The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff

The Kommandant's Girl by Pam Jenoff
Fiction/Literature

Emma is a Jewish Pole who finds love at a very young age. She marries Jacob and just as she is starting to settle her life as a librarian and wife, World War Two begins and everything she knows suddenly changes.

Jacob, Emma's husband, is a key member of the resistance to the war and leaves Emma to go underground because life is too dangerous for him. He makes Emma promise to destroy her wedding rings and marriage certificate, but she just cannot bring herself to get rid of the only thing that now connects her to her husband. After Jacob has left, Emma and her parents are moved to the Ghetto. But when Emma meets Marta, she realizes that she has befriended a member of the resistance who can bring her news of Jacob and perhaps even safety from the Ghetto. Emma is placed with Jacob's aunt under the assumed identity of Anna, a Pole from the coast. Soon Anna finds herself working for Nazi Kommandant Richwalder. She tries to tell herself she is only working there to get information for the resistance, but realizes soon that she might have feelings for the Kommandant. While struggling to keep her marriage vows, Emma must keep her identity a secret, which proves not so easy in a Nazi-ruled city.

The characters in this novel are incredibly real. Your heart immediately goes out to Emma and the heartache she has from not being able to see her new husband. Even the Kammandant Richwalder is sympathetic, though I found myself a little upset that I was feeling anything but disgust for him as a Nazi commander.

The story flowed well and was a quick read. Even though I would classify this book as a fiction/literature, it was quite the page turner. I wanted to know what was going to happen to Emma and if anyone was going to find out her secret.

The ending leaves the possibility of a sequel to the book. If Jenoff does put out another book following Emma or any of the other characters in this novel, I would pick it up in a heartbeat. This novel takes you through every possible emotion and leaves you wanting more.

Rating:

(4.5/5)

Rapture in Death

Rapture in Death by J. D. Robb
Mystery

From the Publisher
They died with smiles on their faces. Three apparent suicides: a brilliant engineer, an infamous lawyer, and a controversial politician. Three strangers with nothing in common - and no obvious reasons for killing themselves. Police lieutenenat Eve Dallas found the deaths suspicious. And her instincts paid off when autopsises revealed small burns on the brains of the victims. Was it a genetic abnormality or a high-tech method of murder? Eve''s investigation turned to the provocative world of virtual reality games - where the same technique used to create joy and desire could also prompt the mind to become the weapon of its own destruction

I do love this series. Eve and Roarke have such a combustible relationship. Eve is a fantastic cop with great instincts. Most people would have labelled the murders suicides but Eve persisted in the investigation. The other great thing about this book is that Peabody is back. Eve is a great mentor for Peabody and Peabody brings out some great humour

Rating:

(4.0/5)

Day of Confession - Allan Folsom

Day of Confession by Allan Folsom
Mystery

Wow, what a thriller! After the assassination of a cardinal in the Vatican, Harry Addison gets a frantic voice mail from his estranged brother, Danny, a priest in Vatican City. Less than 24 hours later, Danny is dead and Harry is on a flight to Italy to bring his brother home. The police aren't willing to just let him come in and take his brother home without questioning him on some troubling evidence they have... that points to Danny being the murderer of the cardinal.
I've read quite a few mysteries this year, yet I find that for me, a mystery is much more page turning when someone is wrongly accused. Trying to find out how the character is going to prove that they are innocent makes for a page turning novel!
I felt quite sympathetic towards Harry and Danny and enjoyed them both as characters. Elena, the nurse that took care of them, however, was a bit stiff. And when Folsom forced a relationship on Elena and Harry, I was surprised. I felt absolutely no chemistry between the two of them. It's almost as if Folsom thought that Harry seeing Elena naked would suddenly make him fall in love with her.
I was a little questionable towards Palestrina. How could someone so obviously evil and self-serving get to be so high in the Vatican City? Surely someone would have said something about him sooner, regardless of his scare tactics. But of course, without him none of the story would have been possible.
The ending of the book was cinematic and I had troubles putting down the book to get off the train and go to work!

Rating:

(4.5/5)

jPod by Douglas Coupland

jPod by Douglas Coupland
Fiction

What looks to be like an updated version of Microserfs, Coupland puts a bunch of wacky characters into a video game company in Vancouver as gaming programmers. All characters have last names that end with the letter J, hence the name of their little pod at work "jPod". The main character, Ethan, begins the book by helping his mom get rid of the body of her ex-lover/grow-op helper. More crazy events ensue that could never happen to anyone in their entire life, let alone in the couple of months that this book takes place in. This includes fighting bad marketing in your company from adding a character named "Jeff Probst", going over to China to bring back a heroine-addicted co-worker, being forced to watch your father ball room dance with a male friend, helping your mother get through her phase of ultra feminism, and dealing with one author named Douglas Coupland.
Yes, you heard me right, Coupland puts himself in this novel many times. At first, it just seems tacky. The characters talk about how they feel like Coupland novel characters. But in the end, it sort of works out because Coupland writes himself in as a full character - one that interacts with the jPodders.
This book definitely had it's funny moments, but overall was just bizarre. Much more so than Microserfs. If you haven't read either, I suggest reading Microserfs and skipping this one unless you're a hardcore Coupland fan, or work in the IT industry.

