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A nice little book for children. Nothing special per se, but I think the way life under water is portrayed is very well done. The smallest common issues are considered – where is the young waterman allowed to swim? Where's home? How does he

Der Räuber Hotzenplotz

by Otfried Preußler · published 1962 · read 1999-09-01

As Alarm im Kasperletheater, this book is a riff off the usual characters of a Punch-and-Judy show. There's the Robber, Hotzenplotz, who opens the book by stealing

Hotzenplotz 3

by Otfried Preußler · published 1973 · read 2001-01-01

Third part of the series – I remember one good scene and not much else.

Krabat

by Otfried Preußler · published 1958 · last read 2022-06-30

★★★★★

Krabat (English: The Satanic Mill. Yes, really) is unique and I'm having a hard time finding anything similar. The story of a poor orphan during the 30 years war, who signs up for an apprenticeship in a mill and finds himself learning t

The Book Nobody Read

by Owen Gingerich · published 2004 · read 2021-11-09

Tenured professors are just built different or something. The object of the book is Copernicus' "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres", which Prof. Gingerich set out to see all extant versions of (first and second editions, that is),

A Master of Djinn

by P. Djèlí Clark · published 2021 · read 2021-09-06

Steampunk, non-Victorian edition: In 1912, Egypt is a rising world power due to its access to magic. Holding its own against the British and other world powers in a multicultural metropolis, Cairo is far from free and perfect, though: Our

God Stalk

by P.C. Hodgell · published 1982 · read 2021-07-01

God Stalk is a lot, and I think it's too much. The world is rich and the author glosses over much of it – which is something I like when done well (the city the book takes place in has strong China Mieville vibes!), but here it feels hasty

Mary Poppins

by P.L. Travers · published 1934 · read 2002-02-01

Without Julie Andrews, who is Mary Poppins? The governess of Disney Musical fame is a bit less charming and much stricter in the books. I encountered her first here, and did enjoy the books, a bit. But they are terribly repetetive (not obje

Harpist in the Wind

by Patricia A. McKillip · published 1979 · read 2021-04-23

Concluding this series, the established power couple tackles the remaining big riddles in the world, and finally figure out what's going on. Some parts of it were obvious, at least the direction – but the conclusion surprised me and was imp

The Riddle-Master of Hed

by Patricia A. McKillip · published 1976 · read 2021-04-16

Reluctant heroes are a bit overdone, but this one is honest and plausible (though, as all reluctant heroes, a bit tedious). That's the good part, possibly. The characters are not exactly one-dimensional, but the book is certainly reluctant

Heir of Sea and Fire

by Patricia A. McKillip · published 1977 · read 2021-04-18

Fiancées in fantasy books are often not taken quite seriously, even more so if they are a princess. McKillip will have none of that, and elevates the fiancée of the first book's hero to the new protagonist. The change in point of view does

Blood Bound

by Patricia Briggs · published 2007 · read 2016-12-16

All Mercy Thompson books are the same – you get what you want, and exactly only that.

Moon Called

by Patricia Briggs · published 2006 · read 2016-12-14

Do you know those days (or weeks) when you just want some hot chocolate and reassuring books and a safe cuddly sofa? I enjoy trashy fantasy on those days, and Mercy Thompson definitely qualifies. It doesn't get one star because I really lik

Iron Kissed

by Patricia Briggs · published 2008 · read 2016-12-17

All Mercy Thompson books are the same.

Dealing with Dragons

by Patricia C. Wrede · published 1990 · read 2021-10-31

A sweet, sweet book: Princess Cimorene can't be bothered with pesky princess stuff, because she'd much rather learn Latin, or fencing, or cooking, or bookkeeping, or juggling, or literally anything any profession at court could teach her. F

A Monster Calls

by Patrick Ness · published 2011 · read 2022-06-27

Conor's mum is ill, and he's not dealing well with it. In all fairness: he's dealing very realistically not well with it, apart from the big magic tree thing, which creepily forces him into emotional truthfulness. Rough read – I kinda want

