Wulf's Book Reviews

Marrying Mr. Wrong by Claire Kingsley My rating: 3 of 5 stars Oh, well, from the lofty heights of Obama’s presidential memoirs which I enjoyed , I went on to read this. I needed a short moment of pure escapism and easy-going reading: “Please excuse me for a moment while I disengage my brain!” For that purpose, this novel worked well enough - albeit not perfectly but we’ll come to that. Anyway, this is the third instalment of a loosely connected series about the romantic endeavours of a group of twenty-somethings (I guess). It started out well with Everly’s romance with her boss (Calloway) and now we’re reading about Sophie, Everly’s successor as Calloway’s personal assistant, who meets Camden Cox, a notorious womanizer. Sophie and Cox end up in Vegas where they “accidentally” marry each other in a drunken stupor. The remainder of the book is - expectedly - about how they find out they don’t want a divorce. The ensuing chaos is amusing enough; ok, everything is cliché...

Enchanters' End Game by David Eddings My rating: 1 of 5 stars Finally. I’m done with “The Belgariad” . For life. And I’m so happy about it. This epic fantasy adventure started out well with “ Pawn of Prophecy ”, went slightly downhill in “ Queen of Sorcery ” due to all the travelling, went straight into a wall when “ Magician's Gambit ” turned out to be a lame duck, recovered somewhat during “ Castle of Wizardry ” and, eventually, went down the drain with this last instalment – “ Enchanters' End Game ”. In this final book of the Belgariad, we accompany Ce’Nedra’s army into the land of the Murgos, fighting against them and the Malloreans. Wait a second, though – Ce'Nedra’s army? No, in fact it’s been taken from her by the men around her whom Eddings obviously felt much more competent to handle matters of war: “ Once she was comfortably quartered in the Stronghold, Princess Ce'Nedra found herself even more removed from the day-to-day command of her...

Haven by Claire Kent My rating: 1 of 5 stars Let’s get this review started with the best aspect of this novella: It’s short! And that’s a mercy because it tries to put a romance story into a post-apocalyptic world - and neither of these ideas actually works. The entire story felt forced, probably due to the length of this novella: the story never had a chance to develop and I feel very strongly that romance and apocalypse don’t really fit well together. Especially not when the author, who “ has been writing romance novels since she was twelve years old ”, never progressed beyond that age writing-wise: Our heroine, Faith, shows her maturity by gratuitous use of the word “fuck”. All over the place. I don’t mind vulgarity, but if it’s just introduced for its real or perceived “shock value”, it quickly becomes annoying. Especially if, as is the case here, the writing is on an extremely “plain” level. Simple sentences, driving the mediocre story forward without any linguistic ...

2021 on Goodreads by Various My rating: 4 of 5 stars As I look back on reading in 2021 I find another mixed bag: Just like in 2020 , my average rating was a mere 3.5 Goodreads tells me and that feels about right. The year started on a high and hopeful note when Amanda Gorman recited her poem “ The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country ” at Biden’s inauguration. If Gorman’s ideas took hold, we’d really “raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.” The older I get the more difficult I find it to adapt to change. At the same time I realise a lack of adaption inevitably leads to obsolescence - in this case, my own. Thus, I was both challenged and delighted when my personal book of the year 2021, the unforgettable “ Girl, Woman, Other ” by Bernardine Evaristo , stormed against my own perceptions and prejudices and while not blowing them away, changing them. Helping me change. Also highly emotionally moving and absolutely brilliant was the revised and updated colle...

City Of Bones by Michael Connelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars After the delight that “ Angels Flight ” was, I was eager to delve into Michael Connelly's " City of Bones ", the eighth instalment in the Harry Bosch series . Although it did not quite live up to the intensely riveting and thrilling standards set by some of its predecessors, it still proved to be a very enjoyable read. » The point is, this doctor says it was just a kid, Harry. So could you humor us and go check out this humerus?” « From the onset, Connelly's writing style was as engaging as ever; as a result, the story was well-paced, providing a steady flow of intrigue and suspense that kept me turning the pages. However, I did find certain sections to be a bit lagging, lacking the heart-pounding intensity that I've come to expect from a Bosch novel. » Bosch almost laughed. “The department doesn’t care about it. The department cares about the image, not the truth. And when the truth endang...

