Book Talk – March 2024

While I am typing up this posts it is the first time I am able to sit outside, sip my coffee and enjoy the spring air. I’m still in my pjs and it is just lovely. Spring is here. I’ve already read a little in my book. But that is for next month to talk about. Now lets have a book talk with all the March books.

When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal | ★★★★✶

Goodreads says: Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news…
Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.
After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.
Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.
What I thought: I was really positively surprised by this book. I had expected a different kind of story though. But those books are the best. It is written both sisters point of view which I liked as it sheds the light of the same story and moments from two perspectives. We piece together the story of their childhood and how the same moment can have different effects and consequences. The things we do for family and siblings they may never be aware of. Sacrifices, heartbreaks and struggles. This story is about lost souls, trauma (I am not a fan of trigger warnings so I am not typing it out in order to not spoil the story) and survival. I loved it. It was deep, well written and just a great read. I will look for more books of the author.
Characters: Kit & Josie – twin sisters, Javier – Kit’s holiday fling or is it more, mother
Setting: New Zealand
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English ebook | paperback | hardcover
Publications: no German translation but a Spanish one
Recommend to: Everyone loving a good tale about sisters, estranged family finding back together, a grown up love story.

Mit Bleistift und Pinsel | ★★★★✶

Amazon says: Learning how to use pencils, ink, felt-tip pens and brushes correctly is fun and not difficult at all. This book shows you step by step how to build up your drawing technique from simple structures to portraits.
What I thought: This is a really good resource for kids to learn how to draw. It is simple but explains the basics. While reading it I was reminded how I read it as a kid and tried to work through the prompts and exercises. Definitely animates to take up a pencil and start drawing.
Medium: hardcover
Original Language and Title: German
Publications: none
Recommend to: Every child who wants to learn how to draw and every adult who needs an easy introduction.

The Quantum Curators and the Fabergé Egg by Eva St. John | ★★★★☆

Amazon says: Anyone can track down a priceless artifact that’s been lost for hundreds of years. Finding one that’s been hidden on a parallel Earth… now that’sa neat trick.
When Neith Salah – a quantum curator charged with traveling to our parallel Earth to rescue precious artefacts – is ordered to save a priceless Fabergé Egg, she figures it’s just another job. The only problem: she’s not sure what the egg looks like. Or where it is. Or when it is.
Enter Julius Strathclyde, a mild-mannered Cambridge professor whose closest brush with death-defying treasure hunts is finding lost coins down the back of the sofa. Not the usual “save the world” type, but when Julius’ best friend is murdered while searching for the egg, Neith realizes that this mild-mannered professor is the only person who can help her solve the riddles that will lead her to the egg. She just has to keep him alive long enough to do it.
What I thought: This was such a fun read. It’s about lost art that a parallel earth tries to recover for mankind (on their earth). Highly advanced, well organized and a smoothly run society – maybe too smoothly. Confronted with Beta Earth (our earth) that has all its flaws of humans … I love the adventure set in art, there are a ton of references to art, famous people, old tales, legends and such. I bet I read through half of them. It’s a very intriguing world that has split at the destruction of the library of Alexandria.
Characters: Julius Strathclyde – Beta Earths Cambridge professor and archivist, Neith Salah, Clio – Neith partner, Ramin, Paul – quantum curators from Alpha Earth
Setting: Beta Earth – Cambridge, Alpha Earth – Alexandria
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English | ebook | paperback
Publications: no German translation
Recommend to: Everyone loving a good treasure hunt and adventure tale and time traveling, alternative history stories. You are in for a treat. Specially recommending to Engie. I want to hear your thoughts.
Additional note: Book one in the series “The Quantum Curators”

