Anita (FAMeulstee) keeps on going where the books take her in 2020 (2)

Welcome to my second 2020 thread!

I am Anita Meulstee, 57, married with Frank since 1984. We live in Lelystad, the Netherlands. We both love modern art and books.
I read (almost) everything, from childrens and YA books to more serious literature, mysteries, historical fiction, fantasy and I try not to forget to throw some non-fiction into the mix.

Last month we went to the Aat Veldhoen exhibition, here one of his paintings.

Aat Veldhoen - Kabul with child (1971)

Kabul was his second wife, she was born in Cambodia and came as refugee to our country.
(not my picture)

total books read in 2020: 68
11 own / 57 library

total pages read in 2020: 22,804

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currently reading:
De vertellingen van duizend-en-één nacht vertaald door Richard van Leeuwen, 3215 pages, started 2020-01-01
Ideeën van Multatuli. Eerste bundel by Mutatuli, 783 pages, started 2020-01-03

books read in March 2020 (22 books, 6,670 pages, 6 own / 16 library)
book 68: Platero en ik (Platero and I) by Juan Ramón Jiménez, 190 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 234)
book 67: De avond is ongemak (The Discomfort of Evening) by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, 271 pages, TIOLI #6 (msg 233)
book 66: Moord op de moestuin by Nicolien Mizee, 239 pages, TIOLI #6 (msg 232)
book 65: Wie wat vindt heeft slecht gezocht by Rutger Kopland, 48 pages, TIOLI #10 (msg 231)
book 64: Het rad van fortuin by Thea Beckman, 336 pages (msg 216)
book 63: Triomf van de verschroeide aarde by Thea Beckman, 320 pages (msg 216)
book 62: Geef me de ruimte! by Thea Beckman, 300 pages (msg 216)
book 61: Muizen en mensen (Of Mice and Men) by John Steinbeck, 135 pages, TIOLI #2 (msg 215)
book 60: Klopjacht (Blood sport) by Dick Francis, 209 pages (msg 214)
book 59: De Hunnen by Jan Cremer, 1419 pages, TIOLI #6 (msg 213)
book 58: Het lijden van de jonge Werther (The Sorrows of Young Werther) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 176 pages, TIOLI #6 (msg 212)
book 57: Reis door Armenië (An Armenian sketchbook) by Vasili Grossman, 176 pages, TIOLI #15 (msg 211)
book 56: Spinoza by Theun de Vries, 239 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 210)
book 55: Vuurtorenwachter (The Lost Boy) by Camilla Läckberg, 425 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 150)
book 54: Zweedse laarzen (After the Fire) by Henning Mankell, 414 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 148)
book 53: De H is van havik (H is for hawk) by Helen Macdonald, 350 pages, TIOLI #7 (msg 147)
book 52: Het water komt by Rutger Bregman, 48 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 146)
book 51: Italiaanse schoenen (Italian Shoes) by Henning Mankell, 344 pages, TIOLI #15 (msg 140)
book 50: Een jihad van liefde by Mohamed el Bachiri, 93 pages (msg 138)
book 49: De ontsnapping van de natuur by Thomas Oudman & Theunis Piersma, 256 pages, TIOLI #3 (msg 136)
book 48: De tuin (The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature's Secret Signs) by Peter Wohlleben, 208 pages, TIOLI #3 (msg 135)
book 47: De jungleboeken (The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book) by Rudyard Kipling, 474 pages (msg 134)

books read in February 2020 (20 books, 7,098 pages, 4 own / 16 library)
book 46: De laatste betovering (The last enchantment) by Mary Stewart, 405 pages, TIOLI #7 (msg 103)
book 45: Grand Guignol by Louis Ferron, 53 pages, TIOLI #15 (msg 102)
book 44: Er is geen daar daar (There There) by Tommy Orange, 319 pages, TIOLI #17 (msg 101)
book 43: De laatste der Mohikanen (The Last of the Mohicans) by James Fenimore Cooper, 391 pages, TIOLI #1 (msg 100)
book 42: De geschikte jongen (A Suitable Boy) by Vikram Seth, 1366 pages, TIOLI #1 (msg 90)
book 41: De wind in de wilgen (The Wind in the Willows) by Kenneth Grahame, 201 pages (msg 88)
book 40: Duister glas (Through a Glass, Darkly) by Donna Leon, 300 pages, TIOLI #7 (msg 87)
book 39: Ondergeschikt (Inferior) by Angela Saini, 304 pages, TIOLI #1 (msg 86)
book 38: Buzz Aldrin, waar ben je gebleven? (Buzz Aldrin, what happened to you in all the confusion?) by Johan Harstad, 478 pages, TIOLI #11 (msg 85)
book 37: Tot in de hemel (The overstory) by Richard Powers, 603 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 84)
book 36: De Engelse patiënt (The English Patient) by Michael Ondaatje, 262 pages, TIOLI #2 (msg 54)
book 35: Doodgeverfd (In the Frame) by Dick Francis, 234 pages, TIOLI #3 (msg 53)
book 34: De zeven gehangenen (The Seven Who Were Hanged) by Leonid Andrejev, 141 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 52)
book 33: De dood van Murat Idrissi (The death of Murat Idrissi) by Tommy Wieringa, 125 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 51)
book 32: De buitenjongen (The Wild Boy) by Paolo Cognetti, 158 pages, TIOLI #1 (msg 50)
book 31: Schaduw van de vos (Shadow of the Fox) by Julie Kagawa, 414 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 49)
book 30: Spaar de spotvogel (To kill a mockingbird) by Harper Lee, 412 pages, TIOLI #13 (msg 32)
book 29: Het meisje in de toren (The girl in the tower) by Katherine Arden, 389 pages, TIOLI #7 (msg 31)
book 28: De beer en de nachtegaal (The bear and the nightingale) by Katherine Arden, 352 pages (msg 29)
book 27: Oorlogsvlieger (Flight to Arras) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 191 pages, TIOLI #16 (msg 28)

March 2020 reading plans
De vertellingen van duizend-en-één nacht translated by Richard van Leeuwen, 3,215 pages (118/3,215)
Ideeën by Mutatuli, 3,846 pages (201/3,846)

TIOLI March 2020
#1 Read a book of fiction about a clash of cultures
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#2: Read a book for the March Semi-Rolling Challenge
- Muizen en mensen (Of Mice and Men) - John Steinbeck, 135 pages (e-library)
#3: Read a book honoring Plant a Seed Day
- De tuin (The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature's Secret Signs) - Peter Wohlleben, 208 pages (e-library)
- De ontsnapping van de natuur - Thomas Oudman & Theunis Piersma, 256 pages (e-library)
#4: Read a book with a word in the title that is often misused or misspelled
-
#5: Read a book you've had in the house or on your e-device since before Jan 1, 2020
-
#6: Read a book where the final page count of the story portion of the book is an odd number
- De avond is ongemak (The Discomfort of Evening) - Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, 271 pages (library)
- De Hunnen - Jan Cremer, 1419 pages (e-library)
- Het lijden van de jonge Werther (The Sorrows of Young Werther) - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 176 pages (library)
- Moord op de moestuin - Nicolien Mizee, 239 pages (library)
- Platero en ik (Platero and I) - Juan Ramón Jiménez, 190 pages
#7: Read a book focused around some sort of physical activity, eg sports, dance
- De H is van havik (H is for hawk) - Helen Macdonald, 350 pages (library)
#8: Read a book with a title including a mathematical or astronomical term.
-
#9: Read a book with a baseball connection
-
#10: Tour de Suisse by adding the read pages to the Swiss postal code
- Wie wat vindt heeft slecht gezocht - Rutger Kopland, 48 pages
#11: Read a Non Fiction book by a woman about a woman, a group of women or a woman's issue
-
#12: Read an anthology of genre fiction
-
#13: Read a book with a punny title
-
#14: Read a book about women who broke a glass ceiling
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#15: Read a book with a country in the title
- Reis door Armenië (An Armenian sketchbook) - Vasili Grossman, 176 pages (library)
- Italiaanse schoenen (Italian Shoes) - Henning Mankell, 344 pages (e-library)
#16: March birthstone challenge - read a book with an aquamarine cover
- Spinoza - Theun de Vries, 239 pages (library)
- Vuurtorenwachter (The Lost Boy) - Camilla Läckberg, 425 pages (e-library)
- Het water komt - Rutger Bregman, 48 pages
- Zweedse laarzen (After the Fire) - Henning Mankell, 414 pages (e-library)
#17: Read a book with a Founding Father or Another honored in DC
-

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TIOLI February 2020
#1: Read a book whose first word of the first paragraph starts with a vowel
- De buitenjongen (The Wild Boy) - Paolo Cognetti, 158 pages (library)
- De geschikte jongen (A Suitable Boy) - Vikram Seth, 1366 pages
- Ondergeschikt (Inferior) - Angela Saini, 304 pages (library)
- De laatste der Mohikanen (The Last of the Mohicans) - James Fenimore Cooper, 391 pages (e-library)
#2: Read a book for the February CFF Mystery Challenge Challenge
- De Engelse patiënt (The English Patient) - Michael Ondaatje, 262 pages (library)
#3: Read a book with a cover showing something you can wear on your face
- Doodgeverfd (In the Frame) - Dick Francis, 234 pages (library)
#4: Read a book which has one of the 32 NFL team names in the title
-
#5: Read a book with the word 'night' or 'sleep' in the title, or a night-time image on the cover, or is set largely at night
-
#6: Read a book by an author we lost in 2019
-
#7: Read the next book in a series by a woman author
- Duister glas (Through a Glass, Darkly) - Donna Leon, 300 pages (library)
- Het meisje in de toren (The girl in the tower) - Katherine Arden, 389 pages (library)
- De laatste betovering (The last enchantment) - Mary Stewart, 405 pages
#8: Read a book with a metal in the title
-
#9: Read a book planning your date with an author
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#10: Read a book with a connection to a sorority or fraternity
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#11: Read a book with a curious, intriguing, provocative title
- Buzz Aldrin, waar ben je gebleven? (Buzz Aldrin, what happened to you in all the confusion?) - Johan Harstad, 478 pages (e-libray)
#12: Read a book that is divided internally by more than chapter headings
-
#13: Read a book that has at least three names of people mentioned on page one
- De beer en de nachtegaal (The bear and the nightingale) - Katherine Arden, 352 pages (e-library)
- Spaar de spotvogel (To kill a mockingbird) - Harper Lee, 412 pages (library)
#14: Read a book that has something to do with elections or voting
-
#15: read a book with a (predominantly) purple cover for the February birthstone challenge
- Grand Guignol - Louis Ferron, 53 pages
#16: Read a book where the authors name contains 4 or more different vowels
- De dood van Murat Idrissi (The death of Murat Idrissi) - Tommy Wieringa, 125 pages (e-library)
- Oorlogsvlieger (Flight to Arras) - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 191 pages (e-library)
- De zeven gehangenen (The Seven Who Were Hanged) - Leonid Andrejev, 141 pages (library)
- Schaduw van de vos (Shadow of the Fox) - Julie Kagawa, 414 pages (e-library)
- Tot in de hemel (The overstory) - Richard Powers, 603 pages
#17: Read a book about urban Indians or indiginous people living in cities
- Er is geen daar daar (There There) - Tommy Orange, 319 pages (library)
#18: Read a Book written by Mary Higgins Clark
-

Reading plans in 2020
My childrens/YA project was finished in 2019.
- This year I want to tackle some big tomes (1,000+ pages). Goal read 12 big tomes.
- Reading my own books is not top priority this year, ROOT goal set at 24.

I join the TIOLI (Take It Or Leave It) challenges each month.

