#Historical fiction Berlin Requiem

MAY

by Xavier-Marie Bonnot

Finish date: 19.05. 2023
Genre: historical fiction
Rating: D-
Review: Berlin Requiem (ISBN: 9782266326933)

Conclusion: #Déçu (disappointed…again)

1. This is the real story of Wilhelm Furtwängler
2. …the famous Berlin conductor, with international reputation.
3. …and his  struggle with his conscience during the rise of Nazism.
4. Should he stay in Germany or should he go?
5. I made it to page 267/350. I just could not face
   this predictable story…of course the great “maestro” has secrets
   and young Rodolphe finally hears them on the last page.
6. The story is told in a very factual way in a cold and flat style.
7. This book can appeal to fans of the genre, historical fiction…I’m not one of them.
8. The French is easy to read…too easy if that is possible.
9. I caught myself skimming pages and wishing the book would end.
10. Time to return to some French classics that
11. …stand the test of time.
12. Berlin Requiem…envoûtante (captivating)? Pas de tout. 

#Pulitzer 2023 Barbara Kingslover

Demon Copperhead

by Barbara Kingsolver

 Finished: 17.05.2023
 Genre: novel
 Rating: D-

Bad news:
Everybody loves this book….I did not. It didn’t feel like a boy writing his story. To be fair Demon has a tough childhood but tried hard to make something of himself. He earned his street cred….but it was just a bit too much swag for me (“in your face” language and activity).

Bad news: Dialogue: filled with hillbilly stereotypes: poverty, backwardness and low levels of education.
Plot: too melodramatic
…everyone is tragic or battling some horrible fate.
Characters: children who fall victim to neglect, abuse and addiction.
Characters: adults who are far from role models….they are just disasters.

Bad news: Gimmick: Kingslover transfers the setting of 1820s England in David Copperfield to 20th C Lee County, Virginia in Demon Copperhead. The comparison between David Copperfield (first chapter: I am born) Demon Copperhead (first sentence: First I got myself born.)
David is packed off to gloomy Mr Creakle.
Demon is off to tobacco farmer called Crickson.
My feeling is that while there is some entertainment value initially…it wears off quickly

Personal:

• Well, my Pulitzer Reading Challenge did not start out with a winner IMHO.
• I have read Kingsolver’s book Animal Dreams…loved it but
• …this one is a chore.
• Book feels…like a channel swim, I was exhausted after reading it.
• Regardless of the Pulitzer Prize 2023 this book did not entertain me.
• But to be fair, again….the book did win the Pulitzer Prize 2023…so the author
  must be doing something right!

#Books TBR 2023

2023: National Book Critics Circle  – winners

2023:  Orwell Prize for Political Fiction – finalists

1. The eight novels nominated for 

2. The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2023:

3. Small Worlds – Caleb Azumah Nelson 

4. Birnam Wood – Eleanor Catton 

5. Bournville – Jonathan Coe 

6. The New Life – Tom Crewe 

7. A House for Alice – Diana Evans 

8. The Story of the Forest – Linda Grant 

9. Demon Copperhead – B. Kingsolver – READING

10. After Sappho – Selby Wynn Schwartz 

11. Prize Ceremony  – 22^nd June 2023

#20BooksofSummer23 Reading List

1. Cathy @746books (sign-up  here)  has made dit official:
2. 20 Books of Summer is back for another year and this is the time to start planning!
3. Hashtag: #20BooksOfSummer23
4. I use this cover of The New Yorker often to start the  #20-BooksofSummer.
5. It not only inspires me…but makes me laugh every time I see it.
6. So now for the fun part….making my list.
7. I’m going to select books  from my 2023  challenges:
8. French Reading Challenge
9. Pulitzer Prize Fiction Challenge
   
10. Nobel Prize Challenge

Noble Prize:

1. 1952 – Le baiser au lépreux – François Maurice (1922) – REVIEW
2. 2020 – Faithful and Virtuous Night (24 poems) – Louise Glück (USA) 
3. 1957 – L’étranger – Albert Camus (1942) – REVIEW
4. 1937 – Les Thibault – R.M. du Gard (1922) – REVIEW

Pulitzer Prize:

1. 2023 – Freedom’s Dominion – Jefferson Cowie (history) Audible
2. 2023 – G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover –  Beverly Gage (biography) – Audible
3. 2023 – Stay True – Hua Hsu (memoir)
4. 2023 – Then the War: And Selected Poems, 2007-2020 – Carl Phillips (poetry)
5. 2023 – His Name Is George Floyd – R. Samuels and T. Olorunnipa – Audible
6. 2021 – The Night Watchman – Karen Louise Erdrich – REVIEW
7. 2023 – Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver – REVIEW
8. 2022 -The Netanyahus – J.Cohen 

