(Note: I wouldn't recommend reading all the war stories at once. I need breathers between those heartbreaking, but worthwhile non-fiction pieces.)
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand
Louie Zamperini's true story is gripping, terrifying, astonishing, inspiring, and a dozen other strong adjectives. I learned so much about so many facets of WWII, and I came away with a new perspective on war, hunger and real need, and humanity in its many forms. I loved the inclusion of Zamperini's post-war struggle and subsequent turning to God. The story could have easily ended with his return home and still been a great book. Sharing the very personal conversion and forgiveness elements brought an added depth. This is one masterful non-fiction piece.
All But My Life, by Gerda Weissmann Klein
This Holocaust piece is hopeful, even optimistic at times. The details are just as grim as you would expect, but they are not graphic. Klein's gift is finding the humanity in the most horrifying circumstances. Her strength is obvious, yet she is humble and honest, even guilty at times for surviving. In addition to relating her war experiences, she also tells a little about her post-war life, including her sweet love story with her future soldier husband, and her human rights' work. I found this to be an inspiring, beautiful account, more powerful than any fictional Holocaust novels, and on par with Corrie Ten Boom's "The Hiding Place".
The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo, by Paula Huntley
Besides opening my eyes to the devastation and ruin of a very recent war, this book simply inspired me. The author went to Kosovo with her attorney husband so that he could help re-build the judicial system; she herself had no job or purpose there until she took a job teaching English to high schoolers and anyone else who showed up to class. In this journal, she shares the students' stories, her compelling desire to help them create futures, and her own learning process. It's fascinating and beautiful and wrenching to discover meaningful traditions and crippling, dysfunctional cycles--and then to compare those qualities to our own realities.
My Life in France, by Julia Child
Julia's writing is delightful and descriptive. Her voice! It just echoed in my head throughout the personal stories of marriage, travel, education, friendships, and of course, food, food, food. I enjoyed her enthusiasm and her commitment to what she called "self-education." I couldn't help but look up and cook up some of her famous recipes after reading this fun memoir. The gal almost persuades me to try escargot or mussels.
The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love, by Kristin Kimball
The best thing about this book is that one minute you'll want to start your own organic farm, and the next you'll think the author and her husband are complete lunatics; you'll want to live in their small town and lend a hand on their five-hundred acres, then you'll thank your lucky stars you aren't living like pioneers. I loved how candid this woman is in relating her adventures. She tells it like it is, and some parts are Thoreau-like in their idyllic return to nature; some parts are gross, exhausting, unbelievable for this American century. I could hardly put the book down, could hardly stop myself from imagining my little garden becoming something more, though nothing like the amazing working, whole-diet enterprise accomplished by this family.
There now, I just wanted to share a bit. If you made it through this post, I say you deserve a trip to the library and then book club at my house.
