(Sir)Thomas is reading through the world and the year (Part 2)

Welcome to my second thread!



My Name is Thomas, I am 58 years young and I live in a small town in northern Baden Württemberg, Germany.
2015 we moved from a house with attic and cellar into an apartment without theese spaces. So I had to separate from books. This was hard, but with a little help from time and my ebook-reader I recovered from the shock. - Today it's not that bad.
This is my 8th year in this awesome group, and every year is going better and better.
This year we had only three days on our favourite island, we miss the North Sea - the weather, the water, the food, ...
We booked for next year in March again - Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude / Anticipation is the most beautiful joy.

Today we come back from a short holiday in Bad Kissingen.
It was good to see something different.
We had a nice holiday flat and could be alone if we wanted to. There were also nice parks to walk in.
And good food!
So life is strange in these times, but there are good moments, too.

A great idea from Paul Cranswick was A BOOK A YEAR FOR THE FIRST 58 YEARS OF MY LIFE
This is my updated list:

1961 Ein Mann in einer fremden Welt / Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
1962 Die Physiker / The Physicists: A Play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
1963 Platon im Stripteaselokal / Misreadings by Umberto Eco
1964 Am Freitag schlief der Rabbi lang / Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman
1965 Der Wüstenplanet / Dune by Frank Herbert
1966 Die phantastische Reise / Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov
1967 Die Vergangenheit der Zukunft (Future History) / The Past Through Tomorrow by Robert A. Heinlein
1968 2001 - Odyssee im Weltraum / 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
1969 Papillon / Papillon by Henri Charrière
1970 Und die Großen läßt man laufen / Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö
1971 Der Exorzist / The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
1972 Sieh doch die Harlekins / Look at the Harlequins! by Vladimir Nabokov
1973 Momo oder die seltsame Geschichte von den Zeit-Dieben und von dem Kind, das den Menschen die gestohlene Zeit zurückbrachte / Momo by Michael Ende
1974 Carrie / Carrie by Stephen King
1975 Dhalgren / Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
1976 Interwiew mit einem Vampir / Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
1977 Sternentanz / Stardance by Jeanne Robinson & Spider Robinson
1978 Stadtgeschichten / Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
1979 Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis / The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
1980 Der Name der Rose / The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
1981 Cujo / Cujo by Stephen King
1982 Freitag / Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
1983 Christine / Christine by Stephen King
1984 Der Talisman / The Talisman by Stephen King & Peter Straub
1985 Contact / Contact by Carl Sagan
1986 Es / It by Stephen King
1987 Der Elektrische Mönch: Dirk Gently's Holistische Detektei / Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
1988 Fool on the hill / Fool on the hill by Matt Ruff
1989 Hyperion / Hyperion by Dan Simmons
1990 The Stand / The Stand (unabridged) by Stephen King
1991 Sofies Welt / Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
1992 Fräulein Smillas Gespür für Schnee / Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg
1993 Alpträume / Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King
1994 Asche zu Asche / Playing for the Ashes by Elizabeth George
1995 Dunkle Kammern / The Dark Room by Minette Walters
1996 The Green Mile / The Green Mile by Stephen King
1997 G.A.S. / Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy by Matt Ruff
1998 Wächter der Nacht / The Night Watch by Sergej Lukianenko
1999 Die 13 1/2 Leben des Käpt'n Blaubär / 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers
2000 Das Haus = House of leaves / House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
2001 Jack Taylor fliegt raus / The Guards: A Novel by Ken Bruen
2002 Die Bibel nach Biff : die wilden Jugendjahre von Jesus, erzählt von seinem besten Freund / Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
2003 Ich und die anderen / Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff
2004 Der Turm / The Dark Tower by Stephen King
2005 Olympos / Olympos by Dan Simmons
2006 Am Ende war die Tat / What Came Before He Shot Her by Elizabeth George
2007 Der Tod und der Dicke / Death Comes for the Fat Man by Reginald Hill
2008 Das Spiel des Engels / The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
2009 1Q84 / 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
2010 Raum / Room by Emma Donoghue
2011 5 Dinge, die Sterbende am meisten bereuen / The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing by Bronnie Ware
2012 Ein plötzlicher Todesfall / The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
2013 Das Dickicht / The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale
2014 Fiona: Als ich tot war 7 The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham
2015 Opferweg / Saint Odd by Dean Koontz
2016 Lovecraft Country / Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
2017 Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster by Susann Pasztor
2018 Von der Kunst, schlechte Nachrichten gut zu überbringen by Jalid Sehouli
2019 Kurt by Sarah Kuttner
2020 Trauer: Der Reiseführer durch ein fremdes Land by Katrin Brunner

My favourite books in the 75 books challenge:

2013 Mirage by Matt Ruff
2014 Raum by Emma Donoghue
2015 Fool on the hillby Matt Ruff
2016 Was uns wirklich trägt: Über gelingendes Leben by Anselm Grün
2017 Ein gutes Omen by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
2018 Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster by Susann Pasztor
2019 Kurt by Sarah Kuttner

Another awesome idea of this group - alphabet-lists.
Here are my favourite books of the first 6 months of 2020:

Titles:
A: Achtsam morden
B: Blinde Vögel
C:
D: Dark Call - Du wirst mich nicht finden
E: Die Ernte des Bösen
F: Fiona: Als ich tot war
G: Ein Gesicht in der Menge
H: Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes
I: I.Q.
J:
K: Die Känguru-Chroniken
L:
M: Matilda
N: Nestor Burma in der Klemme
O: Ohrenzeugen
P: P. S. Ich töte dich
Q:
R:
S: Suna
T: Totenklage
U: Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster
V: Verrückte Zeit
W: Weißer Tod
X:
Y:
Z:

Authors:
A: Adams, Douglas
B: Bingham, Harry
C: Chiang, Ted
D: Dusse, Karsten
E: Erpenbeck, Jenny
F: Fitzek, Sebastian
G: Galbraith, Robert
H: Hughart, Barry
I: Ide, Joe
J:
K: King, Stephen
L: Lukianenko, Sergej
M: Meyer, Marissa
N:
O: O'Nan, Stewart
P: Pasztor,Susann
Q:
R: Rowling, J. K.
S: Simmons, Dan
T: Thompson, Hunter S.
U:
V:
W: Wilhelm, Kate
X:
Y:
Z: Ziefle, Pia

Maybe by the end of the year I'll have all the letters...

Reading List for the first 6 months:
Reading List for January
1. 120, rue de la Gare / 120, rue de la Gare by Leo Malet
2. Nestor Burma in der Klemme / Nestor Burma contre C.Q.F.D by Leo Malet
3. Fischwinter by Keto von Waberer
4. Achtsam morden by Karsten Dusse
5. Agatha Raisin und der tote Richter / Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton
6. Heimsuchung by Jenny Erpenbeck
7. Die Ernte des Bösen / Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
8. Teufelsfrucht by Tom Hillenbrand
9. Einfach so weg by Ayse Bosse and Andreas Klammt
10. Suna by Pia Ziefle
11. Blinde Vögel by Ursula Poznanski
12. Der Mann, der kein Mörder war / Dark Secrets by Michael Hjorth and Hans Rosenfeldt
13. Totenklage / Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham
14. Totenspiel / Love Story, With Murders by Harry Bingham
15. Die Brücke der Vögel / Bridge of birds : a novel of an ancient China that never was by Barry Hughart
16. Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes by Ted Chiang
17. Tödlicher Mittsommer / Still Waters by Viveca Sten
18. Der unvergleichliche Jeeves / The Inimitable Jeeves by P G Wodehouse
19. Straßen der Erinnerung: Reisen durch das vergessene Amerika / The Lost Continent: Travels in small-town America by Bill Bryson
20. Mitten aus dem Leben: Wenn ein Sturm deine Welt aus den Angeln hebt by Arne Kopfermann
21. Die Känguru-Chroniken: Ansichten eines vorlauten Beuteltiers by Marc-Uwe Kling
22. Fiona: Als ich tot war / The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths by Harry Bingham
23. Die unglaublichen Abenteuer des Barnaby Brocket / The Terrible Thing That Happened To Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne
24. Das mechanische Mädchen / Glitches by Marissa Meyer
25. Wie Monde so silbern / Cinder by Marissa Meyer
26. Angst und Schrecken in Las Vegas / Fear and loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
27. Ein Gesicht in der Menge / A face in the crowd by Stephen King & Stewart O'Nan
28. Wahlkampf by Eva Rossmann
29. UR by Stephen King
30. Trauer: Der Reiseführer durch ein fremdes Land by Katrin Brunner and Petra Paul
31. Ticktack / Tik-Tok by John Sladek
32. Weißer Tod / Lethal White by Robert Galbraith and Petra Paul
33. Dann eben nicht, Jeeves / Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
34. Fiona: Unten im Dunkeln / This Thing of Darkness by Harry Bingham
35. Fiesta in Havanna / The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons
36. Tod im Schärengarten / Closed Circles by Viveca Sten
37. Die Feuer von Eden / Fires of Eden by Dan Simmons
38. Trix Solier, Zauberlehrling voller Fehl und Adel by Sergei Lukyanenko
39. Ausgejodelt by Eva Rossmann
40. Die Tote im See / The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler
41. Grabt Opa aus! by Tatjana Kruse
42. P. S. Ich töte dich by Sebastian Fitzek
43. Die Entdeckung der Fliehkraft by Kai Weyand
44. Schottensterben by Gordon Tyrie
45. Verrückte Zeit / Crazy Time by Kate Wilhelm
46. Fiona: Wo die Toten leben / The Dead House by Harry Bingham
47. Nur du kannst die Menschheit retten / Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett
48. Nur du kannst sie verstehen / Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett
49. Nur Du hast den Schlüssel / Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett
50. Alle Tränen dieser Erde / The Book of Brian Aldiss by Brain W. Aldiss
51. Tagebuch eines Killerbots / The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
52. Modesty Blaise: Die tödliche Lady / Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell
53. Matilda / Matilda by Roald Dahl
54. Der Buddha aus der Vorstadt / The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
55. Ein plötzlicher Todesfall / The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
56. Totenstille by Daniela Arnold
57. Der Elektrische Mönch / Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
58. Auf sie mit Gebrüll! by Hasnain Kazim
59. "Die Bombe is' eh im Koffer" by Achim Lucchesi
60. Die Toten von Sandhamn / Guiltless by Viveca Sten
61. Dark Call - Du wirst mich nicht finden / When Darkness Calls by Mark Griffin
62. Hexen hexen / The Witches by Roald Dahl
63. Wolkenbruchs wunderliche Reise in die Arme einer Schickse by Thomas Meyer
64. Die Messerkönigin / Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil Gaiman
65. Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster by Susann Pasztor
66. Ohrenzeugen by Wildis Streng
67. I.Q. / IQ by Joe Ide
68. Das infernalische Zombie-Spinnen-Massaker / This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong
69. Die Totgesagten / The Stranger by Camilla Läckberg
70. Engel aus Eis / The Hidden Child by Camilla Läckberg
71. Fiona: Das tiefste Grab / The Deepest Grave by Harry Bingham

Reading List for July
72. Das Wunder von Narnia / The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis
73. Der König von Narnia / The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
74. Dämliche Dämonen / Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham
75. Mürrische Monster / Demoneater by Royce Buckingham
76. Fiese Finsterlinge / Demoncity by Royce Buckingham
77. Stille Feinde / Righteous by Joe Ide
78. Jesus' Sohn / Righteous by Denis Johnson
79. Schnitzelfarce by Pierre Emme
80. Heurigenpassion by Pierre Emme
81. DarkSky: Die fremde Bedrohung by Bernd Stöhr
82. Ein Mann namens Ove / A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
83. Bis einer weint! - 20 böse Ratschläge für gute Menschen by Arian Devell
84. Intelligentes Golf: Gefühl ist erlernbar by Oliver Jungmann
85. Mörderische Schärennächte / Tonight You’re Dead by Viveca Sten
86. Weihnachtsmord auf Sandhamn / Julbord i skärgården und Ett gott nytt år by Viveca Sten

