About the Book:

“We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life-daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

When Man’s Search for Meaning was first published in 1959, it was hailed by Carl Rogers as “one of the outstanding contributions to psychological thought in the last fifty years.” Now, more than forty years and 4 million copies later, this tribute to hope in the face of unimaginable loss has emerged as a true classic. Man’s Search for Meaning—at once a memoir, a self-help book, and a psychology manual-is the story of psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s struggle for survival during his three years in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. Yet rather than “a tale concerned with the great horrors,” Frankl focuses in on the “hard fight for existence” waged by “the great army of unknown and unrecorded.”

Viktor Frankl’s training as a psychiatrist allowed him a remarkable perspective on the psychology of survival. In these inspired pages, he asserts that the “the will to meaning” is the basic motivation for human life. This simple and yet profound statement became the basis of his psychological theory, logotherapy, and forever changed the way we understand our humanity in the face of suffering. As Nietzsche put it, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Frankl’s seminal work offers us all an avenue to greater meaning and purpose in our own lives-a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the act of living.”

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is another book from the World War II/Holocaust theme literature.  Written by a survivor of more than one of the concentration camps of Nazi, Germany, overall Frankl has a very good insight on the survival instinct of humans.  This authority is due to the three years he spent surviving camps that were known to kill most people within 6 months.  At least for those that weren’t sent immediately to the gas chambers.  Frankl’s insights into the mind set of surviving is a powerful statement on not only what goes into surviving harrowing experiences — but gives us a look into how those that survived nightmares even beyond the imagining of men, and how they have the ability to overcome.  

This is a book that isn’t the typical harrowing trip through the brutality of the concentration camps.  In fact, the thing that sets this book apart from others is that it focuses on the ability to survive in the midst of unmitigated brutality.  Frankl gives the reader more than an eyewitness account of life in a concentration camp.  The primary focus of this book is more of the psychological effects of the concentration camp environment, and how it played into destroying its victims.  And, as a Psychiatrist, Frankl also looks into how survivors managed to beat the Nazi’s in the quest to destroy.  Frankl submits that the act of survival was not in the physical body — but rather in the psyche of the victims. 

The last half of the book focuses on the psychological theory that he developed as a result of his experiences, and what he went on to teach as one of the modern approaches to the ability to survive.  Frankl lost me a little bit through that point.  However — the story behind how he developed this theory is not only powerful, but compelling.  The concept that those who survived did so through their own psychological determination to do so.  He then goes on to demonstrate how those who succumbed to the brutality of the world around them did so at such a time when they sacrificed their personal identity, and with it the personal desire, and commitment to live.  The point at which a person abdicates in identity of self to the group or whole, and identifies with an image thrust upon them by their captors is the moment that death becomes a certainty.  Frankl’s description of how he came came to understand the psychological impact for brutality is not only engrossing, but insightful.

This is a powerful book about the struggle of life and death.  Frankl’s perspective is not only powerful, but unique in all the books that exist in this genre.  He gives us a significant insight into the power of the identity of self, and how much it plays into not only who we are, but how we survive times of great stress, abuse, challenge, and trauma.  This is a book that I consider one of the must read classifications, because of the insight it has to offer on people, and how truly complex they can be.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Viktor Frankl Society

Man’s Search For Meaning

Author’s Obituary

Study Guide

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Abe Books

Originally posted 2011-08-15 06:00:14. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Set against the backdrop of one of the most virulent epidemics that America ever experienced–the 1918 flu epidemic–Thomas Mullen’s powerful, sweeping first novel is a tale of morality in a time of upheaval.

Deep in the mist-shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest is a small mill town called Commonwealth, conceived as a haven for workers weary of exploitation. For Philip Worthy, the adopted son of the town’s founder, it is a haven in another sense–as the first place in his life he’s had a loving family to call his own.

And yet, the ideals that define this outpost are being threatened from all sides. A world war is raging, and with the fear of spies rampant, the loyalty of all Americans is coming under scrutiny. Meanwhile, another shadow has fallen across the region in the form of a deadly illness striking down vast swaths of surrounding communities.

