Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption -- Laura Hillenbrand

Louis Zamperini was a rabble-rouser in his youth, known in the neighborhood for beating kids up, stealing, and defying authority. Though he was nothing like his older brother Pete, Louis practically idolized him. And so, over time, and with the help of Pete, Louis eventually worked to channel his rambunctious energy into something more productive and less destructive: running. Louis had a talent for speed, and by the time he was 19, he was competing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Though Louis did not go home with a gold medal, he knew the future was bright for him; so he set his eyes on winning in the 1940 Olympics.

But Louis would never run in those Games. The Games would be cancelled as a result of World War II; and Louis would instead find himself a bombardier in the Army Air Corps, flying over the Pacific in the war against Japan.

As part of the crew aboard the plane known as "Super Man", Louis was responsible for many successful missions. And like the others in the crew, he sometimes miraculously escaped serious harm and death in spite of the many precarious situations they flew into. Such was the case on "Super Man's" last mission -- the mission in which the crew's pilot Allen Phillips managed to nurse the plane home riddled with almost 600 bullet holes and multiple mechanical failures.

While "Super Man" would never fly again, and some of the plane's crew would be replaced due to injuries, the crew would not be so lucky. One day in May 1943, the crew was called up on a rescue mission and given "The Green Hornet" to fly, a plane in which none held much faith. And so it was, aboard "The Green Hornet" that Louis' luck seemed to run out. The plane went down over the Pacific, killing all but 3 of the crew. Louis, pilot Allen Phillips, and a crewman named Mac survived. With few survival supplies, the 3 men floated on rafts in shark-infested waters, hoping -- and eventually praying -- for rescue.

But rescue did not come. Instead, after nearly 50 days drifting at sea, surviving on raw albatross and tern, infrequent rain water, and the very rare fish, the rafts reached land. Only when the survivors realized they had landed on a Japanese-occupied island and began experiencing the horrors faced by Prisoners of War in Japan did they realize they would long for the days in the raft.

Over the course of the next two years, Louis and Allen Phillips would endure torturous beatings, starvation, interrogation, and humiliation. They faced guards full of cruelty who ignored the rules of the Geneva Convention regarding POWs, and learned just how much they could endure before they would break. It seemed the war would never end -- and if it did, that it would not be soon enough.

Still, Louis and many other POWs held onto the hope of America winning the war. Though beaten and practically broken, these men pushed through the horrors of being Prisoners to the Japanese. And one day, the war ended. Louis and his fellow POWs were able to return home. But their lives were forever changed. Their dreams were haunted, and sometimes, most cruelly, their waking hours were as well as they flashed-back to the horrors of the past. For Louis, who had tried everything he could think of to escape his nightmares, the only thing that released him from the grasp of terror was finding Christianity and realizing the worth of his soul. His dignity was restored, and he was able to face the future with hope and optimism once again.


***I knew, just by reading the prologue, that this would be an intense book. I found myself talking often of it to my husband. At once appalling and enthralling, this book is an amazing read. I feel Hillenbrand handled a lot of sensitive topics with tact. I was horrified, still, by all that the POWs were forced to endure. Sometimes shocked by the cruelties human beings are capable of inflicting. But the book held hope throughout. A great read, indeed. I am glad to have added it to my "read" library.

The Girl Who Came Home -- Hazel Gaynor

In 1912, following the death of her mother, 16 year old Maggie Murphy is to leave her home of Ireland and the man she loves to live in America with her aunt. Along with several others from her little town of Ballysheen, Maggie is to travel aboard the great Titanic on her maiden voyage. What she experiences on that fateful journey is not ever forgotten; but only 70 years later does she choose to share the events of that those tragic days with anyone. And the person she chooses to share them with is her great-granddaughter Grace.

Grace is a young woman who walked away from college and her boyfriend on the day her father was killed in an accident, so that she could take care of her ill mother. A talented writer, Grace had been on the cusp of a great career when the events unfolded which would change the direction of her life. But not for forever. For Maggie's keen eye could see what Grace truly needed. And when Maggie gives Grace her story, Grace is given the opportunity at the chance she thought she'd forfeited those two years previous.


**It was a good story. I liked the flash-back style of writing. I can't say it was the best novel I'd ever read, but it was good and it left me feeling happy. That's always a good thing.

Allegiant -- Veronica Roth

Now that the factions have fallen and the truth about their society has been made known, a small group, including Tris and Tobias, seeks to fulfill the wishes of the originators of the experiment.  This group calls themselves the Allegiant.  And their plan is to defy the leadership of Evelyn Johnson and leave the city, hoping to help those on the outside as they have learned they were meant to do.