Master & Commander

by Patrick O'Brian · published 1969 · read 2022-05-23

Speak of hard-to-rate books! Aubrey and Maturin is a very beloved series, and I'm fond of at least two offshoot series – and yet, I don't think I'll go back for more of this. Or maybe I will, if and when I'm in a very specific mood. The who

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2014 · read 2018-09-28

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a novella in Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle and didn't work for me at all. It's very lyrical, with beautiful, lyrical prose for its own sake, but it didn't touch me. It's like Rilke without

The Wise Man’s Fear

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2011 · read 2016-07-05

We see Kvothe travelling here: he meets the Maer and navigates his court, hunts bandits in the woods, gets tangled up with Felurian, and finally learns the arts (Ketan) of the Adem before returning to the University. Sadly, while a bunch of

The Name of the Wind

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2007 · read 2016-06-04

I really liked this book … at first - it hit all the sweet spots for me. Flowery language, not-too-overbearing fantasy setting, believable characters, good pacing and narration (and training in the $arts).

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

by Patrick Süskind · published 1985 · read 2010-12-01

Gross. Seriously, gross. I don't even know which book to connect to this one.

The Palace Job

by Patrick Weekes · published 2012 · read 2023-04-10

It starts so promising – fun heists, bit too heavy-handed, but good fun. But then it drags. and drags. and drags. You get to see every turn coming, and there are so fucking many of them. The quipping – fun at first – grows stale, and the be

Am Samstag kam das Sams zurück

by Paul Maar · published 1980 · read 2000-11-01

The second part of the Sams is not bad, it just doesn't stand out either. I have little memory of the plot, and what I remember is not extremely amazing. Stick with the first part, imo.

Ein Sams für Martin Taschenbier

by Paul Maar · published 1996 · read 2001-08-01

I don't have many memories of this Sams book. I think I had more pity for Martin than for his father, because kids being bullied was relatable, whereas adults who were bullied looked weird and even contemptuous to me. But at the same time,

Neue Punkte für das Sams

by Paul Maar · published 1992 · read 2001-06-01

Yet another Sams book – I didn't really like the follow-ups. The original was whimsical in a way that the next parts didn't capture. Too busy following the formula.

Eine Woche voller Samstage

by Paul Maar · published 1973 · read 2000-05-01

This is the first part of a very German series of books for children. The Sams (from "Samstag", "Saturday") appears the the very dull, very anxious office worker Herr Taschenbier after for a full week every day fulfills its literal name, ma

Mit Rechten reden: Ein Leitfaden

by Per Leo · published 2017 · read 2018-05-29

Not terrible, but not good either.

Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

by Pete Walker · published 2013 · read 2020-02-16

First off: I'm not quite the target group for this book, and this has influenced my rating. I think the book says a lot of true things and reading it will do no harm and may significantly help you if you're in the right place. I think the a

Smilla’s Sense of Snow

by Peter Høeg · published 1992 · read 2010-10-01

For years I've been meaning to re-read this book, because it has made a lasting impression – but like a dream, I can only talk about the feelings and some snapshots I remember. I still look back to these scenes, but I lack both the context

The Unicorn Anthology

by Peter S. Beagle · published 2017 · read 2019-04-08

Rating anthologies is always hard. The Unicorn Anthology, fittingly edited by Peter S. Beagle contained stories that touched me, and stories that just passed some time. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. Most stories

The Innkeeper’s Song

by Peter S. Beagle · published 1993 · read 2021-06-14

Peter S. Beagle is always interesting and never quite conventional. This book starts out with the titular Innkeeper's Song, providing us with the entire plot condensed into a folk song, and then proceeds to elaborate in first-person chapter

The Last Unicorn

by Peter S. Beagle · published 1968 · read 2017-02-23

I really enjoyed this one - it's a fairytale, it's very very lyrical, but at the same time it surprises you with bursts of dry humour. The length and pacing is perfect, too - it's a short book, but it carries its length well.

In Calabria

by Peter S. Beagle · published 2017 · read 2018-02-13

Not only does Peter S. Beagle know his unicorns (and boy, does he ever), he knows his romance, too. Very lovely. I've never felt like an old, grumpy, Italian farmer before and now I wouldn't have want to miss out on this experience.

