Prague

I have recently from a visit to Prague in the Czech  Republic.  Prague is one of the most visually beautiful cities in Europe.  With its Gothic cathedrals and Art Deco art and architecture, it is a feast for the eyes.

Since coming home, I have been inspired to read about Prague.
For your reading pleasure, here is
The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman, a bittersweet romance about a couple separated by the Holocaust

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright details her family history in Prague Winter.   At the age of 59, Secretary Albright discovered that she is Jewish and numerous relatives perished in the Holocaust

Finally Jonathan Kellerman wrote The Golem of Hollywood a supernatural police detective novel in which LA Detective Jacob Lev uncovers his family's connection to the Golem, a mysteriouis creature created from  during 17th Century Prague.  Kellerman recenlty published a sequel, The Golem of Paris.

Enjoy!

Something New from Korea

J.M. Lee is an accomplished author in his native Korea.  For the first time, one of his novels is available in English in the US.  Based on the life of Yun Dong-ju a dissident Korean writer who died in Fukuoka prison,  The Investigation is a locked room mystery with an unusual setting.

  The novel takes place in Fukuoka Prison in the Korean peninsula in 1944.  The most sadistic of the prison guards is found murdered with his lips sewn shut.  The prison houses Korean political dissidents as well as criminals. All the prisoners were accounted for at the time of the murder. A young prison guard is assigned to the investigation. It soon becomes apparent that nobody wants this crime solved.

This novel is a mystery, a war story, another view of the role of Japan in World War II, a glimpse into Korea, and the redemptive power of poetry.

Scaring myself silly!

Although it is past Halloween, the gathering darkness in New England fives rise to all sort of creepy feelings.  I offer you two books to give you an excuse to sleep with the light on.

First, Karin Slaughter' Pretty Girls is a riveting, intense drama in which you do not know who is telling the truth until the last page.  Is the heroine's husband who he says he is, or is there a darker side to him? The novel is very graphic and not for the faint of heart.

If Pretty Girls is terror on a physical level, there is another book out right now which is even scarier on a psychological level.  David Mitchell's latest Slade House is a haunted house mystery in the tradition of Henry James The Turn of the Screw.  What is reality and what is fantasy?  Could a house really exist every nine years in order to claim its next victim?   What makes you a victim?

Of the two books, I would say that Slade House was creepier!

Enjoy and don't say I didn't warn you!

Deep Down Dark

One of my book groups just finished reading Chilean author Isabel Allende's The House of Spirits.  I was inspired to read a totally different book about Chile.  Hector Tobar wrote an account of the 33 miners trapped in a mine in Chile in 2010, Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle that set them Free. Taken from numerous personal interviews, the book is an inspiring piece of writing.  It is a testament to the human spirit to read how 33 men coped with several months of darkness, starvation and solitude. The families, most of whom were poor and indigenous stood their ground and insisted that the men were alive. Further, the international rescue effort should be a lesson to world leaders.  I just saw that the book will be released as a movie next week. So take some time to read it or watch it. Sometimes, the human race can actually come together in a crisis.

Book discussion

Book discussions are back and I am so glad. I lead one and participate in two others.  I am honored to lead a discussion group at the Hampton Historical Society.  We have been discussing fiction and nonfiction history books. We started with Unbroken, followed by The Boys in the Boat and Dead Wake.  Our next scheduled title is the Quartet the second American Revolution.  It is challenge and a joy to discuss books with a narrow focus with a group so committed to the topics.

I participate in a women's book group called World of Stories in which we research and select novels or non fiction books on specific geographic areas.  Suffice to say, I would never have selected most of these books for my personal reading, but I have always come away with a new understanding about a different part of the world.

I have also participated in a book group that meets at a local brewery.  This group is eclectic, fun and lively.  The addition of beer doesn't hurt!

So join a book group, make some new friends and stimulate your mind in the  process!

Cheers,
Barbara

Movies ...movies...movies

Right now, I have set up a books display pairing books with their movies.  It is really amazing how many best sellers Hollywood is using for movies.  Gone Girl, Unbroken, Cider House Rules, and The Blindside are just a few.  Martian is a fabulous read, even if you do not like science fiction.  I am trying to catch the movie version.

I am looking forward to seeing Philbrick's The Heart of the Sea on the big screen.  For those of you who have not read it, it the real story of Moby Dick in which a sperm whale attacked the whales ship Essex. This was the inspiration for Melville. I understand that  Deep Down Dark will also be released as a movie.  It is the story of the 33 Chilean miners who were rescued from a mine collapse in 2010.

Okay, I am really breathless with anticipation for the new Bond film which should be opening in two weeks.  Daniel Craig, of all the Bonds, brings Ian Fleming's hero to the screen with  a strength and grit that the others did not have. Let's hear it for Spectre!

Cheers,
Barbara

French Resistance Redux

I finally got my hands on Kristen Hannah's historical fiction The Nightingale, an historical fiction about the courageous young women who served in the French Resistance during world War II.  While the book is fine on its own merit, I had the nagging feeling that I had read this book before.  And I did.  I already sobbed  my way through Tatiana deRosnay's very emotional Sarah's Key. I loved Anthony Doerr's lyrical writing in All the Light we Cannot See.  And I worked my way through Caroline Moorehead's meticulously researched A Train in Winter. 

The Nightingale was okay for somebody looking for a quick read.  But for somebody with a serious interest in history, the other books listed above provide much more detail and historical accuracy about these courageous young women.