40th book - "Freedom" - Jonathan Franzen - 10 points

A true story of our time. Sometimes hard to read, but at the end more than rewarding and you really start thinking of the perfectly described characters in the book and compare to your own life.
Amazingly ironic and written to make me laugh so loud at night in bed that my wife woke up. See the last 2 lines on page 430 and continue the next 2 pages or so. Just to let you know that Joey swallowed his wedding ring a few days before and now is in vacation with his "girlfriend" in Patagonia.
I'm reading the 2010 hardcover edition from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN 978-0-312-60084-6

39th book - "The Dogs of Riga" - Henning Mankell - 9 points

The 2nd Kurt Wallander mystery. Especially the end is extremely exciting. Besides, you learn where Riga is located.
I read the 2003 paperback version from Vintage Crime. Originally published 1992.

38th book - "The Confession" - John Grisham - 10 points

I read the book within 3 days. A page turner. Perfect language. Experienced writer. I need to read more from Grisham.
This book deserves a 5 star at Barnes & Noble. Just a reminder: Yes, it's fiction!
John Grisham, this book is very courageously written and I'm so thankful that I have another point of view on the death penalty now.
This book will be a success in Europe! Or as Don Rumsfeld liked to say: (in) the Old Europe! :-)
I read the 2010 hardcover English version ISBN 978-0-385-52804-7 published by Doubleday a division of Random House.

37th book - "Faceless Killers" - Henning Mankell - 9 points

The first Kurt Wallander mystery. A quick, easy and interesting read, simply a page turner.

36th book - "Fame" - Daniel Kehlmann - 4 points

I need to read it again when I'm grown up I guess!
No easy reading.
What an opposite from "Measuring the Wolrd" about Humboldt and Gauss which I loved to read. I met Daniel Kehlmann in 2008 here in NYC at Instituto Cervantes and he signed on my German version "Die Vermessung der Welt".
I read "Fame" in the 2010 English hardcover version from Pantheon. I bought the book at good old Strand book half priced as it was sold as a review book in their basement.
ISBN: 978-0-307-37871-2.

35th book - "Tod und Teufel" - Frank Schätzing - 7 points

I nice historical fiction about a crime story in Cologne in the 13th century.
I read the softcover edition in German language ISBN 978-3-442-45531-7.

34th book - "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" - Stieg Larsson - 10 points

The 3 part of the Millenium trilogy has ended with this book.
There are rumors for a 4th part, see more at www.stieglarsson.com.
Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) died at the age of 50 just shortly after delivering the first 3 parts of a planned series of 10 books.

33rd book - "The Girl Who Played with Fire" - Stieg Larsson - 10 points

As the cover says: "A gripping, stay-up-all-night read!"
As soon as I finished this 2nd part of Millennium Trilogy I had to buy the 3rd part and can't wait to start it.

32nd book -"Die Traumdeutung" - Sigmund Freud - 9 points

Reading this book your dreams will change.
I read the 113.000 - 135.000 Auflage, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, März 1977 in softcover.
Siegmund Freud, geb. 6. Mai 1856 in Freiberg (Mähren). Gest. 1939 in London.

31st book - "Aenderungsschneiderei Los Milagros" - Maria Cecilia Barbetta - 6 points

Maria's first book. I bought it because of the layout inside of the different chapters which is a pretty amazing idea. I read this book within 2 days during a vacation so I had time to really concentrate but never found into the story. The book is more for woman anyway. Final statement: the idea of the writing style and the layout of the publisher is different and interesting, but the story itself could be used much better.
I read the softcover edition Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, October 2010.
Maria Cecilia Barbetta was born 1972 in Buenos Aires and moved to Germany in 1996. She wrote the book in German language.

30th book - "Der Jesus vom Sexshop" - Helge Timmerberg - 7 points

I read the German version, 1. Auflage März 2010. ISBN 978-3-87134-6361.

29th book - "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" - Stieg Larson - 10 points

Just fascinating! You just don't want to stop reading.