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Big tomes I want to read in 2020:
Dutch translation of the complete Tales from the thousand and one nights, 3215 pages
Ideeën (1-7) by Multatuli, 3846 pages
Man zonder eigenschappen (The man without qualities) by Robert Musil, 1785 pages
De razende Roeland (Orlando furioso) by Ludovico Ariosto, 1783 pages
De essays (The complete essays) by Michel de Montaigne, 1557 pages
Jozef en zijn broers (Joseph and his brothers) by Thomas Mann, 1503 pages
Menselijke voorwaarden (Human condition) by Junpei Gomikawa, 1428 pages
✔ De Hunnen by Jan Cremer, 1419 pages
De kracht van Atlantis (Atlas shrugged) by Ayn Rand, 1373 pages
✔ De geschikte jongen (A suitable boy) by Vikram Seth, 1366 pages
✔ Het achtste leven (voor Brilka) (The eighth life (for Brilka)) by Nino Haratischwili, 1275 pages
Luitenant-kolonel de Maumort by Roger Martin du Gard, 1077 pages
Baron by Theun de Vries, 1016 pages

Totals since 2008:





books read in January 2020
book 1: Saga's van de Westfjorden en omstreken translated by Marcel Otten (thread 1, msg 64)
book 2: De Cock en dood door hamerslag by A.C. Baantjer (thread 1, msg 65)
book 3: Huishouden (Visitation) by Jenny Erpenbeck (thread 1, msg 80)
book 4: De legende van Swanhilde (The Half-Drowned King) by Linnea Hartsuyker (thread 1, msg 81)
book 5: Ziggy by Bram Hulzebos (thread 1, msg 82)
book 6: Tirza by Arnon Grunberg (thread 1, msg 132)
book 7: Stenen voor een ransuil by Maarten 't Hart (thread 1, msg 133)
book 8: Stommelen stampen slaan (Spill simmer falter wither) by Sara Baume (thread 1, msg 134)
book 9: Pompeii het dagelijks leven in een Romeinse stad (Pompeii: The Life of A Roman Town) by Mary Beard (thread 1, msg 136)
book 10: Het achtste leven (voor Brilka) (The Eighth Life (for Brilka) ) by Nino Haratischwili (thread 1, msg 137)
book 11: Waarom vuilnismannen meer verdienen dan bankiers by Rutger Bregman (thread 1, msg 155)
book 12: Een stille vlam (A quiet flame, Bernie Gunther 5) by Philip Kerr (thread 1, msg 156)
book 13: De verrader (The sellout) by Paul Beatty (thread 1, msg 158)
book 14: Grensgangers by Aline Sax (thread 1, msg 164)
book 15: De jongens van Nickel (The Nickel Boys) by Colson Whitehead (thread 1, msg 165)
book 16: Ochtendwind (Dawn wind) by Rosemary Sutcliff (thread 1, msg 178)
book 17: Erik, of het klein insectenboek (Eric in the Land of the Insects) by Godfried Bomans (thread 1, msg 179)
book 18: Anne van het Groene Huis (Anne of Green Gables) by L.M. Montgomery (thread 1, msg 180)
book 19: Buurtsupermens (Convenience Store Woman) by Sayaka Murata (thread 1, msg 181)
book 20: Sovjetistan (Sovietistan) by Erika Fatland (thread 1, msg 182)
book 21: Moederdag by Nele Neuhaus (thread 1, msg 183)
book 22: Vrouwen & macht (Women & Power: A Manifesto) by Mary Beard (thread 1, msg 184)
book 23: Het nieuwe land by Eva Vriend (thread 1, msg 219)
book 24: Het moerasmeisje (Where the Crawdads Sing) by Delia Owens (thread 1, msg 221)
book 25: Zoon van het Noorden (Odinn's child, Viking 1) by Tim Severin (thread 1, msg 222)
book 26: Eskimoland by Niko Tinbergen (thread 1, msg 223)

Monthly statistics
26 books / 8,690 pages in January 2020 in numbers

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Previous threads in 2020
book 1 - 26: thread 1

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My readings in previous years
413 books (110,873 pages) read in 2019/1, 2019/2, 2019/3, 2019/4, 2019/5, 2019/6, 2019/7, 2019/8, 2019/9, 2019/10
534 books (111,906 pages) read in 2018/1, 2018/2, 2018/3, 2018/4, 2018/5, 2018/6, 2018/7, 2018/8, 2018/9, 2018/10, 2018/11, 2018/12, 2018/13
453 books (110,248 pages) read in 2017/1, 2017/2, 2017/3, 2017/4, 2017/5, 2017/6, 2017/7, 2017/8, 2017/9, 2017/10, 2017/11, 2017/12, 2017/13
253 books   (72,474 pages) read in 2016/1, 2016/2, 2016/3, 2016/4, 2016/5, 2016/6
  29 books   (10,079 pages) read in 2015
  17 books     (3,700 pages) read in 2014
  13 books     (3,692 pages) read in ROOT 2013
  53 books   (18,779 pages) read in 2012/1, 2012/2, 2012/3
  84 books   (30,256 pages) read in 2011/1, 2011/2
121 books   (38,119 pages) read in 2010/1, 2010/2, 2010/3, 2010/4
  78 books   (21,470 pages) read in 2009/1, 2009/2
130 books   (35,151 pages) read in 2008

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Lists on my WikiThing
My best books by year list on the WikiThing
Working on: Five star reads; Nobel prize winners; Booker prize winners; Dutch prize winners

Series I read, a list to keep track

Bernie Gunther by Philip Kerr 5/12
1 Een Berlijnse kwestie; 2 Het handwerk van de beul; 3 Een Duits requiem; 4 De een van de ander; 5 Een stille vlam; 6 Als de doden niet herrijzen; 7 Grijs verleden; 8 Praag fataal; 9 De man zonder adem; 10 De vrouw van Zagreb; 11 De schaduw van de stilte; 12 Pruisisch blauw; 13 Vergeven en vergeten; 14 Metropolis

Broeder Cadfael by Ellis Peters 8/20
1 Het heilige vuur; 2 Het laatste lijk; 3 Het gemene gewas; 4 De kwade knecht; 5 De eenzame bruid; 6 De kille maagd; 7 Het vege lijf; 8 De duivelse droom; 9 De gouden speld; 10 Een wisse dood; 11 Een hard gelag; 12 De ware aard; 13 Een witte roos; 14 Het stille woud; 15 De laatste eer; 16 Het rechte pad; 17 Een zijden haar; 18 Een lieve lust; 19 De heilige dief; 20 De verloren zoon

De Cock by A.C. Baantjer 53/70

Erica Falck & Patrik Hedström by Camilla Läckberg 9/11
1 IJsprinses; 2 Predikant; 3 Steenhouwer; 4 Zusje; 4.1 Sneeuwstorm en amandelgeur; 5 Oorlogskind; 6 Zeemeermin; 7 Vuurtorenwachter; 8 Engeleneiland; 9 Leeuwentemmer; 10 Heks

Guido Brunetti by Donna Leon 14/25
1 Dood van een maestro; 2 Dood in den vreemde; 3 De dood draagt rode schoenen; 4 Salto mortale; 5 Acqua alta; 6 Een stille dood; 7 Nobiltà; 8 Fatalità; 9 Vriendendienst; 10 Onrustig tij; 11 Bedrieglijke zaken; 12 De stille elite; 13 Verborgen bewijs; 14 Vertrouwelijke zaken; 15 Duister glas; 16 Kinderspel; 17 Droommeisje; 18 Gezichtsverlies; 19 Een kwestie van vertrouwen; 20 Dodelijke conclusies; 21 Beestachtige zaken; 22 Het onbekende kind; 23 Tussen de regels; 24 Ik aanbid je; 25 Eeuwige jeugd; 26 Wat niet verdwijnt; 27 Vergiffenis

John Rebus by Ian Rankin 3/18
1 Kat & muis; 2 Blindeman; 3 Hand & Tand; 4 Ontmaskering; 5 Zwartboek; 6 Vuurwerk; 7 Laat maar bloeden; 8 Gerechtigheid; 9 Door het lint; 10 Dode zielen; 11 In het duister; 12 Valstrik; 13 Lazarus; 14 Een kwestie van bloed; 15 De rechtelozen; 16 Gedenk de doden; 17 Laatste ronde; 18 Cold case;

Konrad Sejer by Karin Fossum 4/12
1 Eva's oog; 2 Kijk niet achterom; 3 Wie de wolf vreest; 4 De duivel draagt het licht; 5 De Indiase bruid; 6 Zwarte seconden; 7 De moord op Harriet Krohn; 8 Een andere voorkeur; 9 Kwade wil; 10 De waarschuwer; 11 Carmen Zita og døden (not translated); 12 Veenbrand; 13 De fluisteraar

Martin Beck by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö 3/10
1 De vrouw in het Götakanaal; 2 De man die in rook opging; 3 De man op het balkon; 4 De lachende politieman; 5 De brandweerauto die verdween; 6 De man die even wilde afrekenen; 7 De verschrikkelijke man uit Säffle; 8 De gesloten kamer; 9 De politiemoordenaar; 10 De terroristen

Oliver von Bodenstein & Pia Kirchhoff by Nele Neuhaus 9/9
1 Een onbeminde vrouw; 2 Moordvrienden; 3 Diepe wonden; 4 Sneeuwwitje moet sterven; 5 Wie wind zaait; 6 Boze wolf; 7 De levenden en de doden; 8 Het woud; 9 Moederdag

Het rad des tijds (Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan (and Brandon Sanderson) 6/15
0 Een nieuw begin; 1 Het oog van de wereld; 2 De grote jacht; 3 De herrezen draak; 4 De komst van de schaduw; 5 Vuur uit de hemel; 6 Heer van chaos; 7 Een kroon van zwaarden; 8 Het pad der dolken; 9 Hart van de Winter; 10 Viersprong van de schemer; 11 Mes van Dromen; 12 De naderende storm; 13 De Torens van Middernacht; 14 Het licht van weleer

Sister Fidelma by Peter Tremayne 1/18
1 Absolutie voor moord; 2 Lijkwade voor een aartsbisschop; 3 Moord in de abdij; 4 De listige slang; 5 Het web van Araglin; 6 De vallei van het kwaad; 7 De verdwenen monnik; 8 Dood van een pelgrim; 9 Vrouwe van het duister; 10 Het klooster van de dode zielen; 11 De gekwelde abt; 12 De nacht van de das; 13 De leprozenbel; 14 Moord uit de golven; 15 Een gebed voor de verdoemden; 16 Dansen met demonen; 17 Het valse concilie; 18 De duif des doods

List of Nobel Prize for Literature winners:
(in bold the writers I have read)

1901 Sully Prudhomme
1902 Theodor Mommsen
1903 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson
1904 Frédéric Mistral
1904 José Echegaray y Eizaguirre
1905 Henryk Sienkiewicz
1906 Giosuè Carducci
1907 Rudyard Kipling
1908 Rudolf Christoph Eucken
1909 Selma Lagerlöf
1910 Paul Heyse
1911 Maurice Maeterlinck
1912 Gerhart Hauptmann
1913 Rabindranath Tagore
1915 Romain Rolland
1916 Verner von Heidenstam
1917 Karl Adolph Gjellerup
1917 Henrik Pontoppidan
1919 Carl Spitteler
1920 Knut Hamsun
1921 Anatole France
1922 Jacinto Benavente
1923 William Butler Yeats
1924 Władysław Reymont
1925 George Bernard Shaw
1926 Grazia Deledda
1927 Henri Bergson
1928 Sigrid Undset
1929 Thomas Mann
1930 Sinclair Lewis
1931 Erik Axel Karlfeldt
1932 John Galsworthy
1933 Ivan Boenin
1934 Luigi Pirandello
1936 Eugene O'Neill
1937 Roger Martin du Gard
1938 Pearl S. Buck
1939 Frans Eemil Sillanpää
1944 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen
1945 Gabriela Mistral
1946 Hermann Hesse
1947 André Gide
1948 T.S. Elliot
1949 William Faulkner
1950 Bertrand Russell
1951 Pär Lagerkvist
1952 François Mauriac
1953 Sir Winston Churchill
1954 Ernest Hemingway
1955 Halldór Laxness
1956 Juan Ramón Jiménez
1957 Albert Camus
1958 Boris Pasternak
1959 Salvatore Quasimodo
1960 Saint-John Perse
1961 Ivo Andrić
1962 John Steinbeck
1963 Giorgos Seferis
1964 Jean-Paul Sartre
1965 Michail Sjolochov
1966 Sjmoeël Joseef Agnon
1966 Nelly Sachs
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias
1968 Yasunari Kawabata
1969 Samuel Beckett
1970 Aleksandr Solzjenitsyn
1971 Pablo Neruda
1972 Heinrich Böll
1973 Patrick White
1974 Eyvind Johnson
1974 Harry Martinson
1975 Eugenio Montale
1976 Saul Bellow
1977 Vincente Aleixandre
1978 Isaac Bashevis Singer
1979 Odysseas Elytis
1980 Czesław Miłosz
1981 Elias Canetti
1982 Gabriel Garciá Márquez
1983 William Golding
1984 Jaroslav Seifert
1985 Claude Simon
1986 Wole Soyinka
1987 Joseph Brodsky
1988 Naguib Mahfouz
1989 Camilo José Cela
1990 Octavio Paz
1991 Nadine Gordimer
1992 Derek Walcott
1993 Toni Morrison
1994 Kenzaburo Oë
1995 Seamus Heaney
1996 Wisława Szymborska
1997 Dario Fo
1998 José Saramago
1999 Günter Grass
2000 Gao Xingjian
2001 V.S. Naipaul
2002 Imre Kertész
2003 John Maxwell Coetzee
2004 Elfriede Jelinek
2005 Harold Pinter
2006 Orhan Pamuk
2007 Doris Lessing
2008 J.M.G. Le Clézio
2009 Herta Müller
2010 Mario Vargas Llosa
2011 Tomas Tranströmer
2012 Mo Yan
2013 Alice Munro
2014 Patrick Modiano
2015 Svetlana Alexievich
2016 Bob Dylan
2017 Kazuo Ishiguro
2018 Olga Tokarczuk
2019 Peter Handke

Books acquired in 2019: 18

March (11)
CRUX by Ralph Keuning
Werner Tübke by Ralph Keuning
Wolfgang Mattheuer by Ralph Keuning
Seizoensroddel by Jan Baeke
Habitus by Radna Fabias
Boeddhisme in alle eenvoud by Steve Hagen
Generaal zonder leger by Özcan Akyol
Onze verslaggever in de leegte by Dimitri Verhulst
Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit (e-book)
Leon & Juliette by Annejet van der Zijl
Het water komt - Rutger Bregman

January (7)
Essay over de geslaagde dag - Peter Handke
Misverstand in Moskou - Simone de Beauvoir
Wandeling - Thomas Bernhard
Kali : een voorwinterverhaal - Peter Handke
De pensionering van meneer Bougran - Joris-Karl Huysmans
De Thibaults. Deel 1 - Roger Martin de Gard
De Thibaults. Deel 2 - Roger Martin de Gard

That's it, come in!

