Book Club Review: The Book Thief

This was a fast and fun read.  Although, I guess "fun" isn't the exact word I'm looking for here.  The book takes place in Nazi Germany and there really isn't a lot of fun about it.  But, I couldn't put it down.  I wanted to keep reading it even though I knew what was going to happen.

I knew what was coming because of history.  And, because the narrator is Death.  Doesn't take a lot to figure out.

We follow young Liesel as she grows through the war years.  Her father is either dead or disappeared because he is a partisan (communist) and her mother is running for her life.  We meet the main character as she is riding a train to her new foster home.  And, watches her brother die.  As they are burying her brother, the gravedigger drops a book in the snow and Liesel stealthily snatches it up.  "The Gravedigger's Handbook".  A book thief is born.

She goes on to live with her foster parents.  I was ready for them to be horrible, but they are taking in a partisan child during a war.  They get a small amount of money, yet not enough for that to be the reason for taking Liesel in.  She creates a very tight bond with her accordion playing foster father, Hans.  And, we learn to love the well meaning cussing and gruff from the foster mother, Rosa.

Liesel struggles to learn to read and falls in love with books.  Her second stolen book was from the ashes of one of Nazi Germany's book bonfires.  And, a very unexpected person witnesses the theft, the mayor's wife.  The mayor's wife has a large library and leaves the window open for Liesel to steal more books.  These are the books she reads to the town when they are all in a bomb shelter during air raids.

Liesel has two amazing friends in this story, not counting the mayor's wife who really saves her life, Rudy and Max.  Rudy wants to be Jesse Owens when he grows up.  He and Liesel get into all sorts of mischief together.  One of my favorite passages is when the scrape up enough money to buy candy but they can only afford one piece.  They take turns sucking on it.

Max is the Jew who lives in her basement.  Max and Liesel become good friends and due to a kindness done by Hans, Max has to leave.  Liesel searches for him constantly.

This book is about the horrors of war.  The overwhelming despair that comes with loss.  And, the overwhelming goodness that humans are capable of.

One of the reviews on the back of the book says that the author, "doesn't sugarcoat anything, but he make his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable."

Of the book club books we have read, this one is my favorite.

The Christian Atheist

This book jumped off the shelf at me.  With a title like "The Christian Atheist," it was bound to catch my attention.

Pastor Craig Groeschel doesn't attempt to sway actual atheists to a Christian worldview.  Far from it.  This book is written for and about people who claim to be Christians but when you actually examine their lives, they look no different than an atheist's life.  The subtitle sums it up neatly, "Believing in God but Living as If He Doesn't Exist."

I liked the way the book was divided into chapters with each chapter starting, "When You Believe in God But..." and filled out with things like "but are ashamed of your past" or but still worry all the time" or "don't think He's fair."  There was a chapter for everyone.  Several for me, that's for sure.

I thought the book was a little "fluffy" for lack of a better term.  It seemed like the depth was missing in a lot of places, maybe in an attempt to make a broader impact.  Some of the anecdotes seemed a little cute-sy at times to me.   I'd love someone's opinion who didn't grow up immersed in Christian-ese as to whether it's readable and relevant to people who aren't Christians but are interested. 

However, Groeschel wrote with humilty and passion, something I appreciate in these types of books.  It made me think about my worldviews and how I actually live my life and whether they mesh.  Some of the chapters hit pretty close to home. 

Overall it was an interesting read, but one I'm more likely to pass along than keep on my shelf.

Very Charleston: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Lowcountry Charm

While in Charleston, South Carolina last week, I picked up this little gem of a book.

I love its bite sized bits of history and information, the little recipes, and the fun artwork.

I never read a guide book before a vacation, I always read them post vacation.  When I read them prior, nothing really makes sense and I have no idea what they are talking about.  But, after the trip, it all sinks in and I can look back on the trip.

This book has just the right amount of information that I can retain during a trip!  Plus, it is beautiful and fun to flip through making it a great addition to my coffee table stack.

A Slant of Sun

Once again, I accidentally found this book while looking in the library for something else.  I am always up for reading a memoir or any kind of book about disabilities and when the two are combined, I can't pass it up.  This was a story, written by a mother, about the journey of her son who was given a diagnosis on the autism spectrum.

