ღ Tessa’s reading corner ღ

[Tessa]

I am new to this, so this corner will probably change a lot during the year as I keep on finding out new things!

Books per month: (#. titel | author | pages | fiction/non-fiction | stars)

January
1. Vier vrouwen en een boot | Janette Benaddi, Helen Butters, Niki Doeg, Frances Davies | 318 | non-fiction | ★★★★
2. Drie jongens op een onbewoond eiland | Willy van der Heide | 190 | fiction | ★★★
3. Om nooit te vergeten | Thomas Olde Heuvel | 143 | fiction | ★★★
4. De lege stad | Simone van der Vlugt | 298 | fiction | ★★★★
5. Little Black Lies | Sharon Bolton | 365 | fiction | ★★★★
6. Verlangen naar beitels | Karim Schelkens | 39 | fiction | ★★★
7. 13 uur | Deon Meyer | 400 | fiction | ★★★

February
1. Pussy | Howard Jacobson | 214 | fiction | ★★★
2. Kinderen van Moeder Aarde | Thea Beckman | 495 | fiction | ★★★
3. A portrait of Adriana van Zoest | Anna van Lienden et al | 173 | non-fiction | ★★★★★
4. De veer | Cao Wenxuan | 44 | fiction | ★★★
5. De dorst | Jo Nesbø | 516 | fiction | ★★
6. Haaienkoorts | Morten A. Strøksnes | 287 | non-fiction | ★★★
7. Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales | P.D. james | 172 | fiction | ★★★
8. The Monk of Mokha | Dave Eggers | 334 | non-fiction | ★★★★★
9. De strijd om het goudschip | Willy van der Heide | 190 | fiction ★★

March
1. Gezien de feiten | Griet op de Beeck | 94 | fiction ★★★★
2. Zout - een wereldgeschiednis | Mark Kurlansky | 413 | non-fiction ★★★
3. Homegoing | Yaa Gyasi | 300 | fiction ★★★★
4. De hitte van de hel | Gard Sveen | 368 | fiction | ★★

April
1. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane | Lisa See | 371 | fiction | ★★★★
2. De Wadden: een geschiedenis | Mathijs Deen | 336 | non-fiction | ★★★★★
3. Oorlog zonder vrienden | Evert Hartman | 274 | fiction | ★★★
4. A Man without Breath | Philip Kerr | 517 | fiction | ★★
5. Lady into Fox | David Garnett | 98 | fiction | ★★★★
6. The Last Hours | Minette Walters | 547 | fiction | ★★★★

May
1. Een meisje loos | Ton van der Lee | 346 | fiction | ★★★
2. De Gaudí Sleutel | Esteban Martin | 353 | fiction | ★★
3. Zondagskind | Judith Visser | 480 | fiction | ★★★★★
4. The Essex Serpent | Sarah Perry | 418 | fiction | ★★★
5. Een stad, het meisje en de duivel | Svealena Kutschke | 672 | fiction | ★
6. Kolja | Arthur Japin | 304 | fiction | ★★★

June
1. Kom hier dat ik u kus | Griet op de Beeck | 382 | fiction | ★★★★
2. Kleine brandjes overal | Celeste Ng | 352 | fiction | ★★★★
3. The Scarlet Pimpernel | Baronesse Orczy | 314 | fiction | ★★★★
4. Londen | Edward Rutherfurd | 827 | fiction | ★★★
5. The Punishment She Deserves | Elizabeth George | 595 | fiction | ★★★
6. Grensgebieden | Arne Dahl | 365 | fiction | ★★

July
1. The Chalk Man | C.J. Tudor | 342 | fiction | ★★★
2. Reisverslag van een kat | Hiro Arikawa | 239 | fiction | ★★★★
3. American Gods | Neil Gaiman | 736 | fiction | ★★★

