"On Desperate Ground" by Hampton Sides

On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides tells the true story of the Korean war!  It concentrates on the battle of the Chosin Reservoir--a classic battle!  Marines had to deal with over 300,000 Chinese and bitter cold.  They were surrounded and still they fought on!  What a great book!  These men had so much courage!  The writing is so good I felt like I was right there with them!  If you enjoy these kinds of books, then do not miss this one!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars) 

Teaser from page 242 (large print version):  The next star shell revealed a horrific panorama:  The snow was smeared with blood.  Twisted corpses and shorn body parts had been flung in all directions. 

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"Educated" by Tara Westover (Hubby and I disagree on this one!)

Educated by Tara Westover is her memoir of leaving her Mormon family in Idaho to pursue a formal education.  This is a long journey.  Tara is from a large family whose father owned a scrap yard and who kept her working for him as long as he could.  It is an amazing story of how she was accepted at BYU and went on to Cambridge and Harvard without having graduated high school!  In fact, even her "home schooling" was not at all regular.

I found this book very hard to read.  The father and brother made me very angry and it was difficult to fathom how dysfunctional this family was.  In some ways it reminded me of The Glass Castle and A Child Called It.  The domestic violence and abuse is heart wrenching.  I did enjoy Part 2 better when she got away from her family and into college.  I was never engrossed in this book and for the most part had to plow through.  I would have liked to know what kind of actual job the author wound up with after all that education.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

Gerard's review:

Educated by Tara Westover is a true story and what a story it is!  Tara first stepped foot in a classroom at the age of 17, but now she received a BA degree from Bringham Young University and a scholarship to Cambridge in England where she was awarded a PHD in history!  WOW!  She tells her story so well.  She wanted more of a life than her family could give her, and overcame long odds to do it.  She went through a lot both in and out of the classroom!

I highly recommend this memoir, don't miss it!  Put it on your TBR list right now!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 39:  There was never any more talk of a hospital.  The moment for such a decision had passed, and to return to it would be to return to all the fury and fear of the accident itself. 

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"The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is based on a true story and what a story it is! Lale is forced to surrender to the Germans and is taken to a concentration camp. Vowing to someday be a free man again, he does as he is told. One day he is picked to number on their arms all the prisoners in the camp. This is some story! You really get the feeling of being in the camp. The writing is that good! Lale was a great character to be sure as well as the other people he made friends with. If you like historical non-fiction, this is the book for you! Do not miss this one!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 27:  Lale has witnessed an unimaginable act.  He staggers to his feet, standing on the threshold of hell, an inferno of feelings raging inside him.

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"Kingdom of Ash" by Sarah J. Maas (Last book of TOG series)

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas is the final book of the Throne of Glass series.  Aelin has vowed to save her people, but is locked in an iron coffin.  She will need help, and plenty of it to stop Maeve from gaining more power and dooming her friends.  First, congrats to me for reading all 980 pages!  I enjoyed Aelin and Rowan again.  The byplay between the two of them was very good!  The others I enjoyed were Fenrys when he was in wolf form, Manon and Lysandra.  Dorian was very good also.

This book was told in two parts.  I enjoyed part 2 the most.  It has plenty of action!  The ending was wild to say the least--congrats to Sarah for surprising me!  I do think that this could have been told just as well in fewer pages, but it does have plenty of good parts that got my attention.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Karen's review:
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas is such a heavy book that I was relieved when I finally finished it. This is mostly about the buildup to protecting Terrasen in a final battle against Morath, Erawan and Maeve and also the quest to get put the wrdkeys in the lock to get rid of the gods. I liked the story line about protecting Terrasen and building a better world, but did not understand the wrdkey storyline and found that very confusing. As I was reading, I kept thinking, “what’s going on here?” “This doesn’t make sense!” There is a lot of fighting in this one and many very sad parts. On the other hand, it has lots of good parts as well with romance blooming. The character development was very good and the relationships in this book were all interesting. I really liked how much the women contributed in the battles and how Aelin was always appreciative for everyone’s contributions and caring about others throughout the book. My favorite parts in this book was Manon and her desire to unite the witches and get them to fight with the 13 to help protect Terrasen, and Dorian learning to shape shift and becoming a mouse at Morath.

I give this 4 stars because there were several things that made no sense to me that I did not understand and much of the first half of the book I was pretty confused because it seemed to jump around between three groups. I’m sure part of my confusion was because it was so long ago that I finished the preceding book and forgot a lot of what was happening. I would suggest though to someone reading this that they may want to take some notes on who are in each group and their mission as they read. I was happy with the ending and with the couples who ended up together.
(4 stars)

Teaser from page 3:  She would not tell them what they wished to know.  
                                 No matter how often her screams drowned out the raging river.

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"Elevation" by Stephen King is Very Short!

In Elevation by Stephen King, Scott lives in a small town.  He has a medical issue he wants to keep quiet, but he does confide in one person.  He decides to befriend two working women who sure could use a friend.  This is a very short book--only 146 pages!  It is pretty good though and kept my interest.  I give it 4 stars because it is so short.
(Gerard's review)

Teaser from pg. 13:  "Absolutely not," Scott said.  "I guess I don't have to ask if you've ever seen a similar case, but have you ever read about one?"

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