January, 2024

"All We Were Promised" by Ashton Lattimore

Escaped slaves James and Charlotte have sought refugee in Philadelphia.  James, able to pass as white has built up a furniture making business, leaving his daughter Charlotte to pose as his maid.  Unhappy with her limited life, Charlotte begins making friends with Nell, a free black abolitionist.  

This was a well written and paced book.  I enjoyed reading about a time period and perspective that I know little about.  I did think that Nell felt a bit stereotypical and predictable.  She was not as well rounded or developed as the other characters.  Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

"Rednecks" by Taylor Brown 

During 1920 to 1921 in the hills of West Virginia, striking mine workers and company men faced off against one another in a forgotten war.  Over one million bullets were fired, bombs were dropped, and men died in droves.  This book singles out a handful of characters including Doc Moo a Lebanese-American, Frank Hugham, a black miner and Smilin Sid Hatfield, the town’s sheriff.  

This was a well written and engaging book - I had a hard time putting it down!  I was amazed that this battle was fought on American soil, but is not mentioned in the history books.  I am also fascinated by the history of labor relations in the US and how workers struggled and fought for their rights.  Overall, highly recommended!

“How To Train Your Human” by Babas 

Fun and witty, this book is written as a cat manual on how to train your human.  It takes a humorous looks at the oddities of cat behavior, and explains their thinking process.  It did not read like a translation.  It was both a fun and quick read.  Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

"The Seamstress of Acadie" by Laura Frantz

In 18th century Acadie, Sylvie Galant and her family have lived and worked their orchards for generations.  When tensions arise between the French, British, and Indian tribes, the fate of neutral Acadie looks grim.  At first the father is arrested and held at the nearby fort while the family’s men are forced to flee.  When the women and children are ordered onto British ships, they reluctantly leave their homelands.  Held in miserable conditions, one by one the family starts to die, leaving Sylvie alone in a strange land.  

The book was a bit slow moving, and the character did not seem fully developed.  Despite these criticisms, I enjoyed this book.  It followed a group of people that I knew absolutely nothing about.  My heart went out to the Acadian people as they were brutally forced off their lands and relocated.  Overall, 3 out of 5 stars.

“Cold Crematorium” by Jozsef Debreczeni 

When stepping off the train in Auschwitz, Jozsef was sent right, into the line of men who would be worked to death.  Sent to a series of camps, he performed hard labor until his body nearly gave out.  Towards the end of the war he was sent to the Cold Crematorium, the “hospital” unit for camp Dornhau.  In the cold crematorium, people waited to die.  Weak and given the smallest food rations, survival was nearly impossible.

This was a well done translation.  The book itself was brutal and hard to read.  The author described his condition in a detached, matter-of-fact way, leaving little to the imagination.  His struggle and survival was nothing short of a miracle.  Overall, highly recommended.

“The Storm We Made” by Vanessa Chan 

At the tail end of WWII, this book explores the lives of the Alcatara family in Malaya.  Teenage son Abel was snatched off the street and sent to a work camp, Jasmin, the youngest, hides in the basement to avoid being sent to a comfort station, and eldest Jujube is doing everything she can to keep the family together.  Cecily, the mother, rehashes her past, racked with guilt over her past and how it might have led to the invasion. 

This book shows the interesting dynamic between the Malay, British and Japanese people.  I did not particularly like Cecily, and found the back and forth in her timeline to slow the book down.  I thought Abe’s story was particularly fascinating, as he struggled to survive in a word camp.  Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

“A Call from Hell” by True Crime Seven

After kidnapping 17 year old Shari, Larry Gene Bell began calling and writing to the family.  He would drop hints about her condition, make promises, and generally cause anxiety and fear.  Dawn, Shari’s sister did her best to talk to him, trying to elicit details that would help the police catch him.  After Shari’s body was found, Bell kidnapped a 9 year old, killing and leaving her body by the side of the road.

I really like the format of these books.  They are meant for all reading levels, but provide an interesting and detailed account of the crime.  This book was well written and engaging.  It was well paced and did a good job on introducing and developing the victim’s family.  Overall, highly recommended.

“Through the Morgue Door” by Colette Brull-Ulmann and Jean-Christophe Portes 

Colette decided at a young age that she wanted to be a pediatrician.  Determined, she entered school and excelled.  As a Jew in occupied France, her options to study and practice were severely limited.  After becoming an intern at the Rothschild Hospital, the hospital became part of the Drancy detention center.  Prisoners were sent to the hospital to rest and recover before being shipped to concentration camps.  Children were also sent to the hospital, where an underground resistance network would do everything they could to make the children disappear.  Colette became part of that important organization.

The book was well written and engaging, and nothing seemed lost in translation.  The translator did an amazing job!  I knew nothing about the Rothschild Hospital before reading this book, and was amazed at its role during WWII.  I thought Colette and her colleagues were heroes and wish more had been written about them.  Overall, 5 out of 5 stars.