanks :)

>74 Cecilturtle: It is a growth industry. Bannalec for instance had a Brittany calendar out this year, there’s a cookbook and tour guides, and I am sure he gets lots of invitations from restaurants and hotels who hope to be mentioned.

ROOT #22 is The Samurai Detectives Vol. 1 by Shotaro Ikenami

I picked this up last year because historical fiction from Japan sounded promising. It is certainly a very different world from the one I know, with different ethics. I also found it a slow read, the names and titles are so unfamiliar that it is hard to keep track of who is who and doing what. The author introduces minor characters with a short bio, but it’s hard to know if and how this is important to the overall story arch, which adds to the sense of disorientation. A map of the city of Edo at this time (1777-79) would have been a great help. I guess I’ll have to read up on Japan before I continue with the series.

ROOT #23 is Impfen : Grundlagen, Wirkung, Risiken by Stefan Kaufmann

A very brief introduction to vaccination, published in 2021, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the information about ongoing research is already dated, the field is evolving so rapidly.

ROOT #24 is Olaf Braren by Mia Munier-Wroblewski

I love books set on the North Frisian islands and the North Sea, and this one is about a self-taught painter. It is more fiction than fact, and the author is far more interested in the two women in his life, his wife and his mistress, but she paints a vivid picture of island life in the first years of the 19th century. The afterword points out where she digressed from the known facts (there are many instances of this), but at least she took the trouble to do research on her subject, even if she decided to change some things.
The author’s life is also amazing, she came from the German-speaking upper class of Courland in what is now Latvia (then Russia), was part of the White emigration from the Russian empire, and had to flee further West after World War 2.

>68 MissWatson: I read this book years ago and loved it. Last year, I read Das Grab der Jungfrau, which I also enjoyed.

>79 Ameise1: I have been looking for a secondhand copy of that book, but no luck yet. According to the DNB, there’s another one, Dämonen im Vatikan, published in 2023.

ROOT #25 is Skipper Worse by Alexander Kjelland

It is almost exactly three years since I came across this book, and I acquired it because the name seemed vaguely familiar, but I have now idea from where I know it. Anyways, it was a very good read about a time and place I know little about.
We are in Stavanger in Norway, and the time is 1840, and Captain Worse returns from a trading voyage to Brazil. His hometown is changing, new money is coming in, new businesses spring up, and most of it is driven by the adherents of the Haugian and pietist church members. They don’t drink, they live frugally, and they oppose the official state church. These conflicts are mentioned in passing, mostly we see how the widow Torvestad tries to catch the captain as a husband for her daughter and convert him to their faith, giving her a triumph over her fellow religionists. It means unhappiness for her daughter and the captain.
I enjoyed this a lot and I’ll be keeping out an eye for his other books about the Garman company. Loosely based on his own family’s business, the afterword tells us.

And this means I have read a third of the books I aimed for already, with February not even finished. Mostly because I didn’t go out much in this extremely cold and long winter. But temperatures have jumped up, and if the promised sunshine appears, I am finally going on an excursion tomorrow. I need a change of scenery.

>82 MissWatson: I'm looking forward to tomorrow too. 19 degrees sounds really lovely.

>83 connie53: A bit of sunshine makes such a difference.

I know. It's now raining and I just are happy to sit here reading and not having to go out. Since I don't drive I have to do with my e-bike of my feet.

>80 MissWatson: Thanks for the tip. My library has a copy of it 😃.

>83 connie53: we have the same but with a negative in front, hehehe. I'm jealous :)

Well, yesterday was every bit as lovely as the weather guys promised, and I took a trip to Hamburg. Sunshine all the way, and a nice exhibition about cats at the museum. I am glad I did it, today is grey again. Sigh.

>88 MissWatson: It's lovely still over in the Netherlands.

>88 MissWatson: >89 connie53: I will have to make do with your lovely weather, as it certainly isn't lovely in Scotland right now! Wet, windy, miserable. Ugh.

>89 connie53: >90 Jackie_K: I have great hopes for the weekend.

I do too. Looking sunny now, but a bit of rain due this afternoon.