Happy new thread, Anita!

Happy new thread

Happy new thread, Anita!

Happy new one, Anita!

Happy new thread!

Happy new one Anita. That Nobel list is such a mix of writers! I have J.M.G. Le Clézio on the shelf, unread.

Happy new thread, Anita! I like your Nobel Prize for Literature list. If I only had more ambition *sigh*

>11 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia!

>12 paulstalder: Thank you, Paul.

>13 harrygbutler: Thank you, Harry!

>14 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley!

>15 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita!

>16 charl08: Thank you, Charlotte.
It is a very mixed list. I won't read them all, as not every writer of the list is available in Dutch translation. The list is just a reminder.

>17 Carmenere: Thank you, Lynda!
As long as you are happy with your reading, there is no need for more ambition :-)

Congratulations on your new thread, Anita! Good luck with the Nobel winners. I started on that a few years ago but didn't get very far before I got distracted and haven't been back.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Anita!

>1 FAMeulstee: Fascinating contrast of skin and stone. Kabul seems to have a serious scoliosis.

Happy New Thread, Anita!

Happy new thread, Anita!

I like your reading plans. I once started Multatuli's Ideeën, but I think it was too much for me, still, they were interesting.

Happy New Thread, Anita! I LIKE that Veldhoen topper. Not familiar with that artist. I hope you are having a good week.

Happy New Thread, Anita!

Happy New Thread, Anita!
And all the best for your reading plans.

>19 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba. I don't know how far I will get with the Nobel Prize winners, the list is just a reminder to keep on track.

>20 drneutron: Thank you, Jim!

>21 quondame: Thank you, Susan.
I like that contrast. I think she is just bending her upper back to the right as she is looking over her left shoulder.

>22 jnwelch: Thank you, Joe!

>23 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella!
I try to read Ideeën in small chunks, and take the whole year to finish. I hope that will work out.

>24 msf59: Thank you, Mark.
Aat Veldhoen was rather famous over here, but doesn't seem known outside our country.

>25 EBT1002: Thank you, Ellen!

>26 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas!
I have good hope to read all planned books this month.

book 27: Oorlogsvlieger by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
library, e-boek, translated from French, English translation Flight to Arras, 191 pages

started 2020-02-01
finished 2020-02-02
TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book where the authors name contains 4 or more different vowels

Memoir of de Saint-Exupéry as a French war pilot in 1940. While the Germans are taking over France, he is send on a very dangerous mission above Arras. He and his two companions have slight chance to survive. During the mission the pilot contemplates life, the absurdity of war, youth memories and philosophical issues.

Dutch title translated: Warflyer or Warpilot

book 28: De beer en de nachtegaal by Katherine Arden
library, e-boek, translated, original title The bear and the nightingale, 352 pages

started 2020-02-02
finished 2020-02-03
TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book that has at least three names of people mentioned on page one

Nice mixture of historial fiction, fairytales and magic in medieval Russia.
The main character, the girl Vasya, grows up in the country, she has magical abilities at at time the Church is getting stronger and magic is no longer tolerated as part of life.

Hi Anita, and happy new thread.

book 29: Het meisje in de toren by Katherine Arden
library, e-boek, translated, original title The girl in the tower, 389 pages

started 2020-02-03
finished 2020-02-05
TIOLI Challenge #7: Read the next book in a series by a woman author

Sequel to The bear and the nightingale.
Vasya has to flee the village where she was born, as the villagers are set up against her by the local priest, who doesn't tolerate magic. She ends up with her family in Moscow, but there she also gets in trouble.
I enjoyed this story slightly less than the previous book.

book 30: Spaar de spotvogel by Harper Lee
1001 books, library, translated, original title To kill a mockingbird, 412 pages

started 2020-02-02
finished 2020-02-06
TIOLI Challenge #13: Read a book that has at least three names of people mentioned on page one

The sad tale of a black man accused of rape of a whithe girl in the 1930s American South, seen through the eyes of Scout Finch. Scout is the young daughter of Atticus Fich, the white lawyer who defends the black man. Race, class, prejudice, gender are all more important in this little town than justice.

Dutch title translated: Spare the mockingbird

>30 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen, happy Friday!

>32 FAMeulstee: Interesting Dutch version of the title, Anita. I read a Non-fiction book about the life of Harper Lee and her writing after Mockingbird. It left me feeling sad that the impact of the book on the writer was such a negative one. Odd (if not unusual) how that happened, given how many people love the book.

>32 FAMeulstee: Yes, Charlotte, the title is the opposite. It captures the book as well, I think. In the first translation it was even plural: Save the mockinbirds. These days translated titles are more often close to the original.
Harper Lee probably thought she could never write a book like this one again?

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread! I loved The Bear and the Nightingale.

>29 FAMeulstee: We received The Bear and the Nightingale for our RL Book club Secret Santa. Good to see that it's a good read.

Happy new thread Anita my dear.

>32 FAMeulstee:, >34 charl08:, >35 FAMeulstee: That's a fascinating look into the translation process. The precise opposite of the literal translation of the title is what the spirit of the proverb referenced by the title means!

>36 ChelleBearss: Thank you, Chelle!

>37 witchyrichy: Thank you, Karen, it was avery good read.

>38 SandDune: I hope you like it, Rhian.

>39 johnsimpson: Thank you, John.

>40 richardderus: I had to read that twice before understanding, Richard, and you are right. Our language lacks a similair proverb, so I think the translator did the right thing, and it sounds better in Dutch with the alliteration than the exact literal translation.

>28 FAMeulstee: Adding that one to the BlackHole! Thanks for the recommendation, Anita.

>29 FAMeulstee: I have that one home from the library now. I hope I enjoy it as much as you did.

>32 FAMeulstee: I get to dodge that BB as I have already read that one.

Happy new thread, Anita.

>1 FAMeulstee: I can see why he would be keen on marrying her and celebrating her in oils. What a bum!

Have a lovely weekend.

Happy new thread, Anita.

Happy new one, Anita. What a great opening.
Wishing you a lovely Sunday.

>42 alcottacre: You are welcome, Stasia. Flight over Arras was a lucky find when I was randomly browsing through the e-library :-)

>43 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, indeeed she was a beautiful woman.
A windy/stormy weekend, good for reading!

>44 BLBera: Thank you, Beth.

>45 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara, we went to an exposition of his work last month.
Wishing you a lovely week in Davos.

>29 FAMeulstee: I was just thinking of how interesting that cover is and how different it is from the American edition.

>47 thornton37814: I looked up the cover of the American edition, Lori, both are fitting to story. I think like the Dutch one better, with all important characters and fairytale/magic feel to it.

book 31: Schaduw van de vos by Julie Kagawa
library, e-book, translated, original title Shadow of the Fox, 414 pages

started 2020-02-05
finished 2020-02-07
TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book where the authors name contains 4 or more different vowels

A fantasy book, set in Japan in a Middle Ages like time.
Yumeko is a half kitsune, half fox half human. She lives in a remote and quiet monastry. One day her life is put completely upside down, when demons come and destroy the monansty and kill every human in it. The demons were searching for a part of a dragon scroll, that Yumeko has saved. Now she must go on a quest to bring it in safety. On her way she meets Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. He has been sent to get the part from the monastry. Tatsumi carries a cursed sword and had been raised and trained to be a weapon for his clan. They travel together, as Yumeko doesn't reveal she has the part he is searching for.

I liked the adventure, but got sometimes lost with all the gods, demons, oni and other creatures from Japanese mythology. Not sure yet if I want to read the next two books.

The Dutch title is the same as the English title.

book 32: De buitenjongen by Paolo Cognetti
library, translated from Italian, English translation The Wild Boy, 158 pages

started 2020-02-07
finished 2020-02-08
TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book whose first word of the first paragraph starts with a vowel

A young writer leaves the city and goes to the mountains. Four seasons in the Italian Alps, with brief contacts with other humans, overwhelming nature, and simple life in a cabin.
Lots of literary references to other nature writers like Thoreau, Muir etc. Very enjoyable read.

Dutch title translated: The outdoor boy

book 33: De dood van Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa
library, e-book, Dutch, English translation The death of Murat Idrissi, 125 pages

started 2020-02-08
finished 2020-02-09
TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book where the authors name contains 4 or more different vowels

Two Dutch girls of Moroccan descent go on vacation to Morocco. They don't feel at home in the Netherlands, especially after 9/11, and neither in Morocco. They are lured in to smuggling Murat Idrissi, when they return to Europe. Murat will hide in the trunk. When they arrive in Spain they find out Murat has died, and they have no clue what to do with his remains...

The English and the Dutch title are the same

book 34: De zeven gehangenen by Leonid Andrejev
library, translated from Russian, English translation The Seven Who Were Hanged, 141 pages

started 2020-02-09
finished 2020-02-09
TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book where the authors name contains 4 or more different vowels

A governor, who is in bad health, is told he would be assasinated the next day at 13:00 hours. But no worry, the terrorists are captured. But the governor does worry all night, how terrible it is to know the hour of your death...
Then we go to the five terrorists, and two other criminals, who are sentensed to death, and will be hanged. Each character reacts different on death in the very near future.

First published in 1908. A poignant story against the death penalty, that was so easily sentenced in Tsarist Russia.

Dutch title translated: The seven hanged

book 35: Doodgeverfd by Dick Francis
library, translated, original title In the Frame, 234 pages

started 2020-02-08
finished 2020-02-10
TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book with a cover showing something you can wear on your face (shared read)

Solid action mystery. Painter Charles Todd finds his cousin devastated. His wife is murdered by burglars, and he is the main suspect. Not long after he finds a similair case. Both victims have been in Australia, so he goes there to find out more.

Dutch title translated: the title is wordplaying, Gedoodverfd means designated/tipped, Doodgeverfd is no real word, but would mean deathpainted.

book 36: De Engelse patiënt by Michael Ondaatje
1001 books, library, translated, Booker Prize 1992, original title The English Patient, 262 pages

started 2020-02-10
finished 2020-02-12
TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book for the February CFF Mystery Challenge Challenge

In the ruins of an Italian villa, a nurse takes care of a very burned patient. He doen't have a name, so she reffers to him as "the English patient". An old acquantance of her father finds her in the villa ans stays. He is facinated by the English patient and wants to know who he really is. Later a young sapper from India, Kip, joins them, as there are still many mines in and around the villa. There is erotic tension between the woman and the three man. Meanwhile we find out the backstories of them all.

A very slow going read, but a statisfying one in the end.

The English and the Dutch title are the same

>28 FAMeulstee: Hi, Anita! I'm definitely a fan of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's aviation books. I think I read them all many years ago, but I've only revisited Wind, Sand and Stars in recent years. It might be time to pull another off the shelves.

>54 FAMeulstee: it is one of my favourite books Anita. I love the quality of writing, and the tone. Maybe it will get a reread this year.

>53 FAMeulstee: How interesting...a made-up word for the wordplay of "tipped off" and "offed" (an English-language variant of the same idea). I really get a kick out of knowing the translations of titles..."The Outdoor Boy" and "The Wild Boy" mean such different things in English, f/ex.

>54 FAMeulstee: I had real trouble with reading that one! I didn't actually finish it yet. I think i need a loooooong sloooow holiday to read it.

>55 harrygbutler: This was my first one, Harry, and I liked it very much. I will be looking for others, my library only had this one.

