Booking Through Thursday (on Friday)

I just found Booking Through Thursday and I am hooked.

For something different, I’m borrowing a question from … here! One of the very first questions ever at Booking Through Thursday. Back from 2005 when Laura owned the blog but, because it was so new, it didn’t get as many responses as it does now … so, why not revisit?

Here’s the question:
Some people read one book at a time. Some people have a number of them on the go at any given time, perhaps a reading in bed book, a breakfast table book, a bathroom book, and so on, which leads me to…
Are you currently reading more than one book?
If so, how many books are you currently reading?
Is this normal for you?
Where do you keep your current reads?

1. Yes.
2. I am currently reading 3 books, one fiction, one non-fiction and one audiobook.
3. I almost always have 2 books going on at a time - one fiction and one non-fiction. The audio book is a new additon for me.
4. My books could be in a number of places, but mostly on my bedside table as I read mostly before going to bed. In the summer they are likely to be on the back porch, waiting for me to find time to enjoy them outside. We recently did a huge remodel on our house and I created a library nook and I sometimes leave my books there. The audiobook is on my old mp3 player in my car so I can listen while sitting in lovely ATL traffic.

Spring Break

We are on Spring Break this week. That ever wonderful break that both students and teachers need to make it to the end of the school year. We started ours with a trip home to the Bluegrass State, where it rained and yes, even snowed. We arrived back in Georgia to cold and rain again. Now, in my mind, Spring Break involves just a little bit of sunshine and I was afraid I was going to be very disappointed this year. Until yesteday..... It was a beautiful day, 70 degrees and sunny, the perfect spring day. But I had things to do... my house was a mess, I still hadn't unpacked and I have 10 people coming to my house for Easter dinner on Sunday. So, what did I do? I took my latest read, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon to the back porch and promply spent 1 1/2 wonderful hours lost in post WWII Barcelona. Oh and it was time well spent. Today.... it is raining again, time to finally face those still to be unpacked suitcases, mounds of laundry and planning the Easter menu.

Skeletons at the Feast

by Chris Bohjalian

I am not sure I can write a review that will do this book justice. It is not a typical World War II novel. The book is written from the perspective of a young German girl fleeing her home in what used to be Poland and trying to out run the advancing Soviet Army. She is accompanied by part of her family and a Scottish POW. They are joined along the way by a German soldier, who just might not be all he says he is. It is an unlikely group, but a group of survivors none the less. One of the underlying themes of the book is just how much the average German citizen knew about what was happening to the Jews of Europe. Bohjalian does an excellent job of showing both sides of the argument. He allows the secluded, rural citizen the benefit of the doubt, while showing little mercy on those living in the cities and in the areas surrounding the camps. While, not answering the age old question of how German citizens could have allowed the Holocaust to happen, it is a unique literary perspective.

I could not put this book down. It drew me in and kept me enthralled until the very last lines. There are several subplots that are woven together so well that when they come together at the end you expect it, but the events that unfold are like nothing you would have suspected. It is beautifully written and hauntingly plausible. This is by far the best book I have reading 2009 and will be my most recommended book for a long time.

Rating - A+