Reading List for August
89. Das Dorf der toten Seelen / Staden by Camilla Sten
90. flüchtig by Hubert Achleitner
91. Hier sangen früher Vögel / Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
92. Wilkommen in Night Vale / Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
93. Rabenbrüder by Ingrid Noll
94. Inseln im Chaos / Death Qualified by Kate Wilhelm
95. Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer / Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver by Michael Ende
96. Blutige Nachrichten / If it Bleeds by Stephen King
97. Zeugin der Anklage / The Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie
98. Jim Knopf und die wilde 13 / Jim Button and the Thirteen Wild Men by Michael Ende
99. Freundschaft, die uns im Leben trägt by Margot Käßmann
100. Was aus den Menschen wurde / The rediscovery of man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith by Cordwainer Smith
101. Joe Hill: Das Cape / Joe Hill's The Cape by Joe Hill and Jason Ciaramella and Zach Howard
102. Schaden in der Oberleitung: Das geplante Desaster der Deutschen Bahn by Arno Luik
103. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
104. Traumschlange / Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
105. Coma / The Amateurs by John Niven
106. Jorkens borgt sich einen Whisky / Jorkens Borrows Another Whiskey by Lord Dunsany

Reading List for September
107. Lauter reizende alte Damen / By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie
108. QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling
109. Der mysteriöse Zylinder / The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen
110. You are Mine / Madigan Mine by Kirstyn McDermott
111. Friedhof für Verrückte / A Graveyard for Lunatics by Ray Bradbury
112. Schneewittchen-Party / Hallowe‘en Party by Agatha Christie
113. Halloween / The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
114. Halloween / The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
115. Broken Lands / The Broken Lands by Kate Milford
116. Ein Toter zu wenig / Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
117. Fireman / Fireman by Joe Hill
118. Imagination als heilsame Kraft: Ressourcen und Mitgefühl in der Behandlung von Traumafolgen by Luise Reddemann
119. Fake News und Verschwörungstheorien: Wie man Gerüchten nicht auf den Leim geht / Crédulité & Rumeurs. Faire face aux Théories du complot et aux Fake News by Gérald Bronner
120. Das Graveyard-Buch / The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
121. Immer Ausschlafen ist auch keine Lösung by Axel Beyer
122. Xenegugeli: Tier- ABC Schweiz by Roland Zoss
123. Wunder warten überall by Stefan Weigand

Reading List for October
124. Die Stimmen des Flusses / Les veus del Pamano by Jaume Cabré
125. Der Clan der Magier / A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
126. Alles nur psychisch. Ein Buch über Freud und Leid. / It's all mental by Marcel Vertès
127. Achtung! Vorurteile by Peter Ustinov
128. Sechsundreißig mal Gänsehaut by F. K. Wächter and others
129. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
130. Beim ersten Schärenlicht / In the Heat of the Moment by Viveca Sten
131. Funkenmord by Volker Klüpfel and Michael Kobr
132. Bretonische Spezialitäten by Jean-Luc Bannalec
133. Miese kleine Morde / Små pikante drab by Jussi Adler-Olsen
134. Der Teufelskeiler / The Boar by Joe R. Lansdale
135. Geist ist Buddha: Wie man seine Gedanken beruhigt by Huangbo Xiyun

Reading List for November
136. Der Rest ist Sterben by Hansjörg Martin
137. Die Hütte / The Shack by William Paul Young
138. Urlaubsreif: Wie man verreist- und trotzdem glücklich wird by Dietmar Bittrich
139. Alle außer mir / Sangue giusto by Francesca Melandri
140. Cryptos by Ursula Poznanski
141. Der Tod der Mrs Westaway / The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
142. Der Kammgarn-Killer by Hansjörg Martin
143. Fillory - Die Zauberer / The Magicians by Lev Grossman
144. Ein feiner dunkler Riss / A fine dark line by Joe R. Lansdale

Reading List for December
145. Ein Spiel zuviel / Cover Her Face by P. D. James
146. 88 Namen / 88 Names by Matt Ruff
147. Erebos / Erebos by Ursula Poznanski
148. Fool on the Hill / Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff
149. Tod in stiller Nacht / I farans riktning by Viveca Sten
150. How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

And the stats for the first 6 months:

Books read: 71
Pages read: 24,371 (longest 864 / shortest 32 / average 343)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 3 / 3 / 2
England: 22 / 22 / 12
France: 2 / 2 / 1
Germany: 25 / 20 / 25
Ireland: 1 / 1 / 1
Norway: 1 / 0 / 1
Russia: 1 / 1 / 1
Scotland: 1 / 1 / 1
Sweden: 8 / 7 / 5
Switzerland: 1 / 1 / 1
USA: 21 / 17 / 18

Sum: 86 / 75 / 68

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 29 / 26 / 23
male authors: 57 / 49 / 45

alive authors: 69 / 58 / 56
dead authors: 17 / 17 / 12

date first published:
1920-1929: 1
1930-1939: 1
1940-1949: 3
1960-1969: 1
1970-1979: 2
1980-1989: 7
1990-1999: 10
2000-2009: 9
2010-2019: 34
2020-2029: 3

Hope I am not too soon to wish you a happy new thread, Thomas.

I am thrilled that you have been so active this year. Love all the stats of course!

You're right on time, Paul - thank you.
I can't keep up with your statistics, I limit myself to my own books.

You are doing a good job with them anyway!

Happy new thread, Thomas!

Good you got away for a short holliday, glad it was better than the previous.
And did I read it right, you got to 75 while on holliday?

Congratulations on reaching 75!

Happy New Thread, Thomas!

Happy new thread!

Happy new one!

Great topper. Nice and relaxing place to be.

>15 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul!

>16 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita, this holiday was as long as the last one, but this time the journey home took place as planned ;-).

>17 ronincats: Thank you, Roni.

>18 drneutron: Thank you, Jim.

>19 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita - we love this place, in March it is not as crowded as in summer. It is sunny, rainy, stormy, one year we had a little bit snow.
And as they say in the north - there is no bad weather, there are only unsuitable clothes.

And now, as promised, the first books in July:


72. Das Wunder von Narnia / The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis
A beautiful fairytale that describes how narnia was created and how evil came to the fairytale land.
Also suitable for adults.

73. Der König von Narnia / The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
A group of children come to Narnia and fight against the evil witch.

Another YA series - Lots of chaos, action and black humour::


74. Dämliche Dämonen / Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham
Demons are among us, a young demon keeper tries to tame the chaos.

75. Mürrische Monster / Demoneater by Royce Buckingham
A demon-eater is on the loose, Nat tries to save his protégés.

76. Fiese Finsterlinge / Demoncity by Royce Buckingham
Nate is looking for the demon that killed his parents, while Seattle is thrown into chaos by demons.

Thomas--Happy new thread and hurray for passing the 75 milestone!! Glad you got a chance to get away and enjoy Bad Kissingen. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead. : )

Happy new thread, and congrats on making your goal!

Congrats!

Happy new thread and congrats on passing 75.

>26 Berly: Thank you, Kim, it's good to see something different sometimes.

>27 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer, the goal has been achieved, but I will read on anyway ;-)

>28 drneutron: Thank you, Jim.

>29 thornton37814: Thank you, Lori.

My last post was just yesterday - felt - and yet another 2 weeks have already passed.
It was an exhausting time and it is difficult that I work in the home office. I would like to separate private and business, but that is difficult when both PCs are next to each other. So the private one is usually left out.
But there where a bunch of books:

77. Stille Feinde / Righteous by Joe Ide
The second book of the Isaiah Quintabe series.
This time he has to help the sister of his brother's girlfriend - she blackmailed the triads.
At the same time he tries to clear up his brother's death - was he involved in criminal activities?
Again very thrilling and well written.
I liked the first volume a bit better.

78. Jesus' Sohn / Righteous by Denis Johnson
Autobiographical short stories, they seem like written in a drug frenzy.

79. Schnitzelfarce by Pierre Emme
Palinski is to be honored for a cooking recipe, but nearby a woman in a wheelchair is shot.
Was she a random victim?
Palinski is starting to investigate.
Written lightly and loosely - with a light black humour.

80. Heurigenpassion by Pierre Emme
Palinski again advises the police and solves the case.

81. DarkSky: Die fremde Bedrohung by Bernd Stöhr
An experiment at CERN is to detect dark matter.
But there are problems with the scanners that are to monitor access to the security area.
The head of the manufacturing company is being called in to check it out.
He makes an incredible discovery.
An extremely well written novel that explains the scientific background without neglecting the suspense.

82. Ein Mann namens Ove / A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
A son of a bitch to love.
Ove is a pedantic and is monitoring his neighbourhood.
After his wife has died, he tries to kill himself, but is disturbed by his new neighbor, who drives up to his mailbox when she moves in.
He has to sort that out first, of course...
An endearing book with a quiet humor.

83. Bis einer weint! - 20 böse Ratschläge für gute Menschen by Arian Devell
A guide to why you have to be vicious to get ahead in life.
Well, the author's pseudonym is supposed to be funny, too...

84. Intelligentes Golf: Gefühl ist erlernbar by Oliver Jungmann
Another golf manual with a lot of theory of perception and processing in the brain
I'm hoping to put some of these tips to work...

85. Mörderische Schärennächte / Tonight You’re Dead by Viveca Sten
Thomas Andreasson is working on his first case after his accident, he is not quite fit yet.
A student is found hanged, suicide suspected.
But his mother does not believe it and asks Thomas to investigate.
Then there are more deaths.
Again a very well written story, the flashbacks from the diary of a soldier from his training are very well integrated.
I love the series

86. Weihnachtsmord auf Sandhamn / Julbord i skärgården und Ett gott nytt år by Viveca Sten
2 very short short stories, which play on Sandhamn, but have no relation to the heroes of the series.
At an office party a woman drowns, she was drunk - an accident?
A woman separates from her boyfriend and retreats to the family's summer house. Then she hears noises at night...
The reading rehearsals from the other books were much longer than the two stories.

Look at you go, Thomas!

Happy weekend, Thomas. I hope all is well at your place.

>42 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer.

>43 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara. I am fine, the situation is strange. But we make the most of it.
Now I work in the office two days a week, we take turns.
So I hope that I can spend more time with the wonderful people in LT again...

and the last books in July:


87. G.A.S. (GAS): Die Trilogie der Stadtwerke / Sewer, Gas and Electric. The Public Works Trilogy by Matt Ruff
A re-read from one of my favourite authors.
Artificial intelligence, androids, cargo cult under the Statue of Liberty, a bright green submarine with pink dots, the new tower of Babel, a conspiracy, a mutant white shark in the sewers of New York...
Strange, exciting, funny, completely crazy.

88. Schneebraut / Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson
Ari is new as a cop in a remote village in Iceland. His girlfriend didn't come along, he doesn't know if the relationship is still going on.
An old writer falls down a staircase drunk - an accident, or not?
Very dark and claustrophobic writing. I couldn't find the right approach to the book.
Perhaps the contrast to the last book was too big.

The statistics for Junly:

Books read: 17
Pages read: 4,698 (longest 624 / shortest 40 / average 276)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 2 / 2 / 1
England: 2 / 2 / 1
Germany: 3 / 3 / 3
Sweden: 3 / 3 / 2
USA: 6 / 6 / 4

Sum: 16 / 16 / 11

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 2 / 2 / 1
male authors: 14 / 14 / 10

alive authors: 11 / 11 / 8
dead authors: 5 / 5 / 3
n/a: 1 / 1 / 1

date first published:
1950-1959: 2
1990-1999: 2
2000-2009: 5
2010-2019: 8

>46 SirThomas: I liked that one and the two following one are very good too.

