Paul S in 2020 plus 1 - second thread

I am
... a Christian
... a widower (since 4 years)
... a librarian
... a father of three
... a grandfather of one
... Swiss
I do
... reading almost everything
... photographing
... hiking
... not anymore work in a library (60%)
... not anymore work in a Caritas grocery shop for people with low income (35%)
I have
... a beard
... a house
... two water turtles
... a cat
... too many books
... no car
... relatives who did serve in the armies of Switzerland, USA and South Korea
I did
... work (part time) in libraries in Aarau, Zürich, Baden, Basel, Bettingen, Riehen, Nashville TN, Šiauliai Lithuania, Vienna Austria
... hike (more than one day) in Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein, Wales, England, Italy, Austria, Israel, South Korea
in 2021 I do
... read
... photograph gravestones for findagrave.com
... wear a mask
... take care of my grand child
... hike in Switzerland

I did retire in June

LaRoche Company was celebrating 125 years 'of improving life' in Basel. They recently finished their second tower and now used the main tower for a 'Tower Light Projection'. The people of Basel were also invited to send their pictures, 'Celebrate Moments — inspired by Basel' was the theme. Me, too, I did send in a picture which was 'thrown' unto that tower.




a big boat passing by


a small boat passing by

my picture

books I read so far
1) Geheimnis um einen nächtlichen Brand : 1. Erlebnis der 6 Spürnasen by Enid Blyton
2) 120, Rue de la Gare : Krimi aus Paris ; Nestor Burma ermittelt by Léo Malet
3) Nessie needs new glasses by A. K. Paterson
4) Korea, Korea : ein Fotoprojekt by Dieter Leistner
5) Das Zauberpferd : Roman by Magdalen Nabb
6) Krähensommer : Incis erster Fall by Brigitte Glaser
7) Basel und die Goldküste, das heutige Ghana by Gustaf Adolf Wanner
8) Im Schwarm : Ansichten des Digitalen by Byung-Chul Han
9) Der Ringkampf : Roman by Buchi Emecheta
10) Das falsche Urteil by Håkan Nesser
11) Schwarzer Tee mit drei Stück Zucker by Renan Demirkan
12) Wo ist Alma? : Incis zweiter Fall by Brigitte Glaser
13) Der Oberamtmann und der Amtsrichter by Jeremias Gotthelf
14) Jesus ist Sieger by Georg Tischhauser
15) Madame le Commissaire und der Tod des Polizeichefs : Kriminalroman by Pierre Martin
16) Didl dadl dudl dam dam dim by Peter Zundel
17) Bittersüsse Schokolade : mexikanischer Roman um Liebe, Kochrezepte ... by Laura Esquivel
18) Die Flüsse von London : Roman by Ben Aaronovitch
19) Das Eisenbahnunglück zu Münchenstein, 14. Juni 1891 by Karl Löliger
20) She by H. Rider Haggard
21) Der Gefangene von Magdala : Johann Martin Flad's Leben und Arbeit für Abessinien by Friedrich Flad
22) Stadt Lörrach 1914-1918 : Den gefallenen Mitbürgern gewidmet
23) Bell canto : ein Graz Krimi by Heinz Auernig
24) Glück ist Gold by Linda Wolfsgruber
25) Herrengasse : Kriminalroman by Silvia Götschi
26) Küss mich Frosch : eine Geschichte by Linda Wolfsgruber
27) Schwarzer Mond über Soho : Roman by Ben Aaronovitch
28) Wer ist eigentlich Paul? : Maries Tagebuch by Anette Göttlicher
29) Kains Opfer : Roman by Alfred Bodenheimer
30) Michael Argawi : ein mutiger Bekenner und Zeuge unter den Falascha in Abessinien by Friedrich Flad
31) Berühmte Gräber in Wien : von der Kapuzinergruft bis zum Zentralfriedhof by Clemens M. Gruber
32) Ein Elefant für Inspector Chopra : Kriminalroman by Vaseem Khan
33) Die Fanfare des Königs by Boris Zatko
34) Die kleine Hexe by Otfried Preussler
35) Tod im Pub : Kriminalroman by Ngaio Marsh
