Week 34

The last fortnight I’ve read quite a few titles. The first was a book recommended by Reese Witherspoon from her Hello Sunshine book club. The  Light we Lost. This was an Ahhh-maz-ing love story that spanned 30 years. Another page turner I just wanted to read more about Gabe and Lucy’s story and find out what happened. I think will explore more titles from this book club in the future. 

Next I went back to my list for Erin’s 9.0 reading challenge list and decided to try For the Love of a Son. This story was a true story, very heartbreaking. Maryam is a defiant Afghani girl fighting for equality. After an arranged marriage, she is continually brutally beaten  and her young son kidnaped by his father. Maryam remarries and moves to 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia. This is one mother’s search for her son. This book was my 5th title complete in Erin’s challenge and another title for my read around the world. 

The next book enjoyed was Where the road takes me. This young adult romance was full of cliches but the escapism was just what I needed after a busy days work.   Chloe is rescued by Blake when he is out for a jog one night. She attends his school and takes the same Math class but he can’t believe he has never set sight in her before. He can’t stop thinking about her, can Blake break down Chloe’s walls that she has built and let him love her? Totally predictable.

Lastly, the Bookies R us have picked mysteries for the next genre challenge and I have had The cuckoo’s calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) sitting waiting for me, this was the perfect time to get into it. A great whodunnnit that kept me guessing. I am actually interested in more in the series featuring  this ex military detective and checking out the tv series based on this book. 

The last weeks have been very productive reading weeks. I’ve now managed 49 titles towards the Goodreads Challenge, and a few more crossed off the Ultimate Reading challenge. 

Week 32

At the beginning of the fortnight I increased my goodreads challenge from my original plan of 36 books which I planned to be roughly 3books a month to 60 books. At the same time I was looking for a historical fiction book to sink my teeth into. I had seen many reviews about the Tattoist of Auschwitz, and a few mentions of the Librarian of Auschwitz. Having not long along finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and being introduced to Francie Nolan and her love of books. I decided to stick with another bibliophile character and download the audio version of The Librarian of Auschwitz. I didn’t research the book before I did and was surprised that it was based on the true events experienced by Dita Adler. The literary recount was originally written in Spanish and translated. It tells of the horrific imprisonment of Dita and her family in a camp at Auschwitz. A few minutes I had to stop the audiobook as it elaborated with quite detail about the torturous experiments of Dr Josef Mengele.

Dita is a 14 year old girl who is a teaching assistant in Block 31. She keeps a precious library of 8 books and through the terrifying recount of events. Her love of books and living books creates a sense of hope and courage in this horrific era. It is not just her story that is intriguing but the interview with Dita and the author at the end and details about what happened to historic figures we just read about.

This was a book set in Poland 🇵🇱.

The next book I encountered was a change of genre, but was still a heavy read. Behind closed doors by BA Paris was a thrilling read. Grace meets Jack Angel. He is such a charming man but the moment that they marry, things do not appear as they seem. This psychological thriller was a page turner and I can’t believe what Grace experiences. 

This makes my book total 45 books.