ROOT #26 is The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton

This is one of the books that caught my eye in passing, and I was curious. These are gentle, unscary stories and she leaves the reader to make up his own mind as to what happened exactly. And she knows how to build an atmosphere of subtle menace.

ROOT #27 is Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches by Suraiya Faroqhi

I was having trouble with the events in Kadaré’s Die Festung, so I put it aside and picked up Geschichte des Osmanischen Reiches, a short non-fiction introduction to the Ottoman Empire which helps tremendously. At 128 pages, it leaves me wanting more detail, which I hope to find in The Ottomans.

ROOT #28 is Die Festung by Ismail Kadaré

My German translation from 1988 is a very naked edition with no information about the country, the time, the author, and the translator, and many aspects baffled me. Then I laid my hands on a new English translation with a very instructive afterword, and now I know that the Albanian communist regime censored Kadaré’s text. He could revise and republish many of the books later in France, and it would seem that the closest you can get to him is in the French translations of these revised versions. The differences, judging by the English version, are considerable.
Which means, of course, that I am not keeping this.

ROOT #29 is Die Tote im Götakanal by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

This is the first in the Martin Beck series, and the grandparent of all Scandicrime, so it’s fitting that it was written by a husband-and-wife team. I was surprised to see that Wahlöö is another centenarian, born in 1926, which is partly why I picked it. And also because I found out that they have been newly translated in the early 2000s, with all the cuts restored that were made in the first translations. It has aged well, I think, and I really liked the slow-moving plot, which reminded you how much technology has changed in these sixty years.

Hi Birgit, just popping in to say Hi!.

Hello Connie! Just got back from my sister’s, now I am catching up with threads. We’re having sunshine today and I hope it lasts. The weekend has been so cold.

ROOT #30 is Chronik in Stein by Ismail Kadare

The main character of the book is the ancient town of Gjirokastra in Albania, seen through the eyes of a young boy. The Second World War is raging, and towards the end awful things are going on.

ROOT #31 is Die Maske by Siegfried Lenz

A collection of five short stories which I picked up because the author was born 100 years ago on 17 March. I think I prefer his novels.

ROOT #32 is Weinschröter, du mußt hängen by Doris Gercke

A mystery set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a small village where everyone knows about everyone else. Or so it seems. There are quite a few odd things here, such as that we never learn the names of most people, not even the perpetrator’s, or the open ending.

ROOT #33 is Eline Vere by Louis Couperus

Couperus wrote this as a mere 25-year-old, and it is a remarkable psychological study of a young woman who breaks off her engagement and then spirals down into depression and illness. And yet I could never summon any compassion for her plight, she comes across as cold and self-centred, with no real feelings for her family or friends. And we meet many of those, all members of the high society in The Hague, well-off, pleasant, and enjoying their social life. Those scenes had a distinct touch of Tolstoy and his Rostov family.

ROOT #34 is Zwischenfall in Lohwinckel by Vicki Baum

I think the blurb misrepresents the contents of the book by promising romantic comedy. At the heart it is the portrait of a marriage, where the woman is disillusioned. Her husband is the local doctor and not very popular, and she suffers under the heavy load of debts and disdain. And then life in the smal town is disrupted when a car with three Berlin socialites crashes just outside town. The chauffeur is killed, the others escape with minor injuries and spend a few days in town.
Nearly everyone is affected: the workers of the local factory get angry over the injustice of the rich getting away while their employee is hurt. The school boys grow rebellious, inspired by their adoration of the famous boxer, the grown-ups fawn over the young beautiful film star, and the doctor’s wife finds an unexpected admirer in the business tycoon. Life as it was is suddenly questioned. But at the end everything and everyone falls back into their old ways.
Vicki Baum writes a distinctly modern style (at the time), and her view of the small town’s social conventions is ironic, satiric, and indulgent in turn, but never condescending. I am always surprised by her.

ROOT #35 is Krokodilwächter by Katrine Engberg

A solid mystery set in Copenhagen, and a quick read. A very nasty murder, which is one of the reasons why I approach Scandinavian mysteries warily. They always seem so dark, so full of disturbed minds and distorted souls, and thus I was glad that the old lady at least survived.

