January Book Reviews

This year I think I would like to post reviews each month on the books I read. It will help me keep track of what I have read so I can look back and recommend books to other people. January was a long month (it seemed). I was able to get through four pretty good books.

I got the book "To See You Again" for Christmas from my dad. He had told me about it before, so I was excited to open it on Christmas. I've always been a sucker for books about WWII, and this one was the true story of Betty Schimmel, a young Jewish girl growing up in Eastern Europe. She and her childhood sweetheart, Richie, were separated during an air raid in Budapest, where their families were living in the ghetto. They vowed they would find each other and get married someday, but after Betty and her family were liberated from a concentration camp, she was unable to find Richie. At the urging of her family, she married another nice young man, Otto, whom she never really loved. They have 3 children and build a life together in America. On a trip back to Hungary later in her adult years, after her children are grown, she has a chance meeting with Richie in a restaurant, and must decide whether to act upon the feelings of love she still has for him after all those years. This story was beautifully told, especially for someone who is not a writer, or even a native English speaker, and simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking. I give it 4 1/2 stars.

Next I read "The Looking Glass" by Richard Paul Evans. I have had this book for nearly 10 years, and I think I have read it in the past, but it has been long enough that I couldn't remember...I pulled it out again because I knew I could read it in a day or so. This is a fictional story of course, set in 1870s Utah during the gold rush. It involves a man who was once a preacher, who has abandoned his parish and come out west to search for gold and new meaning in his life after his wife dies. It is an interesting historical fiction that covers some of the issues of the time, such as women's rights and racism, that are still pertinent today. It may have been a little trite and predictable, but was still a nice love story. Three stars.

Next on my list was "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. I received this one last year for Christmas from my Dad, but hadn't had time to read it since I was in school. This was also a quick read, as it is a series of short essays, almost letters, from the author, between a half page and several pages long. Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, and was diagnosed with terminal cancer in his 40s. He had a young family and had only been married for ten years or so. Soon after his diagnosis, the university asked him to give a "last lecture", something that professors usually do upon retirement to leave their last bits of wisdom to their students. Randy decided to do this as a tribute to his children, to leave them life advice he knew they would need later on, and as a way to remember him. He writes about many different subjects, including childhood dreams, career, love, and family. He seems to have an exceptional personality and positive attitude, therefore, his life has also been exceptional and full of many great opportunities. Although most people may not be able to apply everything he says, not having had the many great opportunities and advantages he seems to have had, it is still great advice on how to life a good, full life. Four stars.

Finally, in January I read "Dewey: The small town library cat who touched the world" by Vicki Myron. Chase got this one last year for Christmas (thanks again Dad!) and loved it, so I thought I'd read it. This was also a non-fiction about a library in Spencer, Iowa. Dewey was a kitten that had been shoved into the library's book return slot on a cold winter evening, and found the next morning by the librarian. She kept him and he became the cat in residence at the Spencer Public Library. Woven in with the story of Dewey and how he touched the library patrons are scenes from the author's life and views of a small Midwestern farming town and its struggle to survive during the 80s and 90s. The library was a big part of the town, and Dewey became a big part of people's lives. I love reading non fiction, and I love it even more when the true so story is so exceptional that it seems like it should be fiction! The things that happen in people's lives really are better than fiction a lot of times. Three and a half stars here. Also looking forward to the movie version, in which Meryl Streep is rumored to play the librarian.