Das Ereignis by Annie Ernaux My rating: 5 of 5 stars » (Vielleicht wirkt diese Beschreibung irritierend oder abstoßend, oder sie mag als geschmacklos empfunden werden. Etwas erlebt zu haben, egal, was es ist, verleiht einem das unveräußerliche Recht, darüber zu schreiben. Es gibt keine minderwertige Wahrheit. Wenn ich diese Erfahrung nicht im Detail erzähle, trage ich dazu bei, die Lebenswirklichkeit von Frauen zu verschleiern, und mache mich zur Komplizin der männlichen Herrschaft über die Welt.) « Annie Ernaux , seinerzeit 23-jährige Studentin, wurde 1963 im damals erzkonservativen, katholischen Frankreich ungewollt schwanger und vom Vater des ungeborenen Kindes de facto im Stich gelassen. Keiner der Ärzte, die sie aufsuchte, half ihr in nennenswerter Weise und so bleibt ihr nichts übrig, als sich in die Hände einer sogenannten “ Engelmacherin ” zu begeben. » Beim Schreiben muss ich manchmal dem Drang widerstehen, in einen wütenden oder schmerzerfüllen Lyrismus zu v...

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow My rating: 2 of 5 stars From a story point of view Harrow's second “ Fractured Fable “, “ A Mirror Mended ”, starts right after “ A Spindle Splintered ” with Zinnia Gray, our protagonist, still trying to fix happily-ever-afters for a lot of Sleeping Beauties. That’s where my issues start: Why Zinnia again? Why not create a new character? Zinnia’s story arc was complete after “Spindle” and in my opinion, it would have made a lot more sense to create a fresh new character for this book. In fact, there’s a lot that gets repeated here: Zinnia still “falls” through the multiverse with the evil queen from Snow White, Eva, she intends to help. Sadly, while “Spindle” was a modern retelling of the old fairy tale, “Mirror” features some of Snow White’s characters and ideas but at no point is it any kind of retelling. It’s much more of a complicated series of events that somehow occur - sometimes all too conveniently - without much influence fro...

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik My rating: 4 of 5 stars Well, this was a fairly mixed bag of a read… A school for kids learning to control their magic, surrounded by hostile creatures and even the school making life as hard as possible for its pupils. Pupils who are left entirely on their own - no teachers, hardly any protection and a deadly competition for resources, power and the arcane… It sounds all so well and, indeed, I was drawn into the book fairly quickly: We’re accompanying Galadriel (El) during her penultimate school year which she passes by scolding the local hero Orion Lake (yes… the rest is silence…) for almost desperately trying to get on her good side. Sadly, El’s “good side” is something she strongly tries to hide by playing bad ass… » Meanwhile I was well on the way to successfully making myself violently, instead of just modestly, hateful to every enclave kid in the place, probably before the end of term at my current pace. « … and almost to this rea...

Ich bleibe hier , von Marco Balzano Es ist keine 24 Stunden her, als ich tief seufzend neben meiner Frau ins Bett sank und mein Schicksal beklagte, schon wieder ein… komisches… Buch zu lesen. “Über Südtirol ”, sagte ich und meine Frau antwortete, “Oh, nein, Südtirol - Faschismus und Nationalsozialismus, lies doch etwas Leichteres…” Sie hatte - wie (fast) immer Recht - und Unrecht zugleich. Ja, die Geschichte ist nicht leicht verdaulich: Trina, eine zu Beginn des Romans junge deutschsprachige Lehrerin, lebt im inzwischen buchstäblich untergegangenen Alt-Graun, einem kleinen bäuerlich-geprägten Dorf mit ihrem Ehemann Erich. Trina durchlebt die Italianisierung (also die versuchte Ausmerzung alles deutschsprachigen und des altösterreichischen Charakters) durch den Faschismus, auf- und überlebt Aufstieg und Fall des deutschen Nationalsozialismus und bleibt in ihrem Dorf, obschon die persönlichen Verluste ihrer Familie ans Unerträgliche grenzen. Schlußendlich weichen Trina und E...