The Desert Spear

by Peter V. Brett · published 2010 · read 2018-06-24

Pretty okay successor. We see more of Arlen (and later, Renna, who has a wonderful story), Rojen (who was neglected), Leesha, and a fancy new character! Also, more insight into politics and the demons. Everything was very cool, especially h

The Painted Man

by Peter V. Brett · published 2008 · read 2016-08-08

I truly loved this book. The characters work well and stayed with me, the world is consistent and required no effort or conscious suspension of disbelief on my part, and the pacing and storytelling in general was absolutely well-done and en

The Daylight War

by Peter V. Brett · published 2013 · read 2018-07-28

Ugh. The start of the series seems to have raised a bar the other books can't quite meet. While my criticism of the second volume (too little character development) is met and answered beautifully on all counts, the story drags along a lot.

The Skull Throne

by Peter V. Brett · published 2015 · read 2018-09-03

Better than the last book, but what's that saying, really? Good: Character development including plenty of queer relationships (explicit working polyamory among them), people with relationship troubles, stubborn politicians, clever politici

The Core

by Peter V. Brett · published 2017 · read 2018-10-24

The Core concludes the Demon Cycle series by Peter Brett, and it was a disappointment to me. While we still get a couple of cool side characters, the main cast has grown unrelatable to me. The story often felt like a mix of fanfiction

Starfish

by Peter Watts · published 1999 · read 2018-02-26

Not my thing. Good solid characters, and the whole "living on the ground of the ocean evolving into something else was alright". The only part I really liked were the headcheese (erm, neural nets), and the fact somebody figured out which ge

Blindsight

by Peter Watts · published 2006 · last read 2026-02-09

Re-read notes: I love a couple of things about this book. I love that it is well-written, particularly for sci-fi, particularly for hard sci-fi. It reads well, if you're into sci-fi in the first place. I love that it is clever, and that i

The Man in the High Castle

by Philip K. Dick · published 1962 · read 2016-12-12

Ok, so Philip K Dick is just too esoteric for me. Every book I've read has about 40% that I really like, that are clever, well-thought, and interesting. While the other parts are weird, sometimes they feel kafkaesque, or trippy, and I don't

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

by Philip K. Dick · published 1974 · read 2016-12-08

by Philip K. Dick · published 1968 · last read 2023-05-17

Well, well, well.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Sci-fi that I like. Real, easy to read. Also, sheep.

The Golden Compass

by Philip Pullman · published 1995 · read 2008-11-01

Widely liked, but didn't do it for me. Though that's not quite right: I adored the setup: Oxford, the river, the journey. But soon, it became preachy the same way the Narnia books did (only, of course, for an opposed cause). I can't stand p

Golden Son

by Pierce Brown · published 2015 · read 2018-08-07

Golden Son was a worthy successor to Red Rising. It, too, had a slow start, only here te start extends to the 50% mark of the book. After that, a slow and generic story picks up speed, originality, and its past characteristics. Even at

Red Rising

by Pierce Brown · published 2014 · read 2017-07-13

Wooop! Sci-Fi version of Hunger Games with real characters (Mary Sue-ish, but still fun). Also, touches of Brave New World in terms of castes.

Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of The Hound of the Baskervilles

by Pierre Bayard · published 2008 · read 2019-07-20

I'm really very much not a fan of Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Pierre Bayard. Spoilers ahead, though I won't spoil the proposed solution to the Baskerville case.

The Reawakening

by Primo Levi · published 1963 · read 2020-04-22

Primo Levi's way home after the end of WW2, from Auschwitz to Italy. So matter-of-fact that it reads as deadpan when Europe consists only of remains and confusion.

If This Is a Man

by Primo Levi · published 1947 · read 2020-04-15

For once, I have nothing to say. This first-hand account of one year spent in Auschwitz is very calm, deliberately matter-of-fact, and inevitably painful to read.

