How Huge the Night Book Review

A teenager's choices in the shadow of World War II will change him forever...

For fifteen-year-old Julien Losier, life will never be the same. His family has left his childhood home in Paris and relocated to southern France as Hitler begins to threaten their country. But Julien doesn't want to run. He doesn't want to huddle around the radio at night, waiting to hear news through buzzing static. Julien doesn't want to wait.

Angry, frustrated, and itching to do something, Julien finds a battle everywhere he turns.

His family opens their home to a Jewish boy needing refuge. His country falls to the Nazis. And in the new life they all are forced to make for themselves in the aftermath, Julien meets Nina... a young Austrian who has fled her country by her father's dying command. Nina also is Jewish, and in grave danger. Julien suddenly realizes the enormity of having someone's life or death depend on... him.

How Huge the Night is a novel by Heather and Lydia Munn, inspired by the true story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, the town in the south of France that became a refuge for Jews during World War II. A compelling story that will keep both teens and adults turning the pages, How Huge the Night explores both the darkness of the World War II experience in Europe and its moments of piercing light.

About the authors

Growing up in the savannahs of northern Brazil as a missionary kid, Lydia Munn did five years of homeschooling because there was no school where her family lived. There were no public libraries either, but she read every book she could get her hands on. As she grew up this led naturally to her choice of an English major at Wheaton College. Her original plan to teach English to high school students went through some changes along the way, becoming in the end a lifelong love of teaching the Bible to both adults and young people as a missionary in France. She and her husband Jim have two children, their son Robin and their daughter Heather.

Heather Munn was born in Northern Ireland of American parents and grew up in the south of France. She decided to be a writer at the age of five when her mother read her Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, but worried that she couldn't write about her childhood since she didn't remember it. Her favorite time of day was after supper when the family would gather and her father would read them a chapter from a novel. She went to French school until her teens, and grew up hearing the story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, only an hour's drive away. She now lives in rural Illinois with her husband Paul, where they offer free spiritual retreats to people coming out of homelessness and addiction. She enjoys wandering in the woods, writing, gardening, and splitting wood

                                                       Questions for a Book Club

Mandie's Thoughts -  It's a young adult historical fiction but I really enjoyed it. (& I'm not a teen)

Beautifully written based on actual facts from a Southern French perspective from a difficult time in our history. The characters have a way of tugging at your heart and the best part is you get to see the true Christianity put into action. God can do with people who will stand up and fight against the wrongs of the world. 

                       This is one I'm keeping for my children to read when they get a little older.

The Kitchen Daughter [Book Review]

Description
After the unexpected death of her parents, painfully shy and sheltered 26-year-old Ginny Selvaggio seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna's soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning ("do no let her…") before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish.

A haunted kitchen isn't Ginny's only challenge. Her domineering sister, Amanda, (aka "Demanda") insists on selling their parents' house, the only home Ginny has ever known. As she packs up her parents' belongings, Ginny finds evidence of family secrets she isn't sure how to unravel. She knows how to turn milk into cheese and cream into butter, but she doesn't know why her mother hid a letter in the bedroom chimney, or the identity of the woman in her father's photographs. The more she learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there's only one way to get answers: cook from dead people's recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.

 Reading Guide
Mandie's Thoughts - The beginning was very chaotic and I wasn't sure this would be the book for me but the more I read the more sucked in I became. I like my characters a bit flawed and Ginny is certainly that. She has problems communicating with her sister and she sees dead people. Well only if she makes their recipe exactly  from a hand written card. A very interesting and emotional book. Nothing is as it seems and it proves "normal" is different for every body. Oh and I LOVED the recipes!

Disclaimer - I received this book for my honest opinion, no other compensation was received.

The Baby Planner [Book Review]

Katie Johnson may make her living consulting with new moms on the latest greatest baby gadgets no parent should be without, or which mommy meet-ups are the most socially desirable, or whether melon truly is the new black, but the success of her marriage to her husband, Alex, depends on controlling her own urges toward motherhood.