36) Dr Uhrimacher : (Herti Chöpf) ; Mundart-Schauspiel in 3 Akten by Otto Wolf
37) Die Burg der Abenteuer by Enid Blyton
38) Ein Fall für Alfons Maulwurf by Martin Crone
39) Nora und die fliegende Tanne : eine Geschichte by Kazuyuki Kitamura
40) Ice Candy Man : Roman by Bapsi Sidhwa
41) Der rote Seidenschal by Federica De Cesco
42) Erweckung hinter Gittern : ein argentinisches Hochsicherheitsgefängnis wird auf den Kopf gestellt by Michael Richardson
43) Kühn hat zu tun : Roman by Jan Weiler
44) Nicht einmal einen Hund besass er : Geschichten by Achim Parterre
45) 金剛山 Chin-kang-shan : keum gang san ; die Diamantberge Koreas by Paul Klautke
46) Der lange Weg zum Wasser : eine wahre Geschichte by Linda Sue Park
47) Der Tote trägt Hut : ein Thailand-Krimi by Colin Cotterill
48) Wir essen keine Mitschüler by Ryan T. Higgins
49) Wie die Israelitische Gemeinde in Basel zu einem eigenen Friedhof gekommen ist by Salomon Bloch-Roos
50) Briefe aus Atlantis : Fantasy- Roman by Robert Silverberg
51) Gmeinschaftswärk Riehen-Bettingen : Sustainable Innovation Plan by Kerstin Engel
52) Ein Kopf macht noch keine Leiche : ein Thailand-Krimi by Colin Cotterill
53) Midnight at the Bright Ideas bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
54) Abraham kann nichts dafür : 66 neue Satiren by Ephraim Kishon
55) The tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter
56) Der Engel und das schwarze Herz by Eveline Hasler
57) Der arme Spielmann : Erzählung ; Pest 1848 by Franz Grillparzer
58) Bertrams Hotel : ein Miss-Marple-Krimi by Agatha Christie
59) Die dunklen Wasser von Arcachon : Kriminalroman by David Tanner
60) X : a Kinsey Millhone mystery by Sue Grafton
61) Zahltag in Kaisermühlen : ein Wiener Kriminalroman by Ernst Hinterberger
62) Der kleine Grenzverkehr, oder, Georg und die Zwischenfälle by Erich Kästner
63) Der Kabbalist vom East Broadway : Geschichten by Isaac Bashevis Singer
64) Der vierte König - ein Fall für Sherlock Holmes : historischer Kriminalroman by Stefan Winges
65) Pique-Dame. Das Fräulein als Bauernmädchen by Alexander Sergejewitsch Puschkin
66) Die Königin der Farben by Jutta Bauer
67) Vergessene Stimmen : ein Harry-Bosch-Roman by Michael Connelly
68) Das Wenkenross : 12 Geschichten durchs Riehener Jahr by Hermann Schneider
69) The big four by Agatha Christie
70) Heinrich von Kleist, Der zerbrochne Krug : ein Lustspiel by Johannes Diekhans
71) Oma : die Geschichte von Kalle, der seine Eltern verliert und von seiner Grossmutter aufgenommen wird by Peter Härtling
72) Madame le Commissaire und das geheimnisvolle Bild : ein Provence-Krimi by Pierre Martin
73) Zwei Fremde im Zug : Roman by Patricia Highsmith
74) Christliche Symbolik : erster Theil by Wolfgang Menzel
75) Die Entstehung der Freien Evang. Gemeinden der Schweiz : mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Gemeinde Basel by Ernst Gilgen
76) Das Atelier in Paris : Roman by Guillaume Musso
77) Zeit für Gott : Führer für das Innere Gebet by Jacques Philippe
78) Der Wolfgottesacker in Basel by Anne Nagel
79) A pocket full of rye by Agatha Christie
80) Latin Lover : von Männern und Frauen by Donna Leon
81) Die Liebe wird uns leiten : Worte und Lieder des Grafen Zinzendorf by Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf
82) Steffis roter Luftballon : Geschichten für die Kleinsten by Irina Korschunow
83) Das Mädchen aus Brooklyn : Roman by Guillaume Musso
84) Der Hund, der zu träumen wagte : Roman by Sun-Mi Hwang
85) Hare, Baboon & their friends by Roger Harmon

>3 paulstalder: Very cool! I love the picture.

