Title: As I Have Loved You

Author: Kitty De Ruyter

Genre: Non Fiction, LDS, Biography

Published: February 28, 2003

The book starts our during Kitty's childhood living in Indonesia, being in concentration camps, living through wars, moving to Holland, then moving to the US and eventually her joining The Church of Jesus Christ of LDS.

If I managed to view what I was reading as a conversation with someone who is older and has fantastic stories to tell I found myself enjoying the book immensely. Those times where I slipped and realized I was reading a book I found myself getting frustrated with the repetition. I also found myself wanting to know how old she was during certain stories especially during those moments when she would jump to a new story. There were times where I wished she would go into more detail especially about what she was thinking and feeling.

I was impressed with her mother and believe she would have been a really amazing person to know. I was also impressed not all the stories Kitty told about herself put her in the most positive light. Even then she was able to pull morals and positives out of the experiences she had.

Overall I gave this book 4 stars out of 5.

Title: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: October 1, 2013

This book is full of stories where the little guy managed to beat the favored party.

It was obvious how the author felt about certain issues. In this context that really should be expected. The stories were well researched and told well. There were certain chapters I had to push to get through. The dyslexia chapter and the chapter about the three strike penalties were not easy chapters for me.

The last chapter about Le Chambon was absolutely fabulous. It was about one of my favorite time periods, WWII, and was a story I had never heard before about people who were wonderful.

In the different examples used throughout the book I was interested how the people were able to accomplish everything they did and the different ways they were able to make those accomplishments.

Overall I gave this book 4 stars out of 5.

Title: The Nazi Hunter: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi

Author: Neal Bascomb

Type of book: Nonfiction

I was given this book by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

This is the story of how Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi leader, was captured years after he escaped Germany post WWII.

As I started reading I was expecting a textbook like experience. Instead it read more like a novel and I really enjoyed that. It made reading it a lot easier and harder to put down.

I liked the intake team. They did everything they could to make sure Eichmann made it through the experience unhurt and comfortable, or at least as comfortable as a prisoner could be. I really liked the girl Sylvia and everything her family did to insure Eichmann would be captured.

I thought the psychological ramifications the intake team had after they managed to get Eichmann was interesting. They each had personal experience with the Holocaust and struggled coming to terms with those experiences. The idea that they weren't expecting that along with how hard it was for them was fascinating.

My favorite part was the epilogue. I enjoyed learning what had happened to each of the people in the book after the trial. I like hearing about how peoples lives continue past what is arguably one of the biggest events in their lives.

I gave this book 5 stars out of 5.

Title: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Author: Susan Cain

Type of book: Nonfiction

In the book it says that one-third of the people we know are introverts and how they live in a world designed for extroverts.

As an introvert I could see myself a lot in this book. One example happened this past summer I had a big fight with my sister. The longer the fight went the louder and more expressive she became and the quieter and more contained I became. She thought we were really connecting. I just wanted the fight to be over so we could go our separate ways and get over it. When I reached the part about fighting in the book I thought well yeah that is exactly how this goes.

I really liked the stories about school. I remember in elementary staying inside and playing with my friend Jenny instead of going outside for games. In Junior high I remember standing on the fringes trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Reading this I felt validated for hating group projects and group discussions.

Over all I gave this book 5 stars out of 5.

Title: The End of Your Life Book Club

Author: Will Schwalbe

Type of book: Nonfiction, Biography

This book is about a woman, Mary Anne, who was diagnose with cancer. During her treatments she and her son would talk about the books they were reading. They formed an informal book club. The book is told by her son Will.

I love his descriptions of his mother. The comparison to the airline among others. I could see that in my own family, how my mother is central. My father died four years ago and I still miss him. I can not imagine the time when I will no longer be able to talk to my mother everyday. I thought this was a beautiful way for the author to say he missed her.

I buy books as presents. Once someone reaches around age seven or so in my family it is rare for them to get anything but a book from me. I don't really think very many of them actually read the books, but they still get them. I loved how Mary Anne did the same thing.

My favorite line in the book was, "That's one of the things books do. They help us talk. But they also give us something we all can talk about when we don't want to talk about ourselves." I like the idea of being able to read a book around the same time as someone else and being able to talk about it. My problem is if I get unhappy with a book I put it down until I get past that part. This means it can take me forever to read some books. Not sure that would really work in a reading partnership. Still like the concept though.

I give this book 5 stars out of 5.