March was so busy and I am surprised I have managed seven books. Lots of solid books but nothing that really stood out. However I did manage to read three books for my Read Around the World challenge and also steered clear of romance for another month. So let’s jump right in and have our book talk March. Shall we?
Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara | ★★★✶☆
Goodreads says: Will Guidara was twenty-six when he took the helm of Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room. Eleven years later, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.
How did Guidara pull off this unprecedented transformation? Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality.
First Sentence: At home, we were on top of the world.
What I thought: This was a book club pick – and then the meeting was canceled. Sad. Anyway I did read it and it was the only book I kinda flew through this month. It was easy to read and had some fun anecdotes, motivational quotes and such. A very interesting look behind how fine dining restaurants are run, how much effort and thought goes into it. I am sure if you are familiar or into fine dining this is even more interesting. The novelty of his hospitality approach is not quite clear to me. Maybe in the industry at the time it was novel but for me coming from marketing lots of these things are not as mind-blowing. I mean my whole job is looking at the customer and meeting their needs. I don’t know. Wasn’t able to discuss this with the group maybe I would have gotten more insights.
Elevate count: 5
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited, library | audiobook through library | paperback | hardcover
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Unvernünftige Gastfreundschaft”
Recommend to: Anyone loving business behind the scene stories and especially when into hospitality and fine dining.
Author’s Origin: born in New York, U.S.A. | November 25th, 1979
Heard of/Recommended by: Tina from heybooklovers
Your Absence is Darkness by Jón Kalman Stefánsson | ★★★✶☆☆
Book Blurb: A man comes to awareness in a church in rural Iceland, not knowing why he’s there or how he arrived. When a local woman offers to reunite him with her sister, he realizes he’s lost not only his bearings, but his memory as well: he doesn’t recall either sister, nor their mother, the woman buried beneath the stone. As their stories unfold, he’s plunged into a history spanning centuries and lives: a city girl drawn to the fjords by the memory of a blue-eyed gaze; a pastor who writes to dead poets and falls in love with a stranger from afar; a woman who must abandon her son to save her family; a musician plagued by cosmic loneliness; and an alcoholic transfixed by the night sky. Faced with the violence of destiny and the effects of choices, made and avoided, that cascade between lives, each discovers the cost of happiness.
First Sentence: Irgendein Trost findet sich immer. Möglicherweise träume ich folgendes:
What I thought: Oh man this book. I don’t think I have ever scribbled down so many quotes. At times I wanted to copy the whole book. And on the other hand this book was such a struggle to get through. I started it back in July 2024. This book is not an easy read. Mainly because it has so many characters, jumps around in time, has hardly any chapters just some headlines here and there. I tried keeping track of the characters on a sheet (only to realize in the end that there was a list.) Another interesting and fun thing is that music plays a very big and key role. I started creating my own playlists with all songs listed in the book (only to discover that is also printed in the back). So what to make of this book. It is worth a reading but you need to be in your right mindset and I believe it is best just reading this one book and fully concentrating on it. I can imagine it would be a wonderful read when being in Iceland or having some experience there. I can see me picking this up again in the future. I think it is a book with so many layers that in whatever life phase you are you are finding nuggets of wisdom.
Elevate count: none I marked. Only parts read in 2025
Characters: too many to list. There is a list at the end of the book.
Setting: Fjords of Iceland, Marseille
Medium: paperback
Original Language and Title: Icelandic “Fjarvera þín er myrkur”
Publications: German title “Dein Fortsein ist Finsternis”
Recommend to: Everyone liking literary fiction, character books, peeks into different lifes and isn’t afraid of multiple story threads that get confusing at times.
Author’s Origin: born in Reykjavik, Iceland | December 17th, 1967
Read Around the World: Logged for Iceland in my Read Around the World challenge
Stone of Hope by Jim St. Germaine | ★★★✶☆
Book Blurb: Born into abject poverty in Haiti, young Jim St. Germain moved to Brooklyn’s Crown Heights, into an overcrowded apartment with his family. He quickly adapted to street life and began stealing, dealing drugs, and growing increasingly indifferent to despair and violence. By the time he was arrested for dealing crack cocaine, he had been handcuffed more than a dozen times. At the age of fifteen the walls of the system were closing around him. A Stone of Hope is more than an incredible coming-of-age story; told with a degree of candor that requires the deepest courage, it is also a rallying cry. No one is who they are going to be—or capable of being—at sixteen. St. Germain is living proof of this. He contends that we must work to build a world in which we do not give up on a swath of the next generation.
First Sentence: As the aircraft descended, I pushed my ten-year-old face up against the tiny window, in thrall to the light: flicking orange, yellow and red.