Woo hoo, your stats beat mine hands down, Thomas!!

>48 Ameise1: Nightblind is on my shelve, Barbara - so I there will be another chance...

>49 ronincats: Thank you Roni, it is a result of many suggestions - also from you ;-).

And August had some books, too:


89. Das Dorf der toten Seelen / Staden by Camilla Sten
Alice Lindstedt comes to a deserted village to prepare a documentary film. Decades ago, all the inhabitants disappeared without a trace, leaving only a newborn child behind.
Alice's grandmother used to live here and moved away shortly before the catastrophe, Alice is fascinated by the past.
The story is told in two levels - diary extracts from the past and the experiences of the team today. The village is very remote, no mobile phone works because of veins of ore, the team is cut off from the outside world. Slowly, the indications that they are not alone become stronger.
Exciting and rather gloomy, the claustrophobic situation is well described.
Viveca Sten is the daughter of Camilla Sten, both write quite well.

90. flüchtig by Hubert Achleitner
Herwig and Maria have been married for many years, but after a miscarriage they have grown apart.
When Maria finds out that Herwig's lover is expecting a child from him, she takes his Volvo and disappears without a trace.
Herwig realizes that he misses her.
A very poetic story about love and her loss. And about the search for meaning.
The story is told from different perspectives.
Hubert Achleitner is better known as Hubert von Goisern, a popular musician.

91. Hier sangen früher Vögel / Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm
Again a poetic book, this time a dystopia.
Due to environmental pollution and overpopulation, the earth becomes almost uninhabitable and people become barren.
A small group of survivors tries to save humanity. With scientific methods and clone experiments.
But reproduction by clone has side effects that were not foreseen. One man turns against the community and tries to find another way.
A great book with a conciliatory ending.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Thomas.

A belated thank you, Paul.
The week was busy and very hot. Today it is a little bit cooler and there was finally some rain.
Yesterday and today we had craftsmen repairing damage to the plaster.
In autumn we will be in our flat for 5 years and the guarantee will expire.
Therefore the construction company made a tour and made a list of defects, which is now being worked off. A good idea.

92. Wilkommen in Night Vale / Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
A very normal book about very normal inhabitants of a very normal small town in the desert.
This is what the book thinks, this is what the town thinks, this is what the inhabitants think, but this is not what the reader thinks ;-)
A pawnshop, a note, many bizarre characters - oh read it yourself!

93. Rabenbrüder by Ingrid Noll
I chose this book because I still lacked the title and author in my alphabet list. It is quite nice, but there are better ones from the author.
Two brothers, a few deaths in the family, a few good ideas...

94. Inseln im Chaos / Death Qualified by Kate Wilhelm
Barbara Hendricks is a desiluted lawyer, she is brought into his practice by her father to defend a friend who is accused of killing her husband. During the investigation, she stumbles upon a plot. Mandelbrot set, fractals and the chaos theory also play a role. Thrilling and easy to read. I love her style.

95. Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer / Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver by Michael Ende
Wonderful adventures of an orphan, a locomotive driver and a locomotive.
The book turns 60 this year and is still beautiful!

96. Blutige Nachrichten / If it Bleeds by Stephen King
A brand new book, it contains 4 stories:

Harringan's phone
A boy reads to an old millionaire and shows him what you can do with a smartphone. He is thrilled. When he dies, the boy puts the phone in his coffin...

Life of chuck
A story in three parts about the end of the world, the three parts are told backwards.

If it bleeds
Holly Gibney is back, she suspects something terrible.

Rat
A writer with writing problems - a recurring theme in Stephen King, but always good.

There is a reason why he is my favourite writer.

And the Alphabet-List for 2020 so far...

Title:
A: Achtsam morden
B: Blinde Vögel
C:
D: Dark Call - Du wirst mich nicht finden
E: Die Ernte des Bösen
F: Fiona: Als ich tot war
G: G. A. S.
H: Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes
I: I.Q.
J: Jesus‘ Sohn
K: Die Känguru-Chroniken
L:
M: Matilda
N: Nestor Burma in der Klemme
O: Ohrenzeugen
P: P. S. Ich töte dich
Q:
R: Rabenbrüder
S: Suna
T: Totenklage
U: Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster
V: Verrückte Zeit
W: Weißer Tod
X:
Y:
Z:

Author:
A: Adams, Douglas
B: Bingham, Harry
C: Chiang, Ted
D: Dusse, Karsten
E: Erpenbeck, Jenny
F: Fitzek, Sebastian
G: Galbraith, Robert
H: Hughart, Barry
I: Ide, Joe
J: Johnson, Denis
K: King, Stephen
L: Lukianenko, Sergej
M: Meyer, Marissa
N: Noll, Ingrid
O: O'Nan, Stewart
P: Pasztor,Susann
Q:
R: Ruff, Matt
S: Simmons, Dan
T: Thompson, Hunter S.
U:
V:
W: Wilhelm, Kate
X:
Y:
Z: Ziefle, Pia

Thank you for your kinds words. Wishing you a great weekend. Nice job on the alphabet!!

>55 SirThomas: The weather was the same here, Thomas, not nice to be so busy when it is hot.
Yesterday we had only a little bit of rain, but now there is more serious rainfall, it started with thunder and lightning. I now have both windows open, hoping it will cool off a bit downstairs.
That is very neat of the construction company, did you have problems in your flat?

>62 Berly: Thank you, Kim - The best wishes to you and your family.

>63 FAMeulstee: Yesterday it was hot again, there was thunder, but only from a distance.
So we went for a walk in the morning and spent the rest of the day on the patio - reading.
The heat during the day is already bad, but when it is over 20° C at night, we sleep very badly.
Today it is cooler and it drizzles - very pleasant.
No, we didn't have any problems, Anita. They told us that because of the end of the guarantee they would walk through the area with the construction manager. We should report defects beforehand so that it would go faster. So we walked through ourselves with open eyes.
It was only small things, a bit chipped paint, small hairline cracks and unsightly silicone joints. If we hadn't been asked to do so, we probably wouldn't have noticed anything except for two flakes of paint.
The construction company is a cooperative, which exists for over 70 years here in the village.
This has certain advantages...

...and some books...


97. Zeugin der Anklage / The Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie
A collection of short stories - always a pleasure to read.

98. Jim Knopf und die wilde 13 / Jim Button and the Thirteen Wild Men by Michael Ende
The second part of the wonderful adventures of Jim Button. Imaginatively.

Back from the lobster hunt - it was a big fun again.

And there was another book:

99. Freundschaft, die uns im Leben trägt by Margot Käßmann
A book about friendship - the most important thing is trust.
Pleasant to read, nice examples from her life, but overall a little less.

The weather data - yesterday 25°C (77°F), today 30° (86° F), tomorrow 35° (95°F), day after tomorrow 25° (77°F).
It's like a roller coaster...

well done, with not quite hundred books :)

>68 SirThomas: Almost the same here (27.3°C and 28.6°C, with a minimum night temp of 23.7°C in between), now it looks like the heat is finally over!

The weather numbers you now have make me so envious, Thomas. 33 degrees every day does get on my nerves here sometimes.

Have a great weekend.

>69 paulstalder: Thank you, Paul - and the reading continues...

>70 FAMeulstee: It's the same here, Anita. Friday was extreme, then it cooled down - very pleasant.

>71 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul the weekend was fine, the weather was pleasant and sunday we had friends for breakfast on our terrace, so we had a beautiful morning with safety distance. Two couples at two tables should be ok.
We had some wasps, but with a spray bottle we could convince them that it was raining and that they urgently needed to go home ;-).

100. Was aus den Menschen wurde / The rediscovery of man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith by Cordwainer Smith
Thousands of years of human history thousands of years in the future.
Poetic science fiction in short stories over 1,056 pages.
I love it!

101. Joe Hill: Das Cape / Joe Hill's The Cape by Joe Hill and Jason Ciaramella and Zach Howard
This is a graphic adaptation of a short story by Joe Hill - I loved the original.
This one is as good as well.
Two brothers, the older successful, the younger not. A cape that makes the younger brother fly. A woman, a perceived betrayal, a revenge.
Hard, brutal and very well drawn.

102. Schaden in der Oberleitung: Das geplante Desaster der Deutschen Bahn by Arno Luik
A polemic about the management mistakes of the German railroad, starting with Stuttgart 21.
Because of the planned IPO, the railroad had to save costs, so many things no longer work, and in addition there are nonsensical large-scale projects with which politicians want to put themselves in the limelight.
Very worth reading.

103. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
A beautiful fairy tale about a little girl who has to save her world and her parents from the evil witch.
I love it.

The weekend has been very reading so far:

A birthday book - the author had her birthday on 28.08. when I started reading the book.
When I looked through the birthday list on the homepage, I remembered a description of Roni last year - thanks for the recommendation!


104. Traumschlange / Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
A young healer in a post-apocalyptic world. Her inexperience kills her dream snake, which she needs for her work.
There are only a few of these animals that are not from the earth. She does not dare to go home, so she wants to go to the city where aliens live to ask them for help - Unfortunately unsuccessful. On her journey she becomes really grown up and learns a lot - also about the snakes.
A wonderful book about friendship and humanity.

105. Coma / The Amateurs by John Niven
A thriller in a golf milieu.
Gary is a Scot who does not play golf well (HCP 18.5 - I think this is very good!). His brother is a small-time crook who makes big crooks his enemy. His wife wants to leave him because her lover is much richer than he is.
When Gary is hit in the head by a golf ball and falls into a coma, he can't make a bad golf shot anymore and qualifies for the Open Championships in St. Andrews. He makes it to the finals. Exciting and funny, bizarre actors, well written.

After it was very cool yesterday and I had some muscle problems, I took a hot bath, for this I needed a narrow paperback and found a good one:

106. Jorkens borgt sich einen Whisky / Jorkens Borrows Another Whiskey by Lord Dunsany
A scrounger who tells stories in a club so that someone will buy him a drink.
Very pleasant to read.
You can hear the fire crackling in the fireplace while lying in the warm water - only I didn't had any whiskey...
In the German translation of the title ein, an "e" is missing, but that doesn't spoil the reading pleasure.

The statistics for August:

Books read: 18
Pages read: 6,317 (longest 1,056 / shortest 117 / average 351)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 2 / 2 / 2
Germany: 5 / 5 / 4
Ireland: 1 / 1 / 1
Scotland: 1 / 1 / 1
Sweden: 1 / 1 / 1
USA: 10 / 10 / 9

Sum: 21 / 21 / 19

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 7 / 7 / 6
male authors: 14 / 14 / 13

alive authors: 13 / 13 / 13
dead authors: 8 / 8 / 6

date first published:
1930-1939: 1
1950-1959: 1
1960-1969: 2
1970-1979: 2
1990-1999: 2
2000-2009: 4
2010-2019: 4
2020-2020: 2

This one I chose book for its title:

>107 SirThomas:.%20<a%20href=" loading="lazy" class="oxocleaned addedlazy">Lauter reizende alte Damen / By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie
A visit to the retirement home.
A strange remark of an old lady who disappears a little later.
Tommy and Tuppence start investigating and get on the trail of a series of murders and a criminal genius.
A charming, somewhat old-fashioned crime novel.
And another letter in the alphabet...

The list is slowly getting fuller - there is still plenty of time until the end of the year - the chances are good!