28th book - "Madame Bovary" - Gustave Flaubert - 6 points

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was French.
More than 150 years old this classic novel is sensitively written. The story is about a bourgeois woman who gets bored about her marriage and life and runs in dangerous erotic adventures which all ends in a catastrophe.
A must read because of Flaubert's written language, but not always easy. Maybe I feel so, because I read that book over a certain time of a certain stressful working month.
I read the 2005 Barnes & Nobles Classic edition with introduction by Chris Kraus. ISBN 978-1-59308-052-5. Originally published in 1856.

27th book - "Night" - Elie Wiesel - 9 points

What a high value! Elie Wiesel writes about the persecution of the Jews and their deadly treatments in Auschwitz, Buchenwald, etc.
A must read to understand the Holocaust and the concentration camps in Nazi Germany.
Elie Wiesel (*1928) is US-American. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Price in 1986.
I read the first edition of the new 2006 translation by his wife Marion Wiesel. Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 978-0-374-50001-6. First published in 1958.

26th book - "Drachenläufer" ( The Kite Runner) - Khaled Hosseini - 9 points

A very sad story about the friendship of 2 boys in the Afghanistan of the 1970's. Rich vs. poor. The rich one Amir is jealous for the poor Hassan the son of their servant who lives in a small house next door. Amir's father likes Hassan which develops an unconscious hate in Amir.
Years later when Amir is "called back" to Pakistan and Afghanistan from America where he emigrated with his father as an adult he discovers a blood relation to Hassan, but something brutal happened to him. As Amir is responsible for the leaving of Hassan and his father from their house in Kabul way back in the late 70's, his feeling of guilt never vanished in his life and so he starts a dangerous tour from Pakistan to Kabul where the Taliban rule. A dramatic and brutal journey continues.
This books opens up our eyes for the Afghanian culture and their different rulers from the 1970's through the 2000's.
Khaled Hosseini was born 1965 in Kabul, Afghanistan. He lives in California, USA.
I read the German version of "The Kite Runner", "Drachenläufer" 45. Auflage, November 2009 from the BvT, Berliner Tachenbuch Verlags GmbH, Berlin. First published in English language as "The Kite Runner" in 2003. ISBN 978-3-8333-0149-0. As of 2009 more than 9 million copies of this book were sold worldwide.

25th book - "Tod in Venedig" - Thomas Mann - 7 points

An old guy falls in love with a young man at his Summer residence in Venice and is even not talking directly to him. A gay story written in 1913! It's interesting how he describes the suffering of a human being and how it controls you. It's a novella and the writing style is of it's time, not too easy to read nowadays. I found it hard to read the first quarter of the book, but then it became an easier reading towards the middle and the end. It's interesting to see the development of the main figure Gustav von Aschenbach.
Thomas Mann (1875-1955) is a German author, born in Lübeck, died in Zürich.
I read the 21st paperback edition (July 2008) in German language from Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. First published 1913. ISBN 978-3-596-11266-1. I bought this book at a bookstore in New Haven at the Yale university.

24th book - "Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter" - Peter Handke - 2 points

Just a few 118 pages, but an awful writing style. I really became nervous while reading. It's about a guy who thought the he lost his job and who runs away, kills a woman and runs away again. He feels observed and in his mind things happened before.
No paragraphs, no chapters, unrelated sentences follow each other. It's a narrative, maybe I need to read a novel from this author to see how he deals with that.
I bought this book at a bookstore at the Yale University in New Haven, CT. They had 2 shelves packed with German literature. I think about the students at Yale who have to suffer reading this bullshit.
Peter Handke (*1942) is an Austrian writer and translator.
I read the first paperback edition from the Suhrkamp Verlag 1972. First published in 1970. ISBN 3-518-36527-4.

