November, 2011

"Unraveling Anne" by Laurel Saville         

Laurel Saville was raised by an alcoholic mother, one whose hands-off parenting style left Laurel largely to herself.  In this book Lauren looks back at her life and the life of her mother in an attempt to come to terms with her childhood.  I found this book extremely hard to read.  It seems more like a therapy session than a story.  Their was no cohesive time-line in the book and the author ranted on and on about her horrible childhood.  Overall, i thought it was self-indulgent and unreadable.

"The Hangman's Daughter" by Oliver Potzsch         

In 17th century Bavaria, hangman Jakob Kuisl is forced to participate in the interrogation and torture of Martha Stechlin when she is accused of witchcraft.  Together with the town's physician's son and his daughter, Magdalena the three race to uncover the truth about the brutal murder of several children and the mark of a witch found on their bodies.  Fast-paced and action filled this is an interesting historical novel.  The characters are well developed and interesting.  Overall, I highly recommend to anyone interested in historical fiction, witch trials or mysteries.

"Snuff" by Terry Pratchett         

Lady Sybil has finally convinced her husband Sam Vimes to take a vacation away from the city of Ankh-Morpork.  Completely unnerved by the country, Vimes begins to uncover crime everywhere he turns.  The book also tackles the issue of class and social hierarchy as it deals with goblins, a race considered less than human.  Overall, I thought that this book wasn't as good as the other Guard series.  The continual mention of poo and snot seemed to be overkill and took the book into a potty-humor category.  I will still pick up the next Guard book, but with less enthusiasm.

"Lucifer's Odyssey" by Rex Jameson         

Lucifer is awaiting the apocalypse from Earth when he decides to travel back to his home of Chaos.  This book lost me when Lucifer and his demons hijacked a NASA spaceship to travel to their home of Chaos.  I just found this to be extremely cheesy and unreadable.  I'm sure this book will appeal to some, just not me.

"The Black God's War"by Moses Siregar         

A ten year war brews between King Vieri and the Pawelon kingdom.  When Caio, his son and the kingdom'skindgdom's messiah, comes of age, he is given control of their armies.  His sister, Lucia is haunted by the Black God, who waits to see Lucia confront an impossible decision.  I found this book hard to read.  Although the plot was interesting, the characters seemed flat and stereotypical and I had a hard time becoming invested in them.  I am interested to see how this author develops in the future.

"Where Memories Lie" by Deborah Crombie         

This book is in a series, however I read it without benefit of reading any of the other books.  I thought it was easy to read and follow without knowing anything else about the characters.  When Erika discovers a family heirloom up for sale at an auction house, she immediately relieves the horror of fleeing from the Nazis.  During that flight the heirloom was taken from her.  Erika turns to her friend, Detective Gemma James to uncover any information that she can and discover if a Nazi is hidden among them.          

I did not expect to like this book.  However I found the characters well developed, the writing style impeccable and the plot line entertaining.  Overall, I thought this was a great novel, one any true crime/history buff would enjoy.

"The Iron Furnace:  A Holocaust Survivor's Story" by George, Topas         

Torpas was a Jewish teenager living in Poland when the Nazis invaded in 1939.  Through quick thinking and instinct he was able to survive when many others perished.  One interesting passage in the book had Topas signing up as an "inventor," which saved his life many times.  Towards the end of the war the inventors were taken to work on a secret weapon, one they had no idea how to design or build.

     Overall, I thought this was a well-written and thoughtful book.  It speaks of hard issues in a more gentle way, making it also appropriate for young adults.

"A Lucky Child:  A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy" by Thomas Buergenthal         

Thomas Buergenthal is the youngest concentration camp survivor that I have read about.  After surviving two ghettos and a labor camp he arrived with his parents in Auschwitz at the age of ten.  After being separated from both parents he managed to survive by his wit, luck and with help from others.  After the war he was sent to an orphanage but was able to reunite with his mother after two years.  Thomas and his mother immigrated to the US in 1951 and where able to being a new life.  Thomas went on to become an attorney and then an international human rights Judge.

     This was a well-written look at Thomas life and survival during World War II.  I found it to be unemotional at times, but that is because the book was written so far after the experiences.  Overall, I think this is a unique story (child survivor), one that belongs in any holocaust collection<

"From the Holocaust To a New Dawn" by David Shachar         

This book follows the life of David before World War II to the present day.  It discusses his studies as a child, the life of a refugee during and after World War II, his experiences in Israel and much more.         

I found the book a bit hard to read.  I am not Jewish, and often Hebrew phrases were used without explanation or definition.  The book also seemed to have large gaps of time between stories, which made it more difficult to get an accurate picture of their life and struggles during World War II and afterward.