DutchNews.nl - Books Archive

The Dutch and their Delta: Living below sea level

Jacob Vossestein

Jacob Vossestein XPat Media: €24.95 Buy this book It’s a little known fact outside of the Netherlands that one third of this tiny country – if it weren’t for a couple of great big hulking dijks - would be submerged under rather a lot of water. Left to Mother Nature, Schipol Airport would in fact be a lake (it’s 3 meters below sea level), and rural North Holland – where I used to live – should actually be reclaimed by... More >

Here’s Holland

Sheila Gazaleh-Weevers

Here’s Holland provides visitors of all ages and interests with a unique insight into Holland’s treasures and pleasures, it’s culture and customs. Families and international business people transferring to, or already living in Holland, will also find invaluable tips and advice regarding life in this tiny but fascinating country. website More >

Food Shopper’s Guide to Holland

Ada Henne Koene with Connie Moser Eburon

Dutch cuisine is a tad underwhelming, and for foody expats grocery shopping in Holland can be a disappointing and stressful experience, especially if you can’t understand the lingo on the packaging. But thanks to two American writers (of European extraction) and their somewhat biblical Food Shopper’s Guide to Holland, a maiden voyage to a Dutch supermarket need no longer result in you wanting to open a vein. Food groups and ingredients are split into chapters so that everything you could... More >

Expat Women: Confessions

Andrea Martins & Victoria Hepworth

Expatriating to a new country is exciting, but it can also be daunting. If you are about to embark on your first trip as a ‘trailing spouse’, then you could probably do with some reassurance from someone who knows the ropes. In case you don’t meet that ‘someone’ immediately, a copy of Expat Women: Confessions, will make an excellent first companion. Expat Women: Confessions, 50 Answers to your Real-Life Questions about Living Abroad, is the brainchild of Andrea Martins &... More >

Quiet Amsterdam

Siobhan Wall and Frances Lincoln

Now here’s an idea. Why not write a book about quiet, reflective little nooks in one of Europe’s most vibrant and bustling little cities? What might sound like a dull excuse for a tourist guide, is actually an understated stroke of genius from an expat resident just looking for a spot of tranquility, in a tiny city with a reported four million visitors a year. Siobhan Wall, author of Quiet Amsterdam, has penned an elegant little Baedeker inviting readers to... More >

Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child

Julia Simens

Guilt inevitably afflicts all expat parents when they relocate their families around the world. Despite the enormous advantages and privileges growing up as a global nomad, it’s sometimes hard to reconcile this with an unhappy child, distraught at the prospect of leaving friends behind and moving country yet again. Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child seeks to help parents prepare children for their adventures abroad and ensure they can express and articulate the complex emotions at work when relocating. Julia... More >

Dutch for Dummies

Margreet Kwakernaak

Joining the growing number of Dutch language books is the 2nd Edition of Dutch for Dummies by Margreet Kwakernaak. Adhering to the Dummies format, this four-part book with supplementary cd is both a Dutch language and culture guide. Part One covers the basics including ‘de’ or ‘het’, spelling rules, numbers, adjectives, propositions, past/present/perfect tense, and basic sentence construction. Language skill training is enhanced by snippets of cultural wisdom like – knowing what time you should visit your neighbors for coffee, and... More >

Dutch Delight

Sylvia Pessireron

Learn what they eat and drink, graze through their eating habits and recipes, and when you’re done, try them. Enjoy Dutch delights like haring (herring), snert (pea soup), stamppot (mashed potatoes and kale) and pannenkoeken (pancakes). Sample a typical Dutch breakfast or dessert. Taste famous Dutch sweets like drop (liquorice) or biscuits such as stroopwafels (thin treacle waffles). And finish up with a golden beer or a shot of jenever (Dutch gin). Easy to digest and with more than 25... More >

Hidden like Anne Frank

Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis

The story of Anne Frank and her diary is one of he most enduring of World War II. There can be few people who do not know about the Jewish girl who hid with her family in an Amsterdam building, before being betrayed and captured by German soldiers and transported to a concentration camp. Yet Anne is not the only child who was forced to go into hiding. Recently released by Arthur A. Levine Books, Hidden like Anne Frank is... More >

Holland Handbook

Stephanie Dijkstra

Now in its 19th year, this richly illustrated handbook offers 256 full-color pages of essential information for the expatriate on all aspects of living and working in the Netherlands such as: career, fiscal issues, health care, housing, insurance, international education, registration and telecommunications. Buy this book More >