Babel

by R. F. Kuang · published 2022 · read 2022-09-22

What is this, the book of a thousand subtitles? I wanted to justify my initial hype, and see the book listed as "Babel: An Arcane History", whereas I remember it as "Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Trans

The Bone Ships

by R. J. Barker · published 2019 · read 2021-05-04

World-building at the detriment of plot and character development is usually a prerogative of sci-fi, but this book proves that fantasy can do it, too. The world is awesome: it's a naval world, where most of the world is covered in water,

Canticle

by R.A. Salvatore · published 1991 · read 2022-03-16

Canticle by R.A. Salvatore is just D&D style fantasy. As you'd expect from the early 90s (no offense, present company excluded): It's pretty generic, with flat characters, badass fights, and a very good vs evil outlook on life. It is no

Lore Olympus

by Rachel Smythe · published 2021 · read 2021-12-01

Web comic reader here, but I re-read the book after I got it, and it's carefully laid out, well-done, and I've already made two friends read it. Persephone and Hades, reimagined.

Das Stunden-Buch

by Rainer Maria Rilke · published 1899 · last read 2022-01-18

★★★★★

One of my favourite pieces of poetry. Probably doesn't translate well (to English, to German that isn't steeped in religion, etc).

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

by Rainer Maria Rilke · published 1910 · read 2008-11-01

Rilke's poetry is always better than his other works (and than most other poetry). The life of the sensitive author stand-in protagonist in the big city is anxiety inducing, depressing, just … too much. And Rilke describes it perfectly. Ove

Pala und die seltsame Verflüchtigung der Worte

by Ralf Isau · published 2002 · read 2004-11-01

Pala is a book about language, about literature, about poetry – and yet, I didn't really like it. Maybe it's that I had high expectations from Franz Fühmann's masterwork, or that it just felt like it was trying too hard. Whatever it was, de

Die Träume des Jonathan Jabbok

by Ralf Isau · published 1995 · read 2007-10-01

Too much christian undertones, overtones, and everything in between. Very Narnia style.

Das Jahrhundertkind

by Ralf Isau · published 1999 · read 2005-06-01

★★★★★

Generally, I dislike the way Isau does magic, the way he does characters, the arcs of his stories. They feel … sticky, for lack of a better world, as if he's always trying to do something to the reader, convert us? This is still true for th

Der weiße Wanderer

by Ralf Isau · published 2001 · read 2005-03-01

Third part, third quarter of the century: 1950-1975. Less impressive than the beginning, but not slowing down.

Der Galerie der Lügen, oder, Der unachtsame Schläfer

by Ralf Isau · published 2005 · read 2017-01-28

Horrid amounts of weirdly religious propaganda... Very similar to Narnia, only for adults.

Der Wahrheitsfinder

by Ralf Isau · published 2000 · read 2005-04-01

Second part of the amazing saga, covering the years from 1925 until 1950. Still intriguing, but nowhere near the first part.

Der unsichtbare Freund

by Ralf Isau · published 2001 · read 2005-09-01

Ending the huge century saga, and going out with a bang. Not sure I like the ending, mind you, but I respect it for being audacious and doing something different for once.

Der Herr der Unruhe

by Ralf Isau · published 2004 · read 2016-11-13

Magical realism in Mussolini's Italy: Our protagonist can talk to machines. A bit cheap with the Romeo and Juliet arc, but the descriptions and research are, as always with Isau, top notch.

Little Book of Demons

by Ramsey Dukes · published 2004 · read 2022-09-26

Ramsey Dukes has such a strong voice. It's a blessing and a curse: his words come across like he'd say them, but sometimes you want to whack him over the head (not too much, but maybe with a newspaper …). The book aims to explain why a

Murder and magic

by Randall Garrett · published 1973 · read 2022-08-28

Had a lot of fun with Lord Darcy, but then, we all knew that would happen, don't we? Magicians reglemented in a faux-Victorian world ruled by the Plantagets (the Empire including France, North America and so on) and the Catholic Church. Lor

Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury · published 1953 · last read 2023-12-05

Book burners are prime "are we the baddies?" material, but it still was an impressive book – particularly compared to other 50s scifi. The firemen whose job it is to start fires were a nice touch.

