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Jo Nesbø: The Snowman (Paperback, 2010, Vintage, Brand: Vintage Books / Random House) 4 stars

Review of 'The Snowman' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

All the twists and turns in the plot gave me whiplash, which was very entertaining, but in the end this was just too much of everything. It felt like this book was just cobbled together with well-used tropes and obvious plot devices from similar thrillers. The two concluding action sequences were just over-the-top ridiculous to me, which made me like the book less.

If you know your way around Oslo, or love the phrase "to ring off", you may enjoy this more than I did. Plus, the detective's name is "Harry Hole", so the book gave me a good chuckle on every page.

Trevor Noah: Born a Crime (Paperback, JOHN MURRAY) 4 stars

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show …

Review of 'Born a Crime' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Unfortunately I found this book much less interesting and surprisingly unfunny compared to the praise it's been receiving.
While it was interesting to discover Trevor Noah's history in various parts of South Africa and learn about the reality of life under Apartheid, I couldn't help but find the chapters a bit disjointed, not always well connected to each other. They aren't in chronological order either - which doesn't have to be a problem, but I often felt information from later chapters would have been helpful to understand previous ones better.
The depictions of domestic violence, and how people deal with it, moved me - those chapters were among the strongest for me, alongside those describing the linguistic diversity in South Africa and how it affects people's lives.

Trevor Noah's humor did not really come across in this book. There were a few moments that made me chuckle, but compared to …

Tessa de Loo: Die Zwillinge (German language, 1997, btb) 4 stars

Review of 'Die Zwillinge' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The classic story of separated twins that reunite much later - how interesting could this be? Turns out: very.

The form of this novel is rather conventional - each chapter describes what the sisters are doing in the present day, usually going for walks or sitting in a café. They then take turns to tell each other their life stories from their childhood through the Second World War and its immediate aftermath. (Looking for Cold War stories and/or 70s nostalgia? Look elsewhere: That's not covered in this book.)

I found myself breezing through this chunky book in just a few days - the writing style is simple but engaging, and certainly easily digestible. Every now and then some foreshadowing creates higher tension.

The sisters' fate is of course often gruesome - wartimes cause too many sacrifices, also from civilians.
What didn't really convince: the overall impression I get of the …

reviewed The World We Make by N.k. Jemisin (Great Cities Duology, #2)

All is not well in the city that never sleeps. Even though the avatars of …

Review of 'The World We Make' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The second of two books in this series - I was so eager to see how the story of New York would continue. The premise with avatars of cities and boroughs is so unique, and the characters are memorable etc.

Unfortunately, compared to the first book in the series, [b:The City We Became|42074525|The City We Became (Great Cities, #1)|N.K. Jemisin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585327950l/42074525.SY75.jpg|54760675], the intriguing premise wore off a bit: We know now how this "city magic" works, we know what the characters struggle with, and we (sort of) know what the "Big Bad" has in mind.

The involvement of other cities, as mentioned in the blurb, was a bit lackluster (and too stereotypical!!) for me.
The pacing was odd - it's such a fast-paced action-packed novel where a LOT of things happen, yet I felt more stressed than entertained at times.
The interactions between the protagonists felt a bit out …

Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2008, Faber & Faber) 4 stars

Review of 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A modern narration of a historical subject, a narrator whose identity we learn late in the novel, literary time travel to the Dominican Republic of decades past, geeky pop culture references, gripping drama for heart and soul, a dash of politics (elaborated on in lavish footnotes) and a bit of college life -- there's a lot to love in this novel. I devoured it.

Agatha Christie: Third girl (2010) 2 stars

Review of 'Third girl' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

High expectations, as always with Mrs Christie. Unfortunately this book fell flat for me.

For much of the book, there isn't really a mystery to be solved - just a statement from a girl about a murder she might have committed at the very beginning. Then lots of pleasantries and characters complaining about "kids these days" (1960s!). Then towards the end, things suddenly happen, and then it's over.

Too many plot elements depend entirely on coincidences rather than the detectives' skills. Randomly meeting people in the metropolis that is London? Relevant papers conveniently fall into the investigators' hands? Sure, no problem. Definitely not satisfying to read.

