The Book Review Club (March 2010)
Come in! Come in!
You can see we've renovated since the last Book Review Club meeting. So, pull up a new and comfier chair. Have a cup of coffee from our brand new espresso machine. And get ready for some exceptional book reviews this month. This is our FOURTEENTH get-together! We're happy you're joining us!
No doubt you remember my delightful critique partner, Kathy Krevat. Basically, Kathy took pity on me and offered to write a review for this month's meeting. Most of you know I'm in the final push (we hope!) for finishing i so don't do famous, a book that may be renamed i so don't do endings!!
Here's Kathy and here's her review. (Seriously, what would we do without good friends?)
THOSE WHO SAVE US by Jenna Blum is a beautifully written page turner of a book that raises many questions, some of them unanswerable. It is a Holocaust novel with a new slant – from the perspective of a German woman, Anna, who makes choices that reverberate into a new generation.
I’m sure this book caused intense discussions in book clubs across the country, as it did in mine, about the ethical decisions people make: When it comes to survival for me and my family, what would I do? One woman pointed out the nasty things adults in our communities do to each other – gossip, leave people out, even humiliate people – in order to feel better about themselves. What would they do during a war?
The opening chapter presents a huge question: why didn’t anyone attend the reception following the funeral of Anna’s husband, a World War II veteran and beloved neighbor of the small farming town of New Heidelberg, Minnesota?
The book goes back and forth in time between Anna during World War II and fifty years later, when her adult daughter, Trudy, continues to deal with issues of identity and self worth. Anna has always been silent about the war while Trudy, a German history professor, wants answers.
Anna, the beautiful daughter of low-level Nazi, is abused, but also seemed spoiled, and ultimately reckless, to me. The suspense builds right away when she begins a love affair with a Jewish doctor that ends tragically. Anna takes refuge in the home of the local baker, an unexpectedly heroic and enjoyable character. Soon Anna’s beauty catches the eye of a brutal Nazi officer and she must decide what is best for her child and their survival.
Jenna Blum, who interviewed Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation, deftly weaves the horrific details of the Holocaust into what seemed like intimate and personal situations.
This book continued to haunt me long after I finished it, mostly with the question: What would I do?
No doubt you remember my delightful critique partner, Kathy Krevat. Basically, Kathy took pity on me and offered to write a review for this month's meeting. Most of you know I'm in the final push (we hope!) for finishing i so don't do famous, a book that may be renamed i so don't do endings!!Here's Kathy and here's her review. (Seriously, what would we do without good friends?)
THOSE WHO SAVE US by Jenna Blum is a beautifully written page turner of a book that raises many questions, some of them unanswerable. It is a Holocaust novel with a new slant – from the perspective of a German woman, Anna, who makes choices that reverberate into a new generation.
I’m sure this book caused intense discussions in book clubs across the country, as it did in mine, about the ethical decisions people make: When it comes to survival for me and my family, what would I do? One woman pointed out the nasty things adults in our communities do to each other – gossip, leave people out, even humiliate people – in order to feel better about themselves. What would they do during a war?
The opening chapter presents a huge question: why didn’t anyone attend the reception following the funeral of Anna’s husband, a World War II veteran and beloved neighbor of the small farming town of New Heidelberg, Minnesota?
The book goes back and forth in time between Anna during World War II and fifty years later, when her adult daughter, Trudy, continues to deal with issues of identity and self worth. Anna has always been silent about the war while Trudy, a German history professor, wants answers.
Anna, the beautiful daughter of low-level Nazi, is abused, but also seemed spoiled, and ultimately reckless, to me. The suspense builds right away when she begins a love affair with a Jewish doctor that ends tragically. Anna takes refuge in the home of the local baker, an unexpectedly heroic and enjoyable character. Soon Anna’s beauty catches the eye of a brutal Nazi officer and she must decide what is best for her child and their survival.
Jenna Blum, who interviewed Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation, deftly weaves the horrific details of the Holocaust into what seemed like intimate and personal situations.
This book continued to haunt me long after I finished it, mostly with the question: What would I do?
Thank you, Kathy! Now....
Please click on the links below for amazing reviews from amazing reviewers!
MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT BOOK REVIEWS
Ellen Booraem of Freelance Ne'er-do-well: WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON by Grace Lin (*Newbery Honor Winner! middle grade)
Stacy of the Cat's Meow: I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY by Barrie Summy (middle grade) Seriously, folks, this is a very nice surprise for me!! I didn't pay Stacy--not even with extra cookies. ;)
Stacy Nyikos: JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia (young adult)
Keri Mikulski: THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard (young adult)
Sarah Laurence: UNDERCOVER by Beth Kephart (young adult)
ADULT BOOK REVIEWS
Patti Abbott: A COLD DAY IN PARADISE by Steve Hamilton (crime fiction)
Beth Yarnall: THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY by Marian Keyes (chick lit)
Beth of From the Desk of Bee Drunken: HOME SAFE by Elizabeth Berg (women's fiction)
Prairie Rose of Prairie Rose's Garden: THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett
Alyssa Goodnight of the Writers' Road Less Traveled: THE BETRAYAL OF THE BLOOD LILY by Lauren Willig
Kathy Holmes: THE LOST RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS by Babara O'Neal (women's)
Cassandra of Misadventures of a Teenage Writer: MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Jodi Picoult
GRAPHIC
Scott Parker: SANDMAN, VOL. 1: PRELUDES AND NOCTURNES by Neil Gaiman (novel)
Sarahlynn of Yeah, but Houdini didn't have these hips: THE COMPLETE PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi (memoir)
NONFICTION REVIEWS
Staci of Life in the Thumb: THE POWER OF HALF by Kevin Salwen and Hannah Salwen
Kaye of the Book Review Forum: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN NURSES TRAPPED ON BATAAN BY THE JAPANESE by Elizabeth M. Norman (historical)
Jenn Jilks of My Reflections: FISH! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Paul & Christensen Lundin; WHO MOVED BY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson, MD (2 books!, self-help)
Zu Vincent of Through the Tollbooth: PLANET HUNTER by Vicki Oransky Wittenstein
**Exceptional previous reviews are only a click away.**
Note to Reviewers: You know the drill.:) If I missed you, leave me a comment and I'll rectify the situation straight away. And award myself one less cookie today!
Please click on the links below for amazing reviews from amazing reviewers!
MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT BOOK REVIEWS
Ellen Booraem of Freelance Ne'er-do-well: WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON by Grace Lin (*Newbery Honor Winner! middle grade)
Stacy of the Cat's Meow: I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY by Barrie Summy (middle grade) Seriously, folks, this is a very nice surprise for me!! I didn't pay Stacy--not even with extra cookies. ;)
Stacy Nyikos: JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia (young adult)
Keri Mikulski: THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard (young adult)
Sarah Laurence: UNDERCOVER by Beth Kephart (young adult)
ADULT BOOK REVIEWS
Patti Abbott: A COLD DAY IN PARADISE by Steve Hamilton (crime fiction)
Beth Yarnall: THE BRIGHTEST STAR IN THE SKY by Marian Keyes (chick lit)
Beth of From the Desk of Bee Drunken: HOME SAFE by Elizabeth Berg (women's fiction)
Prairie Rose of Prairie Rose's Garden: THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett
Alyssa Goodnight of the Writers' Road Less Traveled: THE BETRAYAL OF THE BLOOD LILY by Lauren Willig
Kathy Holmes: THE LOST RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS by Babara O'Neal (women's)
Cassandra of Misadventures of a Teenage Writer: MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Jodi Picoult
GRAPHIC
Scott Parker: SANDMAN, VOL. 1: PRELUDES AND NOCTURNES by Neil Gaiman (novel)
Sarahlynn of Yeah, but Houdini didn't have these hips: THE COMPLETE PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi (memoir)
NONFICTION REVIEWS
Staci of Life in the Thumb: THE POWER OF HALF by Kevin Salwen and Hannah Salwen
Kaye of the Book Review Forum: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN NURSES TRAPPED ON BATAAN BY THE JAPANESE by Elizabeth M. Norman (historical)
Jenn Jilks of My Reflections: FISH! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Paul & Christensen Lundin; WHO MOVED BY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson, MD (2 books!, self-help)
Zu Vincent of Through the Tollbooth: PLANET HUNTER by Vicki Oransky Wittenstein
**Exceptional previous reviews are only a click away.**
Note to Reviewers: You know the drill.:) If I missed you, leave me a comment and I'll rectify the situation straight away. And award myself one less cookie today!
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