Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2021.

Meine Bewertung: 5 (of 5) “stars”

Ich habe das im Jahr 1993 vom Reclam-Verlag veröffentlichte Buch aus der Reihe “Universal-Bibilothek” erst vor ein paar Jahren in meiner lokalen Buchhandlung gekauft. Seltsamerweise wird es auf der Webseite des Verlags nicht aufgelistet. Aber man kann es auf jeden Fall noch antiquarisch kaufen, z. B. auf zvab.com.

Ein wirklich exzellentes Buch bzw. Reclam-Heft. Ich habe teilweise sogar die Fußnoten gelesen, was ich nur selten mache. Das Buch ist sehr informativ und der Autor vermittelt sein Wissen auf eine unterhaltsame und spannende Art und Weise. Zum Wiederlesen.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2020.

My rating: 2 (of 5) “stars”

I read a copy of this book which originally belonged to a friend who passed it on to me. I didn’t keep it, but put it into a public bookcase after I finished reading it.

Unhappily divorced with children, and whining about it. That just about sums up the story of this book. Nothing big happens – nothing much happens at all, actually. I was bored for 300+ pages; then, in Part III of the book, the writer tells the ex-wife’s point of view of the breakdown of Toby’s and Rachel’s marriage, and all of a sudden I’m reading a different book. The first two parts of this book focus on Toby’s story, and he’s just not a very interesting character. My advice: read the third part of the book first, then start at the beginning.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2019.

Meine Bewertung: 3 (of 5) “stars”

Ich habe eine im Jahr 1994 veröffentlichte Taschenbuch-Ausgabe des Scherz-Verlags gelesen, die ich mir vor vielen Jahren irgendwann einmal gekauft habe. Diese Ausgabe des Buches kann man heute nur noch antiquarisch kaufen, aber es gibt viele andere Editionen.

Die Story ist originell und es gibt auch ein paar gute mehrdimensionale Figuren. Aber die meisten der Figuren, die in diesem Buch vorkommen, sind (unbeabsichtigt) hart an der Grenze zur Karikatur. Ich habe das Buch vor vielen Jahren zuletzt gelesen – damals fiel mir noch nicht auf, wie viele Klischees über England und die Briten Agatha Christie in ihren Büchern bedient. Ich finde das heute nicht mehr charmant, sondern nervtötend. Aber “Das Eulenhaus” wurde im Jahr 1946 erstmals veröffentlicht, da bin ich nachsichtig und werde das Buch deshalb behalten und nicht ausmisten (wie einige andere Bücher von dieser Autorin).

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2019.

Meine Bewertung: 3 (of 5) “stars”

Ich habe eine im Jahr 1977 veröffentlichte Taschenbuch-Ausgabe des Scherz-Verlags gelesen, die ich mir vor vielen Jahren irgendwann einmal gekauft hatte. Diese Ausgabe des Buches kann man heute nur noch antiquarisch kaufen, aber es gibt viele andere Editionen.

Great title, and a nice solution to the crime, but the story’s fairly thin. There’s a lot of talk about people’s memories, and there are many conversations about past events – but that’s about it. I liked the book when I was younger, but when I re-read it recently, I was utterly bored and almost didn’t finish it. Some of Agatha Christie’s books hold up well, but others don’t. This book (first published in 1972) ended up on my trash pile (donated to a retirement home).

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2018.

My rating: 5 (of 5) “stars”

I borrowed a copy of this book years ago from a family member….and never returned it. It still sits on my bookshelf :). Here’s a link to the author’s website.

I re-read this book slowly (note: in 2018), which is an early edition from 2009 (available in an updated edition). Some chapters are a bit outdated, but it’s still very relevant. I intend to read an updated edition next year. David Meerman Scott has a common sense approach to marketing and public relations, which I love.

Please note: I first published this book review on the “Goodreads”-website in 2016. (I can’t remember why I wrote the review in English – I read a German-language edition of the book.)

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars”

Ich habe eine Hardcover-Kopie dieses Buches des Limes Verlags vor ein paar Jahren als Geburtstagsgeschenk bekommen, das Buch wird auf der Verlagsseite nicht mehr geführt. Es ist aber antiquarisch noch erhältlich, z. B. von zvab.com.

Miranda Richmond Mouillot is a good writer. She draws you into the story, and you just don’t want to put the book down. The book is part autobiography, and part biography, which works very well. Miranda tries to investigate the story behind her grandparents’ marriage and acrimonious divorce. Her own life is influenced by this investigation. Unfortunately, the book’s ending is anticlimactic. There’s such a huge build-up throughout the book in regards to her grandparents’ story that you expect…more. I enjoyed reading the book, but it’s one of those books that you read only once.

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

My rating: 3 (of 5) “stars”

I read a hardcover copy of this book, which previously belonged to a friend who cleaned out her library. I’ve now done the same thing, and passed the book on to another friend. The book was published in 2001 by Gefen Publishing House. You can still buy used copies of this book online, e. g., at AbeBooks.

Before I post my “Goodreads” review from March 30, 2023, I want to clarify a few things about my review. It was written during a time of political unrest in Israel, but before the heinous October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel. Let there be no doubt about my point of view: I unequivocally support Israel. Hamas are terrorists, not Palestinian freedom fighters.

Book Review:

I actually finished reading this book a few weeks ago (note: before March 2023), but wasn’t sure what I would want to write about in my review. Here it is:

The book tells the story of a 1976 rescue operation by an Israeli elite military unit of more than one hundred hostages, who were held captive by Palestinian and German terrorists at the airport of Entebbe, Uganda. The terrorists hijacked a French airplane, and kept the hostages in an old airport building at Entebbe. The Ugandan army helped the terrorists.

