Christina from Jackets & Covers also read Luanne Rice’s The Edge of Winter for the WWII reading challenge.  Here’s an excerpt from her review:

Rice makes it impossible not to like every character; she includes details that make the characters seem so real. I enjoyed her examination of “shell shock,” now known as post-traumatic stress disorder, on World War II veterans. In fact, WWII plays a major part in The Edge of Winter, something I was not expecting. And Rhode Island sounds absolutely breath-taking.

Read the entire review here.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

Christina from Jackets & Covers read Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh for the WWII reading challenge.  Here’s an excerpt from her review:

…rather than actually give a real sense of life to the town and to the mines, Haigh misses the opportunity to explore life in Bakerton as America changes from war to peace, women at home to women in the workforce, and coal-burning for energy to gas and electric in favor of placing a lot of emphasis on the characters’ sex lives.

Read the full review here.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

Tracey from A Book Sanctuary read The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani for the WWII reading challenge.  Here’s a little of what she had to say:

Whilst primarily an exploration of the narrators relationship with the Finzi-Contini family, becoming more prominent as the story enters the 1930’s is the rise of Mussolini and the racial laws and increasing restrictions placed on the Jews. As a result of this, the garden of the Finzi-Continis became a type of refuge and meeting place, many a long hot summers afternoon spent discussing literature, sipping cold Skiwasser (water, raspberry syrup, a slice of lemon and grapes) and playing tennis. The differing attitudes and responses to their impending fate are explored throughout, not really in the foreground but always there like an increasingly blackening cloud.

Read the full review here.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

One of the books I read earlier this year for the WWII reading challenge was The Seventh Well by Fred Wander.

Here’s an excerpt from my review on Diary of an Eccentric; click the link to read the complete review:

The Seventh Well is the kind of book you think about for hours after turning the last page. Given that the stories are based on Wander’s own experiences, it left me with a different view of the concentration camps. It drives home the point that each and every person who entered the camps had a name, a face, an occupation, dreams, and passions.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy was read by a couple of participants for the WWII reading challenge.  Here are excerpts from their reviews; click the links to read their complete thoughts.

Wisteria from Bookworm’s Dinner says:

The reading is slow at first, then suddenly as details unfold you will be flipping furiously to the next page. Set in two locations, the story eventually merges together and quickly like a force in motion builds to a breathtaking end.

Lezlie from Books ‘N Border Collies says:

Like so many books about WWII and the Holocaust, this one is difficult but necessary. What I found most memorable was that not all of the Nazi’s were stereotyped. There were those who questioned their orders, and those brave souls are the ones who lifted this particular WWII/Holocaust story to a higher plane.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

Arielle from Bookatopia read Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl for the WWII reading challenge.  Here’s a bit of what she had to say:

Everyone should read this book at some point in their lives, even if you’re not into WWII writings, everyone should know about the suffering that these crazy times brought for the people irrelevant of the race, religion or nationality.

Read the full review here.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

Wow, has WWII been in the news lately or what?!  Let me explain.  recently we posted about a selection of diary entries published in book form by one of Benito Mussolini’s mistresses.  Today, were going to talk about a number of WWII news items.

Copyright AP Photo/Mike Fuentes

First up is a WWII veteran, John Pistone, who has had an art book in his possession for nearly 65 years after taking it from Adolf Hitler’s home in the Bavarian Alps.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  The book contains photos of paintings, which document the art stolen from Jewish families by the Nazis.  Gotta love that the Germans documented everything.  Attorneys indicate that it is relatively common for soldiers to hunt for souveniers during war.  Pistone’s art book will be officially returned to Germany in January.  Check out the rest of the story from the Associated Press.

A Christian Science Monitor story examines what happened behind the scenes of military strategy to allow the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.  While public reports issued by the government and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox mostly outlined the heroism of the Hawaiian base, secret investigations reveal that the commanders of Pearl Harbor did not view an air attack on the port as likely.  Knox also discovered that the Japanese strategy was very detailed and that the Japanese were very resourceful.   While initially commanders in Hawaii were blamed, subsequent investigations, including one in 1944, reveal that higher officials also may be blamed, particularly Admiral Harold Stark who failed to apprise the port of deterioriating relations between Japan and the United States.  Click on the full link above for more details.

Copyright Jean-jacques Delorme

Today in The Washington Post there was an article about the babies fathered by German soldiers in occupied Europe and how they dealt with the deeds of their parents.

Historians calculate that about 200,000 children in France were born to German soldiers out of the possible 800,000 or more children born during the Nazi occupation of Europe.  After the fall of Nazi power, many of the women engaged in these relationships were tormented or put in jail, and the children were terrorized or lived in shame and secrecy.  One of these children, Jean-Jacques Delorme, who is 65, has established the Hearts Without Borders group to help these children deal with their parents’ sordid pasts.  Click the link above for the full story.

Still there is so much we have not uncovered about WWII or talked about.  Keep your eyes open for more.

The German Woman by Paul Griner was reviewed by a couple of WWII reading challenge participants.  Here are their thoughts; click the links for the complete reviews.

Wisteria from Bookworm’s Dinner says:

Paul Griner shows a natural talent of subterfuge as he carefully creates a complex mask of mirrors causing a magicians allusion for the audience to solve. There are passages of beautiful lyrical poetic prose that could fit a musical score.

Lorri from Jew Wishes says:

The book, for me, was not a page-turner (but that isn’t necessarily a negative thing). It is historic in content, yet there was something about the story that left me a bit unsatisfied. I can’t define why, it is what it is. Which is not to say I didn’t like the book. Overall I did like The German Woman, but I wasn’t completely thrilled with this book of espionage and romance. It didn’t entirely intrigue me.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

City of Thieves by David Benioff showed up on a couple of WWII challenge participants’ reading lists.  Here’s a bit of what they had to say; click the links to read their complete reviews.

Lorri from Jew Wishes says:

City of Thieves is an intense novel, and one filled with images of the horrors of war, the hungers of war, the ravages and loss of war, and the events and situations of war that are deplorable. Lev and Kolya’s journey through the barren and frigid landscape is infused with nightmarish scenarios. From the hunger and what one will do for food, for protein, to the scenes of the dead lying frozen in the streets, it is a compelling, historical novel. I was engrossed by the vivid word imagery, the definitive and horrific realities of the Siege of Leningrad that Benioff so skillfully displays. He is a master story teller, who manages to evoke strong emotions, as he moves the reader from one horrendous moment to the next, yet also injects humor within the pages to give us a bit of comic relief from all of the madness that transpires.

Helen from A Reading Collection says:

I love this book and it’s a keeper. It is highly recommended if you are looking for the following in a book:

Wanda from A Season to Read chose Turvey by Earle Birney as one of her books for the WWII reading challenge.  Here are some of her thoughts:

The hilarity of Private Thomas Leadbeater Turvey’s outrageous mishaps and misfortunes, from basic training through time served overseas, had me laughing out loud at least a dozen times! It’s hard to believe that poor Turvey could get himself in so many sticky situations.

Read the full review here.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**