I fully agree with this this review where a reader says this book feels much more dated than other Christie novels despite its setting closer to the present day. It's set in the mid-1960s, and all the allusions to that period seem really out …

Review of 'How High We Go in the Dark' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Are we ready yet for a pandemic thriller? Will we ever be?

This is a book of connected short stories taking place before, during, and after a terrible pandemic causing LOTS of casualties. As if this wasn't traumatizing enough, the victims are mostly children. More trauma? Why yes, in this book, people handle death, grief, and funerals very differently from what we are used to. Traumatizingly so.

While the stories themselves are intriguing, I did have trouble finding out what was going on, and how everything is connected. That can be ok - but here I felt somewhat disoriented. What bothered me more was the outright neglectful way that premises were brought up briefly, never to be mentioned again. Lots of loose threads left me wanting more - with disappointment rather than excitement.

This books is worth a closer look if you like reading about loss and grief (did I …

David Malouf: Remembering Babylon (1994, Penguin Random House) 3 stars

Review of 'Remembering Babylon' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Plot sounds intriguing, book won awards, author is gay - this checked a lot of my metaphorical boxes, so I dove in.

And here I was, somewhat lost in the extremely long sentences with a million subordinate clauses that left me dizzy at times. The writing was so dense that I had to re-read many paragraphs or even whole pages to remind myself (or discover in the first place) what was even going on. Frustratingly I seem to have missed a few crucial details, because every now and then I did not manage to find out what had just happened.

The sparse characterization of some figures didn’t help much in this regard. Maybe it was too implicit for me, maybe I didn’t catch some things because I found the writing too dense - either way, some aspects remained elusive. Or maybe I just didn’t get it.

The plot and its …

Roger Willemsen: Deutschlandreise (German language, 2004, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag) 3 stars

Review of 'Deutschlandreise' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Schade, dieses Buch hat mich leider nicht erreichen können. Roger Willemsens kluge Sätze beschreiben unzählige Episoden seiner Deutschlandreise(n). Wie erwartet lassen mich einige Sätze laut lachen, andere schnüren mir die Kehle zusammen, manche wirken, als wären sie gestern erst geschrieben worden.

Dabei beschreibt das Buch das Deutschland zu Beginn des Jahrtausends — zumindest das erste Drittel tut das. Danach driftet es aus meiner Sicht ab in fast zeitlose Beschreibungen, aus denen ich nicht mehr viel herauslesen konnte als eine leichte Abneigung gegen Menschen mit Übergewicht.

Das ist besonders schade, weil Roger Willemsen so klug und sprachgewandt war, dass ich aus seiner Perspektive auf Deutschland vor 20 Jahren gern etwas für die heutige Zeit mitgenommen hätte. Zwischen den vielen kurzen Episoden mit einigen treffenden Sätzen hat sich das Buch für mich leider in Details verloren und ich bleibe etwas ratlos und minimal nostalgisch zurück.

Stefanie Zweig: Nirgendwo in Afrika (German language, 1999, Weltbild) 3 stars

Review of 'Nirgendwo in Afrika' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Ein moderner Klassiker, den ich endlich gelesen habe: Vor dem traumatischen Hintergrund der nationalsozialistischen Diktatur wandert eine jüdische Familie nach Ostafrika aus und beginnt ein neues Leben.

Der Einblick in das Leben der vielen Europäer:innen dort ist lehrreich - Sprachen spielen eine Rolle und Gewohnheiten, Rassismus natürlich und der Drang, sich in einer mehrfach fremden Umgebung zurechtzufinden.

Vor allem die Kapitel mit Bezug zu den Daheimgebliebenen und deren Schicksal in der Diktatur haben mich sehr bewegt und ich werde noch lange an einige Szenen zurückdenken. Ein Beispiel dafür ist direkt das erste Kapitel, das als Brief des Vaters an seine Frau geschrieben ist, die noch in ihrer Heimat ist.

Im weiteren Verlauf des Buches hat mir oft eine übergeordnete Handlung gefehlt. Zu viele Kapitel beschreiben einzelne Episoden; die Übergänge wirkten auf mich teilweise unrund.

