Book Talk – December 2024

Despite being immensely busy in December I somehow managed to ten books. I guess it has been lots of insomnia again. Oh well, the books have gotten me into the holiday spirit and I also read books I wanted to gift to my godchildren. Let’s have the final book talk for 2024.

We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad | ★★★★★

Goodreads says: Sometimes it’s good to be wild. Sometimes you have to be wild.
When the Russian Army marches into East Prussia at the end of the war, the Wolf family must flee. Liesl, Otto and their baby sister Mia find themselves lost and alone, in a blizzard, in the middle of a war zone. Liesl has promised Mama that she will keep her brother and sister safe.
But sometimes, to survive, you have to do bad things. Dangerous things. Wild things.
Sometimes to survive, you must become a wolf.
What I thought: this was the book I ended up giving to my godchild for Christmas. She is the exact same age as Liesl. It is a historic fiction book for middle grade children. I liked that the book was very authentic and well researched without being too scary. Or at least that is what I think. I assume for children it also reads like an adventure while at the same time showing how hard live was. That you had to do bad things to survive. I like how the author ended on a positive note. In real life that would most likely have turned out different but for the sake of children’s well being I think she found a good way to end the story. I was positively surprised with this book and have even shed a tear or two. Very much recommend.
Characters: Liesl Wolf – 11 years, Otto Wolf – 7 years, Mia Wolf – 2 years, mother, father, grandparents
Setting: Prussia, 1944, woods
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English We are Woves
Publications: German title “Wir sind Wölfe”
Recommend to: Every child interested in historic fiction and every parent wanting their child learning about history in a fun way.
Author’s Origin: born in Australia | unknown

Don’t call me Ismael by Michael Gerard Bauer | ★★★★☆

Goodreads says: There’s no easy way to put this, so I’ll say it straight out. It’s time I faced up to the truth. I’m fourteen years old and I have Ishmael Leseur’s Syndrome. There is no cure. And there is no instant cure to not fitting in. But that won’t stop Ishmael and his intrepid band of misfits from taking on bullies, bugs, babes, the Beatles, debating, and the great white whale in the toughest, the weirdest, the most embarrassingly awful…and the best year of their lives.
What I thought: This is the book I ended up giving my other godchild for Christmas. I wanted to have something about mobbing and how to handle such situations. The humor of this book is something I found was a good fit – but it might not work for every child. The books main focus is being different, being bullied and finding your peer group, trying to stand up to bullies without using violence. Throw in the first crush and all the embarrassing things happening. I liked the message of this book while being light and funny.
Characters: Ismael Leseur
Setting: a boys school
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Nennt mich nicht Ismael!”
Recommend to: Every one wanting to teach and talk about bullying. I think it is a little bit more suited for boys but what do I know.
Author’s Origin: born in Brisbane, Australia | August 10th, 1955

Upon a Frosted Star by M.A. Kuzniar | ★★★★☆

Goodreads says: When the snow falls, she will be free…
The invitations always arrive the same way – without warning, appearing around the city on the first snowfall of the year, simply inscribed with ‘Tonight.’
When struggling artist, Forster, finds an invitation, he’s bewitched by the magic of the evening, swept up in the glamour of this notorious annual party and intrigued as to who is behind them.
Determined to find out more about the mysterious host, Forster discovers an abandoned manor house silent with secrets and a cursed woman who is desperate to be free…
What I thought: I really liked this slow story. It is mysterious and a bit dark. It shows loyalty and commitment. It is sad tale full of hope. And it is sat in the snow countryside outside of London.
Characters: Forster – struggling artist, Detta – a ballerina, Marvin – roommate and best friend to Forster, Rose – girlfriend to Marvin
Setting: Mansion in the woods, a lake, a creepy ballet company
Medium: eBook
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: no German translation found
Recommend to: Everyone loving Swan Lake or darker fairytales, and stories set in the snow.
Author’s Origin: born in London, United Kingdom | 1989