Skeleton

by Ray Bradbury · published 1947 · read 2024-09-12

Bradbury has a way with words, and I prefer his short stories to his other stuff. I'm not generally a horror person, and you can see where this one is going, but the tone and everything just flows together so well. 3.5 stars, basically. Gre

Magician: Apprentice

by Raymond E. Feist · published 1982 · read 2020-07-24

This was a nice read – It's very much a classical fantasy book in the better sense. The arc is generally coming-of-age of the poor underdog boy, but in a sensible (while generic) setting. It was especially refreshing that all people in th

Such Thoughts Are Unproductive

by Rebecca Campbell · published 2019 · read 2022-08-23

Maximum dark surveillance capitalism dystopia, mixed with family things and everything else you'd care to drop in there. Did nothing for me, but it's very much a "be in the right mood" kinda story. This book is part of the [2022 Backlog

Arboreality

by Rebecca Campbell · published 2022 · read 2024-01-17

Beautiful, melancholic, and tells you more on a hundred pages than many books manage on 500+. Glimpses of life – sad, but never only sad, never unbearably sad – with and in the climate catastrophe. How there's both suffering and beauty. Ver

Trail of Lightning

by Rebecca Roanhorse · published 2018 · read 2021-06-17

Urban fantasy needn't take place in a city, and this is a prime example: it may be a supernatural mystery story taking place in post-collapse North America on a reservation after the collapse of the USA, but it's still very much urban fanta

Watership Down

by Richard Adams · published 1972 · read 2022-02-28

Rabbits. One of those children's books that does also work for adults, but only while you make allowances for it being written for kids. I feel like I want to qualify everything with that sentence. Like: I did like the strong characters

Aloha from Hell

by Richard Kadrey · published 2011 · read 2018-04-30

This whole series continues its spree of positive surprises. This time we get a new Lucifer, and we get various conversations with God. Well well well.

Devil in the Dollhouse

by Richard Kadrey · published 2012 · read 2018-06-07

Nice story, giving us a hint of what being Lucifer will do to Stark. Short and … well, not sweet at all, as Stark discovers, then forgets, that he's not the second but the third Lucifer.

Kill the Dead

by Richard Kadrey · published 2010 · read 2018-04-05

I have absolutely no idea how to rate this book. For a while it felt like a two-star urban fantasy pulp novel with lots of shoot-em-up situations and, well, urban fantasy pulp banter. And then it turns around and has some really good plot t

Sandman Slim

by Richard Kadrey · published 2009 · read 2018-02-19

Thoroughly enjoyable urban fantasy, Dresden style. Dialogue felt stilted/lacking rhythm at times, but the Hell vs Heaven vs third party vs potty-mouthed gunslinger protagonist worked well.

Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character

by Richard P. Feynman · published 1985 · read 2018-08-23

Feynman's autobiography was too far on the stream-of-consciousness side for my tastes, but at least this way the reader gets a very direct feeling for what Feynman was like. Not always the best person, and with his share of faults and stupi

The Time of Our Singing

by Richard Powers · published 2002 · read 2007-01-01

This book made me dream, and made me miss singing. I loved it intensely - half of it. The other half was overly dramatic, overwrought, and more in love with its own understanding of music than with having any plot or tension. Sadly, the two

The Customer Service Survival Kit: What to Say to Defuse Even the Worst Customer Situations

by Richard S. Gallagher · published 2013 · read 2020-05-08

Really really good and helpful. This is a short book that is full of helpful rules (of-thumb of course) and anecdotes that further your understanding of how to deal with customers. The author has an understanding of why and how customer int

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan · published 2005 · read 2016-01-01

Who doesn't like Greek myths coming to life before their eyes? Well, apart from the somewhat unlucky protagonist.

An Unkindness of Ghosts

by Rivers Solomon · published 2017 · last read 2024-11-17

An Unkindness of Ghosts is so good that it seems implausible that it is Rivers Solomon's debut novel. I mean, I'm very much into generational starships as a literary setting, but this is the best usage of the genre I've encountered so far

The Witches

by Roald Dahl · published 1983 · read 2006-03-01

This is a book that made me feel uncomfortable and unliked as a kid, and made me very hesitant to read any Roald Dahl ever again. Everything is gritty and dark and dangerous, and that seemed to seep into the world around me.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl · published 1964 · read 2006-08-01

Disobedient children are punished. But this is not a lame traditionally cautionary tale, no: It's a dark edgy traditional cautionary tale.

