“Our Others” was the ninth book in the series of my personal quest to learn more about my native country, Ukraine. Previous ones that I have read ranged from fiction to non-fiction, written in English, German, Ukrainian and Russian: “Diary of an Invasion“, “Sommer in Odesa“, “You Don’t Know What War Is“, “A Ukrainian Christmas“,…
Category: 4/5 ★
Within this category you can find all the 4/5 ⭐ reviews about books that I enjoyed. They had lots of valuable insights or the writing was great, I overall liked/loved them but there was a little something that was missing or bothered me. Nevertheless some among them could also be on my “all time favourites” list.
Erste Hilfe – Mariana Leky
Mariana Leky schafft es durch ihre Bücher für ihre Leser eine ganz besondere Atmosphäre zu schaffen. Ich greife zu einer ihrer Geschichten, wenn ich auf der Suche nach gleichzeitig etwas leichtem, jedoch auch tiefsinnigem bin. Ihre Romane eignen sich am besten für Momente, wenn man sich in eine gemütliche Stimmung versetzt fühlen möchte. So als…
Four Thousand Weeks – Oliver Burkeman
I came across this book at exactly the right moment in my life. If you’re also currently questioning the meaning of life, how we spend our time during it and how our society turned into one where it’s difficult to find contentment, “Four Thousand Weeks” might be the right read for you too. Regardless the…
A Ukrainian Christmas – Yaroslav Hrytsak and Nadiyka Gerbish
This book and the experience of reading it is the perfect companion for the pre-Christmas time. It helps create a holiday atmosphere, inviting you with its stunning cover, enveloping you in interesting stories, as well as beautiful illustrations by Ukrainian artists. Even though the focus is set on Ukraine, it’s generally extremely informative about all…
Talk to Strangers – Matt Dahlia
The reason why this book ended up in my home library was because I have been following the “Yes Theory“ YouTube channel for years. When I first heard that one of the original co-founders would be working on a project to tell their unique story, I instantly knew that I’d like to support them by…
Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead – Olga Tokarczuk
After having previously read Olga Tokarczuk’s book “Flights” with a book club in Paris and having rated it with 2/5 ★ I didn’t think that I would read anything else by the author after it. But here we are again, a book club in Barcelona having chosen “Drive your Plow over the Bones of the…
The Years – Annie Ernaux
This book will probably be one of those that I will pick up again and again throughout the years. The sheer amount of passages that I highlighted speaks for itself (as you can see on the photo in the bottom of the post). From stylistically beautiful phrases, to clever observations or reflections on life as…
The Beekeeper of Aleppo – Christy Lefteri
As a disclaimer in advance of the review, the reading experience of this book has been highly influenced by my personal relation to the war in Ukraine. I feel like if I would have read it about two and half years ago, I might have perceived it in a different way. With the current situation…
Die Zukunft ist nicht binär – Lydia Meyer
Dieses Buch ist mir genau im richtigen Moment zugeflogen. Gerade nachdem ich Linus Gieses Buch “Ich bin Linus” ausgelesen habe, ist das Verlangen größer geworden, mich in die Thematik von Geschlecht und Geschlechtszugehörigkeit zu vertiefen. Die Lektüre von “Die Zukunft ist nicht binär” war nicht die einfachste, da es für mich viele neue Bereiche in…
Ich bin Linus – Linus Giese
Nachdem das Buch fast drei Jahre lang in meinem Bücherregal verbracht hat, bin ich nun endlich zu Lesen davon gekommen. Ähnlich wie zum Beispiel mit der Thematik um das Thema Rassismus herum, vertiefe ich gerne mein Wissen darin, indem ich Bücher darüber lese. “Ich bin Linus” ist eine wahnsinnig offene, ehrliche und verletzliche Erzählung darüber,…