Dutch Ditz – Manners in the Netherlands

Reinildis van Ditzhuyzen

If you’re planning a move to the Netherlands or you’ve recently arrived then this compact little Dutch Ditz is just for you. A swift and entertaining read, it cuts straight to the chase with everything you need to know about the Dutch family living next door and their weird and wonderful language, habits and customs. If you think they can’t be that different to your old neighbours at home, then think again. Who is Sinterklaas? What is a frikandel (just... More >

Logbook of the Low Countries

Wout van der Toorn

You could be forgiven for thinking this is probably not something you’d buy on impulse. After all, it sounds like the sort of dusty old title you might stumble across in a secondhand bookshop. But for any history buffs out there, don’t stop reading just yet! Because Dutch economist and history connoisseur Wout van der Toorn, has poured his heart and soul into Logbook of the Low Countries, and appears to have compiled almost every single historical episode afflicting the Lowlands,... More >

Living With the Dutch: An American Family in the Hague

Norean Sharpe

Before going to The Hague, Sharpe and her American family actually planned to move to Paris, but her husband Peter was offered a position in the Netherlands. They find typical expatriate problems on their path, learn a lot about how to tackle them and in the mean time discover a completely new country. Buy this book Review this book. Contact books@dutchnews.nl More >

In My Father’s Garden (novel)

Jan Siebelink

This successful novel from Dutch author Jan Siebelink, In My Father’s Garden, is now available in English. The book, which won the 2005 Literatuurprijs, follows Hans, a father and gardener who becomes more and more obsessed with Calvinism as the story progresses. The book starts with Hans Sievez as a child and follows him to adulthood, where he marries his childhood sweetheart and they develop a flower nursery together. However, a man from Hans past brings him into devout Calvinism which... More >

I am Amsterdam

Thomas Schlijper

The ones who would like to have a daily confirmation that Amsterdam is beautiful should loyally follow the weblog of the photographer Thomas Schlijper. He posts a new photo of the every-day Amsterdam: of a window washer on an insanely high ladder, of a homeless person with a flower pot on his head, of the canals in the evening light, of a comical traffic situation or simply of nice people. The light is especially extraordinary in his photos. He manages... More >

How to Survive Holland

Martijn de Rooi

Published in 2007, Martijn de Rooi’s How to Survive Holland aims to explain Dutch culture to readers unfamiliar with the Netherlands , including the history and population. The book is written from the perspective of a highly educated man who clearly loves his homeland, and hopes to educate the reader – identified as working on such misconceptions as the need to request a life buoy on arrival in the Netherlands as a safety measure against the rising waters. How to... More >

How to be Orange

Greg Shapiro

How to be Orange, offers an insightful look at Dutch culture by social commentator and comedian, Greg Shapiro. Shapiro’s extensive knowledge of Dutch culture and politics has been accrued over twenty years of living and working in the Netherlands. His cultural immersion has involved marriage to a Dutch woman and parenting first generation Dutch children, while living in Amsterdam and forging a durable career within the local art scene. In the Netherlands, Shapiro is the immigrant people laugh at. He... More >

Dutch Cooking: The New Kitchen

Manon Sikkel & Michiel Klonhammer

If the idea of authentic Dutch cuisine fills you with horror, then you’re not alone. Even the authors of The New Kitchen admit that, ‘Dutch cooking does not, to say the least, have a very good international reputation.’ Amsterdam based writers Manon Sikkel and Michiel Klonhammer have penned numerous articles about their passion for traditional food and have enthusiastically updated some authentically rustic dishes in Dutch Cooking: The New Kitchen. You could be forgiven for thinking that there is little... More >

Confessions of a Dutch Reading Club

Patricia van Stratum

The title might not tickle your fancy but don’t let that put you off. Confessions of a Dutch Reading Club is the work of first time author Patricia van Stratum who has penned an unusual tale about a group of middle-aged Dutch folk and surprisingly, it works. When the reading club members are asked by a controversial priest to keep a journal and write a piece for a commemorative 10th Anniversary Book, they set about the task with trepidation. As... More >

Colonel Baxter’s Dutch Safari

Glenn Baxter

Cartoonist and artist Glen Baxter was first published in the Netherlands 40 years ago. Now he’s back with a collection of absurdist drawings covering all things Dutch – from herring and tulips to Mondriaan and Rietveld chairs. Dutch funnyman Wim de Bie, who curates the Glen Baxter Museum, provides the introduction to this slim volume of full-colour drawings and wry comments. In particular, Baxter seems to have it in for Rietveld’s famous chair – which is eaten by beavers, turned... More >