The Quantum Curators and the Enemy within by Eva St. John | ★★★★☆

Amazon says: That belongs in a museum! Julius Strathclyde has been dragged through to an alternative earth. Now, training as a quantum curator, every ancient book, every stolen gem and every lost masterpiece lies at his fingertips. It’s incredible.
But he has some problems; he can’t get home, priceless artefacts are being stolen and someone is trying to kill him. Oh, and he can’t get a decent cup of tea anywhere.
Following the disastrous Fabergé assignment, Neith Salah is blinded by grief and rage, she’s hardly a stable companion, but she’s the only one he trusts. From the Titanic to the Blitz and through Medieval France, they race to save treasures and their own skins.
As their unknown enemies draw closer, can they stay alive and reveal who is behind the looting of the museum?
What I thought: I love the sequel. Maybe even slightly more as the first one. We are looking beyond the perfect polished society on Alpha Earth. We see the main characters struggle with where they are, what they have experienced and how they pull themselves out and who is willing to help. We have a mirror for our own behavior, our prejudices and thought patterns. And while it is set in two earths it’s not as “in-your-face” but more subtle. Lots of food for thought. All packed in a brilliant, exciting mystery adventure. Some dry humor and wit go along.
Characters: Julius Strathclyde – quantum curator born on Beta Earth, Neith Salah – quantum curator and partner to Julius, Sam – quantum curators boss, Ramin – friend to Julius and Neith, Asha Giovanetti – head of security
Setting: Alpha Earth – Alexandria, Beta Earth – different locations
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English | ebook | paperback
Publications: no German translation
Recommend to: Everyone loving time traveling, alternate history and has read the first in the series.
Additional note: Book two in the series “The Quantum Curators”

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reed | ★★★★☆

Goodreads says: Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed 20 Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach. Javier – a former champion himself – has trained her since the age of two.
But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.
At 37 years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the “Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.
What I thought: Another enjoyable read by TJR. I enjoyed it much more than Daisy Jones. I loved the way the audiobook was narrated and had sports announcements included. That was fun. The story itself was fun and entertaining. Carrie is at times highly unlikeable, has lots of flaws and is obnoxious. But the way she is driven and wants to become the best is also motivating and interesting. I personally didn’t really like the parallels to one of the Williams sisters. I found that cheap storytelling. That is way I knocked it down one star. It just wasn’t original.
Characters: Carrie Soto – tennis player,Bowe Huntley – tennis player, Nicki Chan – Carries nemesis,
Setting: United States and all major tennis tournaments
Medium: audiobook through library
Original Language and Title: English | ebook | paperback | hardcover
Publications: German title “Carrie Soto is back” ebook | paperback
Recommend to: Everyone loving a good sports tale and who likes tennis.

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo | ★★★★☆

Goodreads says: A woman wondering who she really is goes in search of a father she never knew – only to find something far more complicated than she ever expected – in this moving and hopeful novel of self-discovery. Anna is at a stage of her life when she’s beginning to wonder who she really is. She has separated from her husband, her daughter is all grown up, and her mother – the only parent who raised her – is dead.
Searching through her mother’s belongings, she finds clues about the West African father she never knew. Through reading his student diary, chronicling his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London, she discovers that he eventually became the president – some would say the dictator – of Bamana in West Africa. And he is still alive.
She decides to track him down and so begins a funny, painful, fascinating journey, and an exploration of race, identity and what we pass on to our children.
What I thought: I loved that the main character is a woman a 48 year-old, that she has done some living, has seen hard things in life and just overall has some life experience. I liked the dynamic of a mixed race (hate that term) upbringing and what that felt like – in both worlds. I liked the way she discovered her father’s roots and was confronted with the way of living, the system, the corruption and his father’s complicated political involvement. It was a good read, entertaining, I learned a few things and would read another book by the author.
Characters: Anna Bain, Francis Aggrey – father and former president of Bamana
Setting: present time, London, Bamana – fictive African country
Medium: eBook, self bought
Original Language and Title: English | ebook | paperback | hardcover
Publications: no translation
Recommend to: Everyone loving to learn more about a different way of living, mixed race upbringing and like to read about mature woman.
Read Around the World: logged for Nigeria

All the Colors of Life by Lisa Aisato | ★★★★☆

Goodreads says: No one illustrates people’s hopes, fears and dreams as movingly as Lisa Aisato. For ‘All the Colors of Life’, she has selected her best pictures – both classics and previously unpublished illustrations. Together with poetic sentences, they accompany us through life. They tell of love, sorrow and great joy. Of childhood, when summers are particularly green and winters particularly white. Of adolescence with its great emotional storms. And of adulthood, which also holds many an adventure in store.
What I thought: I read this book on Good Friday when I felt a bit sad. It’s a wonderful uplifting book. A great gift for confirmations or entering adulthood. I personally am not too much a fan of the illustrations and that is way it is only a four star for me. It was a gift from my godfather for my 40th birthday and I appreciate his thoughts on picking this for me. It is a book I can see myself grabbing again when I need a mental hug.
Medium: hardcover, owned
Original Language and Title: Norwegian
Publications: German title “Alle Farben des Lebens” hardcover
Recommend to: Everyone needing a mental hug, like Lisa Aisatos illustrations and wants a perfect gift.