Holiday Romance by Catherine Walsh | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: She’s meant to be catching flights, not catching feelings… 
Molly and Andrew are just trying to get home to Ireland for the holidays, when a freak snowstorm grounds their flight. 
Nothing romantic has ever happened between them: they’re friends and that’s all. But once a year, for the last ten years, Molly has spent seven hours and fifteen minutes sitting next to Andrew on the last flight before Christmas from Chicago to Dublin, drinking terrible airplane wine and catching up on each other’s lives. In spite of all the ways the two friends are different, it’s the holiday tradition neither of them has ever wanted to give up. 
What I thought: I was pleasantly surprised by this holiday romcom. both main characters are so real, they struggle they have moods. They get to know each other at their worst.
Characters: Molly – doesn’t care much about Christmas, Andrew – comes from Christmas crazy family
Setting: Chicago airport, air planes
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Jedes Jahr im Dezember”
Recommend to: Everyone loving a holiday romcom with real character that isn’t too cheese and rather clean.
Author’s Origin: born in Dublin, Ireland | 1964
Additional note: book #1 in the Catherine Walsh Christmas Romcoms

Snowed In by Catherine Walsh | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: Megan is dreading going home for the holidays. She’s the village pariah, the she-devil who left local golden boy Isaac at the altar four years ago and ran away to the big city. She could really do without the drama. Particularly as he’s engaged again, and she’s just been dumped for the fourth time this year.
  Christian’s fed up of being on his own every Christmas. He doesn’t mind being alone, but he hates his family’s sad eyes and soft tones as they sit around coupled up. Because he’s actually, totally, fine. 
So when Megan literally bumps into Christian in a Dublin pub, they come up with a pact to see them through the holiday season. They’re going to be the very best fake dates for each other, ever.
What I thought: This was a wonderful sequel to the first book. We get to know Christian the brother. he has some daddy issues, he is feeling not enough and he is the only one who saw Megan flee her wedding. Now they are back in town pretending to be a couple. You know where this is going. I liked that again the characters were authentic with real issues and struggles. I liked the setting in Ireland and the local color we get through the books. Also the main character is struggling from migraines. I liked the first one slightly more because I prefer friends-lover over fake dating tropes.
Characters: Christian – brother to Andrew (book 1), Megan – childhood friend, Isaac – ex-fiance to Megan
Setting: Dublin, small home town, snowed in cottage
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited, library | audiobook through library | paperback | hardcover
Original Language and Title: English hardcover, paperback, ebook
Publications: German title “Wir zwei im Dezember”
Recommend to: Everyone loving holiday romance. this is a fun sequel and one of the better Christmas books I have read.
Author’s Origin: born in Dublin, Ireland | 1964
Additional note: book #2 in the Catherine Walsh Christmas Romcoms

Postcards at Christmas by Imogen Clark | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: After discovering her mother’s secret life, Cara doesn’t have much faith in marriage.
So when the love of her life, Simeon, proposes, she struggles to say ‘I do.’ She adores him, but why risk the perfect relationship by signing on a dotted line that could ruin everything? If her parents’ marriage taught her anything, it was that a gold ring doesn’t equal happiness, and she has no desire to follow in their dysfunctional footsteps.
But maybe there’s a bigger picture after all. When a tragic accident brings yet more truths to the surface, Cara is forced to question everything she believes—and fears—about long-term love. And the answers aren’t obvious…
What I thought: I liked the story where we learn about how Cara and Simeon are doing. They have a child and life is good. until it isn’t. The book is about what happens when your whole life plans are derailed, about friendship and blame and guilt. However it is not really a Christmas story I would say.
Characters: Cara, Simeon, daughter, friends
Setting: little home, hospital
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: no translation found
Recommend to: Everyone who has read “Postcards from a Stranger” or who wants a Christmas story that is a bit sad.
Author’s Origin: born in Great Britain | unknown
Additional note: Book 2 in the Postcards series, my review for book 1