ROOT #36 is The man who fell to Earth by Walter Tevis

Written in 1963, the Cold War clearly influences the author’s view of things to come. For all that, I found it a gentle story whose main impression is the incredible loneliness of the alien on Earth.

Ten ROOTs this month, and seven have left the house. That is not a bad month at all!

>107 MissWatson: nice totals!

>108 Cecilturtle: Thanks. Retirement is such a great thing!

I am off to my sister’s now and will be offline until next week. Enjoy the holidays!

Hi Birgit, I hope you did have a great time a your sister's

You have read your share of ROOTs too, I see. Great Job.

Hi Connie, lovely to see you! We had a great time, but didn’t do much reading over the holidays. And now that spring is here, the outside beckons...

ROOT #37 is Une page d’amour by Émile Zola

The next book in my ongoing project of reading his Rougon-Macquart cycle. This one could just as well be a standalone, since the link to the Macquarts is very tenuous. Just a woman and her daughter, she is recently widowed and stranded in Paris, or rather a small suburb of Paris. She never goes there, and the smallness of her world feels oppressive. Zola tells the story entirely from her viewpoint, and to me it is not quite clear how much her love and passion for Henri is returned. He wants her, no doubt, but he seems to make little effort after the big death scene...

>106 MissWatson: There are so many coincidences for me in LT!

I just came across this book - I didn't even know I had it (I was organizing my DVDs and I had a special edition of the movie - which I've had for years - and I had no idea a copy of the novel was included!) - and here you've just read it, and I'm looking forward to it more than ever.

>113 LisaMorr: Yes, that happens to me quite a lot. One of the many wonderful things about LT.

ROOT #38 is The noise of time by Julian Barnes

A very interesting look at the life and times of Shostakovich and what it meant to be an artist in the USSR. I really liked the way he structured his story.

>115 MissWatson: that's a great book, I really liked it too.

>116 Jackie_K: He has a knack for finding interesting and unusual people.

ROOT #39 is Erebus by Michael Palin

A non-fiction book telling the story of a famous sailing ship from its launch to the discovery of its wreck in the North West Passage. The author writes engagingly and frequently compares the locations the ship touched to what they look like now, as he visited most of them.

ROOT #40 is The British Museum is falling down by David Lodge

Thankfully this was short, as I couldn’t work up much enthusiasm for the troubles of Adam Appleby, who is working for his PhD thesis in the Reading Room of the museum, and is distracted most of the time by worrying about whether his wife is pregnant with a fourth child or not. As practising Catholics, contraceptives are not an option. It seems a long time ago, and the male-dominated world of academia is not very attractive.

>119 MissWatson: I read it in the 1990s and for some reason which I've now forgotten was thinking of re-reading it in the 2010s but couldn't summon up any enthusiasm. It was too tied to its time and place with its clever parodies which made me think it was written with one eye on providing material for future thesis writers exploring the 1960s comic novel.

>120 Robertgreaves: Yes, exactly.

ROOT #41 is The sense of an ending by Julian Barnes

During the first part, I thought we were too close to the world of David Lodge, and I didn’t really felt engaged with the character. In the second part, I felt just as blind and baffled as he did, I just didn’t "see" what he was supposed to see. I think it’s going to stay at the back of my mind.

ROOT #42 is Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

Nothing vague or unclear with Poirot, he gets his perpetrator, and this one was twisty, surprising, and enjoyable.

ROOT #43 is Unter dem Sternbild der Trauer by Juri Rytcheu

The author is a Chukchi, and this story takes us back to 1934, when a group of Soviet scientists and administrators arrive on Wrangel Island to man a research station. They look down on the local indigenous people (the translation uses the word Eskimo, no way of telling if that is also the author’s word for them) and bring them dangerously close to starvation when they forbid hunting for winter stores. In sum, they behave crassly like arrogant white colonialists, and never mind that they are supposed to represent Soviet New Man. Only the doctor shows any willingness to communicate with them. When he comes to death, the head of the station has to face trial in Moscow.
A fascinating glimpse at life beyond the Arctic Circle. A little more background on the translation and the author would have been nice.

