Book Review: Bolla by Pajtim Statovci translated by David Hackston

Finnish-kosovan novelist Pajtim Statovci created in Bolla, translated from Finnish by David Hackston, one of the most interesting queer love story I ever read set in the former Yugoslav realm. Native speakers of the local languages may counter my words, but I can only wish more books are translated into English or German or French or any other language. Sometimes I am longing for books set in those worlds I used to know so intimately many years ago, and the former Yugoslav is one of them. 

Statovci was born in Kosovo but because of the war refugiated in Finnland with his family when he was only two. Bolla - named for a legend of a mythological beast, the result of an union between a snake and God´s daughter; in fact, there are many details about this legend that I would probably research more into detail in the next weeks as I am not sure I always grasped the details of the association with the story - is an impossible, underground gay story between a Serbian medical student called Miloš and Arsim, a young Albanian, in a loveless marriage with Ajshe. 

The two of them meet at the University of Prishtina, at a time when the ethnically-fuelled conflict between Serbian and Albanians was at its peak. The relationship and generally the interaction between the two is a poetic pretext to create a lyrical narrative about love and loss, compromise and secrecy for the sake of both personal and social survival. There is not only love, but there is hate, there is not only hate, but also a sparkle of humanity, there is not only hope, but also compromise; a wide range of feelings caught into a beautiful prose which overcomes the political limitations and the outbreak of the ethnic conflict. It makes your suffer and be outraged for the absurdity of the world we live in sometimes, the cruelty and the rootless curse some may carry with them. 

Particularly the dream-like fragments are both very visually and emotionally strong, a poem to the value of dreams, both as a blessing and a curse. Indeed, the dreams may send warnings, but what a suffering to know that you should go through that pain and suffering we are warned about.

For Bolla, Statovci, the author of another book I do have on my TBR for a little while, My Cat Yugoslavia, was awarded in 2019 Finlandia Award, the country´s most important literary award.  

Rating: 4 stars

Book Review: A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen

Andrei Kaplan, a junior academic at a Slavic department with a career going nowhere answers the emergency call from your brother who has to leave Moscow to temporarily relocate in order to take care of their ailing grandmother. Born in Moscow but immigrated to the US during the Soviet Union as a small child, he never returned since. Dima, his self-made man of a brother, decided though to leave the capitalistic America for the adventures in wild capitalist post-Soviet Russia. Now he is in trouble and has to run for his safety to London and the grandmother needs a constant help for dealing with the progressive alienation brought by Alzheimer´s.

 

A Terrible Country - the country in cause is, obviously, Russia - by Keith Gessen is a tragi-comical story of finding oneself without necessarily looking for in an aimless academic environment undergoing the changes after the fall of the communism. Suddenly, the well funded ´Slavic Studies´ were becoming obsolete and the academics specialized in this domain so much encouraged during the Cold War - for all the political reasons of the time - had to reshuffle their academic repertoire. Andrei is not sure about what to do next, but going to Moscow and spending time with some funny socialist group October (as in the Great October Socialist Revolution), with a guest beautiful star Yulia as the woman muse, may inadvertely change his career path.

I´ve forgot how much I enjoy books set in the post-Soviet world, particularly when the characters are anti-establishment intellectuals. There is a certain irony that used to be the cream on the top of the Soviet dissident cake and it remains equally highly appreciated nowadays when, we all know how bad the situation in Russia is. At the time of the novel, Putin´s shadow was lingering outdoors.

Gessen - the brother of the brilliant analyst of the Russian politics and society Masha Gessen - has a relatively similar history with his character. Born in the Soviet Union, he left the country for America as he was 6 years old, as his Jewish family decided to leave. The tone of the book has sometimes a memorialistic tone, and knowing some details from the author´s life doesn´t make it easy to separate the voice of Kaplan to the author´s. This interposition may be confusing sometimes, at least at the beginning, but I suppose fiction and personal biography can go that close together. 

The grandmother in her stubborn fragility and typical Jewish Soviet humour is one of the most sympathetic and spontaneously developped character in the book. Her mental confusion makes her so beautifully human that one may almost regret the news delivered in the last pages of the book.

A Terrible Country is an exercise in post-Soviet American-based literature. It introduces the returning immigrant but with such a laughable take that one may actually forgot how threatening Putin´s shadow got over the years. In a way, my literary heart was missing those confused immigrants and idealistic drunk idealists and anarchists of all colours.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

German Audiobook Review: Sturm über der Villa am Elbstrand

Although novels set in contemporary Germany are of high interest in order to understand the current mentalities, particularly regarding the ungoing changes, acknowledging, among others, the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, of particular interest for my mentality investigation are also books set in the post-war years, especially one or two decades after the war. Particularly books written by authors of our times may reveal different perceptions and new layers of cultural myths, eventually set over old mindsets.

As Hamburg is my favorite city in Germany, I was even more interested in listening to Sturm über der Villa am Elbstrand, the second installment of the Elbstrand Saga, authored by Charlotte Jacobi, the pseudonyme of the authors Eva-Maria Bast and Jørn Precht. The book is read by Uta Simone.

Although one may decide - as I do - to start the trilogy with this second book, it makes sense for understanding the rest of the story. The references to previous events are put in context therefore easy to get over it.

Set in the beginning of the 1960s, it features KZ survivors and their families, a young journalist keen to trace former Nazis - miraculously reappearing in administrative top positions but in the South of the country - and even a Moroccan character - maybe there are too many references to the skin colour...- which is probably a novelty in the contemporary German literature. There is even the legendary Hamburg-born Helmut Schmidt, at the time not yet chancellor.

