Books P-T

Paasilinna – Arto Paasilinna : Vorstandssitzung im Paradies

Lübbe

Purchased from: Bücher Stierle, Salzburg, Austria

A Trident aircraft is flying over the Pacific on its way from Tokyo to Australia. Somewhere above Melanesia, a storm brews and quickly turns violent. The plane hits severe turbulence and crashes.
There are fifty passengers on board the UN-chartered flight. Only two don’t survive. The rest wash up on a deserted beach, surrounded by endless sea and silence. No one is coming to rescue them, at least, not yet.
The 26 women and 22 men soon come up with a plan to attract attention. But as months turn into a full year of isolation, it becomes clear that not everyone wants to be found...
The story unfolds in true Paasilinna fashion: strange, witty, and full of those wonderfully flawed, unheroic characters that only he could create.
I loved reading it and, as always with Paasilinna, I finished it in a single day because I simply couldn’t stop. Still, I found it a bit less funny than his other novels. Maybe it’s the island itself: it doesn’t have that raw, lonely magic of the Finnish forests that usually give his stories their special charm.

Author: Arto Paasilinna (1942–2018) was a Finnish author and former journalist from Lapland.
I am deeply grateful to him: with his novel The Year of the Hare, Paasilinna not only saved a rabbit in fiction, he also saved me as a reader at a time when I felt lost in books. To finance the novel, he even sold his boat.
His humour and his singular storytelling style are truly unique. Though he passed away in 2018, his legacy lives on through more than 30 novels, ensuring he will not be forgotten.
Kiitän häntä koko sydämestäni.

Page – Sally Page: Das Glück der Geschichten Sammlerin (The Keeper of Stories)

dtv

Purchased from: Roastery, Engelberg, Switzerland

Janice is a collector of stories. In her work as a cleaner, she encounters many different people and quietly gathers their tales. At home, she is married to Mike, who takes her for granted until she finally leaves him.
Accustomed to remaining in the background, Janice’s life changes when she begins working for an elderly woman. Their first meeting is predictably difficult, but gradually a friendship develops, and Janice is encouraged to confront her own past. Along the way, she also meets a well-read bus driver. Inevitably, the two fall in love though not without the necessary drama that every love story seems to demand.
The novel introduces a wide cast of characters, some through stories, others through Janice’s own life. Among them is a traumatised twelve-year-old boy who slowly finds healing with the help of Decius, a fox terrier—an episode clearly designed to win readers’ sympathy.
To me, the book felt like a patchwork of loosely connected episodes, as though the author wanted to cram too many themes into a single story. I found it neither moving, nor funny, nor especially entertaining. In the end, the only thing missing from this collection of clichés was a shaman.

Author: Sally Page is an English author.
She originally trained as a florist and later ran her own flower shop, where her encounters with people inspired many of her stories. Highly creative beyond writing, she also paints and designs her own notecards and fountain pens—her elegant Plooms pens retail for £59.

Palain – Mathieu Palain: Les Hommes Manquent de Courage (Men Lack Courage)

L’Iconoclaste

Purchased from: Librairie du Vieux-Comté, Bulle, Switzerland

This novel is based on a true story. Jessie first reached out to the author via Facebook, and what followed were weekly meetings on a park bench. Her request was simple yet profound: she wanted her story to be written down, so that if anyone ever asked what had happened, she could point them to the book.
But what did happen? Jessie, a maths teacher, has been searching desperately for her 15-year-old son Marco, who has been missing for 72 hours. On the same evening her second husband—who only married her for a residence permit—tells her he is filing for divorce, the phone rings. It is Marco, asking her to come and get him immediately.
During the tense car journey that follows, Marco confesses something that pulls Jessie back into her own youth. In a raw, uninterrupted monologue, she reveals to her son the traumatic experiences and long-buried secrets she has carried in silence for years.
The novel’s structure is gripping: as readers, we sit in the car alongside them, discovering piece by piece what happened to Marco and how it is bound up with Jessie’s past. A mother and son, once estranged, are forced into an intimate reckoning with truth, memory, and each other.

Author: Mathieu Palain (born 1988) is a French author, journalist, and podcaster.
He is the creator of the documentary podcast Des hommes violents, which examines violence against women. 
As a writer, he debuted with the novel Sale gosse (2019), followed by Ne t’arrête pas de courir (2021), which won several literary awards and explores the life of the French sprinter Toumany Coulibaly, torn between athletics and crime. 
Palain’s work often investigates questions of masculinity and social conflict.

Palin – Michael Palin: In Venezuela (signed)

Hutchinson – Heinemann

Purchased from: Waterstones, Liverpool, England

It is now my second book signed by Michael Palin, and each carries its own story like a treasured keepsake. The first arrived years ago, by post, together with a kind letter and a few photographs, after I had written simply to Michael Palin, London. This was a time before online orders, when even bookshops could not easily provide such titles without precise details. The book was Around the World in 80 Days, and holding it felt like holding a fragment of adventure itself.
Now, decades later, Palin, over eighty and still brimming with curiosity, has given us the beautifully crafted In Venezuela. It bears all the hallmarks of his voice: intelligent, warm, and quietly piercing. Through its pages, I discovered a country I had known only by name and capital. Palin draws you into landscapes and lives with the gentlest touch, yet with a clarity that never falters. His travel diary is not just observation, but communion with people, with nature, with the spirit of place. His respect, his subtle wit, his rare ability to distil complexity into something luminous, are qualities that belong to him alone.
To have this book signed, in Liverpool, was a moment I will never forget. For an instant, I was the happiest woman alive, standing before a man who is both genius and legend, yet somehow remains so disarmingly human.

Author: Michael Palin (born 1943) is a British author, actor, and adventurer, best known to the world as a member of the legendary Monty Python. To me, he was always the most versatile of the troupe.
But Palin’s gifts extend far beyond comedy. He is a writer of remarkable sensitivity and range, and, as a loyal Sheffield Wednesday supporter, a man firmly grounded in his roots. I have returned many times to his novel Hemingway’s Chair, a work I consider not only successful but quietly profound.
In 2019, he was knighted by the Queen, a recognition that still feels almost too modest for a life so richly creative. Sir Michael Palin: the title fits, though no honorific can quite capture his singular place in culture.
An artist unlike any other: unique, humane, and endlessly inspiring.

Parker – Rob Parker : The Troubled Deep

Raven Books

Purchased from: The Accidental Bookshop, Alnwick, England

Not read yet

Author: Rob Parker is an English author best known for his gritty “country noir” thrillers, including the popular Ben Bracken series. Before turning to writing full time, he worked as a lawyer. Beyond his novels, Parker is also deeply committed to promoting reading and actively encourages students to discover a love of books.

Pearse – Sarah Pearse : The Retreat

Goldmann

Purchased from: Motzko, Salzburg, Austria

An exclusive wellness island lures visitors with the promise of relaxation. Jo invites her sisters and other relatives to join her at this remote retreat. But the island has a grim reputation, not only because of its rock formation, which resembles a reaper, but also because of the dark events that took place there years ago.
Soon after the group arrives, tragedy strikes again. Police officer Elin and her partner Steed are called to investigate. Cut off from outside help, their colleagues deployed elsewhere, a storm severing all contact, they quickly realize that no one on the island is truly safe.
The novel begins promisingly, with intriguing entanglements between the characters and the island’s ominous history. It is also written in a clear, highly readable style. Unfortunately, the ending and resolution felt flat and unconvincing to me. For that reason, it fell short of being the goosebump-inducing thriller I had hoped for.

Author: Sarah Pearse is a British author originally from Devon.
She studied literature, worked in public relations, and lived in Switzerland for several years. Her stay in Crans-Montana—renowned for its winter sports and golf—provided the inspiration for the setting of her bestselling debut thriller The Sanatorium (2021). The novel became a Reese’s Book Club pick and an international success. 
When she isn’t writing, she enjoys the outdoors, particularly kayaking and picnicking.

