From the German Bookshelves © Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan From the German Bookshelves illuminates the rich tapestry of contemporary German literature, uncovering the voices of a new generation of authors, their narratives transcending linguistic boundaries, thoughtfully translated for a global audience. In Spotlight Cover © Bitter Lemon Press; Portrait of Joachim B. Schmidt by Eva Schram Joachim B. Schmidt Kalmann In the delightfully crowded field of Nordic noir, this crime thriller set in Iceland commands a unique place. After all, what more perfect setting could there be for crime fiction than deserted snow deserts tainted by wine-red blood from murder? The sparse landscape - populated by mysterious characters where myths abound - is where Swiss-Icelandic writer Joachim B. Schmidt successfully tapped into the genre. His book Kalmann is as much a whodunnit as it is a character study of its eponymous protagonist, a socially awkward man navigating a murder mystery in the hostile countryside. English translations of German titles © Klett-Cotta Verlag Wolfram Eilenberger The Visionaries Intellectually stimulating and thematically rich: Wolfram Eilenberger’s The Visionaries is a collective biography of four women who helped to shape twentieth-century philosophy and literature, a book that will appeal to readers of Francesca Wade’s Square Haunting. © Pushkin Press Christiane Ritter A Woman in the Polar Night Readers who found solace and inspiration in Amy Liptrot's memoir The Outrun will undoubtedly enjoy A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter. © Seagull Books Ulrike Almut Sandig Monsters Like Us Ulrike Almut Sandig’s elegiac Monsters Like Us is set in the East Germany on the cusp of liberation and reunification but deals with childhood trauma and how it shapes individuals. The book is brimming with tenderness for its broken characters and has been translated by Karen Leeder with meticulous care to retain its mellifluous prose. © V&Q Books Isabel Bogdan The Peacock A treat for fans of satirical novelists like Jonathan Coe, The Peacock by Isabel Bogdan is a comedy of errors that skewers workplace relationships, perfectly blending German humour and a Scottish setting. © Scribe Nino Haratischvili Juja A complex narrative that is both haunting and relentless in its exploration of dark emotional themes, Nino Haratischvili’s debut novel, Juja, will appeal to fans of unflinching contemporary writers like Evie Wyld. Cover © Maclehose Press Judith Schalansky An Inventory of Losses What happens when something is lost to the world? With whatever traces left behind, can one retrace the lost object? What will remain when things are lost? These are some questions Judith Schalansky’s insightfully astute book An Inventory of Losses attempts to tackle. Nora Bossong © Brost-Stiftung and Christian Deutscher Nora Bossong Gramsci's Fall “(the) central questions of my novel are about the individual strength to love, the political power to improve society, and to fight for those who are too weak to fend for themselves…” German writer and poet Nora Bossong’s Gramsci’s Fall is a tale of hopes and the heart-breaking disappointment of some revolutions. © Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Julia von Lucadou The High-Rise Diver In her debut novel The High-Rise Diver, German author Julia von Lucadou envisions a society where surveillance has become the norm, and an individual's worth is determined solely by their performance metrics, painting a thought-provoking portrait of a dystopian future. © Scribe Publications Shida Bazyar Sisters in Arms: A Summer of Reckoning If you didn’t want Zadie Smith’s novel NW to end, why not add Shida Bazyar’s Sisters in Arms to your TBR pile? Contemporary Literature in Germany © Suhrkamp / Canva Cherrypicker | Literature Kafka’s Failed Money-Making Scheme On the hundredth anniversary of his death, Franz Kafka’s life and work are being celebrated and illuminated. In his new graphic novel, illustrator Nicolas Mahler gives them a colourful brilliance – although it’s almost all black-and-white. © Claasen, Suhrkamp / Canva Cherrypicker A reckoning or rapprochement Coming to terms with absent fathers is the central theme of the novels by Necati Öziri and Deniz Utlu. One gives rise to anger, the other to melancholy. © Hanser / Canva Cherrypicker Home at last In his new novel, Wolf Haas tells of a mother’s tragicomic life and sends his regards to the afterlife. © Hanser Berlin / Canva Cherrypicker Childhood Under Fire The Bosnian War: unsettling, brutal, forgotten by many today. Tijan Sila brings it back to life in his memoir. Years of violence, anger and grief lie between the siege of his native Sarajevo and his family’s flight to Germany. © Knaur / Canva Cherrypicker Magic, Intrigue and Tears Christian Handel and Andreas Suchanek take us along on a frenzied tour of two Berlins – one magical and one modern. But no matter where you are, devious intrigues lurk on both sides of the mirror. © Diogenes / Canva Cherrypicker A matter of interpretation Martin Suter’s latest novel has everything a good book needs – making it the perfect read for the summer holidays. This tale of a woman who disappears just before her wedding can be quickly devoured in a deckchair by the sea or in a hammock in the garden. Illustration: Tobias Schrank, Goethe-Institut The German List Seagull’s German List which is supported by the Goethe-Institut since 2009 now comprises more than 90 translations of formidable works of contemporary German literature by distinguished authors and laureates such as Max Frisch, Theodor W. Adorno, Thomas Bernhard, Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Ulrich Peltzer. © Zsolnay / Canva Cherrypicker Staying power Julia suffers from asthma. And she has just lost her job. Back in the village where she grew up, she is struggling to make a fresh start. But that’s not possible without confronting the demands and expectations of her family and the drab reality of village life. When Julia meets the “guy from the city”, a glimmer of hope emerges amid all the hopelessness. © avant-verlag /Canva Cherrypicker Love in the Age of Dating Apps In her graphic novel debut, Helena Baumeister tells of her experiences with an online date. © Zsolnay /Canva Cherrypicker Brilliant complainer The Austrian author Franz Schuh has written a new collection of essays in which the interest in death is mutual. © Matthes & Seitz / Canva Cherrypicker The wonderful world of wasps The moment they come near us, we swat them away. We regard them as the scourge of summer – yet they have almost only benefits to offer. Michael Ohl on wasps and the invaluable role they play in our ecosystem. © Goethe-Institut Onleihe: German Digital Library The eLibrary is the virtual library of the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan in India. This service allows you to borrow digital media, such as ebooks, audio and video files, electronic newspapers and magazines, by simply downloading it on your computer, your tablet or your eReader. © Rowohlt Cherrypicker Inherited Misfortune In his new novel, Lukas Bärfuss again focuses on the existential hardships of people in modern, capitalist society. Here he tells of the fate of a single mother. © dtv / Canva Cherrypicker The Slow Dissolution of a Great Love They are three words, each of which means a beginning and an end: I love you. I’m leaving you. But what lies in between? In the case of the first-person narrator in Julia Schoch’s new novel, a 30-year relationship. First elation, celebration, then everyday life, children, betrayal, anger. © Steidl / Canva Cherrypicker A Detour to the Sea In her second novel, Annika Büsing takes us on a fast-paced journey. To Leipzig, the flooded Ahr valley, a town on the Baltic Sea – a short trip turns into a road trip. © Verlag Klaus Wagenbach Cherrypicker Through death to life In Milena Michiko Flašar‘s new novel, a disorientated young woman finds not only an unusual new job, but also a substitute family. Top