The Germany of the time is coping with a lot of secrets - I bet it´s happening nowadays as well, only that the secrets are easier revealed - trying to cope with the new post-war trauma of the separation and the Wall about to be built. It is also a Germany who is afraid of the nuclear war and with a new generation aggressively against the old establishment, but without enough clear reasons to explain its reasons - as I said, there are many secrets around. 

But the complex background put aside, the complex relationships between the characters which replicate the complexities of human relationships in general. Although the historical background may be slightly simplified, the ways in which the characters and the storyline are built overcomes the apparent simplicity and unidimensionality of the context. 

In addition, if you are looking to improve your German listening skills, the audiobook versions serves it well, with an useful, well-chosen vocabulary.

Rating: 3 stars  

Random Things Tours: Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone

 

Can a crime novel be funny, hilarious even, still convening that dark ambiance open to secrecy and spontaneous twists? Depends on the writer´s ability to follow the general rules of the genre without stereotypically conforming. 

Black Hearts by Doug Johnstone, published by the Orenda Books whose books are hard to forget, is my latest example. Part of the multi-awarded Skelf series, featuring the members of a family in Edinburgh, happily owning both a private investigation business and a funerals company, the book has an unexpected cast of characters - obviously besides the members of the family themselves: some are hunted by ghost, a faked death, maybe some ghosts too. Everything taking place in a normal big city like Edinburgh, whose intimate descriptions and realistic ambiance takes you out from your crime reading couch to the streets of the Scottish city.

Built on multiple levels, as a dialogue in development between different characters and episodes of the story, it leaves a cinematic impression: you are reading a script, highly visual and easily represented visually. Not everyone can make words play a movie. 

A crime novel means more than having a crime and an idea about how to solve it, through dedicated characters with a love for investigations. It unveils as well the skeletons in the most hidden closets of the soul and mind of humans involved in comitting the crime while adds new layers of understanding the human nature by the investigators and those involved in solving the crime. Black Hearts has as well a strong philosophical layer, asking questions after questions about life and death, but with a smart natural sciences touch.

Black Hearts is a recommended read for anyone looking for a different kind of crime novel. The quality humour balances the dark sides and promises an unique reading journey in a world of six feet under and ghosts and hunted humans. Definitely smitted for other books from the series.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Book Review: What Have You Left Behind? by Bushra Al-Maqtari translated by Sawad Hussain

´My life was so beautiful, but they took it all from me. They´ve killed me. Destroyed me (She cries). But tell me, this was that killed my family, what is it for? Why all this death and destruction? What are they fighting over? What is worth all this death?´

´I´ll never forget, it all ruins through my head like an unending war at sea between the ghosts of those who were afraid of dying and those who mercilessly kill them´.

This year in June I took part at a conference held in Berlin discussing the different aspects of the conflict in Yemen. I am interested in such discussions, comfortably organised in nice locations, in sought-after capital cities like Berlin, London or Vienna. I lost the number of such events I´ve been part of in my life, aimed at discussing at length various prospects of peace in different parts of the world. Although I may not label those encounters completely unuseful, as at least there may be journalists curious enough to search a bit more about the conflict discussed and hopefully touch upon other associated aspects, the voices usually represented in such circumstances usually belong to power brokers, in different relationships with the decision makers (being in opposition or defining oneself as a dissident also means having a certain positioning vis-à-vis the centers of power). Nothing about ´the voice of people´, the direct testimonies of those who are directly affected by the conflict - the orphans whose parents were killed in war, the homeless families whose homes were burned during bombings, the parents whose childred were killed by random bullets.

For almost two years, Yemeni novelist and researcher Bushra Al-Maqtari collected around 400 testimonies from people directly affected by the war between the Houthi Militias supported by Iran and the Arab Coalition. According to various sources, between 200,000 and 300,000 people were killed during the confrontations. The victims do rarely have political allegiances were not killed while fighting, but while playing, eating, spending time with their loved ones. Many of them are children, killed as they were playing outside, or old people unable to run fast enough for their lives. Part of the testimonies are reunited in a collection which was inspired by the work of 2015 Nobel Prize Winner Svetlana Alexievich, soon to be published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, translated by the very talented Sawad Hussain: What Have You Left Behind? 

It is an infinite gesture of humanity to give voices to the nameless victims. This is how we may feel the pain of the war like a dagger deep into our hearts and souls. After every story I needed a break. But I kept reading it, no matter how hard it was to manage my overwhelming feelings because it is the right of the victims to not be forgotten. 

I had a short discussion over the weekend with someone questioning my option of reading ´sad´ stories about a part of the world I don´t have any connection with - no close friends, relatives etc. - instead of enjoying some joyous stories. Knowledge doesn´t make you happy or joyous, but may help understand the world we are in and be aware of the cruel absurdity of wars. There is no end to the cruelty humans can inflict to other humans for all the inhuman reasons in the world. Reading life stories of people who went through war it´s a human exercise in understanding other humans tragic condition. We may not be able to change the world, but at least we know what kind of world we are living in.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Random Things Tours: The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

Families do come in different shapes and secret packages. No matter your social status, being part of a new family entangles often taking over a burden of new information and histories. And this is not necessarily an advantage. 

