It’s been a while since I posted a photo of a library. I ran across this one and had to share. It’s beautiful!
Germany
In Germany…
Book Review: Surviving Hitler by O. Hakan Palm
TITLE: Surviving Hitler
AUTHOR: O. Hakan Palm
Page Count: 240
RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2014
Book Description:
Gustav Palm kept his secret for more than forty years. He’d been a young man when Hitler invaded his native Norway. After being forced to guard a Nazi prison camp, however, Gustav took his only option for escape: he volunteered for the Waffen-SS to fight at the front.
Agnes Erdös grew up in privilege and prosperity as a child in Hungary. She and her parents were practicing Roman Catholics, but they were ethnic Jews, and after the Nazis invaded her country, Agnes and her parents were sent to the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Miraculously, both Agnes and Gustav survived. And after the war, they found each other. Told in their own words, Surviving Hitler is the story of two indomitable spirits who built on their life-altering experiences to overcome the past, help each other heal, and embrace a common faith in God that led them to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Review:
I received a free copy of this book for an honest review.
Surviving Hitler is not what I expected based on the description but it was still a book I’m glad I read. It’s about two people who fall in love and marry, but that happens near the end of the book. It is more about their journey before they met.
We have all heard of the atrocities performed by the Nazis during World War II but to read a first hand account by two people who actually went through it, to imagine both what they experienced and what they witnessed is heartbreaking. I also realize that no matter how many photos we see or stories we read we will never come close to understanding what Gustav and Agnes went through.
Both Agnes and Gustav are amazing people but it would take strong, amazing people to survive Hitler. I had no idea that so many people were forced to serve against their will like Gustav was. That makes a lot more sense, though, than so many people blindly following Hitler’s crazy orders.
I definitely recommend Surviving Hitler for everyone, even for those who don’t normally read nonfiction.
Library of St. Peter Abbey, Black Forest, Germany
Review: Going Back by Richard Watt
Title: Going Back
Author: Richard Watt
Genre: Drama
Publisher: Richard Watt
Publication Date: May 2013
Description:
Some memories aren’t really memories at all…
In 1978, Andrew Macintyre was 15 years old and on the greatest adventure of his life when he was drawn into the troubled life of Karla, the woman who would disturb his dreams for the next 25 years. He has buried the memory of what she did to him ever since, but an encounter with her brother reveals a shocking reality he can’t ignore.
He travels back to the village in Germany he only dimly remembers and the truth is slowly revealed to him; the truth about the boy he was, and about the man he might yet be. Clare, the girl he worshipped from afar, becomes the friend he had needed all along, and together they piece together what really happened. As everyone affected by that summer comes together, Andrew hopes that memories, like wounds, can heal…
Review:
I received a free copy of the ebook in return for an honest review.
A good first novel. If you read Going Back, be patient. The first couple of chapters are pretty slow with a lot of description of Andrew’s drive and of the airport which makes it difficult to get into the book. However, it’s a good story with depth and a good plot and a lot happens in the long run.
The characters are all well developed. I like the way the chapters are dated and the sections note which character is the main focus. For some reason, though, I wasn’t able to invest in the characters. It was always just a story I was reading and I didn’t laugh or cry with the characters as I often find myself doing when I read.
There were times that I couldn’t put the book down because I had to see what was going to happen next. There were other times that it was pretty slow and I found myself skipping paragraphs that didn’t seem relevant to the story.
If you enjoy an interesting story with a lot of twists, I recommend Going Back which is sold on Barnes and Noble
Bound 4 Escape 