My World of Books

 

Sometime in the first two or three months I usually write about the books I read the year before. These are not book reviews - I leave that to people who are much better equipped and eloquent for that than I am - but just a look back at what I read and what I liked (or not). 

Since 2008 I have been writing down the titles of the books that I read. While I was recently looking through the lists I noticed that since 2017 I've read much more books each year (almost double the amount) than in the years before that. First I was a bit stunned, then I realized that the Geek gave me a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas in 2016. This was not for altruistic reasons alone - I love to read in bed, he doesn't, and he couldn't sleep that well with my nightlight on while I was reading. The Paperwhite is backlit, so I don't need the lamp on my nightstand anymore AND I can read as long into the night as I want without disturbing his sleep. Naturally I've read a lot more since then. However, I still love "real" books and I always will.

Here are two pages of the list for 2024.

I love to read fiction which for me includes mysteries (I'm aware that some people make a difference in that regard) and I read both English and German books. Fiction for me is a kind of escape (and I needed a lot of that last year, still do even more this year), immerse myself in a different world and just get lost a little bit in other places. But I also love to read non-fiction to learn, understand and achieve a deeper knowledge. Fiction I read on my Kindle (or "read" it as an audiobook), non-fiction as a book in my hand.

In 2024 I read 58 books which is less than in the years before. A few books got a star or even two in my "award" system and even one with three stars (one star is for books I really liked, two stars for those I loved and three stars for "exceptional"). The first four books of the year received each one star and I thought I was off to a good reading year. Of course it didn't turn out that way, there were a lot of mediocre books and even some that I didn't finish. If I had to recommend just one of the 1-star books, it would be "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier, a historical novel about the fossil hunters Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot. I was inspired to read it after David wrote about Mary Anning on his blog.

Another 1-star book was this one.

Hilary Melton-Butcher recommended it to me while we were exchanging a couple emails. Fran Sandham, a young man from England, describes his walking journey traversing the African continent from the West coast of Namibia to the East Coast of Tanzania. It's a fascinating, often funny read. I took it with me to Germany and gave it to my daughter, because a part of his journey passed through Malawi. Kaefer spent a couple weeks in Mzuzu last year as one of the instructors for a public health project at the university and fell in love with this small country.

The other books I liked and received one star were "Sea Defences" by Hilary Taylor (very good mystery), "Murder in Chianti" by Camilla Trinchieri (a lovely series of mystery and delicious food), "The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell" by Robert Dugoni (wonderful), "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" by Maria Semple (weird and hilarious), "The Chinese Groove" by Kathryn Ma (Chinese immigrants in San Francisco), "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro (interesting, a bit weird) and "We Never Asked for Wings" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (excellent).

There were three 2-star books - "Ins Nordlicht blicken" by Cornelia Franz, a novel mainly set in Greenland which was both interesting and taught me a lot about this territory which I hope will remain with Denmark; and two novels I listened to, "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus and "October in the Earth" by Olivia Hawker, a writer I like very much. Both stories were narrated extremely well and it was enjoyable listening to them while I was knitting.

This worn edition of Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Dreams" is the 3-star book. I've already read this beautiful novel twice before and always lost myself in it. This time I listened to it when I could get it as an audiobook, narrated by the author herself. It was like a completely new story, exquisitely read and thus putting the beautiful language it is written in on display. It is one of my most beloved books.

"Finding the Mother Tree" was recommended to me by David (I tell you, I get a lot of inspiration from David's blogposts). It was a fascinating read, but it was also full of scientific terms that I didn't know and had to look up. As a non-native speaker of the English language this was sometimes difficult to read and it took me a long time to finish. Much of what Suzanne Simard writes was not completely unknown to me, but it was interesting to see how she got to her insights. The complicated, interdependent cirlce of life of trees is amazing and very fascinating. It's a book I would happily recommend to anyone who is interested in our forests.

This book really made me go out, observe, listen and write in my journal. Sometimes I go to "my" lake, look for a beautiful spot and sit and write. I guess I will do this more often this year since nature always calms and grounds me - something I exceedingly need.

Of course there were garden books... This one as well as "The Humane Gardener" by Nancy Lawson were right down my alley - nothing really new, but a lot of inspiration for my garden and the confirmation that I'm going in the right direction with it.

You might have noticed in my top photo that my bookshelf is pretty messy. Unfortunately this applies to all of my bookshelves. The books are completely unorganised. Since 2012, when we moved into this house, I have wanted to organise our books, but have I done it? No. See for yourself.

And the bigger picture...

Chaos. Which reflects the state our country is in.

The gaps in the shelves are the result of me purging books. Those books that I've read and am sure I won't read again are being moved to my neighbor's little library across the street. German books are being donated to the German School for the annual book sale. A lot of books I will keep and hopefully, one day the shelves will get more organised. The bookshelf in my studio doesn't look any better...

