www.fabians.ch Blog

My reading in January:

My reading in December (plus the end of November):

• Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross (finished): I finally finished it! During the whole novel Ross shifts in time and location as well as between two story lines. It was sometimes really hard to follow the story (stories) and not get lost in all the time shifts and all those characters and everything. It would probably be the best to reread the book straightaway – or at least in some weeks – to really get it all. I don't think I'm gonna do this however.
• Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse by Forrest Griffin and Erich Krauss: Most parts of this book are satirical though there is a message, a subtext in it which says that we (the human) are crazy idiots and will come to an end. For me it was not as entertaining as Forrest's first book Got Fight? of but still I had to laugh a lot (due in no small part to the senseless stories and anecdotes).
• New York 100 Momente (German) by Andreas Hallaschka (author) and Philip Koschel (photographer): An illustrated book with a hundred moments described in some few words and illustrated with over a hundred beautiful photos of the city that never sleeps. Plus a short but lovely essay at the end of the book. Wonderful!
• The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome David Salinger (unfinished): I could finally bring myself to start this big classic.
• Hot Shots Tips and Tricks for Taking Better Pictures by Kevin Meredith (unfinished): Illustrated photography book with tips and tricks for taking better pictures.

I'm pleased to introduce not only a new category in my blog – books – but also a new, (hopefully) monthly, column. Well maybe it's gonna be more like a summary than an actual column. But let's pretend that doesn't matter.

The plan is to summarize my reading by the end of each month. Since I don't think of myself as a good reviewer I will just post some words about every book and tell you guys whether it's good or not, whether you should read it or not.

I'm not gonna start with the last month but with my vacation in the States instead. So let's go.

• The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby: A collection of book review columns by Nick Hornby which he wrote monthly for the Believer magazine some time ago. It's not the most compelling reading but if you don't know what to read just read this books and by the end you will have about fifty more books on your to read list.
• One Day by David Nicholls: I really liked this one. Every chapter tells the stories of Dexter and Emma on St. Swithin's Day, July 15 – year after year.
• Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer: Krakauer investigates the story of young Christopher McCandless who left his family and friends and walked into the wild with near to nothing. He lived off the wild for a while before he died. Remarkable story.
• Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh: Scottish classic set in the Edinburgh borough Leith. A story about drugs, violence, sex, AIDS, death and more. Great novel and film!
• Der Schatten von Nebenan (German) by Michael Saur: Entertaining story about two authors plus two girl abductions in New York.
• A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi: A book about strategy in war and fighting written hundred of years ago in Japan. Still most concepts are adaptable to present time.
• Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman: Very funny and riveting story about a famous author and his wannabe-author son.
• Surf Journals by Tony Caramanico: Some of the artful journals of a surfer on his journeys around the world.
• Wäuebrächer 2 by Wäuebrächerkollektiv (German): Fanzine created by some supporters of the football club Young Boys. Helped me miss my city and club a little bit less when I was miles away in Miami.
• Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross (unfinished): I have not reached the end yet but it's a nice novel so far even though sometimes Ross runs off the track a little bit too far for my mind.