These past two weeks I had no school, and I loved every single moment of this vacation. I had a lot of time to read and that has been amazing. Coming Monday school will start again and it will be a hectic time (I think it will only slow down half-way April), and I will have considerably less time to read.
Christmas
My parents gave me these two book for Christmas. It is a little tradition since a couple of years that we give eachother a book.
I was given The ministery of utmost happiness by Arundhati Roy. I am looking forward to reading this.
The other book is A day with Claude Monet at Giverny by Adrian Goetz. It tells the story of the beautiful house and garden Monet had at Giverney. The book itself is beautiful as well, with amazing photographs and paintings and drawings. I am so very happy with it, reading it and looking at the photgraphs makes me feel like I am visiting Claude Monet.
Biographies
Thanks to the series The crown I became interested in the lives of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. So I read That woman by Anne Sebba, an excellent read about Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII by Philip Ziegler, a very good biography. I do not like Wallis Simpson any more than I did (I think she was a nasty piece of work), but I do understand her better and kind Edward VIII was more of an idiot than I ever imagined.
Novels
I read a lot of books I cannot review here, since these are Dutch books or books that have no English translation, but I also read Davita's harp by Chaim Potok. A wonderful novel about a young girl who grows up in the thirties with communist parents with Jewish roots and who has to deal with the death of her father in Spain and the rules and restrictions of the (orthodox) Jewish religion. Vey good.
I also read The Northwater by Ian Mcguire, a historical novel set in the 19th century on a ship with whalehunters. I will not be reviewing this one, I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped.
At the moment
The Winter is the perfect time for some Russian classics, and I am reading Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak. Each time around Christmas I watch the mini-series with Hans Matheson as Joeri Zhivago and Keira Knightly as Lara, and this time I also wanted to read the novel again. Yes, it is very, very good.
And I am reading A gentleman in Moskow by Amor Towles. This is another reading project I do with Lark (here), we both read this book and will post our reviews at the same time. We have done this before and it is a great way to read a novel, since you already discuss some points while reading.
And the other book I am reading at the moment is White teeth by Zadie Smith. I have not read a lot, but so far, I do like it.
Christmas
My parents gave me these two book for Christmas. It is a little tradition since a couple of years that we give eachother a book.
I was given The ministery of utmost happiness by Arundhati Roy. I am looking forward to reading this.
The other book is A day with Claude Monet at Giverny by Adrian Goetz. It tells the story of the beautiful house and garden Monet had at Giverney. The book itself is beautiful as well, with amazing photographs and paintings and drawings. I am so very happy with it, reading it and looking at the photgraphs makes me feel like I am visiting Claude Monet.
Biographies
Thanks to the series The crown I became interested in the lives of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. So I read That woman by Anne Sebba, an excellent read about Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII by Philip Ziegler, a very good biography. I do not like Wallis Simpson any more than I did (I think she was a nasty piece of work), but I do understand her better and kind Edward VIII was more of an idiot than I ever imagined.
Novels
I read a lot of books I cannot review here, since these are Dutch books or books that have no English translation, but I also read Davita's harp by Chaim Potok. A wonderful novel about a young girl who grows up in the thirties with communist parents with Jewish roots and who has to deal with the death of her father in Spain and the rules and restrictions of the (orthodox) Jewish religion. Vey good.
I also read The Northwater by Ian Mcguire, a historical novel set in the 19th century on a ship with whalehunters. I will not be reviewing this one, I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped.
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| The Dutch cover |
The Winter is the perfect time for some Russian classics, and I am reading Dr. Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak. Each time around Christmas I watch the mini-series with Hans Matheson as Joeri Zhivago and Keira Knightly as Lara, and this time I also wanted to read the novel again. Yes, it is very, very good.
And I am reading A gentleman in Moskow by Amor Towles. This is another reading project I do with Lark (here), we both read this book and will post our reviews at the same time. We have done this before and it is a great way to read a novel, since you already discuss some points while reading.
And the other book I am reading at the moment is White teeth by Zadie Smith. I have not read a lot, but so far, I do like it.
Your new books sound all very interesting! I'm currently re-reading Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park', following a 'readalong' that I saw on Instagram. There's a reading schedule, but you don't necessarily have to follow it, and discussions take place once a week on a blog, but again, you don't necessarily have to participate in discussions when you're not inclined to do so or don't have the time. It'll be fun to see what everyone thinks about the book (characters, setting & plot). I have read the book several times, but that doesn't mean I cannot gain some new insights :-) Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ginette (a very happy 2018 for you!) It is very nice to read a book together and discuss it while you are reading it. I hope you have fun with your Mansfield Park!
DeleteKind regards,