Pellini – Petra Pellini : Der Bademeister ohne Himmel (The Lifeguard without Heaven)

Rowohlt Kindler

Purchased from: Orlando, Vienna, Austria

Fifteen-year-old Linda is in the midst of a personal crisis. She wonders whether anyone would miss her if she were to throw herself in front of a car. At the crucial moment, her friend Kevin and her elderly neighbour Hubert prevent her from doing so. Once a lifeguard, Hubert now lives alone as a widower with dementia, cared for in her own unconventional way by Ewa, a Polish woman.
Linda gradually makes it her mission to spend time with Hubert. Though he seems unaware of much around him, she tries everything to reach him: telling him stories, evoking old memories, and offering companionship as his life nears its end.
At first, I found the narrative style very engaging—especially Linda’s thoughts, which often had a humorous edge. Hubert’s steady decline was portrayed with sensitivity and reminded me, at times, of my own father’s final days. However, the ending felt weak to me, with a contrived twist and somewhat clichéd developments that lessened the book’s overall impact.

Author: Petra Pellini is from Bludenz in Vorarlberg.
A trained health and nursing professional, it is little surprise that she chose dementia as the central theme of her novel.

Petterson – Per Petterson: i Kjølvannet

Oktober

Purchased from: Sellanraa Bok & Bar, Trondheim, Norway

Arvid stands in front of a bookshop, his forehead pressed against the window. No one lets him in. He used to work there, three years ago. That’s how the novel begins.
But that’s not the only confrontation he faces. The memory of his father is especially painful. Arvid recalls visiting him in the hospital, finding him in the corridor, leaning against the wall, consumed by pain. Arvid struggles to face the moment, and the emotion it demands.
The narrative explores Arvid’s relationships, with his father, his brother, his estranged wife, and the child he no longer lives with. His grief is something he cannot quite master; it lingers, unresolved.
I found the book deeply atmospheric. Rather than a continuous story, it felt like a series of isolated moments, each one sharply illuminated, standing on its own. Only at the end did I feel the circle close, gently and inevitably.
My favourite sentence in the book:
“Lufta er som farris. Den prikker og svir i halsen.”
The air is like sparkling farris water. It tingles and burns in the throat.

Author: Per Petterson (born 1958) is a Norwegian writer.
He has dedicated his entire professional life to literature, working as a librarian, bookseller, and literary critic before establishing himself as a novelist. His international breakthrough came with Out Stealing Horses (2003), which won numerous awards and has been translated into many languages.

Phillips – Julia Phillips: Cascadia

Hanserblau in Carls Hanser Verlag

Purchased from: Buchpunkt, Herisau, Switzerland

Sisters Sam and Elena live with their ailing mother on San Juan Island, in the misty northwest corner of the United States. Life there is a daily struggle: their mother is gravely ill, her former boyfriend was violent, and the two sisters scrape by with low-paid jobs while trying to care for her. Debt hangs over them like a storm cloud. Yet through it all, they have one another, for better or worse.
As teenagers, they shared a single dream: when their mother was gone, they would sell the house and finally escape the island that had trapped them for so long.
Then, one day, a grizzly bear appears near their home. Elena becomes captivated by the great creature, its strength and solitude. But as her bond with the animal deepens, everything begins to unravel, their fragile balance, their safety.
I was drawn to the ideas in this novel, especially the vivid portrayal of the sisters’ daily lives, their painful dependence, and the fierce love that binds and burdens them. The atmosphere of quiet desperation and tenderness is beautifully rendered. Still, at times the story felt too overtly feminine in tone, and the ending, though emotional, drifted toward the predictable, even verging on the sentimental.

Author: Julia Phillips (born 1988) is an American author.
She serves on the board of the Crime Victims Treatment Center and lives in Brooklyn with her family. 
She should not be confused with the late American film producer of the same name.

Pilgaard – Stine Pilgaard: Meter i sekundet (Metres per second) 

Kanon

Purchased from:Frau Bucher, Pfäffikon (ZH), Switzerland

The first-person narrator, together with her boyfriend and their newborn son, moves to Velling, a small town in West Jutland. In a place like this, belonging to the community is expected. The child is placed in daycare, while the protagonist endures endless driving lessons. She eventually takes a job at the local newspaper’s “sorrow box,” where she is tasked with advising readers, an experience that gradually shapes her new life.
The people of the region struck me as being portrayed as simple-minded, much like the deliberately plain style of the novel itself. I found it difficult to get through, and while I assume this was intended as satire, the same effect could just as easily have been achieved with dry, ironic dialogue. At first, I did find certain passages amusing, but the simplicity soon became repetitive and tedious, leaving me without the curiosity to read on with excitement.
I missed that kind of offbeat, subtle humour here.

Author: Stine Pilgaard (born 1984) is a Danish writer from Århus.
She is fascinated by human interaction—how people speak to one another, and how often they talk past each other. Her debut novel, 
Min mor siger (My Mother Says), was published in 2012.

Platzgumer – Hans Platzgumer : Die ungeheure Welt in meinem Kopf

Elster & Salis

Purchased from: Ländlebuch, Bregenz, Austria

Sascha is a taxi driver in Vienna. He reads Kafka’s diaries, listens to jazz, and knows every hidden route through the city. One evening, an unusual couple gets into his cab. The woman’s name is Eugenie—the same name as a Russian dancer mentioned in Kafka’s diaries.
The night takes an unexpected turn. The man’s wife has not left with the children as planned, making it impossible for him to bring his mistress home. Eugenie, visiting from Prague, is instead abandoned in a shabby hotel.
The next day, as Sascha begins his shift, he spots Eugenie outside the train station. She seems frightened, and together they decide that he will drive her to Prague. Along the way they stop at a petrol station—where Eugenie suddenly vanishes. Or was she ever really there?
The novel is a homage to Franz Kafka, told through an internal dialogue between Sascha and his brother Milo. It is written in an engaging, entertaining style that kept me curious throughout. The only drawback for me was the ending: I kept waiting for a twist or surprise that never came.

Author: The Austrian author Hans Platzgumer began his career in music before shifting the focus of his artistic work to literature.
His musical output is remarkably diverse: earlier songs were punk-influenced, while his more recent work leans toward singer-songwriter pop (for example, Lift the Needle). Over the years, he is said to have released around 100 albums. Unsurprisingly, his debut novel Expedition (2005) draws heavily on his experiences in the music world. 
Beyond writing and composing, Platzgumer is also passionate about tea and practices karate.

Pohl – Klaus Pohl: Sein oder nicht sein

Galiani Berlin

Purchased from: Thalia Hamburg Mercado, Hamburg, Germany

The book recounts the legendary 1999 Hamlet production directed by Peter Zadek and the turbulent months of rehearsals in Strasbourg. Klaus Pohl, himself a member of the ensemble, offers an insider’s perspective. The narrative is filled with comedies, quarrels, and even love stories. At one point, Angela Winkler—cast in the title role—suddenly disappears, throwing rehearsals into chaos. Zadek, however, refused to proceed without her, since she was central to his vision of the play.
Unfortunately, neither the language nor the content appealed to me. I would describe it as “theatre humour for intellectuals”—a tone that I simply couldn’t connect with. Perhaps I just didn’t grasp the particular kind of humour the book relies on.
I happened to read this book during a fasting week on Sylt—perhaps I simply lacked the solid food needed to digest its content.

Author: Klaus Pohl (born 1952) is a German author, actor, and screenwriter.
He has appeared in numerous films and also worked at the renowned Thalia Theatre, a fitting coincidence, as I happened to buy his novel at the Thalia bookshop.

Poissant – David James Poissant: Sommerhaus (Lake Life)

btb

Purchased from: Buch-Insel, Lindau, Germany

The Starling family—parents Lisa and Richard and their two adult sons, Michael and Thad—gather one final time at their summer house on Lake Christopher. Joining them are Michael’s wife, Diane, and Thad’s boyfriend, Jake. The house, filled with memories, is about to be sold.
But the lake is no longer the idyllic retreat it once was, now dominated by wealthy families. 
When tragedy strikes—one of their "new" neighbours’ sons drowns, Michael nearly loses his own life trying to save him. 
In the aftermath, Michael learns that Diane is pregnant, even though neither of them had wanted children. Meanwhile, Jake, a successful painter, supports Thad, whose dependence on him strains their relationship. Slowly, tensions and secrets unfold, testing the bonds of the entire family.
I found the novel deeply compelling until the last twenty pages. At that point, it became too conventionally “American” for my taste, which undercut some of the fascination it had built. Perhaps my expectations were too high, or perhaps I am simply too accustomed to Scandinavian novels, which often end in more unpredictable ways.
What I especially appreciated were the finely drawn interpersonal moments. The dinner scene with Jake, Thad, Marco, and Amelia was, to me, the most vivid and memorable.
Overall: very much worth reading.