That is my last ROOT for this month, and there have been more than I expected. Now I am off to my sister’s for the weekend. See you on Monday!

ROOT #44 is Collected Short Stories by E.M. Forster

I borrowed some books from my sister and had to finish these first, as I will return them next week when we attend a couple of concerts. But then I returned to these short stories and finshed them. Quite a few will be unintelligible to someone who has no knowledge of Ancient Greece, there is a remarkable science-fiction-flavoured one (The Machine Stops), and others where he pokes fun at English tourists on the continent. Quiet and gentle, and I am a little upset that the book fell apart in my hands.

In other news: I have found an apartment I like in Bielefeld and will be busy with paperwork and other preparations for weeks to come. I expect my ROOTing will slow down considerably, but I am relieved that the search has ended. (Or so I hope. I need to meet some deadlines.)

>126 MissWatson: I read 'The Machine Stops' a couple of years ago - to say it was eerily predictable of our present society is an understatement. Quiet mind blowing for 1908 !

>127 MissWatson: Oh, best of luck with that, Birgit! Every time I move I say 'never again' - till the next time. But we've been in this house over 14 years now, which is the longest I've ever been in one place in my adult life.

>128 Ignatius777: So it is.
>129 Jackie_K: Thanks, Jackie. It’s a bit daunting. When I first moved to Kiel I was fresh from uni and had no furniture at all. Now I have all these heavy books...I am trying to cull them, but it is heavy going.

>130 MissWatson: good luck, Birgit! I'm waffling on moving myself just because it feels so complicated !

>127 MissWatson: Congratulations! I'm glad you have finally found a place, and I hope all the paperwork and whatever else needs to be completed goes smoothly for you. Good luck!

>131 Cecilturtle: I know, but it will only get more complicated the older I get, so I wanted to do it while still reasonably fit.
>132 atozgrl: I hope so, finding a suitable place has been difficult and time-consuming enough.

ROOT #45 is Löwentor und Labyrinth by Hans Baumann

Archaeology for children about the men who looked for Troy and Knossos. I first read this when I was eleven or twelve, and I had planned to part with it after reading, but on second thought it will stay. For sentimental reasons.

ROOT #46 is Die römische Stadt by Paul Zanker

Another slim volume, this time about Roman cities: their layout, buildings and evolution over time. Lots of drawings, groundplans, and photos, and full of information. Another keeper.

I am spending a few days with my sister, and I hope to finish another ROOT on the train. Will report next week.

ROOT #47 is Die englische Episode by Petra Oelker

I finished this on the train ride home. It is a historical mystery set in 1770, and the author has deftly moved all her main characters to London for this. Rosina and her theatre company want to see Garrick at the Drury Lane, and the police officer is sent to chase after a young woman who stole a collection of ancient coins from her employer. There is also a lot about printing in this episode, because the murder that sets off events happened in a printer’s shop. The murder takes a backseat to all the historical details about London life at the time, but it was enjoyable. As usual with the author, we meet a few real people, this time it’s Sir Henry Fielding and Johann Christian Bach.

ROOT #48 is Mörderischer Mistral by Cay Rademacher

A mystery set in one of Germany’s favourite tourist destinations, Provence. The author lives there, and it shows. This is the first in a series that does not paint an overly rosy picture of the region. I like the characters and will definitely read more.

ROOT #49 is L’œuvre au noir by Marguerite Yourcenar

I am not very familiar with the history of the Spanish Netherlands in the 16th century, so a lot of the people and events mentioned here in passing meant nothing to me. Neither do I know a lot about alchemy which is important here. I recognised the name Nicolas Flamel from Harry Potter, but it took me far too long to realise that the adjective "hermétique" in this context means an adept of Hermes Trismegistes, another alchemist, and I am sure that I missed much more. My main problem, however, was that I couldn’t get involved in the fate of the main character, he left me cold.
Not a keeper.