23rd book - "The Last Days of the Incas" - Kim MacQuarrie - 10 points

The perfect book (460 pages!) in my preparation for my Peru vacation in 2 weeks. In a fascinating and interesting way I learned everything necessary about the history of the Incas and the Spanish conquistador. Even his epilogue describing the researches and discoveries from Bingham through the 21st century is written in an easy-to-understand language. It answered my question "why was Machu Picchu built?" and I understand that the "Inca's last and lost city" called Vilcabamba might be even more fascinating than Machu Picchu. Archeological researches still going on in Vilcabamba.
Kim MacQuarrie lived for 5 years in Peru. He is a documentary filmmaker and now lives in the US and Bali, Indonesia. He wrote 3 books about Peru.
First published in 2007. I read the first Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition June 2008. ISBN 978-0-7432-6049-7

22nd book - "Like Water for Chocolate" - Laura Esquivel - 10 points

The whole title is: "Like Water for Chocolate - A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances and Home Remedies".
What a great idea to integrate the recipes to the story of passionate romance, old traditions and sadness. It reminds me on old German tradition too in which women had no rights at all just work and obey forever. How sad when a young girl's future and hope is destroyed forever by her own parents (in this case by her mother).
Laura Esquivel (*1950) is Mexican.
I read the First Anchor Books English language Edition (a division of Random House), November 1995. First published in Spanish language "Como agua para chocolate" in 1989.

21st book - "By Night in Chile" - Roberto Bolano - 9 points

You learn about the culture and politic of Chile with the main figure Father Urrutia who describes his life, first a literate critic, later he ends up as the "lap dog" to Chile's rich and powerful cultural elite. Interesting is his secret night time job for Pinochet and staff teaching Marxism.
Roberto Bolano was born in Santiago, Chile, 1953, but had to emigrate to Mexico, because of political issues. He was later imprisoned in Chile. He died at the age of 50 in Barcelona, Spain, 2003. His loss was widely mourned in the Latin America and European press.
Originally published in 2000 as "Nocturno de Chile". I read the 2003 English version published by New Directions Book, ISBN 978-0-8112-1547-3.

20th book - "Der Schatten des Windes" - Carlos Ruiz Zafón - 10 points

Just amazing. You can read this 563 pages book right through in half a day. Short sentences full of impressions.
A fascinating and exciting story about a rare book that a 10 year old boy finds in a mysterious library in the Barcelona of 1945. Growing up he researches the story of this book and around the author. His own life seems to melt into the authors biography. Stories of love and crime.... again I'm fascinated to have learned so much about the 1940's and 1950's history of Spain and even the decades before.
Carlos Ruiz Zafón (*1963) is from Spain. The book is an international bestseller and is already published in more than 40 languages.
Originally published 2001 in Spanish language "La sombra del viento" (Engl.: "The shadow of the wind"). I read the suhrkamp taschenbuch 3800 first edition published in 2005 in German language. ISBN 978-3-518-45800-6.

19th book - "Ein liebender Mann" - Martin Walser - 9 points

A story about the 73 year old Goethe who falls in love with the 19 year old Ulrike in 1823. Actually based on a true story.
The German author Martin Walser (*1927) made a perfect job writing in the style of its time, but it's easy and relaxing to read.
I read the November 2009 paperback edition published by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag. First published 2008.

18th book - "Machu Picchu" - Berthold Riese - 8 points

"Machu Picchu - Die geheimnisvolle Stadt der Inka" (The mysterious city of the Inka).
An excellent and short onehundred pages overview about the Inka and especially their mysterious city Machu Picchu. It gives us a quick introduction about its official US-American "re-"discoverer Bingham (happened 1911) and a more detailed description about the ancient ruins.
Machu Picchu was built (starting date in the mid 15th century) for around 2,000 citizens (wikipedia says 1,000). It was used for about a century (?) only and when the city was left by intention and very organized it was still under construction in certain areas.
What I found most interesting is the fact that some deformations in the stone construction were discovered which is said to be a secret erosion and it is possible that an earthquake can destroy Machu Picchu almost completely.
The author Berthold Riese is professor for ethnology at the university in Bonn.
I read the 2004 German language edition published by Verlag C.H. Beck oHG, München.