The Israeli rescue operation was daring, and a success, but the Israeli military unit’s commander, Yoni Netanyahu, was killed during the rescue mission. I’m not telling you any spoilers, all that information is printed on the book’s dust jacket.

The book was written by Yoni’s brother Iddo Netanyahu, another brother is the current (in 2023) Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The writer recounts in detail the preparation for this mission, which – as a reader, and not as a military analyst – I wouldn’t have needed to be told in such detail. I would have preferred more information about Yoni Netanyahu as a person: more childhood stories, more personal information, etc. That’s why I am only giving this book three “stars.”

But….

I pulled this book from my bookshelf – never having read it before, it ended up in my personal library when a friend got rid of it several years ago – when the Israeli people started to protest en masse against the judicial reforms in Israel at the beginning of 2023, which would weaken the country’s democratic structures and put Israel on a path towards dictatorship. The reforms were intitiated by the late Yoni Netanyahu’s brother, Benjamin, and while I was reading this book, I couldn’t help thinking over and over again, “Is this what Yoni died for?”

My personal impression is that, were he alive today, Yoni would be very ashamed of the actions of his brother Benjamin. To give your own life for Israel is heroic, and his death was a tragedy. But for me as a reader, it is mind-blowing that almost 50 years later the dead soldier’s brother is the greatest danger to the democratic state of Israel.

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

My rating: 5 (of 5) “stars”

I love the poetry of Robert Frost, and I love this book.

This book was published by The Nature Company in 1992, you can still buy used copies, e. g. on AbeBooks. The Nature Company was founded in 1972, and purchased by the Discovery Channel in 1996. The book doesn’t have an ISBN.

Much care was put into editing and illustrating this book, as well as the slipcase cover – it’s a joy to hold it, read the poems, and look at the photographs, paintings, and drawings chosen to interpret and highlight the moods and emotions of Frost’s poems.

I bought this book many years ago as a present for my mother, who passed away in 2021. After her death, I inherited her library, and this book connects me to her and a joyful time in my life in the 1990s, when I lived, studied, and worked in Los Angeles. Reading this book evokes all kinds of memories, all good, and I guess that’s partly the reason why I cherish it so much.

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 via Amazon UK, which was basically self-published by the author, Robin Farrar Maass. SparkPress is officially listed as the publisher, but authors have to finance the printing of their books themselves. SparkPress offers a few extra services, and the company describes itself as a hybrid publisher.

I originally awarded this book only 2 “stars”, but I’ve since upgraded my rating to 3 “stars.” I do think the author did an excellent job self-publishing and promoting her book, and I don’t only want to rate the story, but the whole “package,” especially if an author self-publishes.

I love the idea of incorporating a real book about the language of flowers into a story, and making that language part of the plot. That’s why I bought this book, and I think that the author succeeds in incorporating the language of flowers into the plot.

However, ….

I guessed the secret at the heart of this story and major plot points well in advance, and that’s a major flaw of this book. I was bored from page one — when I guessed the secret — all through to the end. The writer foreshadows each plot point, but unfortunately not subtly enough, so I could easily guess well in advance what would happen next – and it did.

The story lacks a strong antagonist; there’s a subplot which doesn’t amount to much, and is fairly easily resolved at the end. The “villain” of that subplot is a fairly ridiculous figure, and the subplot isn’t incorporated well into the story; it’s hinted at in the early chapters of the book, but then all but disappears until the final chapters, when it’s put front and center. This story structure didn’t work for me.

The book’s characters aren’t particularly complex figures, they don’t have many layers to them. I wasn’t interested in any of them as people, and they won’t linger in my mind now that I’ve finished reading the book.

There’s one character, Elizabeth Blackspear, a deceased poet and garden designer, whose life and a secret about her life are at the center of this novel. Yet I never quite believed that she supposedly was a famous garden designer or a world-renowned poet – the poetry, writen by the novel’s author – didn’t impress me all that much, and even all the detailed descriptions of the two gardens designed by her didn’t convince me that she supposedly was some sort of female Lancelot “Capability” Brown.

The book’s dialogue is another weakness, it’s on-the-nose: there’s no subtlety to it. Most of the time, the characters basically say what they mean, and mean what they say.

There’s one additional element which ruined the book for me, and that’s the author’s decision to tell her story in present tense. I would’ve preferred it if the story had been told in past tense. The story takes place in 1952, 2009, and 2014 — and it’s all told in present tense. That’s just weird, and I hated it. But of course that’s a personal preference/dislike, other readers might enjoy this particular creative choice.

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

Meine Bewertung: 3 (of 5) “stars”

Ich habe mir eine Kopie des Buches aus einer Bibliothek ausgeborgt, das Buch wurde im Jahr 2018 vom Verlag Kremayr & Scheriau veröffentlicht.

Mir hat die Geschichte gut gefallen, zumindest bis zu dem Moment, in dem sich die Hauptfigur des Romans, Anselm, auf eine Reise nach China begibt, um eine Orchidee zu suchen. Davor liegt der Fokus ganz stark auf Anselm und seiner Besessenheit mit Orchideen.

Auf der Schiffsreise geht es plötzlich um ganz andere Dinge, und das hat mich ganz herausgerissen aus der Geschichte; den Rest der Erzählung fand ich dann nicht mehr so spannend, da war für mich einfach ein Bruch da, den die Autorin nicht mehr überwinden konnte.

Eine andere Leserin hat in ihrer “Goodreads”-Review die Sätze als “überladen” bezeichnet, und das empfand ich eigentlich auch.

Trotzdem insgesamt ein lesenswertes Buch.