Many years ago a book by Primo Levi the famous Holocaust Survivor. I've always remembered it as immensely beautiful what I had forgotten though is that he was also a chemist The book I'm reading now in preparation for our trip to Turin is called the Periodic Table. His background as chemist plays a big role.

The book is, once again terrifically beautiful, and obviously while the background of his life is very sad, the stories themselves are often hopeful. One fun thing is to see the frequent bicycling and trips by bicycle in the book. I especially liked the fictional story around lead. Later there is a chapter around corporate bureaucracy, which was recognizable. Page 161 said: "...the frightening anesthetic power of company papers..." and had a fun story about why there is a slice of onion in the preparation of commercial in linseed oil.

After the House on the Hill this was the second book I read about Turin.

We're going to Turn, Italy, in a few weeks and to get into the mood I checked out a few books from that part of Italy from the library.

This story takes place in 1943 and while it doesn't describe much of the city, it does give good insight into this crucial era for Italy after the fall of the Fascists and the invasion by the Germans of the northern part of the country.

Well written and poetic to read.

When I arrived at my parents house, and at on my usual spot, I reviewed the bookshelves. Last winter they had the livingroom repainted and that meant taking out the books. Thankfully, they were all put in their right place again.

Straight ahead of my are a few books that I have been intimidated by for years, and I decided to tackle this big book by Thomas Mann.

This was not an easy read!

Time in the book passed very slowly. The main characters are in a tuberculose recovery phase and are spending years of their live in this home. Eating, resting, flirting...

Halfway the book a second character appears and many pages are spent of philosophical debates between them. I read that even the Dutch translator thought these sections were overkill, and I'll admit I glanced over some of the longer sections.

It was interesting to read about the medical treatments. Unpleasant, too, obviously.

The ending was sudden, abrupt, but beautiful. The lecture at Princeton, by the author, which is included at the end of the book, was very enriching. Also good to see the translation of the French dialogue.

I read this book in its Dutch translation. For years I've been meaning to keep up my German, and with that in mind I'd have preferred to read this work in its original language, but in practice there is no way I would have been able to complete that -- such rich but complicated language is above my skill level. The translators did an excellent job conveying that richness into Dutch though, which gave me a good sense of the writing style. A rich book, and I'm glad I read it.

Two short stories from Willem Elsschot. Depressing, sure -- but gorgeous.

This book was a bit too much,a little over the top. Wasn't a bad read but not continuing with parts two and three of the trilogy. I don't typically read thrillers, maybe beach vacations excepted.

As I was going through the list of Dutch books I want to read, the 2015 book of Nederland Leest came up. Short stories -- not really what I wanted. It was a good collection, with some real gems in it, but I really wanted to read a longer novel. Anyway, as always, the stories by Nescio were amazing and I should reread his work: "Ik zit op den berg en kijk in het dal der plichten."

Beautifully constructed family history about a family after World War II and all the changes that happened. It's breathtaking for me sometimes, to read family histories like these, with the happy and sad moments of life, and the passage of time.

A nice book about a Dutch retiree living in Paris, who comes into contact with refugees and poor people during a tumultuous time in the city. The Parisian atmosphere is present from the first page. The mysterious dog and the priest are interesting characters, as is the main character.

It was a good read but not as strong as, for example, Publieke Werken.

This was an okay book for me. Nihilistic, hedonistic, without much hope, it gave a fairly depressing view of live in Amsterdam in the 1960s. I reminded me a bit about Dubbelspel, in the way the characters go through live.

Story of a the lives of four men, and their women, who are playing a game of domino in a yard in Curacao.

I like the structure of the book -- well organized -- though the ending was a bit abrupt. But a pleasant read. The book deals with differences in rich/poor, white/blank, and racial relationship on an island with a long history. It wasn't always pleasant to read about the lives of the lower-class people, which surely was the point of the author.

I read this just a week after coming back from St Maarten.