Author: David James Poissant is an American author.
He lives in Orlando with his wife and daughters and teaches creative writing in Florida. His debut novel, Lake Life, received wide recognition for its sensitive exploration of family and relationships.

Pollatschek – Nele Pollatschek: Kleine Probleme

Galiani Berlin

Purchased from: Autorenbuchhandlung, Munich, Germany

It’s the last day of the year. Lars, who normally puts everything off, in fact always, decides that today will be different. With his wife and children away, he sets himself the goal of completing his long-neglected to-do list before they return. But how can a man who endlessly postpones tasks suddenly manage it all? There’s the Ikea bed to assemble, the unopened letters to deal with, and of course the dreaded taxes. And the clock is ticking…
The premise is amusing, and the story is told in a light, relaxed style. Unfortunately, the humour and tone didn’t appeal to me at all. I was simply relieved when midnight struck and I could turn my attention to my own list of New Year’s resolutions.

Author: Nele Pollatschek (born 1988) is a German author and journalist.
She studied English literature and in 2013 was named Culture Journalist of the Year.

Pollard – Clare Pollard : Delphi

Penguin

Purchased from: Bookbag, Exeter, England

The first-person narrator lives with her partner Jason and her ten-year-old son Xander. The Covid-19 lockdown forces the three into closer proximity, and the strain quickly shows. The relationship is far from harmonious, and Xander seems increasingly out of reach—until they almost lose him.
To escape the pressures of daily life, she turns to the study of the Oracle of Delphi and ancient prophecies, drawing parallels between them and her own present. Each chapter opens with a different form of prophecy, which then flows into the family’s everyday struggles. At its core, the novel explores the search for meaning in chaotic times.
The title Delphi intrigued me—I naturally expected references to the Sybil, and indeed she appears several times. Yet overall, the book read more like a piece of internet research than a novel. Only in the final pages did the storytelling begin to work for me. In the end, it struck me as the kind of book that perhaps only women would write.

Author: Clare Pollard (born 1978) is an English poet and author.
From 2017 to 2022, she served as editor of the literary magazine Modern Poetry in Translation.
When I hear the name Pollard, I usually think first of my favourite rugby player, Handré Pollard—though the two are, of course, not related. By coincidence, I bought Clare Pollard’s novel on the very same day I watched Handré Pollard’s Leicester Tigers face the Exeter Chiefs at the marvellous Sandy Park.

Pourchet – Maria Pourchet: Feuer (Fire)

btb

Purchased from: Bookbag, Exeter, England

Fire is a novel about a contemporary amour fou. It tells the story of an affair between Laure, a forty-year-old mother of two, and Clément. Laure envies her eldest daughter’s feminist streak, while Clément, a depressed bachelor working in finance, spends his evenings talking to his dog. Their outlooks on life could hardly be more different.
The novel unfolds in a world of the over-privileged, which at times reminded me of the endless, often uninteresting posts on social media. The language itself felt alienating to me; the protagonists remained distant, just as Laure, the first-person narrator, seems estranged from herself. I suspect this effect comes from the harsh, modern tone of the prose, which felt too detached for my taste.
Although the book has received glowing reviews, it didn’t resonate with me at all. For all its polish, I found neither the language nor the story compelling. Perhaps it is one of those novels that require a sharper intellect to grasp its deeper meaning and purpose—but for me, it remained inaccessible.

Author: Maria Pourchet (born 1980) is a French novelist.
She studied sociology and has worked on television documentaries about books. Critics have often described her as a “female Houellebecq” for her sharp, provocative style.

Raabe – Marc Raabe: Der Morgen (The Morning)

Ullstein

Purchased from: Enderli Papeterie Buchhandlung, Altstätten (SG), Switzerland

It is winter. Snow is falling over Berlin when a half-naked woman is discovered on the back of a pickup truck at the Victory Column. An address is written across her body — not just any address, but that of the German Chancellor.
The investigation leads back to the Chancellor’s youth: reckless tests of courage, a violent crime, and a long-buried cover-up in which he himself was involved. Now he will do anything to keep these “private matters” from spilling into his public life.
One of the men connected to the past, Artur Mayer, is now a police investigator assigned to the case. The situation is further complicated by his lifelong love for Juli — who is now the Chancellor’s wife. Artur’s methods are not always strictly by the book, as his new assistant Nele soon discovers. Yet it is precisely her determination and persistence that ultimately save his life.
Will the truth finally come to light?
I did not find the novel particularly well structured. While I could see what the author was attempting, the execution did not strike me as especially compelling. If you grow up reading Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot, your standards for crime fiction tend to be high, at least mine are. This book felt more like an average Sunday-night television crime drama than a tightly crafted detective novel.
At times, the narrative voice even resembles that of a young adult novel. Overall, the book gives the impression of having been written rather quickly, without the careful revision that might have given it greater depth and refinement.

Author: Marc Raabe (born 1968) is a German author from Cologne.
Before turning to writing, he co-founded and developed a TV and media production company.

Ravatn – Agnes Ravatn: The Bird Tribunal

Kogan Page

Purchased from: norli, Trondheim, Norway

Allis Hagtorn, a former television presenter, retreats from the bustle of life, running away, though from what exactly remains unspoken. She takes a job as housekeeper for the enigmatic Sigurd Bagge, tasked with keeping the household in order while his wife is “away.”
But Bagge is distant, almost hostile, shutting himself away in his study, a room Allis is forbidden to enter. When the cashier at the village shop lets slip a hint about his past, unease creeps in. What is Bagge hiding? Where is his wife? And what really happened?
As the days pass, tension gives way to a strange intimacy. The two begin to reveal fragments of their pasts to one another, circling closer, never fully certain of the other’s truth. 
With Scandinavian authors, one quickly learns that nothing is ever quite as it seems
Agnes Ravatn has constructed this novel with subtlety and intelligence. The atmosphere is taut, unsettling, yet deeply intimate, the kind of closeness between two characters that is difficult to capture in words. Piece by piece, more is revealed, but the suspense holds until the very end. 
A quiet, chilling, and beautifully written novel. Highly recommended.

Author: Agnes Ravatn (born 1983) is a Norwegian writer and journalist, who has contributed to outlets such as Dagbladet.
She is said to have a fondness for folklore, especially the kind of stories meant to frighten children. This interest undoubtedly feeds into her craft, as she has become known for her dark, atmospheric thrillers.

Rebanks – Helen Rebanks: The Farmer’s Wife

Faber & Faber

Purchased from: Waterstones, Truro, England

The book offers a portrait of life on a farm and the daily challenge of balancing children and work. Helen Rebanks describes with honesty how exhausting it can be to juggle everything as a mother—and how demanding life is as a farmer’s wife.
At first, I thought it was a pleasant account of farm life, but not especially gripping. The inclusion of so many recipes within the narrative felt distracting. While they reflect the author’s passion for sustainable eating, I would have preferred them collected at the end of the book, organized chronologically or by category.
What I did enjoy were the vividly described episodes, which brought her world to life. However, in the final third of the book, storytelling gives way to more opinion-driven passages. Combined with the frequent jumps and gaps in the narrative, this left me feeling somewhat disconnected as a reader.

Author: Helen Rebanks is married to James Rebanks, author of The Shepherd’s Life.
Together they have four children and run a farm in the Lake District, home to sheep, chickens, and sheepdogs. Their farming remains rooted in traditional, nature-friendly practices. Coming herself from a farming family, Helen places great importance on mindful, sustainable approaches to food.

Reve – Gerard Reve: The Evenings

Pushkin Press Classics

Purchased from: Daunt Books, London, England

The novel is set in Amsterdam over the final ten days of 1946 and follows the young Frits van Egters. His life unfolds in a haze of monotony: he still lives with his parents, drifts through dull, unremarkable workdays, and spends his evenings paying half-hearted visits to friends. The weekends offer little relief, he sleeps late, lingers in idleness, and even New Year’s Eve passes without anything resembling excitement.
If you’re looking for a story in which very little happens, De Avonden, as it is titled in the original, is exactly that kind of book. The conversations with friends are meandering, sometimes absurd, often seemingly pointless, yet they ring with a quiet authenticity. Frits notices everything: small physical details, habitual gestures, trivial remarks. He fixates on bald heads in conversation; in the kitchen, he corrects his mother despite never cooking himself; and his nights are filled with vivid dreams he can rarely recall. In other words, it all feels strangely, recognizably like life.
I found myself both loving and being bored by this novel at the same time. I read it as aimlessly as its plot unfolds, if it can even be called a plot. In that sense, it’s a perfect symbiosis.