All Systems Red by Martha Wells My rating: 5 of 5 stars “ And in their corner all they had was Murderbot, who just wanted everyone to shut up and leave it alone so it could watch the entertainment feed all day. ” I’m not a Science Fiction fan. I’m not especially fond of novellas. This one, though… I can’t even really explain what appealed to me about this novella: Murderbot neither really feels like a robot nor like a person but still strangely… plausible. Murderbot’s actions feel logical, yet simple. It does what it has to do. It’s ambiguity as an artificial lifeform makes it feel both familiar in, e. g. its shyness and some other emotions - not to speak of its entertainment addiction. Plus: An artificial lifeform that (sometimes) acts more humanely than its human counterparts? Fascinating! Murderbot is literally strange enough to go through a contrasting melange of emotions as well. This contrast, the SecUnits conflicting feelings and survival strategies is probably wha...

Repentance by Andrew Lam My rating: 3 of 5 stars “ The fact that they had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor didn’t matter. They were guilty by association, by the color of their skin and the slant of their eyes. It didn’t matter that they didn’t speak Japanese, or that they were American citizens. The bottom line was that their kind had perpetrated a horrid crime that came from the land of their ancestors. The shame was a burden that all Nisei silently bore, a burden every soldier in the 442nd was fighting to be free of. ” I got this book for free as a win from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. Thanks! “Repentance” tells the story of Daniel Tokunaga, a successful surgeon, who is confronted with his estranged father’s past during the Second World War. Daniel’s father is of Japanese descent and fought as part of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, the most decorated unit in U.S. military history. During (mostly) alternating chapters narrating of 1944 (Daniel’s fathe...

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides My rating: 2 of 5 stars “ I didn’t know it then, but it was too late—I had internalized my father, introjected him, buried him deep in my unconscious. No matter how far I ran, I carried him with me wherever I went. I was pursued by an infernal, relentless chorus of furies, all with his voice—shrieking that I was worthless, shameful, a failure. ” but “ It’s not hopeless. You’re not a boy at the mercy of your father anymore. ” It all started out so well: The narrator, Theo Faber, is a psychotherapist who goes out of his way to help Alicia, the “Silent Patient”. Alicia has been put into a psychiatric hospital after her husband was murdered with her standing next to him, the weapon at her feet. She refuses to (or can’t) speak at all. Theo himself is damaged as well by an overbearing father who has always made him feel insufficient, worthless and a failure (cf. opening quotation). He feels like he’s pretty much the only person o...

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway My rating: 1 of 5 stars This is my second approach to the work of Ernest Hemingway and I thoroughly hated the experience. I dimly remember my first attempt when I had just seen “Hemingway”, 1988’s mini series about the author. I think at the time I read “A Farewell to Arms” and put it aside about half way through. Now, more than 30 years later, I thought it was time to revisit Hemingway and maybe I would like his work better this time. Cautiously, though, I opted for “The Old Man and the Sea”, fearing I might still be bored. Which I was. Thoroughly. The old fisherman going out to fish, ill-prepared, being pulled out onto the deep sea in a small boat, a skiff, by a fish that’s about as large as said skiff, battling it out, may be impressive to an author who loved bull-fighting, women and drinking hard but it’s nothing I care about anymore. For me, this is it: A Farewell to… Hemingway View all my reviews https://turin...