17th book - "Frühstück bei Tiffany" - Truman Capote - 8 points

Truman Capote's (1924 - 1984) "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - the famous movie with Audrey Hepburn.
Another book of a "Bad Girl", called Holly Golightly who escapes Texas to go to New York City. The story is set in the 1940's. Holly is a party girl and likes to be around rich guys, but actually falls in a love (?) with her neighbor a poor writer.
The story happens in the Upper East Side neighborhood, where I live now.
I read the Lizensausgabe für die Süddeutsche Zeitung / Bibliothek 2007. Originally published 1950.

16th book - "Reading Like a Writer" - Francine Prose - 8 points

The whole title is: "Reading Like a Writer - A guide for people who love books and for those who want to write them"
Francine Prose (*1947) is American and lives in New York City. I saw her during a panel discussion at Cooper Union in the Great Hall on May 1st, 2010.
After reading this book it will hopefully lead me to pay more attention to details while reading other books in future. She gives hundreds of examples from classic novels which describe why they are so unique. At the end of her book she shows a list with around 120 books called "Books to Be Read Immediately". I read 3 or 4 of them. So I don't want to waste any more time. Let's read for pleasure. It's just so rewarding.
I read the signed ("for Rainer") first Harper Perennial soft cover edition, published 2007. ISBN 978-0-06-077705-0.

15th book - "Last Night in Twisted River" - John Irving - 9 points

554 huge pages. Needed more than 2 weeks to read it and it seemed to become boring, but the first day after I finished I already miss something.
The story starts in New Hampshire and then follows a father and son on their run from the 1950's through 2005 to Boston's Italian influenced North End, Vermont, Iowa, Toronto and the Georgian Bay, North of Toronto.
The 12 year old son kills the father's lover while having sex with him as he thinks that she is a bear. A naked woman falls down from heaven with a parachute and lands in pig shit. The son discovers that his mother had another lover who is kind of best friend with his father. That lover (Ketchum) is an amazing and funny character. John Irving expresses his opposition to George W. Bush with the Ketchum character. .... the book offers even more of these crazy stories.
I will see John Irving during a panel discussion at 92Y here in Manhattan early May.
I read the 2009 hardcover edition published by Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6384-0.

14th book - "Candide" - Voltaire - 8 points

Candide is a German figure from Westphalia. Really? Yes, this book is "one of the finest satires ever written ... this work says that it is possible to challenge blind optimism without losing the will to live and pursue a happy life".
In this 120 page book Voltaire satirically describes Candide's travel around the world with the statement that "everything happens for a reason". Imagine that we just past the 250th anniversary of the publication of this book, it is just incredible how Voltaire courageously wrote this story. The book was a "bestseller" of it's time and only sold "under the counter".
Francois-Marie Arouet alias "Voltaire" (1694 - 1778) was French.
On April 15th 2010 I attended a panel discussion and theatrical readings from Candide at New York's Public Library with Adam Gopnik and others. NYPL had an amazing exhibition going on, showing all 17 original editions from 1759, the year when Candide was published. I read the 2003 Barnes & Nobles Classics softcover edition in English language with intruduction and notes by Gita May. ISBN 978-1-59308-028-0

13th book - "Bestattung eines Hundes" - Thomas Pletzinger - 9 points

Is this really Thomas' first novel? Wow! Very interesting story and very inventive writing. The story takes places at Lake Lugano, New York and Northeast of Brazil, plus some places in Germany. Crazy and phenomenal at the same time. His language especially in the beginning in the New York story is very vulgar, but if this is the new generation of writers (like Charlotte Roche), I go for it. Do it, why not? Write in all freedom you feel! And Thomas did it. Will buy your next book for sure Thomas!
Thomas Pletzinger is German (*1975).
I read the first hardcover edition 2008 in German language by Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Köln. ISBN 978-3-462-03968-9.

