Those Who Save Us – SPOILER ALERT

Those Who Save Us – Jenna Blum

For years now I have been following Susan’s book club, always hearing the stories and gleaning books, but there was never an opening.  (Susan limits enrollment to 12 so everyone gets to pick a book) Finally, there was an opening and I’m in!!!!!  This book was the 1st book I read as an offical “Lit-Chick”!   I’m really looking forward to my 1st meeting on Monday night!

When I started this book I read almost 100 pages in 1 sitting.  And, it was good!  I was sure this was going to be a great quick, 5-star read.   It was a great read.  However, it took me longer than I wanted it to (almost a week) to read it so by the end I was frustrated with it. 

My friend Emily, also a newbie to the book club, posted her review of this book on Goodreads, it was very interesting because she saw things in the book that I didn’t.   Emily saw it as a book about Mother-Daughter Relationships, I saw it as a book about finding yourself.   I think book club on Monday is going to be interesting!

SPOILER ALERT – I can’t tell what I think w/o revealing details about the ending – if you think you want to read the book stop reading now!

Trudy was born in Germany right at the beginning of WWII.  Her mother was a good German, but her father was a Jew.  A Jew who was sent to the camps and eventually killed before Trudy even knew.  Her mother, Anna, never told anyone that Trudy was 1/2 Jewish and went into hiding and ended up playing a role in ending the war.  She also became the mistress of an SS officer which bough her safety during the war.  Trudy grew up thinking that she was the illigimate daughter of this SS officer.  She had no idea of her true identity.  Anna refused to discuss anything from the war. 

Trudy is trying desperately to figure out who she is and rectify and justify her people’s role in the Holocaust.  She finally does figure out that she is half Jewish, however this is at the end of the book and we never get to see how she reacted to this news, what did the knowledge that she was a German Jew do for her understanding of the war?  The end left me very unsatisfied.

  

Sleeping Lady

Sleeping Lady – Sue Henry

I’m really glad I didn’t give up on Sue Henry based on her Maxine and Stretch novels!  I have read 2 Maxine and Stretch novels and wasn’t a huge fan of either, however I was drawn to her other books because they were all set in Alaska. 

This one reminded me a lot of Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon novels, although without a lot of the hair-raising death defying drama that Nevada Barr’s novels are famous for. 

While this novel was “tamer” it was not lacking in action.  A charter plane shot out of the sky and lost all winter in the Alaska bush.  A wife looking for answers about her husband, the pilot of the plane.  A random woman in the plane, thought to have died before the plane was shot down.  Illegal hunting.  People trying to get rich on poaching.   A grizzle bear.  All elements for a compelling, and scenic murder mystery! 

Shut Up and Fish!

North by Northwestern – Captain Sig Hansen

As you all know from my review of Time Bandit, I’m a big Deadliest Catch fan!  As much as I enjoyed reading the book by the Hillstrand Brothers, I was wishing the whole time that my favorite Capitan from the show, Sig Hansen, had written a book.  Then, a few weeks ago, I discovered that Sig had written a book!  I managed to reserve it at the library before it was published and I’m pretty sure I was the 1st to read my copy! 

When I was in Alaska in 2007 we went on a boat ride in Kenai Fjords NP and the captain of our boat used to be a crab fisherman.  He and I were chatting about the show and he told me how The Hansen family are the best fishermen on the Bering Sea.  I was so awed by the fact that Sig and his brothers were real people! :-)  This book excited me about that much!

I enjoyed this book so much!  I loved hearing the stories of Sig’s father and the early days of crab fishing.  Unlike the Hillstrand brother’s book this book was actually about crab fishing.  I now know way more about crab fishing then I ever wanted to know! The adventure and drama was top notch, you can’t make this stuff up! :-)

I always knew there was something about Sig that made me like him.  Like the other crab fishermen, he’s tough and has high expectations, but as I got to know him through the book I was able to see more clearly that he really is a genuinely “good” guy!

The other really exciting thing I discovered while reading the book is that The Northwestern’s home port is in Seattle.  Well, I’m going to be in Seattle in July.  Hmmmm…maybe they won’t be crab fishing in July????  Hmmmmm…maybe I can catch a glimpse of the boat???  I have googled around a bit to try and figure out where I might go to see the boat and I can’t really figure it out.  I certainly don’t want to intrude, I’d LOVE to view the boat from afar, we’ll see, maybe I’ll get lucky!

Somewhere Off The Coast of Maine

Somewhere off the Coast of Maine – Ann Hood

I discovered this book last summer when I was getting ready to head to Maine for my RV Vacation.  When I travel someplace I like to find books about that place to read during and after the trip.   This book looked interesting so I attempted to find it.  My library didn’t have it.  Barnes and Noble didn’t have it.  I gave up looking for it until a few weeks ago I was looking for books for my Kindle App on Amazon and I was going through my “not in the library” shelf.   I checked and sure enough the book was available in Kindle format!  