Love, Pamela – Pamela Anderson
This was a book that took me completely by surprise! Even though I’m a sucker for celebrity memoirs, I have never been interested enough in Pamela Anderson in order to be curious to read about her life in a book. I came across her documentary on Netflix, “Pamela, a Love Story“, through which I discovered…
Real Estate – Deborah Levy
With this book the author’s “Living Autobiography” series has been completed. I do highly suggest you to read the first two books making it up first, “Things I Don’t Want to Know” and “The Cost of Living“. “Real Estate” once again steadily delivered the author’s remarkable signature style, anecdotes from her life, as well as…
Small Worlds – Caleb Azumah Nelson
Having just recently discovered the author’s writing through his debut novel “Open Water” in the beginning of 2023, I instantly fell in love with his style. Once I heard that he would soon release a new piece of writing, I had to get my hands on it as soon as possible. Just about 2 months…
The Shallows – Nicholas Carr
Even though “The Shallows” was initially published in 2010, I found it to still be relevant while reading it in 2023. Not much has changed in the updated edition from 2020 except for a new introduction and an afterword, surely a lot of insights are missing linked to the usage of smartphones, apps, etc. but…
Kummer Aller Art – Mariana Leky
Mit diesem Buch hätte ich am liebsten das Jahr 2023 begonnen gehabt! Obwohl ich bisher nur ein Buch von Mariana Leky gelesen habe, “Was Man Von Hier Aus Sehen Kann“, hat mir der Stil der Autorin so gut gefallen, dass ich mir sofort das neu veröffentlichte Buch von ihr geholt habe. In dem Fall von…
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
I have been curious about this book for years already but have never gotten around reading it earlier because I wasn’t sure whether I would find it interesting enough, not being a runner myself. It ended being much more generally philosophical, speaking a lot about the process of writing, similar to Murakami’s latest book, “Novelist…
Novelist as a Vocation – Haruki Murakami
Having marked the release date of this book months in advance, finally being able to anticipate reading something new written by Murakami, I was more than satisfied by “Novelist as a Vocation”. It gave such an intimate insight into the author’s life, how he became a writer and how he manages to continue being one….
Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
While writing the review almost a year after I have started reading the book, I’m relying on the passages that I highlighted since I didn’t take notes back when reading it. The only phrase I noted down when I was reading “Americanah” in 2022 was, “It has soul, heart, depth, you don’t want it to…
Hired – James Bloodworth
I have become aware of “Hired” through one of the chapters within it, speaking about the author’s experience of working at an Amazon warehouse, which has been published as an article within The Guardian. Besides that, the book is divided into chapters accompanying the author through other badly remunerated jobs, such as being a care…
Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney
If you have some holidays planned this year and don’t know which book(s) to bring along with you yet, I’d strongly suggest you to pack a copy of “Conversations with Friends”! This is the author’s second book that I’ve read after having been a bit disappointed by her “Normal People“, which I rated with 3/5…
Untold Day and Night – Bae Suah
My choice of this book has been influenced by “bookstagram”, having first seen it there and having been intrigued by the cover. In this case the judgement by the cover was successful! During this short read when I got through the 150 pages in just a couple of days, I was mesmerised by the writing….