Title:
A: Achtsam morden
B: Blinde Vögel
C: Das Cape
D: Dark Call - Du wirst mich nicht finden
E: Die Ernte des Bösen
F: Fiona: Als ich tot war
G: G. A. S.
H: Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes
I: I.Q.
J: Jesus‘ Sohn
K: Die Känguru-Chroniken
L: Lauter reizende alte Damen
M: Matilda
N: Nestor Burma in der Klemme
O: Ohrenzeugen
P: P. S. Ich töte dich
Q:
R: Rabenbrüder
S: Suna
T: Totenklage
U: Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster
V: Verrückte Zeit
W: Weißer Tod
X:
Y:
Z: Zeugin der Anklage

Author:
A: Adams, Douglas
B: Bingham, Harry
C: Chiang, Ted
D: Dusse, Karsten
E: Erpenbeck, Jenny
F: Fitzek, Sebastian
G: Galbraith, Robert
H: Hughart, Barry
I: Ide, Joe
J: Johnson, Denis
K: King, Stephen
L: Lukianenko, Sergej
M: Meyer, Marissa
N: Noll, Ingrid
O: O'Nan, Stewart
P: Pasztor,Susann
Q:
R: Ruff, Matt
S: Simmons, Dan
T: Thompson, Hunter S.
U:
V:
W: Wilhelm, Kate
X:
Y:
Z: Ziefle, Pia

...and the Q is pre-ordered at the public library...

>83 SirThomas: The Q in the autor or the title?

>84 FAMeulstee: It's the title - QualityLand - The Kangaroo Chronicles were easy to read, so I thought this is a good idea.
I think I will fill the titles first, then the authors.

The heat is gone, it has rained in the last few days, the grass is green again, the sun is shining today.
It is pleasure to go outside in the fresh air and enjoy nature.
After that, the work is much more fun!
I am very happy about my flextime!

Hi, you are a great reader. Congratulations for read all this books!

Thank you, Roser.
Reading is like hiking, you take one step at a time and then you look back and think, wow, that was far.

OK, time for the Q


108. QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling
Germany in a not too distant (?) future, the tracking has been perfected, the customer no longer receives only customized advertising, he gets the goods delivered immediately. In addition, there is a scoring system that determines the "value" of each individual.
Very funny and wicked, sometimes you get a laugh stuck in your throat. Great.
A quote:
Denise streichelt sanft ihren dicken Babybauch.
»Und? Können Sie uns schon sagen, was es wird?«
Der Gynäkologe blickt auf den Monitor.
»Ja, natürlich. Wenn Sie das schon wissen wollen. Manche Eltern lassen sich ja gerne überraschen.«
»Wir wollen es wissen, nicht wahr, Martyn?«
Martyn grummelt etwas Unverständliches, nickt aber. Es war ein langer Tag. Er ist müde und will es einfach nur hinter sich bringen.
»Also, was wird es werden?«, fragt Denise.
Der Arzt räuspert sich. Dann sagt er: »Es wird wahrscheinlich eine drogensüchtige Sexarbeiterin ohne Kontakt zu ihrer Familie, mit gelegentlich wiederkehrenden Depressionen und einer besonders ausgeprägten Freude an alten romantischen Komödien mit Jennifer Aniston.«
»Wie bitte?«, fragt Denise.
Der Arzt dreht den Monitor zu ihr.
»Hier ist der prognostizierte Lebenslauf. Wie Sie sehen können, werden die Probleme in Ausbildungsstufe zwei beginnen. Da wird sie zwei Klassen wiederholen müssen. Mit dreizehn wird sie einen ersten Selbstmordversuch unternehmen. Da wir aber schon davon wissen, können wir den präventiv abfangen. Erster Geschlechtsverkehr mit fünfzehn. Ein älterer Mann. Wahrscheinlich einer ihrer Lehrer. Vaterfigur. Mit siebzehn dann …«

Denise gently strokes her big baby belly.
"So, can you tell us what it's going to be?"
The gynecologist looks at the monitor.
"Yes, of course. "If you want to know what's going to happen. Some parents like to be surprised."
"We want to know, don't we, Martyn?"
Martyn mumbles something incomprehensible, but nods. It's been a long day. He is tired and just wants to get it over with.
"So what's it going to be?" Denise asks.
The doctor clears his throat. Then he says: "It will probably be a drug-addicted sex worker without contact with her family, with occasional recurring depressions and a particularly marked enjoyment of old romantic comedies with Jennifer Aniston.
"Excuse me?" Denise asks.
The doctor turns the monitor to her.
"Here is the predicted resume. As you can see, the problems will begin in training level two. She will have to repeat two classes there. At thirteen, she will make her first suicide attempt. But since we already know about it, we can intercept it preventively. First sexual intercourse at fifteen. An older man. Probably one of her teachers. Father figure. At seventeen then..."

And since I also found a suitable author...


109. Der mysteriöse Zylinder / The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen
The first one of the series.
A murder in the theater, the classic locked room. Nobody noticed anything, the hat of the victim is missing.
Father and son start their investigation.
A bit chewy but pleasant to read.

For the "X" I found a children's book in the public library, the "Y" I am reading right now...
So then the Alphabet of the titles is filled!

:-)

>89 SirThomas: Ha!

His Die Känguru Chroniken are fun as well.
But this one was much better.

And the Y:


110. You are Mine / Madigan Mine by Kirstyn McDermott
There are different types of thrillers, those you play in, those you experience in 3D cinema,...
Here I had the feeling to read the police report.
Alex's ex-girlfriend committed suicide. At her funeral he hears her voice in his head for the first time. Is he obsessed with her?
He has blackouts again and again, he can't remember anything.
Of all people, a friend of his ex-roommate has exactly the knowledge to help him - a bit too much of a coincidence for me.
At the very end, Melbourne and an Australian accent are mentioned, otherwise I wouldn't have noticed where the whole story takes place.
An English title that is translated into English for the German market doesn't make the whole thing much better either.

The weekend was quiet with books, pilgrimages and culture:
On Saturday we went for a hike on a small pilgrimage route in our area, it was very relaxing.
On Sunday there was culture, an exhibition opening about a special type of glass - millefiori.
We were among the 22 lucky ones who were allowed to be there. The collector gave a lecture himself, it was very interesting and also instructive.
Then we were allowed to look at the small exhibition in even smaller groups:

It was not a big event, but still it was nice.

>96 SirThomas: I never heard of millefiori before, Thomas. I like the vases in the top picture.

>96 SirThomas: - Oh, how fabulous! I love millefiori! There is a local artist who makes millefiori jewellry (using clay that is then baked) and sells her items at local craft fairs (which are not happening this year).

>97 FAMeulstee: I didn't know this glass shape before either, Anita. It is a very old form of production that was long forgotten and was rediscovered in Venice / Murano.
Interestingly, the vernissage took place in a pewter museum - we are a sustaining member there, so we had the chance to be there.

>98 lkernagh: Millefiori jewelry sounds wonderful, Lori. It's a pity that so many events have to be canceled. But I'm optimistic that better times will come again next year. Hopefully there will still be the artists and artisans.

>96 SirThomas: So unique and pretty! I'd never heard of this style before either. Lucky you to be picked to attend!

>96 SirThomas: Very cool!

A suggestion from Jennifer - Halloween is coming soon.
Stephen King had four past midnight, I have four before Halloween:


111. Friedhof für Verrückte / A Graveyard for Lunatics by Ray Bradbury
Hollywood in the 50s. A film studio, a screenwriter, a monster maker, a monster. A corpse on the graveyard wall at the studio on Halloween.
The story is told as breathlessly as a child coming home from kindergarten and telling its mother about the adventures of the day. Entertaining and well written, but you should be of a certain age to understand the many allusions to real people. But it's also a lot of fun.

112. Schneewittchen-Party / Hallowe‘en Party by Agatha Christie
A Halloween party for children, a child is drowned.
Hercule Poirot is asked by Ariadne Oliver for help and investigates in the tranquil surroundings and of course finds the solution
Pleasant to read. Except for the title there is no reference to the topic.

113. Halloween / The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
A fatal car accident on Halloween, 3 dead teenagers are recalled by the living because they are remembered. They try to prevent what a survivor is trying to do. The policeman who was chasing them is full of self-reproaches, the parents of a seriously injured person are trying to cope with the situation.
Complex and exciting, a joy to read.

114. Halloween / The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
A group of children on Halloween, one is missing, they try to save him in a hunt through the centuries.
An adventure story about the origins of Halloween, very well written.

Let me recommend A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny to add to your Halloween reads!

Oh, thank you very much, Roni. Your recommendations have already given me a lot of pleasure!
Unfortunately my library does not have it in stock, but I just ordered it from a used book store. It should arrive before the big day ;-)

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Thomas.

Thank you, Paul, the same to you!

Now it is time for an update - tomorrow we leave for a short vacation, so I want to be up to date ;-):


115. Broken Lands / The Broken Lands by Kate Milford
New York 1877 - A young card player tries to lead his life. A young woman comes to the city to perform a fireworks display.
Two demons want to destroy the (human) columns of the city to prepare them for their boss.
After the civil war, a small spark would be enough to cause a big chaos (The situation today is somewhat similar).
But the young heroes get help from an unexpected side. Exciting and varied.
The suggestion for the author came from SirFurboy thank you very much, Stephen.

116. Ein Toter zu wenig / Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
The first book in the Lord Peter Wimsey series. A dead man in a different bathtub, an overstrained policeman, a bored lord who is looking for a destiny and of course solves the case. Not bad, but quite old-fashioned.

117. Fireman / Fireman by Joe Hill
A pandemic that causes people to go up in flames. A small group of people who can control the virus. Healthy people who hunt the sick.
Sometimes exciting, but the book is too long, it seems to me as if a campfire is almost burning down and then someone adds wood - several times. Daddy can do it better ;-).
A small note in the margin - one protagonist (who is also unlikable) is called Harold Cross - there is another pandemic novel in which Nadine Cross and Harold Lauder play along - coincidence?

118. Imagination als heilsame Kraft: Ressourcen und Mitgefühl in der Behandlung von Traumafolgen by Luise Reddemann
A book about coping with trauma. It is interesting to read about how people deal with heavy fates and how they can be helped. It is a textbook with many examples, a bit too many repetitions for me. It is not quite clear to me whether it is aimed first at professionals or laymen.

119. Fake News und Verschwörungstheorien: Wie man Gerüchten nicht auf den Leim geht / Crédulité & Rumeurs. Faire face aux Théories du complot et aux Fake News by Gérald Bronner
A comic about filter bubbles and the distribution of fake news.
A boy full of prejudices (e.g. about the "dangerousness" of vaccination) and his friend (his conscience?), he makes him aware of inconsistencies in his argumentation and gives him tips on how to find information and try to be objective.
I think it's good that it is not told what is "right", but that the reader should think for himself.
The book is aimed at young people, but is also very interesting for adults.
I discovered it while rummaging around in the public library (online).

Have a nice vacation!

Have a good time!

>115 figsfromthistle:, >116 mstrust:
Thank you, we had.
We were in a nice vacation apartment, the weather was nice and we could sit outside (at a distance) when we went to eat.
Now we are back home and enjoy the rain.

120. Das Graveyard-Buch / The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
A murder, a small child can flee and is raised by the dead in the nearby cemetery.
The little Nobody Owens finds new parents and new friends, until one day the old enemies reappear.
A nice children's book with lots of fantasy.

121. Immer Ausschlafen ist auch keine Lösung by Axel Beyer
A not quite seriously meant advisor for freshly retired people. The author is 10 years older than me and therefore already has experience.
Short stories from "A" like older over "O" like online banking to "Z" like last.
My wife gave it to me for my birthday, so that I get used to the idea ;-).
I'm allowed to work for a few more years, but you can never start to think about it early enough.

122. Xenegugeli: Tier- ABC Schweiz by Roland Zoss
A nice little booklet in 27 chapters, for each letter an animal is presented - as a children's song in Swiss language, so it was a bit difficult to read.
I have to admit that I didn't choose the book out of interest, but for X I was still missing a title, when I saw it in the public library I couldn't resist ;-).

Now the title alphabet is complete, the authors need a little more time...