Rating:

(3.5/5)

The BFG by Roald Dahl

The BFG by Roald Dahl
Children's

Sophie, a young orphaned girl, looks out her window one night to see a great big giant with an instrument that looks like a trumpet, blowing stuff into other windows on her street. Scared, she goes back to her bed but this giant has huge ears and can hear anything and he picks her up and takes her back to his cave. This isn't a scary giant though, this is the Big Friendly Giant (BFG, which I'll admit, I entertained for a while was a different F word!). When Sophie learns of the nasty other giants that eat children, she and the BFG come up with a grand scheme to stop the giants before they hurt anyone else.
This book is so cute and the illustrations add nicely to the story. Although I enjoy how the BFG talks (which is in improper grammar), this could be confusing for a child who you would read the book to. But the book promotes education, which is great. It's also quite a good story of good vs bad. Most importantly, it's a fun book!
This book was voted #56 on the BBC Top 100 list!

Rating:

(4/5)

Hostage

Hostage by Robert Crais
Mystery

An ex-con with delusions of grandeur and his tagalong brother unwittingly team up with a psychopath one wrong word away from meltdown. When their late afternoon joyride turns into a random act of violence, they take a family hostage in the affluent bedroom community of Bristo Camino. Enter Chief of Police Jeff Talley, a stressed-out former LAPD SWAT negotiator who is hiding from his past. Plunged back into the high-pressure world that he desperately wants to forget, Talley soon learns that his nightmare has only begun.

The hostages are not who they seem, and the home contains secrets that even L.A.’s most lethal and volatile crime lord, Sonny Benza, fears. As Talley tries to hold himself together and save the people inside, the full weight of Benza’s wrath descends on him, putting the police chief and his own family at risk. Soon, all involved are held hostage by the exigencies of fate and the only one capable of diffusing the standoff is the least stable of them all.


This book is about a hostage situation but the hostages are not what they seem. How will Talley get his family back? This was enjoyable and full of suspense. Are criminals that dumb they just can not see there is no solution but to give in? Mars' situation is not described as fully as one would wish. It seems almost as if the author ran out of time and rushed his story

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Three to get Deadly - Janet Evanovich

Three to get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
Mystery

The third book in the Stephanie Plum number series, this book does not disappoint! You read this book for the quirky characters rather than for the plot line. This book sees Plum searching for Uncle Mo, a neighbourhood favourite. When Stephanie gets shot at multiple times in one day and finds a basement full of dead bodies, she calls in the help of Lula, an ex-hooker turned filer, and of course Ranger and Morelli. I love the chemistry between Stephanie and Morelli. It's a love/hate (but of course, more love than hate) relationship between the 2 of them. Grandma Mazur wasn't in the book as much as she has been in the past, but making up for it was Lula. Some of her antics were so funny I found myself chuckling on the train... which is kind of embarrassing. I'm looking forward to reading the next book! I can't wait to see where Stephanie and Morelli's relationship goes next!

Rating:

(4/5)

Lucky

Lucky by Alice Sebold
Non-Fiction

From the Publisher
Enormously visceral, emotionally gripping, and imbued with the belief that justice is possible even after the most horrific of crimes, Sebold''s compelling memoir of her rape at the age of 18 is a story that takes hold and won''t let go

A disturbing book!!! The account of the rape is detailed and quite vivid. Sebold's determination is admirable. The justice system is also shown in all its goods and bads. How can a line-up be handled like it was? I found it quite callous in how both Lila and Alice treated each other and their lack of mutual understanding. Alice also seems to forego any sort of therapy and I believe that is why she has trouble later. This is a tale of a very strong young lady to whom the ultimate personal tragedy happened

Rating:

(4.0/5)

Imaginary Men

Imaginary Men by Anjali Banerjee
Romance

Publishers Weekly
A desperate lie leads to true love in Banerjee's predictable but fun debut. At the Kolkata, India, wedding of her younger sister, Indian-American matchmaker Lina, who lives in San Francisco, gets so fed up with her great-aunt's talk of arranged marriages that she tells everyone she's already engaged. Too bad Lina isn't even dating anyone, much less the rich, cosmopolitan fellow named Raja she claims as her fiance (she invents him, based on the real Raja Presad, a prince she met at her sister's wedding). In what becomes a Bridget Jones's Diary meets Monsoon Wedding-style escapade, Lina must find the Mr. Right she's supposed to already have. Enter a series of humorously awful first-and-last dates. When the real Prince Raja drops by, seeking a match for his brother, Lina's day job takes a turn for the personal. Is it possible that Raja could actually be the One? Could Lina's California lifestyle ever meld with that of a wealthy Indian prince? Besides, with his home in India and antiquated views on women, Raja is hardly interested in Lina as his real-life betrothed or is he? Of course he is! Banerjee's prose is workmanlike, but at least her narrator isn't afflicted with the logorrhea so many other chick-lit heroines suffer from, which makes this a quick, enjoyable read. Agent, Winifred Golden. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information

This book was a fun read. Lies have a habit of growing and growing and becoming a burden. This is what happens to Lina when she invents a fiancee. There are some times when Lina must become quite inventive in her lies. Lina really does try to find herself a fiancee by her own job in a matchmaking company. Throughout the book there are wonderful insights into the Indian-American culture. Some of the descriptions of people searching out others are quite funny. Of course in true romance book style there is a prince to sweep her off her feet.

Rating:

(3.4.5/5)

The House of the Spirits

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Literature in Translation

Spanning four generations, Isabel Allende's magnificent family saga is populated by a memorable, often eccentric cast of characters. Together, men and women, spirits, the forces of nature, and of history, converge in an unforgettable, wholly absorbing and brilliantly realised novel that is as richly entertaining as it is a masterpiece of modern literature


This book tells the story of the Trueba family. Estaban Trueban was a man with extreme anger issues. Although he ended up very wealthy in some ways he also ended up very poor. Emotionally this man was a train wreck. This is a family saga with amazing details about Chilean history. Politically this book was extremely interesting and I learned a great deal about Chile. Allende writes of strong willed men and women with a great passion for life.

Rating:

(4.0.5/5)