February 2022 books

My Real Name Is Hanna by Tara Lynn Masih
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wanted to read something about Ukraine and I found this gem of a book. It is very Ruta Sepetys-y and did a good job telling a difficult story with warmth and dignity.

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The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another Ukraine book. And what a delightful one! I was skeptical about a "magical realism but also WW2 Ukraine" book, but it worked! I wish more books had adorable sentient animals as characters. I think this would actually be a fun book to read aloud to some kids. It's not without its upsetting moments but there were also times when I wanted to look over at someone reading along with me and grin conspiratorially.

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The Guncle by Steven Rowley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed reading this book but Patrick was too adorable by half. I kept wanting to stop him in his cutesy monologues to the kids (very small kids!) and say, "you...you know there aren't any cameras on you right now, right? Nobody can hear what you're saying except the kids, who probably don't understand half the words you just used. It's not just about the cultural references. I'm talking about literally your vocabulary level."

But still, very sweet and fun and probably just the thing if you're in the mood for piquant asides spoken by a funny gay man.

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The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Absolutely riveting, but also kind of chaotic? Either it wasn't organized very well, or I just read it too fast for the structure to soak in. You should also know that historians have disputed this book's conclusions - maybe read an article or two about that controversy after you're finished reading.

Aside from the central mystery of who gave up the Franks' hiding place (which this book claims to solve), I was fascinated by the often mundane details of what it meant to survive or perish as an ordinary Jewish person in Amsterdam in WW2. The circumstances people found themselves in and the ways they coped with the danger were so interesting (and terrible) to read about.

I docked a star because even though it was very readable, it sometimes was more about the thing rather than just being the thing. Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition was like this for me, too.

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March by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't really like this one! I'm giving it three instead of two stars because it was interesting to read, most of the time. But mostly it just felt like Mr. March went around making himself the main character in every situation. I know that's how books WORK, but he was just so insufferable about it!!

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