A: Achtsam morden
B: Blinde Vögel
C: Das Cape
D: Dark Call - Du wirst mich nicht finden
E: Die Ernte des Bösen
F: Fiona: Als ich tot war
G: G. A. S.
H: Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes
I: I.Q.
J: Jesus‘ Sohn
K: Die Känguru-Chroniken
L: Lauter reizende alte Damen
M: Matilda
N: Nestor Burma in der Klemme
O: Ohrenzeugen
P: P. S. Ich töte dich
Q: QualityLand
R: Rabenbrüder
S: Suna
T: Totenklage
U: Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster
V: Verrückte Zeit
W: Weißer Tod
X: Xenegugeli: Tier- ABC Schweiz
Y: You are Mine
Z: Zeugin der Anklage

>121 SirThomas: Very nicely done, Sir. : ) And look at you on book #122!!!

Thank you, Kim - I do my very best...

And now to the last book of September:

123. Wunder warten überall by Stefan Weigand
The subtitle - The rediscovery of simple things - fits very well.
Short texts about beautiful things, which one should notice much more, especially in our time.
From the morning light to letters, bookshops (important!), walking and much more.
I took my time and read a new story every now and then - there is so much beauty in the world, you just have to recognize it.

The statistics for September:

Books read: 17
Pages read: 4,971 (longest 961 / shortest 65 / average 292)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Australia: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 4 / 4 / 3
France: 1 / 1 / 1
Germany: 4 / 4 / 4
Swizerland: 1 / 1 / 1
USA: 6 / 6 / 5

Sum: 17 / 17 / 15

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 6 / 6 / 5
male authors: 11 / 11 / 10

alive authors: 11 / 11 / 11
dead authors: 6 / 6 / 4

date first published:
1920-1929: 2
1960-1969: 2
1970-1979: 1
1990-1999: 1
2000-2009: 3
2010-2019: 6
2020-2020: 2

... and the first 9 months:

Books read: 123
Pages read: 40,357 (longest 1,056 / shortest 32 / average 328)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Australia: 1 / 1 / 1
Austria: 6 / 6 / 4
England: 30 / 30 / 15
France: 3 / 3 / 2
Germany: 37 / 32 / 35
Ireland: 2 / 2 / 2
Norway: 1 / 0 / 1
Russia: 1 / 1 / 1
Scotland: 2 / 2 / 2
Sweden: 12 / 11 / 7
Swizerland: 2 / 2 / 2
USA: 43 / 39 / 31

Sum: 141 / 130 / 104

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 44 / 41 / 32
male authors: 96 / 88 / 71

alive authors: 104 / 93 / 80
dead authors: 36 / 36 / 23
n/a authors: 1 / 1 / 1

date first published:
1920-1929: 3
1930-1939: 2
1940-1949: 3
1950-1959: 3
1960-1969: 5
1970-1979: 5
1980-1989: 7
1990-1999: 15
2000-2009: 21
2010-2019: 52
2020-2020: 7

>117 SirThomas: Glad to read you had a good vacation, Thomas.

>121 SirThomas: Good you completed it!

>124 SirThomas: >125 SirThomas: Always nice to see your statistics :-)

Thank you, Anita, it was very pleasant.
Now I have to complete the Alphabet of the authors, there is still some time left.
Thanks for the compliment.

Next is a recommendation from Roser (sisif) Thank you for that:


124. Die Stimmen des Flusses / Les veus del Pamano by Jaume Cabré
German title translated in English: The voices of the river
A story in the countryside in Catalonia from World War II, the Spanish Civil War to the present.
A photographer finds a teacher's diary at a school that is about to drop out.
She starts investigating and makes some people restless.
The wounds of the civil war are still deep and the hatred of the people runs deep.
A rich old lady wants to have him beatified as a martyr, for others he was a criminal Falangist. But according to his diary, he was also in the resistance.
The story is told beautifully. At the beginning something bothered me that the protagonist or the time level suddenly changes from one sentence to another, but soon I was enjoying this game.

Another recommendation:

125. Der Clan der Magier / A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
German title translated in English: The clan of magicians
Jack the Ripper, Dr. Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes and others in a setting of H. P. Lovecraft - told by a dog.
31 chapters, one for each day in October. A group of people and their animal helpers prepare for the opening of the gates on Haloween night. Who is friend and who is foe? The story increases from day to day.

>106 ronincats: Thank you Roni, it is a great book.

Also because of these recommendations I am happy to be in this wonderful group!

>129 SirThomas: So glad you enjoyed it, Thomas. It's an annual re-read for me.

I finally got the October Halloween thread up here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/324999

So please post it there.

I do that with pleasure.
There is the possibility of a re-reading also for me ;-)

>128 SirThomas:
I'm so glad you like it !!!

Hope you a good weekend, Thomas. All the best for the beginning week

>132 SirThomas: These days when I reread it, I read each journal entry on the day it was written in October.

>129 SirThomas: Must try that one!

>130 SirThomas: Whatever the reason, I am happy you are in this group.

>131 ronincats: Really Roni - you re-read it every year?!

>133 Sisif: me too ;-)

>134 paulstalder: Thank you, Paul
It was an exhausting week, but a good one.
On Monday we drove our neighbor to the university hospital for an operation - he is a widower and his son does not live in the area. It was certainly a strange sight - 3 people with masks in one car. Afterwards we had a little look around the city.
On Tuesday I had the first personal meeting in a long time, with distance and open windows - and again a long drive.
On Wednesday at work I was a long time busy with processing of things left behind.
Yesterday I was in HomeOffice - the whole day with a video conference.
Today we have the second day of the conference, thank God only half a day - I hope.
And then it is weekend - with walks and books!

>135 ronincats: A very good idea, Roni - I tried to do that, but I could not stop reading - maybe next year.

>136 PaulCranswick: Try it, Paul - it will be worth it.

Another book for my alphabet list:


126. Alles nur psychisch. Ein Buch über Freud und Leid. / It's all mental by Marcel Vertès
Wonderful cartoons about psychiatrists and their patients. The book is from 1945, but still up to date.
... and it also fits into the Halloween time, the author died on 31.10.1961...

127. Achtung! Vorurteile by Peter Ustinov
Short stories from the author's life around the topic of prejudice.
Amusing and varied.

128. Sechsundreißig mal Gänsehaut by F. K. Wächter and others
36 wonderful little stories that (should) create goose bumps. Lots of imagination and black humor.
For each story a wonderful drawing by F. K. Wächter.

>139 SirThomas: Peter Ustinov was a hugely interesting man.

Have a lovely Sunday, Thomas.

Thank you, Paul.
It is a weird time, I would love to go into hibernation now and wake up in spring and everything is fine again.
But I am no bear.
Last week I sat a lot at the computer with video conferencing. Therefore I did not feel like going to LT in the evening.
Besides, my favorite radio channel played the hit parade. 1114 titles from Monday morning 5:00 am to Friday evening 9:00 pm.
It started with Summerwine (Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood) and ended with Child in time by Deep Purple, Stairway to heaven by
Led Zeppelin and the winner was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen - same as last year.
It was great - Leonard Cohens Hallelujah was followed by AC/D's Hells bells, there where rarely played songs like Supper's ready, Echoes, In-a-gadda-da-vida,...
I love it.
OK and some books:

129. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
A normal small town near New York. But why is there video surveillance everywhere, why is every external access - including the Internet - monitored? Oh yes, an old woman often stands around - but why are her eyes and mouth sewn shut and why is she chained up?
A village in the present day, haunted by a witch for over 300 years.
Sometimes I was tempted to go to the balcony and make sure she was not standing outside on the street.
A great book, especially at this time of year.

130. Beim ersten Schärenlicht / In the Heat of the Moment by Viveca Sten
The 5th volume of the Thomas Andreasson series.
Teenagers are having parties, one is dead.
Thomas Andreasson investigates again, a pleasant reading pleasure.

131. Funkenmord by Volker Klüpfel and Michael Kobr
Commissar Kluftinger is looking for a murderer. The case has been closed for years, the perpetrators was being investigated and convicted. But he didn't do it.
Another Allgäu crime novel, slightly exciting, a bit funny and nice to read.

132. Bretonische Spezialitäten by Jean-Luc Bannalec
A police congress on regional cooperation in Saint Malo in Brittany. A murder among restaurateurs, the culprit is the sister of the dead. The case seems to be solved quickly, but then more people die.
The commissioners must get together and solve the case. Beautiful landscape descriptions and lots of good food.
Since we ourselves like to eat very well, my neighbor gave it to me for my birthday - I got an appetite.

Hex sounds great! I’m going to keep an eye out for it.

Hello Thomas! I don't know how I missed your thread. But, now that I've found you, I will be sure to return. Congratulations on reading 132 books thus far this year. That is quite an accomplishment.

I live in Pennsylvania in the United States. My partner (now deceased) lived in Germany when he graduated from medical school and volunteered in the Army. He often told me that geographically, Pennsylvania was a lot like Germany. We have many mountains, lakes and lovely spaces.

I joined the 75 challenge group in 2008. Since that time, I've made wonderful friends, and added many books to my reading list.

All good wishes!

Linda

>147 drneutron: You do well to, Jim.
It is worth to give it a try.

>148 Whisper1: Hello Linda, thank you very much for your visit.

Pennsylvania must be very beautiful, unfortunately I have never been there.
Although the beauty of a landscape is also a matter of your own perception.
My wife's godmother lived in Barcelona (a very beautiful city) and visited us for a few days. We made a little trip with her to show her the area, which was nothing special to our eyes. At a small viewpoint she was totally overwhelmed how beautiful it was here. We looked around with open eyes and realized - she was right!

I have been in the group since 2013 and with the new friends and books I feel like you.
It is just great!

Best wishes for you too!

133. Miese kleine Morde / Små pikante drab by Jussi Adler-Olsen
German title translated: Lousy little murders
A man is left by his wife, because he is boring. To make himself more interesting, he goes to the hairdresser. There he hears how many women want to get rid of their husbands. This gives him a business idea - he helps the women to get rid of their husbands.
Short and boring, a bit too much effort to be funny. No comparison to the Carl Mørck books.

134. Der Teufelskeiler / The Boar by Joe R. Lansdale
German title translated: The Devil's Boar
Also a short book, but exciting and varied.
The Great Depression in Texas, Richard is 15 and lives on a farm. His father tries to get money with show fights and is not at home, his mother is pregnant. When a wild boar attacks her house, he and his black friend try to kill the killer.
Lansdale writes just great.

The last book was a birtday-reading again - yesterday was Joe R. Lansdales birthday.

Now to a book I chose because of my Alphabet Challenge:


135. Geist ist Buddha: Wie man seine Gedanken beruhigt by Huangbo Xiyun
German title translated: Mind is Buddha - How to calm your thoughts
An over 700 years old little guide on how to attain emptiness in order to become a Buddha.
The SPIRIT is within you, you cannot learn anything, you must go within yourself.
Unfortunately, I only know Buddhism from a distance, so I was able to grasp the text intellectually, but not to understand it properly.
Therefore 2.5 stars may be a bit unfair, but it is my evaluation, others may see it differently.

Time for stats:

October:
Books read: 12
Pages read: 3,572 (longest 669 / shortest 85 / average 298)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

China: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 1 / 1 / 1
Germany: 4 / 4 / 4
Hungary: 1 / 1 / 1
Netherlads: 1 / 1 / 1
Spain: 1 / 1 / 1
Sweden: 2 / 2 / 2
USA: 2 / 2 / 2

Sum: 13 / 13 / 13

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 1 / 1 / 1
male authors: 12 / 12 / 12

alive authors: 8 / 8 / 8
dead authors: 5 / 5 / 5

date first published:
1270-1280: 1
1940-1949: 1
1980-1989: 1
1990-1999: 2
2000-2009: 2
2010-2019: 3
2020-2020: 2

Yesterday it was nice and sunny and we went for a walk all day and enjoyed the weather.
Well, today is November...
It is rainy all day, wonderful - I used the day for a hot bath and reading.
For the bath I needed a small paperback, I don't take my ebook-reader into the bath.
And again I found a birthday book Der Rest ist Sterben - Hansjörg Martin would have been 100 years old today.
Very nice to read, I think I will finish it tonight...

