BOOK GIFTS!

We love books! We recently discovered the wonderful book podcast “Seitenloge” and reported on it (click here for the article → New podcasts). “Seitenloge” is run by Katja Neugirg from Regensburg, who talks about her great passion: Books, books, books! Katja herself is a trained bookseller, worked for many years in London for German publishers and now has her own agency for sales and marketing for publishers. And she also has a book podcast. We met her in the fall to talk about books and are now delighted that Katja Neugirg is writing about books for us as a guest author. So if you are looking for book tips for Christmas presents, please click here:

Open sea

The book “Open Sea” by Benjamin Myers is about 16-year-old Robert, who grows up in a mining village in England during the Second World War. His grandfathers and fathers all worked in the mines and his path in life is also mapped out: he knows that one day he too will earn his living underground. But first he sets off on foot to see the sea. He has been interested in nature from an early age, watching birds, fishing and climbing trees. Robert earns his living as a day laborer along the way, sleeping in abandoned huts or old barns. One day, just before he reaches the sea, he meets Dulcie, an elderly woman on an overgrown plot of land, who invites him in for a cup of tea. Dulcie is very different from the women back home: she is unmarried and her views on marriage, family and religion are quite unconventional. She lives with her dog in a weather-beaten, somewhat run-down cottage in the middle of the overgrown grounds. If the bushes weren’t so overgrown, you could see the sea. Robert offers Dulcie his help in return for a place to sleep and meals together on the terrace. They become friends and Robert comes into contact with art, painting and poetry for the first time. He takes a liking to the books Dulcie picks out for him and discovers his love of literature. One day, when he suggests trimming the hedge so that they can look out over the open sea, Dulcie reacts very dismissively, and even when he discovers a manuscript dedicated to her in an old hut on the property, she wants nothing to do with it. Over the course of the summer, Robert learns a lot about life and human relationships. Benjamin Myers’ language is very poetic and visually powerful. The story is rather unexciting, but the book is carried by the wonderful descriptions of the northern English landscape and the friendship that develops between Dulcie and Robert and that changes both their lives. And: it is a timeless book. A very pleasant read! Benjamin Myers, Open Sea | DuMont Verlag

A Sunday with Elena

is the title of Fabio Geda’s very touching novel. The first-person narrator is the daughter of an elderly gentleman whose wife died recently and who has been trying to live his life without her ever since. He used to be a successful architect, traveled a lot and his marriage was very happy. One Sunday morning, he starts cooking an old family recipe from his late wife’s cookbook. He has invited his eldest daughter and her family to lunch; of his three children, he still has the most contact with her. She cancels shortly beforehand. He then goes for a walk in the park and meets Elena and her son. He spontaneously invites them to his home for dinner. Elena tells him about her life and her worries – she became a widow at a very young age, is a single mother and has financial problems. Elena, her son and the elderly gentleman spend the day together and enjoy each other’s company. In flashbacks, we learn a lot about the gentleman’s earlier life, including the fact that he has broken off contact with his youngest daughter, the first-person narrator. The reader only finds out how life has changed for Elena and the older man as a result of their meeting at the end of the story.
It is a subtle book that makes you think and sometimes makes you a little sad. A beautiful story with a harmonious and hopeful ending – just the thing for a few hours of reading on a Sunday afternoon! Fabio Geda, A Sunday with Elena | hanserblau

With a view of the sea

Elisabeth Strout’s latest book has been on the Spiegel bestseller list for several weeks now. A friend recommended the previous title, “With a View of the Sea”, to me. The novel is set in Crosby, a small American town on the coast of Maine. The protagonist of the book is Olive, a retired math teacher who has a very definite opinion of everyone who lives in her town and who, it seems, leaves no good hair on anyone’s head. As the book progresses, you get to know the many facets of her character: from nasty and angry to funny and kind. The stories of many other inhabitants of the small town are told around Olive’s life. You learn that nothing is as it seems and that everyone has their own baggage to carry. This small town could be anywhere in the world. And in the end, Olive learns to love life after all. A very touching novel that demonstrates the author’s great sensitivity and arouses curiosity about her latest book entitled “The Long Evenings”. There you can find out what happens next with Olive.
Elisabeth Strout, Mit Blick aufs Meer | btb Taschenbuch

The village in the red woods

Canadian author Louise Penny writes thrilling crime novels set in a small (fictional) Canadian town called Three Pines. The investigator is Armand Gamache, the police chief of Québec. The inhabitants are all likeable and some a little quirky, and Three Pines is a place you can imagine living in, even if there are always murders…This crime series is exciting, intelligent and humorous, but not bloodthirsty. The title of the first volume is “The Village in the Red Woods”. If you read it, you will get to know and love Three Pines and the team around Inspector Gamache.
Louise Penny, The Village in the Red Woods | Kampa Verlag

Dear Katja, thank you very much for the great tips!
Click here for Katja’s “side box”

♥ Dear readers, have fun discovering and please buy from your local bookstore ♥

Katja Neugirg from the book podcast Seitenloge

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