>56 Caroline_McElwee: I had to think of you, Caroline, when I was reading The English patient. I can be put off by slow going books, and know you like them.

>57 richardderus: I try to keep it a permanent feature in my reviews, Richard.
I think the Duch title of te Cognetti book captures the content better than the English title.

>58 LovingLit: I can understand having trouble, Megan, later on the backstories were not so slow and rather interesting.

---

As always it took time to notion that my slow reading was not because of spending time on cleaning the house, or birthdays stress... 10 days after my birthday and my reading numbers are still over 25% down. Some other symptoms also pop up: thyroid levels low, I will up the dose tomorrow morning and hope to feel better in a few days.
Why does it always take at least a week before I realise?

>54 FAMeulstee: I will read that one soon, Anita.

>59 FAMeulstee: It is all relative. Had to smile at your comment on slow reading!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Friday, Anita! Hoping the increased thyroid dose does the trick, and that you are feeling better soon.

>54 FAMeulstee: I really liked this one, too.

Wishing you a nice weekend Anita. Sorry about the tyroid hormones again.

Wishing you a healthy weekend, Anita.

I hope you feel better soon Anita.

Wishing you a relaxing weekend. I hope you feel better soon. Thyroid medication dosage is always tricky to get right. Hope all returns to equilibrium soon.

wish you a good new week

I hope the increase in thyroid medication helps. Anita, but your reading numbers don’t seem slow to me.

Feel better soon!

I hope you feel better soon!

Fell better soon, Anita.

Hi, Anita - Hope you are feeling better. I know we've talked before about how thyroid levels can be so difficult to maintain!

More good wishes from me, Anita. I loved The English Patient but it's been a while since I read it. Maybe time for a reread as I seem to have gone through most of his other books. His novels are so different from each other, an unusual author.

>60 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, reading slow is very relative. For me it is dropping from 300+ pages a day to less than 225 pages ;-) But I am on the mend.

>61 Coffee.Cat: Thank you, Abby, I hope you had a good Valentine's day.

>62 Crazymamie: Thank you, Mamie, I am heading into the right direction. I need more thyroid in winter.

>63 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella, it will always be a hassle to keep the thyroid levels right.

>64 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul.

>65 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline, nearly there I hope. Upping the dose always makes me emotional unstable for some days.

>66 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita, the problem is I need much more thyroid in winter and less in summer.

>67 paulstalder: Thank you, Paul, the same to you.
We have blooming crocusses all around here!

>68 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg. As I said to Paul^ dropping from 300+ pages to 225 is significant. I do know that is still a lot of reading ;-)

>69 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda.

>70 ChelleBearss: Thank you, Chelle.

>71 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara.

>72 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary.
Thyroid is a reoccuring theme on my threads since the problem was discovered back in 2011. Through the years I have learned I have a winter low and a summer up. At first I thought it was sunlight, the length of the day. Now I think that outside temperatures seem to be the clue...

>73 charl08: Thank you, Charlotte, I want to read more of Ondaatje. But not right away, some others call out they want to be read.

Hmm, that's interesting. I hadn't ever thought about the weather affecting the thyroid. Luckily, they seem to have found a good dose for me and I haven't had any problems with my thyroid meds for years.

>76 Storeetllr: You are lucky, Mary.

It has been always in winter when my thyroid levels went low and my phobia's returned. The two times my thyroid levels were too high were both in summer. So through the years my GPs & me concluded that I use more thyroid-hormones when temperatures are low and less when temperatures are high.
In summer I take now around 0,1 mg of Thyrax, in winter allmost 0,2 mg and that seems to do the trick. In January we had rather high temperatures and I lowered the dose too much.

>74 FAMeulstee: Dropped to 225 pages per day. For me that is 6 hours of solid reading!

>77 FAMeulstee: Seems like a good explanation, Anita! It must be confusing, this winter that isn't a winter at all. How are you doing now?

>59 FAMeulstee: Why does it always take at least a week before I realise?
I think we are so good at explaining away, discounting, or rationalising symptoms (of anything!). It takes effort and mindspace to be able to have a big picture in our heads about everything. Maybe you will be more on the lookout now and it might be easier?

>78 PaulCranswick: That's almost my eading pace too.

Anita, I hope the meds settled in and you feel much better now. As Ella said, we've been far away from a proper winter. It was definitely too warm. Even up the mountains it's too warm. The snow in Davos was more like it would be around Easter.

Happy Sunday, Anita.

Happy Sunday, Anita and the best wishes for your health.
The weather is strange, we should have snow and frost - we have storm and 12°C.
The only good thing - it's reading weather.

>78 PaulCranswick: I spend about 5 hours reading a day, Paul, with an average of 60 pages...

>79 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella, slowly getting back where I want to be. Just finished A suitable boy today, it got me back on track with reading.

>80 LovingLit: Thank you, Megan, you are so right!
I was doing better in recognising the symptoms, and went well with adjusting in time for nearly 9 months. I think the problem was that I was fixed on recognising the high end (summer) problems and overlooked to low end (winter) problems.
.
>81 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara, felling better now. Not completely fine, but much better.
The weather is strange, high temperatures and the wind keeps blowing. I would like a few less cloudy and windy days now.

>82 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas, it is the same here.
Hope you had a nice weekend.

book 37: Tot in de hemel by Richard Powers
own, translated, Pulitzer Prize 2019, original title The overstory, 603 pages

started 2020-02-12
finished 2020-02-14
TIOLI Challenge #16: Read a book where the authors name contains 4 or more different vowels

Great book about trees, people, earth, reminded me a bit of Barkskins.

Dutch title translated: Into the sky or Into heaven

book 38: Buzz Aldrin, waar ben je gebleven? by Johan Harstad
library, e-book, translated from Norwegian, English translation Buzz Aldrin, what happened to you in all the confusion?, 478 pages

started 2020-02-15
finished 2020-02-16
TIOLI Challenge #11: Read a book with a curious, intriguing, provocative title

Norwegian young man travels to the Faröer Islands, has a breakdown and tries to find his way back.

Dutch title translated: Buzz Aldrin where did you go?

book 39: Ondergeschikt by Angela Saini
library, non-fiction, translated, original title Inferior, 304 pages

started 2020-02-10
finished 2020-02-17
TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book whose first word of the first paragraph starts with a vowel

How women are viewed as inferior in science, comparable with Cordelia Fine's Testosterone Rex

English and Dutch title are as good as the same

book 40: Duister glas by Donna Leon
library, translated, original title Through a Glass, Darkly, 300 pages

started 2020-02-17
finished 2020-02-18
TIOLI Challenge #7: Read the next book in a series by a woman author

Commissario Brunetti book 15

Dutch title translated: Dark glass

book 41: De wind in de wilgen by Kenneth Grahame
library, e-book, childrens clasic, translated, original title The Wind in the Willows, 201 pages

started 2020-02-17
finished 2020-02-18

With the beautiful illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard

English and Dutch title are the same

Hi Anita!

I'm sorry that your thyroid levels have gone a bit wonky - too high temperatures in winter and they're off!

Global warming...

I hope things finish stabilizing very soon for you.

book 42: De geschikte jongen by Vikram Seth
1001 books, own, translated, original title A Suitable Boy, 1366 pages

started 2020-02-18
finished 2020-02-23
TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book whose first word of the first paragraph starts with a vowel

India, 1951, following some families with different backgrounds shortly after independence. Tensions in politics, religion, family life.

Dutch title translated: The suitable boy

>89 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen, it will always be a hassle to keep my thyroid levels right...
By the time I am doing well we will get into Spring temperatures, and I will be adjusting again.
I am keeping a list now of day temperature and the dose I take, hopefully in time it will give me enough insight to anticipate.

>84 FAMeulstee: Glad Overstory was a hit for you Anita.

I hope you are feeling a bit better, but can understand the frustration of having to constantly adjust your medications.

>90 FAMeulstee: You finished it. The full 1366 pages!

I tried once but the book ended up in some dusty corner, it was just a bit too much for me. Glad you liked it.

>83 FAMeulstee: Wow Anita, I cannot manage 60 pages an hour! At my absolute most immersed in a book I might get to 40.

Well done adding a number of real chunksters to your reading too. Your last 6 reads books added today equated to 3,252 pages, an average of 542 pages per book!

Wow! 1366 pages, Anita! That is quite an accomplishment. One day I hope to read something by Vickram Seth. I'm sorry that you have the ongoing problems with your thyroid.

>92 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline, I do feel better.
At least I have taken the dosage in my own hands now. Always a step behind, even with drawing blood regular. So last year the GP & me decided to give this a try, I decide on how I feel. It is a hassle, but no return to phobia's this winter is a very good thing!

>93 EllaTim: Yes I did, Ella :-)
I even changed the rating to 5*.

>94 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, I am slowly moving up again to 250 pages a day this month. My resolution to read at least one 1,000+ pages book each month is working out :-)
A fairly recent discussion on Richards thread (I think it was last year) revealed some of us even read up to 90 pages an hour...

>95 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah, good to have you back with us.
As I said to Paul^ I try to tackle the very big ones this year. Both A Suitable Boy and last month's The eighth life (for Brilka) (1,275 pages) were very good reads.
The thyroid medicines will probably always be a hassle, as I need so much more in winter compared to summer.

I seem to have lost this thread for awhile, Anita. Sorry about that. I hope you are back on your way to balance again, with the thyroid issues.

>50 FAMeulstee: That one sounds really good. Adding it to the BlackHole.

>52 FAMeulstee: Another one into the BlackHole!

>59 FAMeulstee: Hoping your thyroid is behaving itself now!

>84 FAMeulstee: I loved that one too!

>90 FAMeulstee: One of these days I will get to that one!

>97 jessibud2: Glad to be found, Shelley. I am heading in the right direction with the thyroid.

>98 alcottacre: Always happy to add to the BlackHole, Stasia, I hope it is still large enough for a lifetime of reading.

book 43: De laatste der Mohikanen by James Fenimore Cooper
1001 books, own, translated, original title The Last of the Mohicans, 391 pages

started 2020-02-22
finished 2020-02-25
TIOLI Challenge #1: Read a book whose first word of the first paragraph starts with a vowel

Set at the time of the war between England and France in Nort America (18th century).
Noble indians (the Mohicans) help to save two daughters of an English officer.

I can see how Karl May was very much influenced by this book.

English and Dutch title are the same

book 44: Er is geen daar daar by Tommy Orange
library, translated, original title There There, 319 pages

started 2020-02-23
finished 2020-02-26
TIOLI Challenge #17: Read a book about urban Indians or indiginous people living in cities

Indians, now called natives, 2 1/2 century after The Last of the Mohicans, adapting (or not) to American 21st century city life.
Written from various points of views the preparations for a big "Powow" in Oakland.

I liked the premise of the book, but feel Tommy Orange tried to wrap too much in one book. With so many points of view, it wasn't easy to keep track. I had trouble reading through the violent end.

Dutch title translated: There is no there there

book 45: Grand Guignol by Louis Ferron
own, poetry, no translations, 53 pages

started 2020-02-21
finished 2020-02-26
TIOLI Challenge #15: read a book with a (predominantly) purple cover for the February birthstone challenge

Louis Ferron was the son of a Dutch waitress and a German soldier, born during WWII. Until the end of the war he lived in Germany, with the wife of his father. After the war he came back to the Netherlands and was raised by his maternal grandparents.

These poems are full of violence and German myths, larded with references to German writers and composers.
The most poignant poem is about the end of WWII, describing a little boy who's toys and dreams are all burned, liberation they called it...

Wikipedia gives "Any gruesome or gory drama or event" as reference to Grand Guignol

book 46: De laatste betovering by Mary Stewart
own, translated, original title The last enchantment, 405 pages

started 2020-02-26
finished 2020-02-28
TIOLI Challenge #7: Read the next book in a series by a woman author

The last book of Mary Stewarts Merlin trilogy.
I like the way Merlin and Arthur are described in these books. In thsi final instalment Arthur is established as king, and Merlin, loosing his magical powers, steps back.

English and Dutch title are the same

>88 FAMeulstee: De Wind in der Wilgen / The Wind in the Willows
De Laatse der Mohikanen / The Last of the Mohicans

It's easy to see how closely English and Dutch are related. I read somewhere that Dutch is the easiest foreign language for an English speaker to learn, although perhaps not the most useful as so many Dutch people speak English!

Hi, Anita - You've been reading up a storm (as usual), a lot of them really good too, not to mention a few chunksters!

Yes, balance is everything, isn't it, especially when you're talking about thyroid meds. I hope you've got it under control now.