I managed to do it yesterday:


136. Der Rest ist Sterben by Hansjörg Martin
German title translated: The remaining is dying
A nurse was strangled. Inspector Klipp begins his investigation.
She was a private nurse for rich people in the hospital. Recently she came into too much money - is there a motive in that?
Or was it the male acquaintances?
A really nice old-fashioned crime novel with a slightly sarcastic touch.

>155 SirThomas: Good you could enjoy the weather, Thomas, both the sunny and the rainy :-)
It doesn't feel like November here today. We had a warm night, followed by a warm day. It is 18C and raining.

Today, we have 18°C too and a lot of sun. It could be April if the colorful leaves were not.
I will finish work early today and go out for a while.

That weather sounds lovely. Not so good here sadly. Enjoy the sunshine.

Thank you, Stephen, the last days we had rainy weather, today it is cold and sunny.
It is hard to sit in the homeoffice and look out of the window ;-)

137. Die Hütte / The Shack by William Paul Young
German title translated: The Shack
Mackenzie Allen Phillips daughter was murdered, this is threatening to break him and his family.
Then he receives a letter from God to come to him for a weekend at the cabin where she was killed.
After some hesitation, he leaves and meets God in the form of Papa (God the Father - a thick African-American woman), Jesus (an middle-eastern man) and Sarayu (God the Holy Spirit - an Asian woman).
He learns a lot about the inexplicability of God, the Trinity and forgiveness.
I am split in two, on the one hand a very touching story about how to deal and process grief with faith in God.
On the other hand, it didn't touch me as much as I had expected - the exaggerated style?
Anyway worth reading.

...and again a challenge mastered.
The alphabet list is complete.
It was fun. In the beginning it went almost by itself, then I had to select books by letter, which also made me some discoveries:

Titles:
A: Achtsam morden
B: Blinde Vögel
C: Das Cape
D: Dark Call - Du wirst mich nicht finden
E: Die Ernte des Bösen
F: Fiona: Als ich tot war
G: G. A. S.
H: Die Hölle ist die Abwesenheit Gottes
I: I.Q.
J: Jesus‘ Sohn
K: Die Känguru-Chroniken
L: Lauter reizende alte Damen
M: Matilda
N: Nestor Burma in der Klemme
O: Ohrenzeugen
P: P. S. Ich töte dich
Q: QualityLand
R: Rabenbrüder
S: Suna
T: Totenklage
U: Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster
V: Verrückte Zeit
W: Weißer Tod
X: Xenegugeli: Tier- ABC Schweiz
Y: You are Mine
Z: Zeugin der Anklage

Next time I might try English titles - we'll see...

Authors
A: Adams, Douglas
B: Bingham, Harry
C: Chiang, Ted
D: Dusse, Karsten
E: Erpenbeck, Jenny
F: Fitzek, Sebastian
G: Galbraith, Robert
H: Hughart, Barry
I: Ide, Joe
J: Johnson, Denis
K: King, Stephen
L: Lukianenko, Sergej
M: Meyer, Marissa
N: Noll, Ingrid
O: O'Nan, Stewart
P: Pasztor,Susann
Q: Queen, Ellery
R: Ruff, Matt
S: Simmons, Dan
T: Thompson, Hunter S.
U: Ustinov, Peter
V: Vertès, Marcel
W: Wilhelm, Kate
X: Xiyun, Huangbo
Y: Young, William P.
Z: Ziefle, Pia

>163 SirThomas: >164 SirThomas: Wow, you did it, Thomas, congratulations completing this double challenge!

>165 FAMeulstee: Thank you very much, Anita. November has lowered my reading rate a bit. But there were also good reasons.
This weekend we had very sunny weather, so we went to the forest, it was wonderful:

In November we have a partial lockdown, also the restaurants are closed. Out-of-home sales are possible, however.
They will get financial compensation, but we live by the motto Support Our Locals.
Therefore we organized a pizza collection order - from the wood oven - for our house last weekend.
This weekend we supported a caterer and picked up our lunch there - Boef Bourguignon, rosemary potatoes, Brussels sprouts on creamed savoy cabbage with hazelnut butter - grilled chicken breast with sauce Café de Paris, potato taler and large salad.
Next week we want to share a duck with our neighbors - freshly cooked from one of our favorite restaurants.
Another favorite restaurant is very remote, so they don't offer hot food, but they prepare everything so that you only have to warm it up at home. So we want to pick up our food the following weekend. They also offer a culinary advent calendar - we are already very excited.
When I think about it, we will have Restaurant-Food at LockDown more often than at normal times ;-).

Congratulations on finishing your challenge! Feel a sense of accomplishment, don't you?
Really pretty pics of your walk. What are those extremely shiny berries? Or are they grapes that you polished up to a brilliant shine?
Your restaurant take-aways sound delicious. We aren't in lockdown so we were able to go to a local seafood place yesterday. They have their own boats so the fish is so fresh. I had handbattered fish and chips with a dill aioli and a local ginger beer, and Mike had a tuna confit sandwich with greens and a smoked paprika aioli.
Now I have to know what a culinary advent calendar is.

Lovely photos of the forest, Thomas, and the food sounds wonderful!

>168 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer.
To achieve something with an activity you love is just amazing!
I am pretty sure that the berries are privet, they really shine beautifully in the sun.
I would never polish grapes, they have a different purpose! I rarely eat them - I always feel like I'm taking my wine in pill form.
Your fish menu sounds extremely delicious, fresh sea fish is just great. We have a fishmonger on the weekly market who has very good products, but freshly caught fish is no comparison. Unfortunately we had to cancel our vacation at the North Sea in spring, we would have enjoyed lots of sea fish here. But for next year is already booked - let's hope for the best!
I think we will buy the culinary advent calendar, I guess it will not be unsold leftovers from the pantry.
If everything works out, I will be able to inform you today in three weeks time.

>169 ronincats: Thank you very much, Roni.
The forest was beautiful and the food was very tasty.
So we had a nice weekend despite everything.
I wish you all the best.

There were some books this month - not too many:


138. Urlaubsreif: Wie man verreist- und trotzdem glücklich wird by Dietmar Bittrich
German title translated: Vacation ripe: How to travel and still be happy
Many little stories about things that go wrong on vacation and how to sell the vacation as a success to others anyway.
Only moderately funny - and at the latest by the 9th story boring.
Life is too short... For a long time a book I haven't read to the end

139. Alle außer mir / Sangue giusto by Francesca Melandri
German title translated: All except me
A woman finds an Ethiopian in her stairwell who claims to be her brother's son. She has never heard of this brother.
Slowly the story of her family and her father becomes clear. From the Italy of fascism to the colonial times in Ethiopia and today's Italy. About war crimes, corruption and love.
A beautiful book. Actually it was intended for a literature circle, but unfortunately it cannot take place. - A pity.

140. Cryptos by Ursula Poznanski
A mixture of Matrix and Ready Player One.
A not too distant future, global warming is already well advanced, people are taking refuge in virtual worlds.
Jana is a world designer, when people disappear in the world she looks after, she comes across a conspiracy and gets into great danger in the virtual and real world.
Exciting and well written - full of fantasy - a reading pleasure.
For a change, this was not a recommendation from this group, but from the daily newspaper.

Found on the threads of Paul and Anita:

1. Name any book you read at any time that was published in the year you turned 18:
Shibumi by Trevanian

2. Name a book you have on in your TBR pile that is over 500 pages long:
Fillory - Die Zauberer (The Magicians) by Lev Grossman (624 p)

3. What is the last book you read with a mostly blue cover?
Alle außer mir by Francesca Melandri

4. What is the last book you didn’t finish (and why didn’t you finish it?)
Urlaubsreif: Wie man verreist- und trotzdem glücklich wird by Dietmar Bittrich, it is no fun to read the same (not good) story over and over

5. What is the last book that scared the bejeebers out of you?
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

6. Name the book that read either this year or last year that takes place geographically closest to where you live? How close would you estimate it was?
Ohrenzeugen by Wildis Streng, Crailsheim - 40 km

7.What were the topics of the last two nonfiction books you read?
Meditation - Focus on the (supposedly) simple things

8. Name a recent book you read which could be considered a popular book?
Der König von Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

9. What was the last book you gave a rating of 5-stars to? And when did you read it?
Und dann steht einer auf und öffnet das Fenster by Susann Pasztor, June 2020

10. Name a book you read that led you to specifically to read another book (and what was the other book, and what was the connection)
There are certainly books, but I can't think of anything

11. Name the author you have most recently become infatuated with.
Martha Wells

12. What is the setting of the first novel you read this year?
France

13. What is the last book you read, fiction or nonfiction, that featured a war in some way (and what war was it)?
Alle außer mir by Francesca Melandri (WW II)

14. What was the last book you acquired or borrowed based on an LTer’s review or casual recommendation? And who was the LTer, if you care to say.
Fillory - Die Zauberer (The Magicians) by Lev Grossman (75 Books Challenge for 2020 - Roni Reads in 2020: Chapter 7)

15. What the last book you read that involved the future in some way?
Cryptos by Ursula Poznanski

16. Name the last book you read that featured a body of water, river, marsh, or significant rainfall?
Cryptos by Ursula Poznanski

17. What is last book you read by an author from the Southern Hemisphere?
You are Mine (Madigan Mine) by Kirstyn McDermott

18. What is the last book you read that you thought had a terrible cover?
Urlaubsreif: Wie man verreist- und trotzdem glücklich wird by Dietmar Bittrich
...The second mention of the book in a nongood context

19. Who was the most recent dead author you read? And what year did they die?
M. C. Beaton / Vonda N. McIntyre, 2019

20. What was the last children’s book (not YA) you read?
Xenegugeli by Roland Zoss

21. What was the name of the detective or crime-solver in the most recent crime novel you read?
Leo Klipp

22. What was the shortest book of any kind you’ve read so far this year?
Das mechanische Mädchen (Glitches) by Marissa Meyer , 32 pages

23. Name the last book that you struggled with (and what do you think was behind the struggle?)
Urlaubsreif: Wie man verreist- und trotzdem glücklich wird by Dietmar Bittrich - see #4
...The third mention of the book in a nongood context

24. What is the most recent book you added to your library here on LT?
Fillory - Die Zauberer (The Magicians) by Lev Grossman

25. Name a book you read this year that had a visual component (i.e. illustrations, photos, art, comics)
Der Teufelskeiler (The Boar) with illustrations by Henning Ahlers

>175 SirThomas: It is fun to see the answers, Thomas.
I find myself clicking on everyone's first book, to see if my guess about ages is somewhat right ;-)

>176 FAMeulstee: Hahaha me too, Anita!

Caught!
You have revealed my deepest secrets ;-)
So it looks like we are not that far apart in age.

141. Der Tod der Mrs Westaway / The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
German title translated: The Death of Mrs. Westaway
Harriet Westaway is an orphan, young and poor. She keeps her head above water with card reading. A loan shark has her in his clutches.
Then she receives the news that her grandmother has died and has inherited her. But her grandparents are long dead, there must be a mistake.
Out of shortage of money she goes to the execution of her will, where she learns that she has inherited a lot. She gets to know the family and also learns a lot about her mother. She tries to find out how her mother is connected to the family. In doing so, she discovers secrets long ago and gets into danger herself.
An exciting story well told - Thanks for the suggestion, Paul.

142. Der Kammgarn-Killer by Hansjörg Martin
German title translated: The worsted killer
Some short stories:
Der Kammgarnkiller (The worsted killer)
A representative for clothing strikes down a customer in the heat of passion and flees. When he wants to come back, there is a mix-up.
It is nicely told how the individual threads of the protagonists' actions unite.
Pistolen bringen manchmal Glück (Guns sometimes bring good luck)
A man wants to rob a bank and buys toy guns. But then everything turns out quite differently than planned.
Der Witwenmacher (The Widowmaker)
A man falls in love with his housekeeper and plans the perfect murder, but he miscalculates.
Ich habe Witte wiedergefunden (I have found Witte again)
A man gets on the trail of his tormentor from the past and plans to kill him.