Though the plan is successful, and Tris, Tobias, and several others make it outside of the city, what they face turns their world upside down again.  They enter a world of "Genetically Pure" and "Genetically Damaged."  They learn about air travel and other modern things which had been hidden from them in the city.  And they find that they still don't know where the truth lies.  Being in the "real world" forces them to face new life-altering decisions -- and make decisions on behalf of those they left behind.


**Eh...  It was okay.  I mean, I committed to reading it when I continued the series.  But definitely not as fantastic a read.  Which is why it took so long for me to get through it.  I will say I liked some of the "morals" the main characters offer the reader toward the end of the book.  But there are also a lot of other subtle things I didn't like.  So, I'm glad I'm done with it and can move on to something else.  I may or may not read the new one:  FOUR.  Depends on how desperate I am for a book at the time.  But I feel no tie to it.

Miracle Cure -- Michael Palmer

Dr. Brian Holbrook is trying to get back on his feet after 18 months of recovery from a prescription drug addiction which began in his youth. With his medical license revoked, he doubts he'll ever have the opportunity to work in the medical field again. But fate has other plans for him. When his father suffers a minor heart attack and is taken to White Memorial Hospital, Brian helps a former friend there diagnose a rare condition in a patient, saving the patient's life. When word of his rescue spreads through the hospital, Brian is suddenly given some unexpected opportunities, including a chance to join the staff of White Memorial's Boston Heart Institute (BHI).

The news only gets better, because Brian learns more about the miracle drug being researched at BHI: Vasclear -- a drug that miraculously heals arteriosclerosis, giving people a new lease on life. So encouraged by the Vasclear study results, Brian is determined to get his father on the drug with hopes to save his life. But the more Brian tries, the more he is discouraged. And soon, he encounters patients who were put on Vasclear in the initial trials -- and he begins to notice a troubling pattern about them. With his interest piqued, Brian begins digging into the research on Vasclear -- and meeting up with dangerous opposition all along the way. He is even threatened with a "doctored" positive drug test (and assured subsequent job loss) if he doesn't back off his search.

Undaunted, Brian continues onward after personal tragedy strikes. His gut tells him something is wrong with Vasclear, but can he find the truth before the drug is approved by the FDA? And more importantly, will he manage to stay alive?


***This book just seemed fake to me. The scenarios were too convenient and most of them unbelievable. Like towards the end when he and another doctor are speaking in a sort of code and he manages to figure out everything she is trying to tell him. Yeah right. Pretty sure this just turned me off of Palmer's books. I can't remember the last one I read by him and what I really thought of it, but this one was pretty ridiculous, in my opinion.

Speaker For the Dead -- Orson Scott Card

For most of the human race, it has been 3000 years since the Bugger Wars. 3000 years since Ender Wiggin became notorious for the xenocide of the Buggers. But for Ender Wiggin and his sister Valentine, who have spent the intervening years between his worst nightmare and the present day traveling from planet to planet at speeds near the speed of light, it has only been a couple of decades. Everyone believes -- no, knows -- that Ender is dead. And Ender is happy to leave them in ignorant bliss. His name has become profane, and feeling the guilt of his actions and their result, Ender accepts the burden of his infamy as well-deserved. In time, he authors the story of the Buggers, revealing to the humans the real intentions of that alien species. And humans come to understand the horrors enacted by the human race. To prevent the same events from ever occurring again, the Starways Congress enacts laws governing interactions between humans and any other intelligent life they may find on distant planets. Strict rules which, when broken, are a sign of absolute rebellion.

And so it is that, when intelligent life is discovered on the planet of Lusitania, the humans colonizing the planet are allowed to send only their xenologer outside their colony gates, who studies the species -- a pig-like species many thousand of years behind humans technologically, without asking many questions and without sharing any human knowledge. When one of the xenologers dies at the hands of the piggies, the humans begin to fear. When a second one dies, the fear begins to turn to terror. And someone on Lusitania calls for a Speaker for the Dead -- to speak the death of the first killed xenologer. The nearest Speaker is none other than Ender Wiggin, the original speaker. His arrival on Lusitania (two weeks later for him, 22 years later for Lusitanians), stirs up secrets for humans and piggies alike. And soon, nothing will ever be the same.

**An excellent read. I was very enthralled.         

Heart in the Right Place -- Carolyn Jourdan

Carolyn Jourdan is used to a life of lavishness. She is used to rubbing elbows with some of the Nation's dignitaries. She is accustomed to being "in" on the latest cause -- and she enjoys feeling like she is making a difference in Washington, D.C. But when her mother has a heart attack, and Carolyn returns to her backwoods Tennessee roots, Carolyn begins to realize that maybe, just maybe, making a difference back home is more important than making a difference in Washington.

