Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten favourite books in 2010

This is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

So.. Which were my favourite reads in 2010? Well.. Some of them were re-reads - but I enjoyed them very much and I think you might get a good look at my reading habits:

1. Sarah Waters: TIPPING THE VELVET (1998)

2. Daphne Du Maurier: REBECCA (1938) - just great. Take a look at the German edition cover:

Read it. Love it. And compare it with

3. Emily Brontë: WUTHERING HEIGTHS (1847) - what can I say.. *HEATHCLIFF...!*

(I like the German cover of this edition very much. My own copy looks a bit different.. I am obsessed with book covers!)

4. Esther Williams: THE MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID (2000) - which I read in English and enjoyed it very much.

5. Leonie Swann: GAROU (2010)- Leonie Swann's heroes are sheep. And they investigate murders.. A great laugh which made me cry, too. E.g. when an animal is harmed.. This is a real good thriller - just only with sheep.. ;")


6. James M. Cain: MILDRED PIERCE (1941) - a woman has to earn her living for herself and her daughters in the USA during the era of the Great Depression.. Yes, this book is picturized. :")

7. Mary Jane Ward: THE SNAKE PIT (1946) - a woman finds herself in an asylum. Based on Mary Jane Wards own experiences - there's a film, too.

8. Charlotte Armstrong: MISCHIEF (1950)- yes, I metioned this one not sooo long ago, but I really like this one.. ;")

9. Gina Kaus: CATHERINE (1935) - biography about Catherine the Great - and a great read, too. No book cover but here's a picture of Catherine the Great:

10. John Wyndham: THE MIDWICH CUKOOS (1957) - almost every woman in Midwich is pregnant - even if she hadn't got a "chance" to conceive.. and when the babies are born, they all have golden eyes and act strange.. Normally, I don't read science fiction but this one - oh boy! and yes - there's a film.. This book will be reviewed soon here - and the film in my film blog AND THEN THEY START TO SPARKLE but *shush* it's a secret yet..

11. Jetta Carleton: THE MOONFLOWER VINE (1962) - this is a bonus, because I can't remember wether I read it this or last year - but I LOVED it!)

12. Elizabeth Edmondson: FROZEN LAKE (2004) - I did not finish this one yet, but I like it very much sooo - another bonus.. *wuhahaha*

So, that's it - I reviews for some of them and of course I linked them then. For the other ones I am going to write reviews.

What were your favourite books in 2010?

Merry Christmas to YOU!

Have a Merry Christmas everyone! - and maybe some new books under the tree!

With Love,

Frl. Irene

Read My Review: TV/Movie adaptations

A Trillian Books hosts Read my Review where you can share your - you might have guessed it - reviews. This time the topic is TV/Movie adaptations.

I picked MISHIEF by Charlotte Armstrong which was brought to the silver screen as DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK. I did two reviews (one for the film and one for the book) so there are two links to reviews in this post.

It was the first review I did on this blog - so there was (and still is) much improvement possible - well, lets be honest: necessary. ;")

As you might know I am not only a nostalgic reader - I am obsessed with films (esp. the classics.) So you may look forward for a lot more filmrelated reviews than I did yet.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten books from my wishlist

This is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish.

This time we should reveal our bookish desires - and here they are - but I won't burst out in tears when I don't get them .. ;") I visited many other blogs where fellow blogger also posted book covers, which is a lovely eyecandy bonus. So - I try it, too.

1. ALLES IST JAZZ by Lili Grün - its a novel about an actrice in 1930s Berlin. The title means (lit.) "All is jazz" - I just love that and the cover is amazing!
   
   
   



2. SHUTTER ISLAND by Dennis Lehane - I liked the film very much and now I am eager to read the book.
   
   
   



3. GIRL, INTERRUPTED (DURCHGEKNALLT is the German title) by Susanna Kaysen
   
   
   





4. BAD GIRLS GO EVERYWHERE by Jennifer Scanlon - the biography of Helen Gurley Brown (author of SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL)
   
   
   




5. THE FIRST FEMALE STARS by David W. Menefee
   
   
   




6. THEO LINGEN : DAS SPIEL MIT DER MASKE - a biography about German actor Theo Lingen (1903-1978), who was hilarious and had a very distinctive voice.
   
