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Tag Archives: biography

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2006) – BR00152 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
April 2 2019

Plot or Premise

A young girl uses stolen books to distract herself from the reality of living in Nazi Germany in WWII while hiding a Jewish man in her basement.

What I Liked

It is incredibly difficult to know how to review this book. The second half moves along at a much quicker pace and with much higher stakes. The book is narrated by Death / Grim Reaper, and the chapter headings give glimpses of what is to come. There are some red herrings near the end, implying one ending while leading to another, but overall it is pretty solid. The characters are lively, the girl is outstanding, and there are glimpses of her family that offer rare moments of joy and love. And it moved me to tears at the end.

What I Didn’t Like

It is hard to accept the implied message that “most Germans were good / nice”, it was just the Nazis that were bad people. And even the storyline written by the Jewish man in the basement is that it is all because of the Fuhrer, that Hitler is the only truly evil one. There are parts of it that read like almost an apology for Nazism rather than a sense of accountability for the nation’s deeds. The extra materials at the end tell how the author was inspired by his grandparents’ accounts of the ordinariness (in some ways) of the war in Germany for Germans – something that happened around them, or to them, not committed by them. In terms of the writing, the first half is a bit slow and dull, and the constant foreshadowing is repetitive and annoying at the start, less so at the end. The caricature of the mother is ridiculous; she only becomes human near the end. Finally, and this is a bit of a spoiler, the story ends rather abruptly, leaving out a huge opportunity to tell some more story. I know this book is aimed at teens and is hugely popular, but I would not wants someone relying on this book as their only source of history.

The Bottom Line

Solid read, not sure about the message.

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, biography, book review, borrowed, Chapters, children, epic, fiction, Good Reads, Google, historical, history, Kobo, Library Thing, literary, Nook, novel, OPL, paperback, political, PolyWogg, prose, Reading Challenge, stand-alone, used, Young Adult | Leave a reply

Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton (2013) – BR00151 (2019) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
March 24 2019

The book is a collection of two sets of stories — the first set are Kinsey Millhone series set throughout the Alphabet series in time; the second set are about Kit Blue.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, biography, book review, Chapters, crime, detective, e-book, fiction, Good Reads, Google, Kobo, library, Library Thing, Millhone, mystery, Nook, OPL, PolyWogg, prose, psychology, series, short story | Leave a reply

Change: What Really Leads to Lasting Personal Transformation by Jeffrey A. Kottler (2013) – BR00118 (2018) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

The PolyBlog
December 17 2018

Plot or Premise Kottler reflects on literature and his personal experiences as a psychologist about the elements that lead people to not only make changes in their life but also sustain those changes over the long-term. What I Liked I had the pleasure of hearing Kottler speak as an honoured guest at my wife’s university graduation ceremony, and he intrigued me enough on the subject of “change” — what we know and what we don’t know — that I bought his book. It was the perfect book for me at this point in my life, as I’ve been wanting to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, biography, book review, Chapters, Fitness, Good Reads, Google, hardcover, health, Kobo, Library Thing, new, non-fiction, Nook, OPL, PolyWogg, prose, psychology, reference, self-help, stand-alone | Leave a reply

An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland by Michael Dirda (2003) – BR00035 (2007) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
May 3 2007

The author is a book reviewer for the Washington Post; this is the story of his life up until graduation from university.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, B&N, biography, book review, Chapters, Good Reads, hardcover, library, Library Thing, literature, non-fiction, PolyWogg, prose, stand-alone | Leave a reply

Equal to the Challenge by Department of National Defence (Canada) (2001) – BR00034 (2007) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
April 14 2007

This book is an anthology of women’s experiences in Canada during World War II. The anthology is a collection of first-person narratives from 57 women who served in various branches of the armed forces, auxiliaries, private industry in Canada during World War II. Each of the narratives have similar chronologies and approach – what the women were doing before the war, how they joined the Armed Forces or supporting occupation, their experiences during the war (both personal and professional), their life-in-brief after the war, and, finally, a chance for them to pass some judgement on “what did it all mean” for them or for women in general.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged action, biography, book review, epic, Good Reads, hardcover, historical, history, library, military, non-fiction, PolyWogg, prose, stand-alone | Leave a reply

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