Happy new one!

Happy new thread, Paul

Happy new thread, Paul! I *love* the way you've structured your first post - very cool and clever!

Happy new thread, Paul!

>3 paulstalder: How nice that a picture from you was displayed at the Tower Light Projection.

Happy new thread.

>3 paulstalder: How lovely.

Happy new thread, Paul and thank ypu for the beautiful pictures - especially yours!

Happy new one, Paul and congrats on your picture.

Happy new thread, Paul!! I love your Tower picture! How cool is that? : )

Thanks everybody for coming here. I am still very much absorbed with my gravestone photography, that I neglected almosts everything else.

86) Aus einem Taxi kamen Bären by Dorothy Haas. Wendy, a lively schoolgirl, discovers two bears who move into a flat in her apartment house. They wait for a spaceship from the Big Bear to get them home to the planet of bears ... lovely children's story

87) Schnuddelbuddel baut ein Haus und Der Wandertag nach Paderborn by Janosch. Two children stories, Schnuddelbuddel builds a house with sooooo many rooms, the houses collapses in the end ... Another day Schnuddelbuddel plans a trip to Paderborn with his horse, but the horse is not so fit ...

88) Ein schönes Durcheinander : Konrads Geburtstag ; auch von hinten nach vorn zu blättern ; Pepsis Geburtstag by Günter Spang. A children's book about birthdays. The book can be read from both sides. Each page is cut into three parts: the part always says what somebody is doing (making something with paper, baking something, going someplace ... the second part has the object (cake, worms, paper dolls, birds, shoe shine ...) of the activity of the first part. The third part then tells the consequence/follow up of the story (brings something to the bank, eats everything, hides them, gets dirty/clean because of ...). Fun

89) In the company of cheerful ladies by Alexander McCall Smith. Mma Ramotswe finds a pumpkin in front of her house after a thief escaped without trousers from her house. She came home and lay down on her bed and her traditionally built body almost squashed the thief who was hiding under her bed ... a few small cases she has to solve, quiet life in Botswana.

90) Inspektor Jury küsst die Muse : Roman by Martha Grimes. Inspector Jury visits the Shakespeare festival in -Stratford-upon-Avon and has to investigate some murders of an American tourist group ...

Nice to see you doing plenty of reading Paul.

>19 PaulCranswick: thanks, Paul. I am doing many other things, so my reading is okay, there are some children's books among my reading.

statistics for October

pages, 5 books,

4 books were written in German, 1 in English, and 0 in Swiss German

nationalities: CH , D , GB , F , USA

dead , alive
male , female

oldest 19, newest 20 (book, my copy)
oldest 19, newest 20 (work, first published)

I added 0 bookmarks and books to my collections

91) Doppelmord per WhatsApp : Thriller by Yvette Kolb. Christiane P.H. is to interview a famous writer, Paul Heckendorn, for te local newspaper. And she falls totally in love to him. He then wants to form her into his avenging angel, killing his wife and her lover (Christiane's boss) ...
The mystery is based on whatsapp messages they write each other, in between are short descriptions of what each of the characters think. An interesting idea by this Basler author

>17 paulstalder: AMS (saves a lot of keystrokes!) is one of my favorite authors. His books (and there are a lot of them) are lovely, serene writing, and a good panacea for living in this world, don't you think?!

I am thankful for your thread--I follow you all the time, though I rarely pipe up.

Karen O.

>22 paulstalder: You've made me very curious about the book, Paul. I got it second-hand and will start it soon.
Have a wonderful Sunday!

92) Brandstifter : ein V. I. Warshawski Kriminalroman by Sara Paretsky. Vic's aunt shows up in the middle of night because the building she was renting a room in, was burnt down. Against her will Vic is investigating this arson and finds herself also left in a burning building ... a very complicated plot which I didn't fully entangle and Vic is not so likable in her bossy. Apart from her aunt she bullies everybody around

>23 klobrien2: Thanks for piping up, Karen. I didn't know the word 'panacea' - I first though it looks like a misspelling of 'pancake' :) . I like his writing, too.

