Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Weekly Topics 2018
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5: A book about or inspired by real events
I read Aaron and Ahmed, which is about a US soldier working at Gitmo after his fiancée is killed in 9/11. It sounded like it was going to be a good story but it ended up being pretty bad, which sucked.
I really wanted to read Before We Were Yours but I haven't been able go get a copy of it yet and since I'm reading in order this year I had to go with my second choice: Lies We Tell Ourselves. It's inspired by how integration comes to Jefferson High School in Davisburg, Virginia in 1959, following the Supreme Court Order for desegregation in 1958. I like historical fiction so this wasn't a diffuicult task for me.
I'm halfway through Burial Rites by Hannah Kent for this prompt and I'm really liking the atmosphere. Such a strong story - great characters.
- What are you reading for this category? 
Hearts of Resistance by Soraya M. Lane
- Which event is your story based on? World War II
Book Summary:
At the height of World War II, three women must come together to fight for freedom, for the men they love—and for each other.
When Hazel is given the chance to parachute into Nazi-occupied France, she seizes the opportunity to do more for the British war effort than file paperwork. Alongside her childhood friend, French-born Rose, she quickly rises up the ranks of the freedom fighters. For Rose, the Resistance is a link to her late husband, and a way to move forward without him. What starts out as helping downed airmen becomes a bigger cause when they meet Sophia, a German escapee and fierce critic of Hitler who is wanted by the Gestapo. Together the three women form a bond that will last a lifetime.
But amid the turmoil and tragedy of warfare, all three risk losing everything—and everyone—they hold dear. Will their united front be strong enough to see them through?
I just finished reading Columbine by Dave Cullen .This was about the school shooting at Columbine High School and tries to piece together the events leading up to the shooting, the timeline of the day in question and goes into the aftermath.
There were a lot of misconceptions when the story was first reported and this tries to straighten it all out.
Also, this book damn near broke me.
What are you reading for this category?When the Emperor was divine by Julie Otsuka
Which event is your story based on?
The internment of Japanese-American families during World War 2.
Aine wrote: "What are you reading for this category?When the Emperor was divine by Julie Otsuka
Which event is your story based on?
The internment of Japanese-American families during World War 2."
I just added this to my TBR (this after I just finished saying I can't read anymore WWII fiction/non-fiction- I need a break)
I can remember in my 20s sitting at my grandparents house on a holiday and reading a book by Danielle Steele...Silent Honor.... I had NO IDEA that Americans put Japanese into camps here. No idea. Fascinating discussion we had. And I remember saying "they never mentioned that in school history, just Auschwitz and the other camps for the Jewish."
Would be interesting to read another story about it.
- What are you reading for this category? Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield- Which event is your story based on? It is about the Afghanistan war and how they created special operations task force with women. It is really interesting. I'm a third of the way through so far. I'm listening to it on audio.
For this book I chose Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup. It was disturbing how people can do that too others. I believe a must read so people don't forget what happened and don't repeat. I was grateful to read of for people who stood up for what was right.Twelve Years a Slave
Kimberley wrote: "For this book I chose Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup. It was disturbing how people can do that too others. I believe a must read so people don't forget what happened and don't repeat. I w..."The movie was excellent, so it would be interesting to hear your toughts on the book as well. I would imagine it is good, but disturbing.
What are you reading for this category? Inflection Point by Traci Medford-RosowWhich event is your story based on? This is the true story of Pfizer's legal battle for control of Lipitor® , the world's most prescribed pharmaceutical product.
Given that "big Pharma" is traditionally cast as the villain, I am looking forward to reading this account of events from the other side. Full disclosure, I went to high school with the author of this book.
Aine wrote: "What are you reading for this category?When the Emperor was divine by Julie Otsuka
Which event is your story based on?
The internment of Japanese-American families during World War 2."
I've added this to my TBR too - I've been interested in learning more about it after reading Snow Falling on Cedars and Moloka'i in the last couple of years, which briefly touch on it, so it's good to find out about a book dedicated to what happened.
- What are you reading for this category? The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
- Which event is your story based on?
During WWII the zookeeper and his wife in Warsaw, Poland helped hide around 300 jews.
This week I'm reading We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families It's a nonfiction about the Rwandan genocide.
I'm reading What Happened, which is a great title for a book in this category, no? It's about Hillary Clinton's campaign for president and her take on what went wrong. It is very well done - parts I'm enjoying and some of it is so hard to read given our current reality. I highly recommend it - HRC is a person who deserves to be heard in her own voice and not the caricature that's been developed by the media and her political foes over the decades.
What are you reading for this category?Une larme m'a sauvée (A tear saved me) - Angèle Lieby
Which event is your story based on?
Angele went to the ER one day because of a bad migraine. As the day drew, Angele's muscles slowly shut down to the point where she was at risk of asphyxiation. The doctors, at a loss as to the cause, decided to put her in a coma for a few days. However, after a few days she did not wake, and gave no sign of life. However she was very much alive and awake, in her mind, incapable of communicating with the outside world. This is the story of her ordeal, how a single tear streaming down her cheek warned her daughter that all hope was not lost, and the story of her slow return to life.
I'm reading El pintor de batallas (English translation The Painter of Battles) by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. I first started reading this several years ago as an extract from the beginning of it was used in a Spanish text book I was teaching from, but I never got very far with it. So I'm re-reading the first bit and now managing to continue with it.The story is fiction but is born out of the the war in Croatia in 1991. A fictional Spanish photo-journalist takes an award-winning photograph of a Croatian soldier following the massacre of Vukovar which turns out to have devastating consequences. Years later the soldier goes to confront the photographer who is now painting a mural of a battle scene inside the lonely tower where he has lived since giving up war photography.
