log(book)

The 27 books I read in 2009 year in books

Cover of Das Stunden-Buch.

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).

Cover of Wilhelm Tell.

Wilhelm Tell

by Friedrich Schiller · published 1804 · read 2009-12-01
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Wilhelm Tell might be Schiller's most enjoyable drama, but also his most generic one. That's probably a compliment, seeing as it wasn't generic then, and only became so due to its own popularity?

Cover of Der Auftrag des Magiers.

Der Auftrag des Magiers

by Licia Troisi · published 2004 · read 2009-12-01
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Protagonist rides more dragons, is more stubborn, gets a bit of personal growth.

Cover of Soul Music.

Soul Music

by Terry Pratchett · published 1994 · read 2009-11-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Pratchett would have laughed to hear (or so I like to imagine) that 14-year-old me actually learned all the rock'n'roll stereotypes from this book. It's a weird introduction to this part of pop culture, but it could be so much worse.

Cover of The Castle.

The Castle

by Franz Kafka · published 1922 · read 2009-11-01
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Grey sky, constantly on the verge of darkness. Tiredness. Dragging onwards. That's what I remember from The Castle. I tried finishing it three times, and never managed – nobody saps my energy like Kafka.

Cover of Gedichte.

Gedichte

by Erich Kästner · published 1987 · read 2009-10-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
I really really like Kästner's poems. They get dark, they get snarky, they are political, they don't stop for anybody, except for their author's sentimentality. He doesn't do sentimentality very well – but he knows it, and he can laugh about it.

Cover of Der Richter und sein Henker.

Der Richter und sein Henker

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt · published 1951 · read 2009-10-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Existentialist mystery, is maybe the best description of this book. Do not read if you're not in the mood for dark and dire. The aging detective may be staple, and even some of the plot twists may invite you to think that this is just another mystery, but it goes far beyond that, if you're willing to dive into the subtext.

Cover of Howl's Moving Castle.

Howl’s Moving Castle

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 1986 · read 2009-10-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
This book confused me a lot when I first read it (to be fair: it is a confusing book). Then I watched the movie a year or two later, and I didn't connect it with the book at all. It only came to me slowly over the course of months that the two might be connected. It's so weird!

Cover of Frostfeuer.

Frostfeuer

by Kai Meyer · published 2005 · read 2009-09-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Snow Queen is a terrifying fairy tale. This adaptation is similarly dark and way more Russian. Our protagonist is a poor orphan who has never left the hotel she was born in. And now she has to help a mysterious guest against a mighty sorceress? All the while discovering a plot on Tsar Alexander's life? Worth a read.

Cover of Monstrous Regiment.

Monstrous Regiment

by Terry Pratchett · published 2003 · read 2009-09-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Monstrous Regiment is not one of the best Discworld books, I'd argue. It shows Pratchett's personal politics more than other books, and its final character arc is so cheesy it's downright embarassing.

Cover of The Tin Drum.

The Tin Drum

by Günter Grass · published 1959 · read 2009-08-01
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Grass made reading this book into an unpleasant experience. Most scenes feel … unclean, damp, to be avoided. At the same time, his mastery of language is amazing, and there were several pages that I read over and over again because they were just so beautiful.

Cover of Matters of Choice.

Matters of Choice

by Noah Gordon · published 1995 · read 2009-08-01
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Bringing the saga of the Cole family physicians to an end, we see a daughter of the family make her way through modern medicine. She decides against a soulless research jobs and becomes a country doctor. She deals with the difficulties that good doctors always find: Abuse, abortions, euthanasia, poverty. It's not my favourite part of the series, but I thought it was handled well at the time.

Cover of The Water Mirror.

The Water Mirror

by Kai Meyer · published 2001 · last read 2009-07-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Magical Venice with mermaids (talking, dangerous, rarely helpful, but the exceptions are amazing)! Magical egypt with sphinxes (talking, dangerous, rarely helpful, but the exceptions are amazing)! Magical hell world with demons (dangerous, no exceptions)! Mirror makers, mirror worlds, young orphans, dangerous travels. Betrayal, loyalty. You know the drill. It's not the best and not the most creative YA, and the worldbuilding is a bit iffy in places, but it's creative enough to make it up to me.

Cover of Joseph and His Brothers.

Joseph and His Brothers

by Thomas Mann · published 1943 · read 2009-07-01
★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Underwhelming – 1500 pages not well spent. With less length, somebody might be able to see the points Mann is making, but noth like this.

Cover of The Burning Bridge.

