Book Talk – June 2024

Compared to other month June was not the month I read a lot. But I did read. And I have found another amazing book that is high in the runnings for top books of the year. Maybe already best cover… Who know. Anyway grab a drink, pen and paper and lets to the book talk June.

The Girl who fell beneath the sea by Axie Oh | ★★★★★

Goodreads says: Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…
What I thought: What a wonderful book. It is a young adult book but I loved it. It’s a mystical little quest story of a girl trying to save her loved ones. She is feisty and bold and at the same time scared. It’s about friendship, trust and of course love. I love that the ending is not the immediate one you think of. Loved it. Weill re-read. A wonderful gift by my husband.
Characters: Mina – a girl of 14, Shin – a mystical creature of unknown age, Sea God – looks like 14, numerous spirits
Setting: spirit realm under water
Medium: paperback
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Das Mädchen, das in den Wellen verschwand”
Recommend to: Anyone loving YA fantasy, clean love stories, peaking into asian folklore and an interesting female lead.
Author’s Origin: born in New York, U.S.A. | 1990 (?)

Happy Place by Emily Henry | ★★★★✶

Goodreads says: Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple – they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Every year, they take a holiday from their lives to drink far too much wine with their favourite people in the world.
Except this year, they are lying through their teeth, because Harriet and Wyn broke up six months ago. And they still haven’t told anyone.
But the cottage is for sale so this is the last time they’ll all be here together. They can’t bear to break their best friends’ hearts so they’ll fake it for one more week.
What I thought: This is no high literature but it was entertaining enough to listen to when I was almost drifting into a reading slump. I mean we all know what is going to happen. Ad we also know the “issue” is a bit far fetched. And we also all know that if anyone would talk the story was over in 3 pages… but this is romance so of course it is all so.very.very.complicated… I was entertained but it is not a book I would ever spend money on.
Characters: Harriet, Wyn,
Setting: Cottage somewhere U.S. East Coast
Medium: audiobook through library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Happy Place: Urlaub mit dem Ex”
Recommend to: Anyone loving a good summer romance and who needs to turn of thoughts.
Author’s Origin: born U.S.A. | 1990

The little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expéry | ★★★★☆

Goodreads says: A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see, standing before him, the most extraordinary little fellow. “Please,” asks the stranger, “draw me a sheep.” And the pilot realizes that when life’s events are too difficult to understand, there is no choice but to succumb to their mysteries. He pulls out pencil and paper… And thus begins this wise and enchanting fable that, in teaching the secret of what is really important in life, has changed forever the world for its readers.
Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince, presented here in a stunning new translation with carefully restored artwork. The definitive edition of a worldwide classic, it will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.
What I thought: I ordered this as a gift for a baptism and I usually read books I gift. I had read this probably 30 years ago so I quickly read it again. It’s a classic for a reason. It is cute it has some nice toughts, the illustrations are very fun. However I realized the entire book doesn’t have one female character. the word woman is mentioned once but as a side note. I guess it does reflect the time it was written (100 years ago) and women just didn’t have jobs outside the home. And here we year about all the different work and learnings… But still, it did made me question the choice of book I made for a gift. I still think it deserves to be read but I may not choose it again.
Characters: The little prince, the fox – of course, a rose, multiple other men
Setting: different planets
Medium: hardcover
Original Language and Title: French Le petit prince
Publications: German title “Der kleine Prinz”
Recommend to: Anyone loving a classic, books about friendship and cute illustrations.
Author’s Origin: born Lyon, France | June 29, 1900
Read Around the World: logged for France

Am Himmel funkelt ein neuer Tag by Meike Werkmeister | ★★★✶☆

Goodreads says: Zoé is a real lucky girl. Everything in life seems to come her way. When she gets the chance to work as an interior designer in London for a year, she doesn’t hesitate for a second. She promptly ends up in a beautiful neighborhood that feels like a small village in the middle of the big city. When Zoé strolls through the flower market or swims in the natural pond early in the morning, nothing can spoil her happiness. Not even the man who once broke her heart and is now contacting her again. It is only when a fortune teller prophesies that this summer will turn all her plans upside down that Zoé begins to have doubts. What has really brought her here? And what does happiness actually mean?
What I thought: I love Meikes feel good summer romance novels. This one fell a bit flat for me. I didn’t like Zoé all too much. She was too much in her head, had no real struggle but felt like her life was hard. Also I really had an issue with her intrusive behavior. I did enjoy the dabble in magic realism and learning about the swimming ponds in London.
Characters:Zoé, Pablo, and other I can’t remember… ups.
Setting: London
Medium: borrowed paperback
Original Language and Title: German
Publications: no translations
Recommend to: Everyone loving a London based love story
Author’s Origin: born in Munster, Germany | 1979

How beautiful we were by Imbolo Mbue | ★★★☆☆

Goodreads says: We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful novel. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made–and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interest. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price. 
Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.
What I thought: I wanted to like this book more but towards the end I just wanted it to be done with to be honest. It is not because the story was uninteresting or the writing bad. I just fear African literature is not my cup of tea. I did like the way the story was told from multiple perspectives of the decades it was taking place. I did like the Children’s point of view and how they matured.
Characters: a lot… mainly The Children, Thula – a girl, Thula’s family
Setting: Kosawa, fictitious village in Africa
Medium: bought Kindle eBook
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “xxx” hardcover, paperback, ebook
Recommend to: Anyone wanting read a book about African culture and living, a good fight and a different ending.
Author’s Origin: born in Limbe, Cameroon | 1981
Read Around the World: logged for Cameroon

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer | ★★✶☆☆

Goodreads says: Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings-asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass-offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.
What I thought: Thank goodness I am finally done… Sad but true. This book… I already named it disappointment of the year in 2023 and I stand by it. It is not a bad book. It holds a lot of information. It was not badly written. And yet this book did nothing for me. It was taking forever to get through (10 months!) It could not hold my attention despite I am very interested in plants and nature and harvesting and gathering… I did learn that you can eat cattails. I think the most I lied the retellings of indigenous stories.
Setting: Woods somewhere in the U.S.
Medium: owned paperback
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Geflochtenes Süßgrass: Die Weisheit der Pflanzen”
Recommend to: Not sure… It’s a hit or miss so you decide.
Author’s Origin: born in New York City U.S. | September 13th, 1953

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.

• Silent Guardian by Zachary McCrae  – a kindle freebie
• The Day I Died by E.B. Black– a kindle freebie
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau  – a kindle freebie
• The Dairy Farmer’s Daughter by Sarah Williams – a kindle freebie
• The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic – a kindle freebie
• Friend Zone by Camilla Isley – a kindle freebie
• All Last Summer by Stephanie J. Scott  – a kindle freebie
• Sunset Summer by Stephanie J. Scott  – a kindle freebie

What book did you read for more than a month? When do you decide to quiet a book? Have you read the little prince? What is the last book you added to your collection? Any good summer reads you can recommend?