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Here are 15 books that caught my interest lately.

Fresh, off-beat, quirky or curious titles that might deserve more attention:

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01: PETER HELLER, „The Dog Stars“, 336 pages, 2012.

02: RAFAEL YGLESIAS, „A happy Marriage“, 384 pages, 2009.

03: JONATHAN TROPPER, „One Last Thing before I go“, 336 pages, 2012.

04: JENNY LAWSON, „Let’s pretend this never happened“, 318 pages, 2012. [Comedy / Memoir]

05: LAURIE NOTARO, „I love everybody“, 240 pages, 2004. [Comedy / Memoir]

06: CAITLIN MORAN, „How to be a Woman“, 320 pages, 2011. [Comedy / Memoir / Feminism]

07: PETER DE VRIES, „The Blood of the Lamb“, 248 pages, 1963.

08: RUTH PICARDI, „Before I say Goodbye“, 128 pages, 1998. [Memoir]

09: DONALD RICHIE, „The Japan Journals: 1947 – 2004“, 510 pages, 2004. [Memoir]

10: KAMAL al-SOLAYLEE, „Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes“, 224 pages, 2012. [Memoir]

11: LAUREN GREENFIELD, „Thin“, 224 pages, 2006. [Photography / Nonfiction]

12: CARL NIXON, „Rocking Horse Road“, 234 pages, 2007. [Crime, New Zealand, German edition here.]

13: ÉDOUARD LEVÉ, „Suicide“, 123 pages, 2008. [Nonfiction / Memoir, German edition here.]

14: STEPHAN THOME, „Fliehkräfte“, 474 pages, 2012. [German]

15: KEVIN KUHN, „Hikikomori“, 240 pages, 2012. [German; Hildesheim / writing colleague of mine.]

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Here are five books that made me curious enough to buy them:

01: WILLY VLAUTIN, „The Motel Life“, 240 pages, 2006.

02: MARCUS JENSEN, „Oberland“, 506 pages, 2004. [German]

03: JEFF NOON, „Vurt“, 342 pages, 1993. [Sci-Fi / Cyberpunk]

04: INIO ASANO, „Solanin“, 424 pages, 2006. [Slice-of-Life Manga]

05: JOHN JEREMIAH SULLIVAN, „Pulphead“, 365 pages, 2011. [Essays / Cultural Criticism; German edition here.]

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…and finally, here are three books that I read – and that were really good:

4 of 5 stars: BRIAN SELZNICK, „The Invention of Hugo Cabret“, 544 pages, 2007. [Illustrated Novel, for kids: If you’re older than 12, you might be bored. But it works really well for the target audience, and I enjoyed it.]

4 of 5 stars: FUNNY VAN MONEY, “This is Niedersachsen und nicht Las Vegas, Honey: Auf Tabledance-Tour durch die Republik”, 224 Seiten, 2012. [Nonfiction, German]

5 of 5 stars: JOACHIM HELFER, RASHID al-DAIF, „Die Verschwulung der Welt: Rede gegen Rede. Beirut – Berlin“, 199 pages, 2006. [Nonfiction, German]

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related Posts:

• Summer Reading – 60 books for the next couple of months! (Link)
• Still unread: books I plan to read (pretty soon?) (Link)
• 40 disappointing Literary Classics (Link)

and:

• Underdog Literature: July 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: June 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: May 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: April 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: March 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: February 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: January 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: December 2011 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: November 2011 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: October 2011 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: September 2011 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: August 2011 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: July 2011 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: June 2011 (Link)