Author: Gerard Reve (1923–2006) was a Dutch writer.
He was groundbreaking for his time in speaking openly about his homosexuality, a theme that also found its way into his work. His debut novel The Evenings is widely regarded as a classic and was voted the greatest Dutch novel of all time.

Rhys – Jean Rhys: Quartet

Penguin Press Classics

Purchased from: Cosimo, Antwerpen, Belgium

Marya meets Stephan, a commissionaire d’objets d’art. Their marriage is a happy one. One evening, however, the owner of the Hôtel de l’Univers informs Marya that Stephan will not be coming home that night.
At first, she thinks little of it. Soon after, she learns that Stephan has been arrested. Several days pass before she is allowed to visit him. He insists on his innocence but is nevertheless sentenced to a year in prison.
Left on her own, Marya must find a way to survive financially. She begins selling clothes. Eventually, she receives an invitation from a wealthy couple she knows, the Heidlers, who offer her a place to stay. Though hesitant, Marya accepts, driven by her increasingly precarious situation.
She soon realises that Mr Heidler intends to be more than a generous host and that his interest places her in an even more troubling position. Then, after a year, Stephan is released..
The story (published in 1928) largely set in Paris, is very well told. It vividly portrays what happens when people are abruptly torn from their everyday lives: the vulnerability, the dependence on others, and the calculated decisions that emerge, especially where money is concerned. The title of the book is particularly well chosen; I only fully understood its meaning at the very end.

Author: Jean Rhys (1890?–1979) was a British-Creole writer born in Roseau, Dominica, though her exact date of birth remains uncertain. Her real name was Ella Gwendolen Rees Williams.
Rhys often felt like an outsider, both in her Caribbean homeland and later in England. Her private life and relationships were complex, marked by restlessness and reinvention. After moving to England, she worked as a revue girl before her publisher, Ford Madox Ford, recognized her talent and helped launch her literary career.
Her greatest success came with Wide Sargasso Sea, a haunting prequel to Jane Eyre that reimagines the story of the “madwoman in the attic.”
As a fitting tribute to her lasting impact, a crater on Venus now bears her name.

Rivaz – Alice Rivaz: La paix des ruches (The Peace of the Beehive)

ZOE

Purchased from: Payot (Cornavin), Geneva

A wife begins to doubt her love for her husband and feels increasingly trapped in her marriage. At the heart of the novel are the traditional roles assigned to women as mothers and wives. Their needs are either pushed aside in favor of men’s or remain unspoken altogether. La paix des ruches is both a reflection on these constraints and a plea for women’s emancipation.
Alice Rivaz herself was one of the pioneers of feminism in Switzerland. She lived independently, never married, and remained childless, certainly unusual for her time. Even today, women who choose such a path are often regarded with suspicion. I could relate to Rivaz’s lifestyle and therefore had high expectations for La paix des ruches. Unfortunately, I was disappointed—as I often am when reading feminist literature. For me, there were too many ideas and not enough narrative art.

Author: Alice Rivaz (1901–1998) was a Swiss writer from the French-speaking region of Switzerland.
She also painted and played the piano, but she is best remembered as one of the most significant women’s rights activists in Swiss history. In 1945, she published Présence des femmes (The Presence of Women), a pioneering work that anticipated Simone de Beauvoir’s later feminist writings. 
A perfectionist in her craft, Rivaz would allow nothing to be published unless every word felt right. 
In recognition of her legacy, a Swiss Federal Railways Intercity train was named in her honor.

Rostant – André Rostant: The Muffin Man

Palvro

Purchased from: Foyles, London, England

The Muffin Man tells the story of George’s life. He used to sell The Big Issue in Soho, outside Pret, right in the heart of picture-perfect London, the London of tourists, shopfronts and passing crowds.
How many people must have walked past him without giving him a second thought? Some might have bought the magazine out of pity, others out of principle. But how many ever stopped to wonder about the man behind it?
George’s life is hard and marked by prejudice. As a passer-by, you become accustomed to seeing someone like him on the street; he gradually becomes part of the scenery. Yet The Muffin Man takes us beyond that fleeting impression and reveals the person within: his thoughts, his experiences and the struggles he faces every day. It is not for the faint-hearted.
The book is also populated by people struggling with lives of their own, people who have found their way to London from all over. These encounters are recounted with remarkable variety and vividness. Whether it is the Scotsman or the Irishman who appears in the story, the characters feel immediately real. Because, in one form or another, we have all encountered them somewhere on the streets.

André Rostant depicts a London that could hardly be more authentic or raw. It is a portrait of the lives of people we see every day and yet, somehow, choose not to see. The result is profoundly human and, by the end, deeply, deeply sad.
As much as I liked this book, I did feel that something was missing from the narrative style. At times, I found myself wishing for a lighter touch, something that might have allowed me to grow even more attached to George. This is not a book you casually dip into on the train. It demands that you immerse yourself in it, sentence by sentence.
Perhaps, though, that is precisely the point. Just as the people at the heart of this book deserve more than a fleeting glance, so does their story. You have to stop, take your time and truly engage with it.
I’m delighted that The Muffin Man is held in such high regard by the staff at Foyles. Otherwise, it might never have found its way to me.

A must-read.

Author: André Rostant is a British writer from London, born to Irish and West Indian parents.
Beyond his literary work, he is a familiar figure in Soho, where he has long been known as a Big Issue seller. His background and experiences shape the perspective and voice of his writing, giving it both authenticity and social resonance.

Rüfenacht – Martin Rüfenacht: Reussgold

Gmeiner-Verlag

Purchased from: Furrer’s Wundertüte, Bremgarten, Switzerland

A hobby gardener vanishes without a trace after a party, and cantonal police officer Bernauer is put on the case. The missing man is soon discovered dead, but then Bernauer’s own daughter disappears, turning the investigation into a desperate race against time.
For me, the narrative style often felt researched rather than naturally woven into the storytelling. Bernauer as a character came across as dry, and the resolutions seemed forced. There was too little focus on the perpetrator, and I could see from the beginning who the culprit was. The humour also fell flat for me, such as the scene at the bathing establishment.
All in all, the novel reminded me of an early-evening crime series on public television. At times, it even felt as though the author had written it more to amuse his own children than to grip his readers. Still, I do appreciate when someone chooses to set their stories in their own region—it gives the book a sense of local colour and authenticity.

Author: Martin Rüfenacht is a Swiss author from Zufikon, near Bremgarten.
He is best known for his regional crime novels featuring cantonal police officer Bernauer as the central character.

Sahota – Sunjeev Sahota: Das Porzellanzimmer (China Room)

Hanserblau in Carl Hanser Verlag

The main story is set in India in 1929. Mehar, a 15-year-old girl, is married to one of three brothers on a farm. Two other young women are likewise wed to the remaining brothers. None of the brides know which man is their husband. At night, they are summoned in darkness to the “china room,” where they are expected to submit to the men and bear sons for the family.
The household is ruled by Mai, a formidable matriarch who appears to keep everything firmly under control. But when Mehar falls in love with one of the brothers —who, of course, is not the man she has been assigned to—the fragile order of the family begins to unravel.
The novel is loosely based on the author’s own family history. I found the narrative style remarkably sensitive and accessible, even for readers unfamiliar with Indian traditions. However, the parallel storyline about the great-grandson, who travels from England and undergoes rehab on the farm, felt unnecessary to me and added little to the novel’s impact.

Author: Sunjeev Sahota (born 1981) is a British novelist.
He is said to have read his first novel at the age of 18—Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children—a book that inspired him to begin writing himself.

Saisio – Pirkko Saisio: Gegenlicht (Backlight)

Klett Cotta

Purchased from: Buchhandlung Fiederer, Friedrichshafen, Germany

Backlight is an autofictional novel told from two perspectives: the experience of growing up as a teenager in a socialist family in Helsinki—father, mother, daughter, and grandfather all under one roof

and 

the later perspective of working as an intern in a Swiss children’s home. The narrator brings to this period of her young life a mix of half-formed ideas and a backpack full of personal experience.
For me, the book also read as the author’s personal journey toward finding her way into writing. 