>24 SirThomas: Hej Thomas, I like the idea of Kolb's book, but the out working could have been better, I guess. Have fun reading

pictures from my weekend in Aeschi bei Spiez (above Lake of Thun)

the beginning of the Blue Hour just after sunset


the Niederhorn and Beatenberg, the white stuff is the fog covering the whole valley of Thun and Interlaken, a sea of mist

the Beyeler Museum here in Riehen

some pictures of grave stones


with running nose and green face sitting on a grave ... (Füllinsdorf BL)


Noah's Arc as a grave stone for a child (Wolfgottesacker Basel BS)


Engel ohne Flügel nennt man "Mama" -- Angels without wings are called 'Mama' (Aeschi bei Spiez BE)

93) Bretonische Brandung : Kommissar Dupins zweiter Fall by Jean-Luc Bannalec. The dead men are found on a smaller island of the Glénan Islands, just off the coast of Brittany. Commissaire Dupin is sent out to investigate. It first looked like an accident during the stormy night, but more and more details point in another direction ... a mystery, but with a lot of descriptions and information about the islands

94) Ein ganz besonderer Fall : ein mittelalterlicher Krimi by Ellis Peters. A crusader, strongly marked by suffering, and his mute servant show up at the abbey in Shrewsbury. Now they are Benedictine monk. The former crusader wants also to learn what happened to his former fiancé he couldn't marry because he was severely injured on his crusade, but he learns that this lady just disappeared years ago ... Brother Cadfael thinks of betrayal and murder. Not so much a crime mystery, more a mystery of human behavior.

95) D'Fähri : e klei Notturno by Hermann Schneider. A play. Alice, the dauther of the ferryman on the Rhine, meets her lover Hans at night at the ferry. They discus life and love and see no sense in living and so talk about suicide ... a somewhat depressing play about the meaning of life and love



Hermann Schneider was redactor of the Schweizerische Beobachter. He wrote quite a number of plays (some were performed with some success) and stories in Basel German. Several years of his live he lived in a construction vehicle (kind of caravan) in Basel because he couldn't earn enough with his writing.

96) Der schwarze Jack by Heiner Gross. Rolf's Father has a valuable stamp collection which was stolen and the thief asks for money. The children Hans, Bärbel, Rolf and Fritz take on the case and are prepared to hand over the ransom to the thief - but only a tenth of the actual sum and so want to chase the thieves ... a fun read of this children's detective story.

statistics for November

1417 pages, 6 books,

5 books were written in German, 0 in English, and 1 in Swiss German

nationalities: CH 3, D 1, GB 1, F , USA 1

dead 3, alive 3
male 3, female 3

oldest 1934, newest 2020 (book, my copy)
oldest 1934, newest 2020 (work, first published)

I added 0 bookmarks and books to my collections

>26 paulstalder: You are right, Paul, but the idea and the illustrations are good ;-)
>27 paulstalder: - >29 paulstalder: Beautiful pictures, thank you Paul.
>30 paulstalder: I really enjoyed the first volume of the series.
Have a wonderful weekend, Paul!

>35 SirThomas: thanks for coming by, Thomas.
We had a very interesting day in our church about Thailand, and then Thai food from a local caterer, and today I met a couple in church from Indonesia who are doing further studies here in Basel/Riehen.

97) Sultan Hatschibum : Bilderbuch by Reiner Stolte. Sultan Hatschibum wants to have everything the best, the highest, the strongest, the busiest, the heaviest .... a children's story about wanting everthing better/more than the others, nice pictures, but forget the story

98) Die drei ??? und der Ameisenmensch by M. V. Carey. Justus gets attacked by a strange man who thought him to be a scarecrow.He searches for ants in the mountains. Justus, Peter and Bob then learn that the lady next door is afraid of scarecrows and and it seems that somebody is trying to frighten her away ... a fun read

99) Ich habe eine Ziege : Heitere Erzählung für Kinder by Josef Guggenmos. Susanne and Lisa live together in a house near the forest. One day, Zilli, the goat flees into the upper floor and wants to stay there. She can't go down stairs, she can only go up a stair, so the girls have to go out and buy a huge load of hay and put it under the window. The goat is so pleased that she runs up the stairs and jumps out of the window repeatedly ... a fun children book, good for telling stories

100) In the month of Kislev : a story for Hanukkah by Nina Jaffe. The three girls of the poor peddler Mendel were smelling latkes off the rich Feivel's kitchen window. And Feivel charges them with a fine ... a (children) story about Chanukka



I do some reading in the old people's home my wife used to work. Last Monday I told them this story and realized that they knew nothing about Chanukka, which started that day. But they became very interested in Jewish stories so I promised them to read some more Jewish stories today (and maybe next year).

