Books and a Movie

As I have done over the past couple years I take a look back at the books I read in 2019. Most of the books I read on my Kindle, but every now and then I sit down with a "real" book. Some books are very impractical for the Kindle, like art and photography books, cookbooks etc.

In 2019 I read 60 books including two audiobooks that we listened to while traveling to Arizona. I always write the titles down in a big notebook, noting the author and when I have finished it. I also scribble a little star next to the title if I really liked the book. When I look at that list now I see that I was far less generous with those stars in 2019, but I also introduced the two-stars for excellent reads. And I'm happy to see that there are three of them.

These three novels are "The Summer Guest" by Justin Cronin - a story about a family and their summer guest set in a remote area in Maine that pulls you in right from the beginning with well developed characters and written in a beautiful language -, "When we Believed in Mermaids" by Barbara O'Neal - the story of two sisters who had lived apart for many years, believing that one of them was dead; set in Santa Cruz and New Zealand I was drawn in by the unusual story line and the many questions that came up about my own life while reading this novel - and "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin - a very slow, beautiful story about a book seller whose life gets shaken up and takes an interesting and wonderful turn when he finds a mysterious package at his store. Other books I liked are "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman, "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens, "To See and See Again" by Tara Bahrampour and "The Trouble with Goats and Sheep" by Joanna Cannon. There were also books I truly disliked, eventually only scanned or didn't finish at all, like "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. I also read Margaret Craven's "I Heard the Owl Call my Name" again, my all-time favorite.

Over the summer break I took home a few books from the high school library because I thought it's a good idea if I knew what the students are reading in English class, and there were quite some books I hadn't read before.

My favorite among these books is "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie which is hilariously funny and sad at the same time. Great read for high school students!

But there were also other books in 2019 - like this wonderful cookbook. I had read about it in our local paper's "Home" section and was intrigued. It's full of recipes of immigrant women, who were trying to bring some of their home countries to their new home by cooking the familiar food. But it's not only recipes you can find in this gem of a cookbook. It's the stories of the immigrant women that makes this book so precious to me since I am an immigrant myself. I still have to try any of the recipes, but I'm determined that 2020 is the year for that.

Of course there were books about photography, some of them I pull out again and again.

David DuChemin is one of my favorite photographers, but as a humanitarian he is also a tremendously inspiring personality. I love to listen to his podcasts, he has a very open mind and what I love about him so much is that he has a lot of advice and inspiring ideas, but he never uses the words "you should". In contrast to that, "Shooting with Soul" was a bit disappointing - some nice ideas, but it certainly didn't inspire me in the way "The Soul of the Camera" did. I'm working my way through "Zen Camera" bit by bit and can't say very much about it at this time.

Just like last year I couldn't resist some "drool" books. "Chasing Light" had been on my mind for quite some time. I had first seen it in one of the visitor centers in Yellowstone National Park in 2017, but had opted for a different book back then. When I saw it again in the visitor center of Saguaro National Park last spring I saw that as a "sign" and bought it. I did not regret it.

There are two more "difficult" books I want to talk about here, books about local matters. About the October 2017 firestorm, to be precise, the one that wiped out several neighborhoods in my town. "Pointe Patrol" is the very personal story of one home owner who along with some neighbors and his dog patrolled their neighborhood after that fateful night on the one hand to prevent further fires since there were still some smoldering and on the other hand to deter people from looting. I was only able to read it in bits and pieces since it brings back so many painful memories. Brian Fies' "A Fire Story" is a graphic novel that he started right after the first night when he had lost his home and tells his own personal story. The first "chapters" of his book appeared within the first week of the fire if I recall correctly. It is raw and very emotional.

Before I leave I want to mention a very special movie I watched (again) this year. I had shown it to my German students at the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It describes the events before November 9th, 1989, particularly what happened in the West German embassy in Prague. "Zug in die Freiheit" (Train to Freedom) is a documentary with time witnesses, original footage and played scenes. I have seen it several times, but every time I feel the same emotions, the tight knot in my stomach, the utter relief at the end. Even though I know how these events ended, it keeps the moment of that autumn 30 years ago very real and alive for me. You can find a preview of the movie here: https://vimeo.com/107603939 and it is possible to rent it on Vimeo. Luckily the violent scenes you see in the preview are only rare ones in the movie, but they are heartbreaking nevertheless.

What were you reading in 2019? Tell me in the comments.

What I read in 2018

Before the first month of 2019 is over I thought I want to write at least one post for my blog. I can't believe that I haven't written anything since we said goodbye to 2018 - this month just flew by in all its busy-ness. But finally I'm here, and what better topic to write about than books?

My book shelves are still in a state of complete disorganization, but thanks to my Kindle Paperwhite I didn't add many new books to the chaos. I did, however, add a lot to the Kindle.

I read 61 books in 2018 and put them all in my "read" folder - I like this way of organizing books.

I also list them chronologically in a big notebook - title, author and when I finished it. If I particularly enjoyed a book it gets a little star at the title - when I look back at the list I realize that I enjoyed quite a good amount of books last year. This is the way it should be, right?

Some of the novels that I loved are "War Brides" by Helen Bryan, "Cara's House" by Annie Katz, "The House between Tides" by Sarah Maine, "The Forgotten Girl" by Kerry Barrett (wow, what a story!), "Whisper Me This" by Kerry Anne King, "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" by Mark Sullivan and "The Secret" by Kathryn Hughes. For some reason I fell in love with "Red Mountain" by Boo Walker which is not even an outstanding book, but it's a sweet story and I like almost all of the characters. That doesn't happen very often.