Filled with stories of her father's patients in a rural doctor's clinic, this memoir follows a year of Carolyn Jourdan's life working as her father's receptionist. She discovers what life is about, and she learns that her father is a true hero to so many. And little by little she finds out what it feels like when her heart is in the right place.

**This was a cute memoir. I enjoyed the stories and laughed at a few. Others were touching and poignant.

The Shade of the Moon -- Susan Beth Pfeffer

It has been 2 years since the Evans family left their home in Pennsylvania and headed for the enclave in Sexton, Tennessee. Much has changed in those 2 years for the family. Matt and his wife Syl moved out on their own and Matt became a courier. Miranda married Alex Morales and became pregnant. Jon moved in with his step-mother Lisa and his 3 year-old half brother, using Alex's slips to permit them entrance into the enclave where food was as plentiful as the privileges they enjoyed. Their father died on the journey to Sexton, and their mother lives in White Birch, just outside of Sexton, with Alex and Miranda, working at a school teaching "grub" children -- those not fortunate enough to be "useful" outside of doing grub work for the more fortunate "clavers."

Two years of living a life of privilege, even when most of his family isn't, gives Jon a sense of entitlement. He sees nothing wrong with the way he lives: the abundance when those around him hunger and live in ignorance; the ability to satiate all his physical desires anytime he desires. But then he meets Sarah, the girl who moved into the enclave with her father, the town's new doctor. While most of the clavers dislike her, Jon is drawn to her. And he is soon forced to choose between her and her ideals and his friends. His comforts and those of his step-mother and little brother are at stake.

But the more Jon hears what Sarah has to say, the more he sees what he ignored before. And when riots break out in White Birch and life changes drastically again for Jon and all his family members, Jon has to choose which side he is on for good -- and deal with the consequences.


*Wow... I was incredibly disappointed in this book. I loved the series... Until this book. The characters seemed shallow and not well thought-out anymore. The book was full of every horror imaginable (which, frankly, disgusted me). And many of the situations and dialogue seemed fake and forced. The author mentions at the end that she isn't sure if there will be a 5th book. Well, I hope there isn't. Because if it gets any worse than this, I don't think I would be willing to slog through it. Very disappointing.

Night -- Elie Wiesel

It is 1944 before the lives of the Jews living in Sighet, Transylvania feel the effect of Hitler's plan.  Until then, they'd lived their lives as though nothing was different; as though nothing ever would be.  They believed the war would end before they were impacted.

But they were wrong.

What begins as a sort of lock-down in their own community eventually becomes the horror of evacuation, separation, starvation, desperation, and for some, cremation.  Fifteen year-old Eliezer and his family are among them.  He loses touch with his mother and three sisters shortly after they arrive at Auschwitz, a concentration camp where he Elie witnesses horrors beyond imagination.  His one goal is to not lose his father.  So together they are herded from one camp to another.  They are beaten, abused, forced to watch others murdered, starved, worked to the brink of death and delusion.  Some lose their faith, others hold to it for dear life.  And in the end, none is spared the atrocities of knowing horrors no human should ever need to face.


** Though incredibly hard to read, considering the subject matter, this is a good book.  I felt horrified by some of what is shared.  Though I have long known of some of the torture and abuse which occurred at the concentration camps, there were some things in this book that shocked me; for I had never even considered the possibility of some of the atrocities that actually happened.  Call me naive, I guess.  I just cannot understand what kind of a mind could think to perform some of the hideous acts described.  It was eye-opening on so many levels.  And though there are images I will probably never be able to forget (conjured by my own mind as I read), I am glad I had the opportunity to see things from the perspective Mr. Wiesel.

The Silver Chair -- C. S. Lewis

Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole are students at Experiment House, a place where many are bullied and bullies aren't punished. After a run-in with some of the school bullies, Jill Pole hides behind a building where no one can see her cry. But Eustace happens upon her, and they begin to talk of a place quite different than Experiment House. A place Eustace has visited before where animals talk and thinks are beautiful and full of hope. Longing to go to such a place and leave the unhappiness of Experiment House behind, Eustace and Jill begin pleading to go to the other world.

And somehow, they get there! They soon learn they have been summoned to Narnia by Aslan; for Aslan has a mission for them. They are to rescue Prince Rilian, son of the aged king Caspian. Rilian disappeared years before and no one has seen or heard from him since.