When Commonwealth votes to quarantine itself against contagion, guards are posted at the single road leading in and out of town, and Philip Worthy is among them. He will be unlucky enough to be on duty when a cold, hungry, tired–and apparently ill–soldier presents himself at the town’s doorstep begging for sanctuary. The encounter that ensues, and the shots that are fired, will have deafening reverberations throughout Commonwealth, escalating until every human value–love, patriotism, community, family, friendship–not to mention the town’s very survival, is imperiled.

Inspired by a little-known historical footnote regarding towns that quarantined themselves during the 1918 epidemic, The Last Town on Earth is a remarkably moving and accomplished debut.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This book was an eerie read about the influenza epidemic that passed through America in 1918.  That is particularly pertinent now, in the midst of our own flu epidemic that is projected to increase over the winter months.  But it isn’t just the historical approach to this novel that makes it a fascinating read.  There are so many elements of this book that enthrall the reader — that it really is hard to put this one down.

The character development in this book was of particular interest because of not only the panic and fear that is very well portrayed — but also for the moral dilemmas that they are forced to encounter.  Confronted with an outsider, and the panic of the internal town, which has shut itself off from the outside world, in an attempt to avoid the flu, this really presents some interesting questions.  These are occurrences that can be seen time and again, throughout history.  The isolation of individuals, in an attempt to save themselves, and the fear of everything, and everyone they do not know.  The moral dilemma in this particular novel leads to the ultimate choice — what is the value of one life, when weighed against those of your friends and neighbors, or even your family?  And who has the right to make those choices?  Some of the greatest ugliness comes from men when they are confronted with a hopeless situation, and their own mortality.  The characters in this book are an excellent example of this personal struggle.  And what their options are for solving these types of dilemmas.  I sometimes think that in these types of books that we would never have to make this type of choice today.  But history indicates that during the plague, and other epidemics that have occurred, people did have to make these kinds of choices.

I also found the descriptive level of fear, and paranoia in this book especially intense.  Confronted with something that cannot be seen, cannot be stopped, and kills indiscriminately — this book presents the ramifications of how people choose to deal with those fears.  The intensity of the loss of trust manifested between the neighbors, when confronted with the panic of fighting the unfightable is intense.  It is also interesting to see how fear, and anxiety feed off itself in the development of this story.  The more isolated this town becomes, the more intense the story becomes.

This is a fascinating book to read.  And I would consider it particularly pertinent for our times today.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Thomas Mullen Website

Thomas Mullen Publisher Site

New York Times Book Review

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2010-12-26 08:04:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is set in the early days of the second world war, before Benito Mussolini invaded Greece. Dr Iannis practices medicine on the island of Cephalonia, accompanied by his daughter, Pelagia, to whom he imparts much of his healing art. Even when the Italians do invade, life isn’t so bad–at first anyway. The officer in command of the Italian garrison is the cultured Captain Antonio Corelli, who responds to a Nazi greeting of “Heil Hitler” with his own “Heil Puccini”, and whose most precious possession is his mandolin. It isn’t long before Corelli and Pelagia are involved in a heated affair–despite her engagement to a young fisherman, Mandras, who has gone off to join Greek partisans. Love is complicated enough in wartime, even when the lovers are on the same side. And for Corelli and Pelagia, it becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate the minefield of allegiances, both personal and political, as all around them atrocities mount, former friends become enemies and the ugliness of war infects everyone it touches.

British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Here he keeps it to a minimum, though certainly the secondary characters with whom he populates his island–the drunken priest, the strongman, the fisherman who swims with dolphins–would be at home in any of his wildly imaginative Latin American fictions. Instead, de Bernières seems interested in dissecting the nature of history as he tells his ever-darkening tale from many different perspectives. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin works on many levels, as a love story, a war story and a deconstruction of just what determines the facts that make it into the history books.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is an amazing story, with so much going on that it is fun to read — more than once.  I was originally introduced to this story through the movie, which was based on the book.  I enjoyed the movie — and it wasn’t until a couple years later that I realized that it started in book form.  Boy, am I glad I found that out.  There is so much more depth added to this story by reading the book, than I ever got out of the movie.

