A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: My last choice for the book club and what an excellent read. The story of Count Alexander and his time in the Hotel Metropol in Moscow from the early 1920s until what feels like forever. One would assume a life spent behind hotel walls must but boring. On the contrary though, what a well-lived life. Plus the count has always some excellent advice to give. Not just to the other protagonists in the story, but also to the reader. Hugely enjoyable!
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Unfortunately I loved ‘Daisy Jones and the Six‘ so much that every other book from Taylor Jenkins Read gets compared to it. And Malibu Rising is just not on the same level. The background story of the parents, Mick and June, was great. Really distinct voices and characters, sadly that gets a bit watered down in the children, and when we come to the guests of the party it’s all very superficial. Was there even a reason to give so many guests a backstory? Didn’t do much for the story. Still, a quick read.
A King’s Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman: the book from Mrs. Penman that I will ever read for the first time. Her writing is, as always, impeccable. The story draws you in right away and history comes alive before your eyes. Even if you think you know everything about Richard’s time imprisoned in Dürnstein (as Austrian I can claim I thought so), there is much to learn about his time here and in Germany. There is so much more to this man than just the crusade a d his stint in Austria. As always it was a pleasure to read Mrs. Penman and you can’t image how sad it made me, when I a heard that she passed away in January of this year.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell: The death of a child is probable the single most horrible thing for a parent. How you deal with it is different for everyone. In the case of William Shakespeare it was in form of a play, “Hamlet”. At least this is the way the author imagines him to deal with the death of his son Hamnet. I liked the flashbacks to the story of William and Agnes best. A good book in any case.
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