Even though we had the NaBloPoMo going on in November and my schedule and to-do list was so freaking crazy I managed to pick up five books. I probably abandoned just as many. Sigh. Lets have a book talk.
The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis | ★★★★☆
Book Blurb: Lizzy Moon never wanted Moon Girl Farm. Eight years ago, she left the land that nine generations of gifted healers had tended, determined to distance herself from the whispers about her family’s strange legacy. But when her beloved grandmother Althea dies, Lizzy must return and face the tragedy still hanging over the farm’s withered lavender fields: the unsolved murders of two young girls, and the cruel accusations that followed Althea to her grave.
First Sentence: A body that’s been submerged in water undergoes a different kind of decomposition: harsher in some ways, kinder in others—or so I’ve been told.
What I thought: This was a moody and mysterious read and I enjoyed it.
Elevate count: none tracked
Characters: Lizzy Moon,
Setting: farmland
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Mondlichtfrauen”
Recommend to: Everyone loving a female lead story with magic realism and a cute love story.
Author’s Origin: born in Fair Lawn, U.S.A. | June 28th, 1961
Additional note: I read the first book of this author exactly a year ago. Fun.
Stories from a Stranger by Hunter Prosper | ★★★★☆
Book Blurb: In Stories From a Stranger, Hunter Prosper—creator of the viral social media phenomenon of the same name—brings together these three and ninety-seven other unforgettable, never-before-published interviews that illuminate the depths of the human heart. He asks the questions that matter most: Who was your greatest love? What’s the most painful thing you’ve been told? What do you see when you look in the mirror? The answers reveal raw, breathtaking glimpses into lives filled with love, resilience, and hope.
First Sentence: While love is universal, it is not easily defined.
What I thought: This is an uplifting book on what is most important in life. And read through the eyes of random people who share their stories. I felt like this book might have even more impact if you only read one story at a time and open up the book to a random page. It would be a wonderful practice of self-discovery and mindfulness to answer these questions myself.
Elevate count: none tracked
Medium: eBook through Kindle library
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: none so far
Recommend to: Everyone who loves uplifting, hopeful books with some crowed sourced wisdom.
Author’s Origin: born in USA | September 29th, 1995
Heard of/Recommended by: Instagram, follow his account and learned he wrote a book so I checked the library and they had it.
The other Einstein by Marie Benedict | ★★★✶☆
Book Blurb: It is the story of Einstein’s wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity is hotly debated and may have been inspired by her own profound and very personal insight.
Mitza Maric has always been a little different from other girls. Most twenty-year-olds are wives by now, not studying physics at an elite Zurich university with only male students trying to outdo her clever calculations. But Mitza is smart enough to know that, for her, math is an easier path than marriage. And then fellow student Albert Einstein takes an interest in her, and the world turns sideways. Theirs becomes a partnership of the mind and of the heart, but there might not be room for more than one genius in a marriage.
First Sentence: The end is near.
What I thought: The title intrigued me as I first wondered if Einstein had a sister but no we read about his wife and honestly it was the first time I even heard he had a wife and a family. As so often in history the male achievers don’t age to well when you have a closer look. However it seems nothing can be proven. So while I enjoyed the story mostly it also left me a bit lost. I personally thought the author focused too much on the relationship and not really on the science part. But maybe because there is just no evidence… Anyways, I read it and learned something new and that is always a good read.
Elevate count: not taken
Characters: Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein and a few other historic characters
Setting: Switzerland, Serbia
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: English
Publications: German title “Frau Einstein”
Recommend to: Everyone loving historic fiction and wants to learn more about the women alongside historic characters.
Author’s Origin: born in Pittsburgh, U.S:A. | November 24th, 1968/1973
Was du nicht erwartest by Jan Cole aka Liv K. Schlett | ★★★☆☆
Book Blurb: The news of Act’s death shocks the rebellion. Who will now… Wait, stop!
This isn’t the book you wanted. Well… not really. Sorry, I can’t explain it any better right now, it’s a bit complicated. But I wanted to warn you anyway, so you don’t get annoyed later.
