German books I want to read in 2020

My TBR for the #ReadGermanBooks2020 reading challenge.
LINKS:
Mel's Bookland Adventures: • Video
Britta Böhler: • Announcement: Read Ger...
Goodreads group: / reading-german-books-i...
BOOKS MENTIONED:
Frank Schätzing: Der Schwarm (The Swarm)
Andreas Steinhöfel: Die Mitte der Welt (The Centre of the World)
Irmgard Keun: Das kunstseidene Mädchen (The Artificial Silk Girl)
Birgit Hermann: Die Glasmacherin
Dörte Hansen: Altes Land (This House is Mine)
Jenny Erpenbeck: Gehen, ging, gegangen (Go, Went, Gone)
Michael Ende: Die Zauberschule und andere Geschichten
Sabine Ebert: Meister der Täuschung
Bertold Brecht: Gedichte (poems)
Alina Bronsky: Die schärfsten Gerichte der tatarischen Küche (The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine)
Martin Suter: Lila, Lila
Christof Weiglein: Das Keltenritual
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[@sweet_t_reads]

I love this. I only speak English, but I love to see people from other countries embracing there culture and books that are written in their language. I am sad that I will not be able to experience reading those books (unless there is an english translation) but I still get enjoyment hearing others talk about what these books are about.

[@carinaonitsirc]

I think this is amazing! Probably I've only read one or two books by German authors. There's no particular reason for that, but I feel like English speaking authors end up dominating literature nowadays. Everyone knows and talks about them and they end up getting more attention. And this influences my (/our) reading choices, since I recognize that most of the books I read are from English or American authors (and I'm not even from these countries). But reading a book allows us to travel to other places and I really want to see more, so I'm going to keep an eye on your reviews of these books you're planning to read. Maybe I'll increase my German literature knowledge this way! Thank you 😊

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Even when I go book shopping in Germany, it's hard to find novels that aren't translated from English.

[@TamaynIrraniah]

Ich freue mich auf Ihre Video! Ich habe in so lange nicht auf Deutsch gelesen, und mit das Ende des Schuljahres möchte ich beginnen. Danke schön für Ihre guten Rat.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Viel Erfolg beim Lesen deutscher Literatur :D

[@Biokamikaetzchen]

'Das Traumfresserchen' is/was my favourite book, when I was little and I still have the picture book I got from my granny 😊

[@SpinstersLibrary]

That's amazing, I love bookish heirlooms.

[@lydiadugan8368]

I would recommend The Budenbrooks and The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Both are real German classics.

[@agw4877]

Der Spiegel im Spiegel is one of my favourite books! It’s also by Michael Ende, and also a short story collection, though not for children. It’s very different from the other stuff of his, because it’s sort of surreal, and I’ve never heard anyone talk about it before. I did read a Spanish translation, but I would like to know what you think☺️

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I've not heard of it, but am intrigued! I've only ever read his books for children

[@KeiraAndGeo]

Oh, es ist schön, dich über deutsche Bücher reden zu hören (auch wenn ich quasi nur Der Schwarm und Altes Land schon mal gesehen habe und nichts davon gelesen). Zuletzt sah ich Altes Land aber in einem Best-Books-of-2019 video, da wurde es SEHR sehr gelobt und die Autorin mit Celeste Ng verglichen. Warum die Deutschen so excited sind, wenn es um historische Romane und (lokale) Kriminalromane geht, wird mir wohl ewig ein Rätsel bleiben. Muss aber auch sagen, dass ich, dadurch dass es hierzulande so populär und omnipräsent in Buchläden ist, auch (bestimmt zu unrecht) manchen Werken aus diesem Genre gar keine Chance gebe, obwohl es da ganz sicher auch gems gibt!!

[@merletwowildsymphonies1836]

I adored Altes Land, mostly because I am from the region it is talking about and I found the characters to be so true to the type of people that live there. It also briefly touches on the realities of being a music educator which I connected to on a very personal level. I'll be looking forward to hearing what you think about it!

[@alexiarichardson651]

Martin Suter has a special place in my heart as the first German(language - obviously he's Swiss) author I was able to read for fun, without looking up every other word. I haven't read that one although I've read probably about 10 of his books. I also enjoyed Gehen, ging, gegangen.

[@MarcDyllan]

Cool list! I'll be joining, planing on reading 1-5 german books this year. They are all gunna be classics, with maybe one exception. I'd read Magic Mountain, but I'm still in Uni, and I'm a coward, haha. Taking a look at my colleges library there are a few of his novels that seem more manageable _Joseph und seine Brüder_ and _Königliche Hoheit_ for example (no I don't read German, in fact they will be in Portuguese, which kinda breaks my heart not being able to read in the orginal). Hermann Hesse is another thats on my radar was well, _Der Steppenwolf_ would be up next, though _Unterm Rad_ about a student from the Black Forest sounds interesting! Goethe is always great definetly gunna read _Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre_ no idea if its any good but the topics is seems interesting and Faust part I and _Die Leiden des jungen Werthers_ have some of my favorite prose so I'm sure its great! Maybe Nietzsche _Die fröhliche Wissenschaft_ is philosophy is horribly immoral, but his writing is sublime Perhaps Erich Maria Remarque. _Im Westen nichts Neues_ was great, really need to read more of his stuff Kafka is also a good choice, not sure what though There are two more contemporary-ishy authors I found on my library's web page (after googling German authors) that I might try: Siegfried Lenz _Schweigeminute_ and Heirich Böll, _Ende einer Dienstfahrt_ I wish there were more women authors but non of the ones Mel and Britta mentioned are available, Hannah Arendt is a option however on the non fiction side

