so-soApproaches to grief: 1) screaming at trees, 2) leaving voicemails for the dead. Slim volume, sparse and deadpan. Solid trans. from the Dutch by Jozef van der Voort. 2020
9 “One guy I spoke to suggested I get some therapy. What kind? I asked. I didn‘t dare tell him I‘d already tried just about everything and my last therapist and I had both given up in the end.”
11 “I had no time at all for a lot of things that happened all the time.”
pickWell-written with beautiful depictions of idyllic Dutch countryside, its deeply unlikable characters, paranoid staid Isabel and artificial encroaching Eva, made this book initially hard to get into. I saw the first “twist” coming but it‘s the second one that takes this book from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Passion, paranoia, and revenge intermingle in this story of the long shadow of history. Well done.
“Originally written in Dutch and told through Roya‘s eyes, this award-winning book is funny, sweet and touching. Readers will enjoy the playful moments between Roya, her brothers, and Mishka, particularly as Roya discovers Mishka‘s unique way of expressing deep comfort and security.“ Read more about this USBBY Outstanding International Book here: https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/review/xvii-2/7/
pickA very short volume that challenges our perceptions of those we think of as “the good side” in World War II. The nameless narrator is fighting alongside Dutch partisans and others when he leaves the unit and ends up at a large empty house. He settles in and German troops arrive to billet there. Eventually they leave and the unit he was with returns and the novel descends into a climax of violence. (Cont‘d in comments.)
so-so"If we don't remember all that we want to forget, we are exposed to the danger of forgetting to forget certain things."
This one starts so promising but then it feels all over the place in terms of writing and ideas. The narrator arrives at an old-style grand hotel that seems to have lost its past glory and the story moves back and forth between the time of his stay in the hotel, and his memories with his former lover Clio.
pick(By the same author)
Interesting and funny.
Fun way to learn about the slang to add into your learning.
The cartoons make it more funny!
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️ Totally fine and nothing special. Book about Perl Jam told by a music critic and without new interviews or perspectives of the band. I wanted something that didn‘t ask much of me and this fit the bill. If you‘re into music biographies and/or Pearl Jam, it‘s worth a look.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this, although maybe a bit less than others here. Interesting story of two women, or a woman and a family in the aftermath of post-WWII Netherlands. The subject and twist were interesting and the book was well written. I found the resolution of the main relationship not believable, which left me a little less enthusiastic than I might have been otherwise. #WPF25
pickI love historical fiction and am glad to find such a great read in the YA section! Reading through this novel I was hanging on every word wondering about this girl in the blue coat and how she disappeared. I‘d like to think that by reading these types of historical fiction, I will have an idea of what to do if I were in a similar situation. But, one can never know for sure what they would do in such rough and dangerous times.