The Burning Bridge

by John Flanagan · published 2005 · read 2009-07-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Only the second part of a long series, and when I realised how long the series was, I stopped reading immediately. I don't want to know more – the first book is my perfect book, and I'll gladly leave it at that.

Cover of Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures.

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures

by Walter Moers · published 2003 · read 2009-07-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Rumo was a lot of fun. Not as grand as Bluebear, not as nerdy as the book city, but a very good take on adventure books noneteless. Hitting all the tropes without being unintentionally cheesy. Probably the closest you can come to The Princess Bride with non-human protagonists.

Cover of Brisingr.

Brisingr

by Christopher Paolini · published 2008 · read 2009-06-01
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
A disappointing end to a disappointing series, if I recall correctly. Little happened, but everything was very dramatic. I never got around to reading the last part – the series was meant to be a trilogy, after all, and the necessity of splitting up the last volume didn't inspire confidence.

Cover of The Fifth Elephant.

The Fifth Elephant

by Terry Pratchett · published 1999 · read 2009-06-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
This is the only Terry Pratchett book that I've heard as an audio book (in German), and it didn't work for me at all. I missed half the stuff, all of the jokes and it didn't feel nearly as deep as it turned out to be in the end. An interesting experience and one that put me off audio books (I don't do auditory processing well, it turns out).

Cover of The Last Continent.

The Last Continent

by Terry Pratchett · published 1998 · read 2009-05-01
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
This is the last of the Rincewind books that I've read. There's technically The Last Hero and Unseen Academicals waiting for me but I couldn't be bothered. Though, surprisingly, I found this one more bearable than the others, if only by a little. I should talk to an Australian about it.

Cover of Thud!.

Thud!

by Terry Pratchett · published 2005 · read 2009-04-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Trolls versus dwarves, first in the city and then in Koom valley. Plus a new vampire in the Watch, so we get to see Vimes mostly refuse to grapple with prejudice again. It's not Night Watch, but not every Vimes book can be Night Watch.

Cover of Dracula.

Dracula

by Bram Stoker · published 1897 · read 2009-04-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Dracula is over one hundred years old, by now (the book, not the vampire!). It has aged, but not to the point that it is unreadable. It's slow-going and stuffy at times, but I found that much more bearable in an epistolary work than in regular novels. The plot itself is so well-known that I don't think I can judge it very well. Some parts of it (the Texan, oh gods) are hilarious, some parts just annoying (Harker, mostly).

Cover of Das Urteil und andere Erzählungen.

Das Urteil und andere Erzählungen

by Franz Kafka · published 1912 · read 2009-04-01
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Kafka's short stories are no less depressing than his longer works, but I found them more bearable, and even enjoyable on occasion. They don't induce a spiralling depression, and have some very neat images and concepts.

Cover of The Metamorphosis.

The Metamorphosis

by Franz Kafka · published 1915 · read 2009-03-01
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
Content warnings were made for this book. A friend of mine read The Metamorphosis while transitioning, and please don't do that. Not while you're transitioning, or in inner turmoil, or feeling alienated or depressed. Or when you're in a good mood and would like to keep it. Kafka will eat your good mood.

Cover of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal

by Christopher Moore · published 2002 · read 2009-02-01
★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
My only memory of this book is that it was over-the-top silly and I didn't know at all what to do with it. Everything felt forced and unpleasant, but I can't tell anymore how much of that was the book and how much was my confusion and projection.

Cover of The Visit.

The Visit

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt · published 1962 · read 2009-01-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Dürrenmatt will always punch you in the face. This time he's talking about corruptability and the corruption brought about by wealth. It's the terrifying story of a man sold out by his entire community for the promise of wealth. It's about ethics and justice and avarice. I loved it. Seeing it on stage when I was 17 was transformative.

Cover of The Cry of the Icemark.

The Cry of the Icemark

by Stuart Hill · published 2005 · read 2009-01-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
One of my favourite fantasy books back in the day. Thirrin, at age 14(?) becomes the warrior queen of the Icemark, and has to find allies and prepare for war and invasion. Thirrin is far from perfect, but ferocious and amazing. Her friends and allies are amazing, both the magical ones (wizards, giant talking snow leopards) and the natural ones. It takes all of her skill to organise a big retreat and then an assault as the ice thaws.

Cover of Slaughterhouse-Five.

Slaughterhouse-Five

by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. · published 1969 · read 2009-01-01
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Vonnegut witnessed the Dresden bombing, and this is his book about it. Of course, it's not just that, and even where it is just that, it is processed beautifully. Vonnegut is brutal and yet kind, dramatic but always matter-of-fact.