ROOT #50 is Sörensen hat Angst by Sven Stricker

I am currently choosing my books with an eye to parting with them after reading, to diminish the amount of packing I’ll have to do for my move. Which is why I spent yesterday in Northern Frisia with Sörensen. He’s a cop who suffers from an anxiety disorder and has asked to be transferred to a quiet rural station, away from Hamburg. It’s just his bad luck that on his arrival a man is found dead in his horse barn.
This is one of the better efforts in regional crime fiction, the author was born in the region and his portrait of people and the landscape is spot-on. And he writes just like people here talk, the sound is perfect. The subject matter is not for everyone, though, there’s pedophilia involved. Even in picturesque Frisia, there are dark secrets behind the spotless windows.

ROOT #51 is Der Weihnachtskarpfen by Vicki Baum

A collection of four short stories, three from the 1920s, and one from 1941, which she wrote in English and was translated by someone else. There is a marked difference in style from the other ones, but they are all engaging. But I won’t be keeping it, the paper quality is bad, and I dislike that they used the new spelling for it. Instead, I’ll be looking out for the original collection of the German stories. Laying hands on her English stuff may be a little more complicated.

ROOT #52 is The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett

A re-read after more than 40 years, and again I find that the Continental Op detective doesn’t appeal to me as much as Hammett’s other creations. This one is positively Gothic with its persecuted heroine, and since it is also falling apart, I am parting with it.

ROOT #53 is Eine brillante Masche by Jan Zweyer

A historical mystery based on a true case, set in the region where the author lives. Johann Bos was a con man, ripping off women immediately after the Second World War whose husbands had been arrested by the Allied powers as leading Nazis. He promised to get them off in return for jewelry and other valuables. The author had only newspaper reports to work from, and there are quite a few inconsistencies resulting from this. Nevertheless an interesting portrait of the times.

ROOT #54 is Die Legende der Adlerkrieger by Jin Yong

This is a very fat book at 563 pages, but it turned out to be real pageturner. A ripping yarn set in Medieval China with lots of kung fu fighting (that you can skim) set against a very turbulent period: Northern China has been conquered by the Jurchen, who have set up the Jin Empire and threaten to invade the South under the Song, and in Mongolia Gengis Khan is building up hist strength. I really enjoyed this glimpse at a very different time and culture.

And that is the end of May, and I have read far more than I expected to. Probably because I neglected the non-fiction shelves in favour of fiction that I can part with after reading. I AM trying to reduce the number of books I need to pack. The cookery books have been easiest to cull, but there have been some surprising finds on the fiction shelves that would be difficult to find in libraries nowadays ...

Hi Birgit, I'm so sorry I did not visit your thread more often. April is that long ago and I really was ashamed by that. So here I am seeing all your great reads. I will try better my self!

Hi Connie, you are always welcome and there’s no pressure. Sometimes life just creeps away softly. I can’t believe it’s June already.

ROOT #55 is Tigerman by Nick Harkaway

I took a book bullet for this years ago and in the meantime I forgot why it seemed interesting (other than that the author is the son of Le Carré). So it was all new and surprising, and I loved it from the word go. The writing is just the kind I love, which strikes me as typically British, slightly understated and self-deprecating, devious and intricate. The same goes for the plot, he builds up the tension nicely, and leaves many things unsaid, but understood. Fabulous.

Best of luck with your book culling and your move, Birgit!

Thanks, Meg!

ROOT #56 is Marazan by Nevil Shute.

This is the first novel the author got published, he was twenty-six at the time, and it shows. His first-person narrator is definitely marked by his experience in the Flying Corps during the Great War, but he still comes across as arrogant and strangely immature. His "God is an Englishman" attitude feels extremely dated when combined with the fatuous colloquialisms of the time, and there’s far too much technical talk about planes and flying. The rest of the plot is thin, and barely credible. Off to the bin it goes.

ROOT #57 is Le ventre de Paris by Émile Zola

I could have done with less description of Les Halles, though historians are probably grateful for them now that they are gone. As usual with Zola, there are no truly likeable characters here. Oddly enough, most of my sympathy was with Lisa who at least has the strength of her convictions. Florent, of course, too, but his are so naive and illusory that I couldn’t summon much sympathy for him. I think the scariest part was the pernicious gossiping that went on around the women (mostly).

