The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Synopsis

This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

I decided to start this book after finishing The Nightingale in order to follow a theme. I thought that would be a good idea. It wasn’t. It took me months to finish this one because I couldn’t read too much of it at one time. Going right from Nightingale to Tattooist was really heavy, and I needed breaks.

The amount of time that it took me to finish this book had nothing to do with the writing, though. This book will hook you, pull you in, and make you want to see how it ends.

It’s quite a different way to take in a story about the holocaust. Lale has direct contact with many Nazi soldiers. That gives it an interesting spin. He works for them while also working directly against them.

I know this book is based on a true story, but I didn’t realize how much until I read the epilogue. It made everything in the book that much more interesting.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a good book. It’s not the best writing I’ve ever taken in, but I also can’t exactly put my finger on why. It didn’t turn me off from the book it was just different.

I would recommend it to anyone interested in historical novels – either fiction or non.

4/5 Stars

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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Synopsis:

France, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another. 

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.

My first impression was “wow, this book is long.” I abandoned that notion pretty quick because I almost wanted it to go on forever.

This book is H-E-A-V-Y. When I started it, it was just a sad book about WWII in France. The more I read, though, the more breaks I had to take. It was just gut wrenching to read. Yeah, these may be fictional characters, but this was reality for so many people.

You really become attached to every single character that you read about. Its really hard to express my feelings about this book because it’s almost pure sadness. But then there is the joy of having read it because it really is a great read.

I’m not huge on historical fiction but I do tend to enjoy books about WWII/Holocaust. It’s just so incomprehensible that these things happened to real people. It’s tough to digest but it makes these books that much more interesting.

If you are in the mood to feel every single feeling – pick this up. It is definitely worth the read. Even if it does leave you empty and hopelessly sad.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “As I approach the end of my years, I know that grief, like regret, settles into our DNA and remains forever a part of us.”

“Everything looked exactly as it always had and that surprised her. War was coming, and she’d imagined it would leave a mark on the countryside somehow, changing the grass color or killing the trees or scaring away the birds, but now, as she sat on this train chugging into Paris, she saw that everything looked completely ordinary.”

“Some images, once seen, can never be forgotten.”

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The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

Synopsis:

Confessions are Rose Baker’s job. A typist for the New York City Police Department, she sits in judgment like a high priestess. Criminals come before her to admit their transgressions, and, with a few strokes of the keys before her, she seals their fate. But while she may hear about shootings, knifings, and crimes of passion, as soon as she leaves the room, she reverts to a dignified and proper lady. Until Odalie joins the typing pool.

As Rose quickly falls under the stylish, coquettish Odalie’s spell, she is lured into a sparkling underworld of speakeasies and jazz. And what starts as simple fascination turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.

This book is so frustrating, yet so intriguing and mysterious. It is hard to keep in mind that this book takes place in the 20’s. The main character, Rose, speaks a lot about femininity and what a woman is supposed to be. It is so wildly different from the culture we live in now.

Part of me wants to smack her at times. Other parts of me just feel bad for her.

Then you think about her fascination with Odalie, and it is all very mysterious. Half way through the book and you still don’t really understand how deep her fascination goes.

It is also hard to figure out whether Rose is into women platonically or whether she is into them in a romantic sense.

This book follows the two of them and then it reaches a peak at the end. All I can say about that is, I am confused.

I was still confused after I read the last line of the book. Yes, it threw a twist at us, but I am not really sure what they twist was.

Maybe I am just being dumb with this one.

I did like the book overall, Rose was a very frustrating character to read about, but it was mysterious and kept me hanging on.

3.5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “A good typist knows her place. She is simply happy, as a woman, to be paid a reasonable income.”

“I am quite skilled at watching people, and I believe this habit has given me something of a true education in the world – perhaps in more ways than one.”

“I wasn’t as sure as Odalie seemed to be about the prospect of my falling in love with what promised to be a group of derelicts posing as intellectuals, but I was becoming increasingly sure I was about to allow myself to be charmed by Odalie herself.”

“There is something darkly thrilling about standing on the balcony of a very tall building and looking over the edge with the silent knowledge that is in one’s own power to jump.”

“You see, doubt is magnificently difficult pest of which to try to rid oneself, and is worse than any other kind of infestation. It can creep in quietly and through the tiniest of cracks, and once inside, it is almost impossible to ever completely remove.” 

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Synopsis:

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

I figured I had to pick this book up when I saw it because it is so well liked throughout the book community. I didn’t really know why, and I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t even know what it was about.

Normally, I shy away from books about the holocaust, because I was forced to read so many during school and I just needed a break. But . . . I bought this book without reading the synopsis, so I didn’t really have a choice. I am glad that I broke my rule for this book.

It was gripping. It was sweet. It was heartbreaking. It had a little bit of everything including a really unique POV.

All of the characters in The Book Thief are great. They are all central to the story and really make it work.

This book made me cry harder than any book has in a really, really long time.

This is just a beautiful book that I would label as a must-read.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “When she came to write her story, she would wonder exactly when the books and the words started to mean not just something, but everything.”

“Even death has a heart.”

“He must have longed for it so much. He must have loved her so incredibly hard. So hard that he would never ask for her lips again and would go to his grave without them.”

“One was a book thief. The other stole the sky.”

“Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.”

“She was still clutching the book. She was holding desperately on to the words who saved her life.”

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