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Here we go again… Yet another Harry Dresden and yet it’s both more of the same as well as different. The first nine books were all mediocre to me - three stars because I felt generous - and ridiculously stupid for reading nine ok’ish books in a row till the Stockholm Syndrome set fully in with book 10 . So, we’re at number 16 (!) now and most series have become bland, boring and/or been warped beyond recognition (cf. George's Lynley !). In fact, it’s somewhat similar with respect to the “beyond recognition” part: Harry Dresden, who used to be a “a male chauvinist pig; […] a misogynist arse” by my own words, has turned into a mostly-decent human being. A very long-lived human being (think centuries!) and a wizard to boot. “ It’s not about who they are,” I said quietly. “It’s about who I am. And the example I’m setting. ” Maybe it’s all me who enjoys a Dresden who - in the midst of a pitched battle - thinks that “ S...

Age of Legend by Michael J. Sullivan My rating: 5 of 5 stars “ Time had sneaked in and stolen her recklessness. ” Michael J. Sullivan has done it again: He has written a book that doesn’t need to hide behind any other work in contemporary fantasy. His latest masterpiece, Age of Legend, the Kickstarter of which I had the honour to participate in, begins after the Battle of Grandford at the end of the previous book, Age of War . This makes “Age of Legend” the fourth book in Michael’s “The Legends of the First Empire” series which I whole-heartedly recommend to, well, actually anyone who reads. (In fact, my wife isn’t really into fantasy but thoroughly enjoyed Michael’s Riyria books.) I already wrote it in the review for the previous book but this latest instalment solidifies this feeling: More and more, “Legends” turns into Michael’s magnum opus. The Riyria books, which are fairly different from Legends, are undoubtedly great but the narrative depth of Legends is a...

Detective Kubu Investigates 2 by Michael Stanley My rating: 2 of 5 stars This was supposed to be another “filler” till I found my “next big read” and it all started well enough. “Shoot to Kill” is an interesting short story featuring Kubu investigating the death of an informant among poachers. It had exactly the right “Kubu vibes” and was a quick and pleasant read. Had all the short stories been this good, the collection would have easily garnered four stars. “The Case of the Missing Tuba” was amusing. It lacked any real crime (and, sadly, it also lacked Kubu!) but it was still nice enough. (Despite featuring a manipulative ass-hat husband.) “The Con” has petty crime but it also has the main ingredient - Kubu! And a believable, likeable Kubu at that. His family also features prominently and I was truly amused and thought this short story collection was headed to four stars. Then came the “Parlor Game”, though. A confusing and utterly failed attempt at imitating Edgar All...

Age of Empyre by Michael J. Sullivan My rating: 5 of 5 stars “ The stories I write might be fantasy, but the depiction of the feelings people share for each other is real. ” I’m cheating. The above quote is not from the actual content but from Michael’s afterword. I chose it for the simple fact that, to me at least, this is what makes Michael’s books “work” for me. But we’ll come to that yet… First, I have to admit that I was actually afraid of reading this book. “ Age of Death ”, this book’s predecessor, was not exactly my favourite. It felt long, uninspired, weighed down by metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. The creative playfulness, the lightness, was mostly missing and those were important reasons I really liked the books before it. Would “Age of Empyre” “fix” this and as easily achieve what the first four books did? Not quite… “ Brin felt altogether miserable. The written language was her one thing, her life’s achievement. She’d spent years creating, refining, and polishing...

Bonjour tristesse: Roman by Françoise Sagan My rating: 2 of 5 stars Wir befinden uns im Jahr 1954 und treffen auf Cécile, ihren Playboy-Vater Raymond, seine junge Geliebte Elsa sowie Anne, die Raymond heiraten möchte. Last and least, gibt es noch Cyril, einen jungen naiven Mann, der zu Céciles Geliebtem wird. Klar, angesichts der relativen Freizügigkeit dieser Novelle kann ich mir einerseits den moralischen Aufschrei der ehrenwerten Gesellschaft dieser Zeit lebhaft vorstellen. Wenig überraschend sprang wohl auch die Kritik jener Tage schnell auf den Zug dieses Skandals im Wasserglas an. Was aber letztlich bleibt ist die Geschichte einer verwöhnten 17-Jährigen, die gerade eine Prüfung verhauen hat und den Sommer mit ihrem Vater am Meer verbringt. Elsa, seine Geliebte, “stört” die beiden nicht signifikant in ihrem “Lotterleben”, das in Wahrheit einfach nur entspannt und weitgehend frei von den gesellschaftlichen Konventionen zu sein scheint. Eine empfindlichen “Dämpfer” erh...