Unsere Tage am See by Linda Winterberg | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: The happiness we were looking for.
After twenty-five years of separation, Hanna suddenly faces her mother again for the first time. Back then, Hanna saw no other way out than to leave home – and in doing so, she also left behind Alexander, her first great love. For one summer, they met day after day on the jetty at the end of the lake. Her escape gave Hanna a new life, but she never forgot Alex. And now she finds out that he hasn’t stopped thinking about her either …
The moving fate of two women and a great love story – deeply sad and very romantic.
What I thought: The blurb hints toward a love story. That is only partly true as it is actually a story about the complicated and traumatic relationship between Hanna and her mother. The way alcoholism can destroy lives and relationships. I enjoyed the story even though I started thinking I read some sort of romance. I would have loved to get a view from Alexander on the things happening that summer besides the love story. It’s the third book from this author and the weakest so far. I will pick her up again though.
Characters: Hanna , Alexander – first love
Setting: Small town in Bavaria
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: German ebook | paperback
Publications: no translations
Recommend to: Everyone loving a mother-daughter tale and working through childhood drama and reconciling.

Decluttering at the speed of Life by Dana K. White | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: You don’t have to live overwhelmed by stuff–you can get rid of clutter for good!
While the world seems to be in love with the idea of tiny houses and minimalism, many of us simply can’t purge it all and start from nothing. Yet a home with too much stuff is a home that is difficult to maintain, so where do we begin? Add in paralyzing emotional attachments and constant life challenges, and it can feel almost impossible to make real decluttering progress.
In Decluttering at the Speed of Life, decluttering expert and author Dana White identifies the mind-sets and emotional challenges that make it difficult to declutter. Then, in her signature humorous approach, she provides workable solutions to break through these struggles and get clutter out–for good!
But more than simply offering strategies, Dana dives deep into how to implement them, no matter the reader’s clutter level or emotional resistance to decluttering. She helps identify procrasticlutter–the stuff that will get done eventually so it doesn’t seem urgent–as well as how to make progress when there’s no time to declutter.
What I thought: I listened to this audiobook while I needed to clean and tidy the house. It motivated me. My key take a way was that you start cleaning, decluttering at the beginning of your apartment/house. Like at the entrance so it already looks good. From there it spreads. I liked that. Also liked the approach that it doesn’t make sense to dump all your belongings out when you are then overwhelmed by more chaos and clutter. Instead start with small areas and piles. Its a manageable approach.
Medium: audiobook through library
Original Language and Title: English | paperback | hardcover
Publications: no translation
Recommend to: Everyone needing some motivation, a new look at decluttering and tidying.

A Winter Book by Tove Jannson | ★★☆☆☆

Goodreads says: Winter is a special time of year in the north – a time that brings snow, ice and cold, but also experiences of nature, seclusion and leisure. The WINTER BOOK reflects all this and brings together many of the most popular stories by the Finnish author of the MUMIN books.
With subtle humor and a good measure of melancholy, WINTER BOOK carries the reader through the dark season. The stories paint warm-hearted pictures of being a child, of growing up and of the troubles and joys of old age.
What I thought: I think I’ve already found the disappointment of the year. Sadly. I bought this book with a gift card for my winter and Christmas collection but I will have to let it go. I did not appreciate the compilation of essays and short stories and chapters from other books all compiled in one book. It wasn’t wintery enough for me to curate the book in such a ways. I can see myself enjoying a book by the author, her writing is unique but this was just boring, disrupted, and very much not enjoyable.
Medium: paperback, gifted
Original Language and Title: Finnish
Publications: German title “Das Winterbuch” hardcover paperback, ebook
Recommend to: Everyone who is a fan of Tove Jansson otherwise I wouldn’t.

Books I couldn’t finish

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

• Natürlich alles künstlich: Was künstliche Intelligenz kann und was (noch) nicht – KI erklärt für alle by Philipp Häuser – abandoned for now as I found a more up-to-date KI book. May re-borrowing from library again at some later date

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.

• Reunion by Fred Uhlmann – a gift from my godfather’s wife after cleaning out her late mothers home
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez – a gift from my godfather
• The Gambler by Fjodor Dostojewski – a gift from my godfather
• The Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse – a gift from my godfather
• Die Galoschen des Glücks by Hans Christian Andersen – a gift from my godfather
• The Alaska Kid by Jack London – a free little library find
• Grünes Land und blaue Wellen. Geschichten und Märchen von Land und Meer by Konrad Reich – a free little library find

What is the last book you received from someone? What is the best book you found in a little free library? What was the last book you handed down to someone? Which of your March reads should I add to my TBR?