Done reading these books:
80. Baumgartner, Paul Auster, 208 pages
81. Der Plan – Zwei Frauen. Ein Ziel. Ein gefährliches Spiel. (The Lies I Tell), Julie Clark, 384 pages
82. The Girl before, JP Delaney, 416 pages
83. Der Knochenwald (Near the Bone), Christina Henry, 368 pages
84. Der Gesang der Flusskrebse (Where the Crawdads Sing), Delia Owens, 464 pages
85. Das sternenlose Meer (The Starless Sea), Erin Morgenstern, 640 pages
86. Dunkle Tiefen (Guilt Trip), Elizabeth Kay, 416 pages
87. Jackaby, William Ritter, 320 pages
88. Jackaby - Die verschwundenen Knochen (Beastly Bones), William Ritter, 320 pages
Baumgartner:
Professor Baungartner is in his seventies and his heart has been broken ever since his wife died in a swimming accident ten years ago. Since then, he hasn't even gone into the room where she worked in, on her own professor work but also poems. After Baumgartner falls down the stairs and luckily only gets slightly injured, he decides to take a look at her room, leading to him recalling his past with her, how they got together, etc., slowly getting him out of a decade of isolation and built up resignation.
Good book. Paul Auster is one of my favorite authors, was saddened when he passed earlier this year.
The Lies I Tell:
Meg is an illusive person - but rumours of her year long grifting career of robbing men of their money and ruining their reputation have spread. One person who is following her trail is Kat, a journalist who suffered personally by one of Megs grift missions - and is now looking to make a big article to expose her. The chapters change between between Meg and Kats perspective and as the book goes on, Kat gets more charmed by Megs web but also gains understanding of her underlying motivations by following the few traces that Meg left of her past.
Very good book.
The Girl before:
After a tragic event, Jane needs a change - and is looking for a new place to live in. Her budget is non-existent but she applies for a weird project - a house with super strict rules, where the people live there have to live as healthily and with little as much fluff as possible. Despite the strict rules, she is happy when she gets approved to live there but she finds out that the woman that lived there before died - and looked eerily similiar to her.
Pretty good psychological thriller. Bit slow in places.
Near the Bone:
Mattie lives together with her husband William in a hut in the woods. She is never allowed to go far away from the hut, is regularly beaten and just generally abused by draconic rules. One day, a feindish cry can be heard and Mattie, ordered to get some water from the nearvy river, finds huge claw traces on the ground. William, who belives that those are from a demon is alarmed by this development - but weirdly more distressed by strangers exploring the whereabouts of the creature. What is William hiding? And can Mattie break out and also avoid the monster in the woods?
Solid book.
Where the Crawdads Sing:
Chase Andrews is found dead and even though the tides have washed away the traces, the police is sure that he got murdered, as the place where he is found is too clean - including Chase Andrews fingerprints missing from the tower he seemingly fell to his death from. The nearby villages people are clear in their judgment: the culprit must be Kya Clark, the so called "Marsh girl".
Kya Clark has fended for her own for a while, as her family one by one have left the Marsh and her behind, teaching her that humans ain't reliable - but the wild nature of the Marsh has provided her with food reliably. The chapters change between detailing Kyas past and the current investigation of the murder of Chase Andrews - culminating in a legal case where the question is : will Kya find justice?
Great book. This one has been on my reading list for a bit.
The Starless Sea:
Zachary Ezra Rawlins passed on going through a magical door back when he was a kid. That still fills him with regret and when he stumbles upon a book that tells about this event, he can't believe it, as he never talked about this with anyone, ever. Through a variety of vague bread crumbs, he catches wind of the so called library of the Starless Sea - that place he could have gotten to years ago, but now it seems like gets a second chance - but that place has its own intertwining stories to tell and it seems like the library is breaking down and some people also want to make sure that nobody gets there anymore, meaning that Zacharys life is at stake.
Decent book. Saddens me to say after I enjoyed "The Night Circus" so much but this one is firmly falling into the more style than substance category. Still decently enjoyable but I wouldn't really recommend it.
Dunkle Tiefen (Guilt Trip):
After many years, the three sisters Jess, Ella and Lydia return to the house where they grew up in and that they left after the tragic death of their youngest sister. They all believe that they were invited by one of their sisters but apparently none of them wrote the invitations - somebody forged them to gather the sisters in this place that holds all that past trauma. As expected, these old wounds haven't healed and as the truth about the events that led to their sisters death unravel, a new calamity is brooding.
Solid book. I found no trace of the english version that supposedly exists.
Jackaby + Beastly Bones:
First two books of theJackaby series. 1892: Abigail Rook, daugther of a famous archeologist, is looking for a new job and after some time stumbles upon the agency of R.F.Jackaby, a detective with the ability to see traces of unnatural beings. She gets the job and the first case is quite something, as a serial killer is on the run, killing people and slurping out blood from their corpses.
Pretty good books. There are two additional books, I'll read those next, as there is an overarching story as well.
