Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2017 Read Harder Challenge
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Task #14: Read a book about war
Jess wrote: "I think Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, about the civil war in Nigeria in the 1960s, would be good for this category"Oh, it is such a wonderfull yet devestating book!
I just picked up my choice at the library yesterday. I am a bit torn between these two, but I think I'm gonna go with the latter (I'm gonna read both, though). Good People or Serve the People!
I'm considering reading Wolf by Wolf for this challenge. It's a "what if the Nazis won the war?" book--so might be taking a spin on this task. But I love that idea of exploring the possible impact wars could have had on people, cultures and our world.
I just finished a nonfiction book "Before the Attack" which is about the first long-range reconnaissance patrol of the Continuation War in July 1941. The men patrolled around the Karelian Isthmus for about 19 days, walking close to 400 km with very little food and sleep. At the furthest they were almost 100 km behind enemy lines and about 60 km from Leningrad. What made it special was that many of them returned to their own home villages but this time they were armed. (Though many had already been there as spies during the Interim Peace.)
We Band of Angels was excellent! I read it last year. It's about the US military nurses who were abandoned on the Philippines during WWII.
I read The Sympathizer for this. it won the Pulitzer for fiction last year and was phenomenal. Clever and funny, but absolutely unsparing in details.
I like reading graphic novels so I picked up Rolling Blackouts by Sarah Glidden for this category
I just finished reading River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh for this one.
Finished my first 5 Star book of 2017:
by Ruta SepetysAll the feels- I stayed up til 4am last night because I had to finish it to see how it ended. I woke up with a major book hangover and bleary, red eyes.
My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Britany wrote: "Finished my first 5 Star book of 2017: by Ruta Sepetys"I've tried reading her other book but I just can't because I would just be rolling my eyes all the time. Not only the writing seem very "elementary" (it reminds me of the way I was writing when I was studying English or other languages) but the dialogue feels completely unbelievable.
Sorry you felt that way Tytti. It is a YA book, so the writing and dialogue may be less than what you typically read.
I read Rosie Goes to War by Alison Knight. With the time travel element I guess someone could use it as fantasy also if they wanted. Loved it though :)
I read so much historical fiction around the WWII area that this will be one of the easiest prompts for me. I plan to read The Invisible Bridge for this one. I've owned it for a while now, and I must've really wanted to read it because I accidentally bought the Kindle version (on a great sale) even though I owned it in hardback. But I do own about a dozen other WWII historical fiction books on my Kindle, so I might call an audible at the last minute.
I'm torn between wanting to read fiction for this or non-fiction. Because I'd very much like to read something based around either the Korean War or Vietnam War. Any suggestions?
Jessica wrote: "I'm torn between wanting to read fiction for this or non-fiction. Because I'd very much like to read something based around either the Korean War or Vietnam War. Any suggestions?"There are so many great Vietnam books. My favorite nonfiction is probably Dispatches and my favorite fiction is a tie between two Tim O'Brien books, Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried. Right there are three of my favorite books in the known universe.
Britany wrote: "Sorry you felt that way Tytti. It is a YA book, so the writing and dialogue may be less than what you typically read."It felt more like a children's book, something meant for kids under 10 but I wouldn't have recommended it to them, considering the subject matter.
There were also some word choices, they kept saying "NKVD" all the time, sometimes three times on the same page. It just sounded fake. Even I learned to call it Cheka (by its previous name) as a child, it was and probably is still used. There were also some historical issues I would disagree with the author, too, it sounded like she hadn't done her research properly because ethnic deportations were nothing new in the USSR but she makes it sound like they just started in 1941, or that it was such a big secret that no one had known about them. Well, then how come several books have been written about the subject?
Bonnie wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I'm torn between wanting to read fiction for this or non-fiction. Because I'd very much like to read something based around either the Korean War or Vietnam War. Any suggestions?"..."
Thank you for the suggestions. I will have to check them both out.
Rachel wrote: "I just finished reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"Heartbreaking! Movie is a tearfest.
Julia asked: Would Dead Wake by Erik Larson be considered a war book? Or is it considered more tangential? Julia, I haven't read the book (yet) but one of the reasons we Americans entered World War I was because of what happened in this book, so I'd say yes, definitely.
My book club read The Summer Before the War this month, which begins in 1914 just before England enters WWI. The story proceeds through England's official entry into the war and shows the impact of the war on the inhabitants of a small town in East Sussex both beforehand and afterwards. Since it wasn't set completely during WWI and wasn't only about the war, I'm planning to read a second book for this category.
My first thought was The Forever War. And that'd also knock one off of my goal of reading all of the Hugo award winners!
AJ wrote: "My first thought was The Forever War. And that'd also knock one off of my goal of reading all of the Hugo award winners!"Are you also doing the Award-Winning Science Fiction and Fantasy reading challenge over at The Space Beyond?
Stina wrote: " Are you also doing the Award-Winning Science Ficti..."Nope! Reading Hugo/Nebula winners is a long running thing for me. Is The Space Beyond another GoodReads group? I haven't heard of it but it definitely seems up my alley. Could you share a link?
So, I'm kicking around two totally different options for this prompt: The Things They Carried or Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. Thoughts?
Anna wrote: "So, I'm kicking around two totally different options for this prompt: The Things They Carried or Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. Thoughts?"
Very different books, but I will say that The Things They Carried is, for me, the single most affecting book about war ever. (I admit a tie with Going After Cacchiato, which is also Tim O'Brien.
AJ wrote: "Stina wrote: " Are you also doing the Award-Winning Science Ficti..."Nope! Reading Hugo/Nebula winners is a long running thing for me. Is The Space Beyond another GoodReads group? I haven't heard..."
