The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: A Book Review

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: A Book Review

**SPOILERS**

          I had the pleasure of reading this book and watching the movie since I noticed it was on Netflix when I finished. It's a heartbreaking story about a 9 year old boy named Bruno who's father is a Nazi soldier who moves the family from Berlin Germany to Poland after a promotion. Bruno befriends a boy in "striped pajamas" naive to the treachery that is really taking place in the world around him.

          The movie really completes the thought of the book. The book was short and, well.... bittersweet I might say. I felt that even though it was from the viewpoint of a 9 year old, that it made it lack detail needed to really get the idea across. That was why I said the movie really completes the thought even though events happened kind of differently than in the book.

**SPOILER ALERT**

          Bruno befriends Shmuel who is a 9 year old Jewish boy entrapped in a Polish concentration camp. All the boys really do is talk when Bruno escapes the house to the fence that divides them not understanding that they are meant to be enemies. He being the sun of a Nazi Commandant and Shmuel a prisoner. 

The end of the book stung but the dramatic effect it had in the movie broke me. Bruno escapes into the concentration camp to help Shmuel find his missing papa and they get stuck in a match to the gas room. They get gassed hand and hand together. As a mother of an almost 8 year old son myself, I couldn't handle it when watching the movie and broke down in tears cuddling my son to fall asleep.

**SPOILER END**

I had less than a week to read a book before I am due back at work on Monday April 20th, 2020. That took me three days to read. I can see why it is targeted towards teenagers because it was very vague and you needed to be able to think like a normal 9 year old. It was a very good book though after watching the film which was extremely sad.

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix: A Book Review

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix: A Book Review

          I had started this book two years ago. I hadn't gotten very far before putting it down i'm afraid. It was very long and I went into a long "not wanting to read" hiatus. Then the Quarantine from COVID-19 hit and I figured, "now is as good a time as any" to start finishing the books I bookmarked and shelved! This was the third unfinished book on my shelves I decided to give another try. Happy to say, it hooked me and I was kicking myself for ever putting it away.

          This is the 5th book of the Harry Potter series and although I have seen the movie, The movie really did this book no justice. The villainous Professor Umbridge was a real diabolical shit-bag in comparison to how she was in the movie. There was also, from my recollection, a lot of things changed out in the movie that were in the book. You get a more in-depth to how events really laid out in J.K. Rowling's mind that had explained how some of the movie contents were supposed to play out.

          My heart really went out to Professor Snape more in the novel. You really start putting the pieces of the mystery together as you read forth deeper into Rowling's head throughout the book. Someone on Goodreads compared this book to a refrigerator in the fact that it is rather bulky. To be fair, by the end of the book, I was sad that it was over as to actually be fair though. the length and my diagnoses of ADHD did not match up well. It is hard for me to sit still for a long period of time. I got lost in this book though and found myself reading chapter after chapter for hours at a time. As an accomplishment to myself, I would read about 100+ pages a day and would have to fight myself to close the book after finishing a chapter so I could sleep.

          This was a very charming, sort-of comical, kinda sad. but very entertaining installment to The Harry Potter series and I was happy to finally finish it after two years. I highly recommend this on a lazy day where you just want to sit around cuddled up with a blanket, book, and a cup of coffee or even tea!

The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Review

The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Review

This novel was nothing short of heartbreaking! Based on a true story where a couple find love within the darkest of times, it proves that love and hope can overcome any obstacles! The fact this is a true story made it all the more eerie and astonishing.

This book follows the true story of the Birkenau/Auschwitz tattooist Lale who, in all honesty, makes the right contacts within the camp out of pure luck and chance to secure his survival. He meets a woman named Gita who he assures that they will survive the hell they are enduring and live out their days free together.

Heather Morris told their story beautifully with great detail that made you feel like you were looking in on the events taking place at Auschwitz as if you were a fly on the wall nothing short of compelling that leaves you wanting more.

