Time for Book Blogger Hop!

Every Friday, join the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and hop to some new blogs. The Book Blogger Hop gives book bloggers a chance to connect and find out what others are reading. Sign up at Jennifer’s blog so people can find your blog too.

If you visit my blog because of the hop please leave a comment and a link and I'm going to pay a visit at your blog too.

Jennifer asks this week how many blogs I follow. Let's see on my blog roll I have 10 blogs I love to read. But I subscribed to 27 blogs which I read from time to time.

Valeria's Last Stand by Marc Fitten

The author Marc Fitten let's his first novel be set in Hungary. He himself lived in Europe for some years and spent the most of his time in Hungary.

Valeria lives in the Hungarian Prairie, she is sixty-eight years old and a cranky, very peculiar spinster. She finds flaws in everything: her neighbors who spent all the time in Ibolya's tavern, the villages major, who makes bad politics and has a skinny legged wife, even the vegetables being sold on the market are limp.
But it comes the day when the village's potter draws Valeria's attention to himself. She is struck by his nice hands and his solid gaze. Suddenly she wears her hair open, dresses in flowery skirts and stops nagging about everything. She is not too shy to confess her affections for the potter, who is amazed and follows her call. But the villages becomes restless as Valeria reveals this improper character trade.

Although the author comes up with descriptions of very peculiar people living in a very peculiar village, I never could quite picture Valeria. I had no problems with fifty-something Ibolya though, running the village's tavern dressed in tight blouse and short skirt to have the men order more beer. She loves the potter too but seems to have no chance against Valeria and her charm. Even old men remember the days when Valeria was no cranky spinster and how they would have followed her if she had given them a sign. But she didn't want to as when she was young her sweetheart decided for another woman.

I think it is all about loneliness in a woman's older ages. Valeria suddenly decided against it as she realized she still could attract men like the potter. So she tried to win his heart for her. But the common people couldn't stand an old woman that obviously wanting a man not only for love but also for sex. The village people felt compassion for the potter who was always such a nice man. Like he was lost (to Valeria).

★ ★ ★ ★

It's Monday! What are you reading? & Mailbox Monday

“It’s Monday! What are you reading?” is a weekly event hosted by Sheila to share with others what you've read the past week and planning to read next.

I have finished:
Valeria's Last Stand by Marc Fitten (soon to be reviewed)

I have started:
Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera

I have planned:
The Girl who played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (actually I'm half way into this already)
Tell No One by Harlen Coben
Fool by Christopher Moore (waiting for me to be read for ages)

This weeks Mailbox Monday is hosted by Chick Loves Lit. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Last week I only got the biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera from the library.

Out by Natsuo Kirino

I have done it! My first read for the Japanese Literature Challenge hosted by Belezza. Kirino who mostly writes Japanese detective fiction has received the Grand Prix for Crime Fiction, which is Japan's top mystery award for her novel OUT.

The novel is centered around Yayoi. She murders her husband in the heat of the moment when she gets to know that he lost all their savings in gamble in the amusement district Shinyuku, Tokyo. Yayoi decides to tell her colleague Masako, with whom she works at the near lunch box factory. Masako spontaneously agrees to help Yayoi become rid of her husband's corpse. Furthermore Yoshie another colleague from the factory happens to help them as she owes money to Masako. Unfortunately Kuniko, a despicable chatterbox and chronic broke colleague gets wind of the business of the three women. She helps to distribute some of the corpse's pieces and decides for a public park where soon the police is going to find them.

The novel is set in the 1990s, which is denoted by the recession after the economic high of "Bubble". Literary themes are isolation, solitude, disoriented young people, burnt out clerks and workers, compulsive consumption and excessive indebtedness.

Although Yayoi is the figure who murderes her husband the spot is on Masako, a resolute woman but also mother and wife. She is intelligent and hard but also lonely. I liked Masako very well although she represses feelings, she is a woman who does what needs to be done. The ending though was strange and not foreseen. It is great when the author is able to surprise the reader but what I read did not go along with my values. Actually the whole book did not. It's kind of challenging to read as one always asks: what had I done in this situation?

★ ★ ★ ★

Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence

Jon Spence wrote a biography about Jane Austen. His sources are mostly letters from Jane to her sister Cassandra who was her confidante. The book covers all of Jane Austen's live which unfortunately was only forty-two years long. But as the title reveals the book is about everything that influenced Jane Austen in becoming Jane Austen. As a woman who never married because she would only marry for love, Jane lived with her family all her life long. This is why we get to know so much about Jane's family members in this book. First I thought this to be really annoying because I wanted to read about Jane. I didn't want to read about her mother or father or her brothers and sister. But then I realized that this would not have been possible as Jane's life was for the life with all of them. And soon I enjoyed reading about funny anecdotes and deep character portrays. I ended up getting to know her better and better and that's what a biography is all about, right?

Let's do the hop!

Every Friday, join the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Jennifer (Crazy-For-Books), and hop to some new blogs. The Book Blogger Hop gives book bloggers a chance to connect and find out what others are reading. Sign up at Jennifer’s blog so people can find your blog too.

If you visit my blog because of the hop please leave a comment and a link and I'm going to pay a visit at your blog too.

Jennifer asks this week how many books I have on my tbr shelf. Hmm... that one is diificult to answer as I have a virtual to be read shelf down at shelfari with all the books I heard really good things of and therefore would like to read. The number of books listed there is more or less only getting bigger and never smaller. At the moment I have a total of 191 books listed there.

On my physical bookshelf here at home I have 15 books waiting for me to be read. And this pile is also never getting smaller as I constantly add books from the library and bookmooch or just books I couldn't resist buying.

How about you? Make my eyes pop out because of the enormous numbers of books on your whatsoever shelf.

It's Monday! What are you reading? & Mailbox Monday

“It’s Monday! What are you reading?” is a weekly event hosted by Sheila to share with others what you've read the past week and planning to read next.

I have finished:
Dear Jane by Joe Spence (soon to be reviewed)
Out by Natsuo Kirino (for my Japanese literature challenge, soon to be reviewed)

I am reading:
Valeria's last Stand by Marc Fitten

This weeks Mailbox Monday is hosted by Chick Loves Lit. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Last week I got real loads of books into my house. In my mailbox were five Jane Austen novels. I browsed the Penguin Classics and just couldn't resist.

I also got a very lovely notebook with the Eiffel tower on the cover from Karen and Tamara who were hosting the blogger event Paris in July. Thank you very much it's awesome.