The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II
by Katherine Sharp Landdeck
A Wonderful Flight (1/7/2020)
Katherine Sharp Landdeck' "The Women With Silver Wings" reminded me how far we have come from the days when we were seen primarily as girls and housewives. The Women Airforce Service Pilots or WASPs trained male pilots for service overseas and ferried bombers and pursuits across the country. They were an important part of our defeating the Germans and Japanese. Landeck helps us who have the freedom to use our minds and abilities in occupations once thought of as only for men. I know that my granddaughters, although still young, have opportunities that were simply not available when I was young.
I strongly recommend this book and if I were still teaching would make it required reading in my classes.
The Yellow Bird Sings: A Novel
by Jennifer Rosner
Do No Forget (12/4/2019)
I remember a young Polish refugee who would babysit for me and my sister and brother. One time she told us how she had escaped from a rail car in Eastern Europe that was destined for a Nazi death camp. I also recall my mother collecting clothes and shoes to send to Europe for refugees. Add to that the novels such as Rosner's that I have read set during WWII and they have informed my picture of WWII refugees.
Rosner effectively takes us into that world through the life of a young mother, and her daughter Shira during their precarious life in Nazi-occupied Poland. The vivid descriptions of their experiences help us to see and feel the dangers they face which can quickly end in death or incarceration that was designed to punish those part of the Nazi regime.
"The Yellow Bird Sings" reminds us how dangerous it was for those in Europe during that time. I strongly recommend this novel!
Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant
by Anne Gardiner Perkins
Second Class citizens (7/29/2019)
Fascinating book.
The Volunteer: One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz
by Jack Fairweather
A Stark Reminder (4/20/2019)
That anyone would actually volunteer to be imprisoned by the Nazis stretches the imagination but in a Auschwitz? That is what Witold Pilicki did in order to expose the seemingly preposterous truth about Nazi atrocities. His often harrowing account helped me,who has read much about the Nazis experience from a safe distance, see clearly how arrogance can make us look down upon our fellow human beings and see them as inhuman objects. Had I not known this was a true account, I would have had seen it as another harrowing fictional account.
This is a book that should definitely be read in college lit classes and, yes, in junior or senior high school classes , to help the young who live in an open and safe--yes safe in so many ways--country. I strongly recommend this for book groups as a way of reminding us of what man is capable of doing to man.
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
Don't Miss This One (4/20/2019)
"Code Name Verity" introduced me to Elizabeth Wein and
I have read everything she has written. Although listed as a Young Adult author her books easily transfer to adult status. This novel, written in two parts tells the story of a young British woman who volunteers to spy in France but is immediately caught. The story unfolds during her time in a Nazi prison where she is interrogated but manages to lead on her captors. I would say more but that will spoil your reading experience.
Since reading this novel, I have followed Wein's writing and read nearly everYA she has written. If I were still teaching I would definitely include this novel in the reading lists for both my high school classes and even in a number of freshmen and sophomore college lit classes.
When We Left Cuba
by Chanel Cleeton
Cuba brought up to date (3/30/2019)
Chanel Cleeton's book gave me a history lesson as well a good story. Experiencing the changes in a country through those who lived it made me realize just how fortunate I am to live in the US. This book would be a good choice for reading groups. I strongly recommend it!
The Last Year of the War
by Susan Meissner
An America We Never Knew (11/7/2018)
Susan Meissner's story puts a human face on those who were caught up in the fear of "aliens" living in the US during WWII. Most of us are aware of our putting Japanese citizens in camps during the war but the fact that Germans who had immigrated to the US were also interned was news to me.
The novel centers on Elise Sontag and her family. Elise's father had been in the US for 19 years but never completed his application for citizenship. Thus he and his family are put into an internment camp. However, her father signed papers that stated he could be exchanged for a family of Americans caught in Germany never really believing that would happen.
The novel follows Elise and her reactions to life after she and her family are put in such a camp. She befriends a Mariko, young Japanese girl, who becomes her best friend so while this new life is difficult she adjust. Then her family is sent to war-torn Germany in exchange in an American family trapped there.
The novel shows a part of our history many of us did not know existed for some German families living in the In the United States and then let's us see life in war-torn Germany. I strongly recommend this novel. It would make a wonderful choice for a book group.
Paris Echo
by Sebastian Faulks
A Must Read for Sebastian Faulk Fans (8/21/2018)
Sebastian Faulks' "Paris Echo" will definitely resonate with readers who enjoy following characters who find their beliefs tested. Hannah, a young American, comes to Paris to delve into the past when it was occupied by the Nazis in WWII. and takes in Tariq, a young Moroccan who has fled to Paris hoping to find a better life as a lodger.
As Hannah delves deeper into the lives of the lives
women in Nazi occupied Paris, she uncovers information that changes her views in ways she never expected and Taiiq, too, questions his decision as he learns more about the city he had planned to live in.
Faulk fans will definitely love this book but readers who struggle jumping around in time may struggle. While I gave the a "4" I believe 3.5 is a more accurate reflection of my feelings.