Harriet Reed is a successful bestseller writer. As she is introduced to the upper class family of her boyfriend, Edward Holbeck, the heir of a prestigious American family, she is caught into a thrilling game: Robert, Edward´s father gave her a manuscript for a second literary opinion. But it looks like the draft she is about to read is more than a literary fantasy, it´s a murder confession. 

As she is about to acknowledge this truth, Harriet will soon found herself caught in a bewildering game whose rules she is learning on the go, leading her not only to moral and personal choices, but equally to life (sometimes threatening) decisions. The more the game advances the harder is to cope with the pressure. Shortly, the perfect ambiance of suspense for a real thriller lover.

The sophisticated plot construction allows however to equally consider the other details of the story, such as the ambiance, the characters development and the coordination between the different layers of the action. The timeline arrangement is also smoothly, in a way that during the switch from one sequence to another, there are important information added to the story.

I love thrillers built around psychological games and The Family Game by Catherine Steadman is up to the challenge. It has unfolding situations populated by characters surrounded by dark secrets and psychological triggers with unexpected consequences. A bit of mind games, a couple of untold truth and hidden memories: a good combo for a thriller, although a bit tensed and nerve wracking sometimes. 

Catherine Steadman is an actress (Downtown Abbey, The Tudors, Mansfield Park, among others) and author based in London.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the blog tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Rachel´s Random Resources: Fine Motor Skills by D.C.Hope

My weeks are mostly full, day after day, and during the weekends I need to keep my tired mind busy with at least some minimal intellectual entertainment. Which means I may be in for a rom-com, or two, a novella, for sure, if can really keep me anchored in a funny and eventually a bit romantic reality. 

Fine Motor Skills by D.C.Hope was my easygoing, without being simplistic, kind of story. An unlikely story, with a cast of characters that rarely have the chance to meet each other in real life. I don´t know why, I am very curious to explore literary version of unlikely couples. In the book, Susie, a recently single business woman, meets Antonio, a handsome, ambitions-free car repairman. She is not interested in him, he is tasked with fixing her car. A very easy offer-versus-services kind of connection. But love has always other plans and instead of just being delivered the ready-to-go car, Susie may discover a different type of man, interested in being with her like no one did before.

It´s a lot of fun and explicit scenes between the two, but after all, such books are for consenting adults. The dialogues are vivid, entertaining and funny, engaging the reader while building up the dynamics between the characters. The dialogues are in my opinion the most important elements of the novel, creating the canvas where the story is built. 

I haven´t read too many rom-com lately, but Fine Motor Skills is a good start for anyone interested to discover both the genre and a sweet spicy genuine love story.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Poetry by Warsan Shire

I am working hard to add an acceptable number of poetry books on my reading list. Although I don´t see myself reading poetry any time sooner, I take the literary challenge as a smooth way to open up my mind and soul to different types of narratives. Poetry was not a constant presence into my life and I am happy to welcome it and the beautiful poets I had the chance to discover in the last months.

Kenyan-born London-based Somali poet Warsan Shire was on my reading list for a long time. Not only because I have never read something written by a Somali author, or because of her Beyoncé fame - as she collaborated to her Lemonade 2016 album - but due to the take on otherness and being an immigrant against one´s wish in the midst of a world that doesn´t want and like you. It´s the fate of the immigrant in general, no matter where, and I was curious to read her interpretation of this painful condition.

I got to know her writing through two particular collections.

Our Men Do Not Belong to Us

I am glad I started with this relatively less known collection. It stuck me as an intellectual earthquake. How one can read with such a bloody - full of blood, as in being hit by the fist of a skinhead - lucidity about the immigrant condition. The verse ´No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark´ is an ode to all those who left their homes fighting for their lives and their freedom and away from wars and religious police. 

´Look at all those bodioes foaming at the mouth with bodies broken and desperate´ defines the new border encounters. Our old Europe without borders is bordered with refugee bodies desperate to be let in. Those ´wearing´ the war ´on their skin´ are not wanted, their existence is defined by the bureaucratic definition of their bodies and freedom. They are a number aiming at a request that soullessly can be rejected based on the legal text, not on the human intention. Reduced to a number, a piece of paper, the body evades, is missed in action. ´Sometimes, it feels like someone else is wearing my body´. 

Bless the Daugher Raised by a Voice in Her Head

The length poetry collection, I had access to as audiobook read by the author, continues the cruel wandering of a body forced to co-exist in the wrong place with all the wrongdoings did to its soul. There are short stanzas that do not avoid to say the truth, to open up the wounds of the immigrant existence, in and beyond the deportation centres and foreigner´s offices.

There are no success stories or models of co-existence, projections of societies that afford the denial of not acknowledging the individual heartbreaks. And indeed, there is something like a ´refugee heart´.

Most probably I need to read again and again Warsan´s poetry. Poetry in general, good poetry, needs to be repeated as each time it may bring to light more and more pieces of soul secrets.

A Love Letter to Trees by Ada Limón

 

As a child, me and my brother we used to organise our summer lives around two old sour cherry trees. This is where we used to get together to plan our new adventure, where I´ve learn to be fearless, as nothing can be more fearful than climbing on the top of the trees on my own, and coming back safely, while spontaneously checking out the right lug. And there were other trees in my life: the beautiful pomegranate tree or the chestnut tree in Berlin I see from out of the window from my bed whose blowing make my heart beat excited for the coming of spring. I feel happy in forest surrounded by trees and there are the long walks through Berlin forests that helped me to catch up with my life and make a new one from the shreds of a painful past.

