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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: SUSAN NUSSBAUM, „Good Kings Bad Kings“, 336 pages, March 2013.

02: MATTHEW SPECKTOR, „American Dream Machine“, 464 pages, March 2013.

03: LAUREN BEUKES, „The Shining Girls“, 368 pages, April 2013. [Mainstream time-travel thriller]

04: MA JIAN, „The Dark Road“, 384 pages, April 2013. [China]

05: COLUM McCANN, „TransAtlantic“, 259 pages, May 2013. [still haven’t read anything of him.]

06: TAO LIN, „Taipei“, 256 pages, June 2013.

07: MIGUEL ÁNGEL ASTURIAS, „The President“, 288 pages, 1946. [recommended by Clemens Setz]

08: JESUS CARRASCO, „Intemperie“ / „Die Flucht“, 224 pages, January 2013. [Dystopia, Spanish]

09: GEORGE PACKER, „The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America“, 448 pages, May 2013.

10: JANET MALCOLM, „Forty-One False Starts: Essays on Artists and Writers“, 320 pages, May 2013. [Essays]

11: NICK FLYNN, „The Reenactments“, 320 pages, January 2013. [Memoir]

12: DAVID BATCHELOR, „Chromophobia“, 128 pages, 2000. [Cultural Studies / Art Criticism]

13: RUTU MODAN, „The Property“, 232 pages, May 2013. [Graphic Novel]

14: MASON CURREY, „Daily Rituals: How Artists Work“, 304 pages, April 2013. [Trivia / Nonfiction]

15: MONIKA HELD, „Der Schrecken verliert sich vor Ort“, 272 pages, March 2013. [German: I liked Mara Giese’s review – here (Link, German)]

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

01: STEVE ERICKSON, „Zeroville“, 329 pages, 2007.

02: LIDIA YUKNAVITCH, „The Chronology of Water“, 268 pages, 2011. [Memoir]

03: KATE SOUTHWOOD, „Falling to Earth“, 264 pages, 2013.

04: JUDITH KUCKART, „Wünsche“, 301 pages, 2013. [German]

05: MARTIN KLUGER, „Abwesende Tiere“, 1040 pages, 2002. [German, recommended by Jo Lendle]

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usually, I also promote three books that I read – and that were really good.

but I’ve spent the month finishing a long, nerdy (paid) Marvel Comics book translation for a German publisher…

…and spent all my reading-time with old Superman comics to prepare a slew of Tagesspiegel articles I will write this month – now that „Man of Steel“ is finally in theatres.

I also watched „Iron Man 3“ – and it was near-perfect superhero fun: 4 of 5 stars.

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related Posts:

• my 20 Best Books of 2012 (Link)
• my 20 Best Books of 2011 (Link)
• 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)
• Essay: “Futter für die Bestie – Literaturkritik in digitalen Zeiten” (Link, German)

and:

• Underdog Literature: May 2013 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: April 2013 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: March 2013 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: February 2013 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: January 2013 (Link)

• Underdog Literature: December 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: November 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: October 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: September 2012 (Link)
• Underdog Literature: August 2012 (Link)
• 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)