ROOT #58 is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

A children’s book about a teenager whose plane crashes and leaves him the sole survivor in the Canadian forests. The drama about his parents’ divorce was an unnecessary complication; I think, but the rest is quite enjoyable.

Hi Birgit, how are you doing with the heat? I guess it is as hot there as it is in The Netherlands.

I do nothing but read and some jigsawing. And staying inside of in the shade with my books.

This morning was excellent for opening some windows and letting some fresh air into the house. Keep cool!

>154 connie53: Thanks, Connie! The heat is very bad indeed, but we’re on the seaside and there’s always a light breeze, that’s good. And I try to stay mostly indoors, too, away from the sun.

ROOT #59 is Requiem for a Wren by Nevil Shute

A very poignant story about service in the armed forces in World War II, and how it affected people. He published this in 1955, and it’s much much better than his first book.

ROOT #60 is The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

She tells the myths surrounding Odysseus from the POV of his wife, and she also gives voice to the twelve maids killed on his return to his home. I had completely forgotten about them. Penelope talks to us from the ancients’ version of hell (or merely the realm of the dead) and knows what’s been going on in the world since then, so she can talk about windowpanes and stuff. I’m not sure if I find this entirely successful.

And this seems a good moment to take a break from ROOTing while I take care of the preparations for my move. I will be looking in occasionally, but don’t expect to have much time for serious reading until August. Have a pleasant summer!

Good luck with the move, Birgit. I hope it all goes well and you are happy in your new home.

>157 MissWatson: All best, and I hope there's plenty of room for much excitement!

>158 Robertgreaves: >159 detailmuse: Thanks, Robert and MJ! The date has just been confirmed, the packers arrive on 23 July and I am feeling a little bit panicky at the idea of all my books going into storage. On the other hand, I am really looking forward to spending more time with my sisters.

Good luck with your move! I hope everything goes smoothly and you don't encounter any problems. Enjoy your time with your sisters.

Thanks, Irene. I am working my way through my to-do list, and so far everything is running smoothly.

ROOT #61 is Benelux : Porträt einer Region by Ute Schürings

Okay, I am falling off the wagon already, because during the mid-day it’s too hot to do anything but read. So I finished a non-fiction book about the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg, which provides some much-needed background for reading books from the area.

And because there are more hot days ahead, I will go on ROOTing and even increase my goal. 100 ROOTs seems doable right now.

ROOT #62 is The gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye

Historical mystery set in 1845 New York City. The use of the contemporary slang is not entirely successful, I think.

ROOT #63 is Unter Wölfen by Alex Beer

I was on a roll last night and stayed up late to finish this historical mystery after midnight. It is set in Nuremberg in 1942. I found it less than convincing.

>165 MissWatson: Hi Birgit. I hope the move will be smooth. Good luck with everything.

>166 connie53: Thanks, Connie. I am plugging away at the preparations...

ROOT #64 is The Saint goes on by Leslie Charteris

In between packing and other stuff I sit down and read books that won’t make the trip. Such as The Saint goes on, which is three novellas about Simon Templar. The TV series with Roger Moore was very popular in Germany, I believe, but passed me by completely. I wonder if the character on TV was as callous and sometimes even cruel as his literary original? Anyway, I didn’t like him very much.

You're doing so well with your ROOTs! Good luck with packing and moving, Birgit.

>169 Familyhistorian: Thanks! Whenever I need a break from the preparations I sit down and read a few pages to clear my mind. It helps me stay sane.

ROOT #65 is Der Tote im Eiskeller by Petra Oelker

Seventh in a serires of historical mysteries set in 18th century Hamburg. The plot meanders and we see things from too many POVs, which made it confusing and a little boring. But the historical detail makes up for it.

ROOT #66 is Der falsche Abt by Frank Goyke

It’s 1397, and merchant Hermann Holthusen sets out from his native Hanseatic town Wismar to travel to Würzburg in the company of a Cistercian abbot on his way to a meeting with his fellow abbots. He leaves behind an unsolved murder and runs into a town where the citizens are in uproar against their bishop. And on top of this, we have two rival popes (in Avignon and Rome) meddling in the affairs of the Cistercian order.
This is not quite credible, communications between the opes and their spies and underlings would have taken much more time than is suggested here, I think. The author is trying to do too much and loses control of his plot.
Another one for the bin.

