This year for my Summer in Other Languages self-challenge, I am reading the novel Krabat by Otfreid Preußler. As I did with my reading of Die Kleine Hexe two years ago, I’m posting a summary in German and English, plus some thoughts in English. I’ll focus at first on my impressions from reading the book … Continue reading Krabat: The Second Year
So far, my blog newsletter has been merely a summary of recent posts (which I just noticed has not been sending since December of 2022 -- I need to fix that this month!) I've decided to start something new and send out a newsletter that is not merely a repetition of blog content, but will … Continue reading Would you like to join the Enchanted Circle?
For my personal challenge to read books in other languages than English, I've been greatly helped by an online book discussion group hosted by Emma of Words and Peace, who this year also took up the hosting of beloved blog event Paris in July. For our summer read, we had already decided to take a … Continue reading Voyage au centre de la Terre – #ParisInJuly2023
Raynor Winn, The Salt Path (2019) After The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I read another book about catastrophic loss that calls into question what we truly need, what is most essential. In Bauby's memoir of being almost completely paralyzed, he lost his power of movement and normal modes of communication. In Raynor Winn's The … Continue reading #20BooksofSummer23: The Salt Path
This year for my Summer in Other Languages self-challenge, I am reading the novel Krabat by Otfreid Preußler. As I did with my reading of Die Kleine Hexe two years ago, I'm going to post a summary in German and English, plus some thoughts in English. I'll focus at first on my impressions from reading … Continue reading Krabat: The First Year
Le scaphandre et le papillon was recommended to me some years ago by a French-speaking English student who thought I might enjoy reading it in the original language. I have not so far managed to do that, but I have finally read the English translation, and I was blown away. It's an extraordinary document of … Continue reading #20BooksofSummer23: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Just a reminder that a chapter-a-day readalong of the book by Jules Verne is starting today, with discussion in French on the Discord channel hosted by Emma of Words and Peace. Let me or Emma know if you'd like to join the group! If you want to read in English (or another language) that's fine … Continue reading Readalong of Voyage au centre de la terre
When I picked out Thomasina to read for a cat-themed reading event at Literary Potpourri, all I knew about it was that the title character was a cat, and the author had also written Mrs 'Arris Goes to Paris, a book I'd recently enjoyed. I didn't pay attention to the subtitle ("the cat who thought … Continue reading #ReadingtheMeow2023: Thomasina
It's my pleasure this year to join in the readalong of Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish fiction hosted by Calmgrove, focusing on the works that I have never read or can't remember reading. So far, that means I've read four novellas published in the 1960s and 70s: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile, City of Illusions, … Continue reading #LoveHain: Worlds of Humanity
My e-library used to have this excellent feature where I could recommend books they didn't have in the catalog. Mostly these got ignored, but some were added. Unfortunately, by then my burning desire to read them had usually passed and I didn't borrow them after all. Now that recommending books has become more difficult (you … Continue reading Make me read it: Books I recommended to the library