   
   




7. THIS'N'THAT by Bette Davis. I've found no cover of that one - so I give you a picture of Miss Davis herself:
   
   
   




8. DIE MALWEIBER is about the daring female artists in 1900 and I am just in love with these women on the bookcover. "Malweiber" is a term used by people as an offence back then to make sure that these ladies were no artistes. You could translate it into "paint broads" or something like that, I guess.
   
   
   
   



9. SCHWARZE KATZEN, BUNTE KATZEN a book with many pictures about female writers and female artists and their cats. This is a classical exemplification for a book you would not buy but would be happy if someone gave it to you.. ;") - Same for Book No.8 of my list.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. DIE KARRIEREN DER VICKI BAUM is a biography about Vicki Baum (1888-1960), who was a great writer.

Top Ten Tuesday Top Ten Most Anticipated Books in 2011

This is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish.

As you may already know, I am more of an nolstagic reader - so I am more exited about old books I rediscover. So my Top Ten List of most anticipated books in 2011 is rather short:

1. Waters, Sarah: THE LITTLE STRANGER will be released in German translation and I am highly enthusiastic about this release. :")

Well, that's it.

Jennifer Donnelly: A Northern Light

A NORTHERN LIGHT by Jennifer Donnelly (2003) is a historic novel stted in the north of New York State. In July 1906 Mathilda (a farmer’s daughter who is called Mattie) is working in a hotel. Then the death body of hotel guest Grace Brown is found in a lake near the hotel. Only Mattie who has Grace’s letters is able to solve this mystery.

On first sight this seems to be a crime novel – but it isn’t. Yes, it is based on a true murder case, but it is more of a coming of age story about Mattie who wants to be a writer but is bound to her home and family.

Beside the classic topics (love, family, infidelity, loss etc.) also racism and sexual harassment are touched on. Friends of literal classics will be happy to find some classic titles and quotes mentioned. Certain Captain Wenthworth, Heathcliff and Rochester are mentioned.

*yay for that!*

Though this book is nothing to cause headaches because of a too complex story it certainly is able to cause an interest to read classic novels (again). By the way - this time I like the German cover ways more. What Do you think?

• Please, tell me: I have one question to my followers who have read this book already: In the German translation there is an Edgar Allan Poe story quoted in which a man has “burned” a death body beneath his floor. I am a lover of Edgar Allan Poe stories and the only one I can think of, which would match this is THE TELL-TALE HEART – and there are death body is “buried” beneath the floor. Is there a story I don’t know or is there a mistake in the translation? Please tell me!
  
  
• Links to look at: The German title DAS LICHT DES NORDENS - which is the direct translation of the original title - is also a name of a German breed of great danes. Have a look: Licht des Nordens (this page is also available in English) These animals are great - but I think I'll stick to my cats.. ;")
  There’s also a link to a page with marvelous photos showing northern Scandinavian landscape by a photograph who lives in Cologne: Licht des Nordens. (Please don't copy any of his pictures - most Germans are very fond of their copyrights.. ;")
  And of course Wikipedia has an article about the Grace Brown murder case: Read it here.

Sarah Waters: Tipping the Velvet

Sarah Waters: TIPPING THE VELVET (1998) is a historic novel - setted in Victorian England - about Nancy who falls in love with male impersonater Kitty Butler, becomes a male impersonater herself and also lover of Kitty. Then Kitty deserts her for a man and Nancy starts to earn her money by working as a hustler before she becomes sort of a salaried lover of a high society lady. Afte she looses her "job", she has to search again for luck - and the love of her live.

What can I say? I am a big Sarah Waters afficionada! I love that she is true to detail - and its always thrilling to read her novels. I read TIPPING THE VELVET now twice and loved it both times.

I got to confess that mostly I don't read books that are this direct with its sexual language - well, most of the books I read are classics - so: No wonder.. ;")

The German title of the novel is DIE MUSCHELÖFFNERIN (lit.= "the shellopener") and like sooo many times I like the English cover waaaayys more than the German one.

I just watched the BBC adaptation and I liked it very much, though there are some changes and I like the end of the novel much more than the one in the TV series. I was so happy that two of my favourite actors (Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins) were in it, too. Even if their parts were not that big - but they have important ones. Oh and I love Keeley Hawes (who is perfect for Kitty), Anna Chancellor (who looks soo beautiful - like always), Jodhi May (soo cute) and Rachael Stirling (who is Diana Rigg's daughter and reminds me of Marlene Dietrich when she is wearing a high hat and a tuxedo).

