Just Ordered!

My birthday is coming up and I decided it's time to get a Kindle! It will definitely help my reading habit during the commute to work, but I'm most looking forward to downloading books instantly.

Of course I decided to also get a skin as well as a leather cover.

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak

Inspired by my recent reading of Suzanne Collin's young adult trilogy The Hunger Games I decided to try out another young adult work of fiction The Book Thief by Australian writer Markus Zusak. For those who are put off by the idea of a young adult novel, Zusak's writing is dense and poetic, it's obviously for more advanced readers.

The novel is set in Nazi Germany and is (aptly) narrated by Death. The story follows a young orphan Liesel Meminger and her life on Himmel Street with her foster parents. Liesel steals her first book just before arriving, and her kindly foster father soon teachers her how to read.

As the war unfolds, Liesel steals more books and develops friendships an assortment of strange characters: Max, the Jew hiding in her foster families' basement; local neighbor Rudy who infamously covered himself in black coal to emulate American sprinter Jesse Owens; and the grieving mayor's wife who assists Liesel in her book thieving in unexpected ways.

Zusak has created an engrossing story about a child that can find beauty during violent times. His use of Death as an omnipresent narrator works overall, because, as Zusak explains "Death is on hand to see all the terrible things humans do to each other."

Hiding in the Spotlight: A Musical Prodigy's Story of Survival, 1941-1946

By Greg Dawson

"I don't care what you do, just live."

Greg Dawson was an adult before he discovered that his mother (a Ukranian-born Jew) spent the entirety of World War Two hiding her Jewish identity as a piano prodigy playing for Nazi soldiers. Dawson, a journalist, decided to retrace his mother's life in order to tell her tale.

Zhanna Arkashyna's story is nothing less than remarkable. Living in relative peace in the Ukraine, Zhanna's life is drastically altered in a matter of months when Nazi Germany invades Russia in 1941. Stalin's propaganda machine controlled all news and media, which meant they were completely unprepared when the Germans invaded.

Rounding up all the Jews in her city, Zhanna and her family are sent on a forced march that eventually culminates in the killing of 15,000 Jews at the Dorbitsky Yar ravine. Desperate to saver her and her sister Frina, Zhanna's father manages to bribe a German guard, allowing the sisters to escape into the wilderness. Zhanna recounts his last words to her: "I don't care what you do, just live."

Relying on the kindness of strangers (who knew they could be shot and killed for helping Jews) Zhanna and Frina manage to create false identities, finally ending up at an orphanage. The sister's musical talent is discovered, and she and her sister a forced to perform for Nazi soldiers during the rest of the war. They are later moved to Berlin, staying just blocks from Hilter's headquarters.

While the wartime story was fascinating, it was the the sister's survival after the defeat of Germany I found to be the most interesting. As Russians, it was expected they would return to Russia, where Stalin was systematically killing any of his countrymen who happened to be captured by the Nazis. Their adoption by an American soldier and his wife allows them passage to America, where their caretakers set out to ensure they are provided with the opportunities to study at Juilliard. Zhanna would go on to marry a fellow musician, settling in Indiana to continue playing the piano and raise her family.

The Hunger Games Movie!

The first pictures of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen have arrived online!

I'm always wary when a book I love is made into a movie, but I am excited to see what they do with it. Lawrence's photos and interview are available here.

My post on The Hunger Games Trilogy is here.

Saturday Poem

After the Storm
Derek Walcott


There are so many islands! 
As many islands as the stars at night 
on that branched tree from which meteors are shaken 
like falling fruit around the schooner Flight. 
But things must fall, and so it always was, 
on one hand Venus, on the other Mars; 
fall, and are one, just as this earth is one 
island in archipelagoes of stars. 
My first friend was the sea. Now, is my last. 
I stop talking now. I work, then I read, 
cotching under a lantern hooked to the mast. 
I try to forget what happiness was, 
and when that don't work, I study the stars. 
Sometimes is just me, and the soft-scissored foam 
as the deck turn white and the moon open 
a cloud like a door, and the light over me 
is a road in white moonlight taking me home.
Shabine sang to you from the depths of the sea.

Not to Disturb

By Muriel Spark

A dark, witty novella by the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The novel tracks the scheming servants of the aristocratic Klopstocks in their Swiss villa one dark and stormy night. Convinced the Klopstocks and their male secretary are going to come to blows over a love affair, the servants begin cash in on their possible fame. Definitely not a novel for everyone, but Spark has a knack for simple, sharp writing.

Amazon's Top Armageddon Post Apocalypse Books

In keeping with my recent review of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Trilogy, Amazon recently posted a list of the best post apocalypse books.