From Germany, a student shares her opinion on some books and German authors.

Hello everyone,

I'm (now becoming) a student in Germany and I was really excited about this program from Yura. I've been really passionate about reading books basically my whole life. I started reading books when I was really young, probably like a lot of you, but then through social media and, in general, having devices (such as a phone) with tons of apps that distracts you, it has become less. As my attention span decreased, it was kind of hard for me to start reading again. But recently, a friend of mine gave me a good recommendation, the "Shatter Me" book series by Tahereh Mafi. I've now been reading it and I am currently on the fourth book, "Restore Me". The series is about a little girl that lives in the future in which a tyrannical regime, the Reestablishment, has taken over the world and imposed its rules and values on the people. The girl, named Juliette, is a teenager with a deadly touch. Her lethal ability is what has her locked away by The Reestablishment. Throughout the book series, one follows her journey on how she finds true confidence in herself, as well as love. So far, I've really liked it since it depicts a story of adventure, power, and love.

Another author I also started to like is German, Franz Kafka. You may or may not have heard about him. In Germany, he was/is a famous author, just like Goethe or Schiller. We had to read his books in school, and what drew my attention to him was his way of writing and also the topics he wrote about. Usually, I wasn't really interested in authors we read in school since their writing styles were really old and sometimes exhausting to read. Even though Franz Kafka died a hundred years ago, his type of writing is up to date. For example, we read "Die Verwandelung" (the Metamorphosis), which is about a young man who still lives with his parents and younger sister. One day, he transformed into a bug, and the book follows his family's reaction and how their dynamic is changing. Another thing about this author is that a lot of his personal experiences and information is represented in his books, such as his relationship to his abusive father. The book, "Brief a Den Vater," is a collection of letters Kafka wrote to his father. In these letters, he expresses his emotions and feelings in a very beautiful way. It's also possible to read this book online.

Another German author I really like is Stefanie Lasthaus. I have read two or three books from hear and my favorite one and also one of my favorite books of all time is "Die Saphir Tür." I read it when I was about 12 years old, but i still remember the story as if it were yesterday. It is a story about a young woman that started working as a nanny for a little girl in a rich household. After a while she finds out some secrets, and the book shows an interesting parallel world about dreams and love.

I hope that I was able to help you find some inspiration for your next book.

Best regards,

Alina (from Germany)