The Nazi Offiicer's Wife by Edith Beer

Book Synopsis:

Edith Hahn was an outspoken young woman studying law in Vienna when the Gestapo forced Edith and her mother into a ghetto, issuing them papers branded with a "J." Soon, Edith was taken away to a labor camp, and though she convinced Nazi officials to spare her mother, when she returned home, her mother had been deported. Knowing she would become a hunted woman, Edith tore the yellow star from her clothing and went underground, scavenging for food and searching each night for a safe place to sleep. Her boyfriend, Pepi, proved too terrified to help her, but a Christian friend was not: With the woman's identity papers in hand, Edith fled to Munich. There she met Werner Vetter, a Nazi party member who fell in love with her. And despite her protests and even her eventual confession that she was Jewish, he married her and kept her identity secret.

My Review

As I was reading this book, I was able to imagine her sitting at the kitchen table telling me her story. Due to the subject matter and time in history, some of the story contains situations that some could not imagine. I am always amazed at both the desperation and humanity that people found during their times in either work or concentration camps. It is very hard to look back at that time in history and wonder why more was not done to help those being persecuted but I have to remember that I am looking back in time with the knowledge of today. It also reminds me how we can easily slip back into the mindset that let the persecution happen. (Off my soapbox now). There is some language but honestly, I think 99% of the books I have read about the concentration camps has had some. I like reading about survivors of the Holocaust and learning their stories. This book was very interesting and I very much enjoyed reading it.

Hope you do too.....

Remarkable Soul of a Woman by Dieter F.Uchtdorf

Book Synopsis:

If you are feeling overwhelmed with change, challenges, or checklists, you may wonder how you can partake now of God's happiness and find your pathway to peace, hope, and joy.

With loving insight, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf addresses two attributes that contribute to our Heavenly Father's perfect happiness — the power of creation and service with compassion. As a treasured daughter of our Heavenly Father, you can develop those remarkable abilities as well as find happiness in the journey.

By listening to the Spirit, you can come to realize that creating is not just done with paint, pen, or pottery, and compassionate service is more than a casserole or a card. As you bring something into existence that has never been before and as you serve others — even in small ways — you cannot help but participate in the wonder that is God's joy.
In The Remarkable Soul of a Woman, President Uchtdorf's timely thoughts on creating and being compassionate will buoy you up, give you strength, and help you realize what a great power for good you truly are.

My Review:

Honestly, how can I review a book published by any member of the Church Presidency. This book is a fast read ( I think it took me about 30 min to read) and a great pick me up. I would recommend this to anyone who is feeling a little down and needs some uplifting. The pictures are heart warming and fit in wonderfully.  Love It and would recommend this to anyone......

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Book synopsis:

When we first meet 14-year-old Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. This was before milk carton photos and public service announcements, she tells us; back in 1973, when Susie mysteriously disappeared, people still believed these things didn't happen. In the sweet, untroubled voice of a precocious teenage girl, Susie relates the awful events of her death and her own adjustment to the strange new place she finds herself. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. With love, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie watches her family as they cope with their grief, her father embarks on a search for the killer, her sister undertakes a feat of amazing daring, her little brother builds a fort in her honor and begin the difficult process of healing. In the hands of a brilliant novelist, this story of seemingly unbearable tragedy is transformed into a suspenseful and touching story about family, memory, love, heaven, and living.

My Review:

For those who don't know, the book is about a girl who is murdered. If you can get past the first chapter, where the horriffic actions that cause her death happen, the book is very good. It is very gritty sometimes and you need to be prepared for the turmoil that the famly undergoes. It does contain some subject matter that some would find uncomfortable even after the first chapter. I can't remember if there was any language but there was an extra-marital affair. I still enjoyed it very much. As I was reading the book, I wondered how anyone could write about such a tragedy happening to a child but after I read a little about the author, I suspect that this book and her others is her way of dealing with the events in her life. I would recommend it. I have not seen the movie so I can not say how similiar or dissimiliar the movie was.  Actually, after reading the book, I do not know if I want to watch the movie. The movie usually misses the message of the book, leaves some of the details out and twists the plot. We will see.

Did you read it and what did you think?

Band of Sisters by Annette Lyon

Book Description:

When the war on terror calls their husbands to duty, five LDS women are left behind to fight battles of their own: Kim, the newlywed and pregnant, frightened of what the future might bring. Brenda, struggling to manage three unruly boys and a crippling bout of depression. Jessie, secretly grappling with mixed feelings about her crumbling marriage. Marianne, wrestling with a rebellious teenage daughter. And Nora, the seasoned Army wife with perfect hair, an immaculate home-and an ill-tempered mother dying of cancer.

Knowing the separation of deployment is extremely difficult, Nora gathers the wives every week to share lunches and burdens. In good company, they worry over safety in the field and stability at home and offer one another counsel and comfort.

But as their personal build, each woman faces the risks of forming deep bonds of trust. And when tragedy strikes, they must confront the painful realities of war that pull families apart and bring friends together as sisters.

http://www.anenettelyon.com/

My opinion:

OK, I loved this book. The further into the book I got, the more I hated to put it down. In fact, when I got to the last couple of chapters, I didn't put it down. I stayed up too late with a book light in bed finishing the book.  (Then of course, I was cranky in the morning but happy I finished the book.) As a reader, I was able to find a little bit of myself in each of the women. The fact that they weren't perfect, their families weren't perfect and they struggled with their own insecurities made every one of them believable.

If you have read it, let me know what you think. What did you like or dislike about it?

Till next book review......