The Reader
Author: Bernhard Schlink
Published By: Vintage International
Date Published: 1997
Genre: Historical Fiction, Literature
Pages: 218
Recommended Age: Adults, Mature adults
Rating: B/4
This book is from my personal collection.
Summary:
Fifteen-year-old Michael Berg falls ill on his way home from school one day and is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. Over time she becomes is lover, but she eventually she just disappears from Michael’s life without a goodbye. When he sees her again years later he is a law student and she is on trial for a Nazi war crime. Michael learns of the secret she holds. A secret she believes to be a hundred times worse than the crime she is on trial for.
My Thoughts:
I was compelled to acquire this book after watching the movie The Reader. The book was originally written in German and translated in English two years after it was originally published and became an international bestseller, and I can read why. It’s well written and evokes the reader to make moral judgments against the characters, a very disturbing read. I for one was morally outraged at the woman for having an affair with a fifteen year old boy. I even went to bed dreaming I had yelled at the woman for what I felt was a disgusting immoral act. The Reader truly pulls the reader into the story and wants to make a difference.
For all these reasons, I gave The Reader four stars and a grade of B. If you want to read an international bestseller and a novel that is part of Oprah’s book club, I recommend The Reader by Bernhard Schlink.
Language: Little
Adult Content: Some sexual content and adult subject matter
Violence: Talk of Nazi war crimes
_____________________________________________________________
The Kommandant’s Girl
Author: Pam Jenoff
Published By: Mira Books
Date Published: March 1, 2007
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, WWII
Pages: 395
Recommended Age: Mature Adult
Rating: A/5
This book is from my personal collection.
Summary:
Nineteen year old Emma Bau has been married for only three weeks when Germany invades Poland. Her husband, Jacob disappears underground leaving her imprisoned within the city’s Jewish ghetto. After several months, the resistance smuggles her out and takes her to Krakow to live with Jacob’s Catholic cousin Krysia. Emma takes a new identity as Anna Lipowski, a Catholic. She begins her new life working for the resistance and as a high-ranking Nazi official’s assistant. She continually compromises her safety and her marriage vows to help the cause.
My Thoughts:
I love this book! Pam Jenoff is a fantastic writer. She has a way of sucking the reader in and holding him or hers interest. I was able to lose myself in the character of Emma. I became “Emma” and the story read like a movie I was part of. I was working for the Resistance and got nervous when Emma had her close calls. I was on the edge of my seat while reading this book. When I got to the last 150 pages I stayed up until two in the morning finishing the book. I just could not put it down.
I gave The Kommandant’s Girl five stars and a grad of A+. It’s been a long time since a book has captured me as this one has. If you are interested in stories about World War II and also like adventures, I recommend The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff. I already have my step-father reading it; he isn’t even a reader and he is enjoying it. I love this book and I am glad it’s part of my book collection.
Language: Some, but very little
Adult Content: Sex scenes, war talks
Violence: shootings and bombings
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
That Camden Summer
Author: LaVyrle Spencer
Published By: G.P Putnam’s Sons
Date Published: 1996
Genre: Fiction, Historical Romance
Pages: 277
Recommended Age: Mature Adults
Rating: 5
This book is from my personal collection.
Summary:
It’s 1916 and recently divorced Roberta Jewett moves back to her home town of Camden, Maine with her three daughters. She is shunned by the town and her own family because of her divorced status. The men in Camden believe her to be no better than a prostitute, including her brother-in-law. Behaving as no “respectable” would, Roberta gets a job as a county nurse, learns to drive, and buys herself a Model T. When she is attacked on an isolated country road the townspeople threatens to take her children from her and exonerate her attacker.
My Thoughts:
I gave That Camden Summer by LaVyrle Spencer five stars and a grade of A. This is not my first time reading the book. I read it several years ago. I enjoy all Spencer’s novels. She weaves stories of the historical variety with such a talent that the reader loses him or herself into the past.
