You know what’s great about Hannover? Only a few blocks from the Hauptbanhof* are two very nice bookstores, each with a good selection of English books. The sections are a bit on the small side but I’m always surprised by the books I discover. I also enjoy seeing the book covers of the UK editions, and I always feel like I find books that I may not have found back in the States.

On our latest visit to Hannover went to both Decius Buchhandlung and Schmorl uv Seefeld to see what new books I could add to my list and here’s what I found:

• Secrets in Prior’s Ford by Eve Houston. A village full of intrigue and shocking revelations.
• Mother’s Milk by Edward St. Aubyn. Shortlisted for a Booker Prize.
• The Infinite Wisdom of Harriet Rose by Diana Janney. About a teenager who is busy composing her own philosophical reflections.
• The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart. Love is like a good cassoulet, it needs time and determination.
• Something Borrowed by Paul Magrs. The cover said something about poisoned pen letters, and The Independent called the heroine something of a cross between Buffy and Miss Marple. This sounds good.

Anyway, I’ve spent a good part of the last two days hanging out, visiting with our family and reading. I am now deep into Of Men and Their Mothers by Mameve Medwed and The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer. Both of these books are super – a lot of wit and keen observations.

Tomorrow morning we are off to Berlin for a few days – yay!

*Hannover train station

This vacation is exactly what I needed after all the mad packing and moving. I’m enjoying a lot of resting and reading. Granted I still have a lot of work waiting for me when I return to the States but for now I’m thoroughly enjoying Germany. I’ve been catching up on a lot of reading and will have lots of books to tell you about.

Has anyone read the Inspector Morse series by Colin Dexter? I chose Last Bus to Woodstock for the plane ride. I liked the story for the most part although I had some quibbles about some aspects of the plot but for now I’d say I’d seek out the second in the series. Anyway a full review later.

I’m now very close to finishing Keeper and Kid by Edward Hardy. I found out about this book through some of you and it’s been a really fun read so far. I’m also near the end of Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. While I’m enjoying it, I feel like I’ve read it before. Could that possibly be?! I don’t think so but there are some things that feel very familiar about it.

Speaking of witches, we were in the lovely Harz Mountains this weekend. According to German folklore, witches meet up on the highest point of the Harz during Walpurgisnacht. You’ll see lots of “witches” – dolls/puppets on front doors, stickers on windows, etc. I love it.

The Harz is dotted with picturesque towns, some smaller than others.

Isn’t this view beautiful? I took this while walking along the trails in Lautenthal. We stayed in this charming town overnight and the next morning we set out to discover more of the Harz.

We found Stolberg to be the perfect place for more picture-taking and a good place to celebrate a big birthday – I turned 40! Am I too old to be called Bookgirl? Nah.

In Stolberg we had our fill of Bratwurst, ice cream and of course cake and cappuccino. We took countless pictures of the castle and oohed over all the Fachwerk buildings. I’ve been to the Harz several times and each time we discover such beautiful places. One of these days I’d love to spend a week up there taking in the natural beauty, fresh air and maybe even treating myself to some pampering at one of the many spas.

I still have to tell you about the books I’ve added to my wish list after a visit to some bookstores in Hannover but I’ll save that post for another day.