Non-Fiction: (Audible books)

1. Arthur Miller: American Witness – John Lahr 
2. The Divider: Trump 2017-2021 – P. Bakker and S. Glaser – READ
3. Unthinkable Trauma, Truth’- Jamie Raskin 
4. The Code Breaker  – W. Isaacson. 
5. Red Comet  – H. Clark  – READ
   
6. Midnight in Washington  – A. Schiff 
7. Chip War  – C. Miller – READ
   
8. Freedom’s Dominion – J. Cowie 

French:

1. Les mains du miracle – J. Kessel, 1960  – REVIEW
2. Georges Perec – Claude Burgelin (2023) – REVIEW
3. Berlin Requiem – Xavier-Marie Bonnot (2023) – REVIEW
4. La carte postale – A. Berest (2021) – REVIEW
5.  Le baiser au lépreux – François Maurice (1922) – REVIEW
6.  L’étranger – Albert Camus (1942) – REVIEW
7. Les Thibault – R.M. du Gard (1922) – REVIEW

#Bookcase May 2023

1. It was another busy week.
2. I was sequestered upstairs for three days with the cats while the 
3. toolman created my wish for a bookcase.
4. My books have been on a shelf that is hard get at
5. …on my piano and on the mantle of my fireplace.
6. The books are everywhere except in a proper bookcase.

Change is coming.

Where am I to put all these books?

Making progress...

Tools everywhere…

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3 (let primer paint dry…)

Step 4

Before:

After:

#Spring cleaning 2023

1. Bert, the toolman was back this week to help my Spring cleaning in the garden.
2. I have a hard wood deck…but after a year there appears a  “moss” on the wood.
3. Walking on the deck during the winter (rain, hail, snow)
4. …is as slippery as walking on ice! 
5. Thank goodness for pressure washers!
6. The cats appeared  after the job was done….very noisy machine.

1. As you can see I’ve created a cat friendly “fence” in the backyard.
2. Ben and Jerry can gawk at the birds…and still stay in safe on the deck.

No respect for my plants!

Reminds me of Snoopy saying: “Curse you Red Baron” in the cartoon strip! Jerry has his eye’s on a pigeon!

1. But the tool man had one more surprise …not for me…but for JERRY.
2. The cat lives in his “private gated community” but yearns to look above the fence.
3. There are a few wood pigeons that drive him crazy in the morning.
4. Now he can  get up close and personal and…
5. show them  who’s the boss in this neck of the woods!
6. Bert made a very special “lookout post” for the cat.
7. Jerry sits there constantly!
8. So this ends….the April  KITCHEN journal
9. …and I must get back to reading books!

Ben was hesitant…but finally dared to make the leap  and enjoy the view!

1. Perfect ending to a very busy month of April…
2. Hasselback Tomatoes and Pinot Grigio wine!

#Julia, eat your heart out…I’m cooking again!

1. Cooking was NOT my mother’s thing so 
2. …she taught my sister and I how to whip up a meal.
3. Honestly, my sister was “the kitchen queen” but
4. I did my best to reach her standard of excellence!
5. This is a great photo I wanted to share…
6. …love receiving cookbooks from my friend Kathy.
7. Kathy continues to inspire me when I get in the “no cooking mood”.

1. Finally the “dust has literally settled” in my house.
2. Time to  search for some cookbooks to use in the coming weeks.

1. Sunday brunch and I could not cook without
2. “mother’s little helper”, Jerry.
3. I have to be careful because yesterday he jumped on the induction unit
4. ..while I was cooking!
5. Scared the bejesus out of me.

#Kitchen 22 April 2023 FINI!

Paint Guy!

1. Painters are very hard to come by  during Spring and Summer.
2. Luckily “Patrick” had an opening for a 1,5 to put the finishing touches on the kitchen.
3. Then it took me two days just to let this whole remodelling experience sink in.
4. 29 March I mentioned in passing to my ‘toolman” I’d like to remodel this room.
5. 9 work days + 1,5 hr painter later  and the job was done!! (20 April)
6. There were moments of frustrations: cooking out doors and washing plates in a bucket.
7. Easter weekend (we have 3 days) – Good Friday, Holy Saturday, 1e Easter Sunday and 2e Easter Monday.
8. That was an extended wait….and no progress was made on the kitchen.
9. I just ate about 50 mini choc Easter eggs as comfort food.

Before:

After:

Here are the photos of my new kitchen!

This is a ladder for the cats so they can sit on their special place and watch me cook!