I like how the character Roberta Jewett is independent and does what is right for her and her girls even when it goes against society’s expectations of how a woman is supposed to act. Roberta’s sister, Grace, is another story. She is a disGrace to womankind. Everyone in town laughs at her behind her back, because she turns a blind eye to her husband’s philandering ways even when he does it in front of her. I was disappointed in Roberta when she chose not to press charges against her attacker, but I had to remember the story was set in 1916, during a time when just being a divorced woman says “you were asking for it.” It makes a woman like me happy that I live in a time where being a divorce woman doesn’t give a man the right to assume the woman is easy.
If you like LaVyrle Spencer’s novels, I recommend That Camden Summer. If you have never read a Spencer novel, I still recommend That Camden Summer. You’ll love it.
Parents:
Language: Some swear words
Adult Content: Sexual Innuendos, Adult Subject Matter, Heavy topics
Violence: rape scene__________________________________________________________
The Diplomat’s Wife
Author: Pam Jenoff
Published By: Mira Books
Date Published: May 1, 2008
Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII, Spy & Espionage
Pages: 360
Recommended Age: Adult
Rating: A/5
I borrowed this book from the library
Summary:
Marta Nederman has survived a Nazi concentration camp. After recovering from the experience she meets Paul, an American soldier and they fall in love. They planned to marry, but their plans are thrown away when Paul’s plane crashes and he doesn’t meet her in London
Being pregnant and believing Paul is dead; Marta marries Simon, a British diplomat. When she learns there is a Communist spy in British intelligence she volunteers for the mission to find out who the spy is.
My Thoughts:
After reading The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff, I was compelled to look up Pam Jenoff on the internet. When I found out that Jenoof had written other books and one, The Diplomat’s Wife was the follow-up to The Kommandant’s Girl I had to read it. The heroine of The Diplomat’s Wife may not be the same as the one in The Kommandant’s Girl, but it cleared up a lot of loose ends from The Kommandant’s Girl, and the reader is able to find out what happened to Emma.
I gave this book five stars and a grade of A, because I really enjoyed this book. It pulled me right in, and it read like an action movie. Marta is a girl you can root for, as well as, feel sorry for. She lived a rough life and is trying to make the world a better place for her daughter. If you have already read The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff, I recommend reading The Diplomat’s Wife. Even if you haven’t read The Kommandant’s Girl you can still read The Diplomat’s Wife. It’s one of those books that can be read on its own. It’s a fantastic book.
Parents:
Language: Any swear words, derogatory terms, questionable language
Adult Content: Sexual Content, Drugs/alcohol use, Adult Subject Matter, Heavy topics
Violence: Any violent scenes or acts and their intensity
_________________________________________________________
Redeeming Love
Author: Francine Rivers
______________________________________________________
The Postmistress
Parents:
Saving Amelie
_________________________________________________________
Redeeming Love
Published By: Multnomah Books
Date Published: May 9th 2005 (first published November 1st 1991)
Genre: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 464
Recommended Age: Mature Adults
Read and Reviewed By: Me
Rating: A/5
This is from my own private library.
Summary:
This is retelling of the book Hosea in the Old Testament of the Holy bible.
Set in California’s gold country in 1850 Angel doesn’t trust anyone, especially men. She was sold into prostitution as a child and it’s the only skill she knows, she’s the best prostitute at the Pair-of-Dice. She meets Michael Hosea, a man after God’s own heart. God tells Michael to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Angel agrees to marry him after she was beaten close to death by her Madam’s bodyguard. Her ice-cold heart fights against the love that God and Michael is offering her. Her heart slowly softens towards Michael and starts to love him, but with it comes feelings of being unworthy. She runs away a few times before she accepts the healing that can only come from the Lord.
My Thoughts:
I love, love this book. I deem it the best book I read of 2015. My pastor’s wife had me and others read this book for a women’s six week Bible study. After I read the prologue I practically threw it aside, thinking I could never read this book. Out of love for my fellow Sister-in-Christ I picked it back up and forced myself to read it, but once I made it past the harsh reality of the character’s childhood I could not put the book down. I read 464 pages within forty-eight hours.