This one ended up being a great book for the Kindle!  It was a simple story, told in the voices of multiple characters.  The story bounced back and forth in time from the 60s-80s, tracing the lives of three college friends as they started families and followed their dreams.   Two of the characters, Claudia and Elizabeth, were hippies and the third, Suzanne, went through a “hippie phase” when she was in college, the consequences of which followed her the rest of  her life.    The ending was a bit abrupt, but a great read!   In many ways the writing style reminded me of Alice Hoffman, one of my favorite authors. 

I can’t wait to read some of the other books Ann has written!

1st Challenge DONE! What’s in a Name 3 Wrap Up

YEAH!  I finished!  :-)  I liked this challenge because it was simple and quick! I enjoyed most the books I selected, well, 4 out of the 6!

I ended up not changing any of my titles from the what I chose before the challenge started!

Here’s what I read:

Note: Click on the title and you can see that books page on Goodreads, click “see my review here” to go to the page on my blog.

A book with a food in the title:  Sushi for Beginners: A Novel – Marian Keyes  See my review here

A book with a body of water in the title: Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea and One of the World’s Deadliest Jobs – Andy Hillstrand     See my Review Here

A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Queen’s Fool – Philippa Gregory   See my review here.

A book with a plant in the title: The Crowning of Calla Lilly Ponder: A Novel – Rebecca Wells     See my review here

A book with a place name (city, country) in the title:  Shanghai Girls – Lisa See   See my review here

A book with a music term in the title: The Girl Who Played with Fire – Stieg Larsson      See My Review Here

Shanghai Girls

Shanghai Girls – Lisa See

I LOVED Snow Flower and the Secret Fan!  It was all about deep friendship between women, Chinese tradition, and challenging those traditions.   When I saw that Lisa See had a new book out I knew I had to check it out!

This was a wonderful departure from some the trashy chick-lit I have been reading lately!  The book takes place in pre-WWII China and traces the lives of 2 sisters as they get thrown into marriage, flee China, discover secrets about their husbands and the family that they had married into.  The two sisters made a life for themselves in America at a time when Chinese were not welcome. 

This book also marks the completetion of my 1st challenge for 2010, What’s in a Name 3!  YEAH! :-)   Not sure how many people entered the challenge, but I’m the 6th person to finish!

Sushi for Beginners

Sushi for Beginners – Marian Keyes

I didn’t like this book.  The one thing I did like about this book was it formed as a nice reminder as to why I don’t have, nor do I want, a boyfriend.  It was all about affairs and sex and all of the main characters has copious amounts of sex with each other and other supporting characters.   It was one giant love triangle and I struggled to get through it.  I didn’t realize that it was only about sex until about 1/2 way through, so by then I wanted to just finish it off. 

The good news is that it fit 3 challenges, and it brings me to 1 more book to read to finish off the What’s in a Name Challenge!

 

The Nanny Diaries

The Nanny Diaries – Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

This book was The Devil Wears Prada with kids.  It was exactly the same plot – young 20 something vs. bitch of an employer.  The only difference is that the ending wasn’t nearly as satisfying as The Devil Wears Prada. 

I found it very confusing at 1st that the main characters name was Nanny and she was a nanny, not only was it confusing but it seemed to detract from the book. 

It was an enjoyable Kindle App read, but I don’t think it was a super outstanding book. 

The Queen’s Fool

 

The Queen’s Fool – Philippa Gregory

This is the third Philippa Gregory book I have read, it’s was by far my favorite, although I probably won’t be reading any more of her novels. 

I love the setting in the royal courts and all the treason and backstabbing and gossip.  I’m not a huge medieval times fan, but I enjoy these books. 

This one was especially interesting because the main character, Hannah Green, is a Jew living in exile from the Spanish Inquisition.  There is a huge division in England over Catholicism and the reformed  Protestant ways of thinking.  The tide is constantly changing and in order to hide you must continually know “the right answers”  She and her father are booksellers, which puts them at the center of the disputes as many of their books are considered heresy depending on who is on the throne.   Hannah goes into the service of the Queen as her Holy Fool, she has a gift of Sight and can predict the future when the Sight occurs.

While I totally enjoyed the story of Hannah, her father, the Lords and Ladies, the Queens and the court, I didn’t like that the book just went on and on and on.  Most of Philippa Gregory’s books are very long.  I don’t shy away from books that are long just because they are long, if a story takes 500 pages to tell it then that’s how long it takes.  The thing is, Gregory’s stories do not need 500 pages to tell.  They remind me of the “bed to bed” stories my 1st graders right.  They start when they get up in the morning and write every detail of their day until they go to bed.  The result is a long story that says very little.  This novel covers 10 years of Tudor history – from 1548-1558.  It’s a mile long and an inch thick.  By the end I was just skimming, I couldn’t wait to be done with it!