He's adamant that they stay childless. Sure, Katie understands that he's upset over the fact that his out-of-town ex-wife rarely lets him see their ten-year-old son, Peter. But living vicariously through her anxious clients and her twin sisters' precocious children only makes Katie resent his stance more deeply.

While helping a new client—Seth Harris, a high tech entrepreneur who must raise Sadie, his newborn daughter, as a single parent after the tragic death of his wife in childbirth—maneuver the bittersweet journey from mourning husband and reticent father to loving dad, Katie's own ideals about love, marriage, and motherhood are put to the test as she learns ones very important lesson about family: How we nurture is the true nature of love
Read Chapter One Reading Group Guide My Thoughts - This book would make a great book club selection. There is so much to talk about! I read it in one day, I just couldn't put it down. That says a lot because I am a very busy woman.Katie was very likeable and my heart went out to her because she wanted a baby so badly. Just when you 'think' you have this book figured out there are a few twists and turns in it for you. I highly recommend it!

Disclaimer - I received this book for my honest opinion, no other compensation was received.

An Atlas of Impossible Longing [Book Review]

"They were not sketches. They were a declaration of love."

 
The first thing I noticed when opening this book for the first time was a "Cast of Characters" page. This worried me a bit. Often when you see this, you are about to embark upon a seriously confusing book, but this was not the case at all with An Atlas of Impossible Longing. Not only was it easy to follow, I have to say this is the best book I have read in years. I absolutely loved it and fell in love with the characters.

Set in India during the first half of the twentieth century, Ms. Roy tells the stories of 3 generations in 3 parts. In the first part, we meet Amulya, a faithful, if inattentive husband of Kananbala who slowly goes mad and is eventually locked away in an upstairs room where she witnesses a murder. The second part focuses on Amulya and Kananbala's grown children, young granddaughter, Bakul, and young orphan, Mukunda, adopted by the family. I found the story of forbidden love in the second part to be absolutely delicious. The third part is told by the now grown Mukunda who longs to be reunited with his childhood friend, Bakul.

Disclaimer - I received this book for my honest opinion, no other compensation was received.

Dear John - Book Review w/ Movie Preview

I started and finished "Dear John" by Nicolas Sparks last night, yes it was that good! I thought it started off a little strange but it sucks you in none the less, you have to know why. This is a beautiful love story of selflessness. It had me thinking if I were in the same situation, what would I do?

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. That changes everything and so the story unfolds. (I don't want to give away any spoilers).I admit this in no "Notebook" but it was good and I recommend it.

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Kelley Winslow is living her dream. Seventeen years old, she has moved to New York City and started work with a theatre company. Sure, she's an understudy for the Avalon Players, a third-tier repertory company so far off-Broadway it might as well be in Hoboken, but things are looking up—the lead has broken her ankle and Kelley's about to step into the role of Titania the Fairy Queen in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Faeries are far more real than Kelley thinks, though, and a chance encounter in Central Park with a handsome young man will plunge her into an adventure she could never have imagined.

For Sonny Flannery, one of the Janus Guards charged by Auberon, the King of Winter, with watching over the gate into the lands of Faerie that lies within Central Park, the pretty young actress presents an enigma. Strong and willful, she sparks against his senses like a firecracker and he can't get her out of his mind. As Hallowe'en approaches and the Samhain Gate opens, Sonny and Kelley find themselves drawn to each other—and into a terrible plot that could spell disaster for both New York and Faerie alike.

This debut novel that puts a fresh new spin on classic fairy lore. Wondrous Strange blends a gripping plot with fully-believable characters, fascinating ideas and just the right amount of romance to create a story that is vivid, thrilling and engaging. Readers of Herbie Brennan, Holly Black and Melissa Marr will find a new favorite in Lesley Livingston.

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