Shelter. A Love Letter to Trees by 24th US poet laureate Ada Limón is a poetic thread about the trees of her life. As a child, adult, writer, poet. Trees are memory items, who inspired her life and writings, who literally changed her life. It is not a ´natural science´ book, and Limón does not try to give them the materiality of the being. Instead, they are co-existing with humans, in their urban settings and surrounding their human habits and relationships. 

I particularly loved how natural all sounds, mainly not an ideological setting of any kind. It freely moves within the realm of words and there is nothing harder to achieve in terms of the strength of simplicity.

The short book - about one hour - is a Scribd Original production, series created by world famous authors for the book-sharing website, that I´ve featured on my blog on more than one occasion. 

Rating: 5 stars

German Booker Prize 2022: Ein simpler Eingriff by Yael Inokai

 

Since 2-3 years, my end of the year reading list is getting a perfect German touch, as I am trying to go through the nominations for the German Booker Prize - Deutscher Buchpreis. The speed is not as fast as I wish, and I still have some books from the previous years to finish, but in any case, good books are never out of fashion no matter the prizes and nominations they received. Additionally, this year I am expanding my knowledge towards the Austrian Booker Prize as well and I am very excited to explore the two Germanic languages in a relative sync.  

As the short list is supposed to be announced on the 20th of September, I am aware that many of the books I am ready to review would be out of the media interest, nevertheless I am most interested in the writing and would keep sharing what I really find interesting and noteworthy in the general context of the literary realm.

My first blog post is dedicated to Ein simpler Eingriff - A simple procedure, in my English translation - by Basel-born, Berlin-based Yael Inokai. 

Meret is a nurse in a hospital with a stric hierarchy where the patients do mostly suffer of mental problems. A simple procedure is aimed at trying to stabilize or at least treat them, and she is part of the team implementing it. Without too much of a personal life, haunted by a violent family past and a complicated relationship with her sister, she is falling in love with another nurse.

I am definitely in love with the writing: precise short sentences, throughout approach to the facts, but the topic - the mental hospital ambiance and the all discussion about health-/medical-related topics wasn´t necessarily belonging to my area of interest. (Note: After all, this is my blog and I am writing about my very personal impressions about a blog). I had the feeling that although it has an interesting family story, the focus on medical procedures and mental health in general was not strongly enough explored in the story. The characters themselves would have been worth more development as characters, as sometimes the story takes the pace over the characters.

It may be also that the medical life and hospital settings are so much part of our everyday life - and mine for a short while as well - that I simply cannot figure out the realm of imagination for such an environment, while feeling overwhelmed by the real-life/time details. As for now, it is too real to accept any literary re-imagining.

A special grateful mention to the inspired cover, a reproduction of the painting Nurse at a Window by Helena Parada. 

Right now, I am about to finish more books from the Booker Prize list which are definitely closer to my interests and tastes. 

Rating: 3 stars

Blog Tour: On Her Majesty´s Diplomatic Service by Sir Michael Burton

 

Diplomacy is usually described through the glamorous and visible part of the job. Who would not want to be a diplomat, drink champagne every few days, travel the world and eventually speak many languages? Retired diplomat Sir Michael Burton started his diplomatic service encouraged by his father when the Cold War was boiling hot. Covering a career of almost 40 years - 37 to be more precise - he was a direct witness or got directly involved in a variety of international political events: the raise of the Gulf kingdoms, different episodes of the Cold War, the end of the Cold War and the Fall of Berlin Wall.

From Berlin to Paris or the Gulf, there are different perspectives and standpoints shared which may be useful to diplomats in the making as well as people curious about how diplomacy really works. The style is very friendly and does not require advanced diplomatic knowledge. Although Sir Michael Vurton introduces a a general diplomatic overview, the facts are introduced through the exclusive British lenses. Therefore, On Her Majesty´s Diplomatic Service provides a long-term overview of the London´s approach, during and after the end of the Cold War. 

Definitely, diplomacy rarely looks so glamorous as the outsiders may represent it. However, it is a profession that needs dedication and talent, despite the bureaucratic overload and the challenging burnout. 

The memoir by Sir Michael Burton is a contribution to translating diplomacy in a everyday language. It also shares an important slice of European and British history that may raise the standards high for the next generation of diplomats.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: Lessons by Ian McEwan

 

Do we really live to learn a lesson? When we gonna learn the lesson(s) if any, anyway? Does it count who is really learning from us - to be or to be the opposite of us - as long as we are long gone...? Of course, there are so many cheap and very cheap versions of our lives that delve into the simplified versions of ourselves that we are tempted to emulate from media and self-help books, but instead of learning, we rather should consider ourselves the own authors of our lives. The only lesson of life I accept is learning to exist.

I do have a great literary admiration for Ian McEwan whom I often review on my blog - and still have some books on line for reviews - and for his interest in wrapping everyday topics into his stories or novels, from Artificial Intelligence to climate change. His latest, Lessons however, do have a different tone and the references are much richer and expansive. 

Roland Blaine, born in 1948, the main voice of the story, is tracing his life story. There are several milestones that marked his life, starting from the moment when his then wife left him with a seven years old child, because she felt suffocating, unable to fulfill her literary dreams. Or the sexual predator woman teacher who abused him during his school years. Or his inability to overcome his modest condition, despite the dreams invested in him and his career. As he recalls his more or less distant experiences, he is back and forth from his small, micro-history to the larger than life international events unfolding: WWII, Suez Crisis, Chernobyl, Covid lockdowns, to mention only a few. Could be compare our own history to the world´s history and therefore try to iterate our own history within the world´s. Does it life work through lessons, anyway?

