WWII

I’m trying to read more books that I choose for my own reading enjoyment. Not for review, but because I’ve been wanting to read them or they caught my attention. Most of them have been talked about ad nauseam or have been on my to-read list for a long time so they don’t really need…

STARS OVER CLEAR LAKE A Novel By: Loretta Ellsworth Published: May 2, 2017 Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Fiction/Historical Fiction Most of the WWII stories I read are set in Europe with a few set in the US, but usually on the coast. What grabbed my attention about this particular WWII novel was that it was…

THE ORPHAN’S TALE By: Pam Jenoff Published: February 21, 2017 Publisher: MIRA Fiction/Historical Fiction I first became a fan of Pam Jenoff when I read one of her short stories in the compilation, GRAND CENTRAL: Original Stories of Post-War Love and Reunion. She is also known for several other books set during war- time. Her…

TRIUMPH OVER DESTINY By: Peladija Woodson-Diers Published: December 2, 2014 Publisher: Peladija Woodson-Diers Non-Fiction/Biography Sunday my review and author interview of TRIUMPH OVER DESTINY were featured in the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s “Sunday Insights and Books” section. To see it there, click HERE. The following is my full review and interview with the author. She has…

MY MOTHER’S SECRET J. L. Witterick Published: September 2, 2014 (reprint) Publisher: Berkley Trade Paperback Fiction/Historical Fiction Every time I read a story based on the Holocaust, I am riveted and in awe of the horrific acts perpetrated on the Jewish people. Every story I have read has left me distraught but also so grateful…

GRAND CENTRAL Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion By: Melanie Benjamin, Jenna Blum, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, Sarah Jio, Sarah McCoy, Kristina McMorris, Alyson Richman, Erika Robuck, and Karen White Published: July 1, 2014 Publisher:  Berkley Trade – Penguin Group Fiction/Short Stories/Historical Fiction Last year Grand Central Station turned 100 years old. This drew…

THE POSTMISTRESS By Sarah Blake Published 2009 Fiction Filled with stunning parallels to today’s world, The Postmistress is a sweeping novel about the loss of innocence of two extraordinary women-and of two countries torn apart by war. On the eve of the United States’s entrance into World War II in 1940, Iris James, the postmistress…

MR ROSENBLUM DREAMS IN ENGLISH By Natasha Solomons At the start of World War II, Jack and Sadie Rosenblum flee Berlin for London with their baby daughter, Elizabeth. Upon arrival, Jack receives a pamphlet from the German Jewish Aid Committee on how to act like a proper Englishman. He follows it to the letter—Saville Row…

Berlin 1942 When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall…

It’s January 1946 and London is emerging from the shadow of WWII. Author Juliet Ashton is having a terrible time finding inspiration for her next book when she gets a letter from Dawsey Adams from Guernsey, a British Island that had been occupied by the Nazis. He found her address in an old Charles Lamb…