The bookshelf of Renate Gerschtanowitz

In the last century (well, not really, but at the beginning of this one) my husband worked with Renate. When the collaboration ended, she gave him a bottle of wine and a postcard. ‘For on the mirror,’ she wrote on it. Because that’s what we used to do, write postcards. You would slide the beautiful ones between the edge of your mirror. You would look at it and occasionally read the card again. That’s the kind of person Renate is. With cards and books. During our trip to London, we asked her if she would share the best books she devoured with us. And she was happy to do so. So Renate, take it away. And for you: print it out and slide it between the mirror. For a better touch of the past.

The perfect life of Mrs. Parrish

Liv Constantine

A book with a surprising twist. Just when you think, wow, the perfect life, everything suddenly turns dark and a completely different world unfolds that culminates in a cleverly crafted plan. This book has given me short nights because I often couldn't put it down and kept reading. A top book for under the parasol, so you won't miss any sleep because of it.

My brother is a jerk

Stuart Heritage

Brothers, sisters, anyone who has them knows that you can often stick them behind the wallpaper but that you also can't live without them (well, usually). A very cleverly written and brutally honest book about the complicated relationship between two brothers who are so different that it’s a wonder they come from the same gene pool. The book is written so openly and directly that it often made me laugh out loud.

Why mama drinks

Gill Sims

For every mother, there are recognizable chapters full of frustrations and problems that are usually caused by having children.

Sometimes they are a bit cliché but hey, doesn’t life with children hang together with clichés (they grow up so fast, you get so much back, if they are happy, I am happy)? Maybe we don't solve them all with wine, but I guarantee you will laugh at this book. Maybe out of pure joy that you don’t have children yet or for the mothers among us because you see that it’s almost time again... I mean putting the kids to bed. And then with a lovely glass of wine on the couch with your book!

The little girl of Mr. Linh

Philippe Claudel

A restrained, beautiful story about an old man and his most valuable possession.

The short novel tells the beautiful story of Mr. Linh's loving dedication to his granddaughter and a trauma. It’s a book that stays with you.

The Nightingale

Kristin Hannah

As a child, I already had a huge fascination for World War II and read every book on this subject. This book is about the lives of two sisters during World War II in France. Two different lives and thus two different stories. Each with their own version of the war and both equally confronting.

It’s a book that crawls under your skin, I couldn't keep it dry. The choices you make in wartime and the sacrifices come up confrontingly hard in this book. It makes you think about what you would do and makes you glad that you don’t have to do it.

Language for fun

Paulien Cornelisse

I love Paulien Cornelisse!

No one exposes our modern language and communication as sharply as she does and makes you realize how strange some expressions or conversations are that most of us have every day. In a particularly funny way, Paulien writes about how language is bent, how language renews, and the miscommunication that arises from it. Not a language Nazi but a lover with humor.

Written by: Renate Gerschtanowitz