12th book - "Magellan - Der Mann und seine Tat" - Stefan Zweig - 10 points

This is an amazingly written historical fiction of Magellan's heroic trip around the world (1519-1522). Stefan Zweig's style is just fascinating and you can't stop reading. This book is a treasure, understanding history in such an easy and fascinating way. I feel like cruising the Strait of Magellan now.
Marcel Reich-Ranicki about Stefan Zweig: "Aehnlich wie zu seinen Lebzeiten gehört er zu den nach wie vor wirklich beliebten Schriftstellern deutscher Sprache."
Stefan Zweig (*1881 in Vienna) lived from 1919 to 1935 in Salzburg, then moved to England and in 1941 to Brazil where he commited suicide in February 1942.
First published 1937/38. I read the "limitierte Sonderausgabe im Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, November 2005", in German language. ISBN 978-3-596-50932-4

11th book - "33 Augenblicke des Glücks" - Ingo Schulze - 3 points

"33 moments of happiness" ... I'm very disappointed Ingo. Phantasie writing at its best, often no connection, hundreds of names, etc. etc. - the only thing I really liked were his perfect observations and descriptions. I need to give him a chance and read another book.

Ingo Schulze is German born in 1962. I met and heard first about him in May 2008 when he was interviewed at the Goethe Institute in New York City. He signed the book "Simple Stories" for me.

Günther Grass describes him as "our new epic storyteller".

Published in 1995. I read the 2007 German language edition of "Süddeutsche Zeitung / Bibliothek". ISBN: 978-3-86615-505-3.

10th book - "The Fourth Part of the World" - Toby Lester - 9 points

My 2nd non-fiction book of 2010 explains the creating of the name "America" which was first shown on a 1507 map made by the German Waldseemüller. The name was shown on the South American continent (surrounded by water! how did he know?) in honor of Amerigo Vespucci who is known to first have discovered the NorthEastern shores of South America a few years earlier.

A greatly written non-fiction book! You learn so much. A must read for students, old and young, whatever religion, .... either in America or in Europe even for the whole world. You learn about the Mongols, Marco Polo, Greek and Roman cultulre, Copernicus, all kind of details about Columbus and Vespucci and later about the two creators of the 1507 world map Ringmann and Waldseemüller and so much more.

Unfortunately the book finished on page 403. Need more of this kind!

First published 2009. I read the "First Free Press hardcover edition November 2009". ISBN 978-1-4165-3531-7

9th book - "The Man from Beijing" - Henning Mankell - 8 points

Henning Mankell (*1948) is from Sweden and lives in Sweden and Mozambique.

I met him on February, 19th in a Barnes & Nobles bookstore event (86th & Lex. in Manhattan) and he signed a book for me. He was talking about the book and his life and read the first 2 pages of this book. I was really impressed about some facts he mentioned. He's a great intellectual person.

Very interesting crime story of the globalized 21st century mixed up with history facts of the 19th century when Chinese people worked as "slaves" to build the railroads in the US. I didn't know these cruel stories before. As he explained on the book signing event his main message was to call attention to the growing Chinese influence in todays world and the possible 21st century colonization of Africa by the Chinese.

If there wouldn't be so many coincidences in this book it would be the perfect one.

First published: 2008 in Swedish language - I read the "signed" first North American 2010 hardcover edition from Alfred A. Knopf (USA) - ISBN 978-0-307-27186-0

8th book - "Budapest" - Chico Buarque - 9 points

A Brazilian author "Francisco Buarque de Hollanda" (*1944) and one of the most popular Brazilian singers. Just 200 pages which you can fly over in less than 5 hours. The style of writing is so amazing. Wish I would be able to write like him. The story is about a crazy ghost writer and takes place in Rio de Janeiro and Budapest. I read this book in German language.

First published: 2003 in Portuguese language "Budapeste" - I read the 2010 paperback edition from the Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag (Germany) - ISBN 978-3-596-16482-0

7th book - "Wandering Star" - J.M.G. Le Clezio - 6 points

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (*1940) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2008. He is French (& Mauritian) and lives with his wife in Albuquerque in New Mexico - USA, the island of Mauritius and Nice in France. --- The story is about 2 teenager girls, one Jewish and one Palestinian. It plays during and after WWII and gives you historical information about the founding of the State of Israel which is really interesting and of high value. It is sensitively written, but somehow I never felt to be involved in the story.

