Book Chat

When I saw that Erinn over at It’s the Journey was hosting a book chat, this bibliophile had to jump on it.

{ Apache, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it...}

This week explores War/History books.

If you had asked me this time last year, I wouldn’t have much variety to talk about. In the past my war/history books consisted of completely fictional countries. I loved stories like Sabriel, set in the space between two countries- old and new- and the war that ensues. It has mystical qualities that I enjoy, but it has tastes of old chivalry and fairy tales. On a slightly similar path, I recommend anything written by Tamora Pierce – if you like stories that have a slightly magical feel set in fictional kingdoms with characters weaving in and out throughout the different series’.  I have always been a big fan of YA Fiction and I am not ashamed of it. There are some amazing books out there that can be enjoyable to teen and adults alike.

Now, since I’ve been working at the library, I have branched out a bit and expanded my Horizons. Gifts of War by Mackenzie Ford drew me into the the fictional tale of a British soldier, who’s life is forever changed by an experience during the Christmas Truce of 1914. There is almost an element of Cyrano De Bergerac and slightly forbidden love.

One other fiction novel that I recommend to EVERY patron that asks for a good book to read is Jamie Ford’s Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Told in a series of recollections and elements set in the present, this tale of the Japanese internment and it’s effect on one man is one of the most beautifully written, provoking stories I have had the pleasure of reading.  It does an amazing job exploring the attitudes of the time of internment while still providing a compelling human interest story. I cannot wait for Jamie Ford’s next book.

And to round it all off, to prove I don’t only read fiction {although until this year, fiction had by far been my dominant choice} Unbroken by Laura Hillebrand. It can be difficult to read at times, because of the horrific conditions that Louis Zamperini, a crashed Air Force bomber, is forced to endure, but it is also an amazing look at the human spirit and what people are capable of when they are faced with hell on earth.

I'm currently on the wait list to read The Monuments Men and sometime this summer I plan to read The Girls of Atomic City: the untold story of the women who helped win WWII

Phew. I seriously could go on and on when it comes to books, but in the end, if anything I say gets you reading, then I have succeeded!!!!