Books on Books on Books

Happy book day, friends. I love this link up because I find so many books to add to my list and I hear so many fun opinions on books I've already read. January was a pretty light month in the reading department, due to all of the crazy life stuffs and happenings. But, I do want to recap the books I read for y'all, because I'd love to help you find a new favorite :)!

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In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen to the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime."
[picture and summary via Goodreads.com]

New favorite book alert! Y'all, you have to put the Nightingale on your list ASAP! I'm so glad I listened to everyone's suggestions and got on the waiting list. I'm a HUGE history buff and LOVE learning about WW2. I'll be honest, I never really concerned myself with the French resistance, my interest stayed with the Allied powers. This book was incredibly eye opening in many ways and I'm really thankful for the new perspective I have on the war. 

The contrast of the sisters in the book kept my interested but I have to say I found myself more drawn to Isabelle  than Vivianne. However, I am in know way saying I know how I would react in either situation and pray I never have to know that fear. I teared up multiple times and as silly as this is I kept hoping everyone would be safe and sound in the book which is OBVIOUSLY ridiculous because it's war. Hannah found a perfect way to end the whole story and I couldn't have been more pleased with her presentation of every character. Even if you are a WW2 buff I really think you'll enjoy this book. It does start out a little slow but hang on, everything starts up quicker than you expect.

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"Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone on the Long Island Sound in his family home, a house perched on the edge of a cliff that is slowly crumbling into the sea. His parents are long dead, his mother having drowned in the water his house overlooks. One day, Simon receives a mysterious book from an antiquarian bookseller; it has been sent to him because it is inscribed with the name Verona Bonn, Simon's grandmother. Simon must unlock the mysteries of the book, and decode his family history, before fate deals its next deadly hand. 

The Book of Speculation is Erika Swyler's gorgeous and moving debut, a wondrous novel about the power of books, family, and magic" [picture and summary via Goodreads.com]
 
I grabbed this book randomly but wasn't able to finish it the first time around. I almost didn't recheck it out but after seeing it on a  few other blogs I thought I'd give it another chance. Don't get me wrong, I as intrigued while reading but I could kind of tell where the book was going.

I didn't love it and I didn't hate it, I found some of the characters annoying but really enjoyed readying the flashbacks to the traveling circus. Swyler has a way with words and crafts an impeccable prose, but the tale is a bit in the fantasy which is not my favorite genre. Give it a try if you want something different.

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“Why is this town called Mother’s Rest?” That’s all Reacher wants to know. But no one will tell him. It’s a tiny place hidden in a thousand square miles of wheat fields, with a railroad stop, and sullen and watchful people, and a worried woman named Michelle Chang, who mistakes him for someone else: her missing partner in a private investigation she thinks must have started small and then turned lethal.

Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins every step of the way—right back to where he started, in Mother’s Rest, where he must confront the worst nightmare he could imagine.

Walking away would have been easier. But as always, Reacher’s rule is: If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to make me" [picture and summary via Goodreads.com]

Fun backstory on this book, my father met Lee Child and also snagged me a signed copy because he knew I was a Reacher fan. He's incredible right? Reacher is a fantastic character and you DON'T need to follow the full series to know what's going on in each story.

Child is known for his twists and turns and this book did not disappoint. I was kept guessing until the end, even though I thought I knew where the story was going. This is definitely a book for people that love a good mystery and crime novel. If you're looking for a new author give Child a try, I don't think you could possibly be disappointed.

Have you read any of my books? Are you reading anything awesome?

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