Hairstyling - in a Vintage Style

If you love to dress in a vintage way - I bet you do your hair in a similar style. ;") There are two books that I adore which are dealing with vintage hairstylings:

VINTAGE HAIRSTYLINGS by Lauren Rennells (I am sure you do know her Bobby Pin blog) which is somewhat the bible of so many vintage ladies I know. 200 pages and just beautiful! The 2nd Edition has some make-up tips, too. Look at http://www.vintagehairstyling.com/ to take a peak into the book!

And - I got my copy today and I am totally in love with it:

STYLE ME VINTAGE by Belinda Hay. (And of course there's a blog too: The Painted Lady) Look at www.thepaintedladylondon.com ! - the most styles you'll see there you'll find in her book, too. It is more petite than the first book in this entry - but it is completely lovely! Pretty pictures and an oh-so-old-fashioned feeling when you hold it in your hands. ;")

Both books will teach you that vintage hairstyling is nothing to be feared of. Both of them have easy step-by-step instructions and similar photos.

I love both books and I will never ever give them away. Ne-ver!

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'Farrell: THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX (2006) is about Iris who suddenly finds out that she has a great-aunt (Esme) who was for about 60 years in a asylum, which is now about to be closed - and the only one who would know something about the things that caused Esme's stay there besides Esme is her sister Kitty. But Kitty suffers from Alzheimer's...

I just discovered this book and loved it - well, it contains some of my favourite book themes:

The early 20th century (seems to be the early 1930ies I guess - anyway it was not pointed out exactly), women, asylums, sisters, mental illness - oh - and a vintage shop - one extra-yay for that! And it is setted Edingburgh, Scotland.

A fast read and really enchaining. I was not thrilled to death but could not put the book away. Really nice read for a autumn week-end - if you are able to put it out of your hand.. ;")

There is one thing in this book which really touches me: I am afraid of being diagnosed with the Alzheimer's disease - how awful to vanish away and be frightened by everyone because you don't know them and they acting like they do know you for years.

In the end I was up to write some whiny text messages and/or letters to my sister, to say that I love her - which I did not do, because maybe my sister would consider to send me into an asylum..

I really love the English cover - the German one is kind of boring - but don't you think it looks a bit like the garden of Manderley ;") - well, maybe the rhododendrons should be all in red.. - :

The German title DIE FRAU, DIE ES NICHT GAB means "The woman who did not exist".

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten books that made me cry

This is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish.

1. Harper Lee: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - poor Boo Radley!
   
   
2. Leonie Swann: GAROU - though it is in general funny and also thrilling it made me cry - because cruelty to animals does that to me.
   
   
3. Astrid Lindgren: THE BROTHERS LIONHEART
   
   
4. Christa Winslow: THE CHILD MANUELA - Manuela fells for her teacher but there a strict rules in the German Empire - like every where else at that time.. - about teachers, pupils and homosexuality..
   
   
5. Gudrun Pausewang: DIE NOT DER FAMILIE CALDERA (= "The woe of the family Caldera") is a German children's book about the Indian Ramon Caldera who lives in the Andes and goes to a town to have a better live. He marries Rafaela, a house maid. They are happy and get children. But after a while their luck turns and some of their children die, Rafaela and Ramon loose their jobs and they have to move to the slums. Ramon has to become a criminal to get by. At the end he gets shot.
   We read it in school and after that I was up to save every poor indian - and all in tears.
   
   
6. A. A. Milne: THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER - Christopher Robin is going to grow up.
   
   
7. Almost every story by Hans Christian Andersen: THE STEADFEST TIN SOLDIER, THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, THE LITTLE MERMAID, THE FIR-TREE...
   
   
8. Gudrun Pausewang: FRIEDEN KOMMT NICHT VON ALLEIN (= "Peace doesn't come of its own volition") is a collection of Anti-war stories for children - and some of them were really hard to take for me.
   
   
9. Erica Fischer: AIMÉE & JAGUAR - a true story about a jewish women and a wife of a German soldier in the 3.Reich who fell in love. No happy ending in that - and my favourite love story.
   
   
10. Charlotte Prenzel: KOMM HEIM, HANNE(= "Come home, Hanne") is a German girl's book from the 1950s/1960s about a orphaned girl called Hanne who finds a mother - and me in tears when the dachshund Lumpi is run over by a car. (gee, I think I go and cry right now again..)

How exotic - it's from a German author!!

AFTER MIDNIGHT (Orig.: Nach Mitternacht, 1937) by Irmgard Keun is - again - very small: ca. 199 pages.

