Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2023.

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars

I bought a copy of this book online, I use AbeBooks and zvab.com to buy used/rare books.

I recently (note: March 2023) acquired a copy of a first edition of this book, published in 1918, and being able to hold and leaf through a first edition of any book adds immensly to the pleasure of reading said book.

This book contains love poems, translated into English by Edward Powys Mathers, from various Asian countries. They allow glimpses into different cultures, which I find very interesting.

I quite liked some of the poems, but I have to admit that the book doesn’t contain a single poem which I truly loved. My favourite is a very short poem, “Grief,” translated “from the Persian of Schahid (10th Century)”, p.41: “If grief like fire should give out smoke / Ever it would be night on earth.

Update March 2024: I recently learned that Mathers wrote a few original poems for this book, which he published anonymously under fake names. In the book, he claims that they are all original Asiatic Love Poems, and he only translated them. I love the fact that Powers snuck a few original poems into this collection of poems by other authors.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2023.

My rating: 5 (of 5) “stars”

I bought a used copy online, at AbeBooks or zvab.com. It was first published in 1930 by T. Werner Laurie Ltd.

Let me quote from Bentley’s Wikipedia entry: “Edmund Clerihew Bentley (10 July 1875 – 30 March 1956), who generally published under the names E. C. Bentley or E. Clerihew Bentley, was a popular English novelist and humorist, and inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics..”

And that’s what this book is. A collection of humorous verse about famous people.

My copy of the book has no publication date, but I believe it was published in 1905. It’s truly a wonderful book. Buy a used copy, if you can, from 1905. It contains 40 illustrations by G. K. Chesterton.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2023.

My rating: 4 (of 5) “stars”

I bought a used copy online, at AbeBooks or zvab.com – I can’t remember. The book was first published privately in 1902, I bought a copy which was published in 1908.

Robert H. Sherard, who wrote this biography of Oscar Wilde, was a friend of Wilde’s, and he paints a favourable portrait of his friend, but also writes about their falling-out at the end of Wilde’s life.

Sherard writes about Wilde’s trial, but only alludes to the reason for this trial. He refers to Wilde’s “aberration,” and it’s easy to fill in the gaps, but it’s still strange to read a biography about a writer in which everything that matters is left unsaid.

The book was first published as a privately printed edition in 1902; Sherard chose this “discreet method of publication” so as “to afford no opportunity by causing a public revival of attention to his name, for those unjust reprisals upon his kinsfolk to which humanity, in this, as in every similar case, needs but the pretext of an incitement.” This prefatory note to the first edition was re-printed in the first popular edition, published in 1908, of which I own a copy.

I think it’s interesting that but six years after he offered a privately printed edition for sale to a small circle of readers, this consideration no longer seemed to apply. Had public opinion changed so much in just a few years? Or did he no longer care about causing distress to Wilde’s family? Did Sherard long for a best-seller? Or had Wilde’s name been rehabilitated by then? I think those are the best books – the ones that make you ask questions long after you’ve finished reading them, and you want to know more. This is one of those books.

My rating: 5 (of 5) “stars”

Ich habe ein Exemplar des Buches daheim, es wurde im Jahr 1969 vom Verlag St. Benno in Leipzig veröffentlicht. Heute kann man das Buch nur mehr antiquarisch erwerben, z. B. von zvab.com.

Resümee:

Ein liebevoll gestalteter Gedichtband über Blumen, mit zahlreichen Illustrationen.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2023.

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars”

Das Buch wurde im Jahr 1956 vom Buchverlag Neues Österreich veröffentlicht. Ich habe ein Exemplar daheim, das ich geerbt und jetzt zum ersten Mal gelesen habe.

Ein äußerst unterhaltsamer Ernährungsratgeber, der im Jahr 1956 veröffentlicht wurde. Das Wort Diät wird synonym mit “Ernährungsweise” verwendet. Nur ca. 70 Seiten (von 331 Seiten) sind der kalorienreduzierten Diät gewidmet (“Rund um die ‘Linie'”).

Das Buch reflektiert den Wissensstand der Ernährungswissenschaft vor 65 Jahren — vieles ist veraltet. Aber “Dr. Juvenal” (das Autorenpseudonym eines Arztes) empfahl damals schon eine vorwiegend vegetarische Diät und schreibt auch sehr positiv über eine vegane Ernährung.

