Wrap Up: August 2026

Hi everyone

August was a wonderful month. Both our daughters celebrated their birthdays (they’re 4 years and a week apart), we traveled to The Netherlands, and we had a lovely time all together. I read a lot, especially while on holiday.
Here's what I read:

- Terry Pratchett: The Last Hero  

- Jim Butcher: Cursor's Fury 

- Ilona Andrews: Magic Gifts  

- Dean Koontz: Devoted 

- R. F. Kuang: The Poppy War  

- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah: Friday Black 

- Samantha Sotto Yambao: Water Moon 

- The Complete Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe 

- John Steinbeck: Travels with Charley 

- Shauna Lawless: The Land of the Living and the Dead  

I also DNF'd two books:

- Aliette de Bodard: The House of Shattered Wings

- bell hooks: All About Love

How was your reading month? Did you discover any new favorites or struggle with anything? I’d love to hear what you enjoyed or if you have any recommendations!

Happy reading!
Helena 

John Steinbeck: Travels with Charley

Hi everyone

As a longtime fan of John Steinbeck’s works, I had high expectations for Travels with Charley. I got my copy from Bol.com.

"To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.
With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers."

This was a wonderful book. Travels with Charley was written as non-fiction, but it has since been debunked as pure nonfiction; it’s more like "embellished non-fiction". And I really don’t care either way. I’ve never been to America, and I wasn’t alive in the 1960s. Plus, Steinbeck is a writer, so I guess it’s kind of expected of him to exaggerate, embellish, and change a few things?

I loved the look into the day-to-day American life in the 1960s. Steinbeck’s observations of the bears, the giant trees, and the people he meets are vivid and engaging. His reflections can be quite inspirational and philosophical, offering a thoughtful, introspective view of the country and its people. He has so much insight into the people, the country, cultural opinions, and nature.

I was also touched by Steinbeck’s love for his wife. It was really sweet how many times he mentions her and how often he says he misses her. It’s nice to get to know him a little better as a person, and Charley is just wonderful, truly a delightful companion throughout the journey.

But there were also very boring and pointless parts. Some sections felt slow or unnecessary, and I was eager to get back to the more engaging moments. The pacing throughout felt very uneven.

Have you read Travels with Charley? Did you enjoy it as much as I did, or did you find the slower parts as challenging? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Birthday Bookhaul

Hi everyone

January 24th was my birthday! I had a lovely day celebrating with my husband and our two daughters. The weekend after my birthday, we gathered with my parents, my brother, and his wife to continue the festivities. My husband’s birthday was on the 12th of January, and we celebrated with his family the day after his birthday.

The best part? Everyone (except my husband) gave me money for books! They all know how much I love to read, and honestly, it’s the perfect gift for me.

So, I bought myself some very anticipated new books! I ordered all of them from Bol and they arrived over the last couple of days. 
Here's what I got.

- James S. A. Corey: Memory's Legion

- Eowyn Ivey: Black Woods Blue Sky 

- Rachel Joyce: Miss Benson's Beetle

- Toshikazu Kawaguchi: Before the Coffee gets Cold

- Stephen King: Firestarter

- Stephen King: Needful Things

- H. P. Lovecraft: Cthulhu Mythos Tales

- Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Poetry

- John Steinbeck: Travels with Charley

- Andrea Stewart: The Bone Shard Daughter

- Xiran Jay Zhao: Iron Widow

Have you read any of these? If so, which one should I read first? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Happy reading!
Helena 

John Steinbeck: Cannery Row

Hi again

This is my review for John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row.
I got my copy from Book Depository and it has 148 pages plus a 17-page Introduction.
You can find all my John Steinbeck reviews here.

“In the din and stink that is Cannery Row a colourful bend of misfits - gamblers, whores, drunks, bums, and artists - survive side by side in a jumble of adventure and mischief. Lee Chong, the astute owner of the fantastically well-stocked grocery store, is also the proprietor of the Palace Flophouse that Mack and his troupe of good-natured 'boys' call home. Dora, of the flaming orange hair and taste for Nile green dresses, runs the brothel with clockwork efficiency. Doc, who owns the laboratory, is the fount of all generosity and wisdom. Everybody wants to do something nice for Doc: the trouble is, he always ends up paying.”

Cannery Row surprised me.
The book is lighthearted and funny most of the time, something I didn’t expect after reading The Grapes of Wrath. This one had me chuckling and smiling along the way.

Steinbeck is a wonderful writer, his descriptions are beautiful, the language is elegant and he manages a great balance in tone; lively moments make the deep and thoughtful parts hit even harder.

I really enjoyed this book.

4 STARS

Happy reading!
Helena

My Favorite Books of 2015

Hi

Some of you asked me about my favorite books of the year and that really got me thinking. I find a question like that always very difficult to answer. I read 124 books in 2015 (as you can see here). How can anyone expect me to pick the three books I loved the most?

It took me three days to come up with this list. Three days! Literally! I’m really not good at this.

Apparently it’s ‘not done’ for blogs and booktube to include rereads and multiple books by the same author so that made it a lot easier for me (Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Richard Yates, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Muriel Barbery had to go) to narrow down my first list (26 books) to this one.

Lesson learned; in 2016 I will add a star rating to my reviews and to my Goodreads page.

So, here’s the list for those of you who are interested. I couldn't get it any smaller.
If you click on the title you will automatically be directed to the review.

• Jim Butcher: Summer Knight
• Michael Cunningham: The Snow Queen
• Joe Hill: NOS4R2
• Hugh Howey: Dust
• Shirley Jackson: We Have Always Lived in theCastle
• Stephen King: The Green Mile
• Ira Levin: The Boys from Brazil
• Richard Matheson: I Am Legend
• Terry Pratchett: Thud!
• Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter: The Long Mars
• Brandon Sanderson: The Hero of Ages
• José Saramago: Blindness
• John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
• Junichirõ Tanizaki: Some Prefer Nettles
• Evelyn Waugh: The Loved One
• Andy Weir: The Martian

What were your favorites? Have you read any of mine? If so, how did you like them?

Happy reading and I’ll see you soon.

Helena

John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath

Hi everyone

Here’s my last review of the year. It will be a short one because I haven’t got much time and I’ve got to get ready for tonight but I really wanted to include The Grapes of Wrath in my Wrap up.
The Grapes of Wrath has an introduction of 32 pages by Robert DeMott and the story itself is 476 pages. 

I got the book from the Fnac in the very nice Penguin Modern Classic edition.

“ 'I've done my damndest to rip a reader's nerves to rags, I don't want him satisfied.' Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic The Grapes of Wrath remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of Tom Joad and his family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision. Adapted into a celebrated film directed by John Ford, and starring Henry Fonda, The Grapes of Wrath is an eloquent tribute to the endurance and dignity of the human spirit.”

I loved it.
I absolutely loved it.

It’s beautiful, thought provoking, incredibly written, it’s heartbreaking and tear wrenching.
That’s The Grapes of Wrath.

This will definitely be included in my favorite books of 2015 so look forward to that post!

5 STARS

Have a great evening and an amazing new year!
Helena

 Taking a 30 min. break from work in the house with homemade chocolate cake and a book.