If you have read my Top Ten List with my Ten favourite authors (like every list of mine this one is "fluent" - always changing.. Today I was on the verge to redo my Top Ten fictional crushes list.. *sigh*) you know that I like Irmgard Keun VERY much. She is one of my really alltime favourites. Call her a steady name for my list of authors..

Some information for them of you, who may never have heard of her:

She was born in 1905 in Berlin and died in 1982 in Cologne. In the early 1930ies she became very succesful as an author of novels. She wrote in a very direct language - just the way people (esp. uneducated girls from lower middle class, who mainly were her heroines) - would talk.

Her most famous works were GILGI - ONE OF US (Gilgi - eine von uns, 1931) and THE ARTIFICIAL SILK GIRL (Das kunstseidene Mädchen, 1932). Her books were blacklisted when the Nazis came into power. She emigrated with Joseph Roth - who was her lover at that time - to the Netherlands. (Roth and she split up in 1938.) In 1940 when the Nazis invated the Netherlands, she went back to Germany. She lived with wrong papers - it helped that there were several announcements of her death. She was almost forgotten when in the late 1970ies/ early 1980ies the feminist movement rediscovered her works.

After midnight is therefor a special book because it really shows how live was in 1936:

It is about Susanne, everybody calls her Sanne, a 19 year old girl. She left her hometown and went to her aunt in Cologne. She worked in the stationary shop of her aunt and fell in love with Franz, her aunt's quiet son. Franz and Sanne wanted to establish a tobaccos shop - but the aunt pressed charges against Sanne at the Gestapo. So Sanne goes to her stepbrother Algin, who lives with his wife Liska in Frankfurt on the Main. Algin is a former successful author but now he struggles with the new government and his beliefs. Time goes on and all over sudden Franz comes to Sanne - and it seems that he is on the run...

In this novel Sanne is telling her story herself. She doesn't always understand what is happening and what the new rules really mean. Partly this novel is kind of gruesome - in the second chapter is a case of death who simply sticks in my mind - though it is no violent death.

I think I will do some more post about Irmgard Keun's books - but not immediately. ;")

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten fictional crushes

This is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish.

This time it is about ten fictional crushes - well, it was hard to find 10 crushes so I searched really deep in my past.. ;")

Please note that these are pure "Schwärmerei" - nothing carnal in it. ;")

So here they are - in no particular order:

1. Dr. Seward from DRACULA (Bram Stoker)


2. Mr. Bingley from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Jane Austen)


3. Colonel Brandon from SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (Jane Austen)


4. Smike from NICHOLAS NICKLEBY (Charles Dickens) - I was about to name my cat after him - but it turned out that Lucy was a better name for her.. :")


5. William Dobbin from VANITY FAIR (William Makepeace Thackeray) - another nearly catname - now the cat is known as Mina.. :") here you can see both of them.


6. Jem from TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD (Harper Lee) - maybe you ought to know that I was a little girl when I first read this book.. ;")


7. CINDERELLA (Perrault/ Brothers Grimm etc. )


8. John Thornton from NORTH AND SOUTH (Elizabeth Gaskell)


9. Bert from MARY POPPINS (P.L. Travers)


10. PETER PAN (J.M. Barrie)

And: yes, I have a heart for minor characters. ;")

How about you??

P.S. Here's the one I've forfotten, but who REALLY belongs to this list: SHERLOCK HOLMES!!! (shame on me for forgetting him!)

Link to another great giveaway

Lovely Bev is doing a big 100 plus giveaway .

100 readers ! - Congrats to that!!

Maybe you want to participate.. ;") Good luck to all of you!

I've been tagged!!!

Bev from MY READER'S BLOCK has tagged me - and for this being a social network and I am a good sport [;")] - I'll go and follow the rules, which are:

• Accept the tag and link to the tagger at the beginning of your post.
  


• Answer the questions honestly in your post by listing four things.
  


• Pass on the love by picking four other people to tag and listing them at the bottom of your post. Notify them that you tagged them.
  
  

- If you start to ask yourself if I ever will do a more literature-focused entry ever again: yes, I will!! err.. I am at least very sure of that.. ;") - And now: come on and know me better!

Four things that are in my handbag:

1. a wallet


2. tissues


3. a little writing pad


4. a book (surprise!!)
   