The characters in the book are so much more developed, and it makes the story much more interesting in book format — but it was still OK if you only saw the movie.  The beauty of understanding the narrator’s background, and the love he harbored for his commanding officer just added so much more depth to this story.  I never got that part of the story in the movie — but it makes this book, and the sacrifices that are made throughout the story so much more meaningful.

The writing is somewhat challenging, as I found the writing style to be a little difficult to follow at points.  But that didn’t detract from the story at all.  Also, the beauty of the dual loves that are demonstrated, and expressed in this book are amazing.  What an incredible story, not only about war — and the sacrifices made in the World War II ear; but it also explored the beauty of the relationships that this type of experience  creates.  All of the characters are so well developed that I found myself being able to not only identify with them, but really experiencing the lives that the author portrayed.

This book also has a wonderful story of love, devotion, and sacrifice — and the costs that sacrifice can come at.  I found this to be one of the better historical fiction novels that I have read about the World War II time period.  I loved it, and would strongly recommend the book — for more reasons that one.  Beautifully written, and eloquently presented — a must read, particularly for love story enthusiasts — as well as World War II historians.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Louis de Berniers Website

Author Biography

Reading Group Guide

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2011-03-09 07:28:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Haunting and harrowing, as beautiful as it is disturbing, The English Patient tells the story of the entanglement of four damaged lives in an Italian monastery as World War II ends. The exhausted nurse, Hana; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burn victim who lies in an upstairs room and whose memories of passion, betrayal, and rescue illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning. In lyrical prose informed by a poetic consciousness, Michael Ondaatje weaves these characters together, pulls them tight, then unravels the threads with unsettling acumen.

A book that binds readers of great literature, The English Patient garnered the Booker Prize for author Ondaatje. The poet and novelist has also written In the Skin of a Lion, Coming Through Slaughter and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid; two collections of poems, The Cinnamon Peeler and There’s a Trick with a Knife I’m Learning to Do; and a memoir, Running in the Family.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book that just didn’t quite do it for me.  I know that there was a lot of hype surrounding the st0ry — particularly when the movie came out.  And, in all honesty, I never saw the movie.  But the book just didn’t seem to work for me some how.  I generally don’t mind unreliable characters, if they are done well — and I have always loved historical fiction.  But this was just a bad combination of several things that just drove me nuts from beginning to end. 

The characters were the first thing that stood out as something that just didn’t quite mesh.  As I’ve already stated — I generally don’t mind unreliable characters.  In fact, I find that when they are done right they can add a certain mystery, depth and dimension to a story that you wouldn’t have otherwise.  After all — as a reader you are never really sure about what they are saying, remembering, or know.  But when you end up with an entire novel with ALL unreliable characters — and a limited character line up to begin with — the element of mystery turns into a down right quagmire of uncertainty — and even confusion.  In the end — Kip was the only character that gave the story any cohesion and for the story to end the way it did, especially in relation to him just frustrated me.

Another thing that really kept me wondering was the disconnected feeling of the story, itself.  There was no real flow throughout the story.  It kept shifting in time, place, and storyline, to the point where I was really uncertain of what was going on at times.  And while in the end they all came back together, more or less — it made for a particularly hard read.  For this reason, this is not a story that I would recommend that you could sit down and do a fast read through over a weekend. 

I did love the setting in this one.  The isolation of this nearly destroyed church in the way back hills of Italy really came to life, and it gave the feel of being in the wake of a war — as they country-side is left in devastated ruin.  But even this, due to the way the story was developed, has a certain disconnect from the raging events that are going on outside the peripheral of the story line.  The constant references to events that happened during the war remind the reader that this is a novel set during World War II — but you still come away not really sure that there was really a war raging in the midst of this almost idyllic setting.  It is this quality of the book that gives it a feeling of almost isolated removal from reality as a whole.  And in the end, I just found that this book left me wanting more, and less — in more ways than one.

For more information about this book and its author — be sure to visit the following websites:

Reading Group Guide

Michael Ondaatje Biography

Author Interview

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2011-10-03 06:44:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

“On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down’s Syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this story that unfolds over a quarter of a century – in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own.” The Memory Keeper’s Daughter articulates a silent fear close to the heart of every mother: What would happen if you lost your child, and she grew up without you?

