Rainy Day Reads

One of my favorite settings is wartime. It doesn’t specifically have to be World War II, there is just a lot of great fiction set during this time period. I feel kind of bad saying that World War II is a favorite setting of mine, because this was very much a real time and place with real people living through atrocities, and large numbers of people not surviving. If feels wrong to exploit that for my pleasure, but at the same time I do think these books are important. They tell the personal stories of the people of the time, and if not based directly on true events they can share snippets of the history that may have drowned in the larger telling of the historical events. If it is done well, that is. Below are 5 books that I think are not only great fiction, but that gave me new insight into the history of a period I thought I was pretty well versed in.   City of Thieves by David Benioff This is the story about Lev, a young boy in Leningrad during the Nazi siege...

This is the prequel to "Code Name Verity" which I absolutely loved. So when this started bouncing around Booktube I knew I had to read it. We follow Julia when she is a young girl, she had her 16th birthday part near the end of the book. She returns to the ancestral home of her grand parents, a large estate sold off when her grandfather dies living massive debts behind him. While Julia's family is packing and organizing the last few heirlooms Julia strikes up a friendship with some local Travellers (can they be local when they are Travellers?) and gets herself involved in a murder mystery when a scholar cataloguing her grandfather's archaeological collection comes up missing. Julia is at the very center of the mystery as it slowly unravels dragging almost everyone into its nets. I really enjoyed this book. It gave me a slight Downton Abbey vibe which I am always down for, and had a real sense of nostalgia with the fading summer days and the unraveling of an ol...

I figured it was about time I did something other than a review. Both to break up my feed and to get back into blogging again. As I’ve explained I have been quite busy lately and haven’t really devoted much time to my blog, but I am determined to get back into it and this tag sounded fun, so here goes! I first saw this video on Youtube at Lauren and the Books , so you can click here to see her video.  Recently Watched:The last book you finished reading. I finished “Delirium” just yesterday, as I am writing this (and wrote a review, like the good blogger I am (trying to be)). I didn’t really enjoy it that much, so I’ve decided to not continue the series, but you can read my review for more thoughts :)  2. Top Picks: A book/books that have been recommended to you based on a book you have previously read. This sounds a little bigheaded but I think I am the one in my circle of friends who reads the most, so I generally find my new books myself. I really can...

I don’t often cry when reading books, but there have been a few notable ones over the last few years that have made me shed a tear. I thought I would share these books, as they are some of my favorite ones, and who doesn’t need a good tear jerker now and then? Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein This book is set during the Second World War and follows two young women who both work in the war effort. Somehow they end up behind enemy lines and they must each try to get out of trouble in their own way. The thing that got to my cold cynical heart was the relationship between these two women and the sheer bravery of especially one of them. The lengths she was willing to go to were amazing and it wrung a tear from my eye.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Another book set during World War II this one follows a young German girl, who is left with foster parents due to various circumstances. We follow her struggles finding a place for herself in the new family and the new t...

I’ve been wanting to do a fun little tag for a while, because I think it’s a fun way to go over a few of the books you’ve read. So I found this tag on Tumblr and thought it looked like fun. I found the tag here , but I don’t know who created the original.  The only rule seems to be that you can’t use the same book twice! So here it goes… One quote:  “It’s against the rules of humanity to believe there is nothing we can do”. From "Finnikin of the Rock" by Melina Marchetta Two OTPs:  SPOILER ALERTS!!  Katniss/Peeta from "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and "Lucas/Jacqueline" from Easy by Tammara Webber Three series:  His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling (Obviously!) The Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater (so exited for The Raven King to come out soon!) Four authors:  Jane Austen Erich Maria Remarque Charles Dickens Jean M. Auel (absolutely loved the Earth’s Children serie...

Holy smokes, this book was just what I needed! Finally a good book after I have been struggling with some less than great books these past weeks. The story is set during World War II and follows two British women who both work in the war effort. The book had me gripped tight right from the start, the writing is beautiful and the story is compelling.  I feel like I shouldn't give too much away about the plot, but basically the two women end up in France behind enemy lines. One of them is caught and questioned by the Gestapo, and she must reveal her mission or face torture.  Beware of spoiler-ish notes below!!! The book is divided into two parts. The first is like a set up of the story and telling how Verity came to be in the Gestapo headquarters. During the entirety of this part the author had me questioning if Verity really was telling the truth or if she was somehow trying to cheat the Gestapo and buy more time for herself. But the story she told, the information she gave awa...