Nice stories with a surprising twist, but I like the novels better.

143. Fillory - Die Zauberer / The Magicians by Lev Grossman
German title translated: Fillory - The Magicians
You cannot escape yourself, even if you learn magic.
Quentin Coldwater is highly talented, unhappily in love, bored, dissatisfied and wants to go to an elite university. But then he passes the entrance examination for a magic school.
In contrast to Harry Potter, he is almost grown up when he starts his training.
He has a strong relationship to his children's books about an enchanted land - Fillory.
After the training he drifts through life bored, but then he learns that the books could be based on real events - the adventure begins. But it becomes harder and bloody than he thought.
In the end he will not be happy again - or will he? The beginning of a series.
The book is well written and also exciting, but the spark did not fly with me.

>176 FAMeulstee: Ha! I hadn't thought of that. LOL.

Hello, Thomas!

Hello Kim, nice to see you again.


144. Ein feiner dunkler Riss / A fine dark line by Joe R. Lansdale
German title translated: A fine dark crack
A story from Texas in the late 50's. Stanley's parents run a drive-in movie theater. He finds buried letters and diary pages and starts to investigate. A girl burned to death tied to the bed, a girl was decapitated. He awakens powerful enemies and gets into danger himself. Very atmospherically written, also the everyday racism in the country.
Joe R. Lansdale has never disappointed me yet...

This week has had its ups and downs - the corona measures will be extended, so our short vacation before christmas is probably not possible anymore. We had booked a very nice vacation apartment with a covered balcony, infrared sauna and a wood-burning stove. It would certainly have been very nice - next year is Christmas again...
But in return we could pick up our culinary advent calendar - 24 lovingly packed packages. We are full of anticipation!


And the new book by my favorite author is out in German translation - 88 Names by Matt Ruff. Again a reason for joy!

>184 SirThomas: A culinary advent calendar? Now that sounds yummy!!

Sorry about the vacation. A lot of European countries are now in complete lockdown with curfew as well. Hopefully it will end soon.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

I'm sorry about your cancelled vacation too. I know, we had our vacation cancelled because of the virus :-(
But I'm so intrigued by a culinary advent calendar- what a great idea!

>184 SirThomas: Sorry about your vacation, Thomas, I had hope you would have better luck this time.
The culinairy advent calender looks nice, I would have a hard time being tempted to open them all at the first day ;-)

>185 figsfromthistle: It is yummy!
Thank you, Anita,
Thank God we don't have a complete lockdown, only contact restrictions. We can shop and go for a walk - in the snow!
Just in time for December it snowed.

>186 mstrust: Thank you, Jennifer - These are hard times, I'm sorry for your vacations too. But there is hope for next year.
Today we booked the apartment for next year at the same time, the hotel was happy that we left the deposit.

>187 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita - It's hard, especially after the packages are in the dining room behind my chair ;-).

Today we were allowed to open the first parcel:

Homemade truffle pralines with tonka bean - delicious!

Oooh, you're off to a great beginning because those do look delicious!

Yes - and today it went on deliciously...
A glass of poultry terrine - we had eaten it in the restaurant before, it was very tasty then.

Time for stats again:

Books read: 8
Pages read: 3,054 (longest 624 / shortest 122 / average 382)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 1 / 1 / 1
Germany: 2 / 2 / 1
Italia: 1 / 1 / 1
USA: 3 / 3 / 3

Sum: 8 / 8 / 7

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 3 / 3 / 3
male authors: 5 / 5 / 4

alive authors: 6 / 6 / 6
dead authors: 2 / 2 / 1

date first published:
1980-1989: 2
2000-2009: 3
2010-2019: 2
2020-2020: 1

It was not my best reading month.

Today we got some Christmas cookies:

Parmesan Stars - we could not wait and tried them right away - very tasty.
They are fluffy, the tart taste of Parmesan harmonizes well with the caraway on top.

>192 SirThomas: Always goo to see your stats, Thomas.
You are still on track for a double 75!

>193 SirThomas: Yummie!

>174 SirThomas: That one is a book bullet for me. Thanks :)

>193 SirThomas: Lovely stars, and good to hear they taste good too!
I make very spicy cheese crackers in the shape of chili peppers. I included them in my Christmas tins last year and was thinking about including them again.
Your culinary calendar is inspiring!

The star cookies look amazing. My mother was quite a baker. During the holidays our house was filled with hundreds of cookies.. She had quite a collection of cards containing all recipes. Cookies were distributed to the neighbors, friends, family and our teachers.

My sisters and I would stand on chairs to help stir the ingredients. However, the sad part of it all is that she was very obsessive compulsive, and every bit of dough that was rolled out for sugar cookies had to be used. He severe instructions took away the joy.

Now, when my house is filled with the neighborhood children baking, I let them place the cookie cutter wherever they want. If sprinkles fall on the floor, it is no big deal. The best thing is the laughter.

My partner of 18 years, Will, lived in Germany when he was in the Army. Fresh out of medical school, he was sent to Darmstadt. He loved living there, and often would note that he wish he would have remained there.

He often noted that Germany is very geographically similar to the state of Pennsylvania where we lived, and I continue to be. There are many rolling mountains in Pennsylvania. And, often, I visit a popular place called Panera Bread. I usually get a cup of coffee, a cinnamon crunch bagel, and then read a book outside where I can look at the rolling hills.

We planed to return to Germany when I retired, but alas, he passed away and our trip simply wasn't to be.

Please tell me more of the area where you live. And, is it near Darmstadt?

>194 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita.
November was not so good, I hope for December.
One more week of work, then I have vacation until Christmas.
We will spend it at home, but it is also lovely here - and there will be plenty of time to read.

>195 sirfurboy: Thanks Stephen. It's so nice to be able to give something back.
The books by Ursula Poznanski that I read were all very good.
It was only by chance that I became aware of them. When my mother-in-law was in a nursing home, she had a very nice nurse with the same last name. When I was standing in the bookstore, I thought, give her a chance.
And I did not regret it.

>196 mstrust: spicy cheese crackers - sounds yummy!
Hard times promote creativity, there are sayings that go with it:
You can also build something beautiful from the stones that are placed in your path.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

with the calendar everybody has something of it - the host can follow his vocation and cook creatively (which he does very well) and earn some money. We have a lot of fun and delicious things in the pre-Christmas period.

Today we had Schoko meringue by the way

>197 Whisper1: They also taste very delicious, Linda.
My wife also likes to bake christmas cookies and we also like to distribute them to friends and neighbors. But this year we decided not to do it. She works hygienically, but it would be horrible for us if there was a connection between a COVID-19 infection and our cookies.
Baking with children is certainly very nice, unfortunately we don't have any children of our own, but we do look after the little ones from the neighborhood as surrogate grandparents from time to time (in normal times).

We live in a small town in Hohenlohe, Baden-Württemberg:
Wikipedia: Öhringen
Wikipedia: Hohenlohe

The landscape is really very beautiful, there are hills (I don't want to call it mountains), forests, good wine, orchards (and many good small distilleries), many castles. And good restaurants, of course.
You can see a few pictures above >166 SirThomas:,
the middle picture is a view of the Hohenloher Ebene and Öhringen.

a few others are here:



Of course I didn't photograph the not so nice things, there are industrial areas and highways in our country, too. But when you think about it, the beautiful things outweigh the bad.
There are also cultural offers, we have a jazz club, a cinema with performances of cabaret artists and musicians. But if we want to go to the theater, we have to go to Heilbronn.
In 2016 the Landesgartenschau was in the city, a big event for which parks and squares were beautifully made. You can still notice that today.

If you like, I have some movies here to give you an impression:
Youtube: Öhringen
(This one also has text - even in local dialect ;-) - just enjoy the pictures.)
Youtube: Öhringen

To Darmstadt it is about 140 km by car, as the crow flies about 100 km. Unfortunately I have never been there.

>199 SirThomas: I'll study places to stay nearby and must come pay a visit, Thomas. Hani wants very much to come and see Germany.

>198 SirThomas: Well that is an interesting way to choose a book! But it worked out, also ist alles gut!

>199 SirThomas: Sorry your trip got cancelled, but I am loving your tasty advent calendar! Also beautiful pictures of your countryside. Wishing you a happy weekend. : )

>200 PaulCranswick: You are always welcome, Paul.
There is a lot to see in the area.

>201 sirfurboy: Besides your and the group's recommendations, Stephen, I sometimes try to leave the familiar paths. Often I find pearls that would otherwise have remained hidden from me.

>202 Berly: Thank you, Kim - we love the calendar too.
The pictures made it a little bit easier for me to cancel my vacation, here it is also beautiful. In everyday life you don't notice that at all.
I thank Linda for her request.

Calendar Update:

- Saturday there was a glas of eggplant rilettes - a very tasty spread.
- Sunday there was a curd stollen - yummy!
- Today we had a little bottle herbs olive oil.

Let's see what else comes....

Curd as in a lemon curd stollen? That sounds good, but I probably wouldn't turn down stollen no matter what it was filled with. I'm glad your calendar is giving such great treats!

I think so, it tastes similar to a Christmas stollen. There are lemon zests in the dough, but no lemon cream. Otherwise there are raisins in it.
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the cut cake, it was very tasty and was gone very quickly ;-).

By the way, today we had butter cookies.

This morning there were tomato chips.
Bread sliced narrowly, covered with pieces of tomato and deliciously seasoned. Then dried in the oven.
We also make those chips ourselves, with ground herbs such as rosemary and salt.

And December had some books:


145. Ein Spiel zuviel / Cover Her Face by P. D. James
German title translated: One game too many
The first book in the Adam Dalgliesh series. A maid is murdered, many in the family have a motive.
Much reminded me of Agatha Christie. nice to read, but no more.

146. 88 Namen / 88 Names by Matt Ruff German title translated: 88 Names
John Chu is a Sherpa, he helps his clients to survive in online games.
But his latest customer is acting strange, should it be North Korea's ruler?
His real life is also in danger.
Well written, but there are better books of Matt Ruff.

147. Erebos / Erebos by Ursula Poznanski
My library now has Part 2, so I thought I should read Part 1 first.
A similar topic to Ruff: A DVD with a computer game is circulating at Nick's school. Neither player talks to anyone else about it. Nick also gets caught up in the game. He is also given jobs that he is supposed to carry out in real life and that affect his game character.
The jobs are becoming more and more dangerous - who is behind the game and what are their goals?
Very exciting and rousing written, in contrast to 88 Names I couldn't put it down.

Morning, Thomas!
Tomato chips do sound good. What's next on the menu?

Oh, your advent calendar and the star cookies are making me SO hungry, Thomas!!

>210 mstrust: I used to go for Sancerre and a nice Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay when I was a little younger but these days I seem to have fallen for the less acidic qualities of Pinot Gris and have enjoyed my trip out of Quarantine with a bottle of it.

Have a great weekend, Thomas.

...have enjoyed my trip out of Quarantine with a bottle of it.
As an internal disinfectant or to use the bottle to beat people away from your shopping cart of toilet paper?
We have stuck to reds for a few years now. Started out with Merlots, then moved to Cabs and Shiraz, now mostly Cabs, Malbecs, and my favorites, "red blends". Yep, currently I'm a sucker for that generic term.

Sorry for the delay, the last few days have been stressful. As always before the vacation.
If you spend the whole day in front of the PC, spending free time at the PC is not so easy.
But now I have found some peace and enjoy the rain ...

