This is a list of all the books I've been reading over the twelve months of the year 2007.
I've listed the title in the language I've read the book, the author, the English title or a translation if necessary as well as a short summary. Below the summary you can see how I liked the book; five stars are the best, zero the worst.
Margit Bräuer (ed.): Russische Weihnachtsgeschichten (Russian Christmas Stories)
This is a selection of Russian Christmas stories from authors of the 19th and 20th century, like the famous Fyodor Dostoyevsky to the less known Vladimir Korolenko. They tell about balls of the aristocrats, the simple festivities of the poor and everything that surrounds the days of Christmas.
Peter Høeg: Reise in ein dunkles Herz (Journey Into A Dark Heart)
Two stories about one date and one topic, love and its conditions: Mathematician David Rehn is witness to the opening ceremony of the railway in central Africa. Afterwards he gets on the train with other guests but the turn events take in the next hours, could have never been predicted. || A meeting with a woman and a mirror that is another but normal change the life of one man completely, forever.
Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori: Das Buch der Namen (The Book of Names)
Ever since a childhood accident in which he was nearly killed, David Shepherd is getting plagued by headaches. With them he keeps remembering names, he feels the urge to write down. To find out what they mean he even goes as far as hypnosis and contacting a Rabbi. And suddenly he's fearing for his life. As it seems the names are part of the Jewish legend of the Lamed Vovniks - in every generation there 36 pure souls that keep the world from ending. Catastrophes are hitting the earth and only three of the Lamed Vovniks are still alive, the others killed by the Gnoseos. David is the only one know knows the names and only he can stop the world from ending.
Thomas Thiemeyer: Medusa
Hannah Peters discovers mysterious rock drawings in the middle of the Sahara. At the same place is also the sculpture of a Medusa, awesomely beautiful and powerful. As it seems it all has been created by a people no longer existing. Together with a team of the National Geographic Society she follows a trail to Niger. There they find a Medusa temple and in it an even more mysterious rock in the shape of a Medusa head.
Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason: The Rule of Four
The present is anything but an easy time for Tom Sullivan. He's about to graduate and similarly haunted by his father's violent death. The man dedicated his life to the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a book of mystery and treasure. Tom and his friend Paul are also becoming obsessed with the book. But the more they learn, the dangerous they live; a diary appears and a fellow researcher is killed.
Italo Calvino: Wenn ein Reisender in einer Winternacht (If on a Winter's Night a Traveler)
The main protagonists of the book are the author and the reader himself as they go through reading a novel. A quest to read a book, which is easier said than done. In the first book, chapter one isn't followed by chapter two due to a printing error; in the second book coer and content don't fit. The quest goes on to find at least one book to finish reading.
Jed Rubenfeld: The Interpretation of Murder
It's 1909 when Sigmund Freud arrives in New York along with some friends. At the same time a debutante is found dead. When another debutante is found - she luckily still alive - Freud and his American disciple are called to help. The young woman has apparently lost her memory due to her ordeal. However, nothing seems as easy as it fist appears to be.
David Monagan: Irrwitziges Irland (Jaywalking with the Irish)
Many dream of starting fresh in a new country. For David Monagan, his wife and three children the dream came true; they moved to Ireland. It takes them a lot of willpower, courage and strength to deal with all the obstacles thrown their way and get accepted. However, they also find a community spirit with their new neighbors and friends making all the struggle worth it.
A. J. Jacobs: The Know-It-All
Reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica seems crazy? Well, Joacobs did just that, all 33,000 pages of it, over the course of several months. As a kid, he used to think he was the world's smartest person. Now, as a grown-up he wants to actually become that, or at least get a knowledge of decent facts. During his journey from A to Z he shares articles, facts and other little things from the EB, sometimes weird, sometimes mind-boggling but always fun.
Robert Louis Stevenson: Dr. Jekyll und Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Mr. Utterson, a lawyer, tells the story of his friend Dr. Jekyll and the fearsome Mr. Hyde. A creature, small and evil, frightens London with his diabolic actions. Everyone who looks at him, immediately feels an utter abhorrence. Mr. Utterson learns that it's the illusive Mr. Hyde and sets on finding out how this man could be connected to his friend. The truth is nothing less than frightening.
Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
Bella comes to the small town of Forks to live with her father. Reluctantly so, as the place is known for constant rain and humidity and she loves the sun. On her first day at school she notices five strange people -- they're remarkably beautiful, mysterious and outsiders. Especially one of them, Edward, catches her attention. Inevitably she's falling for him. Despite the fact that he keeps warning her of himself, she doesn't stay away. Not even as she learns his darkest secret -- he and his family are vampires. And Edward returns her feelings, just as he craves her blood. He isn't the greatest danger to her life, though.
Lyn Hamilton: Das keltische Labyrinth (The Celtic Riddle)
Lara McClintoch accompanies her friend Alex Stewart to Ireland. They take the trip not only for holiday purposes but also because he is going to attend the reading of the will of an old acquaintance. Soon it becomes clear that the actual will contains a riddle that's supposed to bring the family back together. Lara can't help but start working on solving the riddle. Only a short while later, a dead body turns up endangering everyone connected with the family.