The Suspect by Michael Robotham My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is a pretty standard thriller with nothing special to recommend itself over any other of its kind. Basically, a whiny shrink, Joseph “Joe” O'Loughlin, who keeps making stupid decisions throughout the entire book ends up being man-hunted as the prime suspect in a string of murders, starting with a former patient of his. Very early on, when being asked to help in the investigation of the murder, Joe decides it’s a brilliant idea to withhold essential information from the police: “ All the while I’m thinking, I should say something now. I should tell him. Yet a separate track in my brain is urging, It doesn’t matter anymore. He knows her name. What’s past is past. It’s ancient history. ” This stupidity annoys me without end: The cops will find out about such connections anyway so Joe should have told them right away. After all, he will have read this in countless books or seen it a hundred times at the ci...

Angels Flight by Michael Connelly My rating: 5 of 5 stars While I’m writing this, it’s the 4th of May 2024. It still feels weird to live in a world without Paul Auster in it. When I went to bed on the 30th of April, he was still there. On the morning of the 1st of May, when I opened the New York Times app on my phone, a black-and-white picture of Paul Auster gave it away. I had known he was fighting cancer but I thought he had time… Time for more novels - after all, his novels have been present in my life for decades, most of my life. Auster’s novels were never easy to read but they were worth the effort. Why am I prefacing a review of “ Angels Flight ” with that? First and foremost, I’m writing these reviews for myself. They add to my enjoyment of the novel discussed and they also serve as a reminder of them, and who I was when I read them. Of course, I’m also writing them for you, dear reader, and I love it when you like them (so, hit that button right now, what are yo...

[table id=8 /] Blaue Frau by Antje Rávik Strubel My rating: 5 of 5 stars Aufwühlend, bewegend, anstrengend, schwer „verdaulich“, unbedingt lesenswert und wichtig! » Es braucht klare Ansagen, wenn die, die ihre jahrhundertealte Meinungshoheit verlieren, diesen Verlust zum Ende der Meinungsfreiheit erklären. « Ursprünglich aufmerksam auf “ Blaue Frau ” wurde ich durch die Vorstellung des Buches und dem Interview Denis Schecks mit Antje Rávik Strubel in dessen Sendung “ Druckfrisch ”. Erst jedoch als ich Strubels in mehrerlei Hinsicht emotionale Dankesrede zum gewonnenen Deutschen Buchpreis sah, rückte dieses Buch sofort an die Spitze meines Stapels ungelesener Bücher. Antje Rávik Strubel erzählt in “Blaue Frau” die Geschichte Adinas, einer jungen Tschechin, die während eines Praktikums in Deutschland sexualisierte Gewalt erlebt. Dabei arbeitet sich die Erzählerin durch Zeit und Raum und die verschiedenen Ebenen und Perspektiven ihrer Figuren. Gerade im ersten Teil ...

What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding by Kristin Newman My rating: 2 of 5 stars This review is going to be quite a bit different from what I expected after eleven of the thirteen chapters this book comprises… Let’s start at another angle, though: I like to read what one of the greatest of the genre, Tony James Slater , likes to call “travel memoirs”. If written by the right person, they’re often funny, interesting and, at times, even insightful and inspiring. Unsurprisingly, they often include “romantic encounters” of a very intimate nature or - as Newman’s mother is quoted “Grown-ups don’t just hold hands.”. I went into this book expecting amusing anecdotes of female solo travel - a travel memoir. What I got to read was very, very different because the twenty-ish Kristian Newman listens to her boyfriend’s voicemail and reads his diary of all things… When she writes about Lesbian relationships that a »social scientist might argue that the girl-on-girl trend started wit...