Sarah's Key

In the "New York Times" Bestseller, Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay explores the horror of the Holocaust with an original and modern twist. This historical novel revolves around two different story lines- ten-year-old Sarah, who is taken with her parents by the French police to a concentration camp in 1942 and Julia, an American journalist living in Paris in 2002. Their paths merge as Julia investigates the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup for its 60th anniversary. This unknown piece of French history is startling, morally challenging, and especially heartbreaking. Rosnay completely captures the hatred of that time, and well as the utter disbelief of the tragedy's victims. When the French police come to arrest Sarah and her family, the young girl desperately tries to protect her younger brother by locking him a cupboard- their special hiding place, and promises to return. Julia becomes determined to discover the secrets revolving around the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup and Sarah's story, as she slowly learns that this tragedy is linked to her own life, and that her and Sarah have more in common than she thought.

This novel was excellent. It was the kind of book that I found myself thinking about days later- the true mark of good read. Sarah's Key will not leave you disappointed; it is filled with mystery, suspense, and heartbreak that will make you speechless.

Dreaming of summer...

I am officially dreaming of summer days, where I can wear a tank top and flip flops, lounge on a beautiful beach, and read a good book. Since it is only February, my fantasy is a bit far-fetched. But I am counting down the days till June, when not only is it my favorite time of the year (my birthday is in July), but it is a time when I do not have to think about any schoolwork. I can focus on reading whatever I want without feeling guilty about it. So, in preparation for this lovely time of year, and yes, I know it is four months away, I have begun my Summer Reading List. A compilation of all the books that I have heard about, read about, seen, or been recommended to me, that unfortunately, I do not have the time to read right now. So here is the beginning of this very important list, that I will be adding to throughout this semester. I will also tell you where I heard about each one, which may help with your own reading adventures.

1. Sarah’s Key- Tatiana de Rosnay
2. The Forest of Hands and Teeth- Carrie Ryan

*I read about both of these books on an online college blog called College Candy, where there is a series called "Saturday Read." These reviews are very thorough and cover a bunch of different genres each week. Check it out!

3. True Blood series- Charlaine Harris

*I am assuming that everyone has read, or at the very least, heard of the Twilight series. They are the best books, love story, yay vampires, blah blah blah. Yeah, I know they are good. But I think the fad has gone too far, especially as a fan of the books before anyone read them, and when someone asked what you were reading and you said it was about vampires, you received a strange look. Ok no more Twilight rant. So apparently before Twilight ruled the teen world, Charlaine Harris wrote a series of books called True Blood. There is a television show based on these books, although I have never seen it. A friend recommended these books to me, and said that she couldn't put them down. So why not?

4. An Abundance of Katherines- John Green
5. Looking for Alaska- John Green

*I reviewed Paper Towns by John Green a couple months ago, and then saw these two books pop up while I was skimming through Amazon. His other book was good, so I figured I would try these out too. If I like one of a particular author's books, I will usually try out the rest of his/her collection. Typically, when one is good, the others that he or she have written are on the same level. This is not true for every author, but it is worth a try.

I will add more when I stumble on one that is worthy of this very memorable list. Stay tuned.