Today I read from these stories:

- Der Golem von Prag by Micha Josef Berdyczewski
- Rabbi Mosche von Sawrany by Chajim Bloch
- Rabbi Chajim von Sandez by Chajim Bloch
- Gottes Sprache ist der Mensch by Elie Wiesel

101) Nebelmond by Petra Oelker. 14-year-old David is out at night near the Hamburger harbour and witnesses a fight between two men and then sees a body near a bench and then gets chased by another man. He runs to the nearest police station and reports the dead or injured man but when the police search the place they only find a drunkard snoring on the bench ... a short mystery with a teenage selfmade detective

>40 paulstalder: Hi Paul, Happy holidays!

That's so nice that you are reading stories about Jewish customs in the old people's home. Thank you for doing that. Are there any Jewish residents in that place?

By the way, have you ever tasted (or made) latkes? I love them, although I probably should not have lots of them as I'm supposed to be on a low fat diet. I like mine with applesauce, but many people prefer them with sour cream. I made them last Friday night when my family came over for dinner during Chanukah. My dad (now deceased, but who had been a cook in the U.S. army) used to make great latkes!

>41 paulstalder: Elie Wiesel...such an inspiring, good man he was. One of my heroes.

>43 SqueakyChu: Hej Madeleine
no, there are no Jewish residents there, as far as I know. Well, I would have to ask but since there are 84 rooms (some rooms with couples) and only 10 people do come to the reading activity, I really don't know much about the residents. I just started to go there.

I went to the Jewish publishers here in Basel (Goldstein) and talked with the owner (?) about chanukka and how the Jews in Basel celebrate the festivities. It was an interesting talk. I was told that playing games at holidays is much more common in Israel than here in Switzerland.

And I still wonder why switching on a light or speaking with hands is considered work but throwing a dice is not ...

I did make latkes myself. The Swiss Rösti is quite similar (without egg)

Since the story is about the smell of latkes, I made some myself and brought them with me in order for the residents to get some idea. 'That's Rösti' was the main reaction ...

Most legends/fairy tales I got from Pinchas Sadeh

Switching on a light is like lighting a fire. Something is being changed. I'm not sure what you mean by "speaking with hands" as work.

Well, throwing dice is allowed, but that's not what we do. We play the game of draydel.

Ooooh! Your Swiss Rösti look quite good. I'd eat them. Do you put anything on top of them?

That is so cool that you made the Swiss Rösti when you read the stories! What a fun activity for those folks! What a nice activity for you as well! How do all of you stay safe now in the time of covid?

Tonight I made a new recipe for Kugel. Do you know what that is? It's a very Jewish food. You can take that for people to taste when you read another set of stories! Kugel is sweet noodle pudding. Most people make it dairy-based, but I like mine non-dairy so I can also serve it with or after meat. Today I found a recipe for Pineapple Lokshen Kugel. Lokshen is the Yiddish word for noodles, and Kugel is the Yiddish word for pudding. This recipe came from the Chabad calendar for 2021 (but the Hebrew year actually ended in September before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year).

Here's the recipe if you want to try it. It's very easy. It can be served with a dairy brunch, but my husband, who usually won't eat it, liked it as a dessert after tonight's meal. :D

---------------------------

Pineapple Lokshen Kugel
Serves 12

1 pkg. 12-oz. wide egg noodles
6 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil, but usually use safflower oil)
1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple (with juices)
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. Cook and drain noodles. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into the baking pan. You can sprinkle the top of it with more cinnamon and sugar before baking it, if you want. Bake for 35 minutes or more, uncovered, until top becomes crispy and slightly browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

---------------------

I thought it came out great, but I'm a sucker for anything sweet! :D

---------------------

On another topic, my husband and I paid a nice visit to a local library with our three-year-old granddaughter. It was practically empty because of covid, but there were all kinds of things for her to do. I read her a story about dressing a frog to go out and play in the cold, and there was a toy frog complete with clothes to dress it. There was a kitchen corner, and a doll house corner. There was also a station in which she could glue eyes, clothing, and accessories onto her paper "friend". She had so much fun doing this that afterward I wrote a thank you note to the librarians.