First published: 1992 in French language "Etoile errante" - I read the 2009 paperback edition from the Curbstone press (USA) - ISBN 978-193189656-6

6th book - "The sun also rises" - Ernest Hemingway - 8 points

Finished within 2 days. Now I need to go to Pamplona and see bullfighting. Amazing how he describes the bull fighting event in Spain in the 1920s. I think now I really understand what it is all about. The book could also be called "Bad Girl" and it describes how men can suffer. What a coincidence that I saw the opera Carmen (also partly about bullfighting) at the MET-Opera the day I finished this book. The German title of this book is "Fiesta" --- Ernest Hemingway (*1899 - 1961) was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1954.

First published: 1926 in English language - I read the 1986 paperback edition from Collier Books MacMillan Publishing Company (USA) - ISBN 0-02-051870-6

I found this book in the trash on the streets of Manhattan with the receipt of $4.95 from 1990

Ernest Hemingway lived for some years in Key West, Florida. In 2007 I visited his house which is a museum nowadays. The covered balcony on the 2nd floor runs all around the house. This is kind of my dream house. blahblahblahblahblah

5th book - "Slow Man" - J. M. Coetzee - 7 points

John Maxwell Coetzee (*1940) was awarded the Nobel Price in Literature in 2003. He is Australian from South Africa and lives in Australia. The story is about a man in Adelaide who looses a leg in an accident with his bicycle, about his nurse and their family immigrated from Croatia and an unconscious?/real? figure Elizabeth Costello. So the book is kind of not-give-up when something unfortunate happens to you or when you become older.

First published: 2005 in English language - I read the first American 2005 hardcover edition from Viking, Penguin Group (USA) - ISBN 0-670-03459-2

4th book - "The mysterious flame of Queen Loana" - Umberto Eco - 6 points

Seriously Umberto? This 450 page book is full with pictures, kind of interesting idea. The last pages I had trouble to finish and I was laughing about it how boring it was. But again, I learned more about the Italian role in WWII and felt proud that I finished an Umberto Eco book.
I met Umberto in May 2008 when he signed another book for me.
Umberto Eco (*1932) is Italian.
First published: 2004 in Italian language "La misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana" - I read the 2006 first Harvest paperback edition from Harcourt (USA) - ISBN 0-15-603043-8

3rd book - "Invisible" - Paul Auster - 9 points

My first Paul Auster book. He's amazing in changing the location and reading style. One chapter is written in the 2nd "You"-form. He leaves questions open and touches taboos like incest (possible love affair brother/sister). I met Paul (*1947), sitting in the first row, on January 25th at Barnes & Nobles (86th & Lex. in NY) when he was interviewed for 45 minutes and signed books afterwards. I liked his stories about his 50 year old typewriter which he still uses today! He avoids the keyboard of a PC and first handwrites his scripts. He thinks that his energy/ideas can best be written by a pen in your hand.

Some locations: New York City, Paris, San Francisco.

First published: 2009 in English language - I read the 2009 "signed" hardcover first edition from Henry Holt and Company (USA) - ISBN 978-0-8050-9080-2

2nd book - "The Bad Girl" - Mario Vargas Llosa - 9 points

Oh Mario, you know how to talk about love! A story of a "bad girl" travelling around the world and an amazing "love of my life" story and how it can reward and destroy you.

Some locations: Peru, Paris, Madrid, Tokio.
I met Mario in May 2008 in Manhattan and he signed another book for me.
Mario Vargas Llosa (*1936) is from Peru.

First published: 2006 in Spanish language "Travesuras de la nina mala" - I read the first American 2007 hardcover edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux (USA) - ISBN 978-0-374-18243-4

1st book - "Stones into Schools" - Greg Mortenson - 9 points

A true hero! The "dirty dozen" are amazing people. More heroes! Great book to learn more about Afghanistan/Pakistan. I read Greg's first book "Three cups of tea" 2 years ago and loved it too. --- Greg Mortenson (*1957) is US citizen. It's a nonfiction book.

First published: 2009 in English language - I read the first American 2009 hardcover edition from Viking, Penguin Group (USA) - ISBN 978-0-670-02115-4