In many respects, Blaine´s story includes biographical elements from McEwan´s occurrences as well, and not only by sharing the same date of birth. There are personal details regarding his lost brother, the affairs of his mother, among others. Hence, a third level of interpretation, when the personal life of the author is intertwined with the life of the literary characters. 

As usual, McEwan works on different levels of interpretations and reading keys, which makes the reading even more rewarding intellectually.

I will continue to be skeptical about ´life´s lessons´, but Lessons will stay with me for a longer time, for both the precise writing and the intense intellectual challenges.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own 

Corylus Books Blog Tour: Harm by Sólveig Pálsdóttir translated by Quentin Bates

 

A new inciting title published by the courageous Corylus Books whose interesting books I had the chance before to feature on my blog, Harm by Iceland author Sólveig Pálsdóttir, translated by Quentin Bates is in addition of being a race for finding the culprits, also a challenge for the stereotypes we may have in the everyday real life towards each other. 

This was my second by Sólveig Pálsdóttir after Fox, and it only went better. As a sidenote, both book do have outstanding covers, which do express in a simple yet strong way the emotional message associated with the book.

When the doctor Ríkarður Magnússon is found dead in his luxurious caravan, everyone - and this reader for a second too - may easily suspect his bizarre and much younger girlfriend. However, as the investigation on Westman Island advances, the pathway towards finding the truth is getting more and more sinous and despite the many hints spread all over the story, the ending may be more than surprising. All the way, there is a permanent mystery surrounding the next steps of the investigation and we may be distracted and intelligently manipulated as trying to identify the solve the mystery. 

As in many other Nordic Noir mysteries, the investigators themselves - in this case Guðgeir Fransson and Elsa Guðrún - do represent complex personalities, sometimes with a troubled past, which adds infinite threads of suspense to the story. 

Handfully, the author is manipulating us, the readers, as puppets, having the last word in revealing the solution. The web of intrigues is so finelly woven that distracts you more than once and one can only be delighted by the pleasure took of being involved in a mystery that require your full attention and intelligence, although not necessarily successful in solving it. 

Harm is a perfectly end of the week read for those looking for an escape from the autumn setting harmful cold ways.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Random Things Tours: At the Breakfast Table by Defne Suman translated by Betsy Göksel

Big families do have secrets. Deep hidden secrets that eventually will break the family harmony after some important member of the family dies. It happens to read right now a book nominated for the German Booker Prize where the dead of the father of the family may lead everyone to revelations about themselves and their family history.

At the Breakfast Table by Turkish author Defne Suman translated into English by Betsy Göksel is built around a similar principle. As the legendary artist Sirin Saka is about to celebrate the verable age of 100, her family is happy to gather on Büyükada Island, near Istanbul. Instead of being a moment of unity, this celebration displays in fact the sensitive balance within the family, but also the many cracks which show up on the nicely painted walls protecting it.

Written in a quiet meditative tone, it offers a deep perspective on relatively similar facts, seen through the eyes and experiences of four different family members. Their voices and different angles build up the story, in a way which outlines the common story written together instead of breaking up and insisting on the differences. Each narrator has a distinct personality which amplifies the individual story. In the end, it looks like a musical piece of work, with harmonies smoothly coordinating on different levels

Century old secrets are revealed but no one will desperately dramatically scream upon discovering them. Instead, the story build up from multiple stories really matters as the focus is on telling the story, not taking sides or priviledging one voice against the other(s).

At the Breakfast Table is a beautiful read recommended to anyone who loves to completely forget oneself for delving into a journey across the literary worlds.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Book Review: Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva

 

Every summer, I can´t wait the release of the next thriller featuring the Mossad agent Gabriel Allon. Un fact, it is one of the few literary series I am actually following Daniel Silva 22nd installment into the series, 

As in the case of the other books from the series, Portrait of an Unknown Woman can be read as a stand alone book, but there are hints from other stories as well, provided with enough references though that may not affect the reading journey. Set in the realm of art forgery, Allon - now retired, giving his position as Israel´s top spy agency to a woman (not exactly a dreamers´ dream), working in Venice as the employee at restauration company owned by his beautiful wife, Chiara - is on his way to dismantle a network of high-end art forgers. 

Fast-paced, as usual, although sometimes one my loose completely the sense of time (not necessarily a compliment), this time, it looks like the twists and the story connections were relatively abandoned for giving more place to the ´theoretical´ information about how those networks operate and what are their targets and audience.   

It introduces couple of new characters, not all of them particularly well put together, while Allon himself sounds and behaves as a ´have been´, who is still on the intelligence market, aware his availability days are counted. It made me think about for how long the series will continue in fact, as personally I am going through a chronical fatigue stage in dealing with Allon and his stories. What´s next for this character, only his creator, Daniel Silva knows, but at least for one more try, I will be curious to check on him in as soon as 12 months time.

Rating: 3 stars

Book Tour: The Dead Won’t Tell. Q&A with S.K. Waters

A small town, an old crime, never solved. A historian turned journalist,

Abbie Adams, searching for an answer, although aware she may advance her investigations under the shadow of a killer. And an unexpected discovery that one beloved teacher, no other than her faculty advisor, may be connected to the criminal. S.K. Waters created in The Dead Won´t Tell a perfect small town mystery, by using spectacular twists happily integrated into the cozy ambiance of a local crime investigation. I particularly loved how Adams is using her both historian and journalist skills in order to spot the criminal. Curious as usual about writing tips from successful authors, I´ve reached out for Q&A featuring exactly those details that mostly remain untold and unknown to the reader. 

