lou's library

Book Tag time! I found this on Boston Book Reader’s blog. I’m not sure who originally came up with the questions, though.

FIND A BOOK FOR EACH OF YOUR INITIALS

L – London Calling by Annette Dittert

This book was written by a German journalist working as a correspondent in London. It’s about her experience in the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum and is a fascinating insight into the life of a foreign correspondent. Also, it was gifted to me by two dear friend, so it holds a special place in my heart.

S – Sula by Toni Morrison

This book taught me a lot. Not just because of the story it tells, but because I wrote my first ever English term paper for uni on it and it did not go down well. It’s also the only Toni Morrison book I’ve read (maybe because of the term paper trauma), but Beloved is high on my list of books to read. I did enjoy Sula, but felt as though I only every managed to scratch its surface. Maybe it’s time to dive back into it.

R – Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

What can I say, it’s my favourite tragedy. Romeo gets on my nerve for 99% of the play, Juliet undoubtedly would’ve been better off (and alive, for a start) without him, but they’re STAR CROSSED LOVERS, for heavens sake. Also, can we talk about how gorgeous this edition is?? I AM SHOOKETH.

COUNT YOUR AGE ALONG YOUR BOOKSHELF – WHAT BOOK IS IT?

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte! In my humble opinion, Anne Bronte is by far the best writer among the Bronte sisters (move over, Emily and Charlotte). That being said, I sort of bought this book by accident, because I desperately wanted a book to take home as a souvenir from South America. Turns out, English books are a proper rarity in Buenos Aires (who would’ve thought??), and Agnes Grey was the only one I could find and actually did sort of want to read. It was pretty expensive but worth every penny, because it turned out this is great!!

A BOOK SET IN YOUR COUNTRY

Basically, I could choose any WWI or WW2 book, but let’s try to be a bit more creative. Altes Land by Dörte Hansen has actually been translated into English (as This House is Mine) and is set in the North of Germany. It’s one of the best German books I’ve ever read, the writing is immaculate and the setting is a vibe! It has a bit of German history in it (but not the war-obsessed kind), is about the people of the German north and what family means. Highly recommend!

A BOOK THAT REPRESENTS A DESTINATION YOU’D LOVE TO TRAVEL TO

That’s got to be Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. It’s set in the Irish countryside and as I’ve only ever been to Dublin, that is a place I’m dying to explore. It all seems so lush and green and picturesque and I just want to live out my countryside cottage dreams. (Also the book is amazing, go and read it!!)

A BOOK THAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR

Okay, my favourite colour is green. My edition of Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann is a beautiful dark shade of green that always reminds me of a forest (I swear it looks much prettier in real life than in the picture). The book is set in Northern Germany and one of the longest books I’ve ever read. It didn’t drag at all though, and as it tells the story of a family, its length allowed for much detail. I thoroughly enjoyed this and want to reread it soon!

WHICH BOOK DO YOU HAVE THE FONDEST MEMORIES OF?

That’s a tough question, but I think it’s Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Not necessarily because of the book (although I did really like it!), but because of when I read it. I’d just arrived in Aberdeen for my semester abroad and had signed up for a course the day before it started, which meant I had to read Frankenstein in less than a day. My flatmates kept checking in on me as I spent the rest of the day reading as fast as I could, and I remember feeling so excited for the course and my semester abroad to begin. It was also the start of three months of reading a hefty classic a week, and my flatmates providing me with lots of moral support throughout it.

WHICH BOOK DID YOU HAVE THE MOST DIFFICULTY READING?

Probably Faust by Goethe. I did not understand what was going on, or what the guy was trying to tell me. I’m not saying it’s shitty, but I am saying it’s pretentious and perhaps a tad overrated. But maybe I’m just mad I didn’t have the brain cells to understand this book, who knows.

WHICH BOOK IN YOUR TO-BE-READ PILE WILL GIVE YOU THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT WHEN YOU FINISH IT?

That’s an easy one – The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark. I started this book in December 2015. I’m about 100 pages in, with maybe 800 left to go. Honestly, I can’t see myself finishing this any time soon. It’s not that it isn’t good, but that it’s a nonfiction book about the causes of WWI and it assumes the reader has a doctorate in history. Maybe it’s just me, but I constantly had to google people and so I stopped reading and never started again. I refuse to give up though. This book will not conquer me. I will read this!!