Open Heart – Elie Wiesel
This was the first book I was able to read through ever since the start of the full scale war in Ukraine, on the 24th of February 2022. I was looking for something humane, something warm and touching, something that would be inspiring and Elie’s story about life after having survived Holocaust hit the right…
Don’t Touch My Hair – Emma Dabiri
Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book “Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race Anymore” having touched upon the topic of Black hair, its particularities and what it’s like to stand out with it, while living in a predominantly white society made me curious about Emma Dabiri’s book that is mainly dedicated to the topic of…
To Paradise – Hanya Yanagihara
For the fans of the author’s “A Little Life” (I sure was one of them 🙋🏻♀️) the waiting finally had an end on the 11th of January 2022, when a new long awaited book of hers was released – “To Paradise”. I instantly started reading it once I picked up a copy at my local…
My Body – Emily Ratajkowski
This book has taken me by surprise. I somehow ended up pre-ordering it without planning to, simply because I was curious about Emily’s writing after having read her article “Buying Myself Back” (Ratajkowski, 2020) on The Cut website. And luckily, I wasn’t disappointed! 239 pages long, comprised of 12 essays, this was quite a short…
A New Earth – Eckhart Tolle
The review of this book could start off with a game of “never have I ever”… Never have I ever taken along so much valuable knowledge after finishing a book. Never have I ever highlighted as many passages within a book. Never have I ever come across a book that would feel so life-changing. Never…
Couchsurfing in Saudi Arabien – Stephan Orth
Jedes Mal wenn die Nachricht erscheint, dass bald ein neues Buch von Stephan Orth veröffentlicht wird, mache ich wortwörtlich einen Freudentanz! Ich habe in der Zwischenzeit vier seiner Bücher gelesen und habe mich in jedes davon Hals über Kopf verliebt!!! Zu “Couchsurfing im Iran“, “Couchsurfing in Russland” und “Couchsurfing in China” kommt jetzt das vierte…
Schreibtisch mit Aussicht – Ilka Piepgras
Dieses Buch, das zu meinem zuerst gelesenen im Jahr 2021 wurde, ist vor allem eines – wahnsinnig vielseitig! Die größten Unterschiede bestehen in der Länge der insgesamt 23 Essays, die zwischen drei und dreißig Seiten lang sind, und deren Qualität. Man liest sowohl originale, für dieses Sammelwerk geschriebene Erzählungen auf deutsch, als auch Übersetzungen von…
The Queen’s Gambit – Walter Tevis
Having decided to read this book before watching the Netflix series, I was more than positively surprised by it! I would even say that it ended up being one of the favourite discoveries of the year for me. My biggest hesitation (as I can imagine it being for a lot of other readers), was the…
Future Crimes – Marc Goodman
Did you know that the technology to simply control gadgets (like your Google Glass) with your thoughts already exists? Did you hear about the 2013 story of electronic teakettles and irons manufactured in China that spread a virus to all your electronic devices through WiFi? 😀 Or that we’ll be able to literally “bring back…
Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed – Meghan Daum
This book was an incredibly impactful one for me and that’s surely because its topic is of immense interest at this certain time in my life. I’ve never liked kids and have never felt any longing to give birth to some of my own ones. There was a moment in my life when I felt…
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
My hunt for non-American literature on the topic of (anti-)racism continued and that’s how I came across Reni Eddo-Lodge’s book. It’s very heavily centred on British history, stories and statistics, so do be aware of that when you’re going into the reading. I specifically chose it for that reason because even though all the purely…
Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng’s novel “Little Fires Everywhere” was the book I rated the highest during the month of June 2020, so that’s why I was curious to tackle her debut novel. With “Everything I Never Told You”, I wasn’t disappointed either and settled on a 4/5 ★ rating, just like for the other book. The first…
The Honeymoon Effect – Bruce Lipton
This book is a prime example of the category of books “I would never have bought myself”. It has presented itself as a lesson of the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, throwing in an additional one on “Don’t judge a book by its title”. It looks cheesy, it sounds cheesy, which it…
Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng
Diving into my first Celeste Ng book, I luckily wasn’t disappointed! I devoured up “Little Fires Everywhere” in just about a day and a half and I now completely understand why Reese Witherspoon jumped on the opportunity of getting the rights to film a series based on this book. It’s all you could wish for…
Unorthodox – Deborah Feldman
Having been too impatient and having watched the Netflix series of “Unorthodox” first, I was definitely in for a positive surprise with this book. After overcoming the annoying fact that I wouldn’t be able to get a copy with a different cover than the one with the actress Shira Haas on it, I finally gave…