Now I need a drink for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday. Sorry, I don't have any. These bags of Hawai'ian peaberry coffee that our friends brought from Maui have to do this week.

I'm writing this post on Monday - President's Day in the US. The Geek and I discussed flying the flag today. While it's a day to remember the great presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we couldn't have it fly on its own. I don't know how you feel about our country right now, but I know that I am angry, mad and deeply embarrassed of the administration (I actually would use stronger choice words, but let's stay civil here), but also grateful for living in California (which, of course, means that we are on the revenge radar of same administration). Therefore we decided to fly three flags today - the Stars and Stripes in the middle in honor of before-mentioned former presidents, the California bear for our beautiful state and the inclusion flag for believing in the rights of ALL people.

And if you look hard, you can spot little Otis (my neighbor's sweet cat) in the lower right hand corner. He just had a sip of water.

The Pink Granite Coast

 

After having visited Dinan and the Château de Guildo we stayed for three days in a small B&B near Lannion in the North of Bretagne. From here we took several day trips. The first one took us to the côte de granit rose, or the pink granite coast. If ever a place got a perfectly fitting name, this was the one.

This is a photo heavy post.

Most of the rocks are indeed pink, but there are also gray and ochre ones. If you have a lot of imagination you can see figures and shapes in this sculpted shoreline. Here, we are almost at the mouth of the English Channel, and out in the sea we could see many small and smaller isles.

We hiked a good stretch of the coast and enjoyed constantly changing views.

The lighthouse - Phare de Men Ruz - was often hiding behind the gigantic rocks and then peeked out from behind them. It blended perfectly into the landscape.

As you can guess I was particularly interested in the plants, almost all of them way past their prime.

Isn't this fascinating?

But there was also lichen and little plants growing right out of the rocks.

Kaefer preferred to climb to the top of the rocks, looking out to the sea.

Or she would climb down and explore all the tiny tidepools.

The gulls, however, were not amused.

I was very happy to see European Robins (Erithacus rubecula). They are such endearing little birds and very different from the American Robin (Turdus migratorius).

The lighthouse was still hiding...

... but finally we could see it in its full size.

Of course we had to go up there.

Kaefer and the Geek for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

I wonder what it feels like to live in this beautiful house. 

We went into Ploumanac'h where we had lunch in a crêperie. This was dessert:

After this delicious meal we hiked back along the coast to the parking lot. It was a beautiful outing.

Exploring Castle Ruins

 

Today, we are paying a visit to the ruins of the Château du Guildo on the banks of the Arguenon, right where it flows into the English Channel. A first construction dates back to the 11th century, but not much from that period remains on the site.

We enter through this beautiful arched gate.

This wasn't the only arched gate, there were a few more, all of them beautiful.

In the 13th century, the site was razed and the castle rebuilt in stone, with new defensive systems, moats, towers, gatehouse, chapel and other buildings. It must have been quite impressive. However, during the War of Succession of Brittany (1341-1364) - at the same time as the Hundred Years War and the Black Death epidemic - the castle was destroyed again. At the end of the 14th century it was probably Charles de Dinan who took an interest to the site and the castle was completely rebuilt on the old remains. This castle had a courtyard with a cistern well in the middle, and this enclosure is what we still see today (left picture).

The mid-15th century was the heyday of the château, when it belonged to Françoise de Dinan who was the heiress to several great Breton families. She carried out many improvements and embellishment operations. This period until Françoise de Dinan's death in 1499 was the peak of the château and never later regained its former splendor.

During the Franco-Breton War (1489-1491), which was a first step toward the annexation of Brittany in 1514, the château was greatly damamged. Even though it was slowly reconstructed in the first half of the 16th century, it experienced its worst damage during the War of the League (1588-1598), a religious war. It was more or less abandoned after a few more sieges.

It is now classified as a Historic Monument and Sensitive Natural Area. For 20 years there had been archaeological excavations to eventually represent it as it must have been in the 14th and 16th century.

Grasses and plants were growing out of the ancient walls. It's always amazing to witness how nature takes control.

The damsel of the castle (and thankfully not in distress).

I always like the views from windows and openings, especially when these openings are pretty old.

The view from the château over the Arguenon toward the English Channel...

... and from the other side of the river.

I hope you enjoyed this visit to the ruins of Château du Guildo. Now I need a picture of a drink for Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday. During the colder days of winter, the Geek and I love to have hot chocolate in the late afternoon. This one is topped with a stroopwafel that we love to enjoy the Dutch way - it is a Dutch treat after all: put it on top of a hot drink to warm the cookie and soften the syrup - pure delight!