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

The writing in this book left me feeling like  Ms. Edwards had a great idea for a story — but didn’t get much farther than the framework of a book, and then called it good. I kept waiting for the story to go deeper, and delve into the emotional, mental, and physical substance that a story like this should have promised — and I came away feeling like the surface had only been scratched.

It is the story of a young couple, expecting their first child.  On the night of one of the worst storms of history, they find themselves isolated from the city, and unable to reach the hospital.  So the father, a doctor by profession, ends up delivering the baby himself.  The surprise is in the fact that there are twins, and the mother has a very traumatic birth.  When one of the twins is born with Downs syndrome, Mr. Henry — the father has the nurse who is assisting take the child away, and the mother spends the rest of the book feeling as if she has lost a piece of herself, even though she is never told of the existence of this removed child.

Granted this book does explore the ramifications of coming to terms with the loss of a child — although the Ms. Henry doesn’t realize that is what she is trying to do.  And the despair, guilt, mourning, and depression that haunt this home, and family is, at times almost palpable.  Or at least in my mind I could envision it that way.  But I felt like the actual presentation of that feeling was shallow at best — and left me wondering where the rest of the story had gone.  I mean, this trauma ultimately tears apart a family, as both parents spend the rest of their lives trying to come to terms with their grief.  And Mr. Henry can never get past his guilt.  With all of the secrets, and the attempts of trying to go on living, while the family is crumbling around you.  This is a book that I was anticipating would be all about shattered trust, relationships, and relationships that should have been and never were.  And at face value it was — but I just didn’t feel like Ms. Edwards heart was completely into telling this story.

I really did enjoy the concept of the story — I just wish it had been more fully developed.  I came away feeling like the story had barely just begun, when it ended, and the characters were so two dimensional that I never connected with them.  This is a book that I would personally give a pass t0, and for me — I am still waiting for the ending.

For more information about this book, and its author — be sure to visit the following websites:

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter Website

Author Interview

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2010-12-03 13:12:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

The Visible World is an evocative, powerfully romantic novel about a son’s attempt to understand his mother’s past, a search that leads him to a tragic love affair and the heroic story of the assassination of a high-ranking Nazi by the Czech resistance.
The narrator of The Visible World, the American-born son of Czech immigrants living in New York, grows up in an atmosphere haunted by fragments of a past he cannot understand. At the heart of that past is his mother, Ivana, a spontaneous, passionate woman drifting ever closer to despair. As an adult, the narrator travels to Prague, hoping to learn about a love affair between his then young mother and a member of the resistance named Tomas, an affair whose untimely end, he senses, lay behind Ivana’s unhappiness. Ultimately unable to complete his knowledge of the past, he imagines the two lovers as participants in one of the more dramatic (and true) moments of the war, and through the deeply romantic story he tells, creates not only the ending of their story but the beginning of his own.

The Visible World is a literary page-turner and an immensely moving novel about the vagaries of love and our need to make sense of life through the telling of stories.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is one of those books that I’m not quite sure what to make of.  The ending was very interesting, the beginning was bizarre, and the middle didn’t quite bridge the disparity between the two.  Coming away from it I felt that it gave a pretty impressive demonstration of the difficulties that the generation following World War II had, in coming of age amidst secrets, and broken parents.  However, I am not sure the story developed far enough to adequately explain how this state of being came to be. 

On one level it is a love story — and a pretty typical one at that.  Man and woman fall in love, but the woman meets another man and finds they are destined to become star crossed lovers.  It seems to be pretty straight forward.  Very little in the way of twists — even with it set in the middle of World War II torn Czechoslovakia.  I just felt like the predictability of this book was very high.

I also struggled with the character development.  Ironically, it is Tomas — her lover that ends up being the most fully developed through all of this.  And as the story winds down, his death doesn’t play out the way you are expecting from the introduction.  Also, he is the one that seems to attach himself to the reader.  While Ivana, and her eventual husband hang almost as ghosts, haunting the perimeter of this story, Thomas becomes a powerful entity in the book, who faces extreme moral dilemmas. 

