The Bookarang team consists of a combination of (nerdy) readers and (reading) nerds.

The Bookarang team:

Niels Bogaards

Artificial Intelligence

Expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Worked at the world-famous IRCAM in Paris. Thinks in zeros and ones.


Favourite book: A Bend in the River, V.S. Naipaul

Fokke de Jong

DevOps

Studied at the HKU and works as a software developer in the field of music and audio processing. Essential part of Bookarang’s team as DevOps.

Favourite book: Catch-22, Joseph Heller

Maaike Koninx

Research & Development

Studied Mathematics and Computer Science and gained ML experience at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica. Avid reader and thus intrinsically interested in the combination of books and AI.

Favourite book: Kafka on the shore, Haruki Murakami

Robin van der Markt

Research & Development

Dedicated computer scientist. Graduated in Machine Learning and worked as a Lead Developer and Software Engineer. One of Bookarangs ML experts.


Favourite book: Buzz Aldrin, what happened to you in all the confusion?, Johan Harstad

Simone van Bruggen

Research & Development

100% background in artificial intelligence. Studied AI at the UU and UvA, interned at Microsoft and TNO and gained working experience as a Machine Learning Research Engineer. Special interest in NLP.

Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

Patricia Piolon

Research & Development

Developer and data analist with a background in the literary world. Studied Social Science Informatics, worked as a technical writer and as a literary translator for various leading publishing houses. Likes data, code and language to be pretty & neat.


Favourite book: To Reign in Hell, Steven Brust

Jessica Ruinard

Book Annotator

Studied Biochemistry and worked as a clinical perfusionist and teacher in higher education. Currently developing herself in the field of Eastern medicine. Curious, inquisitive and — of course — very much into books.


Favourite book: Walden, Henry David Thoreau

Zep de Bruyn

Book Annotator & Software and Recommendation Tester

Studied Image & Media Technology at the HKU and Literary Studies & Cultural Analysis at the UvA. Zep is editor at cultural magazine De Optimist and works as a freelance illustrator and video editor. Culture to the max!

Favourite book: A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole

Christiaan Vijn

Book Annotator & Chief Recommendations

Full focus on language and literature: a bachelor degree in English Language and Literature, a masters degree in Literature, Culture & Society, and an extended internship at literary publishing house Atlas Contact.

Favourite book: Sunken Red, Jeroen Brouwers

Ava Dubbelboer

Book Annotator


Grew up in Amsterdam, lived in China for two years to attend classes at the United World College and studies Ethics & Politics now at Bard College in Berlin. Bookarang’s specialist in the field of Young Adult books.

Favourite book: The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov

Petra Spiljard

Book Annotator

Trained to teach Dutch, worked in vocational education and taught Dutch as a second language. Now teaches writing at the Academy for Theatre and Dance. Also works as a photographer. Loves language, people and images.


Favourite book: Traktat o łuskaniu fasoli, Wieslaw Mysliwski

Vera Hoogstad

Book Annotator

Studied Theatre Studies and Dramaturgy at the UvA, then moved from theatre to the world of books. Works as an editor at publishing house De Nieuwe Toneelbibliotheek and has a love for poetry and experimental literature.


Favourite book: A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

Max Waser

Research & Development

Skilful programmer who studied Chemistry and obtained his teachers' degree, then switched to Computer Science. Has experience with machine learning and AI, and knows the more complex programming languages.


Favourite book: His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik

Jesca Hoogendijk

Research & Development

Obtained a MSc. degree with a specialisation in AI, focussed on computer vision, cognitive modelling and formal logical language processing. Worked as a developer and software engineer during her studies. Part of Bookarang’s development team.

Favourite book: On Connections, Kae Tempest

Kim Ouweleen

Book Annotation Coordinator

Analytical thinker with a love for art and culture. Studied Art History and specialised in surrealism. Worked as an illustrator, graphic designer and editor. Published a book about Kamagurka’s oeuvre. Ardent Go player with a NL top 10 ranking. Coordinator of the book annotation process.

Favourite book: Les Chants de Maldoror, Comte de Lautréamont

Isadora Goudsblom

Book Annotator

True language lover. Studied English Language and Culture at UvA, worked for various publishing houses and as a freelance translator, copywriter and editor for organisations in the cultural sector. Writes Dutch and English poetry.



Favourite book: The Shipping News, Annie Proulx

Lukas Bogacz

Software Engineer

Studied Biochemistry and Microbiology in South Africa, and worked in the field of analytical instrumentation. Spent some time in the US before moving to the Netherlands. Now specializing in machine learning and software engineering which he blogs about.

Favourite book: Das geschenkte Gesicht, H.G. Konsalik

Laura van Eck

Book Annotator

Studied Creative Writing, was poet of the province of Overijssel from 2018-2020, founded an open mic and works as a writer and editor on a project basis. Editor-in-chief of the online literary magazine De Optimist. Writes theater, poetry and prose.


Favourite book: The word for world is forest, Ursula K le Guin