A new semester, a new book recommendation for us! This month, Katharina Blanke recommends Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (2017).

"With dropping temperatures and still turned off heaters, we need heart-warming books (and a hot cup of tea to warm up the hands in between). Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (2017) by Gail Honeyman is one of those books. It's about Eleanor, who tells us about her timetabled life: going to work in the same clothes every day, eating the same lunch every day, drinking two bottles of vodka every weekend. But then she falls in love with a musician, helps saving an elderly man and becomes friends with a co-worker. Bit by bit she reveals what happened in her childhood and why, after all, she is not completely fine. While at first Eleanor is a character with barely existing social skills and her very unique way of thinking, it doesn't take long for you to care for her. I laughed and cried while I read the novel and was left with this warm, fuzzy feeling that a good ending of an amazing book leaves behind. Be aware: trauma and loneliness are two major topics in this novel."