Am meisten an diesem Buch hat mich allerdings die Sprache gestört. Eine blumige Metapher folgt auf …

Mithu M. Sanyal: Identitti (German language, Carl Hanser Verlag) 4 stars

Was für ein Skandal: Prof. Dr. Saraswati ist WEISS! Schlimmer geht es nicht. Denn die …

Review of 'Identitti' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Ich hatte sehr hohe Erwartungen, die das (gehypte) Buch leider nicht erfüllt hat.

Die Romanhandlung fand ich ziemlich wirr: Charaktere tauchen auf und verschwinden sang- und klanglos wieder, dazwischen reden sie über „race“ und Identität. Die Unterhaltungen drehen sich im Kreis; die Äußerungen in den Gesprächen wirken hölzern und unnatürlich. Eingestreut in den Romantext sind Tweets, Blogposts und Liedtexte - das beschreiben Rezensent*innen dann als "moderne Form", dabei lesen die Romanfiguren einfach selbst diese Kurztexte. Aus meiner Sicht interessant, aber nicht bahnbrechend.
Im Nachwort wird klar: Die ganzen Tweets im Buch wurden von den realen Personen hinter den real existierenden Accounts extra für dieses Buch geschrieben! Das finde ich einzigartig und frage mich, warum das nicht schon am Anfang steht. Das hätte mein Lesevergnügen vergrößert.

Am stärksten fand ich die ersten 15% des Romans und das letzte Viertel. Gegen Ende spielt der rassistische Anschlag von Hanau eine Rolle, der sich …

Tade Thompson: Far from the Light of Heaven (EBook, Orbit) 4 stars

The colony ship Ragtime docks in the Lagos system, having traveled light-years to bring one …

Review of 'Far from the Light of Heaven' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I finished this book two months before I’m typing this, and I have a hard time trying to remember what even happened. As the characters and the plot are coming back to me, I remember what a blur this books seemed to be.

The premise is intriguing, some of the characters are refreshingly new - while others are cookie cutter SciFi figures. (Yes, there’s an android.)

What I found unsatisfying was how rushed some chapters and plot points were. A particular story is evolving and BAM, out of the blue, a death! A previously unknown character! Something else! Unfortunately, this didn’t make this book “dynamic” or “fast-paced” - it just felt rushed, like there was a deadline to meet.

That’s why I didn’t feel much as I finished the last chapter. A bit of relief, a vague sense of completion, and the certainty that this is a three-star book. I …

reviewed Faserland Roman by Christian Kracht (Fischer ; 18532)

Christian Kracht: Faserland Roman (Paperback, German language, 2015, Fischer Taschenbuch) 3 stars

Faserland is the debut novel by Christian Kracht, published in 1995. It is considered to …

Review of 'Faserland Roman' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Ein vorstandsverwahrloster Schnösel reist von Sylt in die Schweiz und verhält sich bei jedem Stopp seiner Reise ekelhaft. Das ist gut geschrieben - "I loved to hate this guy". Fast 20 Jahre nach Erscheinen dieses Buchs ist mir allerdings leider nicht klar, warum es damals solche Wellen geschlagen hat.

Nach zwar ereignisreichen, aber anscheinend belanglosen Besuchen in einigen deutschen Städten haben mich die letzten beiden Kapitel dann davon abgehalten, nur zwei Sterne zu vergeben: Da geht es endlich mal um das "Faserland" und die, die darin leben. Das fand ich bereichernd, die Kapitel davor allerdings nur minimal.

Empfehlenswert als für alle, die diesen modernen Klassiker (und Deutschland in den 1990ern) selbst kennenlernen wollen - und die vielleicht mehr verstehen als ich.

Ellen Raskin: The Westing Game (2005, Speak) 4 stars

The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who …

Review of 'The Westing Game' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Beloved my so many, maybe this book should be enjoyed while younger... Certainly an intriguing and mysterious story, its charm was diminished for me by the high number of characters - that were insufficiently fleshed out for me - and the first chapters that drag on a little.

The conclusion of the mystery was lacking depth for me. This part made it the most obvious for me that this novel is aimed at teenagers. That's absolutely ok, but didn't make me love this book.