What better B to choose than books for Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday? I couldn't imagine a life without books for sure. In April, I was excited about the German blogging event Blogger schenken Lesefreude (bloggers give reading joy). One of the ladies who started this event is Christina from Pudelmützes Bücherwelten (Bobble Hat's Book Worlds). One of her prizes was the book Buchland (Book Land) by Markus Walther.
Christina asked how her readers which room should exist in their personal book land. I really loved this creative question, so it was easy to come up with the description of the secret room in my book land:
"Der Eingang zu diesem Raum befindet sich im Stamm einer alten Eiche.
Erst wenn man unmittelbar davor steht, wird die mit über und über
Schnitzereien geschmückte Tür sichtbar. Einen Türgriff gibt es jedoch
nicht — die Tür öffnet sich nur für die Menschen, die Bücher aus
tiefsten Herzen lieben. Hat man Glück und die Tür öffnet sich, findet
man sich an der Schwelle zu einem riesigen Raum, der voller Nischen und
Ecken ist. Bücherregale säumen die Wände, locken den Leser in den Raum
hinein. Ein Duft von Leder, Zimt und Vanille liegt in der Luft, ein
Hauch von Lavendel weht heran. Man spürt die vielen Buchstaben ringsum,
die mit ihrer Magie Universen erschaffen. Für jeden Menschen hält der
Raum etwas bereit — Bücher aus der Kindheit, die liebevolle Erinnerungen
hervorrufen, Abenteuergeschichten, die den Leser in fremde Welten
bringen, magische Geschichten, die den Glauben an die Magie, der längst
verloren schien, wieder aufleben lassen. Der Leser hat die Qual der Wahl
— erst ein Buch, dann ein Leseplatz. Soll es die Hängematte sein oder
doch das Himmelbett, das einer Prinzessin auf der Erbse würdig wäre? In
meinem geheimen Raum findet sich auf jeden Fall ein Exemplar von “Mein
zauberhafter Garten” von Sarah Addison Allen, der Königin des magischen
Realismus. Wo sonst sollte so ein Buch auch stehen?!"
The entrance to this room is in the trunk of an old oak. You first see the beautifully carved door when you are standing right in front of it. However, a door knob is missing -- the door only opens for people who love books from the bottom of their hearts. If you are lucky and the door swings open, you stand on the threshold to a vast room full of nooks and corners. Book shelves line the walls, luring the reader into the room. A fragrance of leather, cinnamon and vanilla is in the air, a whiff of lavender drifts near. You feel the many letters around which create universes with their magic. The room has something for every person -- books from the childhood bringing back loving memories, adventure stories transporting the reader into foreign worlds, magical stories rekindling the faith into magic which seemed already lost. The reader had the agony of choice -- first the book, then the reading place. Should it be the hammock or rather the four-poster bed which would be worthy of a princess sleeping on a pea? In my secret room there surely is a copy of Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, the queen of magical realism. Where else should a book like that be?!
As there were many wonderful stories about everyone's reading room, I was truly honored that Christina liked my description so much that she sent the book my way. Thanks Christina -- I so appreciate that and look forward to reading Buchland.
While I didn't get around to visit all participating blogs, as I tended to look around, spending quite some time at each site, I was still lucky to win some more books. Julia and Stephanie from Julias Lesewelt (Julia's Reading World) had a mystery giveaway. As I love surprises, I just had to take part in it. I happened to win book # 4 which was wrapped in a newspaper to keep the suspense. Julia has one of the most lovely cards to advertise her blog, quoting Helen Hayes:
“From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings.”
Hilfe, mein Kaktus hat Herpes! Die beklopptesten Fragen und Antworten aus dem Internet (Help, My Cactus Has Herpes! The Wackiest Questions and Replies From the Internet) by Jan Anderson is such a hilarious read. Thanks Julia and Stephanie -- you really made me chuckle.
Have you already watched Divergent? I haven't seen the movie yet, but I am really thrilled that I can now reread the book Die Bestimmung (Divergent) by Veronica Roth thanks to Katja from MissRose's Bücherwelt (MissRose's Book World). I was lucky to win the book. Thanks so much Katja!
Jenny from Book Dreams gave away a copy of Indigo - Das Erwachen (Indigo Awakening [The Hunted]) by Jordan Dane. I was thrilled to see my name among her winners. Thanks heaps Jenny!
Last but not least I got a 16-page-brochure from Steffen from Gachmurets Notizblog (Gachmuret's Note Blog). The short story Der Unerträgliche - Brief an einen todgeweihten Mitreisenden (The Unbearable - Letter to a Doomed Fellow Traveler) by Jan-Uwe Fitz is a fine example of black humor. Thanks Steffen!
