We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

The shadow of war lurks over the Kurc family in the spring of 1939, though they do their best to maintain normalcy. This is why the family talks of new romances and new babies as they gather for Seder, not how life is becoming increasingly dangerous for Jews in Radom, Poland. However, soon war arrives on their doorstep, flinging the Kurcs around the globe as they try to escape its horrors. Separated, exiled and struggling to escape what must be certain death, the Kurcs must find the hope and inner strength to endure.

403 pages. 

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

 Pages: 296

"Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us."

I am starting banned books week early this year with this difficult yet amazing graphic novel. The author does not hold back in describing the holocaust through his fathers experiences, and the experience of getting the story out of him. This is a book that I wish more people would read. It is so haunting and powerful in telling the duel stories, that of the holocaust survivor and their children trying to make sense of the past. 

From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos

Ok but like...seeing the characters in the 90s and in the 40s, so being able to see three generations... I'm not crying.
I. Love. Jewish. Folklore. Like. 
Hey look, this is Encanto level trauma...except it's not. because everyone's trauma is different and we don't compare trauma, but like...same symptoms....
Is it just me, or is it that the daughter of the character who hated Disney princesses is named Ariel....like...Did I hear wrong?
All of the yearning and angst. 
416 Pages

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

Don't mind me, I'm crying.
Oh this is like The Sound of Music but...different.
I like...feel attacked by this book
368 Pages

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

I remember a lot of my classmates were assigned this book at some point in elementary school. Our class never read it, but I'm glad I picked it up now! This is a great fictional introduction to World War II for younger readers. While it avoids any sort of graphic images, it does still portray the fear and violence civilians faced during the conflict. I also learned a bit of history I didn't know about-the mass resistance of Danes by sneaking most Jews out of their country to Sweden. This book is really good, for any age!

137 pages

Read Harder Challenge Task #20

Historical Fiction Reads

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I'll try to catch up on what I've read the past several weeks!


Flight of the Hawk: The Plains by W. Michael Gear

The second book in the series, Where Tylor leaves the Missouri River to set off into the plains, still running from the bounty on his head. I didn't like this one as much. It was a lot of descriptions of grass, and not the actual story didn't pick up until the very end. The introduction of Native American characters made it feel more like the Gears' People books, which is not what I was looking for in this one. Still, I enjoyed the return of McKeever.

281 pages




People of the Fire by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear

I've been enjoying these books. They are a bit predictable, but I enjoy reading about the way Native Americans lived. I love the fact that this series is written by an archaeologist couple, and you can definitely tell they've done the research and been on the digs. The final scene with the wildfire is excellent! This is a fun escapist read to America's distant past.

480 pages




The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

More of an alternative history novel, as the main characters use magic conduction, but still a solid depiction of the bigotry of southern aristocracy and injustice of slavery. Definitely check out the audiobook of this one, because the reader is amazing! He even sings the work songs, which saves me the trouble of looking them up on Youtube. I love historical fiction, because it leads me to look up and learn about history I didn't know about.

403 pages

Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener

I remember reading this one in middle school, but I did NOT pick up on half the history or the adult references as I did this time around. This book is so good, I felt like I was actually touring around the Pacific Islands alongside these men. Michener does a great job at depicting the boredom of officers, the interactions with islanders, and of course, the horrors of war-which makes sense, I suppose, since he lived it. I feel like too many novels about WWII focus on the European theater, so it's nice to get the other perspective. A true masterpiece!

384 pages



P.S. Did you know atabrine (the yellow malaria tablets passed out by Atabrine Benny) is closely related to chloroquine?

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

German Fairy Tales (kind of), World War II, Social Issues, Music, and some magic--these are the things I live for.
Alexa play "Edelweiss"
#Protect Friedrich Squad
Alexa play "It's a Hard Knock Life"
I have so many feelings. Siblings. Ugly sobbing... Mike loves Frankie so muuuuuuuch. I love Mike. Like there's not enough space to tell you how much I love Mike and his adorableness.
Older brothers in every sense give me all the feels.
How dare they make me feel things.