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After
by Elizabeth Weil, Clemantine Wamariya
Life as We Do Not Know It (2/24/2018)
How does one process a book that describes the undiscribable to a free, safe, healthy and well off American? Clemantine Wamariya opened my eyes to a life so foreign to me that I had to remind myself I wasn't reading fiction. Her life and the lives of Rwandans who experienced the genocide is must reading for those of us who live in the US. This is also a must read for all book groups and individuals who have the freedom to pick and choose not only what they read but, more importantly, have safe places to live and government intervention programs to help many of our less fortunate. I cannot recommend it strongly enough. Make "The Girl Who Smiled at Beads" your book groups's next selection. And be sure to recommend it as a must book for your library.
News of the World
by Paulette Jiles
Historical and Fun (9/13/2017)
Having lived in West Texas, studied Texas history and taught literature set in this country, I found the book a joy to read. Those who are familiar with the film "The Searchers" know about Indians capturing white settlers' children and bringing them up as their own.
My book club members knew little about the history of this time or the setting, so we had a lively discussion.
I strongly recommend a book with a good plot set in an accurately portrayed setting.
The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
by Cherise Wolas
A woman's identity (6/6/2017)
"The Resurrection of Jane Ashby" asks several important questions about how a woman identifies herself.
Joan Ashby sees herself as a writer whose life should focus on and revolve around her writing. Her first two books were wildly successful. Then she falls in love with a man who is equally serious about his own career. When they marry, they both agree that career tops family. Then Joan becomes pregnant. After their son is born, Joan puts her writing in second place. And she finds motherhood wonderful after she locates a delightful young woman to care for him and who becomes someone who takes over the chores of the family. When a second child enters the family, Joan's responsibilities change. Her writing suffers but her husband's reputation as a surgeon continues to grow Life becomes complicated and Joan must make choices she never dreamed she would have to make.
This book forces readers to look at what they value and what they have accepted or refused to do in their own lives. It is therefore a book made for discussion--one that book clubs should read. Unfortunately at 500 pages many clubs will find it a hard sell.
My Last Lament
by James William Brown
War's Human Tragedy (3/14/2017)
Set in Greece at the end of WWII, this fascinating novel pulled me into the lives of the peasants struggling to survive after the Germans have left leaving left them bereft and penniless. Many years later, Aliki, perhaps the last "lamenter" (one who sings a eulogy for the dead) is asked to make a record of the lost art of lamenting. However, Aliki tells her own story of that terrible time, of Stelios, a young puppeteer and the orphan Taki of their struggles and those of their fellow Greeks. The book becomes a lament for the life and traditions and human tragedies inflicted on and by the Greeks who survived this terrible time.
We are all familiar with the stories of WWII in Europe, of the Jews sent to death camps and the Nazi cruelties but this book takes us to a country we have read little about. I strongly recommend the book for book groups.
The Typewriter's Tale
by Michiel Heyns
Read Henry James instead (1/11/2017)
"The Typewriter's Tale" tells of a young woman who has been fortunate to become the person who types for Henry James as he dictates revisions of his works. Having read most of them as well as those of Edith Wharton, I looked forward to this novel. Unfortunately I found it tedious. The author's long sentences and longer paragraphs as well as the early 20th century vocabulary were my major stumbling blocks.
I encourage those who enjoy such prose to read the novel but discourage those who prefer a more contemporary writing style.
Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd, Russia, 1917 - A World on the Edge
by Helen Rappaport
History at its Best (10/16/2016)
Just finished this absolutely fascinating book about the revolution that set up the Russia of today. It is 1917 and Tzar Nicholas under pressure abdicates. But this book focuses on the results of that abdication in Petrogad ( St. Petersburg) through contemporary letters and diaries of those stationed in embassies, of visitors and other foreigners during the revolution. I was fascinated by Rappaport's reporting feeling as if I too were there appalled, disbelieving and freezing. I learned more about Russia and how the Bolsheviks destroyed the "old" ruling monarchy and the rise of Lenin and Trotsky as I watched the destruction that led eventually to Putin's Russia than any history course could have told me.
Don't miss this book!
The Tea Planter's Wife
by Dinah Jefferies
Fascinating...But Frustrating (7/17/2016)
Set in Ceylon, Dinah Jeffries "The Tea Planter's Wife"begins with a short prologue dated 1913, while the rest of the novel takes place from 1925 through 1933, during the time when race and class differences dictated one's place in society to the beginning of unrest and change within the social structure of that society.
I found the novel both fascinating and frustrating. Jeffries does an excellent job of helping us picture Ceylon and the Sinhalese and Tamil who work for the British landowners. We learn the social obligations and the restrictions that govern those in charge as well as those who toil beneath them. I found this part of the novel fascinating. However too often the sometimes overwrought plot too often made it difficult to accept the various intricacies necessary to develop it. While Gwen, the main character, and her servant Naveena were fully developed, the secondary characters too often remained two-dimensional.
