First, I am totally shocked I actually tried a new recipe right now. Since school has started, I have not felt like cooking. I didn’t let this one thicken up like I should have but it was still really good. The only change I made was substituting a little cumin for caraway and pressure cooking the beef/onions (speed up process).
Before I discuss the main book, there are two books I started but couldn’t finish. Let me say this, though…I didn’t finish them because they were terrible books! You may enjoy the books.
1) Trail of Broken Wings by Sejal Badani – I loved her book The Storyteller’s Secret (read previous post). However, I should not have started this book right after the other one. It was too much family abuse (physically, emotionally) right after reading her other one. And with the start of school…I just couldn’t finish it. I think this would be a good book to read, but for me, I was not in the mood.
2) I Am Pilgram by Terry Hayes – I read about a fourth of the book but had to stop. I heard it is a fantastic book. However, it is REALLY LONG (800 pages), and I just can’t read a book that long during the school year. It is a thriller and deals with bioterrorism. I did like the part I read. It really helped me understand the history of Afghanistan and the rise of radical fundamentalists. But…I can’t do 800 pages!
So after I finally did what I teach my Economics students to do when making choices (use your time reading a good book than using your time making yourself finish a bad book), I decided to stop reading both books and read one my mom gave me to read (was given to her by my aunt)… The Nazi Officer’s Wife.
I LOVED this book. I was sort of burned out of reading WW2 books but this one is completely different. It is a nonfiction book that tells the story of how one Jewish woman survived the Holocaust. I have said this is many posts (that deal with this time period)…it is easy for us to say “why didn’t they do this…or why did they do that…” This book gives you another glimpse of life during the Nazi regime. It is easy for us to ridicule or criticize based on what we THINK we know. However, history textbooks only tell one side. Sadly, our students are not learning all aspects of this time period. For example, there was a scene where she says they brought in all these boys to praise/salute Hitler when he was at a hotel and no one showed up. In history textbooks (and class), students will be shown videos and pictures of boys saluting Hitler. Makes me realize how much propaganda was used back then but sadly how it is used today, convincing young students that all Germans were evil Nazis (which is not true). I am not saying that ALL those images are propaganda. However, I am saying that I think history teachers may want to read more about life in Nazi German and present the other side before teaching this time period.
I am not sure how my aunt came across this book but she told my mom she needed to read it because it gives another glimpse of my grandmother’s life in Germany during that time. My mom loved it and gave it to me. I loved it.
Although there is some references to sex, it isn’t anything I would be concerned about my 14 year old daughter reading. I am going to give to her to read.
So…if you are in the mood to read a quick, nonfiction, WW2 book, then this book is for you.
