Forty Autumns: A Family's Story of Courage and Survival on Both Sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner
Rating: 5
Biography - Cold War
This book opened my eyes to the Cold War which I did not know much about. It is the story of one family's experience living behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany from the late 1940s until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. One daughter in the family (Hannah) escaped to West Germany and eventually moved to the United States to raise her family. Nina Willner, the author, is Hannah's daughter. The book is a very well-written historical account that reads like a novel. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne
Rating: 4
Legal Thriller
What were you doing in the summer of 1994 when the O. J. Simpson trial was the only thing on TV? I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Peter. This means I did a lot of sitting in a chair in front of the screen (something I never do, by the way). But who could resist watching this story?
Another City, Not My Own says it is a Novel in the form of a Memoir, but it is really a Memoir in the form of a novel because the author was a reporter for Vanity Fair at the time and he covered the story. In this book, his fictional character, Gus Bailey, is sent to L.A. to cover the trial for Vanity Fair. This was a very entertaining read, and it brought me back to that time when I put my feet up and watched as the crime of the century unfolded.
Rating: 4
Biography
After graduating from college, Michelle Kuo began her teaching career in Helena, Arkansas through Teach for America. During her time there, she took a particular interest in a student named Patrick who was quiet yet showed interest in learning. After serving her TFA term, Kuo left Helena to study Law at Harvard. Several years later when she returned for a visit, she found out that many of her former students had dropped out because of crime, pregnancy, or lack of motivation. Worse yet, she found out that Patrick was incarcerated for manslaughter.
Kuo decides to stay in Helena to work. While there, she regularly visits Patrick in jail. She gives him "homework" that inspires him to read and write and see the world around him in a different way. She gets to know Patrick and while doing so, she comes to understand the role that poverty plays in the lack of education of the young people in the Delta region of the United States.
This is a great book for educators. Other books I have enjoyed with similar themes: The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy and To Sir With Love by E. R. Braithwaite.
Rating:4
Domestic Thriller
This was not really a thriller. If it were, I probably would not have read it. I don't like very scary books. It was a gentle mystery and a very good story. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This story flips back and forth from the present to the past and between two main characters' perspectives: Diana (the mother-in-law) and Lucy (the daughter-in-law). Diana is dead from the beginning, but the question is - who did it?
As the family saga unfolds, the reader finds many people who might be guilty of the crime. I enjoyed the way the relationship between Lucy and Diana developed in the book. I recommend this one if you like Liane Moriarty.
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