Logophile

Think "Bill Bryson on Paris"

Reviewed: 03-27-25

rI bought this book because I misunderstood what it was about. I thought it was about the Resistance in Paris. It was, if fact, the history of a small town in fro. ancient days to the present. it's interesting and boring at once.

The narrator was amazing as he flowed seamlessly between English and French.

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Immerian into WWII 's Italian Campaign in late 1943

Reviewed: 10-30-24

I began The Savage Storm just before leaving on a Stephen Ambrose WWII history trip from Catania to Rome. I was able to follow along and more fully grasp the import of specific areas and focused places we explored.

In preparation, I had read Rick Atkinson's Vol. 1 covering the battle for North Africa, but switched to James Holland for Sicily '43, then The Savage Storm. Both authors are terrific historians, but Holland's research is updated, debunks some myths, and approaches it, of course, with a slightly different voice. I found Holland's easier to sort through the details, reading less like a Russian novel.

When Holland was describing the experience of two soldiers creeping out of their foxhole to a disorienting chaos, Holland said they were "discombobulated." I laughed out loud and knew I had landed on the right historian for me!

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One of the books I re-read most.

Reviewed: 08-25-24

I have to re-read Mere Christianity every few years. Each time I discover some new understanding and fresh relevance, a new application of truth. God uses C.S. Lewis to teach and train me like no other except Elisabeth Elliot and John Bunyan.

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This book was a wonderful example of why I normally avoid histfiction: too good, too gripping! Now I need to read Monuments Men!

Reviewed: 08-01-24

The plot was right up my WWII alley, gripping, well told, faily believable. I sensed a plot twist coming: a false character, a deceitful wand thought I'd

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A unique and previously untold WWII story - of Britain's domestic internment camps!

Reviewed: 06-06-24

As much nonfiction as I read, British political POW/internment camps was an entirely new revelation to me. A shocking reality hidden from the public, un-English incivility, and yet? So much hope, beauty, and goodness was created out of the ashes! (Quite literally!) The first chapters build the background and walls of the story. The internees fill the camp with art, music, science, literature! (Yes, even making their own supplies out of ashes and eyelashes!) The well-researched uniqueness of this story bumped this from a four - to a five-star rating for me!

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1 person found this helpful

A fairy tale of moral & character development

Reviewed: 05-17-24

I normally love the fairy tales of G.K. Chesterton but this one was a bit repetetive... or perhaps my mind wandered. The narrator was one of the worst I've come across. It has a classic theme: "The Pinnochio motif" but it was hard to attend as the narrator's voice pierced shrilly in attempts to have a variey of voices. . . staccato! Plus she mispronounced words...

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This is the ugly backstory to Harold Fry's journey. I regret reading it.

Reviewed: 04-25-24

This book reveals the backstory of Queenie, David, and Maureen, which is an interesting storyline but it was also like looking behind the curtain at the Wizard in Oz or looking in someone's bathroom trash. It was all the brokenness and the foulness and dysfunction and bad endings, the drugs and violations of secrets spilled, and narcissistically getting "closure" at the expense of others.Do yourself a favor and enjoy all the sweetness of The Unlikely Pilgrimage and skip this "companion" story. The only redemption of this book is Harold's consistent faithfulness.

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Long-distance Walking - a balm for grief & a telescope for perspective in life

Reviewed: 04-22-24

As a lover of long-distance walking and backpacker who still grieves the sudden death of my bff, hiking buddy and husband of 35 years, I knew upon learning about this book that it was necessary for me to read. I have cried and laughed and done both simultaneously. I have ached and found salve for this broken heart as I related to Harold and even to Maureen as the layers were peeled off; I was reminded that "hurt people hurt people." Applying that truth allows grace in. Even with fictional characters!

I saw the trailer to the upcoming film version, and was smitten, then learned it was from a book that has been around for well over a decade, and all my bibliophile friends read it years ago. It must have come out shortly after my own loss, and I'm glad they didn't recommend it then. But now I've done more long treks with friends in his place, have faced the lonliness demons, and was very ready to read this. It was just wonderful!

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True touching & gripping stories of young aviators in WW2

Reviewed: 04-19-24

I love memoirs, bios, non-fiction, war stories, drama, friendships, heroism for the right reasons, and war aviation. This book rang all my bells and blew all my whistles! It is a collection of non-fiction short bios of common young men in WWII aviation, many enlisting before Pearl Harbor was bombed. Many started via civilian pilot training programs designed to find and train the best young men out there. The author follows each one from early interest to the epilogue of their post-service years. The men tell of their hopes, fears, gaffes (many hilarious, some tragic) and their war struggles and victories. This audioreader took on just the hint of an accent with each new character/chapter. It is excellent. With every putting down of the book, I was eager to pick it up again.

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The blow-by-blow story of the Yom Kippur War and its complexity -

Reviewed: 03-17-24

There was much, much more day-by-day, blow-by-blow battle detail than I expected. I'm afraid I tended to tune out, then suddenly reaize "Wait! Who did what???" I thoroughly enjoyed the political and personality tangles, resonating with my own struggles when in leadership, and the preponderance of strong personalities which tend to rise (push their way?) to those positions.

I remember that my high-school world civ class in early 1969 was divided into two halves - Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews - and we had to represent "our side" to find a compromise acceptable to both parties. Through the whole semester, we failed (but hot good grades for valiant effort!) It was one of the most powerful classes I ever took, even through university.

This book was inside info to that struggle, and I appreciated that. The epilogue was wonderful.

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