book

Rated Eat, Pray, Love 8/10

Rated Les Miserables 10/10

Rated De rode kamer 6/10

Rated Life of Pi 10/10

Rated Norwegian Wood 10/10

Rated The Count of Monte Cristo 10/10

Rated De weduwnaar 8/10

Rated The Underground Railroad 10/10

Rated Kim 8/10

Rated De erfgenamen 8/10

Rated After I Do 6/10

Rated My Friends 10/10

It didn’t take long before I knew this would be one of my favorite books. Having now finished reading it, I can confirm, it is as good as I thought it would be. And I am not sure why I like it so much.
Yes, the writing is great, with varied pace and a varied choice of words. It is easy to follow, yet complex enough to stay curious for the next chapter.

I suppose the main theme is friendship. There are many other themes, some only fleetingly touched upon, but I think what makes it so captivating is that they are all relevant as they are all part of the human experience and this very human story. A story with incredibly stressful events, but also a very high degree of mundaneness, which makes it recognizable and accessible for all.

Rated Nadagen 10/10

Really enjoyed this WWII book which focuses on the personal lives of people in the aftermath of the occupation in a southern French town.

Rated Als scheuren in de aarde 6/10

It was a fairly enjoyable read about a love triangle. The surroundings is brought to life really well and it was easy to read.
In the middle there was a section where the obvious was hinted at a bit too much and it felt it dragged on during that part.

Rated James 10/10

It took me a bit to get into it, not sure why. But once I was into it, it was an incredibly fast paced read. Difficult to put down and visually very descriptive.

Rated The World After Gaza 10/10

This books goes deep into how we got here (here being the genocide happening in Gaza) and gives some ideas of what that may bring for the future.

From a review: “It is mandatory reading; for a present that is horrifying, for the way in which history that is ongoing needs to be written and understood– the myriad threads that Mishra weaves together include the treatment of Jews in East and West Europe before, during, and after WWII, in the Middle East where they were not blond and blue eyed, the role of the Allies and USA in the Holocaust and the utter lack of guilt and responsibility on their part + parallels with Vietnam, Germany's totally perverse absolution of the guilt + parallels to their colonial history (hardly ever spoken about), India's own hindutva nationalism sharing deeply in the zionist psyche, leaving us reeling today in an abyss of moral & political decrepitude – the colour line stronger than ever, the decolonial project still far too distant in the horizon.”

I’d like to add to that, that decolonization was in fact - for the vast majority of people - the main event in the 20th century as opposed to WWII, which mostly westerners will see as the main event. A perspective changed.

Rated The Book of Disappearance 10/10

A powerful and heavy piece of speculative fiction which asks the following question: "What if all Palestinians vanished from their homeland overnight?"

The book focuses on two characters who are friends, one Israeli and one Palestian. Also, it shows different possible reactions of the government, media and random people.

In the light of the events (the Gaza genocide) that have happened since they book was first published, this story obviously reads very different than it would have otherwise.

Rated Doorstarters aan de Franse kust 8/10

A fun and easy read about mostly good things in life and some bad things that eventually push people to more good things in life.

Rated De rivier 8/10

This was a nice surprise. After reading the synopsis I was managing my expectations for this book, but I really enjoyed it.
Also nice to learn about Martha Ballard.

Rated In the Darkroom 8/10

Rated The Setting Sun 8/10

Rated De schatkamer van mijn vader 8/10

A very insightful read about a part of Dutch history that only recently is been given a bigger place in the general discussion.
I really enjoyed how the tension in the relationship between father and daughter has resemblances of how the Dutch look back on this part of their history in Indonesia (although the book is mostly about WWII until Indonesian independence).

Rated De Vaticaanse Moorden 6/10

Rated Moeder, antimoeder 8/10

An interesting read on a very much not famous person who still had a very interesting life, with great impact on others. And all of that is despite being on a trajectory of choice that did not make things easier (being a communist post WWII).

Rated Rósa en Björk 8/10

I very much enjoyed reading this one. It is easy to read and always created an atmosphere of calm.