This is a fantastic read, although it is predictable in places and sometimes I also found the descriptions a bit too slow. However, I liked the idea of the labyrinth trilogy and how the stories around Alais and Alice are connected.
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Kate Mosse: Labyrinth
This is a fantastic read, although it is predictable in places and sometimes I also found the descriptions a bit too slow. However, I liked the idea of the labyrinth trilogy and how the stories around Alais and Alice are connected.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Dan Brown: The Lost Symbol
The story is interesting and although there is a wealth of information to process, the storyline can be followed easily and sounds feasible most of the time. I found the strand around Ma'lakh fascinating and surprising. However, once the fast-paced action ends the book drones on for too long to solve the remaining mysteries.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Ruth Newman: Twisted Wing
This is a fascinating mystery and psychological thriller with some unexpected twists. Dr. Denison is a very likeable character and the storyline is presented in an intriguing but feasible manner. A chilling read!
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Dan Brown: Angels and Demons
In Rome, the college of cardinals assembles to elect a new pope. Yet somewhere within the walls of the Vatican, an unstoppable bomb of terrifying power relentlessly counts down to oblivion. While the minutes tick away, Langdon joins forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to decipher the labyrinthine trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome to the long-forgotten Illuminati lair - a secret refuge wherein lies the only hope for the Vatican.
But, with each revelation comes another twist, another turn in the plot, which leaves Langdon and Vetra reeling and at the mercy of a seemingly invincible enemy.
Again, a historic fact/fiction thriller with fascinating art symbols and a pacy story. Robert Langdon is an interesting character, as he is so knowledgeable about old symbols and art history, yet does not throw himself into any police action easily. Vittoria's appearance as Leonardo Vetra's adopted daughter and her involvement in sciences is also well developed. The stories surrounding Max Kohler and the Camerlegno, Captain Rocher and Captain Olivetti seemed somehow far-fetched, but what makes a good book is that the reader ís surprised and Dan Brown clearly surprised me in the book's final chapters. Again, however, I did not like the physical tension and attraction between Robert Langdon and Vittoria, as this is unfeasible and artificial...
Monday, 22 February 2010
Dan Brown: The Da Vinci Code
Although I'd started reading the book several times, I could not get into it initially. This time, however, it was different and I enjoyed the read. I know from various TV programmes that not everything described in the book is true, but the story has been developed in a way that it does sound feasible. I also liked the fact that Langdon is not the typical hero of a mystery story and shows many flaws in his characters. The one aspect I didn't like about the story was the fact that there seemed to be some tension between Neveu and Langdon, which given the circumstances of their meeting is not logical and feasible at all.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Jodi Picoult: Second glance
The story about the paranormal activities would have been fantastic, had it been developed in greater detail. For my taste, there were too many characters that seemed interesting but then weren't important or important enough to be analysed in more details, as for example Az Thompson and Lucy. Also, the coincidences and relationship issues around Ross, Meredith, Eli and Shelby weren't feasible. A somewhat disappointing Picoult.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Douglas Hurd: Ten minutes to turn the devil
The stories were interesting for their factual content and the political issues they covered. However, the short stories themselves as a genre were not well developed in my view and so I wasn't overly impressed with the writing.
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Karen Joy Fowler: The Jane Austen Book Club
The book reminded me rather a lot of Elizabeth Noble's "The Reading Group", which at times was rather irritating me. The members of the reading groups meet at the different houses each month to discuss one novel by Austen and eventually they get to know each other and the reader gets to know each member. I liked Jocelyn, Bernadette, Prudie, Grigg, Allegra and Sylvia as characters but found some of their stories too far-fetched. A nice and light-hearted read, though.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Gervase Phinn: All these lonely people
Although the topic might seem that this could be a slow read, the story is fast-paced and fascinating. It was interesting to find out the people's stories and why they are all so lonely that they turn up in church. And in the afterword the author explains the inspiration for his story around Miss Eleanor Rigby, Father McKenzie and the lonely people.
