As a big fan of the King of Pop, I bought the soundtrack for the musical film The Wiz in the 1990s. It had been released in 1978 already, but as a collector, I had to have it anyway. One decade later I found this little 1993 edition of the original classic The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and another decade later – last summer – I finally read the story of Dorothy and her friends. What I particularly like about this version are the wonderful Jugendstil illustrations by William Wallace Denslow.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes has accompanied me in film and literature since my childhood days. But then I found out recently that the world-famous author also wrote other books and was deeply interested in magic. So I had to have The Coming of The Fairies. And what can I say? It is such an exciting book and I am amazed by the author’s commitment to proving the existence of fairies, these fairies in particular. It almost reads like one of his detective stories, so good!

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass got me through the wee hours of this winter. It is an incredibly great book that brings the reader closer to the temporary life of North American indigenous people. It describes traditions and how they are maintained today and how they can be an orientation for a sustainable way of life as a connecting element between earth and human beings. The book is full of important information, but this is my favorite part so far, the guidelines for the Honorable Harvest, »Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them. Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life. Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer. Never take the first. Never take the last. Take only what you need. Take only that which is given. Never take more than half. Leave some for others. Harvest in a way that minimizes harm. Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken. Share. Give thanks for what you have been given. Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken. Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.« The book was printed on acid-free 100% post-consumer waste paper.

Meine für heute letzte Buchempfehlung ist Puppenkino von Thomas Böhme, einem Leipziger Autor. Dieses Buch enthält Kalendergeschichten für 365 und einen Tag, die den Lesenden in eine zauberhafte, skurrile und surreale Welt führen. Die superkurzen Kurzgeschichten sind einerseits sehr unterhaltsam; andererseits fasziniert mich das Schreibtalent des Autors, komplexe Ereignisse so kompakt erzählen zu können. Natürlich erst im dritten Kapitel angelangt, freue ich mich auf alle weiteren Lesetage des Jahres. Das Buch wurde sowohl lokal gedruckt als auch verlegt.