>104 SandDune: Yes, Rhian, in these titles it is obvious.
Frisian is a language that is even closer to English, it is said to be in between Dutch and English. But very few still speak Frisian, it is only a bit common in our province Friesland.
Indeed most Dutch speak English and like to show they can. When I was young I had an English neighbor, she always complained how hard it was to learn Dutch. As sson as she tried to speak Dutch, with a very English accent, Dutch would reply in English to her...

>105 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary, I am on track with my chunkster a month :-)

The thyroid went off again when I started with the next batch 10 days ago. These pills seem to be a bit lower in dose (there is a 10% marge allowed, so 1 pill can contain between 90% and 110% of the artifical T4). I hope I am back now for at least the duration of this batch of pills.

February 2020 in numbers

20 books read (7,098 pages, 244.8 pages a day)

own 4 (25 %) / library 16

13 male author / 7 female author
2 originally written in Dutch / 18 translated into Dutch
18 fiction / 2 non-fiction

19 books in TIOLI Challenges
  7 e-books
  4 1001 books
  2 childrens/YA
  2 mystery/police procedural
  1 poetry

--
pages:
0 - 100 pages: 1
101 - 200 pages: 4
201 - 300 pages: 4
301 - 400 pages: 5
401 - 500 pages: 4
501 - 999 pages: 1
1000+ pages: 1

longest book 1366 pages
shortest book 53 pages
average book 355 pages

--
date first published:

19th century: 1

20th century
1900s: 2
1940s: 1
1960s: 1
1970s: 3
1990s: 2

21st century
2000s: 2
2010s: 8

--
ratings:
  2 x
  2 x
  8 x
  5 x
  3 x

average rating: 3.87
--
Best books in February


De geschikte jongen (A Suitable Boy) by Vikram Seth
Tot in de hemel (The Overstory) by Richard Powers


De zeven gehangenen (The Seven Who Were Hanged) by Leonid Andrejev
De buitenjongen (The Wild Boy) by Paolo Cognetti

===

Walking in February: 189.30 km; average 6.53 km/a day

2020 totals to date:

46 books read (16,107 pages, 268.5 pages a day)

own 5 (11 %) / library 41

25 male author / 21 female author
11 originally written in Dutch / 35 translated into Dutch
37 fiction / 9 non-fiction

45 books in TIOLI Challenges
20 e-books
  4 1001 books (total 150)
  1 Dutch Literary Canon (total 26/125)
  5 childrens/YA
  5 mystery/police procedural
  1 poetry

longest book 1366 pages
shortest book 53 pages
average book 343 pages

--
own books read were on the shelf since:
2011: 1
2016: 1
2017: 1
2019: 1

--
date first published:
13th century: 1
19th century: 1

20th century
1900s: 3
1930s: 1
1940s: 2
1960s: 2
1970s: 4
1990s: 2

21st century
2000s: 8
2010s: 22

--
ratings:
  2 x
  4 x
20 x
11 x
  8 x
  1 x

average rating: 3.75
===

Walking in 2020: 379 km; average 6,32 km a day

Happy Sunday, Anita. I hope you are doing well. I like your idea of pairing The Last of the Mohicans & There, There. Interesting match-up. Sorry, the Orange novel didn't work for you. It was a favorite of mine, although I agree the ending felt a bit rushed.

You are still reading up a storm, Anita, even with a couple of tomes thrown in there. Hope your last thyroid adjustment is working!

>109 msf59: Thank you, Mark, enjoy what is left of your Sunday :-)
It was coincidental, not on purpose, reading these two right behind eachother. I did like There, there, but for me it had some flaws. I would like to read an other book by him.

>110 ronincats: Thank you, Roni. I do feel better again, so I have good hopes.

--

We had two busy days. On Friday we went to Amsterdam to attend a concert by Calefax, a quintet (obo, saxophone, bassoon, bass clarinet and clarinet) playing a selection of Preludes (op. 34) by Shostakovich, Accordo by Francesconi (written for this quartet in 2005), parts from "El Amor Bruja" by de Falla, and parts from "Variations on a Theme of Corelli" by Rachmaninov. The last one was Songs and Dances of Death by Mussorgsky, with an altsinger.

On Saturday we first went to Putten, where we donated 133 books to the Historical Society. They sell the books to finance their activities. So now the books I culled in the last 18 months are physicly removed from my library. Then we went on to The Hague to visit my father. We had a pleasant afternoon together and a tasty diner served at the restaurant.

Wow! The totals are mounting up fast, aren't they? And it's very instructive to see what the translated titles are. The Overstory conveys to English-speakers a very specific realm between the ground and the sky; the translated "hemel" is a double meaning of sky or heaven; the book supports both interpretations. Fascinating!

>103 FAMeulstee: I loved the Arthur/Merlin books when I read them. I keep meaning to reread them. Thanks for the reminder.

>99 FAMeulstee: I can never die, given the size of the BlackHole!

>103 FAMeulstee: I really like that series of books. Glad to see you enjoyed it too, Anita.

Happy to hear that you are feeling better. I hope it continues!

>112 richardderus: Translations and language are so interesting. Sounds like the translation of the title of The Overstory captures the author's intention perfectly.

I didn't realise that people still spoke frisian. It is known in England as possibly the most popular breed of cow and if you asked the average Englishman whether they spoke "frisian", I guess a proportion of them would nod and say "moo".

Great to see you still reading so impressively. x

Great reading and walking stats!

Way to go :)

Some varied reads here. I think your rating of The Last of the Mohicans was similar to my own. My brothers owned a copy of that so it was around the house when I was growing up. I didn't really enjoy it as a child. I tried it again as an adult and didn't like it much better, but I appreciated things about it which nudged it up a little more on the ratings. It was before I joined LT though, so my review isn't there.

>112 richardderus: Even with little slowed down reading is fast for most, Richard.
It is always fun to see how clever a title can be in translation.

>113 BLBera: So did I, Beth. The first time I read them was somewhere in the 90s. They were culled back in 2005 and re-acquired a few years ago. I am glad they reside on my shelves agin :-)

>114 alcottacre: LOL, Stasia, may the BlackHole keep on growing ;-)
I think I am back on track, reading numbers are near normal again. I will know for sure in a few days.

>115 PaulCranswick: (West) Frisian is an official language in our country, Paul, mainly spoken in the province Friesland. About 75% of the people in Friesland can speak and read Frisian.
Not only cows, for horse lovers Frisian is the beautiful black horse breed:


>116 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.

>117 thornton37814: That is how I also ended up reading many books, Lori, I read almost all books owned by my older siblings.
I am glad I did read The last of the Mohicans but don't feel any need to read it ever again.

Happy Monday, Anita!

>119 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia.
Tuesday has arrived over an hour ago, it is bedtime for me!

I didn't know there was a horse breed either. Marvellous looking animal in that picture. Your busy days sound good (I would be needing a nap now though!)

>121 charl08: Frisians are beautiful horses, Charlotte, at the first riding school I attended (when I was 12) they had one.
Busy days were a bit much, now two days later I feel a bit recuperated.

Frank is gone for his last working night, 3 weeks off, starting tomorrow.
Two weeks from now we will be walking the first part of the Pieterpad!

>118 FAMeulstee: That's about how I feel about The last of the Mohicans and I'm sure I read it over 50 years ago. Daniel Day Lewis was scenic as Natty Bumppo though.

>118 FAMeulstee: Lovely.

>123 quondame: Great description of Daniel Day Lewis, Susan!

Happy March, Anita - I hope the longer days will begin to correct your thyroid troubles. For me, lack of sunshine is my downfall and I need mega doses of a Vitamin D supplement to perk me up. Thank goodness winter's just about over!
Do you plan to finish The Bear and the Nightingale trilogy? I remember enjoying the final book more that the second.

Hi and Happy March, Anita and Frank! :)

>111 FAMeulstee: Sounds like a lovely day. And how nice you could donate all those books in one go. I always have to leave mine in little packs of 2-3 at the next book crossing or in the library free books basket.

>123 quondame: All in agreement over here, Susan :-)
I never saw the movie.

>124 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul. So now we have 4 meanings for Frisian (the language, the people, the cow and the horse).

>125 Carmenere: Thank you, Lynda, I enjoy the longer days. No more walking it the dark.
Yes, I want to read the last book, the Dutch translation was published last year. I wait until my library gets a copy.

>126 Deern: Thank you, Nathalie!
Yes, it was a lovely day. It was one of the reasons to donate my books there, they take large quantities and support a good cause.

Hi, Anita.

I'm glad you liked In the Frame. Me, too. "Solid action mystery" is a good description. I like the play on words in the Dutch title. It wasn't one of my favorite Dick Francis mysteries, but it was a good one.

The Last of the Mohicans - wow, it's been a long time since I read that one. James Fenimore Cooper was all the rage in his time, particularly in France, if I'm remembering correctly.

HI Anita - woo - caught up!

I've never read The Last of the Mohicans. But I do plan or reading There There eventually.

I'm glad you're enjoying the Dick Francis reads, and also enjoyed the Overstory.

Friesans are beautiful. Even half breds here in the states can be very expensive. They aren't common in this area as in the States, anyway, they are mostly used for dressage and the western horses rule in Montana.

>128 jnwelch: Hi Joe, glad to see you here.
I just got the next Francis Blood Sport from the e-library.
It was one of the first books about indians, later on many others wrote similair stories.

>129 streamsong: Hi Janet, I am terrible behind. Maybe I can make it tomorrow to catch up with the threads.
If I had to choose I would prefer There, There over The Last of the Mohicans :-)
The Dick Francis books are a nice addition to my readings, without the group read I would never have found them.
I love Friesians, both their looks and their stable character.

Hi Anita!

>100 FAMeulstee: Interesting sequencing. I have The Last of the Mohicans on my shelves, just need to try to fit it in this year before reading >102 FAMeulstee: There, there, which I put on my wish list this morning thanks to Berly.

Happy Saturday, Anita!

>131 karenmarie: Hi Karen, it was not intended to read them right behind eachother, but it turned out to be interesting. Two books about indians, 2 1/2 centuries apart... notice the differences.

>132 richardderus: Thank you, Richard, the same to you!

--

Sorry still being a bit quiet on the threads.
My father has decided to pay out my mothers half of the enheretance, didn't see that coming. We already decided to pay of a part of our mortgage with the money, so we don't have to think about it any further.

--

Today our National Book Week started. Traditionally that is book buying time, to get the free Bookweek gift. Today three books entered the house, and I ordered four more online:

Onze verslaggever in de leegte by Dimitri Verhulst
Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit (e-book)
Leon & Juliette by Annejet van der Zijl (Bookweek gift)

Will arrive Tuesday:
Seizoensroddel by Jan Baeke
Habitus by Radna Fabias
Boeddhisme in alle eenvoud by Steve Hagen
Generaal zonder leger by Özcan Akyol (Bookweek essay)

book 47: De jungleboeken by Rudyard Kipling
library, e-book, translated, contains The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book, 474 pages

started 2020-02-25
finished 2020-03-01

Well that wasn't what I expected, Mowgli's advertures in the jungle are only a part of the book. Also other stories of animals in the jungle, and most surprising two stories set near the northpole!
Enjoyable read.

Dutch title translated: The Jungle Books

book 48: De tuin by Peter Wohlleben
library, e-book, non-fiction, translated from German, English translation The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature's Secret Signs, 208 pages

started 2020-03-01
finished 2020-03-02
TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book honoring Plant a Seed Day

A bit disjointed book about reading the weather in your garden.
I loved Wohllebens The Hidden Life of Trees, his next book The Inner Life of Animals was a bit less, and this one.. sigh... probably published to sell boks on the wave of the first one.

Dutch title translated: The garden

book 49: De ontsnapping van de natuur by Thomas Oudman & Theunis Piersma
library, e-book, non-fiction, Dutch, no translations, 256 pages

started 2020-03-02
finished 2020-03-03
TIOLI Challenge #3: Read a book honoring Plant a Seed Day

Both writers worked as biologist on a project about migrating birds, that took place both in the Dutch Waddenzee and at the coast of Mauretania. They question the present biological science to believe that everything can be mesured and named in numbers. And the focus on genetics, as genes are only the tool, the environment makes how the programmed genes will act. You can't mesure a bird habitat in only numbers, or human life, or the destroying of out planet. The writers give a few answers, but raise many more questions. A very interesting read that makes you think.

Title translated: The escape of nature (or the un-understanding of nature, a wordplay explained in the book)

>133 FAMeulstee: how lovely that your parents gift will be permanently embedded in your home Anita.

And a lovely book buying too, for book week.

book 50: Een jihad van liefde by Mohamed el Bachiri
library, e-book, non-fiction, translated from French, no English translation, 93 pages

started 2020-03-03
finished 2020-03-04

Mohamed el Bachiri lost his wife in the terrorist attack in Brussels, March 2016. He tries to cope, and refuses to give hate a place. He loved his wife, and it was hatred that took her life. He mourns, his misses her, he carries on with their children, becaus he has to carry on.