But 

I can’t say for certain, because somewhere along the way, she lost me as a reader. Perhaps I got lost in one of the many long sections.
Normally, when I hear “Finland,” I approach a book with great curiosity and goodwill; the Finns, in my mind, have a kind of built-in advantage. But here, that advantage didn’t apply. This felt like yet another autobiographical novel that failed to reach me. The prose was difficult to warm to, and my curiosity faltered. And that says a lot, I’ve happily read books about radiators and buttons. These extended passages may or may not carry deeper meaning, but to me they came across as a modern form of art that I simply could 

n o t 

connect with.

Author: Pirkko Saisio (born 1949) is an acclaimed Finnish author and director.
In 2016, she was honoured with the Aleksis Kivi Prize in recognition of her life’s work.

Salzmann – Sasha Marianna Salzmann: Im Menschen muss alles herrlich sein

Suhrkamp

Purchased from: Buchhandlung Klaus Bittner, Cologne

Tatjana and Lena grow up in Ukraine, still part of the crumbling Soviet Union. Lena dreams of becoming a scientist, but poverty stands in her way. She quickly learns that ambition alone means nothing in a system where access to education depends on bribery.
And yet, she keeps going. A year working for a doctor brings her closer to her goal, but her personal life is just as unforgiving. The man she loves leaves her behind because she doesn’t fit neatly into the life he envisions for his military career in Leningrad.
What follows feels less like a life unfolding and more like a chain of misfortunes. Lena becomes pregnant by a Chechen man who refuses responsibility, and in desperation she marries Daniel. The child does not resemble him, its fractured identity begins the moment it is born.
With no real future left in her homeland, Lena emigrates to Berlin, clinging to the hope of a better life. But even there, nothing truly changes. The past lingers, heavy and unresolved, shaping everything that follows.

And yet, despite all this potential, the novel left me completely cold.
From the very first pages, I felt shut out. This sweeping, multi-generational story set in Eastern Europe, so full of historical weight, should have been powerful. Instead, it felt distant, almost impenetrable, as if an invisible wall stood between me and the characters.
I never truly connected with them. Their struggles, however dramatic, remained abstract. Rather than being drawn into their lives, I felt like I was being rushed through a catalogue of events, one hardship after another, without the space to feel any of it. It read less like a novel and more like an overstuffed biography, trying to say everything at once and, in doing so, saying very little that lingered.
The language only made this worse. Sentences strained for poetic effect, reaching for striking imagery, but often landed awkwardly. Instead of creating atmosphere, they pulled me out of the story.
In the end, I was left frustrated and disappointed. What could have been a deeply moving exploration of identity, migration, and generational trauma felt strangely hollow.
It’s especially disappointing because the bookseller had praised the author so highly. But this book simply didn’t reach me at all.

Author: Sasha Marianna Salzmann (born 1985 in Volgograd) is a German author and playwright.
She chose the first name Sasha herself. 
Salzmann identifies as non-binary, while also questioning why this aspect of identity so often becomes the focus when she is invited or discussed. Her literary and theatrical works have earned her numerous awards and wide recognition.

Schoeters – Gaea Schoeters: Trophäe (Trofee)

Claassen

Purchased from: Schreiber Kirchgasse, Olten, Switzerland

The American big-game hunter Hunter White travels to Africa to complete his collection by shooting a rhinoceros—for which he pays a considerable sum. But before he can claim his prize, “his” rhino is killed by poachers. What, then, is the next step beyond the legendary Big Five? Hunter is presented with an incredible—and horrifying—offer: to turn from animal hunting to manhunting. Not the poachers, but a young man is to become his prey, as a form of compensation. Hunter’s tracker, Dawid, agrees to guide him on this grotesque expedition in exchange for the chance to study in America. Together they set off on a hunt that raises the chilling question: will Hunter truly kill a man to satisfy his obsession?
The premise is undeniably gripping, and the book came highly recommended to me in several bookshops. Yet it failed to draw me in. Reading it felt laborious, and I struggled to connect with the story. Only toward the end did I feel a trace of sympathy for the protagonist, though in a different sense than intended. In truth, I simply didn’t care how Hunter’s fate unfolded.
Although the author clearly has deep knowledge of local customs and traditions, none of it convinced me on the page. A few more passages of breathing space, a looser narrative rhythm, might have made the reading experience more engaging.

Author: Gaea Schoeters (born 1976) is a Flemish Belgian writer.
She made her literary debut with Girls, Muslims and Motorcycles, a travelogue recounting a motorcycle journey through several countries in the Middle East and Central Asia. 
In addition to her novels and essays, she has written libretti performed at major opera houses, including the Deutsche Staatsoper.

Schenk – Sylvie Schenk: Maman

Carl Hanser

Purchased from: Karl Rau, Munich, Germany

In this novel, the author retraces her mother’s life through literature. Her French mother was born in 1916, and the narrative weaves together personal memories with broader historical events. Yet one question lingers throughout: how much does the author truly know about her mother, and how close were they to one another?
For me, the book revealed too many gaps—gaps in the story itself and, perhaps, in the relationship between mother and daughter. I also felt that the novel lacked a clear thread to hold everything together.
Still, I found it worth reading. Its rawness and honesty reflect the hardship of the times, grey, bleak, and overshadowed by war. The language is strikingly powerful, carrying a distinctly French tone even though written in German. At moments, especially in the beginning, the imagery was so vivid that I could see it clearly before my eyes and almost felt part of the story.

Author: Sylvie Schenk (born 1944) is a Franco-German writer. Born in Chambéry, France, she emigrated to Germany in 1966 and worked as a teacher before dedicating herself fully to literature. 
In addition to her novels, she has published poetry and short stories. Together with jazz musician Heribert Leuchter, she presented her novel Maman in the form of a text-and-music performance.

Schiller – Friedrich Schiller: Die Räuber (The Robbers)

Nikol

Purchased from: Hoffmann’s Buchhandlung, Weimar, Germany

The 1781 drama tells the story of two very different brothers, Karl and Franz von Moor. Franz slanders Karl to their father, Count Maximilian von Moor, a wealthy nobleman, and convinces him to disinherit and disown his elder son. What follows is a bitter struggle over inheritance and power.
Karl, the rightful heir, is away studying in Leipzig. Longing to return home, he writes to his father, but Franz intercepts the letter and replaces it with a forgery. He further schemes by courting Amalia, Karl’s beloved, though she firmly rejects him. Franz’s lies multiply, including false reports of Karl’s death and their father’s demise.
Meanwhile, Karl becomes the leader of a band of robbers, who pledge their loyalty to him. When a new member, Kosinsky, tells of his own lost love, coincidentally also named Amalia, Karl is reminded of his own beloved and decides to return to the castle.
Though the narrative style may feel elevated and archaic by modern standards, I found the lyrical German to be powerful and evocative. The story is deeply tragic, made for the stage, and I could vividly picture the characters delivering their lines with passion and heartache.

Author: Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) was a German poet and philosopher, born in Marbach. 
He is regarded as one of the most important figures in German literature and intellectual history. Together with Christoph Martin Wieland, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Johann Gottfried Herder, he helped shape the era of Weimar Classicism. 
Although his father intended him for a military career, Schiller defied these expectations and wrote his ground-breaking play Die Räuber (the Robbers) during this period. He died at the age of just 45. His works also influenced the cultural imagination beyond Germany—Switzerland, for example, gained its national hero William Tell through Schiller’s pen.

Schulman – Alex Schulman: Endstation Malma (Malma terminus)

dtv

Purchased from: ZAP* Zermatt, Switzerland

The novel tells the story of a family whose lives have been shaped by silence and secrets for generations. At its center are Harriet, Oskar, and their daughter Yana. Their marriage is on the verge of collapse, and together they board a train bound for Malma, a small town only a few hours from Stockholm. It is here that their intertwined destinies—past, present, and future—converge.
Years earlier, Harriet had taken the same journey with her father, carrying a small urn. Now, as the narrative unfolds, episodes shift between past and present, told in flashbacks and from different perspectives.
The writing is richly atmospheric: as a reader you feel yourself sitting in the train, standing in the kitchen, witnessing Yana’s first day at school, and finally arriving at Malma’s end station. The characters are portrayed with striking realism, shaped by their flaws and their histories.
The lives depicted are at times almost unbearable to follow, yet the tension makes it impossible to put the book down — you want to see how it all ends. The fraught relationship between Yana’s parents, and the impact of their behavior on her, is rendered with remarkable precision. Oskar’s perceptions of both his wife and daughter are equally revealing. Meanwhile, Yana conceals her truths by keeping silent, while Harriet hides hers through lies.

