Book Order on Amazon
"Der Prozess" by Franz Kafka [The Trial]
We have a copy at home and I already read it once, but as so often, neither me nor my father remembers where it could be and I will be needing it for school at some point this or next year, so I'm getting it now while I'm ordering. I don't recall much of the plot for some reason and I don't remember when exactly I read it, but I'm almost totally sure that I read it at some point. And I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it, so as I'll be reading it in class, I'd like to re-read it before like I always do. Yes, I have strange habits when it comes to reading and school, but I partially blame my family for it.
"Die Verwandlung" by Franz Kafka [The Metamorphosis]
Upon mentioning to my parents that I would be reading Kafka at school, my father got up from the table, ran down the stairs to his office and came back with "Das Schloss" [The Castle] saying that I needed to read that and "Die Verwandlung" which he knows he had at some point but it was a very old softcover and he threw it out when we moved, so he and AC kept telling me that when ordering books, I HAD TO get this one. She went as far as to try and get me to read it in Portuguese but I am not reading a book that was originally written in German in Portuguese, especially not because I'm not a huge fan of the Portuguese language and the only real book I ever read was bullshit.
"Macbeth" by William Shakespeare
A few years ago I read "Much Ado 'Bout Nothing" and found it quite enjoyable and very entertaining that even back then I felt more comfortable reading it in English than in German. For some very odd reason, I understood less of the story when reading it in German, something I haven't figured out till today, but I guess I'll never figure it out. Talking to Bernd Müller, my spiritual leader in all things literature, we got into a conversation about books and he ranked the world's three greatest poets: #1 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; #2 William Shakespeare; #3 Friedrich Schiller. He asked me if I had ever read any of Shakespeare's dramas and when I denied, he recomended Macbeth.
"I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League" / "Formerly Known As The Justice League" by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire
Something light and fun for a change. A trade with fun characters, many good laughs, cool art ... Well, compared to the rest of the list that only contains pretty heavy-loaded books as well as JRRT's masterwork that my father describes as "entertaining" but not a great piece of literature... Anyway, I always wanted to read these two stories, so I figured: Why not now?
"Hundert Jahre Einsamkeit" by Gabriel García Márquez [One Hundred Years of Solitude]
My mother, my aunt and my dad agree on something for once: This is the best book that has been written in the twentieth century. I saw it at a little stand in Olmue and remembered how the three of them praised it individually and bought it. I read it and thought it was okay, but not spectacular, except for the end maybe. Herr Krizan told me to give it another shot or two, and so it became the book I'm presenting in Literature class. I looked at it in my dad's office but didn't find it because everytime he buys it, he ends up giving it to someone for them to read and so he doesn't have a copy, so I have to order it. Maybe a decent copy instead of the one I bought adds to the books and I'm reading it in German and was told by quite a few people that the German translation is very, very good.
"Michael Kohlhaas" by Heinrich von Kleist
There are some things my parents agree on, one of them being that you should own the books you read, even if they are books you're going to read at school where most of them are provided and you seldom have to buy them yourself. But well, my father considers "Kohlhaas" a book worth having and was about to spoil the whole plot, so it's on my list (and because it was a cheap softcover). Another book I can read before we actually read it at school because as I figured out some time ago I'm not able to read a book strictly for school.
"Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder" by Bertholt Brecht [Mother Courage and her Children]
Having read this book at school and this being one of the very first plays he saw, my father developped a special affinity for this book and although he likes the book by Brecht we are reading at school, he thinks we should be reading "Mutter Courage" instead. He talked about it so passionately and for once he didn't spill half of the plot like he tends to when talking about a book he enjoyed reading which means that he enjoyed it very, very, very much and even though I don't always enjoy the books he is completely passionate about, there are some I love, too. So, I'll read this one as well although my reading pile is growing larger and larger, probably because my father added many books to it, some of them being in a pile in my room, some I'm to get.
"The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien
I have the whole story in a hardcover on one of my over-filled shelves but it's in German and if I'm going to give it a second try and (re-)read it, it will have to be in English, not only because I think that most books that are hard to read in German are more readable in English.