Four favourite things in my bedroom:

1. My bed


2. My dressing table, which goes with the bed


3. My little hula-girl


4. My monstera deliciosa (a big green plant..)
   
   

Four things on my desk:

1. a lap-top


2. a telephone


3. some books


4. tissues (no, they're NOT used yet! Sicko!)
   

Four things I allways wanted to do (but haven't yet):

1. Visiting London (last year I had even bought the air tickets but then my little ladies - then 12 weeks old - came into my live.. so my friend went with another one and I stayed at home.. - and I had the time of my life! I am still having the time of my life with them.)


2. Visiting New York


3. Reading every book by Jane Austen/Elizabeth Edmondson/Sarah Waters/Irmgard Keun...
   
   
4. I never did (or will) kill a butterfly.

Four things I enjoy very much in the moment:

1. caressing my cats


2. drinking coffee


3. reading a book that pleases me - did you notice? I didn't say a "good" book.. ;")


4. looking at the moon
   

Four songs I can't get out of my head:

1. Eartha Kitt: Just an old-fashioned girl


2. The Beatles: You have to hide your love away


3. The theme of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Ballet (my favourite melody - ever!)


4. Moustafa - gee, I LOVE that song. It is sooo funny!! I even can sing it by heart.. (though I am not that fast as the singer in this video..)

Four things you don't know about me:

1. If you didn't read this entry, you don't know that I have a crush on Vincent Price.


2. I am almost addicted to coffee.


3. I am obsessed with Marilyn Monroe/ Jack the Ripper/ sharks (esp. the shark attacks of 1916)/ crows...


4. I did not wear a wrist watch since the one my mother gave me was stolen.
   

Four Bloggers I am tagging:

1. Michelle from Everything has a simpler meaning


2. Jann from BOUQUET OF TULLE ROSES


3. Sari from The Pin Up Diaries


4. Marieke from Athyrium filix-femina (The Lady Fern)
   

Tag, you're it! Have fun with it! :")

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten books I'll never read

This is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish.

That is (again) quite hard to say - I've got to confess that I can't exclude that I'll read one or two of these books sometime in future but right now I will not read them and have no intention to.

In no particular order my top ten are there is:

1. Michel Houellebecq: Les Particules élémentaires ( Engl. title : Atomised)
2. Dan Brown: The Da Vinci Code
3. Brett Easton Ellis: American Psycho
4. Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight series [Sorry, but no, thanks. Again: sorry, folks! - or: girls?? ;"p]
5. Natascha Kampusch: 3096 Tage (=3,096 Days) [too tough for me.]
6. Stephen King: It [Yuck! clowns..]
7. Allan and Barbara Pease: Why Men don't Listen and Women can't read Maps [btw. my sister and I can read maps -and my brother is a good listener - thank you very much, sexists.]
8. Günter Grass: Im Krebsgang (Engl. title: Crabwalk) [- no NO-list without him.. I positively won't read any book by him soon. I hated The Tin Drum! - quite sexist, too.]
9. Jodi Picoult: My sister's keeper [err.. no.]
10. Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf (Engl.: My struggle) [- Do have I to explain that? Though I admit that it would interest me - but that would be a post of its own: why I am interested in it while at the same time it would disgust me..]

How about you?

Link to marvellous giveaway!!

Allie of A Literary Odyssey is doing a giveaway, which you can join here .

Good luck! (I found it rather hard to pick just 7 favourite books - which is one requirement.)

And tons of fun for everyone who is participating on todays 24h Read-A-Thon!!

The ole hootie owl hootie-hoo's...

THE MOONFLOWER VINE by Jetta Carleton (1962) is a rereleased best-seller.

The story beginns in the 1950ies in rural Missouri when Leonie, Mary Jo and Jessica are again spending the summer at the farm of their parents. It devolps to a retrospect from different views of the parent's youth to the adolescence of the girls in the 1930ies.

A delightfully easeful book with a plot that drags unagitated - I really enjoyed that! Just a relaxed reading - maybe you have to work a bit in the beginning till you finaly can relax - but that will happen really fast.

My grandmother and my grandaunt (and me) loved that book. My mother was bored to death. You may decide for yourself - but do I have to mention that? ;")

Schmooze:

THE MOONFLOWER VINE was a bestseller in Germany in 1964 (No.1 actually!) - then it was named WENN DIE MONDWINDEN BLÜHEN. The German rerelease is called WENN DIE MONDBLUMEN BLÜHEN - both means "When the moonflowers bloom" ("Mondwinden" is the biological correct translation of moonflowers "Mondblumen" is the verbatim correct version.)

