Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert My rating: 1 of 5 stars Wow, this was such an annoying read! Chloe Sophia Brown comes across as a pampered, snobby whiny, weak damsel in distress who needs rescuing. From this outset, I already didn’t like her. Someone who describes herself like this… “This mind-blowing bore had zero friends, hadn’t traveled in a decade despite plenty of opportunity, liked to code on the weekends, and nev...
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng My rating: 5 of 5 stars Celeste Ng hit me unexpectedly hard with her debut novel “Everything I Never Told You”. I was blown away by that book and afraid I might not like this one as much. That fear was completely unfounded as I loved this book as much as its predecessor. Maybe a little more even since Ng has improved upon both her writing style (which I already liked the first time!) and her sto...
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Lydia is dead.”, these three words mark the beginning of Lydia’s journey which we’re about to embark upon. These three words make you think it cannot possibly get worse. Right until it gets worse. A lot worse. I can relate to this book on so many levels: First and foremost, I’m a father. I’m not prone to nightmares but there’s one that has haunted me countl...
Hemmersmoor by Stefan Kiesbye My rating: 1 of 5 stars “Hemmersmoor ist der Eingang zur Hölle.”, so endet der Klappentext und genau so ist mein Eindruck nach der Lektüre dieser Ansammlung von lose miteinander verwobenen Erzählungen über das fiktive Dorf Hemmersmoor und seine mehr als eigenartigen Bewohner. Leider ist die hier heraufbeschworene “Hölle” jedoch eine literarische, denn im Grunde ist das, was Kiesbye sich hier au...
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon My rating: 1 of 5 stars This is a strange book. From what its protagonist, Christopher, says about himself, it sounds like he’s somewhere on the autism scale. Once confronted with criticism about how he portrays Christopher, the author, Haddon, (from now on: The Weasel) takes the easiest possible way out: “2) curious incident is not a book about asperger’s. it’s a ...
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose My rating: 2 of 5 stars Recently, I watched the series “Band of Brothers” and was surprised by its quality. The often-used introductory statements of the former members of the 101st were very impressive and lent the series a lot of credibility. After having watched the final episode, I decided I wanted...
Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan My rating: 2 of 5 stars So, bad books, work sucks but it’s not too bad? A bit of escapism would be nice? Quickly, grab a fluffy romance novel and laugh, cry, cringe. Sometimes at the same time. That pretty much covers how I came to read this book – and for a long time, I was absolutely loving it because probably most of us have “leaned back against [our] car and grinned like a fool”. This...
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway My rating: 1 of 5 stars This is my second approach to the work of Ernest Hemingway and I thoroughly hated the experience. I dimly remember my first attempt when I had just seen “Hemingway”, 1988’s mini series about the author. I think at the time I read “A Farewell to Arms” and put it aside about half way through. Now, more than 30 years later, I thought it was time to revisit Heming...
The Shooting at Chateau Rock by Martin Walker My rating: 2 of 5 stars I’ve been a Bruno fan from the very first book on. I enjoyed reading so much about himself, his friends and the entire town.For quite a few books, things were developing nicely and Bruno became a favourite of mine. With this book, this ended. It all starts interesting enough with the death of an old sheep farmer and his children suspecting foul play when they find o...
Winteraustern von Alexander Oetker My rating: 4 of 5 stars Schon seit Jahrzehnten habe ich eine Schwäche für Frankreich. Allerdings ist mein Französisch doch inzwischen sehr, sehr “eingerostet”, so daß eine Kommunikation auch stark von Gestik und Mimik abhängt. Insofern bin ich immer dankbar, wenn man sich – meist lachend – auf halbem Wege entgegen kommt.Andererseits aber verbindet Deutschland und Frankreich nach Ja...