Author: Alex Schulman (born 1976) is a Swedish author. The son of two well-known Swedish television personalities, he has continued the family’s presence in the media world. In addition to his writing, Schulman co-produces the widely popular podcast Alex & Sigge with Sigge Eklund.

Schulz – Charles M. Schulz: Peanuts in allen Lebenslagen

Reclam

Purchased from: Bachletten Buchhandlung, Basel, Switzerland

This delightful Peanuts book has been published by the German publishing house Reclam. Many students know Reclam well, as the publisher is famous for making literary classics accessible and easy to understand, often with additional learning aids and background information.
None of that is necessary here. Peanuts speaks for itself. Everyone understands Charlie Brown and his friends in their own way. By turns humorous and philosophical, this small volume gently introduces readers to the world of Peanuts.
Charlie Brown’s younger sister, Sally Brown, plays a particularly prominent role, no doubt because many of the strips are set at school. Unfortunately, one essential character cannot truly be translated into book form: the teacher. She is my absolute favourite and appears here only indirectly, as a silent presence.
The illustrations are classic and brilliant, with each character perfectly embodying their familiar role. Reading this book is a genuine pleasure, even if the Peanuts universe perhaps does not unfold quite as fully as it might in this particular Reclam edition.

Author: When you hear the name Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000), one thing immediately comes to mind: the legendary Peanuts. Schulz not only created the characters, he also wrote every single script himself. He worked entirely alone, no assistants, no ghostwriters, and over the course of his career produced an astonishing 17,897 comic strips, publishing one every day.
This complete creative control ensured that Peanuts retained its originality and unmistakable voice. Unlike many other American comic series, it was never diluted or reinterpreted by outside forces such as major film studios. The result is a body of work with a consistency and authenticity that is truly unmatched.
The strip was originally titled Li’l Folks, but the name had to be changed for copyright reasons, a decision Schulz himself was never particularly fond of. He reportedly disliked the name Peanuts.
Many of the characters were inspired by Schulz’s own life. Most famously, he even proposed to the real-life inspiration for the Little Red-Haired Girl, though, sadly, she turned him down.
My personal favourite character is the teacher, Miss Othmar. Her lessons, reduced to unintelligible sounds, are among the most brilliant and memorable moments ever to appear in a comic strip.
Schulz grew up in the United States, but his heritage was European: he had German roots on his father’s side, and his mother was Norwegian.

Seethaler – Robert Seethaler: Das Café ohne Namen

Claassen

Purchased from: Haupt Buchhandlung, Berne, Switzerland

In Vienna of the early 1960s, Robert Simon takes over a vacant inn which, though nameless, he fondly calls a café. It soon becomes a gathering place for the people of the neighbourhood—men and women still marked by the aftermath of the war, each struggling with the burdens of everyday life. The city is in transition, times are harsh, and their stories oscillate between weariness and hope.
I happened to finish the last pages of the book while waiting at a bus stop in Winterthur, on my way to visit my mother. A kind lady approached me, she had read the novel too and thought it was wonderful. I couldn’t fully share her enthusiasm. While I appreciated the beauty of Seethaler’s language, I found the storytelling thin and emotionally distant. I struggled to connect with the characters, and although the understated style matches the subdued events, I missed the pull of narrative tension that makes you eager to read on.
In a way most fitting for this book, it manages to spark conversation — even between strangers waiting at a bus stop.

Author: Robert Seethaler (born 1966) is a Viennese-born Austrian novelist, screenwriter, and actor.
Several of his books have been adapted into films, and he has also written screenplays himself. Trained at a drama school, he works both in film and theatre as an actor. Today, Seethaler ranks among Austria’s most widely read and acclaimed contemporary authors.
For me—though it may be an odd comparison—he feels a bit like Austria’s answer to Ferdinand von Schirach. I know it doesn't make sense :-)

Serle – Rebecca Serle: In Five Years

Quercus Publishing Plc

Purchased from: Orell Füssli, Pilatusmarkt, Kriens, Switzerland

The protagonist, Dannie Kohan, is a successful lawyer whose life is carefully mapped out, almost like a legal brief. She gets engaged but never marries, her days ruled by structure and control. One night, however, she experiences a vision: she wakes up in a strange apartment beside a man she has never met. From that moment, the course of the story becomes rather predictable.
The only real depth comes from Dannie’s close bond with her best friend, Bella. The novel takes on greater emotional weight when Bella receives a devastating medical diagnosis, shifting the focus toward themes of friendship, love, and loss.
For me, the dialogue was especially grating, and the overall tone of In Five Years felt very American—too American for my taste.

Author: Rebecca Serle is an American author and television writer. 
She is known for her relaxed approach to writing, often working in her pyjamas. 
Serle lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

Shapiro – Dani Shapiro: Leuchtfeuer (Signal Fires)

Hanserblau in Carl Hansen Verlag

Purchased from: Bücherwurm, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

In 1985, 17-year-old Sarah, after drinking, lets her 15-year-old brother Theo drive the car. An accident occurs right in front of their home, and a third passenger is killed. Their father, a doctor, rushes to give first aid but makes a critical mistake, he moves the victim, something he should not have done. The family’s silence about that night becomes a burden, and the consequences of guilt linger for decades.
What begins as a tragic event soon grows muddled. The novel attempts to weave together a wide range of themes—Alzheimer’s, cancer, premature birth, the pursuit of astrophysics, alcohol addiction, and even the COVID-19 pandemic. To me, these topics felt only loosely connected, as if the author was trying to cover too much at once.
The frequent shifts between past and present also weakened the narrative flow. Instead of deepening the story, the back-and-forth left me unconvinced and at times confused. Ultimately, the novel did not resonate with me. This was partly due to the protagonists themselves, who struck me as somewhat clichéd representations of American characters.

Author: Dani Shapiro (born 1962) is an American writer. In her bestselling memoir Inheritance (2019), she recounts the shocking discovery that her father was not her biological parent, but a sperm donor. She also shares personal stories on her podcast Family Secrets. Beyond her books and memoirs, Shapiro has written for a wide range of publications, including The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, and Elle.

Sigurðardóttir – Yrsa Sigurðardóttir: I Remember You

Hodder & Stoughton

Purchased from: Iða Zimsen, Reykjavik, Iceland

Garðar, Katrín, and Líf are three friends who purchase an old house in the remote village of Hesteyri. Drawn by the bargain price, they set out to renovate it within a single winter week. A skipper drops them off at the deserted pier, and soon they realize they are completely isolated, no one else lives on the island during this season. Or so it seems. When their mobile phone fails to connect, the trio knows that no help can be expected if something goes wrong.
Meanwhile, on the mainland, a policewoman investigates an apparent suicide with the assistance of psychiatrist Dr. Freyr. As the case unfolds, unsettling links emerge between the death, the mysterious disappearance of Freyr’s young son, and the abandoned house in Hesteyri.
I found the novel compellingly written, particularly in the way Yrsa Sigurðardóttir skillfully weaves two separate storylines until they converge. This is a difficult technique, and she executes it with finesse. However, I did not find the book as frightening as the cover promised.

Author: Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (born 1963) is an Icelandic author known for her crime novels and children’s books. Alongside her writing career, she also works as a civil engineer. 
Her works have gained notable popularity, particularly in English-speaking countries.

Skomsvold – Kjersti A. Skomsvold: The Child

Granta Books

Purchased from: Beerwolf Books, Falmouth, England

This book takes the form of a conversation between a mother and her newborn baby. She speaks to the child about difficult experiences from her life before the birth, reflecting on her inner world and on what it means to be a mother.
For me, it read like a typical “women’s novel.” I found it heavy and tedious, almost as if I were reading under a cloud of depression. It neither moved me nor drew me in.
Books like this seem to be everywhere at the moment. Often, the (mostly female) authors choose people from their own circle as central figures, focusing less on plot and more on reflection, investigation, and self-examination.
Many readers clearly connect with this kind of intimate, introspective storytelling. I’m simply not one of them.

