Guus Bosman

I read in the New York Times about "6 books for the Trump era", and I thought it would be good to get a larger perspective on Trump's election win.

The first of these, Hillbilly Elegy, is a gripping memoir of a man who grew up in Kentucky and Ohio, in a dysfunctional family. He describes his live and that of the people around him, and how there is a feeling of despair, of "our choices don't matter" that holds people back from succeeding.

I've had Simon Schama's masterpiece about the Dutch Golden Age on the bookshelf for a while now, it was a birthday gift.

Very interesting to read about everyday live in the 17th century, about children, households etc.

The last few chapters were the most interesting.

This is a book written by a father after he lost his 21-year old son.

I've never been disappointed by Vestdijk, and this was another great book. It's one of his best-known works; I had never read it. Loved the descriptions of rural Holland, as well as the trips to the city.

A sweet little book. Memoirs by a highly acclaimed Dutch children's book author, describing her life until the 1950's and in particular her childhood in Zeeland.

She was born in 1911 and World War I even plays a small role. One of the events is a visit to Den Haag by the family where they see electricity-powered lights and appliances for the first time. While she is growing up, she's looking forward to wear the traditional costume but once she turned 16 it had completely gone out of fashion.

She is a very gifted author and this is a lovely book. My grandmother grew up in Zeeland -- she was born in 1926 -- and it was nice to read about that area.

This was one of the books I bought in October 2014 from the Netherlands.

Interesting book about live in a mental institution in Bloemendaal, the Netherlands. The author spent many months with real patients and weaved their real stories into fictional narratives. Gripping.

I bought this book at a flea market at the Dutch school. I didn't realize this is the author of a book that made a big impression on me when I was younger: het verrotte leven van Floortje Bloem, about a young drug user. Mrs Keuls was famous when she wrote this book and several times characters in the book treat her differently because of who she is.

The author has a talent for telling deeply personal stories. It is scary to read about these people's inner-lives -- some seem almost normal, but with deep and sad problems. The last few chapters, about patient with depression, are particularly tough.