I personally enjoyed the afterword by their son Gary that talked about his parents' love and how they would talk about how being in the camp had changed them in ways. For example, they no longer fretted parting with possessions or how some events didn't seem like such a big deal. As if, they survived concentration camps so they could survive just about anything. This novel started my interest in reading books based around The Holocaust. I ended up reading "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" not too long after this one. That as well was a bit of a heart-wrenched book because it was from a child's point of view. That however is for a different review.

I would definitely recommend this book to others to read if they aren't so faint of heart. I Will eventually get to "Cilka's Journey" which is the second part of this heartbreaking tale.

A Dog's Promise: A Review

A Dog's Promise: A Review

**SPOILERS**

          All I can really say was W. Bruce Cameron did it again! Another touching and heart-warming story in this 3rd installment to his "A Dog's Purpose" series! It had me laughing at times and choked up at times. This book definitely had me at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next.

          This was about the lovable Bailey, known in this one as Cooper and Riley. He goes through many lives trying to fulfill his purpose as a dog. This time, he's accompanied by a girlfriend! They find each other over each one of their lives. There is a paralyzed boy named Burke who acquires Cooper to train as his service dog. Years pass and Burke has a surgery that enables him to use his legs and learns to walk. Cooper loses his sense of purpose. As the story goes on, there is love and loss, laughter and tears, suspense and predictability. The content of this novel was pretty compelling.

*SPOILER*

          One thing I wasn't a fan of was brother stealing brother's girl which happened a couple times throughout the story. A character named Wrenling was dating Burke. Grant falls in love with her and while she's dating his brother, tries to steal her which he does successfully. Later on in the story, Grant is dating a woman and surprise, surprise, she ends up with Burke 😒. I understand the urge of dramatics, but didn't fancy the approach.

          I did however like that Riley was discovered to be Cooper by Burke and ultimately suspected to be Great Grandpa Ethan's dog Bailey. Then that Ethan came back as Burke's newborn son at the end of the story. 🤯

*SPOILER END*

          W. Bruce Cameron has some great ideas in his head. Apparently he was with a woman who had just lost a dog and came up with this idea to ease her grieving and to convince her to let him bring another one into the house. It worked (you sly fox you). This one yet amazing was not my favorite. I would say A Dog's Purpose was. This does however come as a very close second!
        

A Witch's Kind: A Reflection

A Witch's Kind: A Reflection

          I haven't done a review in a while. Since this is a book I read in October of last year as my Halloween read, I decided this was more or less a reflection than a review since it has been a while and the content is no longer fresh in my mind. I chose this book for the title mainly. Who doesn't want to read about Witches during the All Hallows Eve season? I had gone to my local library and was looking at their new releases and pulled this one to read the summary on the inner flap. Safe to say it sounded extremely compelling so I took it home and started to read. I had an extremely hard time putting it down!

          As my memory serves me, This novel is about the tribulations of young witch named Barrie Ann Blythe who kind of reminded me of Sally Owens from Alice Hoffman's "Practical Magic". She fell in love and got married against her Aunt Charlotte's Advice. There had always been a secret in the family and Barrie Ann was unaware of what gifts she had. 

Well anyway her husband was sketchy at best and abandoned his wife. In my opinion, it was for the best. The guy was an asshole for all intensive purposes. Her dog finds something in the water at the back end of  the farm land. It was a baby! Barrie Ann and Aunt Charlotte became attached to this baby and take her in to raise her themselves. The baby shows signs of being, well... unusual. She has her own gifts. Barrie Ann tries her hardest to conceal the baby's abnormality which made the baby a pretty cool character!

The book pretty much details of Barrie Ann and Aunt Charlotte with this unknown origin baby and a husband that is kind of a thorn in Barrie Ann's side. There's heart-warming scenes. Suspense, some sadness, but as all good books have, a happy ending!

I would gladly recommend Louisa Morgan's work to others. I actually want to read other books of hers at some point. To make this more of  reflection is what I gained from reading this. Everyone is different and have their own metaphorical abnormalities but they are the ones who need to be loved and nurtured the most. I also learned the past needs to stay in the past, it's there for a reason. The last thing I took from this book was to always stay true to yourself. You may not have magical powers like a witch does but you are the only you and you need to accept yourself and find how to practice self love. Embrace the odd things about yourself.