The author had been a war reporter and the book makes mention of several battles from the war in Croatia and from other earlier conflicts. Not an easy read but very thought provoking.
I'm reading Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath
I just finished Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea for this one!It's a memoir about growing up and eventually escaping North Korea as a young boy. Heartbreaking but also eye-opening. Highly recommend!
I just finished The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts for this prompt. It focuses on the attempts to gather ancient African manuscripts into libraries during the 90s, and then the race to save the rare and precious books from Al Qaeda.
I have read The Passage of Love by Alex Miller. This is a novel, but is actually a very thinly disguised biography of this wonderful Australian writer who is now in his 80s. It is very long (584 pages), but I loved it.
I read Hans Fallada, Alone in Berlin for this prompt - set in Berlin during WWII, it's based on the actions of the German Resistance, about which I knew nothing before reading the endnotes for the book.
What are you reading for this category?I read The Life and Legend of Chris Kyle: American Sniper, Navy SEAL
Which event is your story based on?
I thought the book was going to be based on the war in Iraq as that is what Chris Kyle fought in. However, the book was based more on his life and the kind of person he was. It was a very interest read.
Alexx wrote: "What are you reading for this category? I am reading The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Which event is your story based on?
The book is about Anne Frank's time in hiding bet..."
I read that not to long ago. It was a good read but sad. It was interesting to read about the events from her perspective and the life she had.
What are you reading for this category? I read Where My Body Ends and the World Begins
Which event is your story based on?
Inspired by the devastating fire that happened on December 1, 1958 at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, which took the lives of 92 children and three nuns
I'm reading An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.It's based on... the yellow fever epidemic :p
I know nothing about the event (plus, it happened in another country), so it's interesting to read at a cultural level. There are many deaths involved.
What are you reading for this category? Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
Which event is your story based on?
Bryan Stevenson's work with the Equal Justice Initiative and the various cases he's argued.
What are you reading for this category?I am reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles.
- Which event is your story based on?
The main figure in the novel, Captain Kidd did actually exist, giving readings from newspapers in various towns in the US.
Columbine by Dave Cullen has been a great read. It’s long and I’m only 40% through it but there is so much detail about the shooters, victims, and their families. I’d highly recommend. So much detail, moment by moment of the shooting.
The Marines' Lost Squadron The Odyssey of VMF-422
By Mark Carlson
This story is based on about the worst air disaster to strike a Marine Corps fighter squadron during the Second World War. Marine Fighter Squadron 422 was a group of twenty-four typical young Americans trained to fly the famous F4U Corsair into combat with the legendary Japanese Zero.
I read both Room and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for this week, and both were just fantastic. I highly recommend them both.
I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks about the harvesting of a black woman's cancer cells without her knowledge. These cells changed modern medicine.
Mod
I'm reading Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness for this category. It describes the author's period of "madness" due to a rare disorder that affects the brain.
What are you reading for this category?The Spy
Which event is your story based on?
It is an autobiographical account of Mata Hari's life written through a fictional letter.
What are you reading for this category? I am reading The Last Ballad
Which event is your story based on? Based on events of a textile-mill strike in 1929
What are you reading for this category? The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren TarshisWhich event is your story based on? That's pretty obvious from the title. I had read a couple of heavy books before this one, so my other possible books (a nonfiction about the murder of Laci Peterson and some other "grown-up" books about tragedies) were not what I felt like reading. This book was also based on a tragedy, of course, but it was a lighter read, and a shorter one.
What are you reading for this category? Just finished The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat
Which event is your story based on? The English Civil War. This is usually thought of as a children's book , but I think it would be heavy going for young children as the vocabulary is very old fashioned. Also it does turn into a love story of sorts. Still I suppose it could be an introduction to history of that time
I read "Sully" by Chelsey B Sullenberger III. This is written by the captain of the plane who performed what has become know as the Miracle on the Hudson. I really enjoyed learning about what in his life lead up to this event. Amazing.
I read All We Have Left by Wendy MillsIt was told in two different perspectives about 911. He first is told by a young girl around the age of 16 who survived the attack and the other is told about 17 years after the attack by a girl who lost her brother.
I read Audubon, On The Wings Of The World .It was okay but if I get time I may have another crack at this category.
I read Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race for this week. It is about the black women mathematicians hired by NACA (which later became NASA) and how they overcame the obstacles they faced.
What are you reading for this category? Carnegie's Maid
- Which event is your story based on?
fictional account of Andrew Carnegie's reason for building so many libraries
I just added Carnegie's Maid to my TBR a few weeks ago. It looks so interesting.
I read A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline, based on the artist Andrew Wyeth's relationship with a woman in Maine. The author did a great job of weaving a story around the history of a piece of artwork.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
I had meant to read Blonde but between hold lists at the library and now an impatience to get moving along the list (since I’m reading in order and now quite far behind!), when I read Farmer Boy as part of a reread of the original books before reading Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, it occurred to me that it would slot in here and I could finally move on! It’s the story of LI-W’s husband as a boy and provides a nice contrast to her early life since it’s clear that Almanzo’s father was quite well off in comparison. I still intend to get to Blonde, but it’ll have to find another prompt when the time comes, I guess!
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
True History of the Kelly Gang (other topics)The Autobiography of Malcolm X (other topics)
Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau (other topics)
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital (other topics)
The Winter Sea (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Susanna Kearsley (other topics)Jaci Wheeler (other topics)
Robert Bloch (other topics)
Sarah Perry (other topics)
Slavomir Rawicz (other topics)
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Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath
Which event is your story based on?
This book is based on the last months of Sylvia Plath's life.