August
1. The Woman in the Window | A.J. Finn | 427 | fiction | ★★★★
2. Valkuil | Arnaldur Indridason | 293 | fiction | ★★★★
3. 1793 | Niklas Natt och Dag | 400 | fiction | ★★★
4. Gebroken | B.A. Paris | 357 | fiction | ★★★
5. Het einde van de cirkel | Tom Egeland | 416 | ★★★
6. Force of Nature | Jane Harper | 380 | fiction | ★★★★
7. 1690, met Evertsen naar Beachy Head | Dorothé Tempelman-Venselaar | 131 | fiction | ★★★

September
1. Bridge of Clay | Markus Zusak | 579 | fiction | ★★★★
2. De Vesuvius in vlammen | Plinius de Jongere | 93 | non-fiction | ★★★

October
November
December

Yearly challenges:
1 January 2018 - 31 December 2018

Let’s Turn Pages (message 163)
January: 1753
February: 2425
March: 1175
April: 2143
May: 2573
June: 2835
July: 1317
August: 2404
September: 672
October:
November:
December:

Total: 17297/20000

The TBR Jar Challenge (message 139)
1. Haaienkoorts ✔
2. Homegoing ✔
3. The Last Hours ✔
4. Londen ✔
5. The Woman in the Window ✔

Listopia (message 81)
Best books from 2017
1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
2. Björnstad
3. Anything Is Possible
4. Origin
5. The Essex Serpent ✔

You read a book about what?
1. Zout - een wereldgeschiednis ✔
2. De kaart die de wereld veranderde
3. Vergeten Koninkrijken: De verborgen geschiedenis van Europa
4. The Song Of The Dodo: Island Biogeography In An Age Of Extinctions
5. Samuel Pallache : koopman, kaper en diplomaat tussen Marrakesh en Amsterdam

Children's and YA fiction in Dutch
1. Kinderen van Moeder Aarde ✔
2. Oorlog zonder vrienden ✔
3. De Amulet
4. Hotel De Grote L
5. Blauw is bitter

Literary Historical Fiction
1. Bring Up the Bodies
2. The Children's Book
3. Life After Life
4. Alias Grace
5. The Sealed Letter

Total number of books: 50

[Tessa]

First book finished! Not in any category, but a pleasure and inspiration to read. Maybe I should go on an adventure...

[Tessa]

In my teens I read a series of books about three boys that had all kinds of adventures. It is called the Bob Evers- series, after one of the boys. The others are called Arie and Jan. I’ve started rereading the books last year. Today I read the second in the series.

[Tessa]

This is a book of short stories by the author of Hex I didn’t like all the stories. But there is one about the world turning upside down, which I did like a lot.

[Tessa]

I like to listen to audiobooks when I ride my bike to work, or other places. I started this one weeks ago. It does take me much longer than a paper book. But that doesn’t matter.
This is a story about life in Rotterdam during WWII. War is not black and white; there is a lot of grey...

[Tessa]

Five books in five days! It’s a good start of the year and of the challenge, but I know I’ll never keep that up.
This thriller is situated on the Falklands. It was good, and surprising.

[Susy]

It's more than a good start Tessa! You're doing great!!

[Tessa]

Susy wrote: "It's more than a good start Tessa! You're doing great!!"

Thank you Susy! :-D

[Tessa]

Today I read some poetry. I came across it in my library, read one poem, and wanted to read them all. I’m not really a poetry reader. But these I liked.

[Tessa]

I have been quiet for a while! After a flying start, I didn’t get much reading done the past few weeks. I did start some books, but I have not finished them yet. But somewhere in January I did finish another audiobook (forgot to add it before though).
I discovered Deon Meyer last year. So I have some catching up to do. I love his description of South African life and the relations between black, white and coloured people.

[Tessa]

Pussy is a book inspired by Donald Trump. The story is about Fracassus, the spoiled child of a rich man. While he grows up he experiences a lot of things that remind you of Trump. It is very funny.