...Ok but this was an amazing audiobook... Cause there was music. And it was great.
587 Pages

The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz by Jack Fairweather

The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero Who Infiltrated Auschwitz by Jack Fairweather

In Nazi-occupied Poland, Witold Pilecki accepted a mission to infiltrate a mysterious new camp called Auschwitz along the Reich's border. His goal was to report Nazi crimes and raise an army to revolt. For the next two and a half years, Witold smuggled evidence of the Nazis' atrocities to the Allies, eventually shaping their response to the Holocaust. Yet after his show trial and execution in 1948, Witold's name was forgotten for decades--until the 1990s, after Poland's return to democracy.  

528 pages.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Ok so it's growing on me...mostly because of the humor...
We get it, men like women, men like women A LOT.
Yossarian grew on me...
544 Pages

Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

This is a graphic memoir of Granny Lee Ok-sun, who as a young girl was abducted and forced to serve as a Korean "comfort woman" for the Japanese army during World War II. Accompanied by Gendry-Kim's black ink drawings, it makes for a dark, yet expressive story,depicting the heavy costs of war and poverty. I would highly recommend this for graphic novel fans. It's heart breaking, but it's soooo good.

Oh my goodness. This graphic novel. The feels...

480 pages

Read Harder Task #4

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Anne Barrows

So I feel guilty with the fact that I watched the movie first... but I have lots of feelings, and I'm fine.. Ok, I'm not fine.
I love historical fiction. And I love seeing relationships grow.
I love Sidney.
Ok the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen.
Christian... I'm crying. Someone sedate me.
.. Smirk emoji


290 Pages

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

Trudy Schlemmer is a professor of German history in Minnesota. She is taking oral histories of World War II survivors. Her mother, Anna, is German, also, but has never talked about her past. Trudy knows she was three when her mother married an American soldier after the war.

The story moves back and forth from the present, starting with the funeral of Anna's husband, to Anna's story in Germany during the war. It is a story of family secrets; of the horrors of the holocaust, and a sobering portrait of life in a country at war.

Trudy has always had a million questions about her mother's past; about who her father was; about the war, and her mother's part in it. But her mother refuses to answer any questions. This is a heartbreaking story of shame and guilt that forever impacts the relationship between a mother and daughter.


496 pages

All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

 

Marie-Laure is 12 years old when she and her father flee  Paris after the Germans invade France in

World War II. They go her great-uncle's home in Saint Malo, where she remains after her father is imprisoned by the Nazis. She has been blind since she was six, and has to navigate this new world without her father, who has always been her navigator.

Werner Pfennig is a small 14 year old when he is accepted into a Nazi training school. He is a genius with radios, and although smaller than most of the other students, does well at the school. It is chilling to see how these children were groomed for the war machine. He is assigned the task of finding radio transmissions by the resistance.

The story follows both through the war; their lives intersect at the very end of the book, although it is clear that will happen as you read. This is a sad book that reminds us of the horrors of war for everyone, not just soldiers.


545 pages

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Finest, Darkest Hour by Lynne Olson

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Finest, Darkest Hour by Lynne Olson

Author Lynne Olson details the story of how the U.S.'s "special relationship" with Britain came to be, told from the perspective of three American men who featured prominently in Britain during World War II: Edward R. Murrow, the head of CBS in Europe; Averell Harriman, who ran FDR's Lend-Lease program from its London base; and John Gilbert Winant, the U.S. ambassador to Britain.   

496 pages.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So it goes.

I listened to the Audible version read by James Franco, which was good.

I now have a solid understanding of the ways in which Kurt Vonnegut has influenced the writing of Andrew Smith. I guess I went about it backwards by reading so much of Smith first, but if one brought me around to the other, that seems like a win.  I think I'm going to read more Vonnegut after this.  I'm not sure how I didn't read this one in high school or college, but I'm glad I finally cycled back around to it.