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Xinran: Miss Chopsticks
This is a lovely story with fairy-tale quality and lots of humour. Although Three, Five and Six come from the same family they are very different, yet in their own ways they are all successful. Surprisingly, perhaps, it is Five who is usually considered as "dumb and no-brains" that seems to have learnt best how to cope in the city and how to flourish despite the lack of education she experienced in her home village. However, this book also gives a great insight into Chinese culture and how China is now opening up to the Western world and in many ways seems trapped between ancient traditions and modernity.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Lyn Andrews: A mother's love
This is an intriguing story about the roles and responsibilities of different family members showing how the action of just one family member can cause the entire family to change and be uprooted. The characters are well-developed, believable and mostly likeable. Most of all, however, it was great that the story does not end in a total happy-end, although Lily's dramatic situation seemed a bit too far-fetched at the time. I did, however, enjoy reading about the life in a period, where there were no mobile phones or computers, and not even any cars....
Saturday, 2 January 2010
G. Schilddorfer und David Weiss: Ewig
Umgeben von brennenden Kerzen, die ein geheimnisvolles Symbol darstellen, liegt der Tote. Der brutale Mord in der Wiener Ruprechtskirche ruft Journalist Paul Wagner und Wissenschaftler Georg Sina auf den Plan. Sie sind einer mysteriösen Mordserie auf der Spur, die vor Jahrhunderten begann. Bald müssen Sina und Wagner selbst vor einem gnadenlosen Killer fliehen - und sie entdecken, was auf dem Spiel steht: die Zukunft der Menschheit!
Die Geschichte von Sina, Wagner und Berner, die dem Geheimnis des Friedrich III. und des ersten chinesischen Kaisers auf der Spur sind und dabei auch noch rätselhafte Morde zu klären haben, ist nicht nur mitreißend, sondern auch informativ. Die Autoren verbinden Fakt mit Fiktion in einer solchen Leichtigkeit, dass der Leser Lust verspürt sich selbst auf die Suche nach dem Geheimnis der Kaiser zu machen. Einzig Major Valerie Goldman und die damit verbundene, angedeutete, mögliche Liebesbeziehung zu Georg und/oder Paul und die Geschichte ihres Großvaters trüben das Lesevergnügen. Ansonsten ein Buch zum Immerwiederlesen....
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Philipp Vandenberg: Das fünfte Evangelium
Das war eine interessante und zum Teil auch plausibel geschriebene Geschichte über die Geheimnisse der Bibel und ein Evangelium, das die Kirchenväter und -anhänger in deren Glauben schwer erschüttern könnte. Die Figur der Anne von Seydlitz war ebenfalls gut nachvollziehbar und faszinierend. Leider wurde gegen Ende hin das Buch immer wirrer und obskurer, und die Anhänger des Orphiker-Kreises, die Schar um Hanna Louise und die Jesuitenmönche machen das Buch skurril. In allem ist das hier eine interessante Geschichte, die aber leider nicht zu Ende geführt werden konnte und daher eigenartig wirkt.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Vikas Swarup: Q & A
Former tiffinboy Ram Mohammad Thomas has just got twelve questions correct on a TV quiz-show to win a cool one billion rupees. But he is brutally slung in prison on suspicion of cheating. Because how can a kid from the slums know who Shakespeare was, unless he is pulling a fast one. In the order of the questions on the show, Ram tells us which amazing adventures in his street-kid life gave him the answers. From orphanages to brothels, gangsters to beggar-masters, and into the homes of Bollywood's rich and famous, Ram's story is brimming with the chaotic comedy, heart-stopping tragedy and tear-inducing joyousness of modern India.
What a fantastic read!
I really enjoyed the stories that lead to the answers to the W3B questions. Also, it was great to learn so much about India, the country, its people and its history. I've always been fascinated by the Taj Mahal, but having read the book, I really want to see it now... And what was best about the book was that it is like a big Bollywood fairy tale with a great ending!! I cannot wait to see the film now...
