Sarah's Key // Tatiana de Rosnay
While searching for a new book to read, I started looking through bestseller lists and randomly reading descriptions of the books. That is how I happened upon Sarah's Key. It turned out to be a really interesting read that has stuck with me. It is the story of the the round-up and imprisonment of French Jews during WWII -- known as "the Vel d'Hiv'" (named for the Velodrome d'Hiver arena where the people were held before being loaded on trains and taken to Auschwitz). The book tells the story of a modern journalist (Julia) in Paris who researches the round-up and learns the story of Sarah, a young Jewish girl who was imprisoned with her parents. It was not a bad read and (even though it is fiction) it taught me about a part of WWII that I had never heard of before.The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo // Steig Larsson
This is a book that I had seen on bestseller lists but hadn't heard too much about. I checked it out from the library and read it really quickly, despite its thickness. The story is exciting and the characters are memorable. My biggest problem with this book was its rather adult content. It is the story of a journalist and researcher who discover a serial rapist/killer, so it has a fair amount of violence and bad language. I'm not sure I would recommend this book simply because of that content... but if you have thick skin, it really is an interesting read. It is part of a three-part series, of which I also read the second installment... The Girl Who Played With Fire.Cutting for Stone // Abraham Verghese
While typing up this post, I realized that every book I read in the last couple of months had a journalist for the protagonist... except for this one. I went out on a limb and bought this book for my new Nook after reading a little bit about it. It is the story of twins born (under rather strange circumstances) in Ethiopia who become doctors. It was written by a doctor, so the medical procedures and ailments described in the book are written in great (and often disturbing) detail. Although it is fiction, it taught me a lot I never knew about Africa (and about medicine). The story is a little slow at times, but the ending made the book great. It's a coming-of-age story of forgiveness and reconciliation. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
3 comments:
Are you on Goodreads? kind of fun way to track what you have read and what you want to read, & leave reiviews, see recommendations from friends, etc.
My wife has read all 3 of these and says she liked them all.
Sounds like you and I have similar reading habits, Cheeseboy. When your wife tells you how good a book was, that's pretty much as good as having read it yourself.
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