Author: Kjersti A. Skomsvold (born 1979) is a Norwegian author. The “A” stands for Annesdatter. 
She studied literature, mathematics, and computer science at various universities. 
Her debut novel, The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am won the Tarjei Vesaas’ Debutant Prize.

Steinbeck – John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Man

Penguin Classics

Purchased from: Waterstones, Bruxelles, Belgium

Of Mice and Men follows George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers during the Great Depression, who move from farm to farm while dreaming of owning their own land and living independently. George is intelligent and protective, while Lennie is physically strong but mentally disabled. Lennie’s inability to control his strength repeatedly causes serious problems, forcing them to keep moving.
At a new ranch, Lennie unintentionally kills a woman, which leads to a hunt for him. George is faced with a tragic moral decision and ultimately chooses to end Lennie’s life himself to spare him a violent death. The novel deals with friendship, loneliness, and the failure of the American Dream.
The novel captivated me from the very first page, and I immediately sympathized with the two men. Steinbeck’s descriptions of the scenery and atmosphere are vivid and powerful. I especially empathized with George, who was placed in an impossible situation, but emotionally I felt closest to Lennie.
I found the language, which is closely adapted to the characters’ dialogue, somewhat challenging at times.

Author: Californian author John Steinbeck (1902–1968) won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. A self-taught writer who never graduated from Stanford University, he faced criticism during his lifetime for his unconventional background. His best-known works include The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, the latter immortalised on screen by James Dean.

Stiller – Ruth Stiller: Wer nicht liebt, muss sterben

Thienemann

Purchased from: Stocker, Luzern, Switzerland

Maja is quiet and reserved, happiest when she’s drawing. Then the lively, outspoken Jessie bursts into her life. Jessie’s passion is graffiti, and their shared love of art draws them together. As their friendship deepens, Maja begins to feel more — but for Jessie, it’s all just a game. Unable to cope, Maja decides to resolve the situation in her own way…
Aimed at teenage readers, this book simply wasn’t for me—especially in terms of language. That said, there’s no harm in exploring different genres.
Neither the protagonists nor the storyline resonated with me. Marketed as “almost true crime,” the book may well be inspired by real events, but I didn’t find it particularly gripping. Perhaps it’s simply too modern or aimed too much at a younger audience for my taste. Ultimately, I never felt a real connection to the main characters, which made it difficult to fully engage with the story.

Author: Ruth Stiller is a German author and the writer of several crime novels. The book mentioned above is the first in a new true-crime series published by Thienemann Verlag.

Stonex – Emma Stonex: The Lamplighters

Pan MacMillan

Purchased from: St. Ives Booksellers, St. Ives, England

What really happened at the Cornwall lighthouse in 1972? Three men on duty vanished without a trace. The door was locked from the inside. The table was set for only two. The clocks had stopped, and the timing was no coincidence.
Two decades later, a writer begins to investigate, meeting with the widows of the missing lighthouse keepers and interviewing them one by one. Their accounts differ, yet are subtly intertwined.
In The Lamplighters, Emma Stonex moves seamlessly between the final days on the lighthouse and the present-day lives of the women left behind. It soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems, and layer by layer, hidden truths begin to surface.
Stonex’s prose is richly atmospheric, conjuring vivid, almost cinematic images. You can feel the isolation of the tower, hear the relentless sea, and sense the unease growing with every page. This is a story you can easily imagine on screen—haunting, tense, and beautifully told.

Author: Emma Stonex (born 1983) is a British author who worked as an editor at a major publishing house before turning to writing full-time. Her favourite novel is Sacred Country by Rose Tremain.
The concept behind her books reminds me of T.C. Boyle, who likewise crafts novels inspired by real people and events.

Stricker- Sven Stricker: Sörensen hat Angst

Rowohlt

Purchased from: Altstadt Buchhandlung, Murten, Switzerland

Chief Inspector Sörensen transfers from Hamburg to the rural village of Katenbüll in North Friesland. Plagued by anxiety, he hopes the quiet countryside will bring him peace. But Katenbüll is far from idyllic, and its residents are anything but welcoming.
No sooner has he settled in than the Mayor is found dead. Sörensen soon realises that life in this village is shaped by tangled family ties and subtle political manoeuvring.
With Sörensen hat Angst, Sven Stricker delivers an entertaining crime novel that also delves deep into the troubled soul of its protagonist. The characters are a triumph, especially Sörensen himself, and as a reader, I felt fully immersed in the fictional world of Katenbüll.
For me, the case itself was fairly average, particularly the resolution. The real strength of the novel lies in its people, whose behaviour feels authentically human. The dialogue sparkles, and Stricker’s asides and small observational details are genuinely amusing.

Author: Sven Stricker (born 1970) is a German author and audio director who has won the German Audiobook Prize multiple times. He wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Sörensen hat Angst, earning both the Grimme Award and a Romy. Published in 2015, Sörensen hat Angst is the first in a series of novels whose titles all begin with Sörensen….

Strunk- Heinz Strunk: Ein Sommer in Niendorf

Rowohlt

Purchased from: Buchhandlung Storm, Bremen, Germany

Georg Roth takes a months-long sabbatical, retreating to an apartment in the Baltic Sea resort of Niendorf. His plan is to write a book about his family. At first, the seaside setting seems perfect, but it isn’t long before melancholy sets in and his overbearing landlord, Breda, becomes a constant source of irritation.
In his new daily routine, Roth encounters an array of locals and tourists, and it’s these encounters that Strunk renders with such biting, often absurd humour. Things become even more complicated with visits from his daughter and an old flame, Melanie. Roth’s “type” in women seems predictable until someone entirely unexpected draws his attention - the waitress.
Roth’s attitude toward almost everyone is laced with disrespect and sharp judgment. His inner commentary, however, is often hilarious, such as his precise calculation of Melanie’s 19.5-hour visit, or his sudden revulsion at the way she eats her tagliatelle.
Linguistically, the novel is a gem, studded with unusual and striking vocabulary. For my taste, the alcohol flows a little too freely in these pages, and I found myself wishing the story had been told in the first person, it might have been even more immersive.
One more thing: I would happily read an entire book about the Klippsteins, Roth’s marvellous neighbours, who quickly became some of my favourite characters.

Author: Heinz Strunk (born 1962) is a German writer, musician, and satirist. He is a member of the comedy trio Studio Braun, best known for their elaborate and often absurd telephone pranks.

Tevis – Walter Tevis: Das Damengambit (The Queen’s Gambit)

Diogenes

Purchased from: manulit, Cologne, Germany

Kentucky, mid-1950s. Eight-year-old Beth Harmon is orphaned and sent to a children’s home. Bright and gifted, she still feels unhappy—and like all the other children, she is given daily tranquillisers. This early dependence will shadow her for the rest of her life.
One day, the quiet caretaker, Mr. Shaibel, teaches her the rules of chess. Beth proves to be a prodigy, and after her adoption, her career takes flight. In the male-dominated world of competitive chess, she dazzles with her strategic brilliance, winning tournament after tournament.
But Beth is fighting more than her opponents. Her reliance on pills soon combines with a growing dependence on alcohol, threatening to derail her career entirely. Her greatest challenge, however, lies ahead: a high-stakes match in Moscow against the formidable Russian grandmaster she is determined to defeat.
Though the story is firmly rooted in American culture and echoes the underdog spirit of tales like Rocky, I found The Queen’s Gambit utterly absorbing—a true page-turner. Tevis writes with tension and precision, creating characters who feel vivid and accessible.
What impressed me most were the extended passages of introspection. Describing thought processes—especially in the heat of a chess match—is notoriously difficult, yet Tevis does it with remarkable clarity and grace.

Author: Walter Tevis (1928–1984) was an American novelist whose work blended sharp psychological insight with compelling storytelling. Born with a heart defect, he spent much of his childhood in a convalescent home. During this time, his father lost his job, and the family relocated from California to Kentucky. Unable to take part in sports, Tevis turned to books, reading voraciously—a habit that would shape his future career. Many of his novels draw on these formative experiences. He died of lung cancer at the age of 56.

