The Lost Book of Bonn by Brianna Labuskes

The Lost Book of Bonn by Brianna Labuskes-368 pages

In 1946 Germany, the Library of Congress sends Emmy over to help the Monuments Men retrieve and catalog precious books that the Nazi's plundered. When she arrives she stands awed at a huge warehouse piled with books.  Emmy is one of many assigned the task of finding their rightful owners. She becomes enthralled by the inscription in one particular book and makes it her life's work to find out who the book was from and who it was given to.

Very intriguing with characters that bring a lot of depth and realism to the story.  I enjoyed it very much.  

 

The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay

The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay, 368 p.

"Near the end of the Cold War, a CIA code breaker discovers a symbol she recognizes from her childhood, which launches her across the world to the heart of Berlin just before the wall comes tumbling down. November 1989 —After finding a secret cache of letters with intelligence buried in the text, CIA cryptographer Luisa Voekler learns that not only is her father alive but he is languishing in an East German Stasi jail. After piecing together the letters with a series of articles her grandfather saved, Luisa seeks out journalists Bran Bishop and Daniel Rudd. They send her to the CIA, to Andrew Cademan—her boss. Luisa confronts Cademan and learns that nothing is a coincidence, but he will not help her free her father. So she takes matters into her own hands, empties her bank account, and flies to West Berlin. As the adrenaline wears off and she recognizes she has no idea how to proceed, Luisa is both relieved and surprised when a friend shows up with contacts and a rudimentary plan to sneak her across the wall. Alternating storylines between Luisa and her father, The Berlin Letters shows the tumultuous early days of the wall, bringing Berlin, the epicenter of the Cold War, to life while also sharing one family’s journey through secrets, lies, and division to love, freedom, and reconciliation."--Goodreads blurb

Reay is a new author for me, and I found myself very impressed with her writing style and storytelling. The dual narration helped this story cruise along at a pace that was perfect. A well-researched historical novel is hard to beat, and add in a historical era that not a lot of authors write about, and you have a fascinating journey into days past that is so engrossing you won't want to put it down. An absolutely fantastic read.
 

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes

 

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes-516 pages

This book is inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime.  For anyone who loves books and the freedom to read what we want just reading about the book burnings in Germany made me furious.

This book is about three women who are woven together by their love of the written word and preserving it for the future.  It was a slow start for me, so many characters and plots taking place on different continents.  I stuck with it though and I'm glad I did.  The author put a lot of research into this book and I learned things that I was not aware of.  It is well worth your time.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak-550 pages

One of my all time favorite books once I figured out that "Death" was the narrator.  WWII in Germany, everyone caught up in Hitler's propaganda, a young girl who was given to a couple on Heaven Street for a modest stipend when her mother could no longer care for her.  Her deep love and friendships that result from the trials that she endures.  A story of war and all its ugliness.  And even though she couldn't read in the beginning, she had a hunger for words.  Then when they hid a Jew named Max their basement, Liesel began to fully understand the power that words had.  The story starts with a train ride on the way to her new life.  An absolutely wonderful story that sticks with you for a long time.

The Romantic Pact by Meghan Quinn

The Romantic Pact by Meghan Quinn -- 348 pages

I haven't seen her in three years. I haven't talked to her since the kiss.

So why am I on a plane, flying across the world to spend a week with her in Germany?

One word: Pops.

My life’s a mess. My possible football career is hanging on by a thread. I'm driving the roads of Germany in honor of Pops with the one girl I can never have. And I’m sharing a bed with her, the girl I've measured everyone else up to, while desperately trying to not to touch her.

We made a pact growing up, never to get romantic with each other - never fall in love. And I'm about to break that pact. For good.