My favorite book, however, was "The Keeper of Secrets" by Julie Thomas. The title suggests chick lit, but it's anything but. It's the story of a special Guarnieri violin from the 1930's in Nazi Germany through the time of the Soviet Union to present day America. It's gripping, often sad, and beautiful. I learned a lot about violins and music in general. When I was done I had to listen to Bach's violin concerto that is mentioned in the book and re-discovered my love for classical music.

As some of you know I also enjoy reading mysteries. I hard started the "Huntress" series by Alexandra Sokoloff in 2017 and read the remaining four "moons" in 2018 ("Blood Moon", "Cold Moon", "Bitter Moon" and "Hunger Moon") and think there are more "moons" to come. It's actually not a mystery but downright thrillers. The interesting thing is that the reader roots both for the detective and the murderess (who also develop some feelings for each other). It's not so much a "who done it" but "why" and the entire background story. I was going through a whole range of feelings while reading these books and they have never quite left me. Another author of mysteries is Viveca Sten, a Swedish writer whose books I discovered this year. The Sandhamn Murders series takes place on a small island (Sandhamn) near Stockholm and not only deal with the crimes but with the daily life and its challenges of the main characters. The first in the series is "Still Waters" and I would start out with that (the Sandhamn Murders as well as The Huntress series should be read in the right order to fully understand what's going on).

Of course I also read German literature. I re-visited one of my favorite writers of short stories, Wolfgang Borchert, who died in 1947 at the age of only 26. One of his most endearing stories is "Nachts schlafen die Ratten doch" (The rats do sleep at night), that in all its sadness and desperation is uplifting in the end. I have decided to use my German language students as guinea pigs and read this story in class.

One of the books I used the most is this one - my trusted Sibley.

In my opinion it is one of the best guides to birds, and so far I have found in here every unknown bird to me I ever saw. I only wish it came with a disk or a link to the sounds of the birds as well.

Other books I consulted over the year or looked into over and over again are these ones:

Shortly before Christmas my private student gifted me a beautiful book in a sturdy box and with a giclée print of one of the paintings of the artist. It is about the art of painter and naturalist Thomas Quinn who grew up and lived in Marin County (the county between here and San Francisco). It shows many if not most of his watercolors as well as quotes and poems, some written by Quinn himself. The book is exquisitely done (my student was the printer of that book) and a true treasure.

Now let's go back to reading, shall we?

My Favorite Reads in 2015

Before the first month of the new year (that really isn't that new anymore and already feels a bit worn) is completely over, I want to share with you my favorite reads in 2015.

I love to read. It's a great day if I can spend several hours curled up on the sofa, reading. Of course this almost never happens. Warm summer evenings often see me sitting under the photinia with a book in my hands and a glass of wine on the little abandoned table and the birds are chirping around me.

I used to read a lot. Not so much anymore. In 2015 I only read 41 books - that really is not a lot. This year doesn't look much better; in January I only read two books. Not a good start.

While I do like to read fiction and non-fiction, my favorites are novels.

The picture above shows my favorite novels from last year. If I have to choose a favorite out of these ten books, it would be Jamie Ford's "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet". The story about the childhood friendship between Chinese-American Henry and Japanese-American Keiko during World War II has touched my heart.

I bought Anna Quindlen's "Still Life with Bread Crumbs" when I was learning to take still life photos. However, this book really has not much to do with still life photography, but the heroine is a photographer pretty much at a point in her life where she needs to break away from her former life and settle in the middle of nowhere. It is beautifully written.

A couple years ago I had read Michelle Richmond's "The Year of Fog" which I both liked and disliked. I saw this book in a thrift store and took it home, not expecting too much. I loved it! It is an intriguing story about two sisters, one of whom was murdered 20 years before. I liked the main character a lot, and I always enjoy when a novel's setting is a place I know - in this case San Francisco.

"Kindred Spirits" is a beautiful tale about the friendship between women - heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time.

My expectations for "Last Summer" by Holly Chamberlin were very low - boy, was I wrong. This is an excellent novel about teenage bullying, how hard it is for the children and how difficult for the parents. It asks good questions about the nature of bullying, where it starts and whether we all have done it without being aware of it. It was quite the eye opener!

I loved "Calling Me Home" - sad, funny, heart-warming. A road trip of an 89-year old white woman and her black hairdresser during which the old woman tells about her past when she had a forbidden relationship with the black son of her family's housekeeper.

Set in England, "One Moment, One Morning" follows the events and three women after a man dies on the Brighton-London commuter train one morning. It was a beautiful read. And talking of trains, "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins was another favorite that I read by the end of the year. An excellent mystery novel that sometimes made me want to shake the 'heroine'!!

"The Wives of Alamo" by Tarashea Nesbit is not a traditional novel but more a collection of what life was like for the wives of the scientists etc. who worked on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, how they dealt with the secrecy and the less than ideal conditions in their own little world with little connection to the "outside" world. Very interesting.

Jay Treiber's "Spirit Walk" was weird but good. I can see that many people wouldn't like this story. I found it fascinating and very beautifully written, taking place in Arizona which I love and I could imagine the landscape he is describing in this kind of gritty tale.

Last but by far not least, "Dog on It" by Spencer Quinn. The entire story is told from the perspective of the dog of a not very fortunate detective - it is hilarious. This, too, takes place in Arizona and you can feel the landscape (or better smell with a dog's nose). This was enjoyable and I will look out for the sequel.

By the way, only two of these books I bought in a bookstore (Los Alamos and Still Life), all the other ones I found in thrift stores. I love to look for books in thrift stores, they're dirt cheap and thus encourage me to read books I have never heard of. If they're not good or I don't like them I can simply donate them back.

Do you recognize this sheep cardigan? This is the little girl for whom I made it. Last Friday was her first birthday and her wonderful mom posted this picture on my Facebook timeline. Isn't she adorable?