Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
I always enjoy Jodi Picoult novels, but this one caught my eye due to the timeliness of the topic of racism. At first, the tension from the election was making me want to steer clear from such a divisive theme, but I’m so glad I didn’t. I was sucked in instantly. The book is told from the perspectives of a black labor and delivery nurse who has worked tremendously hard for her success, a white supremacist whose newborn son has recently died, and a feisty public defender who jumps to the aid of the the nurse when she is wrongly accused of being at fault for the death of an infant. The characters were engaging, and the plot twists were nothing short of what you would expect from Picoult. I will be honest and say that I thought the end of the novel was solidly written and fulfilling, but it didn’t grab me quite as much as the first three-quarters of the book. Still, I would definitely recommend to all!
Killing the Rising Sun by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
I wanted to read this because I want to know more about World War 2. My grandfathers and their brothers all served in the military, and even though they were thankfully given fairly safe assignments, I still hoped to learn more about what the world was like when they were just starting their adult lives. I love history, but I am still a novice when it comes to reading books about it, and that’s where I enjoy O’Reilly’s narrative style. This book focuses on the war in the Pacific, specifically between the Americans and the Japanese. Different aspects of the war are focused upon including Truman’s presidency, the nuclear arms race, MacArthur, Iwo Jima, etc. The brutal details and first hand accounts made it a page-turner, albeit a disturbing one. I felt like the information was accurate and well-researched, but I was not bored by the pace and organization. I’d recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in history, especially World War 2, but also likes a good storyline.
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