My Nook of Books

Found this book in our Ferienwohnung in Austria . It is a good holiday read, simple, happy end, someone goes through a crises and comes out stronger and happier. But do not expect too much ;) Title : 44 Charles Street Author : Danielle Steel My edition : 2016, Luitingh-Sijthoff (Dutch translation) Cover : I always think it is a bit egocentric to print your own name larger than the title of the book. I know it is probably a marketing strategy, because Danielle Steel has written over 90 books and people know her name, and she didn't design the cover herself, but still... It's not a very interesting cover. Innerwork : The translation wasn't really good. Near the end I found more and more typo's. Some editor was falling asleep during work hours, I guess... Compatibility with reading on the train : I didn't read this book on the train, but I think it would suffice. Synopsis : Francesca has broken up with her boyfriend and is trying to find a way to pay for their ...

Already two weeks ago I finished this book on holiday in Austria. I found it in the bookcase of our apartment, and since the two books I brought myself weren't going to be enough reading material for the week, I threw myself onto this thriller by Arnaldur Indridason, an Icelandic author. Why is it that all these Scandinavian authors write thrillers or detectives? Is it the landscape of these countries that inspire them to write about awful deaths? Title : Jar City Author : Arnaldur Indridason First published : Mýrin, 2000 My edition : Noorderveen, 2016 by Q (in Dutch) Cover : Not bad for a Dutch cover, great image of the Icelandic scenery. The blurb on the back was awful though. It said that the book was about a murder which could not have been solved without the modern DNA-technology. Well, that really distinguishes this book from others... Innerwork : Can't really remember, so must have been fine, otherwise I would have remembered ;) Compatibility with reading on the ...

Waiting for the new rug that we ordered for our living room might be one of the best times to write a blog post (if you're wondering: it is red, very bold, so I am super excited and can't wait till it's here!) On holiday in Austria I finished The Only Story by Julian Barnes. I received this book with my Christmas presents from work and had quite high expectations, as a friend of mine is a fan of the author. Therefore it came as a surprise that I actually found this book boring! It don't say this often about books, but I really didn't enjoy it. I did finish it, because I expected a change in the story, as Julian Barnes is supposed to be this very gifted writer. Unfortunately, when I reached the last page of the book, it was still boring. I do however, still think that Julian Barnes is very gifted. Read on if you want to know why! Title: The Only Story Author: Julian Barnes First published: 2018, Jonathan Cape   My edition: 2018, Jonathan Cape Notice the aw...

Title : Manhattan Beach Author : Jennifer Egan First published : 2017 My edition : Corsair, 2018, paperback Cover : The colours are great, and the picture gives a view of New York around the time the story takes place. I just don't like all these quotes on the front. Covers should be pretty, and quotes are not pretty ;) Innerwork : Pleasant font, quite large, but not too large. Compatibility with reading on the train : Not too great. Although it is a paperback, the book is quite stiff and heavy, which makes it difficult to hold it open with just one hand. Synopsis : The book tells the story of Anna Kerrigan, who accompanies her father on business meetings at the age of twelve, and who is a diver at the Naval Yard during the Second World War when she is around twenty. During her teenage years, her father goes missing. Anna doesn't give it too much thought, until she is older and meets Dexter Styles. She remembers visiting him with her father years ago and starts i...

Title : Pride and Prejudice Author : Jane Austen First published : 1813 My edition : Collector's Library, 2003 Cover : To be honest, I'm not really a fan of dust jackets. I know they are meant to project the book, but most of the time they just get in the way. They always slide a bit, which makes them crumple, which makes you concentrate on how to hold your book, instead of focusing on what is in the book. Futhermore, a dust jacket hides the beautiful linnen cover beneath it! Look at the beautiful red cover, with the title and author in gold and the embossed logo of the publisher! It is not really visible on the photo, but the red colour is a really perfect deep dark red. Innerwork : The lines and pages have an agreeable length, the font that is used is pleasant and the book looks neat. Only the illustrations are not always placed with the same care: the distance between the bottom of the illustration and the text differs a lot. Furthermore, two illustrations do n...