The year is half over and it is time for another monthly review of my reading. I finished 22 books last month which brings my yearly total up to 126. At my current rate I will finish my yearly goal of 200 books about two months early so that will be good. So once again I am here to go over some of the best books that I read last month. There are three that I have picked out to discuss so let’s get started.
The first one is Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. Now this is an author that I have previously picked out back at the beginning of the year with some of his other works. Honestly, I knew I was going to pick this book as soon as I picked it up. There is a lot of historical fiction out there and I have read a lot of it, a small fraction of the total but still a decent amount overall. Keeping that in mind I can honestly say that Follett is by far one of my all-time favorite authors for the genre. This work is incredibly nuanced and well written. It tells the story of WWI through the perspective of eight different narrators from five different families each of whom have a different nationality. In doing so we get this incredibly well portrayed story that shows all of the different angles and issues that were at play during that time period. We don’t just see one side of the story but multiple sides allowing us to get a great understanding of how all of it connected. I can tell just by reading it that Follett must have done an immense amount of research into the time period in general and the specific events he portrayed in order to create such an amazing story. At the end of the day I struggled to put it down and was absolutely enthralled throughout. That is not something that I can frequently legitimately say. The best part about it is that this is only the first book in a trilogy that continues over the rest of the twentieth century to create an immense and breathtaking picture of life and politics over that time period.
My second book that I chose is a more difficult book to read in many ways as it covers difficult topics. The Auschwitz Escape by Joel C. Rosenberg covers exactly what the title implies. There are a lot of books that cover the events of WWII and the Holocaust but I can honestly say I think this is the first book that I have read that deals with the topic of the people who escaped from the concentration camps and lived to tell the tale. As you can imagine that was a tricky and difficult topic to handle but the book did a good job with it. While I don’t necessarily enjoy reading about that topic, I don’t think anyone would, I do consider it important to remember those events and people, especially those who are frequently overlooked. This book did exactly that so I have a lot of respect for it because of that. It is technically historical fiction so the exact people it portrays are fictional but they are loosely inspired by people who actually did things remarkably similar to what these characters did. The reason I liked this book is that it brought my attention to something I had overlooked, the people who would not stay quiet about what was happening in those camps and who refused to allow the allied forces to not liberate them. These kinds of books are important as it reminds us of where humanity has already gone and needs to never go again so this book deserves to be highlighted for that. The fact that it was also a good book that was well written and well researched was just icing on the cake for me.
My final book is a first for me when it comes my monthly reviews. I am picking a kid’s book. Nothing But The Truth is by Avi, an award winning children’s author, and deals with a particularly relevant but particularly tricky topic. As indicated by the title it deals with the topic of what is the truth. This is something that many people struggle with in today’s society as we are constantly inundated with information, large amounts of which are at least partially inaccurate or outright false. I like this book because it highlights exactly how events are distorted and the idea that what may be true from one perspective may not be true from another. There is no such thing as absolute truth and this book reminds us of that. Everything is colored by the lens of the person who experienced it and the person telling it and these may not be the same people. As such we really should take everything with a grain of salt but we frequently forget to do that. This book does a great job of dealing this idea and handling the topic. However, the main reason I like this particular book about the topic is that is has a pretty novel way of presenting the information, which is discussed in more detail in my review of the book, but also that the book is geared for kids. Having a book like this that is specifically aimed at younger readers can help them grasp these concepts early in order for them be more aware of them as they grow up. This is a book I would be happy to share with every kid across the country. There is also a secondary theme that is just as important for kids to learn which is to take responsibility for what you do, especially if there are unintended negative consequences for other people. I think I have picked some pretty good books from my last month’s reading so consider sharing the best book you read last month. Maybe I will find something new to read from your recommendations.