I bet you miss working at the library now, don't you? I feel like a librarian as I am busy with books going in and out of my Little Free Library every day. That is so much fun and makes me happy in these troubled times.

If I don't get back to your thread in time, have a merry Chistmas and a happy New Year. Thanks for your friendship here on LT.

>45 SqueakyChu: Thanks Madeleine, for coming over to my thread, thanks for being a friend.

Just a short note before I'm off to another cemetery ...
Friends who are deaf told me, that they were not allowed to talk with their hands in the synagogue on the sabbath.
Dice: sorry, I meant dreidel, but it's a similar action: something is changed, energy is transferred

'Preheat oven to 400 degrees' - better not, that would burn down my house :)

I will try the recipe later but first I will have to translate the measures...

I wish you and your family a quiet and meaningful Christmas time.

I think you are confusing the rules of Chanukkah with the rules of Shabbat (or vice versa). Shabbat prohits work, but Chanukah does not prohibit work. Chanukah lasts eight days. Shabbat comes once a week on Saturday (starting Friday evening and ending Saturday evening). If one of the days of Chanukah falls on Shabbat, then work is prohibited on that particular day only.

We do light Chanukah candles every evening of the holiday with the following rules. The candles on Chanukah are lit after dark EXCEPT for Friday evening. We light the Chanukah candles on that evening before the Shabbat candles (so as not to light them on Shabbat). For very religious Jews, they would not play draydel on Shabbat, perhaps because they would not want to gamble, but more likely because they would not handle money. They will eat latkes, though, although those were prepared before Shabbat and kept warm. :D

Friends who are deaf told me, that they were not allowed to talk with their hands in the synagogue on the sabbath.

That's just weird! Maybe because it is a distraction from prayer, but I know of no religious law that would prohibit such a thing. This scenario reminds me of when I was a kid, and someone would always walk around shushing the mothers who didn't know Hebrew so instead of praying, they would talk to each other. I can still hear them in my mind, going "Ssshhh! Ssssh!!! Sssshh!!" :D

Preheat oven to 400 degrees' - better not, that would burn down my house :)

LOL! I hope not!

Thank you for your good wishes, Paul. We will not be joining anyone in Jose's family for Christmas festivities this year because I am still very afraid of covid (delta is still huge, but omicron is now looming) and prefer not to be inside of a crowded household. Christmas eve comes on Friday evening this year so we'll be home celebrating Shabbat with a nice dinner! :)

Just catching up to say hello, Paul and hoping that all is well in your beautiful part of the world.

>47 SqueakyChu: Hej Madeleine
ah sorry, you're right, I mixed Chanukka with Sabbath

Talking with hands is regarded as writing and therefore forbidden on a Sabbath.

There were some people (about a third) tested positive in the old people's home I do the reading - and they were all vaccinated twice. So no reading or other activities with people from the outside during the holidays. Visitors have to make a test even when vaccinated. My son works there, and he will work during the Christmas holidays, twice a week he has to get tested.

I did add the whole list of the Jewish community of Baden AG to findagrave https://de.findagrave.com/cemetery/2707904/israelitischer-friedhof-baden

I am still very much involved in gravestone photography and still a few thousands pix to edit ...

My daughter and grand child are away for Christmas, at her in-laws' place. So we will meet again on 27th December, but then my son is still working ...I will meet my mother and sister next year, we planned to come together on the 2nd January 2022. My older daughter is also quite busy, so it will a rather quiet Christmas for me this year..

>48 PaulCranswick: Hej Paul, great to see you here.
I still hope to come to Malaysia one day, to see that beautiful part of the world, too. We had friends in Sabah who showed us pictures from there.

Have a lovely holiday, Paul.

Happy Holidays Paul!

"Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain."
Zig Ziglar

With you and the group life is like a dance class - thank you.
I wish you and yours all the best in theese days and Merry Christmas!