What I thought: This was a very powerful read. It showed me a world I have never peeked in let alone experienced. It was all very foreign to me – the culture, the poverty, the drug use and selling, the street life – so it was hard to connect with the author. But I love reading for getting the chance to see a different life, the struggles and realizing there are more realities out there then the ones I know of.
Elevate count:
Setting: News York, Crown Street
Medium: eBook through Kindle
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: none found but tones of elevators are mentioned
Recommend to: Everyone wanting to learn about immigrant lives, the struggles and hopes and likes memoirs.
Author’s Origin: born in Haiti | 1990
Read Around the World: Logged for Haiti in my Read around the World challenge
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery| ★★★☆☆
Book Blurb: An unforgettable story of courage and romance. Will Valancy Stirling ever escape her strict family and find true love?
Valancy Stirling is 29, unmarried, and has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds her only consolation in the “forbidden” books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle–a place where all her dreams come true and she can be who she truly wants to be. After getting shocking news from the doctor, she rebels against her family and discovers a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.
First Sentence: If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely different.
What I thought: This was a fun and entertaining book mainly because I got to read it with the best book club. I do not think I would have enjoyed it as much otherwise. I had never heard of L.M. Montgomery before. I had come a cross Anne of Green Gable but I have not read these books. It one of the better classics I have read. And I think trying to image life and culture back in the day this book was rebellious, funny and maybe even scandalous. In that light it was great. I was also very interested to listened to the Story Girl podcast along side and found it very interesting what influence L.M. Montgomery had on the literary world at the time and that she was such an entrepreneurial woman. Very inspiring and chapeau.
Elevate count: none found
Characters: Valancy Stirling, Barney, The Stirling family
Setting: Deerwood, Ontario, Canada (fictional apparently based on Bala, Ontario)
Medium: eBook
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German “Das Blaue Schloss”
Recommend to: Everyone loving a classic, life around the 1920 in rural Canada and fans of L.M. Montgomery.
Author’s Origin: born on Prince Edward Island, Canada | November 30th, 1874
Heard of/Recommended by: Engie from Cool Bloggers Book Club
Der Honigmann by Peter Huth | ★★★☆☆
Book Blurb: For Fine and Tim, the picturesque Fischbach just outside the big city is the family paradise they have been dreaming of. They quickly find friends for themselves and their daughter among the other homeowners. When an elderly gentleman opens a small store selling honey, tea and decorations, he seems to be the last piece in the idyllic mosaic: He always has an open ear for the mothers and a hot chocolate for the children.
Everyone in Fischbach loves the honey man – until a shocking rumor about his past starts doing the rounds. Suddenly everything that seemed so secure is up for grabs: friendships, relationships, prosperity. How far will Fine go to protect her suburban idyll?
First Sentence: Ich selbst habe den Honigmann nie kennengelernt.
What I thought: I went into this book with no idea what it was about. It was available at the library and I thought the title (honey man) was intriguing. This is a contemporary social fiction that looks closely at what rumors can do to people, friendships, neighborhoods and society. I found it very interesting to listen to. At times it was annoying – which I believe was intended. The character of Fine changed from being nice and relatable to annoying and cringe and even dangerous. The book explores how a seemingly mindless action can snowball into a lynch mob. It reminded me a bit of Juli Zehs “About People“
Elevate count: none counted, German audiobook
Characters: Tim & Fine, group of friends
Setting: fictional suburb of Fischbach
Medium: audiobook through library
Original Language and Title: German
Publications: none found
Recommend to: Everyone enjoying society critical books embedded in a good story f friendship and neighborhood.
Author’s Origin: born in Kleve, Germany | May 29th, 1969
Additional note: mentions of pedophilia
God of the Woods by Liz Moore | ★★✶☆☆
Goodreads says: Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.
As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow.
First Sentence: The bed is empty.
What I thought: Why the hype? My thoughts reading this book. It dragged on and on and on. At 60 percent I thought what is going to happen… turns out not much. Very underwhelming. It’s not a bad book but I have no idea why it’s been so hyped. It’s not pulling you in. It doesn’t have great characters and nothing really happens. I usually have no issues with time jumps but here it felt like a chore keeping track. Maybe in the print version there was an indication which year the chapter was about but not in the ebook. Only interesting thing may be that it used unfamiliar/uncommon words (supine, innocuous, groat). Sorry but this wasn’t a favorite and I know many loved it.
Elevate count: 1
Characters: Barbara Van Laar – missing girl, Bear Van Laar – brother, also missed, Allisson – mother, Peter Van Laar – father, Tracy – friend to Barbara, TJ – camp director, Judyta – investigator
Setting: summer camp at lake
Medium: eBook through library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Der Gott des Waldes”
Recommend to: Everyone liking hyped books, mysteries and summer novels.