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Asne Seierstad: The Bookseller of Kabul
This book is a fantastic read and as I am currently quite heavily involved with people from Muslim background and as an Indian friend of mine got married in an arranged wedding recently, I could relate to the story incredibly well. It is an amazing and shocking story and Seierstad explained well the relationships between the family members and the difficulties of free speech and free thoughts amongst women.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Sue Monk Kidd: Die Bienenhüterin
Die Geschichte ist wunderschön und faszinierend. Ich bin auch sehr an den Geheimnissen um Lilys Mutter sowie um Zach, Rosaleen, Augusta, May, June und Neil interessiert. Die Geschichte der Bienen ist gut mit der Geschichte der Menschen verknüpft, und obwohl auch das Thema der Rassentrennung und des Rassenhasses angesprochen wird und immer wieder kehrt, ist es dennoch in einer Form, dass das Buch erhebend und voller Hoffnung wirkt.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Markus Orths: Lehrerzimmer
Eine lustige und kurzweilige Parodie auf das Lehrerdasein. Für mich war es leider etwas überholt, da ich als Lehrerin persönliche Erfahrungen gemacht habe, die selbst an diese Parodie nicht herankommen...
Friday, 27 November 2009
Celil Oker: Dunkle Geschäfte am Bosporus
Schnell stellt Remzi fest, dass in dieser Geschichte gar nichts zusammenpasst. Muazzes Gülers Geschäfte beschränkten sich keineswegs auf Computerteile, und ihr Politikergatte geht für seine Karriere über Leichen.
Das war für mich einmal ein etwas anderer Krimi. Obwohl ich den Detektiv Remzi Ünal mit seinen Komplexen und Selbstverteidigungskünsten ganz interessant gefunden habe, konnte ich mich nur sehr schwer in die Geschichte einfinden. Meiner Meinung nach wurde da zu viel verpackt (Liebesgeschichte, Politikerkarriere, Mafiosi-Machenschaften), als dass es noch möglich gewesen wäre dem Ganzen zu folgen. Aber Okars Zusammenfassung eines Krimis gefiel mir dann doch: "Ein Detektivroman ist eine Tragödie mit einem Happy End"....
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Susanna Tamaro: Der kugelrunde Roberto
An sich hätte mir die Geschichte des kleinen Roberto ganz gut gefallen, da das Märchen letztendlich zeigen will, dass man so sein soll, wie man ist. Allerdings wurde mir das Märchen etwas zu bunt und obskur, und daher würde ich es nicht für Kinder und Jugendliche empfehlen.
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Charlotte Armstrong: Verschwörung gegen Miss Pomeroy
Der Albatros: Die Geschichte eines Ehepaares, das aufgrund widriger Umstände Fremde beherbergt.
Die besondere Sprache der Frauen: Die Geschichte zweier fremder Frauen, die sich doch näher sind als zu erwarten wäre.
Verschwörung gegen Miss Pomeroy: Die Geschichte einer leidgeplagten Lehrerin und ihrer Schäfchen.
Rosa Glas: Die Geschichte eines rechtschaffenen Mannes, der eben auch manchmal zu unredlichen Mitteln greift.
Ein Weinen in der Nacht: Die Geschichte eines Ehepaares, das vom Land kommt und sich in der Stadt auch bei den Nachbarn einmischt.
Der Köder: Die Geschichte eines Radio-DJs, der sich scheinbar mehr um Fremde kümmert als um die eigene Freundin.
Alle Geschichten waren unterhaltsam und spannend, wobei mir "Der Albatros" am Besten gefiel. Die Geschichte um Johnny, den Radio DJ, fand ich zu sehr konstruiert und die philosophischen Abhandlungen der Charakteren bzgl. Liebe und was Liebe ist war ebenfalls weithergeholt. Unterhaltsame Lektüre für den Abend....
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