It reminded me of You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris, who lost his wife at Bataclan in November 2015.

Title translated: A jihad of love

>137 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline, it felt like the right thing to do.

Book week is one of the best Dutch traditions, and the best excuse to buy books :-)

book 51: Italiaanse schoenen by Henning Mankell
library, e-book, translated from Swedish, English translation Italian Shoes, 344 pages

started 2020-03-04
finished 2020-03-05
TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book with a country in the title

Retired surgeon Fredrick Welin lives alone on a Swedish island. One day in winter when he wakes up, he sees a woman with a walker on the ice. It turns out to be his girlfriend from 40 years ago. She came to make him keep his promise: taking her to a small pond up in the north. She turns Fredricks world upside down.

Not a mystery, like the Wallander books. A beautiful written story, I am now reading the sequel After the fire.

Dutch and English title are the same

Hi Anita. I see you are still doing well when it comes to reading!

Congratulations on your book week acquisitions. I still have to decide what to buy (and where), but I am very interested in De Ontsnapping van de Natuur.

Have a nice Sunday.

All the best for you and have a wonderful sunday, Anita.

Hi Anita! Lots of good reading. I loved A Suitable Boy.

>136 FAMeulstee: This sounds fascinating, Anita. I read The Genius of Birds which I found full of things I didn't know about how birds find their way, experiment, and even remember people. The amount of experimentation on birds was grim. Other approaches sound worthwhile.

>141 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella!
Reading is a bit down compared to the last three years, but I had some stellar reading years. At the pace I read now I would end just beneath 100.000 pages instead of well over that number.
I think you might like De ontsnapping van de natuur, it was on the shortlist of the Jan Wolkersprijs.

>142 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas, happy Tuesday.

>143 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda, I have been lucky with the books I choose to read :-)
I am glad I finally got to A Suitable Boy, it was a LT recommendation that was on my shelves since 2017.

>144 charl08: Yes it was, Charlotte. Theunis Piersma wrote an other book that might be intersting The Flexible Phenotype, it isn't available in Dutch, so I haven't read it. It seems to be about similair subjects, could be a scientific work.
I have added The Genius of Birds to my library wishlist.

book 52: Het water komt by Rutger Bregman
own, Dutch, non-fiction, no translations, 48 pages

started 2020-03-06
finished 2020-03-06
TIOLI Challenge #16: March birthstone challenge - read a book with an aquamarine cover

Sealevels are rising, in some decades The Netherlands might be gone, as the majority of our country lays below sea level.
In 1953 we had a big flood disaster, one man warned for many years, but wasn't heard. We are in a similair place now, and it is time to act.

Dutch title translated: The water is coming

book 53: De H is van havik by Helen Macdonald
1001 books, library, translated, original title H is for hawk, 349 pages

started 2020-03-05
finished 2020-03-07
TIOLI Challenge #7: Read a book focused around some sort of physical activity, eg sports, dance

After the death of her father, the writer gets a goshawk. With the bird she goes through her process of grief.
With many references to The goshawk by T.H. White, that I read two years ago.

Dutch title translated: The H is for hawk

book 54: Zweedse laarzen by Henning Mankell
library, e-book, translated from Swedish, English translation After the Fire, 414 pages

started 2020-03-07
finished 2020-03-09
TIOLI Challenge #16: March birthstone challenge - read a book with an aquamarine cover

Sequel to Italian Shoes (see >140 FAMeulstee: )
Fredrik Welin wakes up in the middle of the night, and realises his house is on fire. He barely escapes, but looses everything he owned. After a few days he realises the police thinks he started the fire, so he didn't only loose everything, he is also the suspect. Meanwhile his newly found daughter is in trouble in Paris. He travels there to help her out.

Lovely read about aging, a small comunity and family ties.

Dutch title translated: Swedish boots

Hi, Anita. I am so glad to see that you liked H is For Hawk. Looking forward to reading her new one, later this year. I also recommend The Genius of Birds. i am happy to see you have added it to your list.

book 55: Vuurtorenwachter by Camilla Läckberg
library, e-book, translated from Swedish, English translation The Lost Boy, 425 pages

started 2020-03-09
finished 2020-03-10
TIOLI Challenge #16: March birthstone challenge - read a book with an aquamarine cover

Seventh book in the Erica Falck & Patrik Hedström series.
Matte recently returned to Fjälbacka, finding a job at the city government. No one understands what has happened, when he is found in his appartment, shot through his head. The police investiagtions delve deep into his life.
Erika has given birth to twins, and her sister Anna is in deep depression because she lost her unborn child.

I liked this book better that the previous one. I like the series, some books I like better and some are just sufficient enough to keep on reading

Dutch title translated: Lighthousewatcher

>149 msf59: Thank you, Mark. I am glad I finally got to H is for Hawk, I had it on my TBR since reading The Goshawk. I will be looking forward for the new one with you.
Good to know you recommend The Genius of Birds as well.

Happy COVID-19 free Wednesday to you, my dear!

>150 FAMeulstee: Another Scandi series I need to get to.

Hi Anita my dear, hope all is well with you and Frank and that the weather is not too bad for you. You are racing away with your reading again whereas i am in the slow lane but they are rather big. Sending love and hugs to both of you dear friend.

>152 richardderus: Thank you, Richard, you made me smile :-)
I managed to stay COVID-19 free all through the day and hope to keep it that way for at least for the next 9 days, when we are back home from our short vacation. The northern provinces are still COVID-19 free, so all looks good for now.
Yesterday the first case in our city was discovered, a woman who had been to Italy.

>153 PaulCranswick: I hope you like them as much as I did, Paul.

>154 johnsimpson: Thank you, John.
All is well in our corner of the world, the weather seems to clear a bit. Yesterday was almost dry, today a very little bit of rain is expected. It looks like we picked the right week for our short vacation: predictions for next week are good.
I hope all is well with you and Karen, sending love from both of us.

I wish you and Frank safe travels a wonderful vacation, Anita.

Missed that you were on holiday Anita, have a lovely time.

Hi Anita, just watching DWDD. Very nice interview with Tonke Dragt, worth seeing for any fan.

>156 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas, safe travels to you tomorrow.

>157 Caroline_McElwee: Not yet, Caroline, but thank you.
If all goes well we go to the north of our country next Monday. A short vacation in a holiday park near the Lauwersmeer. On Tuesday and Thursday we want to walk the first parts of the Pieterpad, a popular long distance trail.

>158 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella, we just saw it. So lovely to see Tonke!

--

Today we went to museum De Fundatie in Zwolle, to see the exhibition CRUX : paintings by Martin Kobe, Mirjam Völker, Robert Seidel and Titus Schade. They all studied in Leipzig, three of them under Neo Rauch.
https://www.museumdefundatie.nl/nl/crux/

We were lucky to go today, tomorrow all museums close because of COVID-19 for the rest of the month!

--

We bought the catalogue of CRUX and two more: Werner Tübke and Wolfgang Mattheuer
  

>138 FAMeulstee: Too bad that one has not been translated. I would not trust my schoolgirl French to it.

>140 FAMeulstee: That sounds like a good one. I will have to see if I can find a copy.

>147 FAMeulstee: I am in the minority on that one. For some reason, the book just did not work for me.

>148 FAMeulstee: My local library does not have either that one or the first in the series. Too bad.

>160 alcottacre: >138 FAMeulstee: I would recommend to try to find a copy of You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris. A similair story from a man in Paris, who lost his wife at Bataclan, 13 November 2015. In this book his experiences from that night and the weeks afer, being left with his young son. I read it last year and gave it 5*.

>160 alcottacre: >147 FAMeulstee: Not every book is for every reader, Stasia.

>159 FAMeulstee: Well, that couldn't have been better timed! And lovely art, as a bonus.

>159 FAMeulstee: Nice plans Anita! Have fun walking.

And how lucky you could visit De Fundatie. I understand the need for closing down the big museums, but we would have loved to be able to visit at the moment.

Interesting looking art, Werner Tübke reminds me of Jeroen Bosch.

>161 FAMeulstee: I read that one and gave it 5 stars, an important book!

Safe travels, enjoy your vacation! :)

>162 richardderus: Indeed, Richard, we liked what we saw from the four painters from the "New Leipzig School".

>163 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella, I'll be glad when it is Monday and we are on our way. All the news makes me a little nervous about our trip.
It will be a big relief for the people working in the museums, the lady at the front desk of De Fundatie was clearly not happy with her job. She was wearing gloves, as was everybody else at the museum.
I had the same association :-)

>164 Deern: Completely agree, Nathalie, I think I first saw the book on your thread.
Thank you, I still fear one of us can become ill, and we have to cancel the trip... with each hour that gets more unlikely ;-)

--
Two pictures of paintings by Robert Seidel:

Ziemlich gute Politische Malerei (2017)
Quite good Political Paint


Abhängen, Tropical (2013)
Hang off, Tropicl

--
Two people in our city are diagnosed with COVID-19 now. Both look like mild/moderate cases.

Many libraries are closed now. Luckely our local library decided to stay open, and only canceled all gatherings.

Yesterday it took Frank a bit longer to get our groceries, despite our Prime Ministers call to stop panic buying, many things were hard to find, or not available at all.

>161 FAMeulstee: I added You Will Not Have My Hate to the BlackHole. Thanks for that recommendation, Anita!

I am a firm believer that not every book is for every reader. I just remarked on Richard's thread last night about that. Isn't it wonderful that we all have different tastes?

>166 alcottacre: You are very welcome, Stasia, I hope you can find a copy.

Completely agree, it would become very boring if we all had he same taste in books (and other things).

--

The goverment announced today that restaurants, schools etc. are all closing down tomorrow.

We still go ahead with our short vacation tomorrow, because we rented a holiday cottage. We won't be in contact with other people, except on arrival and when we leave. I presume staff can put the papers and key down on a counter and step back when we get those. We will have to get some groceries, but we would need them at home as well.
The only change in plans it that we will have to take drinks and food when we go walking, no stops at restaurants to get a beverage and lunch.
Our friend Guido has been looking so much forward to this short break, he has no job and is on welfare, so he can't afford a vacation by himself.

ETA: Not sure if I will have time to check in here, if not I'll be back home on Friday.

Have fun Anita. Good weather for the first days. Wishing you a nice and relaxing vacation. Don't forget a thermos;-)

I hope you have a relaxing holiday and enjoy your cottage.
>165 FAMeulstee: I love both of those paintings!

Have fun and stay safe, Anita!

Have a nice holiday, Anita! And stay well!

Have a lovely holiday Anita.

Hope you have a great vacation!

Hi Anita my dear, i hope you are both enjoying your vacation dear friend.

>32 FAMeulstee: To Kill a Mockingbird remains my all-time favorite book. I read it as a required reading in tenth grade in high school. It remains my favorite lo these years later.

Much Love to you Anita!

We are back home, all went well, we walked the first and nearly the second part of the Pieterpath.
The first part is 13 kilometer from Pieterburen to Winsum, we walked it on Tuesday.
The second part, from Winsum to Groningen, used to be 19 kilometer, but it is changed to 21 kilometer (because of a bridge that is no longer there). We assumed that would be too much, so we skipped 3 kilometer from the start, and finished 2 kilometer early, so reducing our walk to 16 kilometer. We plan to start there next time, and to reduce every part to a 14-16 kilometer range, to keep it doable.

We went for our groceries to 4 different places, it was odd to see that there were local differences in what products were sold out.

--

>168 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella.
We actually took a thermos with tea with us, and that turned out to be perfect beverage for the walk :-)

>169 Sakerfalcon: Thank you, Claire, we had a good time. Nice cottage with a lot of room for the three of us and the dog.

>170 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen! We had fun, and think we stayed safe, we did keep our distance to other walkers. It seems like half of the population has picked up walking now!

>171 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba!
The north, where we stayed, is still Covid-19 free. Over here in Lelystad there are 13 people with the virus, on a population of 78,000, so it still relative safe here.

>172 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline, we had a very good time in Groningen.

>173 ChelleBearss: Thank you, Chelle, we had a good time.

>174 johnsimpson: Thank you, John. All went as planned, it was a lovely holiday park where we stayed.

>175 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda, I was glad I finally got to To Kill a Mockingbird. I never heard about this book before LT.
I hope all is well with you.

Welcome home, Anita. Glad you had such a good time and are back home safe and sound. Stay well, wash your hands! :-)

Hi Anita,

Here is a little music to uplift:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5AyGvJcyoU

It's terrific. I don't know if you know this song or would recognize many of the famous contributors but it's still lovely. Enjoy.

>177 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley, it is good to be back home in these uncertain time.

