Vasilis’ nerd blog presents
Last year I read a few books, and quite a few of them were really good. Most books I read were in Dutch. I’ll try to be so enthusiastic about them that you will start to learn Dutch.
I think everybody must read Oorlogsenthousiasme by Ewout Kieft. There are more and more people around me who think preparing for war is a good idea. This book should convince you it is not. If it doesn’t, maybe The General of the Dead Army by Ismail Kadare will convince you of the insanity of war.
I read quite a few books with a surrealist undertone. Tandenjager by Auke Hulst is one of them, a wonderful historical novel about teeth. Het Geschenk by Gaea Schoeters is the most fantastic novel about 20.000 elephants in the streets of Berlin, and how politicians handle this magical crisis. Absolutely loved this book. Another wonderful surreal book is Grondwerk by Tijl Nuyts, a story told by a revolutionary naked mole-rat in Brussels.
One of the very best books I read was Beste klootzak by Virginie Despentes. Incredibly well written, and extremely powerful. Het bewind van de gelukkigen by Nelleke Noordervliet is also an incredibly powerful book about a dystopian not so distant future where extreme conservatism took power. Horrible but so good. Another rather depressing but excellent book was Luister by Sacha Bronwasser, about au pairs in Paris, a horrible story indeed.
I read a few philosophical books that I really enjoyed. A friend of mine told me to read a translation of the Dao. Instead I read this excellent explanation of Taoism, called Taoïsme: de weg om niet te volgen by Patricia de Martelaere. She places Taosim in the context of western thinking, though not too much. The book made me enthusiastic for Taoism. I also read Chaotisch denk voor gevorderden by Abel van Gijlswijk. A similar way of thinking, though a bit more anarchist and chaotic. Very recognisable.
I also read a few books made by friends. Book of War, Mortification and Love by Ruud Linssen was a bit too Roman Catholic to my taste, but the incredible production of the book by the Underware type foundry – set in a modern blackletter, printed with the blood of the author – made it well worth. Slim genoeg om gek te zijn is graphic novel by Astrid Poot about living and working with autism. I love her direct approach to everything she does. And then I read the totally weird book A Quiver Full, Or How Mr. Darcy will Not Sit on that Sofa Again! by Jenifer Hanen, a humorous Regency Pride and Prejudice Assemblage. Loved it.
Here’s the complete list of books I read in 2025.