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Book Thief, The

Death Narrates Nazi Germany Author: Markus Zusak Books and movies about war can make the most complicated of human circumstances seem simple, black and white, a basic battle between right and wrong.  In some ways, and in some wars, there is truth to be found in the basics, but to stop there ignores the real people whose lives are ended, destroyed and forever altered by conflicts in whose creation they had no part.  The Book Thief acknowledges all of those people through the vector of a single small girl living as part of the most highly controversial civilian population in [...]

2016-12-31T17:57:30-07:00April 6th, 2012|Tags: , , , , |

Before I Go to Sleep

Forgetting to Remember Author: S.J. Watson When I wake up in the morning I usually have the same first thought, "Do I really have to get up now?"  What if your first thought, every single morning, was, "Where am I and who is this man in my bed?"  In such a case you would most likely have a problem with either substance abuse or promiscuity.  Or maybe you have amnesia.  Guess which one applies in Before I Go to Sleep? If you guessed promiscuity, I like the way you think, but you're wrong.  Christine Lucas has amnesia.  She forms memories [...]

2016-12-31T17:57:30-07:00April 6th, 2012|Tags: , , , , |

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Author: Katherine Boo If you were one of those people who said, “You know, I enjoyed Slumdog Millionaire, but it was just a little too upbeat,” I’ve got just the book for you. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity is pretty much guaranteed to not only depress the hell out of you, but make you squirm with shame over whatever you were just complaining about. I thought I had it bad because my shower head likes to abruptly switch from cold to hot water… until I read about the Mumbai slum dwellers who have [...]

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