1. Many thanks to my  “toolman” Bert for all the hard work he has done.
2. Dutch:    Mijn dank is verpletterend!
3. We celebrated with coffee and cake!

#Kitchen 19 April 2023

TWO WEEKS AGO

Update:

1. Well I did give it a chance!
2. Appliances included  in my “kitchen deal” were not the BEST quality
3. …but my toolman convinced me to at least try them.
4. Fridge and dishwasher are just fine…no complex technical appliances.
5. But my old oven (Siemens) is a real gem and I did not want to trade it in for an other brand.
6. So we installed it straightaway and I gave the other oven to the toolman.
7. Perhaps he knows somebody who can use it.

1. My microwave …we moved it out of the kitchen (took up too much cabinet space.
2. It is a very handy appliance that I wanted to keep….but where?
3. We moved it into a washing machine facility area…and it works perfectly!

1. Now the induction cooking top…..that is a whole other ball game.
2. Firstly, advice: if you go “induction” do not skimp on quality! 
3. I always say…”Go German”. Brands like Bosch and Siemens are top-of-the- line.
4. The original induction included in “my kitchen deal” ….was defect! I was livid!
5. I appears the kitchen showroom had installed this cooktop that DID NOT  work…
6. ..and DID NOT tell me. They forgot to switch the cooktop with one that did work.
7. Again…I was livid. This slowed the whole remodelling project for a week.
8. I told the “sales person” he could keep his cooktop…never going to buy from him again.
9. So, I jumped on the internet…ordered the PERFECT Bosch induction unit (..which I 
10. originally wanted anyway)..it arrived 24 hours later…and the toolman had it installed in 10 minutes.
11. Still exhausted…any kitchen remodelling in 2 weeks was an illusion
12. …lesson learned.
13. There are always SNAFU’s along the way.

Defect unit: – ALWAYS take pictures to prove that the unit is correctly installed. (…I’m still livid!)

New Bosch induction unit:

It works!

My old dependable microwave…love it!

Time to finish some paint work…

Beauty…black granite  Reginox sink!

Did you know you have to “seal” the black granite sink regularly to protect it from stains etc?

#Kitchen 16 April 2023

Update:

1. This is my first “peaceful” breakfast in two weeks.
2. I relished the thought of finally…..after 30 years
3. …I got around to remodelling my kitchen.
4. There was always something more important: refurbish bathrooms,
5. double glazed windows, gardens, roof
6. …rain gutters new floors. You name it.
7. It all took precedent to my favourite place, the kitchen.
8. Now it is almost finished.
9. I will take a photo of  the NEW kitchen  soon!  There still is some paint work
10. …to do and the induction cooking unit will be linked to the new electric cables tomorrow.
11. Fingers crossed it will all goes well.
12. Luckily induction ONLY works if a pan is  on it….not a cat!

Bad news:

1. During the last two weeks I’ve survived on bread, jam,
2. …cookies, soup and a few meals in the microwave.
3. Not my idea of “haute cuisine”.
4. No time for biking to burn of calories… daily serving the “tool men” coffee and cake
5. …I must have gained 5 lbs in 14 days!
6. I treated myself to a “egg cooker” (WMF) b/c I had no way to boil water.
7. It works perfectly. I have perfect soft-boiled eggs cooked in 1 TB of water
8. …instead of a pan with 1 litre water!

Good news:

1. Having the house turned upside down
2. …was the BEST trigger for Spring Cleaning!
3. Yesterday I was out of control….cleaned EVERYTHING…even under the bed!
4. 10 AM – 10 PM: floors,  windows, clean sheets on bed, two bathrooms sparkling clean,
5. loads of laundry…groceries, test the new dishwasher.
6. Toolman forgot to turn on water faucet leading to the machine.
7. I didn’t hear the  washer “gurgle” with water so I quickly fixed the problem.
8. My back was killing me last night and  had a…
9. nasty cut on my thumb that is still pulsing as I type.
10. I made an executive decision:
11. I need a second vacuum cleaner
12. …so I can leave one UPSTAIRS and one DOWNSTAIRS.
13. Lugging that thing around the house was exhausting.
14. UPDATE: Sunday, 4 PM…literally falling asleep in my reading
15. …chair in front of TV.

Coffee:

1. Time to get back to other things: watch a movie and …relax.
2. I hear my coffee machine just
3. …turned on automatically and is making me coffee!
4. I finally figured out how to program it.
5. I’ve finished the last 3 chapters in a book I started in March….and since then
6. have not read a word.

Too tired to toss a salad together…now that is tired!

Dinner….

Have a good Sunday!