Nonetheless, I recommend "The Tea Planter's Wife" for taking me into a time and place that I know too little about. The novel shows how our perceptions of those who are "different," too often cause us to judge them as inferior beings.
If I Forget You
by Thomas Christopher Greene
A poignant love story (4/7/2016)
Thomas Christopher Green's novel begins with a chance sighting of Margo by Henry in 2012. Twenty-one years earlier they had fallen deeply in love their freshman year in college but were forced apart when her wealthy father learned of their romance.
The book moves back and forth in time in short chapters between the past (1991) and the present (2012) and told alternately through Henry's and then Margo's point of view.
This is a lovely and lovingly told story that draws the reader in. I found myself unable to put down the book. There is much to discuss for book groups about relationships and life choices. I strongly recommend Greene's book.
The Alaskan Laundry
by Brendan Jones
Not a tourist's Alaska (2/10/2016)
Tara Marconi is drifting through life. She has a boyfriend but isn't totally committed. She has lost the mother who was her lifeline and she doesn't get along with her father who blames her for his wife's accidental death. So Tara runs away to a life as far away and as different as a life in the big city could be. She is 18, feisty and scared but determined to succeed in a man's world working on fishing boats in Alaska. She first learned self preservation when her dad took her to a gym to learn boxing after she had been taken advantage of sexually. Now alone with no way to run home if life gets tough, Tara begins her education on Alaska's fishing boats where no one expects her to succeed. Yet she toughs it out and grows from being young and arrogant into a mature young woman.
I enjoyed this very different Bildungsroman and highly recommend it. I do, however, wish it had included the maps which will be in the publisher's final edition.
The Forgetting Time
by Sharon Guskin
Who Are We-- (12/13/2015)
Sharon Guskin's "The Forgetting Time" posits the theory that we that we can take on or absorb the life of another. Focusing on Janie, a single mother, and the child, Noah, she conceives on a week's vacation, plus a lonely scientist, Dr. Jerome Anderson, suffering from aphasia who has spent his life studying the belief that life after death can exist, Guskin's writes an enthralling novel.
Noah is suffering from the belief that he has another life and struggles with the two personalities that war within him. The novel details Janie's attempt to find a solution to her son's agonies and Anderson's attempt to prove his thesis using Noah's struggles. While this sounds dark and deep, it becomes instead a beautifully written story of love and loss.
Guskin's novel offers much for book groups to discuss. Don't pass this up!
The Heart You Carry Home
by Jennifer Miller
Difficult Wars. A Difficult Book (10/16/2015)
Jennifer Miller's "The Heart You Carry Home" focuses on Becca Keller, her father King (a Viet Nam veteran), Ben a veteran of the Iraqi war and her husband of a few weeks, her mother and a number of King's ex Viet Nam veterans. Her mother and The novel focuses on how men and their wives deal with the wounded warriors with PTSD. Half of the novel deals with a veteran, CO Proudfoot, who has created a place where veterans can "find" themselves.
This is a powerful novel but also a difficult novel to follow and understand. The author focuses on contemporary characters, their problems and those of their families. Unfortunately I had trouble understanding the characters, the motorcycle crew, the language and the whole scenario.
I am well beyond someone who knows the language and the problems as well as the kinds of characters in the novel. This is not necessarily the problem of the writer. I believe that I am well out of the readers for whom this novel was focused on.
Thus I think this is a novel for contemporary and younger readers to whom it will certainly resonate.
My rating of the novel reflects that of a 74-year-old woman who has never had a family member involved in war.
When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944
by Ronald C. Rosbottom
A Paris Without Vitality (7/27/2015)
When I think of Paris, I envision a city steeped in romance, the Eiffel Tower, bistros, small cafés, history and, being an American, Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. But Ronald C. Rosbotten paints a different picture, one of a more subdued Paris where much of the population learned to live with their German occupiers and to turn their heads when their Jewish inhabitants were sent to Drancy and then to camps. Paris remained
unscathed. It's buildings and parks were not bombed or destroyed. Yes, Hitler admired this city that he had captured but visited only once. It was, he believed, to be his some day.
Rosbottom uses novels, memoirs, historical writings, memoirs, letters, novels by writers such as Camus to paint this picture. While he discusses those who became members of a resistance, he notes that they were never as organized and successful as those in other countries.
Was life easy for Parisians? No. They suffered from food deprivation and many, especially wealthy Jews, saw their dwellings taken over by the Germans. There were many besides Jews who were sent to camps but their numbers were relatively small compared to those in other occupied cities and countries.
This is a fascinating book that does what many more weighty historical volumes do not deal with as there are no battles or statistics showing loss of lives. And the Germans never raze buildings or bomb sections of the city which they see as a city to keep intact and make their own, although Hitler made plans to do so in the last days of the war, it never happened.
I heartily recommend this portrait of the city the world pictured then and still does today as romantic, beautiful and brimming with a fascinating history.
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