Before writing mystery, fantasy and a little in between, S.K.Waters was a technical writer, database admministrator and a championship quilter.

You can connect with Waters at kianahwaters.com, on Facebook.com/KianahWatersAuthor, on Twitter @KianahWaters and Instagram @KianahWaters. 

Many thanks to Andrea Kiliany Thatcher from Smith Publishing for the opportunity.

Question: What makes The Dead Won’t Tell different than other mysteries?

S.K. Waters: Oh boy… Well first, Hunts Landing is more than a setting,it’s almost a character in itself. The book shares a lot with cozy mysteries, but it is grittier. The cast of characters are based on real people I know from living in the Deep South since 1998.

Question: Why did you want to set your story in a small town?

S.K. Waters: I found myself living in a small town in North Alabama and at first I thought I was going to be bored out of my mind. Not too many restaurants, for example, and a lot of them were closed on Sundays. Over time, though, I found the small-town dynamic fascinating, at least in the one I lived in. Many families I came to know had lived there for generations, and knew each other’s stories and who-had married-whom and who had a still in their garage. I didn’t necessarily become people watcher as much as a people listener, because they told such good stories.

In the book, Hunts Landing is a combination of three towns in north Alabama: Huntsville, Decatur, and Athens. Huntsville is where the German rocket scientists where brought after WW2 and they developed the rocket systems for the Apollo missions. The Square in Hunts Landing is based off the square in Athens. And Decatur brings texture to the town (and has some of the best antique stores around, FYI).

Question: What makes the relationships in The Dead Won’t Tell so special?

S.K.Waters: Family doesn’t always mean blood relations. In The Dead Won’t Tell, Abbie is a widowed mother raising two kids by herself. Yet many of the main characters (Loreen, Joss, Madeleine, Jethro) become Abbie’s family, they worry and care for each other and sometimes even fight, just like in a real family.

Hunting Two Tigers...

 

Before starting to read the collection of 15 stories Schlachtensee, the latest by Helene Hegemann, I wanted to get familiar with her writing through another book of her. Trying to avoid the controversial Axolotl Roadkill I decided for Jage Zwei Tiger - Hunt Two Tigers, in my translation. 

The title is inspired by a title of a song by the Slovenian alternative band Laibach and explores various variants of youth sexuality and debauchery. The characters are snobbish youth, mostly from the South of Germany, particularly München, coming from financially abundant background, but broken families. The novel is often compared to Tschick by Wolfgang Herrndorf, which I don´t like at all. If the characters from Tschick were boring teens looking for a local adventure, the ones from Jage Zwei Tiger are asocial, drug addicts, soul-less and a disgrace to themselves. No matter if young or old, they are limited emotionally and intellectually (the vocabulary used is very limited and , dead souls running fast forward through life. And that´s all what it happens in this book and although my attention span is usually limited, still couldn´t cope with the excessive debauchery.

Hopefully my next encounter with Hegemann´s writing will be more intellectually rewarding.

Rating: 2 stars

Random Things Tours: The C Word by Mel Schilling

 

Even for the most self-confident and feareless among us, being a woman is a constant struggle for building (confidence, eventually) on moving sands. You are assigned job descriptions and destinies that may not represent you and expected to perform roles foreign to your own desires. 

Hence, we need examples and inspiration and permanent support. But nice words may not be enough. Instead, what about being offered the methods and the practical ways in which the real specific existential obstacles and limitations are eliminated?

In The C Word (Confidence) psychologist, personal and career coach and corporate consultant Mel Schilling provides a practical guide about overcoming fear through courage, confidence and competence. Each of those stages are throughout analysed, through examples, practical exercises and journaling. 

Schilling resisted with a high professionalism the temptation of an easy approach, self-help oriented. Instead, it does use behavioral methodology and applied knowledge, helping to create new context and start life-changing processes. It does not lure the reader with false promises, but if followed in an applied way, may create consistency and build up confidence.

The C Word (Confidence) is a recommended read even for the most confident among us, because it outlines the deep roots of the process through a psychological approach and useful examples. It is relatable although not a weekend read. It demands not only the attention but equally the motivation of the reader in order to achieve a dramatic change of perspective and a new, better self-acknowledgement.  

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: Japanese Home Cooking by Maori Murota

There is an enormous difference between what we may eat in a popular restaurant on an ethnic theme and what the people belonging to a specific geographic and cultural realm may actually eat at home. One example is Japan: I lived there for one full year, visiting the country all over and experiencing different cultural encounters. However, I never been invited in a Japanese home and haven´t been able to experience the food culture otherwise than through restaurant meals. 

Japanese Home Cooking by self-taught chef Maori Murota, author of the bestseller Tokyo: Cult Recipes not only invites the reader into a completely different, and I bet tastier realm, but it gives you the directions about preparing your own...let´s say soba or ramen at home. At the first and second reading, it doesn´t look as complicated as I imagined; one may need to find the right ingredients first and foremost, because Japanese food is umami. 

Inspired by her grandmother and mother recipe, Murota, who is currently a event caterer and private chef, particularly for fashion-infused events, makes a sensational gesture of cultural diplomacy, by introducing the less popular and flavoured life of Japanese cuisine to the unknowledgeable non-Asian reader.