>178 jessibud2: Thanks again!

--

Two reviews behind: Spinoza by Theun de Vries and An Armenian sketchbook by Vasili Grossman. Now reading De Hunnen by Jan Cremer, a big tome of 1419 pages. Progress is very slow, as I find myself checking the news 10 times more than usual, and I am not able to read much more than half an hour in a row.

--

The holliday cottage was a perfect spot for birdwatching. I have seen many species of small birds around. A few pictures (not mine):

Left Common Chaffinch, right European Goldfinch
 

Left European Robin, right White Wagtail
 

Left Eurasian Blue Tit, right Great Tit
 

Pictures by Marek Szczepanek, Andreas Trepte and Sławomir Staszczuk (Wikipedia)

>179 FAMeulstee: - Beautiful birds! Lucky you to see so many.

>179 FAMeulstee: Quite a lovely birding haul!

>176 FAMeulstee: Nice to hear you had a good time walking.

>179 FAMeulstee: I'm doing worse, can't concentrate on reading at all.

And yes, stay well, both of you!

Welcome home, Anita.
I'm glad you had such a lovely trip.
Stay well.

I'm so glad to hear that you had a good trip, Anita, and thank you for sharing those beautiful bird pictures!

Glad you had a good time Anita. Lovely to see such a mix of birds too.

Yes, odd how different locales are out of stock of different things.

I am also reading in shorter bites I find. I try to contain my C19 news to a couple of short bursts a day. Don't always succeed.

Welcome back!

What a great variety of birds. Sounds like a wonderful trip.

>180 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley. We choose that place because it was near the start of the Pieterpath, so the variety of birds (all seen from inside) was a lovely surprise.

>181 richardderus: Thank you, Richard dear, I wouldn't mind to go back there. Such a nice and quiet place.

>182 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella, we were happy the walking went well. I was a bit nevous the first day, walking at unfamiliar territory, but it went very well. The directions were clear and so was the route marking.
Today went a bit better, only 300 pages left in De Hunnen.

>183 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas, the same to you.
Sorry your trip turmed out to be a very short one.

>184 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen, looking forward to walk more parts of the Pieterpath :-)
It was so nice to see so many different birds near.

>185 Caroline_McElwee: Thank you, Caroline, the birds were all busy and singing, spring has arrived.
It was very odd to find so muc local differences. Over here the supermarkets are almost back to normal stock.
Reading was a bit better today, now I am up late because of catching up here with the threads...

>186 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.
It was a lovely quiet place to be, a small holiday park, with a nature reserve nearby.

Very glad you’re back and had a good mini-vacation.

I heard your prime minister (or president or what is title is) had a clear answer to the toilet paper wars. :))

Take care!

>179 FAMeulstee: I'm watching the bird feeders now: we've got goldfinch, blue/ great tits and chaffinches as regular visitors. The finches make me laugh as they seem to pick one sunflower heart, then chuck another one. It's almost as though they have a deal with the pigeons below.

Glad to hear your shops are back to good supplies.

>179 FAMeulstee: Love the birds, Anita. All beauties. Are all of these regular residents? Funny, we have a small flock of European Goldfinch, living in the far northern reaches of Chicagoland. They must have escaped or been released somehow and have been thriving for a number of years. I have not seen them yet. And hooray for the "Tits"! They remind me of our chickadees.

>188 Deern: Thank you, Nathalie.
Yes, Rutte is our prime minister (premier), his words are clear.
People still go out too much, overcrowded beaches yesterday and overcrowded nature reserves today :-(

>189 charl08: I love the small birds, Carlotte, although I need my glasses to recognise them. Often they are gone when I return to the window with my glasses on. I see these birds also in my own neighborhood, but never so many together.
I wonder what the pigeons in your garden do in return ;-)

>190 msf59: Thank you, Mark.
Yes these are all fairly common in our country, I see them also in my own neighborhood, at the holidaypark they were in larger numbers.
I love the Goldfinches, with their striking colors.

Just dropping by to make sure you and Frank are ok.

>192 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul, we are allright. I am just a little off with everything that is going on.

Yesterday the government took more measures to keep people from gathering, last weekend masses went to the beach and to nature reserves, not keeping distance :-(
Now we are nearly at lockdown: only go out for work, medical care or groceries, and only one family member can go out to the shops. You are allowed to go visit others, but no more than 3 visitors at once.
Luckely going for a walk is also allowed, if we keep the distance. I hope it can stay this way, as many still don't seem to understand the urgence. When we did our walk yesterday it looked like the message has sunk in, everyone tried to keep distance. That hadn't happend before, we seemed to be the only ones doing it.
Tonight Frank goes back to work after two weeks vacation.

From various threads (Karen, Paul, Peggy, Richard)

Copied from Vincent W. Wright: Take a break from the Coronavirus and learn about each other...

1. Who are you named after? Four aunts: two sisters of my father and two sisters of my mother, my call name is a mix-up of those names
2. Last time you cried? This morning when I finished Of Mice and Man
3. Do you like your handwriting? It is readable, but I don't practice much anymore in digital times
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Liverwurst
5. Longest relationship? Together with Frank since 1983
6. Do you still have your tonsils? No
7. Would you bungee jump? Never!
8. What is your favorite kind of cereal? Weetabix
9. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Yes
10. Do you think you're strong willed? Rarely
11. Favorite ice cream? Stracciatella
12. What is the first thing you notice about a person? Eyes
13. Football or baseball? Football, the one also called soccer
14. What color pants are you wearing? Blue, with a touch of red, white and black
15. Last thing you ate? Ceasar salad
16. What are you listening to? Not listening to anything, I do hear the ticking of the clock
17. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple
18. What is your favorite smell? My roses in the garden, and the smell of coffee in the morning
19. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My father
20. Married? Since 1984
21. Hair color? Brownish with grey, and the leftovers of a silver coloring the blue is gone
22. Eye color? Between greyish blue and clear blue, depending on my mood
23. Favorite food? Pasta
24. Scary movies or happy endings? I don't do scary
25. Last movie you watched in a theater? De Nieuwe Wildernis (2013)
26. What color shirt are you wearing? Red
27. Favorite holiday? None
28. Beer or Wine? Wine
29. Night owl or morning person? Night owl
30. Favorite day of the week? All days are good
31. Favorite animal? Dog
32. Do you have a pet? Not anymore, used to have dogs (smooth Chow Chows and a Pekingese)
33. Where would you like travel to? Not far from home

>194 FAMeulstee: Oh dear, the blue hair is gone? Did you decide you didn't care for it? I thought it was flattering.

>195 richardderus: I loved the blue hair, Richard, sadly it is too expensive to maintain. So I only put colors in my hair at special occasions.

>176 FAMeulstee: Glad you made it back home and that all went well!

>179 FAMeulstee: Thanks for sharing the pictures of the birds, Anita, even if they are not yours :)

>194 FAMeulstee: I just did that on my thread, lol.

Love your answers, Anita. I'm sorry that the blue hair has gone too.
Take good care of yourself and Frank!

Gorgeous pictures of the birds, Anita! I am beginning to see birds around here too - though most never leave. Snowgeese, Canada Goose, sparrows, a hummingbird, red winged blackbird and a lot of ducks.

Glad to see you and Frank are doing well. I was just checking. :)

>194 FAMeulstee: Love your answer: "Favorite day of the week? All days are good" !!

I'm so glad you were able to get away for your break. I was thinking about you and hoping you had a good time. Great that you enjoyed some birdwatching. I think we are so lucky to have such pretty birds as common species that we can see easily.

Your lockdown regulations sound similar to ours, though we are not supposed to visit other people. I'm having a hard time making my mum understand that, but as I have to take public transport to get to her it's just not a good idea. I went to the park on my lunch break and was pleased to see that people were being sensible.

Hi Anita!

>194 FAMeulstee: I love liverwurst, too, just haven’t had it in forever and ever. And now I know what Stracciatella is. Yum. Sad about the blue.

I hope the lockdown measures help 'flatten the curve'.

>197 alcottacre: Thank you, Stasia, our trip was just in time. A week later it would not have been responsible to leave.
LOL, Wikipedia wants me to give credit ;-)

>198 LizzieD: Thank you, Peggy, the blue hair was fun as long as it lasted.
We try our best, Frank is back to work. His emplyer took good precautions, but it felt a bit weird to him.
Take care!

>199 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah. Those are all bird that I also see occasional in my own neighborhood. Most stay all year, except the robins. We see robins year round, the ones we see in winter come from Scandinavia and in spring our "own" robins return from the south.
Lots of geese around here, even sometimes a Canadian Goose that lost track.

>200 Berly: Thanks for checking, Kim, glad you are still around.
Not much difference in the days for me, only Franks work nights regular change the regular routine.

>201 Sakerfalcon: Thank you, Claire, we are glad that we could go. I think very few will have a chance to take a break in the next months. The only downside was that all restaurants and bars were closed, so no socializing with other walkers or having a cup of coffee or tea on our way.
We are not encouraged to visit others, and when we do the 1,5 meter distance is still required. I think the government did this to keep the support of the population. My father understands we can't visit now, so I call him a bit more often. On our walk yesterday we noticed most people were sensible, but still not all of them :-(

>202 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen, I hope the curve does flatten. Today the advisors of the government were a little optimistic about that.
I hadn't had liverwurst in a long time, but a few weeks ago Frank bought some for me. It was gone in 24 hours :-)

Hi Anita. Good to see you’re coping with the Covid lockdown.

Hi Anita, hope you and Frank keep well. I have been cheered up by reports of hundreds of thousands of people signing up to volunteer to help others with driving or just a phonecall. All very impressive.

Hi Anita. I have nephew, Alex, who has been living and working in Amsterdam at AMOLF, a research institute. He has been there since January. I had an email from him a few days ago and he tells me that he finds the city and country to be very friendly. He lives in a building across from his work and tells me that there is a store downstairs from his flat/room. So far, no food or any sort of shortages he tells me. He is enjoying riding his bike. He is my sister's son and has just turned 30. A really nice fellow.

>194 FAMeulstee: Love this, might do mine over the weekend! I can always postpone the house cleaning to another stay-in weekend I guess :)

Glad to see you safe, Anita and I enjoyed your MEME answers. I also cried when I read Of Mice and Men.

I may also cry when you make a new thread. I will so miss looking at that wonderful bum!

>204 humouress: Thank you, Nina, my daily routine hasn't changed much ;-)

>205 charl08: Thank you, Charlotte, similair things happen over here. But also people behaving extremely bad, seems the best and worst comes up in times of crisis.

>206 vancouverdeb: Hi Deborah. I am glad your nephew has a good experience in our counrty in this difficult time.

>207 Deern: It is doing the round in the group, Nathalie. Looking forward to your answers.

>208 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul. I had read Of Mice and Men in highschool and remembered it was sad, and again this time tears at the end. Steinbeck sure could write!
LOL, it is inevitable that will happen fairly soon ;-)

book 56: Spinoza by Theun de Vries
library, non-fiction, Dutch, no English translation, 239 pages

started 2020-03-10
finished 2020-03-12
TIOLI Challenge #16: March birthstone challenge - read a book with an aquamarine cover

Biography of Baruch Spinoza, the Dutch 17th century philosopher, written by one of my favorite writers.

book 57: Reis door Armenië by Vasili Grossman
library, non-fiction, translated from Russian, English translation An Armenian sketchbook, 176 pages

started 2020-03-11
finished 2020-03-15
TIOLI Challenge #15: Read a book with a country in the title

Vasili Grossman was send to Armenia to help out with the translation of an Armenian classic, shortly after his book "Life and Fate" was taken away from him by the Sovjet government.
The book contains his experiences in Armenia, larded with more general thoughts about life, humanity, nationality, prejudice etc.

A perfect review of this book at LT by gbill.

Dutch title translated: Journey through Armenia

book 58: Het lijden van de jonge Werther by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
1001 books, library, translated from German, English translation The Sorrows of Young Werther, 176 pages

started 2020-03-15
finished 2020-03-17
TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book where the final page count of the story portion of the book is an odd number

After moving to rural Walheim young Werther falls in love with a woman he can't have, as she is engaged to someone else. He writes regular to a friend about his wherabouts, at first mainly about the beautiful surroundings. Later on he gets depressed because of his unreachable love.

Dutch title translated: The suffering of young Werther

book 59: De Hunnen by Jan Cremer
library, e-book, Dutch, no translations, 1419 pages

started 2020-03-12
finished 2020-03-22
TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book where the final page count of the story portion of the book is an odd number

Jan Cremer was born just before the war. His father died soon after and he grew up with his Hungarian mother in Enschede. The neighborhood never accepted his mother and young Jan was more than she could handle.
Besides the autobiographical parts, some history of Hungary and his Hungarian family, the Huns (people from Eastern Europe were called Huns in Enschede), memories of others and the history of Enschede.
Originally published in three books: "Oorlog" (War), Jan from 0 to 5 years; "Bevrijding" (Liberation), Jan from 5 to 10 years; "Vrede" (Peace) Jan from 10 to 15. A kind of prequel to his famous I, Jan Cremer.
There are interesting parts, but overal it wasn't a great read.