So, with the help of Puddleglum, a Marsh-wiggle, Jill and Eustace set off to fulfill their mission. But the journey is long and hard, and soon the children forget their mission -- thinking only of the comforts for which they long. Forgetting proves to be to their detriment, and they find themselves on the menu for some giants' feast, held captive underground, and enchanted by an evil queen. Soon they are unsure if they will ever succeed in finding Prince Rilian -- or if they'll ever see their world again.


*Cute. I like the parallels between the novel and Christian doctrines. Look forward to reading this with my children one day.

Body of Lies -- Iris Johansen

Eve Duncan, a nationally-known forensic sculptor, enjoys the life she is living in a lovely lake cottage in Georgia. She has her boyfriend, her adopted daughter, and has finally been able to lay to rest the remains of her biological daughter on a hillside on her property. She is at peace and has no desire to leave her sanctuary; so when she if offered a job in Louisiana, she has no problem turning it down.

But someone wants her on the job enough to dig up information which would shatter Eve's utopian life and cause her to flee her home and her life with Atlanta detective Joe Quinn, at least until she could sort out her feelings and emotions about the new -- and devastating -- information. And so Eve runs, right into grave danger. She is surrounded by half-truths, deception, and attempts on her life; because while some people want her to learn the identity of a skull in Louisiana, someone else wants to keep the skull's identity a mystery -- enough to kill for it.

Determined to identify the skull, Eve continues her work in the face of danger. With the help of Galen and Quinn, who, much to her dismay, arrives on the scene when he learns her life is danger and when he discovers some unsettling news back in Atlanta which leads him to believe Eve was tricked into taking the job; Eve is moved from safe house to safe house until she is able to finish her work and turn the skull over to the FBI. But soon they all realize they are playing in a game with very high-rolling players who have more power than any of them realized. And they will stop at nothing to get what they want.


*I decided to read this book because it had been several years since I'd started the Eve Duncan series, and I remembered liking it before. I've definitely not been missing much. Though there was suspense at times, the characters are not really believable to me. All of them are too "perfect" at what they do. And Eve Duncan is too dramatic. I'm pretty sure I'm done with this series of books now, as I don't anticipate enjoying any others in the series either.

Insurgent -- Veronica Roth

Seeking safety with the Amity faction, Tris, Tobias, Peter, Caleb, Susan, and Marcus know the time they have there will be short. But before they make their plans to leave and head back into the city, their presence is discovered by the Erudite and the traitor-Dauntless; causing them to flee and seek refuge with the factionless.

There, Tris realizes that being factionless isn't as bad as she was led to believe; for the Factionless are strong in number and unity. And the Factionless leader has big plans for taking down the Erudite and the current factioned society. She seeks out Tobias and invites him to join her cause, telling him to become important to the loyal Dauntless so they will follow him.

Deciding they will need the help of the Candor, Tris and Tobias go to Candor headquarters and are subjected to their truth serum. Their deepest secrets and regrets are revealed, and before long, everyone knows Tris is Divergent. And so is Tobias. The Candor grant the loyal Divergent safety once they know Tris and Tobias were not involved in the simulation massacre of Abnegation. But their safety is short-lived. Because the Erudite and traitor-Dauntless launch an attack on Candor headquarters, injecting many there with a simulation serum which Jeanine can control anytime and for as long as she'd like -- a serum never before known among them. When Jeanine causes some to leap to their deaths with the threat of more if the Divergent don't give themselves up, Tris surrenders herself to Jeanine and her torture. Fully expecting her own demise, Tris learns as much as she can while imprisoned by Jeanine. But what Tris starts to learn is that there is information nobody could ever have imagined. Information that could change their entire world. Information Jeanine will kill over. And once she learns all she can from Tris about the Divergent, Tris will be Jeanine's next target.

*I definitely got sucked into this book and enjoyed it more than the first one. One complaint I have with both is all the childish drama. Tris and Tobias and their over-the-top arguments, etc. I realize it's written from the perspective of teenagers -- and is written for teens as the main audience. But I just get annoyed with how Tris makes huge mountains out of molehills a lot of the time. Otherwise, I enjoy the story and am looking forward to #3.

The Love of Her Life -- Harriet Evans

Running away is what Kate Miller has done best.

Three years ago, after a series of tragic events, she ran away to New York and moved in with her mother. And she tried to close the door on the events of her past in London: the broken engagement, her father's new marriage and new daughter, the friend whose life she destroyed, the man whose heart she shattered.

But then her father falls ill, and she returns to London -- only for two weeks (or so she plans) -- to check on him. But once there, she must face the fact that she hadn't closed the door as tightly as she'd hoped. The memories flood back, and she is forced to come to terms with all that has happened. She begins to mend relationships which were strained during those years away... And she begins to realize and accept that, sometimes, love blossoms where you least expect it.