Pages: 215

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

Warsaw had one of the best-know zoos in Europe during the 1930's. In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and  the ensuing bombing from the allies destroyed much of the city. Over the next few years, under German occupation, Warsaw Jews were confined to the Ghetto, the zoo animals were killed or taken by the Nazis for their own German zoos, and the zookeeper became a major player in the resistance.

During those years, the zookeeper, Jan Zabinaki,  and his wife used the grounds of the former zoo to hide weapons and ammunition, produce false papers for Jews, and even conceal Jews on the grounds, some in the animal cages. Using the diaries of Antonina Zabinski and other contemporary sources, Ackerman relates the story of over 300 Jews who were saved by this brave couple.

384 pages

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

In  France in 1939, Vianne Mauriac is living in the quiet village of Carriveau with her husband and young daughter when he is sent to the Front.  It is unthinkable that Germany will invade France, but they do.  The French government immediately capitulates, allowing Germany to establish two countries; Free France, and occupied France. Carriveau is in the occupied section, and a German officer billets in her home. She is forced  to accept if she expects to survive.

As the war progresses, the German take everything from the French; they take the good food, leaving the citizenry to slowly starve. They take their dignity, their hope, and in many cases, their lives. They take any valuables they might own, and people are forced to burn their furniture to survive the cold winters. In the end, of course, France is on the winning side of the war, but life will never be the same for those who live through it.


440 pages

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

In this Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Doerr writes about the years leading up to and including WWII from the very personal perspective of two children who grow into their teens during the 1930's and 1940's.  Marie-Laure, who is blind, lives with her father in Paris, but evacuates with him when the Germans invade.  Her father helps her 'see' and navigate the world by building models of their neighborhood.  She is the embodiment of good and innocence, and has a great curiosity and love for learning. The orphan boy Werner, growing up in Germany, has a great knack for mechanical things, especially radios, that eventually takes him to an elite training school for German youth.  Following these two characters as they grow and develop allows Doerr to explore themes of the role of the individual in confronting evil.  I was most struck by his descriptions of how the average German citizens became entangled, little by little, in the promises and lies of Hitler's fascism.  Doerr is a master storyteller, and an expert at putting in the details of each scene to make it superbly real.  530 pages.

"When Skies Have Fallen" by Debbie McGowan

This touching story is about two gay men serving in England in WWII.  Arty Clarke is an airman and excellent dancer whose best friend and dance partner, Jean, helps his love blossom with Technical Sergeant Jim Johnson.  Homosexuality is against the law in England, but that doesn't stop them from falling in love and trying to be together.  But that love is tested when Arty is critically injured in an airplane accident, and Jim is called home to the United States.  This was another quiet but great story from McGowan that included lots of dancing, a strong female character in Jean, and a couple of cute cats.  296 pages (Kindle edition).

Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi

Trudi Montag is a  Zwerg (dwarf) short, undesirable, different,  living in a small town in Germany in this story that spans both World Wars. Her father fought in World War I, and her mother is a mentally disturbed woman who rejects her daughter when she is born.

When Trudi is two, her mother embraces her one day, and falls in love with her. The two become inseparable, until her mother kills herself while once again in the insane asylum. Her father, who has always been Trudi's primary caregiver,  is a librarian of his own pay library, running the library out of their home and charging patrons to borrow books. Trudi eventually takes over, becoming the town librarian, where she is able to learn secrets while spying on the townfolk.

Trudi is deeply resentful of her physical difference, but learns to use her uniqueness in a variety of ways to her advantage, mostly to discover the secrets of various villagers, but also to enact vengeance toward others.

 She discovers various gifts she has, from her own bravery in the face of mass evil to being able to see into people's hearts. During World War II, she shelters Jews in her basement. Through her eyes, readers see the growing impact of Nazism on the ordinary townsfolk of Burgdorf as they are thrust on to a larger moral stage and forced to make choices that will forever mark their lives.




531 pages