Most of the recipes are vegan friendly and few are plant-based too, but there is also plenty of fish and some meaty dishes as well, as for instance roasted lemongrass chicken. Despite my deep passion for Japanese culture and meals, I was shocked to discover how little in fact I know about it. My mouth watered reading about chestnut and ginger rice and my eyes almost got out of their sockets when reading out loud - to be sure I am not dreaming - about how easy is to prepare...salted cherry blossom. The same cherry blossom is a couple of pages later the ingredient of a sake cocktail. 

The book includes details about fermenting and preserving, and practically covers a full menu, based on seasonal choices. Personally, I would have love more sweets, as Japanese desserts are among my favorite in the world, also due to the reduced quantity of sugar. Details about utensils and spices are also featured, offering to the reader not only the recipes but also advice about how to use the right devices for a successful cooking experience.

If right now I am badly craving Japanese food, it´s Maori Murota to blame for it. However, after reading the recipes I am confident I would be able to prepare at least few of the recipes shared and I can´t wait for it. Thus, I can bring Japan to my home in a way it never happened before.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Short Stories Book Review: Manchester Happened by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Stories of exile and return, that do counter the usual stereotype of the ´successful´ immigrants, who speeds up his career within less than a decade, from rags to palace, Manchester Happened by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi are extremely knowledgeable in terms of exploring the feelings of alienation and out-of-place.

The main characters of the stories are originary from Uganda, women more than men, unhappy in their country of adoption, keen to return to any price. They don´t long for home and an extended family from the comfort of their British homes while dreaming nostalgically on their poor yet happy lives back home. There are individuals longing for a better life, but the life they are living right now is definitely so. 

The stories are organised in two parts: Departing and Returning, the milestones of a life either looking for a life in the making or longing for the previous life. Thus, in mirror, the reader can follow different destinies, back and forth from one realm to another, connecting destinies, hopes and disappointments.

One of the most important part of reading this short stories was to notice the complex description of the characters. They are more than literal stereotypes of what they are expected to display, unidimensional figures, mostly, but they are assigned a multi-faceted complexity, for instance, in their interaction with the new environment and the acknowledgement of their unique nature. The characters from Manchester Happened are as inquisitive, doubtful, shy or insecure as any human being you may meet in flesh and blood. They are not simple immigrants from Uganda to the UK but human beings that do not adapt easy to the new weather conditions or who may just hate the decisions they took or who simply cannot see any sign of a good life in the new country.

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is definitely my newest favorite writer. As for now I am deeply delved into her novel A Girl is a Body of Water. Can´t wait to share my review!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Book Review: Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

 

The woman storyteller of Vladimir, the interesting debut novel by Julia May Jonas is 58, a ´working class girl´ teaching English literature at a middle-size college in the US. She is in an open marriage with her older husband, ´John´ a more successful professor at the same college, entangled in a legal sexual case with younger women.

And then there is Vladimir, a young beautiful colleague two decades younger than her for whom she develops a real obsession. He is successful, has a wife which is about to finish a memoir that sounds like a stellar success - the story of her longlife trauma - and a daughter, he is beautiful and charming. She is dreaming about him, even drugs him while inviting him to her writing retreat.  

Her discourse about inequalities in the workplace, particularly within academia, echoeing though most chronical personal issues such as getting old, becoming invisible, irrelevant, a slave of her ageing body. The failure of writing only two novels, the last as far as 15 years ago. 

Although I was attracted by the valid points regarding women in academia and the limits of the #metoo discourse - in the context of her being accused of facilitating at a certain extent the many affairs of the husband, due to their ´open´ relationship - I´ve found the amorous layer desperately ridiculous. The twists that do challenge the pace of the story - the drugging episode, the fire who cut short a possible emotional ending - do not completely match with the intense premises of the intellectual story. 

I was very excited at the beginning of the book and had high expectations, but the ending in way too homely and I am also not a big fan of obsessive relationships - real or imaginary. But from the ideatic perspective, the book made some good points and inspires the discussion about women in academia, aging women in academia, although I think in Europe the discourse is more nuanced and diversified.

However, Vladimir is a good start and the writing comes very much into place. Also, there are never enough books featuring women, even though not necessarily the kind of women would love to have a coffee with. 

Rating: 3.5 stars

German Book Review: Haus des Kindes by Helga Kurzchalia

 

Born in a family of German anti-Fascists, that returned to the Communist Germany after the war, Helga Kurzchalia spent most of her childhood in Haus des Kindes, a huge store situated in Strausberger Platz in Berlin aimed to offer various products for children but also used as a residence for many Party members. Designed by architect Hermann Henselmann and situated in the former Stalin-Allee, currently Karl-Marx Allee, it was inspired by a similar construction in Moscow, that was situated close to the KGB headquarters, in Ljubljanka. Members of the middle to upper echalons of the German Communist Party, mostly scientists - like chemist Robert Havemann who will become one of GDR´s most famous dissidents - and authors. 

With simplicity and honesty, Kurzchalia describes the word as she experienced. There is no accusation or denial, there is no regret. As a child, she witnesses the whispers of the parents, the dismisal of Stalin´s memory, overnight, the frequent escapes to the West. As many children of Jewish parents that were part of the communist resistance, she grew up completely unaware of being Jewish. Her parents themselves were buried in the Friedrichsfelde cemetery, where many former communist active members are burried.

There is a detached voice yet curious to find the truth which I liked in Haus des Kindes. No matter what people may think about those times, there were people who actually experienced it, without being asked if they want or not to be part of that history. Their testimonies are important for understanding the spirit of the times, but also mentalities as well as individual destinies. I wish more children of those times do have the honesty and courage to share their life experience as Kurzchalia does.

