Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

  

I finished reading Sarah's Key last night and loved it. Sarah's Key has been made into a movie (starring Kristin Scott Thomas, to be released in November of this year). I think that's where I heard of it. I can just imagine that this story will make a great movie.

A young Jewish girl in France and her family are carted off by the French police on the orders of the Nazis in July 1942. Almost all of the family, that is. That's the clincher. Egad. This story is fiction but based on fact (Jews in France were shipped to Auschwitz, for example), but even with it being fiction, it was told well. The story is original and oh so heartbreaking.

My only gripe was the translation. Since the author is French, I'm assuming that she wrote this book in French. The translation to English was awkward in places and plain strange. Sentences were sometimes repeated almost word for word within a few paragraphs, which makes me wonder what the original writing said.

But, overall I'd recommend this book all day long. And I will definitely watch this movie when it comes out. Let me know if you've read Sarah's Key and what you thought.

Book Read: Sarah's Key

Author:Tatiana de Rosnay

ISBN: 0-312-37084-9

A Traitor to Memory by Elizabeth George

  

(See all Literature & Fiction Books)Wow! It took me two weeks to read this book. I can't believe it. Granted A Traitor to Memory is 700+ pages long but gee whiz. I thought I'd never finish it! I love Elizabeth George's writing. She is thorough, develops characters like nobody's business, and holds the suspense to the very last page.

In this mystery, the story shifts back and forth in time, which I have to say, I was slow to pick up on exactly. The characters are well-developed but there are a lot of them. Even with a wide group, I didn't have trouble keeping track of all of them. I would highly recommend this book, or any of Elizabeth George's novels in case you haven't read them for yourself.

I have this Inspector Lynley DVD on reserve at the library and can't wait to see what they did with it. Have you read any of Elizabeth George's novels?

Book Read: A Traitor to Memory

Author: Elizabeth George

ISBN: 978-0-553-38601-1

In the Still of the Night by Ann Rule

Last night I finished reading In the Still of the Night:   The Strange Death of Ronda Reynolds and Her Mother's Unceasing Quest for the Truth? This is Ann Rule's latest true-crime book and it was a little more unsettling than some of her other books. Not because of the blood and gore or graphic detail about how the person died; I found it unsettling because Ann Rule became friends with the victim's mother and her telling of the story was different because of that, I think.

Ronda Reynolds was a former Washington state trooper who was murdered in her home but the case has not been solved to date. That was another biggie. Ann Rule always writes about crimes that have been solved and details the murderer. This book was different in many ways. She and the vicitm's mother, Barbara Thompson, even began trying to solve the crime themselves. Bizarre, but interesting. At the end of the book, Ann Rule wrote that she knew things but couldn't reveal them. Hmm. It makes me wonder if when (if) this 1998 murder ever is solved, she'll write another book.

Have you read In the Still of the Night? I was wondering about this book even more and looked up some earlier reviews about it. If interested, check out this one at the True Crime Book Reviews blog.

Book Read: In the Still of the Night

Author: Ann Rule

ISBN: 978-1-4165-4460-9

Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

I finally finished reading Second Glance by Jodi Picoult last night. I generally really like her books, but this one took me forever to get into. For one thing she had too many characters, which she mentioned in an interview at the back of the book.

I had trouble keeping all of the characters straight, which is a real buzz kill for me. Another tricky element was the ghost story, where there's now (with real people and ghosts) and then (with real people who show up now as ghosts). I totally had to pay attention, and I guess I wasn't up for it.

As the book moved along and the plot started to unravel, I got it, but at the end, when all the loose ends were tied into pretty little bundles, it was just way too convenient. Not at all plausible for me. So, all in all, this was my least favorite Jodi Picoult book I've read to date. It was good, mind you, just not up to her usual snuff. I like House Rules, which I read last year, much better.

Have you read Second Glance? If so, I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

Book Read: Second Glance

Author: Jodi Picoult

ISBN: 978-1-4165-8386-8