*I had a hard time getting into this book. Once I was about half-way in, however, I could agree that it was a page-turner.

The City of Ember -- Jeanne DuPrau

In the city of Ember, the lights are starting to go out... a lot. Nobody knows how to fix the generator permanently... the generator which powers the entire city. And nobody knows what to do about all the supply shortages which are happening either. Perhaps, in most cities, this wouldn't be a problem. But Ember isn't like most cities. Because when the lights go out in Ember, there is NO light at all -- everything is pitch black. There is no fire, no flashlights. And there's nowhere to go, for as the citizens have been told for centuries: there is no place BUT Ember.

Most of the citizens are content to accept that Ember is the only city in existence. They are willing to pretend nothing is wrong, though somewhere inside they know the now-frequent blackouts are not good. Some of the citizens know things are bad -- and they are seeking to make their lives comfortable until the end. But there are some who are unwilling to accept the impending doom of their city. Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow are two of those citizens. And though they are only twelve years old, they begin the search for a solution and a way out of Ember.

Lina feels there must be a city somewhere else, for she has dreamed of it. Doon feels there must be a way to fix the generator permanently, if only he understood electricity. But when Lina happens upon a partially-destroyed (thanks to her toddler-sister Poppy) sheet of paper with instructions that seem to be vitally important, she turns to Doon as one who can work with her to solve the mystery of the instructions -- and maybe find a way out of the City of Ember and into a different world.


**I picked this book up to read to fill the space between the last book I finished and the one I was waiting for at the library. I ended up liking this book. I think it's a great read for early teens (12/13), both boys and girls. There is adventure and suspense. I was eager to see how it ended, and I'm now planning to read the next in the series!

Divergent -- Veronica Roth

Some time in future Chicago, the day has come for Beatrice Prior and all her 16 year-old friends to make a decision which will change their entire lives: the decision to leave their family and the only way of life they've ever known, or to stay. For Beatrice, the choice has been something over which she struggled. Though her heart yearned to be with her family, she did not feel that she fit in with the way of life of the Abnegations -- those who are selfless. But to choose to leave her family, with the sure knowledge she'd be disowned, was a heart-breaking choice.

Even more troubling than the decision which lays before her are the results of the aptitude test -- the test which determines where she really belongs, even if she chooses otherwise. When her results come back inconclusive, she hears a word she's never heard before: DIVERGENT. It is a word almost whispered. A word warned against. A word she is admonished to keep secret, even from her parents. It is the word which describes Beatrice.

With little help from the aptitude test for decision-making, Beatrice chooses to leave her family and join the Dauntless -- those brave ones who are meant to protect the city from harm. And she changes her name to Tris, a more fitting name, she feels, for a brave fighter.

But all is not as it seems. Because all is not as it once was when the factions were created years before. As Beatrice initiates into the Dauntless faction, she faces violence, cruelty, betrayal. She finds herself singled out and must work constantly to keep her secret safe -- for there is fear associated with her divergence. And when she finds out the truth, she must strive to warn her family whom she loves; because she cannot fully accept the edict "faction before blood," even if it costs her her life.


*I will say that this book was a page-turner for me. I wanted to see how things would pan out. That being said, I found it disturbingly violent for the age group it is intended for and also felt like some of the storyline got rushed toward the end of the novel, thereby making it not as well developed as I think it could have been.

The Book Thief -- Markus Zusak

It's 1939 and Leisel Meminger is a young girl living in Nazi Germany. She and her brother are traveling with their mother to be left in the care of foster parents Rosa and Hans Hubermann. But Leisel's brother doesn't make it -- he dies on the train and is buried in a town along the way.

And that's when Leisel steals her first book, an act which sets in motion her destiny.

Though at first reluctant to accept her new living arrangements and the loss of all her family, Leisel eventually acclimates and finds her place among the Hubermanns and the other residents of Himmel Street. She finds her best friend in a boy named Rudy who lives next door. And, with the help of her new Papa, she learns to read during midnight reading sessions. Soon Leisel's hunger for words grows, and when, at a book burning to celebrate the Fuhrer's birthday, she spots a book that escaped destruction, she steals it. An act she will perform every time she needs a new book flong or reading.

But life is dangerous in Nazi Germany. Especially if you're a Jew. And, unbeknownst to Leisel, her life is soon to be intertwined with one such Jew. And nothing will ever be the same.


**This was an amazing read. I didn't want to put it down. A beautiful story of love and humanity -- both the goodness within us as well as the cruelty of which we are capable -- this novel had me thinking a lot about events which happened long before I was born, but which changed the world I would come into forever. And this book has certainly changed me as well.