[@erinh7450]

I'm apparently really late to the party, as this seems to be last year's TR list, but someone just linked it to me, and I'm ridiculously excited to see a good TBR list for German books! I've either read/am reading/or have on my TBR list much of what you've got there, so ... ! I'm actually currently reading Der Zauberberg and want to finish it before Dec 31st - less than 500pp to go! It is slow going, but I agree with you that there's something I really like about it. I read Gehen, ging, gegangen last year - it was on a lot of 'best of' book lists in its English translation, so of course I had to find it in German. It thought it was good, but wasn't super blown away - I'm going to try more of her stuff, though. I really related to what you were saying about the pitfalls of contemporary 'literary' German fiction, but I'm not a huge Krimi or thriller fan, and any German SciFi I've read has been just awful, sorry, so I'm still on the hunt. I actually picked up Altes Land last I was in Germany, and am hoping it does not fall into that Pretentious Literature trap. I read an Irmgard Keun (Gilgi) last year and liked it - the 20th century German literary stuff I've read written pre, say, 1940 has been pretty good. I've been meaning to pick up a copy of that Alina Bronsky book for ages! And I have Die Mitte der Welt sitting in my stacks, so it's good to hear you recommend it. Now to find out if there's a #ReadGermanBooks2021 challenge??

[@ichoke3993]

I'm german BUT I NEED GOOD BOOKS so thank you haha

[@VeronicasShelf]

I do the same, read english books over swedish books. It's just easier to talk about them with the right words and you don't have to google to find if they have translated location names etc in a strange way.

[@yorkshirerose6334]

I read Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann and loved it a few years ago so this year I am reading Joseph and his brothers. I will look out for the ones you list I make sure I read at least 10 books in translation each year.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

That's a great goal!

[@darrylrotrock7816]

Good for you!

[@kirsten0929]

I'm going to Neuendorf-Sachsenbande but hoping to get to Seewinkel! I've read The Sorrows of Young Werther so far. The Artificial Silk Girl, The Loser, and The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine are up next for me.

[@maslina4567]

My mom's family is from near the Black Forest...you're right...both it and Wales are beautiful! Astonishingly so. I'm behind on The Magic Mountain as it's difficult to read in big gobs at once. I read a chapter, put it down, read something else, pick it up. Ok, off topic but sort of funny...I will never, ever master the word "eichhörnchen"! Impossible for me. My Canadian niece is able to pronounce it impeccably but not me! :)

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Funnily enough, Germans have trouble pronouncing "squirrel" too :D

[@maslina4567]

@@SpinstersLibrary ☺️

[@jennisrandom42]

Yes, I’m taking part in the Read German Books group. I’m currently reading The Magic Mountain and then I have some Kafka, some Thomas Mann short stories, Siddhartha by Hesse, and The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. I’ve also added Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum and the Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun. I’ve recently thought I’d like to add something more modern to the list, but I’m not sure what. I’d like it to be something fun.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Great TBR, hope you find a good contemporary read to round it off :)

[@chiyapink7607]

Gehen,ging, gegangen is on my tbr as well. For 20th century classics I'd recommend Tauben im Gras by Wolfgang Koeppen. It was required reading for my Abitur as an example of Trümmerliteratur and 10 years after reading it I'm still thinking about it

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Thank you for the recommendation, it's a title I've heard of but not yet read.

[@NadineTouzet]

Frankly had I been reading the Magic Mountain on my own, I would have dnf'ed it in the first quarter. It gets better after that, I'm at least a third into it, but I would have preferred to read it in German (if I knew German...). I have a nagging feeling that the French translation (or the editing) is less than perfect. It's very rich though and if I get to the end, I'm pretty sure that it will stay with me for some time.

[@darrylrotrock7816]

I hope you managed to finish. It's well worth it.

[@barbradingwall3502]

I've just started the Alina Bronsky novel...not sure how many German books I will get to this year, but I will be trying to add some in as I can.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

Hope you enjoy your German reading!

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

I think I must read the Alina Bronsky just because that title is superb.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

It's a fantastic title!

[@Raindrop2424]

I haven’t read much classic german speaking literature and even less that I liked. But I really enjoyed „der Prozess“ von Kafka i also recommend „das Parfum“ i read it Years ago and still can’t say how I feel about it.

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I have actually read Der Prozess in school, didn't particularly like it then but I think I might enjoy it more on a reread. I also read Das Parfum, though I wouldn't count that as a classic since it's from the 80's :)

[@alfacroma]

I recently read a beautiful but sad story about an Austrian composer: Hans Rott who died in an asylum unknown to the world. "Wie man ein Genie tötet". Just a tip ... ;-)

[@beatingaroundthebooks]

Ohhhh I never heard of that short story collection by Michael Ende. Need to find that! I completely get you regarding German contemporary literary fiction. I also have my eyes on the Irmgard Keun one.

[@springintoreading7225]

An idea if Sabine Ebert is translated into English?

[@SpinstersLibrary]

I don't know, sorry!

[@luke28]

Uh! Gehen, ging, gegangen really interests me, I have wanted to read this one for a long time so will definately follow you reading this! As wel Michael Ende's stoeys (I loved both Momo and the Neverending story). I love German literature and I think it is wonderful it gets more attention! I was wondering, could you maybe in future tines make some book related content about Germany, your area and or your hometown? Like topical books, bookshops or getting books in general? Would be most interested :)

[@writerspen010]

Your hometown looks like something out of a fairytale :0

[@SpinstersLibrary]

It is very pretty!