My cookbook shelf is bi-lingual, and I reach for specific cookbooks for different recipes (or when I’m doing research). In the past I’ve shared my favorite German Cookbooks in English… and now it’s time to share my favorite Cookbooks in German. I realize that not everyone visiting my website speaks or reads German. (Honestly, a cookbook is a great resource…
Category: Book and Movie Reviews
“View Master: The Biography of William B Gruber” Immigrant Success Story
View Master $150 seems to be a magic number for German immigrants. William B Gruber and my father both arrived here in the United States with $150 in their pockets. From there they chose different paths. In tge book, “View Master, The Biography of William B Gruber”, his daughter Gretchen J Gruber lovingly shares the story of an immigrant who…
Islands in the Storm by Susanne Bacon
Islands in the Storm: A Novel As a history lover, I get excited when I find a new view into the past… a story I hadn’t heard before, something fascinating that feels like I SHOULD have known about it, but didn’t. And even better, when that view into the past comes in the form of engaging and well researched fiction.…
Heidi Girl of the Alps- From Switzerland to Japan to Germany
Was that the sound of an Alpenhorn? And a trilling flute! Time for Heidi Girl of the Alps! For many of us in the 1970s, those sounds pulled us away from play time, and we raced to the TV room ready to watch Heidi, Peter, Clara, the goats, and of course Grandfather. It wasn’t until years later that I made…
German Girl in America Book Corner- Books about Germany
The first printed book was in German, and Germany publishes about 94,000 titles per year. It’s no wonder I love to read! It’s in the genes! And I love recommending books. (I should have become a librarian.) Since getting all of you in my house for Book Club could be tricky, I created the German Girl in America Book Corner.…
German Nursery Rhymes and Children’s Songs
My mother didn’t recite Mother Goose to me when I was a child. I heard the German Nursery Rhymes and songs that she grew up with. “Alle Meine Enten”, “Hoopa Hoppa Reiter”, and “Backe backe Kuchen”. The funny thing is that when I had children, I mainly sang and clapped my way through the rhymes of my childhood. These sweet…
Belonging by Nora Krug – A German Reckons with History and Home
Now and then, a book comes along, and my first reaction is, “I wish I had written this.” Belonging by Norah Krug is one of those books. The book pulled me in from the first section because it was so relatable. I tore through the book in 2 afternoons. “Belonging, A German Reckons with History and Home” is not your…
What was Peasant Life Like? Our Daily Bread: German Village Life 1500-1850
Our Daily Bread: German Village Life, 1500-1850 Most history books give you plain facts… you learn about wars, you learn who was king, and where the borders changed. What you don’t usually get, is what was it LIKE to be a peasant and have battles raging around you? To actually struggle to feed a family? What was German Village life…
Die Häschenschule A Day At Bunny School -A German Easter Classic
If you are of a certain age, you probably had a storybook about a Rabbit School on your bookshelves as a child. In 1924 Albert Sixtus published a book about a bunnies going school called Die Häschenschule. 95 years later, this classic book is still charming children all over Germany. For Easter in 2019, the Esslinger Verlag (Esslinger Publishing company)…