Oh yeah it is!! Since Summer has officially started at our house today with it being the last day of school and all it is only fitting that I do a few book reviews. In just a few short minutes I will load up the kids and take them to the library to enroll them in the Kids Summer Reading Program as is our tradition.
In case you were wondering what I am currently reading...here you go:
Both are...so far...quite good and interesting in different ways. Also on my night stand is:
It is wonderful. Very thought and discussion provoking. I am highlighting the heck out of it. I have to say that it has already given me some much needed insight.
But we are talking about Book Reviews here. I just finished these two books:
From Goodreads:
On a May afternoon in
1943, an Army Air Force bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and
disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil,
gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It
was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was
struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of
the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War...The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini... Ahead of Zamperini
lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft,
thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even
greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer
desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor;
brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would
be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.
This is a book that so many people I know have read and loved. It has been on my list to read for quite some time. I just couldn't quite find the right mood to read a book that I knew would be a heavy read. As Memorial Day rolled around my thoughts were turned to the men and women of the armed forces who paid the ultimate price for my freedom and for those who were currently serving. Sometimes I don't necessarily enjoy being reminded of the price of freedom. It's hard to think about and hard to comprehend and usually hurts... but I need to be...over and over again. I am grateful for the reminder that I received by reading this book.
I am not going to lie. I didn't always LOVE this book. I had to put it down and walk away from it for a few days and then come back to it. It is a heavy book. The obstacles that Louie (a former Olympian) overcame were almost impossible to believe. The experiences he had adrift at sea and his hellish time as a POW of the Japanese were difficult to read.
I am guilty of not being as aware of the history of WWII from the perspective of the Pacific Theater. I enjoyed learning more. One of my grandfathers served in WWII in the Pacific and I now want to know more about his experiences and wish I would have asked more questions when he was alive. My other grandfather was a B-17 Bomber Pilot who flew missions over Germany. He flew 30 combat missions in his plane The Goin' Jessie. I felt like I learned so much more about what his experiences must have been like as I read about Phil and Louie and their crew and their plane Superman.
This may not have been the easiest book to read as the story of Louie Zamporini is both inspirational and absolutely heart-wrenching. all at the same time. The images and this story will be with me for quite some time. It is a beautiful book and I am a better person for having read it.
My Rating: EXCELLENT
From Goodreads:
If you look at an atlas
of the United States, one published around, say , 1940, there is, in the
state of Indiana, north of New Castle and east of the Epileptic
Village, a small town called Mooreland. In 1940 the population of
Mooreland was about three hundred people; in 1950 the population was
three hundred, and in 1960, 1970, and 1980, and so on. The book that
follows is about a child from Mooreland, Indiana, written by one of the
three hundred. It's a memoir, and a sigh of gratitude, a way of
returning. I no longer live there; I can't speak for the town or its
people as they are now. Someone has taken my place. Whoever she is, her
stories are her own (taken in part from the prologue).
This was the book that I read while simultaneously reading Unbroken. It was another highly recommended book. People LOVE it. Hmmm...really? I didn't. I mean I didn't hate it but I certainly didn't love it and, despite everyone's assertions that I would, I never once laughed out loud. I just found Zippy to be annoying. I was always wondering to myself "Can there really be this many odd ducks in a town of 300 and are they annoyed that she wrote about them?" and "What is the POINT of this book?" and "Is something ever going to HAPPEN?" That said, I did enjoy the glimpse of small town America in the 1970s and the unique gaggle of quirky townsfolk. I just don't get all the hype about the book and found the writing to be disjointed. I am in the minority here people so read it and decide for yourself but I found it to be rather blah.
My Rating: Ok...nothing spectacular.