Rating: 4.5 stars 

Short Story by Lauren Groff: Junket

 

No matter the topic and the approach, I am fascinated by Lauren Groff´s writing and although I was at a certain extent disappointed by Matrix - the historian in my can revolt sometimes against the passionate lover of beautiful words - my admiration for her style and choice of words remains. Thus, I couldn´t think twice when I discovered a short story she wrote for Scribd, Junket, available in audiobook format read with passion by Suehyla Al-Attar. 

The story is based on a novel she was working on, but didn´t continue. It features a writer who is invited to take part to a writing retreat, with Botoxed co-participants, fascinated by crystals and new-age hopes for a prolific writing. She is trying to survive a break-up - the ex took not only her books, but also the cats - and her human need of affection and touch. She is part-observer, part-actor, because in a way this is the fascinating paradoxical strength of alternative medicine and realms in general: they are illogical enough to make us take them seriously. 

Junket is a one-hour long, but within this short amount of time it aims much better at the ridiculous and superficial world of the retreats than if it would have use the amount of several more hours. Maybe it was better that it turned to be only a short story: for a novel it would have just repeat some stereotypes easy to be found in other books on the topic. Thus, it focus on the story as it is, without any further development. As usual, Groff´s writing never disappoints.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Memories from a Childhood in Sylt

 

In Germany in general, and particularly among the travel afficionados - in Germany and abroad - the island of Sylt has an exotic reputation. With a population of around 21,000, it is worldwide famous for its pristine landscape, minimal public transportation and thatched-roof houses. For celebrities in Germany, and not only, the island is a destination for parties, when Mallorca seems too far away. This fame has a price as Sylt is considered Germany´s most expensive real estate destination. Some may say it is a German version of St. Tropez, but I organically despise any hasty comparisons between locations - and yes, I hate every other ´little Paris´ or ´Venice of..a.´ kind of labels. 

It happened to meet a couple of years someone from Sylt, a young intelligent lady, who sparsely answered my curious questions about the everyday life on the island. But I knew that I always wanted to visit it, but haven´t feel prepared for it. The 9 Euro transportation ticket across Germany put into circulation during the summer month allowed many Germans to finally visit the island, despite the relatively long amount of time needed to reach there - at least 6 hours. However, I rather prefer to wait a little bit more, uninterested to arrive at a time of high inflation of tourists. After all, I am always after authentic, everyday life experience, and not the high season comotion, of any time.

Sylt-born journalist and writer Susanne Matthiesen prepared me for getting to know the island through a personal account of life on the island in the late 60s, early 70s. She is going beyond the touristic brand, reaching out to personal stories, real humans who used to rent their houses during the summer, and childs who grew up there and their first joints. 

Her family run for generation a fur business, and therefore, thus it provides insider´s story not only about the fur lovers clients from Germany and abroad - among which, Princess Soraya the second wife of Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, who eventually forgot to pay for her beautiful fur coat - but shares a unique dynamic of the island middle class and its transformation across decenies.

The writing is equally engaging, with vivid descriptions and individual portraits. 

Now, I am more prepared for a visit to Sylt. As the next summer is one year, I hope to go even further in my theoretical knowledge about this island and especially its people, one step forward to me getting to know it in real time and flesh.

Rating: 5 stars 

Random Things Tours: The Newlyweds by Mansi Choksi

People in Western society are sometimes so inebriated with their own definition of freedom that can hardly fathom that in fact in most of the places on this strange planet, people in fact marry for any other reason than love. They marry to survive, to increase the income of a household, to follow the family and religious rules. They marry because they are told so, with matches they are told to marry. Some may not even meet their potential spouses more than a couple of minutes before getting married. 

I am particularly interested in exploring the concept of arranged marriage in non-Western society and I am well familiar with life situations when the choice of the spouse is dictated or rejected based on criteria other than the free decision of two individuals looking for a love-based commitment. What may sound surprising for some is the fact that in societies with a high degree of digitalisation and exposure to social media, with a young population, the pressure of traditional marriage remains the same.

In The Newlyweds. Fighting for Love in the New India journalist Mansi Choksi pursues three young Indian couples as they are rejecting the arranged marriages their families prepared for them, embarking on a lonely yet love-filled life, far away from the family pressures and even life threats. In many respects, India fits the description of the country I mentioned in the previous paragraph: a highly educated and young population, with exposure to social media and global technologies. However, families prefer arranged marriages for their highly qualified young sons and daughters, following the centuries-long social and cultural patterns. 

The book, whose big cast of characters is introduced from the very beginning of the book, follows three particular stories: one Lesbian couple, one Hindu woman in love with a Muslim man, and one inter-caste couple whose transgression may risk them having to be burn alive (as horrific as it sounds, but a reality).

Documented, written with literary grace, those three stories outline the tectonic layers where love is violently rejected for tradition, where individual lives can be aimlessly neglected for the sake of the traditional society representations. It is a pleasure for the mind, while it reveals a tragic reality that cannot be avoided in most cases. However, the power of individual examples is always inspiring and may create the potential for change.

In addition to being an anthropological testimony, The Newlyweds is a professional journalistic investigation with a literary twist into how far fighting for love in India can go and how powerful love is, in general, against all odds and dangers. An example to follow for any other approach dealing with a similar topic, but in different cultural, religious and geographical contexts as well. 

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own