Book Club

[LoriLori]

I have very deliberately avoided reading about this forever.  But I'll finish "All the Light We Cannot See" today and I'm thinking I should force myself to read more.

I'd prefer nonfiction but great fiction like "All the Light We Cannot See" would be fine.  Also would prefer to focus on books that involve France but any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

[Loveac]

I am currently reading "Once We Were Brothers" by Ronald Balson....it is historical fiction      set in Poland during the Holocaust....very good book so far, and I'm learning a lot.

[millieshops]

If you've never read The Book Thief, I'd go there although I don't remember which country is its focus.  I do remember the beginning confusing me until I'd read more and realized what was going on.  Also, this book was written for young readers, but plenty of us old(er) readers like it.

Another one is The Invisible Bridge which focuses on Hungary, not France.  However, I learned aspects of living through the Holocaust that somehow had escaped me for all the years of my long life.

Anyway - both good stories with good history, too.

[Bellabutterfly]

I can recommend only by what I have read.  All four of these book are Excellent!

(1)  The Boy in The Striped Pajamas  By John Boyne

(2)  Sarah's Key   By:  Tatiana De Rosnay

(3)  The Invisible Bridge  By:  Rick Perlstein

(4)  The Book Theif  By:  Markus Zusak 

[MacDUFF]

Have you read these...

Fiction:

And slightly off-topic, but about WWII...one of my all-time favorites...

[slave2cats]

I would recommend:

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - about 2 French sisters during WWII - great book;

Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally; and

The Holocaust by the great British historian, Martin Gilbert

[Tee4u]

I understand avoidance.  It is too horrible to contemplate. It took me years to finallly visit Dachau Concentration Camp musuem in Munich, Germany, after living in Germany for over 10 years.   I wept after visiting my last holocaust musuem- the recently opened Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.  It was only a few weeks after 9-11 and it was a bad time.

So back to books: First book I read was the Diary of Anne Frank. I visited the site in the now Anne Frank Musuem in Amsterdam decades ago.

The latest book I read was not as depressing and was a new region for me to explore on this topic-France.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay: an adventure, mystery format of the untold story of the French WWII holocaust events in Paris.  Despite the topic, it was presented in an uplifting perspective.

[lovescats]

if your library has it I recommend The Book Thief as an audio download.   I thought the narration was perfect.

[Lilysmom]

There are some good recommendations here.  The movie Schindler's List is very good as well.  LM

[SAGal]

For books in France I highly recommend THE NIGHTINGALE and THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND.  Also other great books not set in France - THE LOST WIFE, SECRETS OF A CHARMED LIFE, and THE PLUM TREE.  I rated all these books either 4 or 5 on GOODREADS.  ENJOY!