I have never read a memoir about this subject that was so exquisitely beautiful and vulnerable.  I've worked with many parents of kids on the autism spectrum and even worked in their homes and gotten to know them fairly well.  But to see into the emotions and particularly the relationship of love between a son and a mother alternately squeezed my heart with joy and grief.  And did I mention the writing was exquisite?  Like poetry in prose.

Book Review - Firefly Lane

I just got back from vacation in which I read Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. Let me just tell you - this was the PERFECT, guilty-pleasure read for a vacation. You know how sometimes you just want to sit on the beach, by the pool, or in your hotel room and get lost in a really easy read? Or maybe something to read while flying across the country to help pass the time? This is the ideal book for that scenario.

About two girls who become best friends and grow up together, Firefly Lane goes through each decade starting in the seventies leading up to present day, showing how the friendship grows. This story is the sort of "best friend" material that makes one long for a buddy to experience ALL stages of life with. It's a fast-paced, page turning, and ultimately beautifully warm and fuzzy book, with a tear-jerker of an ending. Every single person that's read it, says they LOVED it. That was enough for me.

My only complaint was that it sometimes felt rushed and almost dizzying as it never gave up on the plot line. But, I believe, this is what one should expect from an easy, vacation read. It's just a book to get lost in and not use much brain-power, which is exactly what my vacation called for.

Book Club Review: The Lacuna

Wow.  There were some definite similarities between The Book of Salt and The Lacuna.  Cooks in the homes of intellectuals.  Heros of communism.  Diaries and art.

Harrison grows up in Mexico with his Mexican mother.  At a young age he learns to cook through the patience of his mother's beau's cook.  He uses that knowledge to secure a job mixing plaster with famous Mexican muralist and communist, Diego Rivera.  And, that leads to him cooking in the Rivera household.  Thus enters one of the great characters of the book, Frida Kahlo (Kingsolver in the back of the book says, "I didn't initially plan to write about Frida Kahlo, as I considered her too private and self-involved to add much to my story.  But she grew on me. I began to understand her not as a martyred icon but as a roguish, complicated person.  She began stealing scenes.").

The ousted Soviet communist leader Leon Trotsky comes to Mexico and moves into the Rivera household.  Harrison then becomes somewhat of a personal secretary to Trotsky.  After Trotsky's assassination,  Harrison moves to Asheville, North Carolina and begins his career as a writer.  He sets his stories in ancient Mexico and uses adventure to push forth his social commentary.

The structure of the book is unique and reads quickly.  Harrison has always been a writer and has kept diaries since his childhood.  The book is structured around his personal diaries, letters, news clippings, and the commentary of his longtime stenographer, Violet Brown.

While the story makes a lot of commentary about art and politics and especially the strict separation of art and politics in the United States, I found the most scathing commentary to be on news reporters.  At one point Harrison writes, "It is more important to speak than to think."  He also writes about the radio news shows, because there cannot be silence there are a lot of half formed opinions to fill the silence.  No well formed thoughts.  I wonder what he would say now with Twitter, Facebook, TV talk shows...blogs.  Literally no silence.

I really enjoyed this book and have already recommended it to a few people.

November Pick

This  month we'll be reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  It's been on my list for a while, and I'm not sure where I even got the recommendation.  While it's listed as a teen and adult book, all of the reviews were adamant in the fact that this book is in no way juvenile.  Happy Reading!

A Box of Books

A friend of mine just gave me a box of books her children have outgrown.  Imagine how happy I was to discover classics, like Make Way for Ducklings, The Polar Express and Stellaluna.  It made me realize how many good children's books are out there.

Top 10 Baby/Toddler Books

In my opinion, that is.  They are fun for me to read, even over and over, which is necessary for this age group.  They all have great illustrations and really captivate my kids:

Beautiful illustrations, I am still noticing new details after dozens of reads.

Love the illustrations, love the cadence of the book.

Great book for photos and labeling pictures.

My toddler loves these books, especially when I act them out.

Fun pop-outs but a sturdy board book that can't be easily destroyed

It's a classic.  Better for toddlers than babies.

Another classic by this wonderful author.

Great textures for baby to feel.

I like almost all the books by Boynton.