Thorogood – Robert Thorogood: The Marlow Murder Club

HQ

Purchased from: The Little Apple Bookshop, York, England

Judith Potts is 77 years old and lives alone in the quiet town of Marlow. Every evening at six o’clock, she enjoys a glass of whiskey. She lives off an inheritance and supplements her income by creating crossword puzzles for a newspaper, especially those that require unconventional thinking. This talent will soon prove unexpectedly useful.
One day, while swimming in the Thames, Judith hears the voice of her neighbour, Stefan. Moments later, a gunshot rings out. She contacts the police, but they find nothing suspicious at the scene. Judith’s instincts tell her otherwise, and she begins investigating on her own. Soon, she discovers that her neighbour is dead.
The prime suspect, however, has an alibi, leaving the police at a dead end until another murder occurs. Convinced there is more to uncover, Judith teams up with her friends Suzie and Becks, and the trio launches their own investigation.
While I initially found the novel quite readable, the mystery itself failed to fully engage me, and unfortunately the same was true of the characters. What I missed most was a more ingenious integration of Judith’s crossword-puzzle skills into the investigation; I had probably expected too much. Overall, it is a light, easy-to-read crime novel, typical of many contemporary examples of the genre, but it lacks the clever plotting and ingenuity of classic Agatha Christie mysteries.

Author: Robert Thorogood (born 1972) is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the BBC crime drama Death in Paradise. 
Thorogood lives in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Toccacieli – Benoît Toccacieli: On n’abandonne pas un chien sur l’autoroute

Buchet-Chastel

Purchased from: Librairie la Fontaine, Vevey, Switzerland

After his divorce, Jérôme rebels against his monotonous life. He takes off in a stolen Clio, heading for Spain, where he dreams of starting anew. To stay awake during the long night drive, he downs several espressos - more reminiscent of Seine water than Italian coffee.
Jérôme has always been the one to sacrifice himself for others. His wife cheated on him; his daughter barely acknowledges him. Then, out of nowhere, he notices a white dog sitting in the passenger seat. How did it get there? The smelly animal throws all his plans into chaos. When Jérôme stops at a roadside restroom and dials a mysterious number scribbled on the wall, an absurd chain of events begins, one that propels him from one precarious situation to another. Indiana Jones and James Bond have nothing on him at this point.
Meanwhile, the police might - or might not - be on his trail. Will Jérôme ever make it to Spain?
I found the book highly entertaining and skillfully written, a wildly exaggerated road movie in novel form. Unfortunately, I couldn’t warm to some of the characters. They felt too tailored to contemporary sensibilities, leaving little room for true absurdity. However, as the story progressed, the increasingly bizarre narrative voice won me over.
It’s clear the author had great fun writing this novel, and I had plenty of fun reading it, too, even if the constant explosions became a bit much after a while. Still, it’s obvious the goal was to appeal to a wide audience, and in today’s literary landscape, that’s an understandable choice.

Author: Benoît Toccacieli (born 1987) is a French writer from Auvergne.
He is known as Tocca.

Tóibín – Colm Tóibín: Long Island

Pan Macmillan

Purchased from: The Winding Stair Bookshop, Dublin, Ireland

A stranger appears at Eilis’s door with a shocking message: after his wife gives birth, he will leave the baby on her doorstep. He refuses to raise another man’s child and claims the father is Eilis’s husband, Tony.
Irish-born Eilis has married into the powerful Italian-American Fiorello family, with her mother-in-law and brothers-in-law living just steps away. For them, the child’s future is already decided, the baby will be part of the family.
But Eilis wants nothing to do with it. Using her mother’s upcoming 80th birthday as an excuse, she returns to Ireland. In her hometown of Enniscorthy, another challenge awaits: her widowed former friend Nancy and her old flame Jim. Both carry secrets, some of them shared.
With Long Island, Colm Tóibín delivers an intensely gripping novel, rich in emotional complexity. I found myself caring deeply for the characters, especially Jim, right up to the final page. And now, we wait…

Author: Colm Tóibín (born 1955) is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s most acclaimed contemporary writers. He began writing in the wake of his father’s death, drawing deeply on personal experience. Tóibín hails from the village of Enniscorthy, familiar to readers from the novel mentioned above, and much of his fiction is rooted in its landscapes and people. Preferring a traditional approach, he drafts most of his work by hand before typing it up, and he famously avoids watching television.

Tremain – Rose Tremain: Lily

Pan Macmillan

Purchased from: The Winding Stair Bookshop, Dublin, Ireland

London, 1870. Police constable Sam discovers a bundle on the street—a baby girl named Lily. Thanks to his intervention, she spends her early years in the countryside, growing up in a loving foster family on a farm in Suffolk. But the law eventually forces her to leave, and Lily is sent to an orphanage. Life there is far from the carefree days of her childhood, and one woman in particular, Maude, seems determined to make her miserable.
Talented and hardworking, Lily later finds employment with a wigmaker in London. By chance, she meets Sam again. He is now married, yet a quiet bond forms between them. But Lily carries a terrible secret. Will Sam uncover the truth about her crime?
Rose Tremain’s writing drew me deeply into Lily’s world. Her childhood story touched me; her struggles as a young woman moved me even more. By the final pages, the novel had me in tears.
This is a beautifully told tale of a girl abandoned by her mother, rescued, and, years later, cherished by the very man who once saved her life. Just as the cover promises: heart-breaking.

Author: Rose Tremain (born 1943) is an English author from London and a Dame of the British Empire. She is married to biographer Richard Holmes. Best known for her historically themed novels, she has also written in other genres, including the children’s book Iron Robin.

Turpeinen – Iida Turpeinen: Das Wesen des Lebens (Elolliset / Beasts of the Sea)

S. Fischer

Purchased from: Gutenberg Buchhandlung, Gossau (SG), Switzerland

In 1751, an expedition sets off on the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka. Bering is to find a sea route to America. On board is a German naturalist named Steller.
The crew only see him as a know-it-all. For example, they would rather drink impure sea water than the water that Steller recommended drinking.
Then their ship is stranded off an uninhabited island.
The expedition fails and part of the crew dies of scurvy. But Steller is electrified.
He documents the flora and fauna and discovers a giant mammal. He will call it by its name: Steller's manatee.
The meat of this animal saves the remaining crew's survival.
100 years later, the researcher von Nordmann is wondering why nothing of this animal can be found. He also employs the illustrator Hilda Olson, who will help him to immortalise first spiders and then the manatee in illustrations.
I thought it was wonderful that a book was dedicated to manatees.
And not only to this animal, but also to all those who no longer exist due to human hands and human madness.
The author has also addressed other topics such as equal rights for women in research, etc. This was not necessary, even if it was skilfully incorporated into the novel.
Nevertheless, the message came across very well.
A very important book.

Author: Iida Turpeinen (born 1987) is a Finnish author. Turpeinen combines her passion for literature with natural science.
The book reviewed above is the most successful debut in Finland ever.

Twain – Mark Twain: In der Schweiz (In Switzerland)

Diogenes

Purchased from: WEGA Nishinaga, Zermatt, Switzerland

It’s remarkable when a writer of Mark Twain’s stature dedicates an entire book to his journey through Switzerland in 1878–79. He describes places I pass almost every day, and it’s fascinating to see them through his eyes.
There are countless ways to travel through Switzerland, and Twain casts an ironic gaze on them all. I especially enjoy the early dialogues—brimming with irony and sarcasm, so steeped in cliché they could hardly be more so. Naturally, even the famous "Swiss" cuckoo clocks make an appearance.
It’s almost a pity the WEGA bookshop in Zermatt didn’t exist back then. A Twain-style exchange with an ignorant shop assistant would surely have been hilarious.
Some of Twain’s descriptions are simply brilliant. He calls the Matterhorn “the Napoleon of the mountains”, an image unlike anything his contemporaries might have chosen. Toward the end, however, he lingers on certain events a bit too much for my taste, which slows the pace unnecessarily.
Still, it’s an engaging read from an author whose photographs always make me think of a stern-faced Einstein.

Author: Mark Twain (1835–1910) was a celebrated American author, best known for the classics The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. 
A devoted cat lover, often preferring their company to that of people, Twain also counted remarkable figures such as writer Helen Keller and inventor Nikola Tesla among his friends.