Dutch title translated: The Huns

book 60: Klopjacht by Dick Francis
library, e-book, translated, original title Blood sport, 209 pages

started 2020-03-22
finished 2020-03-23

Gene Hawkins isn't happy with three weeks vacation. When his boss invites him on a Sunday, he is very surprised, as his boss never socialises with his employees. His boss introduces him to an American, who's stallion just has been stolen, despite heavy protective measures. Gene crosses the atlantic to unraffle this mystery and some more.

Enjoyable read, a it different from other Dick Francis books, as the main character suffers from depression.

Dutch title translated: Raid (or Manhunt)

book 61: Muizen en mensen by John Steinbeck
1001 books, library, e-book, translated, original title Of Mice and Men, 135 pages

started 2020-03-22
finished 2020-03-24
TIOLI Challenge #2: Read a book for the March Semi-Rolling Challenge

Tragedy during the Great Depression, brilliant writing, the ending had me in tears again.

Dutch title translated: Mice and Men

  

book 62: Geef me de ruimte! by Thea Beckman
own, YA, Dutch, no English translation, 300 pages
started 2020-03-24
finished 2020-03-25

book 63: Triomf van de verschroeide aarde by Thea Beckman
own, YA, Dutch, no English translation, 320 pages
started 2020-03-25
finished 2020-03-26

book 64: Het rad van fortuin by Thea Beckman
own, YA, Dutch, no English translation, 336 pages
started 2020-03-26
finished 2020-03-27

Trilogy set during the Hundred Years War between France and England (14th century).
A Flemish girl runs away from home, to escape a forced marriage. She ends up in France, where she meets a troubadour who marries her. Together they travel the roads and meet historic figures like Bertrand du Guesclin, Charles V of France.

Titles translated: Give me space!, Triumph of the burned earth, The wheel of fortune

all three books

Hi Anita! Glad that you are staying safe and reading lots.

>217 banjo123: Thank you, Rhonda!
All is well here. We can still do our daily walks, and Frank is still able to get all we need from the supermarkts.
My reading numbers are slightly down (too much news to follow) and I have a hard time keeping up with the threads.

Hi Anita, you have done some good reading again. I will start looking for those three by Thea Beckman.

Glad you are okay. It's strange, this feeling of danger, but it isn't visible, just in the news and the numbers.

Glad you are both staying safe, Anita! And I'm frustrated that all that good reading you are doing is not available in English, although I know that the reverse is something you have to deal with all the time.

Good to hear you're keeping well Anita. I know what you mean about reading being down although I NEVER read any like as much as you do. Stay well!

>215 FAMeulstee: Old favourite that will come off the shelf for a reread soon Anita.

Glad you are getting your reading chops back.

Hi Anita!

I just started Blood Sport last night, needing something extra light and remembering the Dick Francis shared read.

>216 FAMeulstee: That trilogy sounds like it's an enjoyable read.

I don't expect De hunnen will get translated, but probably should. Prejudice needs to be shown up!

Stay safe and healthy, you and Frank.

Dear Anita, I hope that you and Frank are fine. We spent a nice Saturday in our garden. I did the weekend shopping in the early morning. It is ghostly when practically no one is out on a day like this. Everything has shut down for two weeks now. People stick to it very well. Only those jobs that have system-relevant professions are possible. Most people can do home office and then there are those who cannot work because their businesses are closed. I go to school on Mondays and Tuesdays to copy and pack everything the children will get as their next weekly chores. Otherwise I prepare everything at home. Thomas is 90% at home and goes shopping for fresh products every day.

Stay healthy.

>219 EllaTim: Thank you, Ella, I love most of the books Thea Beckman wrote. I like Hasse Simonsdochter and Kruistocht in spijkerbroek best. And these three are very good too.
I am still trying to cut my news intake. I do check less often, but I still feel I need to stay informed. So every day shortly after 14:00 I check the new numbers.

>220 ronincats: Thank you, Roni. Yes the reverse does happen regular, so I am more used to it ;-)

>221 RebaRelishesReading: Thank you, Reba, stay well too!
Reading being down is very relative. Last year I reached 75 in February, this year it will be April. But it doesn't matter as long as I enjoy my readings, as that is the main thing.

>222 Caroline_McElwee: It is a great book, Caroline, I did read it long ago for my English examin highschool, and was very glad to read it again. Enjoy your reread.
I am slowly getting used to the present time of pandemic and social distancing.

>223 karenmarie: I hope you like it, Karen. It was a decent story, but not my favorite Dick Francis.

>224 richardderus: Thank you, Richard. The chances on a translation of De Hunnen are very low, as translators are paid per word and this is a 1419 pages long tome. I don't think enough could be sold to cover a translation.

>225 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara, good you could spend some time in the garden. The last days here were sunny, but with a very cold wind from the north, we stayed inside except for our walk.
We have sililair regulations here. Frank still has to go to his work. 3 of the 32 clients are in isolation, because of suspected COVID-19. The day team is reduced to weekend strength, only two workers instead of a whole team.

To all: stay healthy and safe!

>220 ronincats: >226 FAMeulstee: Well, the Hollandse Club still has a few Dutch books left after our library closed so I might be able to get a hold of them. But, since I don’t read Dutch, there wouldn’t be much point. :0)

Singapore, while not in lockdown, has recommended that everybody stays at home for a month, only going out for essentials which means my husband will be working from home. Schools have not closed but my kids - having had one week of home learning - will be on holiday for two weeks. Let’s hope we survive ...

We FaceTimed my husband’s brother’s family in Seattle today where their kids have been stuck at home for several weeks already; both our eldest children are going stir crazy while both our youngest children are quite happy for this state of affairs to continue.

Wish you and yours a wonderful rest sunday, Anita and stay well!

>216 FAMeulstee: Yes, that ending!

>217 banjo123: Huge shame that Thea Beckman has had so few books translated to English.
My son is enjoying teaching his guitar students online so far.

>227 humouress: You could learn to read Dutch, Nina ;-)
Almost lockdown isn't easy for parents and children, being confined together...

>228 SirThomas: Thank you, Thomas!

>229 avatiakh: Indeed, Kerry, she wrote many good books. Some may be too Dutch to be a succes in English translation.

book 65: Wie wat vindt heeft slecht gezocht by Rutger Kopland
own, poetry, Dutch, no translations, 48 pages

started 2020-03-23
finished 2020-03-28
TIOLI Challenge #10: Tour de Suisse by adding the read pages to the Swiss postal code

Poetry, originally published in 1972, by well known Dutch poet, writing under pseudonym.
I always enjoy his poems.

Title translated: Who finds something did not search well

book 66: Moord op de moestuin by Nicolien Mizee
library, Dutch, no translations, 239 pages

started 2020-03-28
finished 2020-03-28
TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book where the final page count of the story portion of the book is an odd number

A few days after Judith and Thijs got marrie, Thijs gets a heart attack. On the day he returns home, their neighbours start to renovate their house. Judiths sister decides that this is npt the right environment for someone recovering, so they rent a nice cottage in the woods. It turns out it isn't that quiet, at the allotments nearby is a lot of trouble.
Cozy and funny mystery, enjoyable light read.

Title translated: Murder at the allotment

book 67: De avond is ongemak by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
library, Dutch, English translation The Discomfort of Evening, 271 pages

started 2020-03-29
finished 2020-03-30
TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book where the final page count of the story portion of the book is an odd number

When the son of very religious farmers dies, no one in the family can cope. The parents grow apart, the oldest son abreacts with worsening cruelty, the youngest daugter tries to keep everything together, and the middle daughter (main character) hides permanently in her red coat.
Very well written dark and depressing story.

Dutch title translated: The evening is discomfort

book 68: Platero en ik by Juan Ramón Jiménez
1001 books, own, translated from Spanish, English translation Platero and I, 190 pages

started 2020-02-28
finished 2020-03-30
TIOLI Challenge #6: Read a book where the final page count of the story portion of the book is an odd number

Short poetic stories told by a young man in Andalucia to his donkey Platero. He tells about the village, the children, life and death, festivities, and nature.

Dutch and English title are the same

March 2020 in numbers

22 books read (6,670 pages, 215.2 pages a day)

own 6 (27 %) / library 16

15 male author / 7 female author
9 originally written in Dutch / 13 translated into Dutch
17 fiction / 5 non-fiction

16 books in TIOLI Challenges
10 e-books
  4 1001 books
  4 childrens/YA
  3 mystery/police procedural
  1 poetry

--
pages:
0 - 100 pages: 3
101 - 200 pages: 4
201 - 300 pages: 6
301 - 400 pages: 5
401 - 500 pages: 3
501 - 999 pages: 0
1000+ pages: 1

longest book 1419 pages
shortest book 48 pages
average book 304 pages

--
own books read were on the shelf since:
before 2008: 4
2019: 1
2020: 1

--
date first published:

18th century: 1
19th century: 1

20th century
1910s: 1
1930s: 1
1960s: 1
1970s: 5
1980s: 2

21st century
2000s: 1
2010s: 9

--
ratings:
  1 x
  1 x
13 x
  5 x
  2 x

average rating: 3.86
--
Best books in March


Muizen en mensen (Of Mice and Men) by John Steinbeck


Reis door Armenië (An Armenian sketchbook) by Vasili Grossman

===

Walking in March: 195.2 km; average 6.30 km/a day

2020 totals to date:

68 books read (22,804 pages, 246.8 pages a day)

own 11 (16 %) / library 57

40 male author / 28 female author
20 originally written in Dutch / 48 translated into Dutch
54 fiction / 14 non-fiction

61 books in TIOLI Challenges
30 e-books
  8 1001 books (total 154)
  0 Dutch Literary Canon (total 26/125)
  9 childrens/YA
  8 mystery/police procedural
  2 poetry

pages:
0 - 100 pages: 4
101 - 200 pages: 16
201 - 300 pages: 14
301 - 400 pages: 17
401 - 500 pages: 11
501 - 999 pages: 3
1000+ pages: 3

longest book 1419 pages
shortest book 48 pages
average book 330 pages

--
own books read were on the shelf since:
before 2008: 5
2011: 1
2016: 1
2017: 1
2019: 2
2020: 1

--
date first published:
13th century: 1
18th century: 1
19th century: 2

20th century
1900s: 3
1910s: 1
1930s: 2
1940s: 2
1960s: 3
1970s: 9
1990s: 4

21st century
2000s: 9
2010s: 31

--
ratings:
  3 x
  5 x
33 x
16 x
10 x
  1 x

average rating: 3.79
===
Walking in 2020: 574,2 km; average 6,31 km a day

On March 30th an early Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen from The Singer Museum in Laren, they had it on loan from the Groninger Museum. They asked to share the picture as wide as possible, so here it is.


Vincent van Gogh - Spring Garden, the Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (1884)

Hi Anita!

>235 FAMeulstee: and >236 FAMeulstee: As always, amazing reading stats. Congratulations.

>237 FAMeulstee: I had heard about that theft. Despicable.

>238 karenmarie: Thank you, Karen, numbers are down, still decent :-)

So sad it was stolen, I hope it is found very soon!

>239 FAMeulstee: Your "down" numbers always look like my aspirational numbers! I hope you and Frank stay safe, and that the scum who stole the van Gogh are found submerged in a vat of boiling oil.

I'm furious about the Van Gogh theft. The nerve of some people! It's bad enough to be stealing art at the best of times (and I count art thieves as belonging in the ninth circle of the bad place) but at a time like this? Unbelievable.

>237 FAMeulstee: Crumbs, I'd never have thought that one is a Van Gogh. Hope they find it.

>240 richardderus: I know, Richard, but I am not used anymore that days go by without finishing a book. We are still doing fine. Boiling oil might be a bit too harsh, I will be statisfied when the painting is found and the thieves are caught and convicted.

>241 PawsforThought: It is incomprehensable, Paws. As said before these times brings up the best and the worst in people.

>242 charl08: It is a rather early work, Charlotte. I hope so too.

I hope they find the painting soon, Anita. But wasn't there an art theft some time ago where paintings were destroyed?

Just dropping in to say hi.

Impressive reading stats.

>244 EllaTim: So do I, Ella. I vaguely remember somthing like that, but no details.

>245 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita.

>237 FAMeulstee: I promise, it wasn't me...

>247 Caroline_McElwee: Would have been nice hanging on your wall ;-)