I believe Rivers did a fantastic job recreating the story of Hosea. This is not an easy book to read. It speaks of the harsh realities in this evil world that majority of us want to pretend is not happening (human trafficking, abuse, neglect, etc.), even me. This book is filled with a roller coaster ride of emotions. It’s also a spiritual journey that reader goes on with the heroine. The reader will read about God’s unwavering love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace. It’s a fantastic book to read with and discuss with your fellow sisters-in-Christ.
Parents:
Language: None
Adult Content: Some sex scenes
Violence: Rape of a child______________________________________________________
The Postmistress
Author: Sarah Blake
Published By: Amy Einhorn Books/Penguin Group (USA)
Date Published: February 9, 2010
Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII
Pages: 326
Recommended Age: Adult
Rating: C/3
This book is from my personal collection.
Summary:
The year is 1940 and WWII is raging. President Roosevelt is promising he won’t join the fight. American radio girl Frankie Bard is the first woman to report the war right from London. Iris James is the post mistress in a small town on Cape Cod. She listens to Frankie’s broadcasts and is in love with the town mechanic. Emma Fitch is the town doctor’s new bride. She is also listening to Frankie’s broadcasts. She’s trying to escape fragile childhood memories while deal with her husband, Will going to London to offer his services.
My Thoughts:
I acquired this book because of my interest in reading stories about World War II, but I didn’t really care for this book. I couldn’t get attach to the characters. It kept switching from the three women so often that it made it difficult to feel for any of the characters. I know I really didn’t like the character of Emma Fitch when she was so wrapped up in missing her husband that she couldn’t summon up enough compassion for a fellow townsman who lost his wife while she was giving birth to his baby girl.
There’s not much good I can say about the book but hearing about the war and the bombings of London was intriguing. I feel Sarah Blake should have concentrated more on Frankie Bard and what when on in London. She seemed to have a more interesting tale to tell, if only Blake would have let her tell it, instead of jumping over to Iris or Emma. This is the first book I’ve read by Sarah Blake, and I don’t see myself reading another. I gave this book three stars and a grade of C because I found this book quite boring. If you are a fan of Blake already then you may enjoy this book. Otherwise, I recommend passing this book up at the bookstore.
Parents:
Language: None
Adult Content: Talks of war
Violence: Bombings and shootings
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Saving Amelie
Author: Cathy Gohlke
Published By: Tyndale House Publishers
Date Published: May 16th 2014
Genre: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction
Pages: 453
Recommended Age: Adult
Read and Reviewed By: Me
Rating: A/5
This is from my own personal library.
Summary:
On a trip to Germany with her adoptive father Rachel Kramer is told by her old friend Kristine that her SS officer husband Gerhardt Schlick sees their child Amelie as a disgrace and not worthy of life because she was born deaf. Kristine pleads with Rachel to Amelie back to America with her raise her as her own because Gehardt plans to have her murdered. Rachel once dated Gerhardt so knows how cruel he can be. When she starts searching her scientist father’s documents she realizes that her whole life was a lie and she was an experiment for the Third Reich and now they plan to complete their experiment. With Gerhardt and the rest of the S.S hunting Rachel down she finds herself being helped by unlikely allies.
My Thoughts:
I just love, love this book. I have a book hangover today because I was up until two in the morning reading this book. I could not put Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke down. Gohlke has gained a new fan. It was a fast-paced book that kept you on the edge of your seat. I also loved how she handled the faith issue. I felt she made the characters who were not believers more realistic in their faith journey by the ways they came to accept Christ. In the beginning, Gohlke glazed over the faith talk in the beginning of the book enough to let the readers know who the true believers were and who were not. She did not over kill the faith talks as some Christian writers do. She made them coming to Christ as non believers more realistic. Introducing the beloved German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his book The Cost of Discipleship helped weaved Rachel and others faith journey into the storyline seamlessly. Gohlke did a fantastic job and I cannot wait to read more of her books and this is the reason I gave Saving Amelie five stars and a grade of A. I loved it!
Parents:
Language: None
Adult Content: Talks about genocide and eugenics
Violence: insinuated beatings after the effect, insinuated gassing of innocent children
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