[Tessa]

Thea Beckman was one of the great Dutch writers of childrens novels. She died in 2004. I read her books when I was a child myself, in the seventies of last century. But today her books are still favorite with a lot of children. A prize for historic childrens novels is named after her.
I had not read this first book of a trilogy before. The story is about Thule, a country that used to be called Greenland. But that was centuries ago, before the great nuclear wars had destroyed everything and had caused the earths axis to shift. Thule now has a nice climate, and people are happy. In Thule, women are the rulers,there is no army, no waepons. They respect mother earth, and live primitive, but happy lives. Untill a ship arives from Baden (the old Europe) that wants to concur Thule...

[Tessa]

Just finished The Monk of Mokha: what a great book. I am a fan of Dave Eggers, but this is on3 of his best books as far as I am concerned. I learned a lot abot the history of coffee, about the taste of coffee and about Yemen; so beautiful and rich, but tormented by war.

[Tessa]

I read a book about Salt! Never thought you could write a whole bookmabout salt. Never thought the history of the world has been influenced this much by salt! It was very interesting. But it was a little too much for me in the end. If the book had been a few chapters shorter it would have gotten more stars. Now in the end, salt could not realy keep me interested all the way to the end. But glad I read it, I learned a lot, and would certainly recommend it.

[Tessa]

Great book about slavery and what it did to the lives of the people who were taken and those that remained in Ghana.

[Tessa]

And then March is already over, and I managed just 4 books... Will try to do better in April!

The last book of this month was by Gard Sveen. I love Scandinavian thrillers. And I really enjoyed Sveens first book. But this one was a bit too messy in my opinion. And the open ending left me with too many unanswered questions.

[Tessa]

I read this book for the TBR twins April, with Holly. I’ve read more books by Lisa See, and I always like them. Books about China are often fascinating. It is hard to imagine such a different world exists.

[Tessa]

De wadden, is a book about the islands and the sea that are the northern most part of the Netherlands. It is a very special area. And I love it. It is very beautiful there and quiet, and you are in the middle of nature. With lots of birds and if you are lucky, some seals. I have been to all but one of the Dutch Waddenislands, more than once. I love that the minute I arive at the coast, sea, hear and smell the sea; I feel relaxed and free and at home. It is the place I love best in our country.

So I may be a bit prejudiced in judging this book!
This book tells about the history of the islands, the sea and the inhabitants. From long ago (prehistory) till now. I loved this book! It makes me want to go back to the islands as soon as I can.

[Tessa]

I had never read a book by Philip Kerr before. I just never got round to it. But now, as I heard about his death, I decided to read one. I was a little bit disappointed. I liked the subject, but I never realy got hooked. And I liked Bernie Gunther, but just not enough.

[Tessa]

After the succes of Dan Brown’s books, there have been a lot of books in the same genre. This one is about Gaudi, and his buildings in Barcelona, which have a connection with Jesus and the knights of Moria. The idea is good. But the story is too complicated. There is too much explanation necessary for the plot; theology, mathematics, symbolism, history. That made it hard to follow, and took away a lot of the suspense.

[Tessa]

Great novel about growing up with autism, written by sombody with autism.

[Susy]

Tessa wrote: "Great novel about growing up with autism, written by sombody with autism.

"

Sounds great, added to my TBR

[Tessa]

This book has been on all the bestseller lists in the Netherlands for a long time. It was the book I was asked for most in the library where I work, in the past year. And now I finaly read it myself. And it did live up to my high expectations. Great book about familiy life, about growing up, about daring to choose for your own happiness.

[Tessa]

Years ago I read quite a few Inspector Lynley novels. But then I started watching the show a lot. And I stopped reading the books because I was afraid I would be hakfway through a book and then discover: I’ve seen this one on TV...
But I am so glad I picked up this latest one. It was good to read about Lynley and Havers again. With the picture of the actors somewhere in the back of my mind. But without the fear of having seen it on TV. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Tessa]

I’ve finished the first of the challenges I put myself: the TBR challenge. That was the easy one (together with the Lets turn pages challenge). Now on to the rest; still 5 months to go!