Wolf by Saša Stanišić | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: At the vacation camp, Kemi becomes part of a group of very different young people and counselors. And he meets Jörg, who is somehow more different, but who Kemi is very interested in. He observes closely what the others do to Jörg and how things slowly escalate in the group. How far? In his dreams, Kemi encounters a wolf, his own fear. He learns to live with the wolf and to be brave. WOLF is a masterfully observant children’s novel about how thin the line is between being different and being ostracized.
What I thought: This was the book I was going to give to my godchildren but decided against it. The story is beautifully written and the illustrations are great. However I struggled with the ending. The bullying that is taken place is only described but there are no guidelines on how to handle the situation. When adults are being made aware the reaction is “you need to solve this yourself”. I can not get behind that message and therefore decided not to gift it. However it is a good book. my godchild has received the book from someone else so I will check with her what she thought to get a better understanding how children view the issue.
Characters: Kemi – shy city boy, Jörg – weird by with survival knowledge, bullies,
Setting: camp in the woods
Medium: eBook through Kindle library
Original Language and Title: German
Publications: translations to Catalan, Hungarian and other Eastern Europe languages
Recommend to: Not sure right now if I would as I had my issues even though I liked the story.
Author’s Origin: born in Višegrad, Bosnien-Herzegowina | March 7, 1978
Read Around the World: logged for Bosnien-Herzegowina

The answer is NO by Fredrik Backman | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
What I thought: I just love love love the characters Backman is creating. Their quirks and issues and how they are so weird and lovable. Lucas is another one of these characters. It is almost comic how things derail without him doing anything really. Life sucks sometime and Backman has really nailed it here.
Characters: Lucas, the board heads, neighbors
Setting: Apartment building
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: Swedish
Publications: German title “Die Antwort lautet NEIN” | English title “The answer is No”
Recommend to: Everyone wanting an interesting short story with weird characters that are lovable.
Author’s Origin: born in Stockholm, Schweden | June 2nd, 1981
Read Around the World: Sweden

Cruel Winter with you by Ali Hazelwood | ★★★☆☆

Goodreads says: All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.
What I thought: This was an entertaining little novel but it wasn’t anything new or exciting. Read it or don’t it doesn’t really matter. It was my first novel by Hazelwood.
Characters: Jamie Malek – pediatrician, Marc – tech billionaire, dad
Setting: Mansion, fire place
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited, library | audiobook through library | paperback | hardcover
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: no German translation found
Recommend to: Everyone loving a snowy winter romcom while snowed in.
Author’s Origin: born in Italy | December 11th, 1989

The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park | ★★★☆☆

Goodreads says: Chloe Kwon can’t stand Peter Li. It’s always been that way. Their families don’t get along either: their parents operate rival restaurants in the Riverwood Mall food court―Korean food for the Kwons and Chinese food for the Lis. Now it’s the holiday season and Chloe’s the photographer at the mall’s Santa Land, and Peter works at the virtual reality North Pole experience right across the atrium. It’s all Chloe can do to avoid Peter’s smug, incredibly photogenic face. 

But it turns out the mall is about to be sold to a developer and demolished for condos. Eviction notices are being handed out right before Christmas. Their parents don’t know what to do, and soon Chloe and Peter realize that the two of them need to join efforts to try to save the mall. Just when it seems like they can put aside their differences and work closely (very closely) together, they discover that the Kwon and Li feud goes far deeper than either of them realize… 
What I thought: I enjoyed the setting of the foodcourt in a mall and the behind the scenes of the life people are living who are operating a food court restaurant. This was fun. The story itself was just ok. I felt the solution to the big issue was very lame and unrealistic but oh well, what do I expect from these novels. I just know too much marketing to know this would work.
Characters: Chloe Kwon – daughter to Korean restaurant owners, Peter Li – son to Chinese restaurant owners
Setting: Foodcourt of Riverwood Mall
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited, library | audiobook through library | paperback | hardcover
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: none found
Recommend to: Everyone liking to peek into the doings of a mall foodcourt with a modern version of Romeo and Julia.
Author’s Origin: born in Nashville, Tennessee | January 1980

Books I couldn’t finish

Keeping track of the books that weren’t right for me. This month it was:

New books on the shelves

Always buying books even though I am trying to reduce my TBR pile. Here is this month purchases. Please hold me accountable and ask if I read them or just piled them up.

• Stimmen aus der Verbotszone. Texte und künstlerische Arbeiten der DDR-Opposition in den „radix-blättern“ by Maria Nooke – my moms latest book and a Christmas gift
• Skipping Christmas by John Grisham – a Christmas gift

Did you receive a book for Christmas? What book did you enjoy in December? What book was a total fail? How many books did you gift for Christmas? Do you read the books you gift beforehand?