Book Reviews Vol 2.

For the sake of the book reviews, I found that I had to force myself to switch up book genres this month. After reading my first recommendation below, all I wanted to do was read more from the WII era. I managed to change it up with some fiction and non-fiction books. I also had several easy reads and my last book was read to just inform me on a time in history I felt uneducated on. For more book reviews click here.

Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

What a read! This book is classified as a novel but it is based on a true story and the major story line has been fact checked. It follows a 17 year old Italian boy living in Milan during WWII. Until now he has lived a pretty charmed life. When the Nazis start taking over Italy, his parents send him to stay in the mountains at a boys’ school to avoid the allied bombings in Milan. Once he is about to turn 18, his parents convince him to enlist in the German army. Otherwise he will be drafted in the Italian army and most of those soldiers end up at the front line of battle. Thru a series of random events he ends up the driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand man in Italy. He despises wearing the Nazi swastika on his uniform as much as he despises the man he drives for. This causes he to eagerly spy on the man for the allies, risking his life daily.

Although I read a lot of WWII historical fiction and biographies, I do not know much about what happened in Italy during the war. This book showed me how much we still don’t know a lot about what happened during this horrible time in history. This has quickly become on of my favorite books and is a top recommendation of mine. Grade: A

Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson

Whatever Happens, Love that. This book is warm, funny, messy and definitely has some magic in it! It is the story of when Blix, an 85 year old woman from Brooklyn, and Marnie, a 29 year old from Florida, happen to meet by chance and how their stories intertwine. Marnie quickly goes thru some heartbreak and doesn’t understand how she can’t just get the ordinary life that she wants – husband, kids and a life in the suburbs. Blix tells her she is going to have a big life but Marnie fights in. My favorite aspect was seeing how the life you think you want may not be what you get because what you get can be 100x better that whatever you imagined. Grade: B

Book Reviews Forever is the worst long time

Forever is the Worst Long Time by Camille Pagan

Sometimes books can surprise you and this one definitely did. James meets Lou and think he has found the love of his life. The problem is Lou is engaged to James best friend, Rob. James pushes down his feelings and supports his friend. James seems to always be just missing anything he wants in life. He struggles to write a novel, struggles to find someone to love and just plain struggles through life. This book follows love, friendship, career, life and curve balls that are thrown. Just when I thought I knew where this book was going, it changes again and I was hooked. Grade: B

The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis

After reading an article that referred to the Cold War I realized that I know very little about that time in history. I started to do some research to find a good beginner book on the subject and found this book. It can be dry at sometimes but very interesting in others! I really feel like I’m better informed on a time in history that was pretty recent and still impacts things now! Grade: B

Good Luck With That by Kristan Higgins

I mentioned this book in this post and how I was excited to read it. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. It was a little slow and I think could have been wrapped up quicker. What I felt was good and realistic is the thoughts running thru the main character’s heads. Their lack of confidence and body image issues really do affect most of their life decisions. Grade: C