After the End – Clare Mackintosh
“After the End” isn’t a book I would normally reach out to myself. Somehow the name and the cover of the book screamed out kitsch, cliché and chick flick to me. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a chance, having stumbled across it through a friend of a friend on instagram, saying that it was…
Qualityland – Marc-Uwe Kling
This book had quite a unique balance to it. It was light and fun, as well as deep and meaningful, when touching on an analysis of our current world and the future we’re heading towards. I believe that your opinion on “Qualityland” will depend on how you read it and what you decide to take…
A Good Wife – Samra Zafar
This book and Samra’s story is such an important one portraying abusive relationships, as well as the dangers of strict (religious) traditions, such as arranged marriages. While reading it, you manage to live through that suffocating feeling of being trapped and at times, it even sounds like something out of a horror movie. The most…
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
Re-reading this book 2 years later, in preparation for starting “The Testaments”, I still agree with the rating of 4 out of 5 stars I gave back then! Brilliantly written, with a style that goes down as smoothly as butter, “The Handmaid’s Tale” was an absolute delight to read. It’s so refreshing to finally have…
The Art of Making Memories – Meik Wiking
The Universe is made up of stories. Not atoms. Muriel Rukeyser I picked this book up at an airport shop after a birthday trip to Canada, which I would now describe as one of the best trips of my life. Already then I was afraid of the memories fading away or of losing them completely,…
Stoner – John Williams
This book left a really strong impression on me, even though it is once again one of those that I wouldn’t have picked up myself. I stayed awake until 2am finishing the last 100 pages and that’s a sure sign of a well written book for me. One of the most striking things to me…
Havana – Mark Kurlansky
I absolutely adored this book and couldn’t have wished to stumble upon a better intro to the country of Cuba before my upcoming trip! The biggest tip I could give, is to read it with Cuban music in the background and you’ll feel directly immersed into the story and the country. What others criticised, I…
Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Having read this book during a beach vacation, “Slaughterhouse Five” has been a perfectly short, yet impactful read. The writing style was one of a kind, which left you perplexed in the beginning and wondering what kind of a book you have stumbled across and whether it’s worth getting through it or not… As the…
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World – Haruki Murakami
I have recently found out how I can explain Murakami’s style to people who haven’t read any of his work yet – you could compare him to Dali or Magritte in the world of artists. He’s the surrealist of the writers, constructing unbelievable worlds, at times disturbing, at others completely mesmerising. This book was no…
Factfulness – Hans Rosling
When I started “Factfulness“, I had quite mixed opinions about it. One of the first things that I noticed, was that you could literally hear the frustration in the author’s voice about people’s perception of the current world. Getting deeper into the book, I did understand the roots of this feeling better though. What I…
Couchsurfing in Russland – Stephan Orth
Ein Buch, das ich jedem weiterempfehlen würde, der/die Lust hat, einen Einblick in die echte russische Kultur zu bekommen. Ohne Vorurteile, abseits der Klischees und der Stereotypen, unbeeinflusst von den aktuellsten politischen Ereignissen. Für jemanden der mit der Art der russischen Menschen vertraut ist, kann ich mit Sicherheit sagen, dass mit dem Buch ein absolut…
A Strangeness in My Mind – Orhan Pamuk
Going through my second Orhan Pamuk book, it once again had the effect of pulling you into a completely different world and making you feel as if you’ve known the characters for years. The way it’s written is absolutely effortless and the transitions of seeing the story from different people’s perspectives gave it even more…
The Vegetarian – Han Kang
“The Vegetarian” was a short, yet an impactful read, which managed to grasp you emotionally if you opened up to the story. Regardless the name, the topic of vegetarianism, though playing a decisive role in the development of the story, was only a marginal one. It was much more of a tale of the freedom…
Influence – Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen
As far as the format of this book – it was much better than what I’ve expected it to be. What I thought would have just be a narrative about the lives of the Olsen twins, led on by their portraits embellishing the cover, turned out to be something completely different. A gorgeous book full…
The Prisoner of Heaven – Carlos Ruiz Zafón
I’ve heard a lot of praise for the works of Carlos Ruiz Zafón from friends who have read his books. “The Prisoner of Heaven” was picked up by chance at an airport, mostly because I was intrigued by the description on the back. The secret World of the Cemetery of Forgotten books, hidden in the…
VK READS 