Today, I thought I'd do a double review, seeing as I won't be online for a few days and these books have been waiting patiently to be reviewed. 
Title: Bending Towards the Sun
Author: Leslie Gilbert-Lurie with Rita Lurie
Pages: 357
Summary:
A beautifully written family memoir, Bending Toward the Sun explores an emotional legacy—forged in the terror of the Holocaust—that has shaped three generations of lives. Leslie Gilbert-Lurie tells the story of her mother, Rita, who like Anne Frank spent years hiding from the Nazis, and whose long-hidden pain shaped both her daughter and granddaughter’s lives. Bringing together the stories of three generations of women, Bending Toward the Sun reveals how deeply the Holocaust lives in the hearts and minds of survivors and their descendants.
A decade long collaboration between Leslie Gilbert-Lurie and her mother, Holocaust survivor Rita Lurie, is a heartbreaking tale of survival and rememberance. Beginning with the immediate dislocation of Rita from her childhood home in Poland, at the age of four, it follows her two-year lockdown in an attic with fourteen members of her family, soon decreased to twelve after the tragic back-to-back deaths of her younger brother and mother. Throughout, she is constantly told to remain quiet, not even given the time to cry.
This book is touching, heartbreaking, and inspiring. A definete must for lovers of literature, holocaust memoirs and a family dynamic
Rating: 8 out of 10
Title: Trust Me
Author: Peter Leonard
Pages: 290
Summary (from Amazon):
Karen Delaney has found the perfect way to retrieve $300, 000 dollars from her ex-boyfriend, Samir Fakir. When Karen and Samir were dating back than, she lent him the $300, 000 to invest but than they broke up a few months later and he never returned the money to her. Karen and her current boyfriend's house is broken into by two men by the names of Robert "Bobby" Gal and Lloyd Diehl. They demand the usual...money and jewels. Karen has a plan in mind. She proposes to Bobby and Lloyd that if they will break into her ex's place and fletches the money than she will split the money with them.
Things don't go as smoothly but this bumbling gang gets the job done. Karen pulls a sneak attack and makes off with the money. The question is can she hold on to it or will she and her Benjamin's be parted?
If I had to describe Trust Me in as little words as possible, it would have to be engrossing.
A page-turner from start to finish, Leonard takes us through his second book with a surprising grace that doesn't come along too often in thrillers. While flawed, it's a fun, interesting trip into the world of medium-time crime and the minds of those commiting it. One of those "airport books"--you know, the ones you see in the airport bookstore when you realize you have a five-hour flight and nothing to read. In the vein of James Patterson, Trust Me will keep you reading from beginning to the brilliant end.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Also--Peter Leonard's father is Elmore Leonard. The Elmore Leonard. AKA the reason I wake up every morning. While definetly not one of the greats, his Tarentino-style finishes and Western skin jumpers have gotten me through more then a couple of lazy afternoons. I, of course, did not know this until about half-way through Trust Me, and I am a bit afraid this fuzzed out my critical senses, but...Peter has the blood of Elmore. *dies*
3 comments:
I have 50 pages left of Bending Toward the Sun and I liked it too.
I'll have to check the library to see if they come through. I'm still waiting for that book fairy to arrive but no such luck.
What is this book fairy everyone is always talking about? I want one!
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