I also struggled with the flow of this story.  I found that at times it would start a chapter in a place, and while reading I suddenly realized I wasn’t sure how I came to be at this particular place in the novel.  It just had a confusing, and even disorienting rhythm to the general construction of the story. 

But on another level,  it is the combination of these two traits, which separate appear to be pretty significant weaknesses of the story, but in tandem make a very strong foundation for the overall development.  The haunting nature of the narrator’s parents adds to the mystery of the book in a much stronger way than the outright telling of the story.  The shade like quality of the characters gives the book depth and dimension in a way that a full, in-depth story telling approach wouldn’t. 

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

The New York Times Book Review

Reader’s Guide

Liberreview Book Review

Bianca’s Book Blog Book Review

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Originally posted 2012-04-12 06:51:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

“An elegantly crafted, utterly enchanting debut novel set in a mystical, exotic world, in which a gifted young girl charms a sultan and changes the course of an empire’s history”

“Late in the summer of 1877, a flock of purple-and-white hoopoes suddenly appears over the town of Constanta on the Black Sea, and Eleonora Cohen is ushered into the world by a mysterious pair of Tartar midwives who arrive just minutes before her birth. “They had read the signs, they said: a sea of horses, a conference of birds, the North Star in alignment with the moon. It was a prophecy that their last king had given on his deathwatch.” But joy is mixed with tragedy, for Eleonora’s mother dies soon after the birth.

Raised by her doting father, Yakob, a carpet merchant, and her stern, resentful stepmother, Ruxandra, Eleonora spends her early years daydreaming and doing housework—until the moment she teaches herself to read, and her father recognizes that she is an extraordinarily gifted child, a prodigy.

When Yakob sets off by boat for Stamboul on business, eight-year-old Eleonora, unable to bear the separation, stows away in one of his trunks. On the shores of the Bosporus, in the house of her father’s business partner, Moncef Bey, a new life awaits. Books, backgammon, beautiful dresses and shoes, markets swarming with color and life—the imperial capital overflows with elegance, and mystery. For in the narrow streets of Stamboul—a city at the crossroads of the world—intrigue and gossip are currency, and people are not always what they seem. Eleonora’s tutor, an American minister and educator, may be a spy. The kindly though elusive Moncef Bey has a past history of secret societies and political maneuvering. And what is to be made of the eccentric, charming Sultan Abdulhamid II himself, beleaguered by friend and foe alike as his unwieldy, multiethnic empire crumbles?

The Oracle of Stamboul is a marvelously evocative, magical historical novel that will transport readers to another time and place—romantic, exotic, yet remarkably similar to our own.”

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book that I am amazed with, frustrated by, and passionately undecided about.  So if you are wondering what I thought — I probably can’t sum that up in one simple answer.  Some books that I have read have left an impression because they were written specifically for that purpose.  They are written with shock value and force — and that is exactly what they achieve.  There are some books that leave little to no impression — and they are hard to remember two minutes after you put them down.  Then there are books like this one.  They are impossible to classify because their story is haunting, subtle, and the footprints it leaves in the mind and soul are faint but unmistakable.  But the reader doesn’t realize this until well after they have put the book down, and then find themselves reflecting back on the story, and its message days, weeks and even months after you have read it.  It is a book that even after the story is gone — the memory of the feelings, and your response will be long remembered.  I would almost put this book in the same category as The Road, in one respect — (and I do that very hesitantly because I HATED The Road) which is it is memorable no matter what your response to it is.  But this one I LOVED — and my response was as positive for this one, as it was negative for the other.

This is a book that it isn’t in the plot, or the characters that the power of the read comes from.  Rather, I found that it is in the mysterious nature of the message itself, and the feeling it leaves behind.  It is a book that I think a reader will get a different message every time they read it.  There are elements about the influence of one individual on history, politics, and a troubled world in general.  But there is also an element of the importance of self in the eternal scheme of things.  This book also covers themes from grief, loss, cultural differences in integrated societies, corruption, espionage, and the list goes on.