Die im Titel des Buches erwähnte “Verjüngung” bezieht sich insbesondere auf die Verkalkung der Arterien, die laut Dr. Juvenal vor allem durch tierische Lebensmittel hervorgerufen wird. Insofern ist dieses Buch auch heute noch (oder schon wieder?) hochaktuell.

Mir gefällt an diesem Buch aber vor allem, dass der Autor zahlreiche Zitate einfliessen lässt, die Entwicklung der Ernährungswissenschaft beschreibt und die Leserinnen und Leser schonungslos darauf aufmerksam macht, dass sie für ihre Gesundheit selbst verantwortlich sind. Der Autor nimmt an, dass das Buch von intelligenten Menschen gelesen wird, was heutzutage sehr selten ist.

Da das Buch so alt ist, wird viel über die “Hausfrau” geschrieben und es gibt ein paar Passagen, die man heutzutage als sexistisch bezeichnen würde. Ich bin beim Lesen auch über die Bezeichnung “afrikanische N****” gestolpert. Aber das Buch stammt aus einer anderen Zeit, es ist ein Zeitdokument und muss als solches gelesen und bewertet werden, heute ist man diesbezüglich sensibler.

Alles in Allem fand ich das Buch trotz seines Alters sehr informativ und unterhaltsam.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2022.

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars”

I own a paperback copy of this book, which was published by Penguin Random House in 2005.

A very violent story, and utterly depressing. I started reading this book three years ago, but had to put it down after reading just a couple of chapters. It was just too depressing. The poverty, and acts of violence and neglect, horrific acts of animal cruelty described in this book — I just couldn’t stomach it. I finally picked the book up again three days ago (note: in February 2022) and started over. It’s a good book, no doubt about it. But “A Star called Henry” is Volume One in a trilogy, and after finishing this book, I have no desire to read volumes two and three. The story starts out strong, but it kind of fizzles out in the last few chapters, which are far less interesting than the first few chapters. And that’s why I’m giving the book a three-star rating.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2022.

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars”

I borrowed a copy from a library, you can buy it from the publisher, John Wiley & Sons.

Interesting subject matter, lots of information; but not an easy read for someone without prior IT knowledge. As an introduction into the subject matter, another book with less detailed information would probably have been a better choice for me.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2022.

My rating: 2 (of 5) “stars”

Ich habe mir das Buch aus einer Bibliothek ausgeborgt, es wurde im Jahr 2020 vom Verlag Jung und Jung veröffentlicht.

Die Figuren wurden mir mit jeder Kurzgeschichte unsympathischer und ich musste mich sehr zwingen, das Buch zu Ende zu lesen. Die Geschichten sind großteils realitätsfremd (mit Traumsequenzen bzw. Fantasyelementen) und ziemlich absurd, vor allem aber – langweilig.

Ich habe mich beim Lesen wirklich sehr gelangweit.

Ich vergebe trotzdem zwei “Sterne”, weil ich zumindest die Konzeption des Buches originell finde: Es handelt sich um eine Sammlung von Kurzgeschichten mit jeweils den gleichen zwei Personen. Es gibt keine logische Reihenfolge, die Geschichten stehen in keiner Beziehung zueinander. Das finde ich originell, aber die Umsetzung dieser Idee ist meiner Meinung nach nicht gelungen.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2023.

My rating: 5 (of 5) “stars”

I was given a paperback copy as a Christmas gift a few years ago, and only got around to reading it in 2023. The book was published by Headline Publishing in 2005.

I loved it. Bacall’s autobiography (“By Myself”) was first published in 1978, when she was 54 years old. 27 years later she wrote an additional 90 pages (“And Then Some”), and they both were published as one book in 2005, when she was 81 years old.

The second part of her autobiography is more wistful and emanates sadness; over the years she had to mourn the deaths of ever more family members and friends, and she became very aware of the fact that she herself had little time left. She died in 2014, a few weeks shy of her 90th birthday.

I’d never before read an autobiography where you could witness the writer’s aging process in quite the same way, but because “By Myself and Then Some” was written at different stages in her life, 27 years apart, you get a glimpse of Bacall’s life and personality at different stages in her life, and watch her age while you read the book. It’s truly fascinating.