Oops, sorry, it's The Space *Between* and it's over on Blogspot: https://shaunesay.blogspot.com/p/blog... We'd be delighted to have you!
Not reading a book about war that will stick with me or is too real - we are a retired Army family and I know too many soldiers, and too many 20-somethings who are active duty. Too much stress. So I am cheating this one. Watership Down had a war between rabbit communities. I am reading Mrs Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman, which is a lighthearted spy series set during the Cold War, and the Expanse series by James S A Corey looks to be war-like enough.
I also have a book in my TBR by Gen Clark - winning Modern Wars, but I don't know if I will actually pick that one up.
What a good idea, Jools! For sci-fi, there is also War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.
Further science fiction rec Shards of Honor, aka Test of Honor (Omnibus: Shards of Honor \ The Warrior's Apprentice) or even The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.What about historical fiction? These are very different novels, but set at the same time: the British call them the Peninsular Wars, we Americans call it the War of 1812. Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell or Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C.S. Forester. There is also delightful historical fantasy set during the same war: in His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik a dragon imprints on a British Navy captain.
Jools wrote: "Not reading a book about war that will stick with me or is too real - we are a retired Army family and I know too many soldiers, and too many 20-somethings who are active duty. Too much stress. S..."
Doesn't have to be about a real war! :)
Julia wrote: "Further science fiction rec Shards of Honor, aka Test of Honor (Omnibus: Shards of Honor \ The Warrior's Apprentice) or even The Warrior's Apprentice by [a..."Wow, Julia! You must've been reading a list of some of my favorite books!
Julia wrote: "Further science fiction rec Shards of Honor, aka Test of Honor (Omnibus: Shards of Honor \ The Warrior's Apprentice) or even The Warrior's Apprentice by [a..."I've been reading some Miles Vorkisigan books and it didn't occur to me that they could be counted as a war book, but you're right! :D
Janelle wrote: "I highly recommend The Nightingale for this category."This seems so good! Thank you for the recommendation. I now think I will do that one. Although, I am also thinking about Joan of Arc. Do you think that works?
AJ wrote: I've been reading some Miles Vorkisigan books and it didn't occur to me that they could be counted as a war book, but you're right! :D Besides the Cordelia/ Aral novels including Barrayar, along with the books above, if you've read Vorkosigan novels The Borders of Infinity, the novella, works for this. Mostly the other novels in the series do not, in my opinion.
Re Bujold: I was mostly talking about The Warrior's Apprentice, which is definitely about war and the consequences on a personal level. Shards of Honor had a bigger scope and is about more far-reaching consequences of war. I'm reading The Vor Game now and it could probably be stretched to fit the prompt (battles are definitely happening here) but it doesn't fit as nicely as the other two I mentioned.
I've always enjoyed reading war-themed novels and non fiction titles, so thanks to Boot Riot for including it in the 2017 Reading Challenge! That said, these are some of the books I've lined up for this task:1) Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956 by Anne Applebaum
2) The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan
3) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
I read Madame Tussaud A Novel of the French Revolution. It was un-put-down-able. It's told from her pov. She socialized and worked with both common people and royalty, and survived the Reign of Terror. I learned much about the French Revolution and even a little more about the American Revolution.
I may force myself to read Redeployment. I'm not keen on war stories, so despite the excellent reviews this collection has gotten, I've never read it. I have read a couple of the books listed in previous posts (Kite Runner, Girls of Atomic City) and would never have thought of them as war stories, so maybe I should broaden my search for an appropriate title.
Nancy wrote: "I may force myself to read Redeployment. I'm not keen on war stories, so despite the excellent reviews this collection has gotten, I've never read it. I have read a couple of the books listed in pr..."Redeployment was one of my favorite reads of 2014. It is not about war per se, but about its after-effects. I will link my review here and hopefully it will make you feel better about your choice https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Thanks, Bonnie. I've had the downloaded audiobook in iTunes for a year or more, so I should probably go ahead and listen to it. After all, the whole point of these challenges is to get us to diversify our reading!
Nancy wrote: "Thanks, Bonnie. I've had the downloaded audiobook in iTunes for a year or more, so I should probably go ahead and listen to it. After all, the whole point of these challenges is to get us to divers..."Hope you enjoy! It truly wowed me. I understand about not enjoying a genre listed here. I hate comics/graphic novels. I read (and mostly hated) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 3: Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now for all-ages. Still, I think Redeployment is worth your time.
I read
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson for this one. It takes place in two different war eras - WWI and WWII.I was disappointed by it. I loved this author's earlier books Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Case Histories - but I only thought this one was so-so.
Nancy wrote: "I may force myself to read Redeployment. I'm not keen on war stories, so despite the excellent reviews this collection has gotten, I've never read it. I have read a couple of the books listed in pr..."Girls of Atomic City is interesting because it's not necessarily a book ABOUT war, but it's definitely a book that takes place during wartime for those who work for the government and may or may not realize the scope of what they're doing for war efforts. I enjoyed it!
Allie wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I may force myself to read Redeployment. I'm not keen on war stories, so despite the excellent reviews this collection has gotten, I've never read it. I have read a couple of the book..."I really want to read that book, especially since I live near Hanford -- part of the Manhattan Project.
Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Code Name Verity (other topics)Regeneration (other topics)
Going After Cacciato (other topics)
The Things They Carried (other topics)
Johnny Got His Gun (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Agnès Humbert (other topics)Masuji Ibuse (other topics)
Vera Brittain (other topics)
Luke Mogelson (other topics)
Dalton Trumbo (other topics)
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I agree. I'm really enjoying the audiobook.