But my overall insight I gained from this book was in the nature of learning the overwhelming lesson of coming to terms with living with one’s self, before they can ever hope to influence the world around them.  This is the first, and foremost lesson of Eleonora — this 8 year old prodigy child that has intelligence, wisdom, and understanding vastly beyond her years.  And yet — even as a young girl, the lessons of life are still hard to learn for this amazing young woman.  It was this characterization alone that made this book dear and emotionally influential to me.  It reminded me of my own family’s child prodigy — her passion for reading, learning, growing, and living life — even in the face of her frail and troubled little body.  My niece and I share this love of books, and we have both learned to see life through the prism of books.  In some ways this leaves us both a little introspective due to our preference for reading.  I understood the challenges that Eleonora faced, and how she was able to see the world through the magnifying lens of the lessons of her reading.  And if for no other reason than this tenuous connection to this amazing character, I will always love this book.

One thing that did frustrate me about this book was I felt like there were a couple of elements that weren’t as well developed as I would have liked.  I am still wondering what the prophecy was about Eleonora — as it was only passively ever addressed in the book, but I felt like I was missing something significant.  And the other thing that I am still reflecting on to try and reconcile somehow was the relationship between Eleonora and the Bey.  This unusual relationship while strong and influential as to the story, is also somewhat awkward and not quite solidified.  The mysterious nature of the Bey is so all encompassing that I came away not quite sure if he was a presence of good, bad or indifference once the book had ended; I almost felt like he moved through the story like a ghost — haunting the pages, but leaving little evidence of his passing.  However, these are minor issues in the whole scope of the book, and the historical fiction setting which simply made this one an amazing read.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Michael David Lukas Website

NPR Book Review

Interview With the Author

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2011-06-27 06:00:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud tells the haunting story of a young man who narrowly survives a terrible car wreck that kills his little brother. Years later, the brothers’ bond remains so strong that it transcends the normal boundaries separating life and death. Charlie St. Cloud lives in a snug New England fishing village. By day he tends the lawns and monuments of the ancient cemetery where his younger brother, Sam, is buried. Graced with an extraordinary gift after surviving the accident, he can still see, talk, and even play catch with Sam’s spirit. But townsfolk whisper that Charlie has never recovered from his loss.

Into his carefully ordered life comes Tess Carroll, a captivating, adventuresome woman training for a solo sailing trip around the globe. Fate steers her boat into a treacherous storm that blows her back to harbor, to a charged encounter with Charlie, and to a surprise more overwhelming than the violent sea itself. Charlie and Tess discover a beautiful and uncommon connection that leads to a race against time and a desperate choice between death and life, between the past and the future, between holding on and letting go.

Luminous, soulful, and filled with unforgettable characters, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud is one of those rare, wise books that reveal the mysteries of the unseen world around us, gently transforming the worst pain of loss into hope, healing, and even laughter. Suspenseful and deeply moving, its startling climax reminds us that sometimes tragedies can bring about miracles if we simply open our hearts.

About the Book:  ★★★★★★

I have no idea what made me pick up this book and start reading.  At the time I was reading it, several people asked me what it was about, and I had a hard time answering that question without making it sound ridiculously sappy, or morbidly strange.  That is a question I still find myself trying to answer.

At first exposure, I thought the book would be about a boy that survived a car crash, but never recovered from the psychological effects of having lost his brother, in that same accident.  And on the surface, this would be an appropriate description of the story.  However, as I reflected on the story further, I found that there was  some interesting recurring themes found in this book.

Most of the topic deals with loss, grief, and the process of healing through letting go, following the loss of a loved one.  But it is told through story format.  I found it an interesting approach to this topic.  The story of Charlie St. Cloud, and his complete devotion to his brother — that forces him into a position to have to make a choice between letting Sam go, and going on living — or holding on, and losing his own life in the process, is touching — but frustrating at the same time.  At times I found myself wanting to scream “move on already!”

