Number the Stars

Lois Lowry is one of my favorite authors. Yes, I know she writes youth fiction meant for middle to upper elementary or middle schoolers. But her books are classics or classics in the making. They are well written, great characters, and sweet story lines.

She has written a jewel of a book, Number the Stars, about a little girl in Denmark during the German occupation. Her family helps smuggle out their Jewish friends. It's full of the typical tense solider moments. Will the Jewish family make it or will they get caught? It's written from a child's perspective, which gives a sweet childish innocence mixed in that we rarely see. Great book to introduce kids to the Nazis and WW2. And a quick, easy read for adults.

Phoenix Rising

Phoenix Rising by Karen Hesse is a great little book. It's juvenile fiction but really good. I read it to make sure of was appropriate for my 3rd grader. I'll wait to let her read it until we study chemicals in school since it's a book about a radiation leak, although it is appropriate for her to read now. Maybe a "damn" or two is the only thing in there. The main character, Nyle, is growing up with her grandmother on a farm. There is a radiation leak near their town and the book is about the affects of it. A sick boy and his mother end up living in their farmhouse with them. The relationships in the book are sweet, as are the characters.

I would recommend for adults as well as older kids. If you read it as an adult, just keep in mind it's meant for kids.

Stone From the River

This book is good in theory; it just didn't capture me quickly enough to keep my attention. It is well written though. It's about a dwarf growing up in Germany. There were too many stories about her growing up and not enough plot. Which means the character development was great. And if I could get captured by the plot that was slowly developing, I think it would turn out to be a great book. I gave it 102 pages before moving on. Maybe I'll try again when I have more energy.

Illuminations

Another book for my list of favorites. Maybe even in my top 3 favorites. Definitely my favorite of this genre, which is historical fiction. Are there any other ways I can say this is one of my favorites?!

It's about a woman, Hildegard von Bingen who lived in the 1100s and at a young age was made to be walled up in a monastery along side a mentally unstable woman.

The plot was riveting. I love that it's historical fiction and Mary Sharratt brings the story to life. She writes with authentic language of monastic life in 1100s, but is still very readable.

Leave theology at the door before reading. It's not supposed to be about correct or incorrect theology. And the theology just doesn't matter. It's the psychology and the challenging of gender roles that matters. Hildegard bucked the system of what women did in the 1100s, but did it respectfully and graciously. She lived in compromise, but without sacrificing her beliefs.

If there is one book that you read this year, this should be it. It'd also be the perfect book club book. Men and women alike will like it. People of faith and those without. It's just about the perfect book.

When She Was Electric

This is an interesting book. I picked it up off the library book shelf to take to the beach based on the title and cover alone. I'd heard nothing about it. It was fine. Not great. Nothing substantial. Just a story of a broken family. Perhaps it could be deep if I had put more thought into it or if it was a book club book. Boiled down, this book is about what infidelity and babies out of wedlock can do to a family. It's a story of three generations of women, which I enjoyed.

While the plot was a little ho hum, the words MacPherson wrote had weight. It was beautifully written, but not flowery. Even simple sentences like "And then it rained." were placed so well and the sentence structures made it beautiful and artsy.

If you are looking for something unique and interesting, it's worth the read.

The Shadow of the Wind

Oh. My. Word. I loved this book. It was beautifully written. The characters were very well developed. The plot was amazing. It's one of my favorite books. It has a similar feel to The Book Thief, so if you enjoyed that book, you'll like this one, too.

It's about a boy, Daniel, who discovers a book that he loves. When he goes to find more books by the same author, he finds out that they have all been destroyed. Daniel starts researching the author and finds there is a big story there. He becomes detective with the help of a homeless man turned friend.

That's all the detail I want to give since part of the beauty and joy of reading this was not knowing much about it. My one caveat is that some of the characters get confusing at times. But I think that's because I didn't read it very quickly, but over a 2 week period. If I had read it faster, I don't think I would have forgotten the secondary characters as easily.

I highly recommend this book! Read it!

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a book about twp brothers during WWII who become famous comic book writers. Yeah, it was boring to me, too. I'm sure it was well written and amazing since it's a Pulitzer prize winner. But it never captivated me and it was just too much work to read and follow the plot. I got through seven miserable pages before I put it down. Perhaps if you enjoy comic books, escape artists, and WWII you'd enjoy the book.