This book is about Nik (that’s me), 17 years old, autistic, and possibly in love. And it’s about Mai, 18 years old, anorexic, and furious. We met in the youth psychiatric ward, but we ran away from there. Mai because she finds eating difficult, and me because I desperately wanted to find out if I was actually in love with the girl from the train station. I still can’t quite believe everything that happened. But it did happen. And it was the greatest adventure of my life.
First Sentence: Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,
in deinem Mango-Saft ist Maracuja und dein Schafskäse kommt von der Kuh. | Dear reader,
your mango juice contains passion fruit, and your sheep’s cheese comes from cows.
What I thought: This was a bit of a struggle. I picked it up for the church bulletin where I recommend books. I liked that the characters were different. The male character has autism and the female character is anorexic. They meet in a facility and escape. The love story between them is tender and raw and full of struggles. I liked the portray of that and way they were just as normal as other people. I loved how people interacted with them and it made me understand autism a bit better. Not having any personal contact I believe it was very relatable and authentic. The things that bothered me was that the author has written himself into the story. As a name and author. It felt cringe. And I wonder if teens would find it cringe too or cool. I don’t know. I read this book for a long long time mainly because I couldn’t focus and I had to read it on my phone. It’s never good to be disrupted so much and I might have rated it higher when I was not so distracted.
Edit: I googled the author and apparently the name is a pseudonym and having him in the story a deliberate part of the story telling. Or part of the marketing plan. The fake author also has an Instagram account and identifies as female?. Interesting.
Elevate count: none, read in German
Characters: Nik – boy of 17 with autism, Mai – 18 with anorexia, Jan Cole – author, Stella – girl Nik has a crush on
Setting: psychiatric ward, trains, bus, abandoned house
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited
Original Language and Title: German
Publications: none found
Recommend to: Everyone wanted to read about a coming of age novel where the characters struggle to navigate first love, new feelings and mental health.
Author’s Origin: born in Germany | 1995
Additional note: Read for church bulletin for the topic “Erwartungen”
Kälte Wind und Freiheit by Robert Peroni | ★★✶☆☆
Book Blurb: A crossing of Greenland in the 1980s becomes a turning point in Robert Peroni’s life. Deeply impressed by the beauty of nature and the friendliness of the Inuit, the adventurer and professional mountaineer decides to stay in a village of 2,000 souls on the wild southeast coast of Greenland. He delves into the primitive and mysterious world of the seal hunters and finds what he had been searching for in vain despite all his successes and records: happiness and contentment. Robert Peroni lovingly and captivatingly recounts the everyday life of the Inuit and reminds us how increasingly threatened their traditional way of life is.
First Sentence:
What I thought: Argh… this book you guys. I wanted to love it but I found it arrogant. There were passage in here that really didn’t stand the self-proclaimed admiration of the Inuit. Like “their primitive language” . And a few other sayings that left me wondering how he can declare the people as the most interesting when his world view seeps through and tells a different story. There is one very good Amazon review which managed to put it better into words what I felt. And apparently there is a lot of untrue snippets in this book as the reviewer – a person living in Greenland – says. Sad.
Elevate count: none taken, read in German
Setting: Greenland, Tasiilaq
Medium: eBook through Kindle unlimited, library | audiobook through library | paperback | hardcover
Original Language and Title: Italien ”
Publications: none other than German and Italian found.
Recommend to: I am not sure I would if I am perfectly honest. I think there are better books out there.
Author’s Origin: born in Klobenstein, Italy | 1944
Read Around the World: Logged for Italy in my Read Around the World Challenge
Heard of/Recommended by: church acquaintance C.
Book Stats for November
Books I couldn’t finish
Keeping track of the books that weren’t right for me. This month it was:
- Durch die Arktis by Bern Späth – just no. another white male trying to prove himself. After the Peroni book I couldn’t do it. stopped at 4% percent
- Arctic and Subarctic Tribes: Surviving the Frozen North for 4,000 Years by Dominic Norman – the minute I learned this was more fiction than science I stopped. weird writing too. stopped at 13 percent
- Annie Bot by Sierra Greer – this was not the right book for this time of year, stopped at 12%
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.
- Violeta by Isabel Allende – a brand-new freebie from the free little library
How is your reading life going? Any books you just slogging through? Have you ever read a book where the author put oneself in the book? Any favorite read in the month of November?
