We will consider once again previous books that nearly were voted in, and 3 additional ones to consider.
Refer to earlier blog postings for information on the following books:
- Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandill
- Little Bee, by Chris Cleave
- Storied Life of A.J. Firkry, by Gabrielle Zevin
- The Secret Keeper, by by Kate Morton
And now for a look at our last 3 possibilities...
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
The author Ms. Blum is of German and Jewish descent, and she worked for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation for four years.
GoodReads Summary:
"For fifty years, Anna Schlemmer has refused to talk about her life in Germany during World War II. Her daughter, Trudy, was only three when she and her mother were liberated by an American soldier and went to live with him in Minnesota. Trudy's sole evidence of the past is an old photograph: a family portrait showing Anna, Trudy, and a Nazi officer, the Obersturmfuhrer of Buchenwald.
Driven by the guilt of her heritage, Trudy, now a professor of German history, begins investigating the past and finally unearths the dramatic and heartbreaking truth of her mother's life."
A GoodReads Reader:
"I have often wondered how and why the German people accepted what was happening during WWII? This book describes how many, if not most, were just trying to survive during difficult times. However others truly believed in what was happening which is called patriotism regardless the right or wrong of it."
GoodReads Summary:
"They watched Danilo Silva for days before they finally grabbed him. He was living alone, a quiet life on a shady street in Brazil; a simple life in a modest home, certainly not one of luxury. Certainly no evidence of the fortune they thought he had stolen. He was much thinner and his face had been altered. He spoke a different language, and spoke it very well.But Danilo had a past with many chapters. Four years earlier he had been Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a prominent Biloxi law firm. He had a pretty wife, a new daughter, and a bright future. Then one cold winter night Patrick was trapped in a burning car and died a horrible death. When he was buried his casket held nothing more than his ashes.From a short distance away, Patrick watched his own burial. Then he fled. Six weeks later, a fortune was stolen from his ex-law firm's offshore account. And Patrick fled some more.But they found him."
From the GoodReads reader comments the book's ending is surprising to most & predictable to few. Sounds like an entertaining read, fast paced & we haven't discussed a legal thriller before.
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, & an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson
Book Description:
"The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. Dodd, a mild-mannered professor, brings his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter with him. At first it seems entrancing; but as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, Dodd telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. As that first year unfolds, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance and ultimately horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder unmasks Hitler's ruthless ambition."
Haiku Description: They come overmatched Think easy job, not so Leave disheartened
There you have it. Two books giving us further perspective into Hitler and WWII,a legal thriller, a historical fiction mystery, an immigration-refugee novel, a dystopian science fiction novel and a lighter read about a character named A.J. Firkry. What book will be
chosen to discuss for next year? Stay tuned......
REMINDER: Book Discussion of "The Rosie Project" is Thursday, June 2 at 10 AM.
Come for the discussion, come for the end of the year POTLUCK.
I hope to see you there!