The Accomplice: A Novel by Joseph Kanon

 The Accomplice:  A Novel by Joseph Kanon-324 pages

While visiting his Uncle Max in Germany, Aaron who is an American CIA desk analyst, asks Aaron to track down a high ranking Nazi doctor who sent many of Max's family to the gas chambers.  Just when you think you have heard it all about the atrocities of these death camps the author brings out even more.  Many of the Nazi officers were given a safe haven to live in Buenos Aires.  When Max dies, Aaron delves into all of the records that Max kept on Dr. Otto Schramm.  He heads to Buenos Aires where he gets entangled with the doctors daughter.  As the story progresses you realize that Aaron is beginning to question his own boundaries as well as the justice behind bringing Dr. Schramm to trial.  I enjoyed this very much.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - 503 pages


In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

By Eric Metaxas

245 pages

Dietrich Bonhoeffer led an incredible life. He was born into an aristocratic family in Germany. His father was a prominent neurologist. He could have lived a life of pleasure instead he chose to be a pastor and university professor in theology. The ministry took him to Spain and America. When he returned to Germany, Hitler was on the rise to power.  Bonhoeffer convictions would not allow him to remain silent. He was outspoken on the Nazi’s anti-Semitic rhetoric. After the German church was seized by the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer, along with other pastors, organized the Confessing Church in 1934. Bonhoeffer eventually joined the German Resistance working to remove Hitler from power. This is a complete biography of a great man. 

Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World

Martin Luther: The Man who Rediscovered God and Changed the World

by Eric Metaxas

496 pages

Martin Luther was celebrated as one of the most influential men in his time, since he forever changed Christianity in Europe.  He is known for posting the ninety-five thesis in 1517. However, this was only the beginning of his story. This publication dives into the life of the Great Reformer. It was thoroughly enjoyable. 

The Original Folk & Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: the complete first edition

The Original Folk & Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: the complete first edition

by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm

pages 519

 The Brothers Grimm collected folktales from all over Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Their first volume was published in 1812, and their second in 1815. The two volumes contained 156 wonderful stories. By 1850, the brothers had heavily revised and produced six editions.  This new publication from 2015, reconstructed the original two volumes in English.  It is fascinating how the stories of Hansel and Gretel, Snow White (Little Snow White), Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Cap) and many others have changed since the original collection of these stories in the 1810s. 

Germany - Culture Smart! Essential Guide to customs and Culture

Germany - Culture Smart! Essential Guide to Customs and Culture

By Barry Tomalin

Pages 168

This publication includes information about the residences of Germany. It contains wonderful insight on the culture and society of the German people. The book includes common-sense tips and insight on etiquette in Germany. It was easy to read and entertaining for the most part. 

Dear John by NIcholas Sparks

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks-276 pages

I decided to read this one next and this is the last Nicholas Sparks novel I am going to read for now. I have seen the movie and, in many ways, I like the book better. I can't decide which ending I like better (the endings are different, for those who haven't both read the book and seen the movie). I am conflicted about the book ending just as John Tyree (the male protagonist and title character) is. Overall, I am glad I have read the book and I am glad that this month's romance challenge has led me to read some Nicholas Sparks novels. I think my favorite of the three I have read this month is The Notebook, though. It's such a great love story (even though I am not really into romance that much).

Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (Maus, #2) by Art Spiegelman

Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (Maus, #2)  by Art Spiegelman-136 pages

In this second and final graphic novel in the series, Art Spiegelman finishes telling his father's Holocaust story. It is both harrowing and hopeful. The detail in which the Holocaust is described is heartbreaking and the Nazi atrocities described cause anger to rise in one. This series is a great read on one man's experience (which was probably similar to many other survivors' experiences) before and during the Holocaust. Overall, I am glad to have read these two books. 

Anne Frank: The Anne Frank house authorized graphic biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon

Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House authorized graphic biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon-148 pages

I know about Anne Frank and her diary, but have yet to actually read it, so when I saw this I decided to read it. It was humanizing, heartbreaking, and informative. I am glad that I decided to read it because now I understand much more about Anne Frank and her family and the others who hid with them in the Secret Annex. Anne was only 15 and mere weeks from liberation when she and her sister died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. It's heartbreaking to think of Otto and losing his wife and daughters so close to the end. Reading this made me feel sorrow and anger for the victims of the Holocaust. So many were murdered and died at the hands of the Nazi Party because they viewed them as inferior and nothing. Countless atrocities were committed by the Nazis against many people, not just Jews. We need to be careful not to let something like this happen again (although atrocities are happening on a smaller scale all across the world today).

