clarityandchaos's reviews
429 reviews

Hey guten Morgen, wie geht es dir? by Martina Hefter

emotional relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness

Gute Enden by Czollek Max

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Von Gästen und Geistern by Yasemin Altınay

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

Out of Gaza: New Palestinian Poetry by Alan Morrison, Atef Alshaer

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

The poetry is impactful, some truly great, and definitely an important, heartbreaking look into Gaza: Most of the poems are published (on paper) here first and largely written after the beginning of the current Israeli-Gaza war. All poets are Palestinian, some in Gaza, some outside, and two killed during the current war: Hiba Abu Nada and Refaat Alareer. 

The key quote is already on the cover page, the last four lines of Lines Without a Home by Marwan Makhoul: 

I order for me to write poetry that isn't 
political, I must listen to the birds
and in order to hear the birds
the warplanes must be silent

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka

challenging funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This novel by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is undeniably a great work. Part family saga, part Crime mystery, mostly caustic satire set in a fictional Nigeria, it's a wide-ranging, ambitious novel about the ills that befall (a) people : corruption, murder, intrigue, success, religion, politics. Still, I didn't quitk connect with it. The pacing of the plot is odd, the prose is unique but at times too ornate. 

What probably prevented me from enjoying it more is also what I most liked about it: I do not know enough about contemporary Nigeria to truly appreciate the levels of this (to me) highly-specific satirical novel about contemporary Nigeria.

Seemann vom Siebener by Arno Frank

emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Cenzontle by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Trotzdem sprechen by Mirjam Zadoff, Lena Gorelik, Miryam Schellbach

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Trotzdem Sprechen, a collection of essays on the Israel-Gaza war and in particular the current discursive climate in Germany, is the kind of book that gives me hope. Not necessarily because it is hopeful, nor happy, but because it is so smart, so thoughtful, that reaffirms the belief in humans exchanging thoughts, and working together towards a future. Talking, despite everything. 

Umkämpfte Wissenschaften - zwischen Idealisierung und Verachtung: [Was bedeutet das alles?] by Frieder Vogelmann

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0