Side-effect:

If you read this book in the bath tub (guess who did that..) you may risk that your feet start to shrivel. No, I WON'T post photographic proof. You just have to believe me. :")

Drinks anyone?

Drink something really mild and unperilous like lemonade. I don't know about you, but when I was child mineral water with fruit sirup was heaven for us (when we had ice cubes too it was really glamourous) and this book made me feel nostalgic so my perfect drink for this reading is squeaking gaudy and sickly sweet.

When I was a child Tammy was broadcasted in TV again. The German title of the series was "Tammy - Das Mädchen vom Hausboot" (= the girl of the houseboat). I loved that song - and I do love it today. Then I was determinend to live on a houseboat like Tammy did. I was totally in love with that girl. Even her name was the prettiest I ever heard.. And in november the TV series will be released as a DVD box in Germany!!! *yay* Gee - do I hope it is as lovely as I have it in my memory.. ;")

"I want to thank my mother.." ;")

Bev (if I am right she is my one and only follower so far) awarded this blog with the ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD! I mean: All over sudden this blog received an award. That's stunning. It is the first award I've ever received in blogzone. Now I feel pretty important. :")

And here it is:

Cute, isn't it?

With this award came some rules:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog along with the name of the person who awarded it along with a link to their blog.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have recently discovered.

3. Contact those bloggers and let them know they've been chosen.


So, now I have to name 15 blogs I like and I want to get an award.. That's very difficult, because the blogs have to be "recently discovered" - I think I'll start with this blogs - and maybe add some more later - btw they are in NO particular order:


1950s Unlimited - a lovely page with awesome posts..

Athyrium filix femina (The Lady Fern) - whose blog title is only one marvellous thing about this blog..

Bouquet of Tulle Roses - Jann finds awesome pics! And is a very sweet lady - as far as I can say..

Quote Mistress - a blog by Bev, which is really great

Hollywood Hobbies - Jen adores Ida Lupino. And so do I..

Ketty - just beautiful

She is too fond of books - Whitney has the marvellous Femme Fatale Friday! *yay* And she is a Janeite AND Bette Davis fan!! (!!!!!!)

Vintage Lesbian Project - a lovely lady with a lovely project

Vintage in a modern world - be sure to read the post about the Mad Hatter Tea Party!!! - Awesome!!

(wahaha! I L O V E that song!!) Thank you very much for the opportunity to post it!! ;")

Top Ten Tuesdays - Top Ten Authors

It is a weekly meme from The Broke and the Bookish

I just give the Top Ten Tuesdays a try - and here are my finals (in no particular order)

• Elizabeth Edmondson
  


• Jane Austen
  


• Sarah Waters
  


• P.G. Wodehouse
  


• James M. Cain
  


• Grace Metalious
  


• Dorothy Parker
  


• Irmgard Keun
  


• Erich Kästner
  


• Daphne Du Maurier
  

How about you? (who and where ever you are..)

Take good care of my baby

A narrow little thriller: MISCHIEF (1950) by Charlotte Armstrong.

In a nutshell:

Mr. and Mrs. Jones are invited to an important dinner and leave their 9-year old daughter Bunny in their hotelroom. With Bunny stays babysitter Nell, whose uncle Eddie - the lift operator - arranged this job for her.
At the same time Jed - a young man, who resides in the same hotel - has a brawl with his girlfriend Lyn and after their seperation he spots Nell in the hotelroom vis-à-vis and looks forward to have a chance to reduce his anger in a more cushy way. He grabs a bottle of ryeand the evening could become really nice - if Nell wasn't mentally disordered and dangerous..

Really exciting - and a quick read - no wonder: ca. 200 pages aren't that much. Charlotte Armstrong foreshadows before she starts describing what really happens - so that an enormous suspense can be established - or not, that depends on your own sensation.. ;")

• Celebration!: Whiskey (Rye) or Cola. A little candy and you are in game..
• For non-readers: 1951 the book was adapted to the screen with my heroine Marilyn Monroe - guess what made me read this book.. The movie was named DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK - the minor characters were melted down and Nells backround story was changed a bit - but the story is still thrilling. And: Yes, Marilyn Monroe was able to be mean. :") You can read my film review here.
• Schmooze: The German title of the book is SCHLAFE MEIN KINDCHEN (lit.= "Sleep my little child")