An Age of License: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley

An Age of License: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley-195 pages

Since this month's theme is travel, I decided to read some highly acclaimed graphic travelogues and this is one that was recommended. Lucy (the author) travels to Norway, Sweden, Germany, and France in September, 2011 and documents her travels in this graphic volume. Lucy is an acclaimed cartoonist/graphic novelist/artist who is invited to Raptus Comics Fest in Bergen, Norway which is the original reason for her travels, but she decides to visit friends/lovers in the other countries she travels to. It is an interesting, easy read and I would really like to take a trip like this someday.

Ice Queen by Nele Neuhaus

Ice Queen by Nele Neuhaus
Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein (Book 3)

The third entry in this series reads as a prequel to the first two books due to he order in which the English translations are being released.    I enjoyed seeing the relationships from the first books before they developed plus it was fun to see the fully fleshed incidents that characters made passing reference to in the earlier stories.

Elderly citizens are being murdered execution style with the crime scenes all being tagged with the same five digit number.  Kirchhoff and Bodenstein begin to find connections between the crimes that leave them wondering what "facts" of the crimes can even be relied on as truth.  The story reads a little bit like a James Bond movie with the frenetic pacing and confrontational set piece finale.  That said I enjoyed it and found the links between the present and Germany's troubled wartime past intriguing.     

Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus

Bad Wolf by Nele Neuhaus - 464 pages
Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein (Book 2)

The second entry into this German police procedural series doesn't disappoint.  Readers are drawn into a web of lies that conceals horrible crimes happening at the highest levels of German society.  Neuhaus successfully merges elements from classic Grimm fairy tale into a modern day plot of violence and murder.  The discovery of a dead girl on a riverbank draws Detective Superintendents Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein into the mystery when it is linked to an offender in a previous headlining crime.  The overall plot is more clear to the reader than the main characters since its occurring in several independent threads at first, but just when you think you know what's happening, there's a twist to be enjoyed!   

Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon

Leaving Berlin by Joseph Kanon - 384 pages

Kanon triumphs again with another thriller set in Berlin in the aftermath of the end of World War II.  Alex Meier, a Jewish writer, who fled Germany after being imprisoned by the Nazis returns to the Soviet occupied sector after being subject to congressional investigation for alleged Communist ties.  Meier is soon drawn into a web of espionage and people from his past that put his life in danger.  Kanon does a great job of evoking a sense of place for this turning point in history.  

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - 544 pages

This gripping story features a blind French girl and a young German orphan and how their lives intersect during the devastation of World War II.  The writing is so evocative that the landscape of Europe is almost a character in and of itself.  Doerr has done a masterful job of bringing this tumultuous era to life and giving the reader an insight into what the thought processes were likely like for those facing unfathomable choices while caught up in the machinery of war.   

His Watchful Eye by Jack Cavanaugh

His Watchful Eye by Jack Cavanaugh - 384 pages

In the second book of Cavanaugh's Songs in the Night Trilogy, the familiar cast returns and it is nearly three years after the first book.  Josef and Mady Schumacher, Lisette, and the children have established a safe house northwest of Berlin.  Here they raise the children and assist with underground operations.  Konrad Reichmann and his friend, Neff, find themselves on the Russian front as a sniper team.  Ernst Ehrenberg is now a theoretical scientist working on the rocket program, including on the V-2.  Everyone's life re-converges during Christmas, 1943, at the Schumacher cabin.  After Neff's death, Konrad deserted.  His new plan is to find ways to make the Nazi's he once revered suffer.  However, after a death in their close-knit group, he becomes the "shepherd" to those at the cabin.  In this role, he undertakes a mission to locate a scientist code-named "Peregrine" to deliver him to the Americans in exchange for a noble cause (I can't say more without spoiling the ending).

Of the two book I have read in the trilogy thus far, I think the first is the stronger book.  While I liked following the story of the next stage of the characters' lives, it was like having three separate stories in one novel that briefly connected near the beginning and converged at the end.