>210 mstrust: Morning, Jennifer!
Thursday we had Oatmeal Cookies.
Friday Hummus with paprika
Saturday Sloe liqueur
And today Olive sea salt:


>211 ronincats: So far everything has been very tasty, Roni.
Even the things that I usually don't like so much.
The idea is great, some things that are brought about by CORONA are very positive.

>212 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, have a great weekend too!
I used to only drink dry white wines. We have very good Riesling wines. But in old age I don't sleep so well when I drink white wines. That's why I switched to strong red wines. Mainly from southern Europe. We regularly receive sample packages with 3 bottles of wine from an organic wine trading company. They are really delicious.
Unfortunately our area is not so well suited for these red wines, but there are also a few goodies.
In restaurants I like to be recommended wines and have already been to Chile, California, South Africa ...

>213 mstrust: As an internal disinfectant or to use the bottle to beat people away from your shopping cart of toilet paper?
... oh no, not with a good wine! It's much too good for that.
But I should check my toilet paper, a hard lockdown is planned... - ok, we have enough. And there are alternatives...
Ah Cabernet, Shiraz, Malbec - I'm getting thirsty!
But lunchtime is about to start, I have a bottle of Primitivo open, a delicious Italian wine.

I love seeing all your gourmet goodies! I think the restaurant they came from put a lot of thought into giving some sweet, some salty, some savory...and some liquor to make sure your holiday has some cheer :-D

Yes, and that's why we love to eat there. Next year again....
By the way, today we had apple jelly with cinnamon.
I am already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow morning

And there are also books...


148. Fool on the Hill / Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff
A Greek god who likes to tell stories - with living people.
A dog who is looking for the sky and his best friend, a tomcat.
A storyteller and a dragon.
Goblins, students, policemen, a war, love....
Oh, what to tell, read it yourself. This is my absolute favorite book!

149. Tod in stiller Nacht / I farans riktning by Viveca Sten
English title: In Harm's Way
German title translated: Death in silent night
A journalist is found dead in the snow at Christmas. She was poisoned. Does it have to do with research?
Thomas Andreasson and his team begin to investigate. Does a xenophobic group have something to do with it?
Nora gets into trouble at her bank and has to make a decision.
Sympathetic investigators, a good background story, excitingly written, easy to read.

Yesterday I didn't want to post the contents of the advent calendar, it was too horrible.
Red beet walnut cream - red beet is the only thing I don't like at all - but my wife loves it, so all is good. I tried it, it is probably edible ;-).
Today it was Vanilla Croissant - Yummy.
Now I'm enjoying my quiet vacation at home in lockdown. As of today the shops are closed - groceries and toilet paper are still available - phew!
During the day we are allowed to go for a walk. So that our life doesn't change that much.

>219 SirThomas: Sorry you don't like red beet, Thomas, glad your wife could enjoy twice :-)

We are also in lockdown, that means not much change for me either.
Some big shops are trying to bend the rules in their favour and are partly open, that is annoying. We won't shop there, and I hope most people will do the same.

Not that much has changed for us too - except for the vacation. But we also have a good time here.
And there is also good food.
Yesterday the calendar had wholegrain breadsticks, which are always served as a welcome in the restaurant - we love them.
Today there was Christmas chocolate Yummy!

In our country, too, a drugstore perfume store chain tried to circumvent the rules, but they encountered a lot of resistance and are now keeping all shops closed.

edit: wrong translation

150. How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
A very important book, the author describes everyday racism and its negative effects on all people. Even in places that I had not even thought of. He uses his own biography to explain his journey to becoming an antiracist.
Overall, I had a bit of trouble with his writing style, sometimes it was a bit too sledgehammered for me. But the topic is very important and the book gives a lot of food for thought.

>222 SirThomas: Congratulations on reaching 2 x 75, Thomas!

Well done, Thomas! Have a glass or three of rjoja!

>223 FAMeulstee: Thank you, Anita.

>224 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul - oh that is a good idea, I will follow your advice!

Happy Sunday to you! I very much like the idea of listing a book of the month by alpha order.
You mentioned that you had to downsize your books when you moved to a home with no attic or basement.

When Will and I made the commitment to be together, it meant merging two full houses of stuff. Since Will's passing in 2019, I set the task of going through all paperwork and shredding what is not needed. I am slowly going through my books, and if I haven't read it in a long time, it gets donated to the local library.

While this space has a large attic and very large basement, we were able, for the most part to bring my stuff here, and then slowly go through our collections. I made a dent in the last two years.

I think having larger space only allows us to collect more and more.

I send all good wishes for a wonderful holiday.


Image by Gennady Spirin, one of my favorite illustrators.

I could look at his images all day and never bore. I am trying to collect all his books, and have made good progress.

Thank you so much, Linda!
Our vacation would have ended today, but I don't have to work next week.
It was also very nice at home, we walked a lot and my wife and I are playing together (Rummy and Scrabble). There was also good food - my wife cooks very well (I am the Kitchen helper) and we also took something home from a restaurant a few times, that is allowed.
It was very hard for me to part with books at first, but it's very liberating. We have a bookcase at the railway station where anyone can put books in or take books out. I try to put more in than I take out, I'm doing better and better. And it's a good feeling that someone else will also enjoy the book.
The image is beautiful, I will see if I can find books by him.

And update Time:

calendar:
yesterday we had pickled vegetables
today cantuccini

And there were books, too:


151. Das Glück ist ein Vogerl by Ingrid Kaltenegger
German title translated: Happiness is a bird
Franz is a failed musician who is unhappy as a music teacher. Egon is an old man who mourns his childhood love. When he pushes in front of him and drives off on a red light, he dies.
At a self-discovery seminar, which Franz takes part in for the sake of his wife, in order to save his marriage, Egon's ghost appears to him. This makes his marriage even worse. He tries everything to get rid of Egon, even if it means helping him. Through this he really finds himself.
Black Austrian humor, enjoyable to read.
I became aware of the book because I read an article about it in the newspaper. The movie came on TV. I recorded it, but haven't seen it yet. But I have already finished the book. This is typical for me.


152. Solange es hell ist / While The Light Lasts by Agatha Christie
German title translated: While The Light Lasts
A collection of short stories that read very pleasantly. Hercule Poirot also investigates again.
There's a lot of talk about Agatha Christie in the group right now, so I thought it was a good idea... and it was.


153. Brixton Hill by Zoë Beck
A fire alarm in a high-rise building, a woman jumps out of the window in panic.
Emma is suspected of being to blame. Then she herself gets into danger and starts investigating herself. She gets help from hackers and friends.
Very well and excitingly written, it is hardly noticeable that there are many happy coincidences.
The author was a guest on a radio show, I found her very interesting and looked for books by her. I won't get the current one until next year at the public library, this one is also very good.

Have a good holiday, Thomas!

Thank you Jennifer, I wish you the same!
Unfortunately I can not see the picture, I get a forbidden message.

Update time:
Calendar:
lard with greaves
Grand Marnier truffles (Grand Marnier is a liquor made from cognac and bitter oranges)
Pumpkin Chutney

Book:

154. Erebos 2 by Ursula Poznanski
Erebos is back. Nick is now a student and a photographer. One day he has a new app on his smartphone - Erebos.
He is forced to play again. Again in the virtual and in the real world. But this time the game uses the ubiquity of technical gadgets, it is impossible to hide anything from it.
Again very exciting, but the scheme is very similar to the first volume.

>230 SirThomas: Hopefully I've fixed it.
Mmmm, truffles!

Thank you, Jennifer - it works now.
I loved candy canes as a child, I should try again...

Today we opened the last package of our Advent calendar:
A jar of gingerbread and a small bag.
We enjoyed the treats very much and hope that next year without pandemic there will also be a culinary advent calendar

I wish you all and yours a Merry Christmas and a peaceful time, remain healthy and full of hope.

Hi Thomas. Wishing you peace, joy and happiness this holiday season and best wishes for the New Year!

Thomas--Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
May 2021 bring you less need for masks, loads of peace and joy, good health and, of course, books!

I hope you get some of those at least, Thomas, as we all look forward to a better 2021.

>235 lkernagh: Thank you, Lori, the same to you.

>236 Berly: Thank you, Kim, this is what we need. I hope the new year brings out this for you too.

>237 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul - I think I will have all of them - here and in every day life. I wish you the same.

The signs for a better 2021 are good, vaccinations have begun. I hope for the spring.

At the moment I have slight problems with reading. In my right eye I have a lot of deposits that disturb my field of vision. Yesterday I went to the ophthalmologist, thank God it is not a retinal detachment, but a sign of aging. He thinks it will get better by itself, I have to be patient.
After I started a book with 1024 pages at the end of the year, I will probably not finish it until 2021. Then the year already starts well ;-).
2020 is nevertheless my best reading year so far.

>239 SirThomas: Sorry you have trouble reading, Thomas.
I think you mean floaters (Wikipedia link)?
I first noticed floaters in my early 40s, they are annoying. Since I know what they are I succeeded more ignoring them on most days.

Sorry to hear you're having vision problems but I'm glad the problem should be clearing up.
I really enjoyed following along with your advent calendar and seeing all the delicious things you opened.
I wish you a very Happy New Year!

>240 FAMeulstee: Yes, that's it, Anita.
They come from the fact that due to age the vitreous body of the eye is broken, therefore there are the deposits and also small hemorrhages. At first I was scared, after the doctor's visit it is just annoying. I will get used to it yet.

>241 mstrust: Thank you Jennifer.
We went again today and got some food for the weekend. They told us they already have ideas for the 2021 calendar - we're excited!

I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Since I won't get to read much today, it's time for the year's statistics - not so bad after all, all in all...

December:
Books read: 10
Pages read: 4,055 (longest 594 / shortest 223 / average 406)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Austria: 3 / 3 / 2
England: 2 / 2 / 2
Germany: 1 / 1 / 1
Sweden: 1 / 1 / 1
USA: 3 / 3 / 2

Sum: 10 / 10 / 8

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 7 / 7 / 6
male authors: 3 / 3 / 2

alive authors: 8 / 8 / 6
dead authors: 2 / 2 / 2

date first published:
1960-1969: 1
1980-1989: 1
1990-1999: 1
2010-2019: 6
2020-2020: 1

And the whole year:

Books read: 153 (only finished books)
Pages read: 51,182 (longest 1,056 / shortest 32 / average 335)

Personal rating:
average rating
highest rating
lowest rating

Author nationalities:

Australia: 1 / 1 / 1
Austria: 10 / 10 / 5
China: 1 / 1 / 1
England: 34 / 34 / 18
France: 3 / 3 / 2
Germany: 45 / 40 / 42
Hungary 1 / 1 / 1
Ireland: 2 / 2 / 2
Italia: 1 / 1 / 1
Netherlands: 1 / 1 / 1
Norway: 1 / 0 / 1
Russia: 1 / 1 / 1
Scotland: 2 / 2 / 2
Spain: 1 / 1 / 1
Sweden: 15 / 14 / 8
Switzerland: 2 / 2 / 2
USA: 51 / 47 / 36

Sum: 173 / 162 / 126

Counting mode: All authors of the books / Main Author(s) or Editor(s) per book / Only different authors

Gender:
female authors: 55 / 52 / 37
male authors: 117 / 109 / 88

alive authors: 127 / 116 / 95
dead authors: 45 / 45 / 30
n/a: 1 / 1 / 1

date first published:
1920-1929: 3
1930-1939: 2
1940-1949: 4
1950-1959: 3
1960-1969: 6
1970-1979: 5
1980-1989: 11
1990-1999: 18
2000-2009: 29
2010-2019: 64
2020-2020: 11

>243 SirThomas: Always love to see your stats, Thomas, mine will be up in a few minutes :-)

Thomas

As the year turns, friendship continues

Thank you, Anita and Paul.
I hope, you had a good slide into the new year!

Talking about 2021 - my new thread is open:
(Sir)Thomas way through 2021 with friends and books