The relationship between Charlie, and his younger brother, Sam is interesting — if somewhat unusual.  Since the majority of this story takes place in a cemetery — it is a very abrupt shift when the real world intrudes into this realm of the dead, it almost feels like a violation, from the perspective of the reader.  I am still trying to decide if this was a tactic used by the author to get the readers attention — and to get the reader to identify with how difficult it is in dealing with things in loss, life and death; or if this was simply that the author just became so focused on the story in the cemetery, that he forgot about descriptions and the existence of the real town where Charlie “lives,” and therefore was a little gauche in introducing these elements in the story.  I am inclined to think it is the first, since it was an effective tool for forcing the reader into identify with Charlie, and the choice that he was facing.  But there are parts of the book that I still wonder about.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I think that there is a lot more to it — if the reader is willing to invest a little time and reflection on what the meaning behind the story is.  Since, like with all books, what you get out of this one is all determined by what you, as the reader, are willing to put into it.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Ben Sherwood Website

Reading Group Guide

Reading Group Guides Discussion Questions

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

Abe Books

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2011-03-02 07:00:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Luis de Santángel, chancellor to the court and longtime friend of the lusty King Ferdinand, has had enough of the Spanish Inquisition. As the power of Inquisitor GeneralTomás deTorquemada grows, so does the brutality of the Spanish church and the suspicion and paranoia it inspires. When a dear friend’s demise brings the violence close to home, Santángel is enraged and takes retribution into his own hands. But he is from a family of conversos, and his Jewish heritage makes him an easy target. As Santángel witnesses the horrific persecution of his loved ones, he begins slowly to reconnect with the Jewish faith his family left behind. Feeding his curiosity about his past is his growing love for Judith Migdal, a clever and beautiful Jewish woman navigating the mounting tensions in Granada. While he struggles to decide what his reputation is worth and what he can sacrifice, one man offers him a chance he thought he’d lost…the chance to hope for a better world. Christopher Columbus has plans to discover a route to paradise, and only Luis de Santángel can help him.

Within the dramatic story lies a subtle, insightful examination of the crisis of faith at the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. Irresolvable conflict rages within the conversos in By Fire, By Water, torn between the religion they left behind and the conversion meant to ensure their safety. In this story of love, God, faith, and torture, fifteenth-century Spain comes to dazzling, engrossing life.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

WOW!  This is a book that I have had on my radar for a few months now — but I haven’t been able to catch up with it in the library yet.  So when the author contacted me, and offered a review copy — I jumped at the chance.  I am so glad I did!  I have once again found a new book to add to my favorites list, and I loved the journey!  Set in the 1400′s, in the midst of the countries that would eventually make up Spain, this historical fiction covers some very pivotal times in history.  With appearances from historical characters such as King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Christopher Columbus, The Spanish, as well as the lesser known but much more dramatic “New” Inquisition, as well as the main character — Luis de Santángel.  This book presents not only some amazing history as a backdrop for this historical fiction account, but it also tells the story of a man who’s life was not only powerfully influential, but also heartbreaking in the extreme.

One thing that I really liked about this book was the presentation of the difficulties of  life under the time and influence of The Inquisition.  And this applied for all people, not just those of Jewish descent.  However, the Jewish people certainly suffered more than most — as this story demonstrates.  But the powerful presentation of the difficulties of living in a time and place where your every word, action, relationship, and interaction with others could be twisted and misconstrued into a nightmare was haunting.  Mr. Kaplan does an amazing job of creating for the reader the feelings of fear, oppression, and constant vigilance that had to go into life at this period of time.  So powerful was this sense of feeling that I simply couldn’t put the book down.

And Mr. Kaplan’s presentation of the life of Luis de Santángel is nothing short of excellence.  This was a man that I knew very little about, prior to my exposure to this book.  But his story is not only powerfully moving, but it is haunting as well.  The life that Santángel lived, and the things that he had to suffer throughout his life are the foundations of nightmares.  And yet Mr. Kaplan has brought Santángel to life in these pages.  As  a reader I found myself hoping that this poor man would get a break somewhere!  But he is a great example of how misunderstanding, and bigotry can, when carried too far, destroy lives — even while creating great men and women in the path of heartbreak.

