I only really started reading and finishing books around August 20, so...this pile of books is pretty impressing, I think,
Riskante Begierden (Taeko Kono)
Well...judging from the blurb on the back the german publisher thought that this book was mostly about 'risque erotic'. And while the sadomasochistic relationship between the main characters is admittedly very important for the story...I don't think that's all or even most there is to the book. I liked how Taeko Kono portrayed life in war-time Japan with all its dangers and problems for everyday life. The contrast between that difficult public life and the private life of a unusual husband and wife was what made the book so good. Anyway, I loved it a lot. Will re-read at some point.
Knabenjagd (Taeko Kono)
This short-story collection was pretty good, too! Some of the stories have morally questionable protagonists, but I also really liked that. It's not always necessary to have a relatable character tell their story to the readers, I'd say. I know that many people nowadays might disagree, but...that's how fiction works, isn't it? Do we always want to read about people who are just like us, live lifes like ours and react to things in the same way we do? I don't think so. So, that's why this collection was also pretty interesting. I don't think there's much translated stuff by Taeko Kono save for these two books, but I would like to read more of her stories.
Das Jagdgewehr (Yasushi Inoue)
I do enjoy the works of many Japanese authors, but well...Inoue isn't one of my favourites, I guess. It's not that his books are bad, but I just can't find an emotional connection to his themes and protagonists. Of course the plot of this short little book was pretty interesting and I nevertheless liked reading about the connections between the protagonists lives. But the book failed to make me actually feel for them. Well, it just wasn't a book for me. I will try another Inoue book, but there's a lot of stuff with a higher priority on my reading list!
Zerbrochene Sterne (various authors)
As usual, some stories from an anthology are good, some are bad, but...overall I really liked this one. My favourite was the story about how the first emperor of China became a gamer. I would love to read an entire book about this idea because even just the premise sounds just great and the story was also very fun!
Quantenträume (various authors)
Same as above, but this one had more stories I didn't like as much. I'm very interested in the issue of artificial intelligence, but some stories just weren't my cup of tea. However, some of them were quite good, I have to admit that much. I liked the one about a woman falling in love with an AI, for example.
Komm, ich erzähl dir eine Geschichte (Jorge Bucay)
I got this book from someone, that's why I read through it pretty quickly. Some of the stories were nice, but I don't think the morale of most stories was surprising or very helpful. Most people say that this book opened their eyes for certain issues about their own life and psyche, but...I'm painfully aware of the things I need to change about myself, I don't need to be reminded of them by a book! Actually implementing those changes is the really hard part, but that's not something anything like a book could help me with.
Unter Beschuss (Michael Wolff)
I enjoyed reading Fire and Fury, Wolff's first book about Donald Trump. This one was...not as good, I think. Of course there was still a lot of interesting stuff, but this time the focus was less on Trump and more on all the weirdos he brought with him to the White House. And, well, I'm mainly here to read funny stories about the stupid orange man, haha. Mostly because there's always doubt about whether the author's sources really always told him the truth anyway, so I'd rather read his books for their entertainment value. And this one was just less entertaining than the first one. Maybe I will one day read an actual comprehensive account of Trump's presidency, but I'm not that much into US politics after all.