The families of the others

Christine Westermann, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, enjoys a high level of trust with a wide audience through her book recommendations. Books are an indispensable part of her life today; they serve as windows into foreign lives for her. However, her journey to books was not a straightforward one; it was more like an obstacle course. With elegance, honesty, and wonderful self-irony, Christine Westermann shares how she discovered books (and Thomas Mann) and embarks on a captivating journey through her own family history, marked by fractures. Christine Westermann dreams of having a library with a ladder so she can reach the books on the top shelf, such as Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" from her parents' shelf, which she hesitated to approach for a long time. What books did she grow up with, and which ones are still closely linked to her life today? Why did reading play a minor role in her life for so long? Why was she taken by surprise when asked if she would like to make book recommendations for the radio? How does one write a recommendation, and why should it never be a negative review in her case? Christine Westermann talks about the joy of reading and, closely related, the curiosity about the lives of others. With this audiobook, she offers insight into her own life and the many books that feature in it.