I've been tearing through books at an almost embarrassing rate. Okay, really embarrassing. Also watching Netflix at a disastrously mind-numbing volume. But I have a perfectly good excuse. I'm forcing myself to rest after a minor surgery, a week at least, and to make that successful I need something to compel me to stay down. Some good books and shows did the trick...so far.
I easily switch between fun fiction and non-fiction to satiate my burning desire to know more and be entertained. My book club has help immensely, in that I can get great recommendations from like-minded and widely-read women whom I trust. Win! So here's what's been holding my attention:
WW II - It is a time and theme I cannot read enough about, both fiction and non-fiction alike.
"Unbroken", by Laura Hillenbrand, was my first real in-depth WW II read, last year. It was a compelling, inspiring, horrifying, amazing story about Louis Zamperini and his experience as an Olympic hopeful and prisoner of war. I was touched by his promise to God that if he were saved he'd devote his life to Him, and the resulting life-changing healing that came about because of that promise. I haven't seen the movie, which I hear is great, but that it doesn't do this theme of Louis' life justice, the way he truly was saved. Hollywood.
"Code Talker" by Joseph Bruchac is a great young adult book about the Navajo Indians who, as Marines, used their native language as the unbreakable code for the U.S.. It is an amazing story of hardship and using strengths to help in the face of opposition.
"The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown is one of my enduring favorites. It crosses paths with Louis Zamperini's story briefly during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It is the story of the American rowing team from Washington State who came together under extremely trying circumstances arising from the Depression, found unity in immensely hard work and selflessness, and thumbed their noses at Hitler. It tells the unbelievable story of how the Nazi's were able to pull the wool over the worlds' eyes, and shows that the basics of rowing and mentorship are the exact same basics that make you successful at everything else in life. It inspires us all to look at our own strengths and to use them to complement those of the people around us to truly succeed.
"All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr was simultaneously heartbreaking and magnificent. I could not put it down, reading it in three days. I was left breathless, and knowing that I need to read it again after the dust of my emotions has settled. The stories of two youths, one a blind French girl, the other a brilliant German boy, connecting in an unexpected and beautiful way. The Nazi's were horrific, and my eternal question was partially answered: how could the Germans have chosen such an evil and gone along with it?
"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak took me at least four stops and starts before I finally got into it. I didn't really adore the voice being that of Death, and the writing style I found choppy and hard to follow. But once I got into the meat of the story I was hooked. A compelling story of a girl's life forever changed by WWII, and her foster family's courage and goodness to provide hiding for a Jew, this one also helped me understand a little more about the German people and the burden they carried during Hitler's war.
"Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford was an interesting look at the Japanese Internment during WW II. I have read another book about this topic, but I can't find the title to share it. It felt young adult, simply written. The Chinese & Japanese cultures fascinate me! So much love yet so cold feeling. It was a romance that I wanted to get behind but I couldn't shake the feeling: WHO WANTS TO BE ETHEL?! It's the same feeling I get when watching "Titanic". What wife wants to be loved by her husband "in his own way", when all the years you spend together he's longing for his young love? The circumstances were unfair for Henry & Keiko, and Henry showed so much love and commitment to Ethel, but I closed the book feeling short-changed, sad, and a little bit angry.
Three more books that are on my list to read relating to WW II are:
"Pure Grit: How American WW II Nurses Survived Combat & Prison Camp" by Mary Cronk Farrell; Stories of strong women. Always.
"Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of WW II" by John W. Dower; I'm interested in how the Japanese people were affected.
"Sophie's Choice" by William Styron. Should I want to read this?
This month's book club selection was "George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution" by Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger
I read this while sick in bed in February, in two days. It was a fascinating read, about the battle over New York. I loved the idea of early spying and how slow everything was. I was fascinated by the code, that it had separate distinctions for "woman", "lady" and "female". Who WAS the mysterious woman spy, whose name is still a secret? Add it to my list of QINL: questions in the next life. But it got me intrigued about the Revolutionary War.
"1776" by David McCullough came at the recommendation of a friend. I got to the end and was slightly disappointed that it didn't finish out the entire war, but it IS only about 1776, so there you go. It was a great depiction of George Washington and the opposition he faced at the beginning, with too few trained troops, little military history or experience, and the will it took to keep it all together. Many of the accounts help support the fact that this country was divinely led to independence and God provided a helping hand when needed. As a life lesson, it is never perfectly easy or smooth, but the roughest patches are made smoother by His guiding and compassionate hand. My appetite for this subject is only just whetted.
I am planning to also read "John Adams" also by McCullough. This book won a Pulitzer Prize. Should be great!
I just finished "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan. I've known about it for years but never read it. After "1776" I was ready for something fictional. I was thinking light, which this was & wasn't, although it was quick. But it was a good one!
Being the mother of three daughters, it held a certain truth for me. "She and I have shared the same body. There is a part of her mind that is part of mine. But when she was born, she sprang from me like a slippery fish, and has been swimming away ever since." I was fascinated by the Chinese mothers. Their fierce, critical, protective, hopeful, distant natures. And yet so loving, they cherish their daughters and hold them up as the recipients of their greatest, holiest, fondest dreams. Family is everything.
So I now must read "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua for additional insight into the mothering methods of these women. I've heard it's a bit rough. Maybe the girls won't be able to call me mean anymore after I share some of the experiences from it...
Last month for book club we read "Funny in Farsi" by Firoozeh Dumas. It was a book I COULD put down. It is written as a series of seemingly unconnected anectodes about her life, jumping from time, changeable in absolute statements, kind of like a paper blog. I thought "if she can write this and sell it so could I." It wasn't outstanding and probably not unique to Iranian experiences in the U.S. But after discussing it in book club, it was better than any of us remembered, with heart-warming stories about her crazy family members (which we all have), the unity of large families, and the love that brings families together and makes us stronger. It was worth the read, but low on my list of re-reads or book club suggestions.
Just finished: "What the Dog Saw" by Malcolm Gladwell. I have read "Outliers" & "Tipping Point" & "Blink" and was highly entertained by the theories set forth in them all. I love statistics, psychology, and I love books that get me thinking, which is exactly what this book does. Gladwell does a fabulous job of taking different situations and comparing them to come to a broader perspective, and possible solutions to problems we face. I particularly enjoyed "Million Dollar Murray", the book's eponymous chapter "What the Dog Saw", "Open Secrets", "Most Likely to Succeed" & "The New-Boy Network", although every chapter was enlightening and just plain fun, and I even smiled and laughed out loud. I found myself really thinking about the comparisons Gladwell drew and the perfect sense they seemed to make. But while I found myself thinking that yes, this MUST be the solution to the problem, I found other problems with his solutions. This process is Gladwell's purpose in writing. He states: "Good writing does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails based on its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head." This book met that criteria perfectly.
When my brain starts hurting I turn to "Sherlock" a PBS series starring Benedict Cumberbatch. There's no love lost between us, but he really shines in this show, and I love Bilbo Baggins...I mean Martin Freeman. It even hurts my brain sometimes, but I adore the "high functioning sociopath" aspect! If only we could all be so blunt. At 85 minutes per episode it requires a lot of quite time, but with only 3 episodes per season I've come to the end: tomorrow is my last one. Sad. And they may make me wait two years for the next season. The cruelty.
So that's how I've been whiling away my hours, and more still to come. I hope some of these suggestions pique your interest. It's nice to branch out!