Author’s Origin: born in Boston, U.S.A. | May 25th, 1983
Heard of/Recommended by: everyone it feels like
Tulpenliebe by Femke Roobol | ★★✶☆☆
Book Blurb: Haarlem 1635: The Netherlands is experiencing a golden age, the trade in tulips leads to great prosperity and an artistic heyday. The young painter Hester Falliaert also dreams of opening her own workshop and one day becoming a member of the famous Guild of St. Luke. But then she meets the charming painter Christiaan Blansjaar and accepts his proposal of marriage. Soon after the wedding, however, Christiaan shows his true colors: jealous of her talent, he only lets her do odd jobs. When Christiaan comes into possession of a valuable tulip bulb, Hester devises a plan to take control of her own life again …
First Sentence: Mit dumpfen Geräusch fiel der Klopfer an die Tür des Ateliers in der Korte Barteljorisstraat.
What I thought: I had high hopes for this one. I was a bit disappointed. It was a well enough story but it lacked something. Maybe wanted too much? It wasn’t really fleshed out when it came to the painting storyline. And the tulip storyline was even less engaging. It only happened in the last third of the book and then we didn’t really learn anything about the tulip trade. Well, not enough to quench my curiosity. However I started gooogling a few names of the mentioned tulips and I thought it was interesting to read about the gamble like acquiring of tulips but there wasn’t much else. The story itself was nothing really new. Girl wants to be independent, happens to marry violent man, tries to break free. I have read better versions of this trope. And to be honest I am a bit done with it. I know it is what happened so many times but I want to read something new. I don’t know… tell me the story from the noisy maid from across the street or from one of the paintings hanging in the room. I don’t know. Underwhelmed.
Elevate count: none
Characters: Hester Falliaert – paintress (is that a word?), Christiaan Blansjaar – husband to Hester, Judith – best friend to Hester
Setting: Haarlem,
Medium: paperback
Original Language and Title: Dutch “Tulpenliefde”
Publications: German title “Tulpenliebe”, no other translation found
Recommend to: If you have nothing else to pick up sure go ahead. Otherwise maybe not.
Author’s Origin: born in Den Haag, Netherlands | February 21st, 1966
Read Around the World: logged for Netherlands in my Read Around the World challenge
Book Stats for March
Books I couldn’t finish
Keeping track of the books that weren’t right for me. This month it was:
- The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta – The story couldn’t grab my attention.
- White Lies by Jeremy Bates – I was annoyed with the “tension” storyline. It was just childish and stupid and constructed and I have a feeling who is the culprit and I couldn’t care. Sure sign to DNF this book.
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.
- After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop – kindle freebie
- The Art of War by Sun Tau – kindle freebie
- Up the Creek: An Amazon Adventure by John Harrison – kindle freebie
- Cowboy to the Rescue by Ann B. Harrison – kindle freebie
Did you read any of these books? What is the last book you DNFed? Are you into finde dining? Name a book you read last month I should put on my TBR!
10 comments
Your Absence is Darkness sounds REALLY interesting. It also sounds like a project you have to be up for.
I also liked The Blue Castle- I think I liked it more than you did. But we definitely agree on God of the Woods! I also didn’t understand all the hype. I thought the book was okay, but not great.
Hope your April reading gives you some five starts!
Yes, I would like a five star book in April. Fingers crossed.
Glad I am not the only one having some issues with God of the Woods. It was so boring.
Uncle James thought the conversation was sagging to a rather low plane of personal gossip. He tried to elevate it by starting an abstract discussion on “the greatest happiness.” (second page of Chapter 11 of The Blue Castle)
I’m always here to help you spot words in books!
Yeahhhh. You are amazing. How did I miss that.
March was a bad month in terms of reading for me. I did not finish Orphan Pamuk’s A Strangeness in My Mind but gave it up half way, it got repetitive for me. Anne Lamott’s book, Thoughts on Love, was really good and that I did finish.
Fine dining – I like it! But I do not like the cost. Last time we went to a fine dining restaurant was for T’s 44th birthday. It was delicious but expensive.
I’ve not heard of either of these books. The last sounds interesting.
My husband is not really into fine dining so there is no point in spending that money. But I am sure you can have wonderful experiences. What did you eat at Ts birthday?
I liked both The Blue Castle and God of the Woods more than you did. The print version is definitely the way to go for GotW since there’s a timeline at the top of the page that helps SO much. I don’t think I would have enjoyed the story as much as I did if I didn’t have that.
There way a timeline on top of each chapter but it only listed like all the years without any indication which one we are talking about. Drive me crazy. I even checked the reading sample on Amazone to see it was in a different color my kindle couldn’t show.
Oh dang, that sucks! In the print version, the year is bolded so you know where you are at in the timeline. Weird that they didn’t have that on the Kindle version!
I’ve figured as much. That really put a damper on the reading experience.