>51 PaulCranswick: thanks, Paul, that picture really looks relaxing, I like the knitted coat for the mug

>52 quondame: the whole world in one lamp - thanks for the world, Susan

>53 SirThomas: hej Thomas, dancing in the rain is fine, as long as you have a dry place to stay. So I wish you a good, warm place for drying after the rain

102) Das Ende vom Lied : Kriminalroman by Alfred Bodenheimer. Rabbi Klein travels home to Zürich by train, but the train's route was diverted because of a suicide attempt at a train station. Later he learned that the person killed was a lady from his community. Then the police started to investigate and interrogated Klein's wife because she had an argument in a restaurant with that lady and threatened her ... an interesting mystery, intertwined with letters quoted by a konzentrationslager survivor often quoting the Song of Songs. It reminded me of Rabbi Small by Harry Kemelman.

103) Wie ich meine Grossmutter erlebte : Jubiläumsausgabe 100 Jahre Reformierter Frauenverein Riehen by Monika Largiadèr-Linder. A biography of Monika's grandmother. Named Grosli, the grandmother was always there for many grandchildren and nieces, well all relatives. She lived in a big house in Herisau (Appenzell Ausserrhoden) at the beginning of the 20gth century. A busy life, taking care of the children, preparing all the food for strong winters, listening to all the children, and helping them along with their questions, based on a strong trust in God that everything works out to his plan.



Monika's father became Pastor of the Reformed Church here in Riehen

104) Porträt eines Gentlemans : zwei Geschichten by W. Somerset Maugham. Two stories: The first tells about a gentleman who is on boat trip and knows everything, really annoying ... The second relates the finding of a book about playing poker ... short read

105) Spiel mit dem Tod : Kommissär Ferrari by Anne Gold. A woman comes to Kommissär Ferrari and tells him, that she thinks that her husband is planning his suicide. Ferrari talks to this man and sees danger. But then the following day he jumps off a building - with a local tv crew to document everything ... an interesting mystery about the hunt of the media for horror stories, so called 'real life' stories

106) Das verspeiste Buch : eine Geschichte by Franz Hohler. The narrator's great grandfather walks to Basel (ages ago) to the yearly fair. In the evening he goes to restaurant for his meal. His eyesight is pretty weak and therefore orders 'Schüblig mit Buchbrot' (sausage with book bread) instead 'Ruchbrot' (brown bread, whole grain bread). The cook and the waiter want to have their fun and cook a book and serve that, but the greatgrandfather (much younger then) starts to eat page by page and declares that with each page he is digesting, he learns the contents of the book, and since that book on the plate is an Italian cooking book, he is learning perfect Italian, when challenged he gives the proper Italian translation (well, he didn't know any Italian) ... a humorous tale of a man who was reversing the joke made on him, fun read



I did read that in the seniors' home, which the people enjoyed, but Hohler's style using very few full stops made the reading slightly more difficult

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year, Paul.

>60 PaulCranswick: thanks, Paul. that's a good idea for a picture.
Wish you all the best for 2022

107) Der Tanz im versunkenen Dorf by Franz Hohler. Conradin is fishing in a lake in the Alps. He doesn't catch any fish but suddenly he pulls a little man out of the water. This is one of the water spirits living in these lakes. He invites Conradin to visit their dance this night at the bottom of the lake. Conradin promises to come ... a nice children's book

108) Jesus predigen - nicht irgendwas! by Wilhelm Busch. The basics of preaching should always be the person Jesus Christ and his dealings for mankind, and the preacher has to take care of the audience. He uses the apostle Paul's sermons in Acts to show how Paul preached differently in different situations. ... a short and easy read essay about homiletics (written in the mid1930s in Germany).

109) König Salomos Honigurteil : Märchen und Legenden der Juden by Pinchas Sadeh. A huge collection of legends and fairy tales from the Jews, mostly from Yiddishland. Very interesting reading

statistics for December

1753 pages, 13 books,

12 books were written in German, 1 in English, and in Swiss German

nationalities: CH 4, D 4, GB 1, USA 2, Israel 1

dead 6, alive 6
male 7, female 4, pseudonym 1

2 books by Franz Hohler

oldest 1976, newest 2015 (book, my copy)
oldest 1930, newest 2015 (work, first published)

I added 0 bookmarks and 11 books to my collections

Happy reading 2022

>62 paulstalder: I liked that one very much. I bought it for my daughters when it was released.

Wishing you and your family a safe, healthy and happy New Year, Paul.