Books 2023

 

Before the first month of this year becomes history I want to write my annual "book post". 2023 has been an interesting reading year in so far that I didn't "award" many stars. In fact, there were only 10 books that received one star, 3 that deserved two stars and only one three-star book. I read 62 books, many of them fiction (I include mysteries in fiction), seven of them were audiobooks that I listened to while knitting. Fortunately there was only one book that I didn't finish because I couldn't get into the story. I also read a good amount of books in German - all but one being mysteries, but the lone one that was not, actually received a star. "Sommer vorm Balkan" by Danijela Pilic tells about the author's childhood in a country called Yugoslavia - remember that one? The family moved to Germany when she was 12, but they still made the pilgrimage home every summer - until the war started. The country she was born in suddenly had a new name - she no longer was born in Yugoslavia, but in Croatia. She tells of a country full of beauty, lively people, politics that could distance itself to a certain  degree from the big brother, the Soviet Union. It was a highly interesting read.

One of my students was reading this biography of former German chancellor Angela Merkel and she was interested in my opinion about it, so I read it. It is not bad, but it is clearly written for an American audience. Unfortunately, it is very poorly edited and full of errors and mistakes. The author used terms that rubbed me the wrong way and - at least in my opinion - gives a slightly crooked perspective on Merkel's background.

"A Charm of Goldfinches" by Matt Sewell was one of the two-star books. For me it was very interesting since it speaks about the English collective nouns of the animal kingdom. It's quite quirky, but I did learn a lot. I did know about a "murder" of crows and a "parliament" of owls, but an "unkindness" of ravens? A "quarrel" of sparrows makes a lot of sense, doesn't it. But what about collective nouns for "land animals" - 

and 

Here's the entire list - did you know all of these nouns?

Of course I had my share of garden books...

... and knitting books.

Here you also see my drink for this week's T Tuesday, hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth. Do you want a closer look of the mug? My daughter gave it to me several years ago.

When the California Field Atlas about "The Deserts of California" by naturalist, writer and illustrator Obi Kaufman was published last year, our local paper wrote an article about it. It was so interesting that I bought the book as well as the other two by him, "The Coasts of California" and "The Forests of California".

These very fat books are full with interesting and worth knowing facts and beautiful illustrations by the author.

From "The Deserts of California":

From "The Coasts of California":

From "The Forests of California":

By now I assume you really want to know which book got the three stars. This gem:

This was one of the most interesting, moving and fascinating books I've read in a long time. It made me think about so many things, my relationship to our earth, to the land, to my family (yes, she also writes about parenthood in this book in words that I could fully relate to), to the way we consume. She writes about the garden, about the "Honorable Harvest" (my favorite chapter), the "Three Sisters" (corn, beans, squash). I wrote a lot of passages in my journal - because not only is she full of wisdom, but she also writes beautifully. Here are a couple examples, if you're interested:

"Knowing that you love the earth chnges you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond."

"I wonder if much that ails our society stems from the fact that we have allowed our-selves to be cut off from that love of, and from, the land. It is medicine for broken land and empty hearts."

"People often ask me what one thing I would recommend to restore relationship between land and people. My answer is almost always, 'Plant a garden'."

And this in particular spoke to me:

"It's good for the health of the earth and it's good for the health of people. A garden is a nursery of nurturing connection, the soil of cultivation of practical reverence. And its power goes far beyond the garden gate - once you delvelop a relationship with a little patch of earth, it becomes a seed itself."

One last thing before I end this long post - the winner of the photo giveaway. These photos were the overall three favorites that you picked:

But who gets a set of photo cards of those photos that she has chosen? It is -

Congratulations, Sharon of Foxy Stamping!!!

Thank you to everybody who played along! It's always interesting for me to see which photos you like. Have a good week!