ROOT #67 is Der Richter aus Paris by Ulrich Wickert

Another short one off the shelf, this time a political thriller about a judge investigating corruption in the financing of a political party. A lot of real politicians are mentioned, and it all rings much too true.

ROOT #68 is Gilgi, eine von uns by Irmgard Keun

It’s the author’s first novel and it was quite a success in its time, in 1931. She had to leave Germany and the Nazis banned her books, and she was nearly forgotten until the feminist movement discovered her. Her heroines are very modern girls, they have a job and plan to keep it, and marriage is not uppermost in their minds. But the times are difficult, and she draws them unflinchingly.

Hope the preparations to move continue to go well, Birgit, and it isn't too stressful!

Looks like you are doing quite well with your roots! Good luck with the move, that's one way to clears the shelves isn't it!

>175 Jackie_K: My sister is coming tomorrow and will take a few things back with her, that should free some space.

>176 kaida46: Yes, I have parted with quite a few books now.

Are all the ROOTs you've recently reviewed among the departed books?

>105 MissWatson: I’m a big fan of Katrine Engberg’s books.
>127 MissWatson: Glad to hear you’ve found something. Yes, moving house is always stressful.
>138 MissWatson: I’ve already read quite a few books from this series and I think they’re brilliant.

I wish you all the best for your upcoming move. 😀

>178 Familyhistorian: Yes, all the July books have gone to a new home (or the recycling bin).
>179 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara. Getting rid of some old furniture is proving stressful, because the company seems so disorganised, but otherwise things have gone smoothly. So far. As for Cay Rademacher’s series, he can be found in most libraries and I am sure I will continue with it.

ROOT #69 is Nordlicht – Die Spur des Mörders by Anette Hinrichs

this was my book for the train ride home, and as we had delays again (due to heavy thunderstorms last night and damages to the overhead lines) I finished it. Second in a series about a mixed team of German and Danish detectives, and both sides have to face up to some uncomfortable truths about the past in this one, in the messy aftermath of the Second World War.

ROOT #70 is Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

I was misled by my previous read of Redshirts into thinking this would be a funny book. It’s not, it’s straight military SF about humans fighting alien insectoids (nods to Heinlein, I think), and as such, it is competently done. I did wonder a little that a book written in 2005 lacks so much in diversity: the CDF forces seem to be composed of white Anglo-Saxon protestants only...

ROOT #71 is Novecento by Alessandro Baricco

This is a very odd story, partly written down as a play (which it originally was), and quite short. Now I need to find the movie, I wonder how they filled it up.

ROOT #72 is Entschlüsselte Geheimnisse by Karl-Heinz Göttert

Another short one off the shelf, a historical mystery set in 1506 where cryptography plays the decisive part. The author’s enthusiasm for the subject means that the mystery gets lost among the cryptographic details which are mostly drawn from the works of Johannes Trithemius, who is also a character in the book.

And this may well be my last ROOT for some time to come. Tomorrow my sister and my best friend arrive for a concert, and then we’ll start the serious packing for my move which is scheduled for 23 and 24 July. I will be back in August.

>184 MissWatson: Now that the move is here, I will repeat my best wishes that everything goes smoothly with your move. I'm glad that you have help packing. It looks like you were able to clear out a lot of books ahead of the move. I need to do the same, even though I'm not moving.

See you in August!

>184 MissWatson: I hope your move goes smoothly and you will feel comfortable in your new place soon.

>185 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene. Parting with books was and remains the worst part of it.

>186 connie53: Thanks, Connie. I am looking forward to sitting in my loggia soon, away from the searing sun.

Good luck with the move.

Best of luck with the move, Birgit, looking forward to seeing you again at the other end of it all! I hope you'll be really happy in your new home.

>188 WonkyBloke: Thank you!
>189Thanaks, Jackie. The countdown is running...