What We’re Reading

Or, In Which We Still Await The First English-Language And Currently-In-Print Title Read By Maarten

Iris:  I’m currently rereading the Harry Potter series (in Dutch) for my annual reread. 🙂 Just started the 6th book.

Jesse:  The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton.

Ester:  Foreign Éclairs by Julie Hyzy. Going through it way too fast, especially because I know this is the last in the series – trying not to cry.

Renate:  The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.  Winner of the 2016 Costa Book Award – First Novel.  Gothic Horror. I’m only about 30 pages into the book, but the tone and atmosphere has really been set!

Simone:  The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø.  And The Leopard, also by Jo Nesbø.

Daniele:  I’m reading A Brief History of the Vikings by Jonathan Clements. Good stuff!

JeroenW:  I finished The Magician King by Lev Grossman during my vacation.  I thought it was great, and am looking forward to part 3.

Maarten:  I just read the very entertaining and rather bizarre history of the neutral country Moresnet, by Phillip Dröge: Moresnet. Now I’m reading New Tales of the Unexpected (totally out of print), with stories by W. Somerset Maugham, Tony Wilmot, and others.  Also entertaining, but not every story is good.  I also just finished De thigmofiel by Midas Dekkers: less grumpy-bear-ish than is normal for him (thank goodness); loosely meandering thoughts about the need for security and comfort.  (I didn’t know the Dutch term ‘thigmofiel’ either, don’t worry.)(Blogmistress’s note: I don’t know if there is an English equivalent.  Certainly it’s nothing like what the Urban Dictionary suggests.  I think.)

Jouke:  Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds.  Cool space opera with lots of info dump.  Fun fact: Reynolds lived in the Netherlands during the time he worked for the European Space Agency.  (Maarten: “I knew that! He came into the store after publishing his first or second book, many many years ago.  And I remember that he told me he worked for the ESA, which I found incredibly cool, being a geek and all.”)

Sophie:  I recently finished The Machine by James Smythe; reads a bit like J. G. Ballard.  I also just read the ARC for This Must Be The Place by Maggie O’Farrell. Just gorgeous, as always. And funny, too! 🙂  Now reading Out of Africa by Karen Blixen for my book club (beautiful language, wow!) and The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton for my self-selected entertainment (part 2 of the massive space opera trilogy I started last year).

There are ebooks available for The Miniaturist, Foreign Eclairs, The Loney, The Redeemer, The Leopard, A Brief History of the Vikings, The Magician King, Revelation Space, The Machine, Out of Africa, and The Neutronium Alchemist.