Beware of the Dog

by Roald Dahl · published 1944 · read 2019-04-23

Short stories are tricky: when they rely on a twist and you see it coming, it's not all that much fun. Beware of the Dog is a short story by Roald Dahl about a WW2 pilot who loses his leg – it was alright, but (at least for me), the timin

Matilda

by Roald Dahl · published 1988 · read 2004-10-01

Possibly my favourite book by Dahl. While it is needlessly cruel (like all his books), it catered to the nerdy book-loving kid demographic relentlessly, and that was more than fine by me. And now we even have a great Tim Minchin musical, wh

Vaterland

by Robert Harris · published 1992 · read 2013-08-01

One of the few books that improve by translating them to German. Alternate history where Hitler won WW2 and everything is German. A mystery set in that scenario in the 60s – well-researched, well-paced. It's not a cheap dystopia, it's real

Have Space Suit—Will Travel

by Robert A. Heinlein · published 1958 · read 2020-06-01

I usually avoid classic sci-fi: I've had mostly negative run-ins, where books had aged badly and either didn't interest me or felt off-putting. So, like Zelazny and Clarke and a bunch of others, I've been postponing Heinlein.

A Little Book on the Human Shadow

by Robert Bly · published 1988 · read 2020-10-09

On a whim, I read A Little Book on the Human Shadow. It's very short, and it felt very much worth my time.

The Silkworm

by Robert Galbraith · published 2014 · read 2017-06-27

Nice reading! I really enjoyed this case, even though it was based in the literary world (which most authors cannot really write about well). Cormoran continues to be a really cool lead – neither a hero, nor an anti-hero, nor some Mary Sue.

The Cuckoo’s Calling

by Robert Galbraith · published 2013 · read 2017-01-15

I did enjoy myself. Well-written (if heavy on the fancy words in the beginning). Looking forward to the next books in the series.

I, Claudius

by Robert Graves · published 1934 · read 2020-05-15

This book has been languishing on my to-read pile for nearly two years, and when I saw it mentioned in Among Others, I was reminded of it and plunged into it. I'm a bit of a history nerd, but I never got too much

City of Blades

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2016 · read 2022-01-17

City of Stairs was fun, and in a surprising way. To live up to it, the second part needed to be different – and it was, in a way. The narrative structure was a bit (very) close to the last book: civil servant gets shunted off to the contine

Foundryside

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2018 · read 2019-05-31

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett is a hard book for me to rate. In the beginning it was lackluster, because it felt like very system-heavy Fantasy: Fantasy where the author cares more about the magic system than about the character

City of Stairs

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2014 · read 2020-05-08

Extremely strong, vivid story. I'm left with a lot of impressions – because the worldbuilding was good, because the characters were strong, because the story was better than decent. A couple of minor points like a predictable staple plot tw

City of Miracles

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2017 · read 2022-05-17

This was kind of the weakest book of the three, but still very readable and cool: Sigrud, never quite over his daughter's death, learns of the death of his last remaining friend, PM Shara Komayd. He decides to protect her daughter at all co

The Eye of the World

by Robert Jordan · published 1990 · read 2018-11-23

I wasn't that much of a fan of The Eye of the World. It's got a couple of things that make it good Fantasy: detailed worldbuilding, for example, and characters that were clearly recognizable and not all the same. A big bad evil and a yo

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson · published 1886 · read 2017-07-19

by Robert Louis Stevenson · published 1883 · read 2003-10-01

The Black Arrow

Unconventionally, this was my first Stevenson book. Since I had no idea what the War of the Roses was beyond its obscure mention in Kalle Blomquist, I was plenty confused and didn't like it too much. This was probably unjust of me, but it's

Treasure Island

by Robert Louis Stevenson · published 1879 · read 2004-07-01