By Dr. Otto Bleker In 2021, Deborah Levy published her third but likely not last autobiographic book, Real Estate, because she dreams of a house where she can live and work at her own pace. But even in her imagination, this home is blurred, undefined and not realistic. She had to [...]
Written by Lynn I arrived in Amsterdam in 1972 with some history in the American women’s liberation movement, had even started an organization for equal pay back in the day, and sometimes collaborated with the gay liberation activists. But living my perception of a liberated life in a foreign culture was [...]
Let's start with bookish events in the country: Natali Simmonds hosts a resilience in writing workshop at ABC Amsterdam on 8 March, our Book Chats book club meets in Amsterdam on 22 March to discuss Scorched Grace, Emily Hund presents her book The Influencer Industry at the John Adams Institute on 18 [...]
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
By Dr. Otto Bleker In her second autobiographic volume, The Cost of Living, Deborah Levy brings into practice her new attitude towards the people she’s met, including a male colleague, who talked about his wife without mentioning her name. While he spoke with her, Levy thought: “She does not have a [...]
Put together by Lília Continuing our love mission, even more staff choices on romantic fiction. Love to all, I dare say! The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah Pleun: What an incredibly intense read this was. It reminded me of The Shining but without the horror. Then again, when [...]
An insatiable rake falls for an eccentric genius. Too bad she’s his innocent bride, and he has vowed never to touch her. Harriet “Harry” Lovelock lives a life of the mind, and she knows she can prove a theorem that has baffled male mathematicians for two centuries. But her stepmother wants her married and the swirl of the Season saps Harry’s energy and distracts her from her work. She has to put an end to the tedium of balls. Now. Full stop. Thomas Drake, the Earl Drake, devotes himself to the pleasures of the flesh, even as he wrestles with his own demons and intractable problems. He needs to marry wealth, but could he ever be satisfied by just one woman?
Written by Renata When I learned that Netflix would release the live action version of the cult animation Avatar: The Last Airbender, I immediately checked out the trailer. I was electrified. All [...]
Written by Lauren It’s February, which means it’s Black History Month in the United States and Canada, a celebration and recognition of Black culture and history and its enduring legacy in lands far removed from the African continent. At the ABC, we’ve put together a list of reading recommendations for Black [...]
Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet queen, has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. At a time when scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts who cluster around him can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to try and contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos that will rock Sri Lanka. Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize.
