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Alicia Jennifer

Alicia Jennifer

I like reading Dutch and English literature and I'm interested in wine and food.
  • Rotterdam, Zu, Netherlands
  • member since July 4 2008

Reviews

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  • Rotterdam, geblaakte stadRotterdam, geblaakte stadBen Laurens

    Rotterdam, geblaakte stad

    by Ben Laurens
    • Rated 5 stars

    “A very interesting read because it gives you some sense of what daily life was like during WW II. I've read a lot of things that I didn't know about the War, even though I've always been interested in it and read about it. It's different because the author wrote about his adventures as a young boy, watching the Germans marching through town, watching fights and playing in the ruins of a bombed city. Also about daily life in his parents' barber shop, about the customers, about going to school and about trying to get food and clothes on stamps. Highly recommend it. ”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Tuesday, July 7 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Romantic Cakes

    Romantic Cakes

    by Peggy Porschen
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Lovely book to look at, the pictures are beautiful and the cakes are incredibly detailed and made with care. Peggy Porschen is one of the best and she makes everything look so easy. The instructions are clear and it really makes you feel like you can make such a wonderful cake or cookie yourself. ”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Tuesday, July 7 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Het geheim: RomanHet geheim: RomanAnna Enquist
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Somehow I've never read a book before about classical music and WWII that's not good. This book's no exception, it's an interesting read. The main character plays the piano and spends a lot of time studying, eventually she becomes a great pianist. In the mean time she discovers things about her past, about things that happened during the war. ”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Tuesday, July 7 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • A Man without a Country
    • Rated 4 stars

    “A very interesting book because of the wide variety of topics discussed: war, literature, politics, society and cimate change, to name a few. Vonnegut seems to be an idealist who is let down by his fellow human beings; he comes across as cynical and sarcastic, but because of everything he says on the environment and politics, you know he is someone with strong opinions on everything who would really like to see the world as a better place than it is today. It's a very personal book. It's certainly worth your time (especially since it's so easy to read, you can finish it in one evening). ”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Friday, February 20 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • 1984
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I'm not sure whether I liked the book. Let's just say I appreciate it and I acknowledge its literary value.

    The story made me feel uncomfortable and made me think about society and freedoms we (don't) have. The fact that it makes you think is a good quality in a book.

    The story however, starts a bit slow. The middle part is quite exciting, as you really get the feeling something's going to happen, a change is coming. In the end, it turns out this isn't the case. People usually call me a pessimist, but if this book says anything about Orwell's views on life, he'd make me seem like a cheerful person. The ending is so gloomy and such an anti-climax, it just spoiled it for me. Then againg, would the book be as stimulating as it is, if it had a happy ending? I think not. ”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Friday, February 20 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Gek op wijn

    Gek op wijn

    by Astrid Joosten,Thérèse Boer
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I received this book as a Christmas present and started reading as soon as I could. Astrid Joosten and Thérèse Boer have an extensive knowledge of wine and they interviewed famous cloggies on the subject of wine. They asked them about their favourite wines, favourite wine and food pairings and of course you read a bit about their personal lives as well.

    The book is structured around the favourite wines of the VIPs, in the classical way: it starts with champagne, moves on to white wines, then red wines, then dessert wines. The book also contains information on these wines, on the most commonly used grape varieties and their specific aroma's, classic wine & food pairings and the most important wine countries.

    The interviews are all really interesting and well-written and the book itself is quite fresh and good looking, as it contains a good amount of photographs of wine, food and people. You get to know wine basics, but other than that, don't expect to learn a lot - it's not an encyclopedia. However, it is very enjoyable if you are into wine, even if you already know the basics.”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Thursday, February 19 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine
    • Rated 3 stars

    “Recently I came across a column on Michael Broadbent's role in the Rodenstock affair. Just after that, I read an interview with Broadbent. Although the column and the interview were about the same thing, they didn't have a lot in common. Broadbent obviously didn't think he was a fraud or had done anything wrong on purpose, the column suggested Broadbent knew but chose not to act. This got me interested and I decided to order this book.

    It is a very slow read and I can't imagine anyone who's not into wine would enjoy it. It's more like a report than a novel, but it is interesting to read about the history of wine, the history of wine society, the rise in popularity of wine, the development of wine in the US and about all the different techniques used to forge and to discover forgery.

    I just wanted to be able to form my own opinion on the matter and the book helped me to do that - although no one except for Broadbent himself really knows what he knew or suspected at the time, the book does present a clear idea of how the wine world worked back then and is factual for the most part - there aren't any unfounded accusations, the author doesn't seem to be biased. So that made it interesting for me.”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Thursday, February 19 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Het woeden der gehele wereld: RomanHet woeden der gehele wereld: RomanMaarten 't Hart
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I read this book ages ago, so I was a lot younger then and I didn't know as much about literature as I do now. It was one of the first pieces of literature I ever read, in fact.

    The story takes place in Maassluis, where 't Hart grew up, a lot of his stories take place there. The main character Alexander witnessed a murder as a child and afterwards, the murderer pointed his gun at him; the murder was never solved and therefore Alexander just can't get it out of his head. Alex loves playing piano (just like Maarten 't Hart, a great fan of Bach) and through his studies he meets people who can tell him more about what led to the murder. In the end, he does find out who did it and he finds out more about his roots, although it certainly wasn't what he expected.

    I'm not that into literary thrillers, but this one is worth your time.”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Friday, August 15 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Het huis van de moskee

    Het huis van de moskee

    by Kader Abdolah
    • Rated 5 stars

    “I love the way the story was written; beautiful descriptions and slightly absurd at times. The story's about religion, politics, values, family, culture, everything. The story is set against the back background of the Revolution in Iran, which makes it interesting to read and informative.

    This book really makes you think about good and evil and about religion. Even though I'm an atheist, I could really understand and sympathise with the main character, a devout muslim. ”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Friday, August 15 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Een goede man slaat soms zijn vrouw
    • Rated 5 stars

    “Very interesting to read about daily life in Egypt, also a refreshing perspective on the matter. The only point is that it was written afterwards, a lot of the people Joris Luijendijk spoke to were left out because he wanted to keep the book easy to read. I can understand why he did this, but then the fact that other people helped him editing the book and structuring it, makes you wonder what he left out and why?”

    Alicia Jennifer wrote this review Friday, August 15 2008. ( reply | permalink )

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