What I Was Up To

And suddenly, everything went to hell. I’m writing this in the middle of April and I can’t believe that only a little over a month ago, we were contemplating whether the Leipzig Book Fair would take place and whether we’d participate or not. It didn’t take place. And two weeks later, we were in lockdown. In my state, the rules are quite harsh since we were hit pretty badly, but it’s not that big of a deal and doesn’t change my daily life that much. I’m working from home a couple of days a week. I don’t have yoga classes. I try avoiding going grocery shopping more than once a week even more than usual.

And yet, it’s grating on my nerves. I want to go visit my parents so bad – it’s always a breath of fresh air – but I’m stuck here. I can hardly concentrate on reading. So unfortunately, after Jan and Feb worked out quite alright, my stats took a nosedive in March. But that’s just the way it is. At least I managed to get some posts up …

SuBsalabim

Even though I had a really bad reading month, I managed to finish two of the books and at least started the third (only 60 pages in, though).

1. I Was Here by Gayle Forman • 3/5

   It’s been quite a while since I read one of her books. Six years, to be exact. And while I did start out liking it, there were some things along the way that threw me off. First and foremost, this book should come with the biggest trigger warnings for suicide and suicidal thoughts. I mean, I kind of knew what I was getting into, but I wasn’t prepared for the intensity and graphic details, nor how some parts of the story were handled. Having lost one of the guys from my circle of friends in my third semester at uni, this hit very close to home to a point where it was almost too much for me.

2. Craic Baby: Dispatches from a Rising Language (Motherfoclóir, #2)
   by Darach Ó Séaghdha • 5/5

   I discovered the first one on a short trip to Ireland in 2018 and basically inhaled it snuggled into an armchair in the middle of nowhere, Killary fjord in front of the window and a storm rattling the panes. So when I found out there was a second one, I didn’t even think twice – and absolutely loved it though it managed to surprise me. This is not only a closer look on Irish and how and where it is used today and how it tries to adapt to the changing, ever evolving times, there’s also a very personal level of the author and his hopes and wishes for his daughter, who was born with Down syndrome.

What I’ve Also Read

1. Mostly Harmless (The Hitchhiker’s Guide, #5) by Douglas Adams • 3/5
   

   Look at that! I finally made my way through the whole series! I read the first book when I was in my early teens and loved it. I was sitting on the sofa in the living room and the prologue had me in stitches; I laughed half an hour straight! By the way one of the rare cases the translation is even better than the original! And then I never really continued although my dad had all the books. I bought them in English in 2012 and decided now would be a good time to tackle the series. Well, only took me eight more years. These books are insane! They get weirder and weirder with each instalment and I’m not quite sure what I read here. I don’t think I grasped all the twists that come with multiverse time travel that had us end up with double-trouble Trillian, a random daughter (see what I did there), a corporate takeover, an insidious new Guide in form of a black bird, weird travel episodes, an Elvis cameo, sandwich making, a species thinking they’ll do good, and a mostly harmless planet that, well, comes full circle. Which leads to a both brilliant and frustrating ending.

What I’ve Read for Work

Disclaimer: I can’t really talk about the books, since they are scheduled for autumn 2020 and haven’t been announced yet.

I did read quite a bit for work, even though it wasn’t enough. In the end, I only managed to finish three: a pretty intense YA novel that got such a perfect punny yet poetic title and two pony books.

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