What I didn’t like about the book?  Well — I hesitate to put that down, because as far as the book itself goes there was nothing I didn’t like.  But as far as the history goes — this book angered me to no end.  I was horrified at the abuse of power, and the damage that this abuse, when allowed to continue unchecked can cause in the lives of men and women.  Combine that with the heartbreaking results of simple cultural intolerance, worse yet in the name of God and religion, and I was horrified at the lives that were destroyed for nothing.  But even this is a demonstration of how good this book is, and the success that Mr. Kaplan has achieved in writing this one.  To be able to get a reader to move beyond passive reading, and into emotional responses is a demonstration of how influential books can be, when presented through a truly talented author.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Mitchell James Kaplan Website

Book Report Comments of Readers

Author Interview

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2010-12-20 07:00:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

About the Book:

Six months after the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution was all but lost. A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia.

Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington—and many other Americans—refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor’easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessian garrison at Trenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand men. A second battle of Trenton followed within days. The Americans held off a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis’s best troops, then were almost trapped by the British force. Under cover of night, Washington’s men stole behind the enemy and struck them again, defeating a brigade at Princeton. The British were badly shaken. In twelve weeks of winter fighting, their army suffered severe damage, their hold on New Jersey was broken, and their strategy was ruined.

Fischer’s richly textured narrative reveals the crucial role of contingency in these events. We see how the campaign unfolded in a sequence of difficult choices by many actors, from generals to civilians, on both sides. While British and German forces remained rigid and hierarchical, Americans evolved an open and flexible system that was fundamental to their success. The startling success of Washington and his compatriots not only saved the faltering American Revolution, but helped to give it new meaning.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is a book that I picked up, like most people because I had the same question that is actually the opening line of the book itself:  “Washington’s crossing! the stranger said with a bright smile of recognition.  Then a dark frown passed across his face.  ‘Was it like the painting?’ he said.  ‘Did it really happen that way?’”  While I have always loved the famous painting of Washington’s Crossing, every time I see it this exact question always came to mind.  With Washington standing stalwartly in the front of the boat, looking towards the opposite shore with a look of commitment and determination — while everyone else around him appears to be hanging on for dear life, I have always wondered what this one night must have really been like.  And this book gives us an intense look into an approximation of the events that unfolded.

And while I must say this book does alter this historical legendary appearance, just slightly — it also adds to the tremendous amount of respect I have for George Washington.  While the actual crossing of the Delaware is presented in its more appropriate, and real account, the actual accomplishment of that night was no less impressive for the closer to the truth rendering.  In fact, through this book I came to realize just how difficult this one event really was.  And I came to understand what kind of leader General Washington was, and why he was considered such a moving force for this infant “American rebel Army.”  Written in more of a narrative format, this book is amazing in its detail, and I actually came away cold from the description of what it must have been like to ford this river in the middle of a bitter cold strom, on Christmas night.

However, as spectacular as this feat is presented in this book — it was the events that followed this crossing that impressed this book so firmly into my memory that I can never forget it.  The battles that followed were a work of military genius.   General Washington’s ability to lead a faltering army of men who had almost nothing, to a victory, can never be discounted.  And its memory provided the only warmth that would be found once the army moved into the worst winter that this country will know, and will always live in our collective consciousness. The battles recounted in this book, and the crossing of the Delaware became the beginning of the end of the American Revolution.  And while it may have taken years to finish the job that was started on this night — the Americans decided for themselves in this one evening — that they would never back down again.  And after reading this book, I came to realize that if Valley Forge made the American rebels into a true fighting army — then it was the battles of Trenton and Princeton that engraved in the minds of this army the belief that they could win this war.

The book is so well written, and in narrative format that it is fun to read — even if you are not a big fan of history books.  And I came away from this book with a great appreciation for not only General Washington — but for the sacrifices that were made to give America the right to call itself an independent country, and an entity unto itself.

For more information about this book, and its author be sure to visit the following websites:

Right Wing Nuthouse:  An Interview with the Author

Brother’s Judd Book Review

Virginia Historical Society Book Review

When you buy a product (not just books – any product), via one of my links, The Book Worm’s Library earns income from the sale and as always, it’s much appreciated as all affiliate income is used to support the blog by contributing to giveaways, postage, travel, and attending book industry related events. We appreciate all those that help to support our blog, and have provided links below for the direct links to this book.

AbeBooks.com

Barnes and Noble

Originally posted 2010-12-07 20:44:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter