Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

By Nick Flynn

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

“Who doesn't want to just disappear, at some point in the day, in a year, to just step off the map and float?”

-Nick Flynn

Wouldn’t you want to know who your father is? Wouldn’t you want to know who is the other half of your genetic makeup, of who you are as a person? They send you letters, they know you exist, but wouldn’t you want to meet them?

Nick Flynn’s mother took her two kids and left their father six months after Nick was born. She just packed up and took them with her. So as a single mother she struggled to make ends meet. Working at a bank and then working weekends and some nights at bars and restaurants to support her two kids and herself. Flynn grows up, he becomes a writer, like his “father”, the only difference is that Flynn wasn’t in prison and Flynn’s works have been published.

This is a story of Flynn finding his father, or more likely stumbling onto his father at  a homeless shelter he was working at. Of finding a part of who he is and discovering who he wants to be because of who his father is.

I would recommend this book to certain people, it’s not an easy read. At first it was difficult to understand because it’s written in non-chronological order, like a drunk man writing a book. Kind of all over the place and hazy. It was a really interesting read, and gives you a lot of insight into who Nick Flynn is, but it’s difficult to follow at times.

Lucky - Alice Sebold

Title of the Book: Lucky
Author: Alice Sebold
 Number of Pages:243
 Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

 Review:  A few years back I watched The lovely bones, A great novel and Incredible movie by Alice Sebold. I can remember the emotions I felt as a young teen while I sat and watched the heartbreaking story of a girl who had been lured into a make shift ¨club house¨ then tortured and killed by her neighbor, while also leading her family to her disappeared body. You can guess the feelings I had for my neighbors after I watched this.

    A few weeks ago I was assigned to pick a book of my choice. Lucky Caught my eye immediatly. I didnt notice the author as someones books I had read before although, the cover intrigued me to dive deeper. As I began to research Alice Sebold and her book Lucky I noticed she had also wrote the award winning novel The lovely bones. This made me even more interested. As I began to read Lucky,  Sebold jurks you into this crime spell almost immedialy into the first paragragh. Emotions start to spill, a young womens dignity had been ripped right from her. She was a rape victim. As The author explains the gruesome details of Alice´s attack Its almost like youre their with her, feeling her pain however she keeps a brave face and continues to move on through her life as her family willows in her sarrow. All of the emotions captured in this books makes you realize how real something like this could be. And it was.

    Alice Sebold Uses her books as an opening and safe place to express what she went through as a young girl who had also been tortured and sexually assaulted. Her books shine through how she got through her experiences. I am inspired by her courageous ways and belief to seek her problems through even with the courts dening her and friends scawlding her. Alice somehow protrays her character as a fighter to get justice of her attacker once and for all. This book Is Honestly exceptional and should be recommended to all especially those who have gone through a similar experience. Her ways of writing truly inspired me and expanded my knowledge now that I am older. I will be looking forward to researching some more of her books in the future now that I better understand the authors writing.

Into The Wild book review

Title of the Book: Into The Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer
 Number of Pages: 203
 Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆


Review:
  Christopher Mccandless lived a life like no other. Mccandless had just about everything to be successful in life including, his smarts, his athleticism and all the money in the world his parents had. So explain to me why someone who had it practically all  just fall of the face of the earth?

   Into The Wild written by Jon Krakauer is a novel written to show the story of Chris Mccandless. This book is a literary non-fiction book that takes us on Chris's adventure that would lead to his death. Chris's last adventure would take him to the great alaskan wilderness where he would be found dead later in 1992. This adventure Krakauer would compare to other men with similar thoughts Chris had and would show us why Chris always wanted to go into the wild.

  Krakauer uses many different forms of writtinging throughout this novel to build the story and make it a MUST read book for all. Not only does he tell Chris's story he tells the story through other characters in the book that relate to himself and Chris. He does this by using the others stories to make Chris's seem that much more adventurous!  Throughout the book all i could help feeling was lost and mysious and this is from Krakauer's use of tone in the book. He wrote the book this way to almost seem like we were all solving the mystery together and put it together part by part.

    I personally LOVED this book! It open my eyes to a genre I never thought I read and now from his writing i want to read more! If your into a mysious feeling and want to hear the stories that have never been told I highly suggest this book and recommend it to all.
 

The Glass Castle

Title of the Book: The Glass Castle
Author: Jeanette Walls 
Number of Pages: 288
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Review: I absolutely loved this book

“You either sink or you swim” This quote is phrased throughout the book The Glass Castle. We see a family torn through the deprivation and hardship that life offers. Over and over again looking for hope in even the darkest situations. Jeanette Walls tells her childhood story through this heart wrenching memoir showing just how forlorn a childhood can be with an alcoholic father who repeatedly fails the family. However, alongside this idea we see the opposing side of a story where a young girl fights through the hardships of life, as she fights to grasp certain life lessons most people never come to learn. She wrangles around these struggles coming out on the better end.

In this story we start out the book in the more present with a woman who sees her mother and is scared of the thought of talking to her. After this we flashback through the years of her childhood. A young girl who idolizes her father and the ideas of a dauntless and adventurous life. The family is constantly moving from town to town in hopes to one day strike it rich. Little do they know that the one thing keeping them from this dream is their father Rex. We read through the years of her life and watch this young girl grow and have to mature in such a fast way in order to clean up after the messes that her parents leave. She goes through fires and burns, to beatings from bullies and starving because of the life that her parents have set out for the family.

The author Jeanette Walls adds an entirely new level of writing into this book through the emotion she adds, rather than just reading about this shocking childhood and events in her life. She adds so much ethos and pathos and emotion into the book drawing you in. This technique that she uses is what allowed this book to win awards. You feel as though you were there. Allowing you to connect and relate to the characters in the book in many different ways. She uses language and terms such as “doing the skedaddle” to connect it back to the past. She also creates themes and life lessons allowing you to reflect on the lives of the Walls family. What makes this book so unique as well is the fact that it is a true story which is insane to think about. Which I feel allows the reader to draw into the book and compare or contrast to it. Alongside with the emotion and the way that everything the characters feel in the book, weigh on you in a way that you can feel what they are going through.

I would one hundred percent recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a true story of hardship and life that allows them to feel emotion throughout the entire book and learn many themes and lessons that they can take into their own lives.

This is an incredible book and I would recommend for everyone to read it.

Black Like Me Review

Title of the Book: Black Like Me
Author: John Howard Griffin
Number of Pages: 208
Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

    Black Like Me is a chilling story about racial injustice that continues to be a timeless work of art. The book tells the story of the author, John Howard Griffin, a journalist who uses medication to darken his skin from white to black to see the 1950s Deep South from the other side of the color line. He does not change his name or anything else, only his skin color, to see if anyone still recognizes him. When the medical treatment is complete, John goes out into New Orleans and immediately sees the jarring difference between his old life as a white man and his new life as a black man.
    This book is unique because it shows commonly-known things about the civil rights era from a firsthand perspective never seen before. Over the course of the experiment, John got every ounce of the black experience. Finding a job was out of the question no matter how hard he tried, harassment from whites was routine, even getting something to drink was a difficult task. His lifestyle completely flipped from an average, perhaps above-average living standard, to eating raccoon meat with rice just to have a meal. The story gives a fresh look at the true effects of racism in society, and holds nothing back from the reader.
    The more memorable moments in the story take place when John starts switching between black and white to get a feel for just how different his two lives really are. At first, switching back to white acts as a relief from the constant pressure of his life as a black man, but over time he becomes more and more conflicted. On one hand, he gets to resume his normal life and regain his freedom, but on the other hand, he feels that he no longer knows the black experience, and is no longer a part of the closely-knit black community that did so much for him. In addition, switching between races made John learn a lot about race relations and how little blacks and whites really know about each other.
    I would recommend this to anyone interested in the American civil rights era, as it is an excellent story about prejudice and race with lots of reflection from the author on how and why things came to be and were that way at the time, and how they could change. You may not be able to get through it easily, and that's fine. Black Like Me may be jarring, but it is important, and continues to serve as a window into a very different society.

The Glass Castle Review

Title of the Book: The Glass Castle
Author: Jeanette Walls
Number of Pages: 288
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ (I absolutely loved this book)




Review:

“Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death, that's all.” - Jeanette walls. This quote is shown through the hardship of The Glass Castle. This is a fascinating and unique book. The author, Jeanette Walls explains her crazy childhood living in an unusual and dysfunctional family. She starts the book off upset that she saw her homeless mother digging through the trash. She is frustrated with her parents because they choose to live homeless, and eat out of the trash, even though she has offered to help them. As she goes on, she flashes back to her childhood, and what she had to go through, from burning her skin when she was cooking, moving from house to house, freezing in a house with no heat or air conditioning, having to go to the bathroom in a bucket underneath her home, and so many other things.

Jeanette’s style of writing consists of using emotion and feelings within her story. She makes the reader really think about their life, and how different or similar it may have been to hers. She sends the message that even coming from a poor and flawed family, you can still make your own choices and become who you want to become. When reading this book, you can picture what was happening. She used so much detail within her writing, which I personally loved.

This book is so unique in many ways which is why she received an award for her amazing memoir. One of the most memorable parts of the book, I believe, was when she had to go and search for her dad to bring him home. Her dad always ran away to bars, to drink away his problems, and the only person to go and find him was Jeanette. This showed how strong she was as a young girl, walking around from bar to bar, alone and set on a goal. Throughout the book, she shows her strength and loyalty to her family, always helping out and dealing with the messes her parents leave behind.

I would recommend this book to someone who relates to her life, or likes to read an amazing story filled with emotion. This book was one of the most incredible books I have ever read, and I am sure anyone who reads it will love it too!

This is Going to Hurt

Title: This is Going to Hurt
Author: Adam Kay Number of Pages:262
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:
This is Going to Hurt is a book about the life of a junior doctor. Dr. Kay has a lot of interesting stories to tell as a retired doctor. Adam has a lot of mishaps and learning experiences when he was a junior doctor. This book is very entertaining while being educational.

This book is very entertaining while being educational. The book has a lot of surprising info about being a doctor. There are very interesting stories about what has happened to Adam as a doctor. There are also stories that are not related to his time as a doctor as well.

Through My Eyes Book Review

Title of the Book: Through My Eyes
Author: Tim Tebow & Nathan Whitaker
Number of Pages: 260 Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Review: Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker is an autobiography about Tim Tebow's journey from the time he was born in the Philippines to the start of his career in the National Football League. Through My Eyes gives the reader the ability to see Tebow's life how he saw it and shares the feelings that he felt. Through My Eyes starts when Tebow's mom is pregnant with him. It was a rough pregnancy and doctors advised his parents to to have a abortion. The doctors said that if they didn't abort the baby then him mom would be at a high risk of dying in labor. Long story short, Tim Tebow was a miracle baby. The novel then takes you through Tebow's life from his perspective. He shares the things he liked to do as well as the things he did not like to do. Tebow takes you through the recruiting process and how he decided to play for Florida as well as his experience there at Florida. And finally takes you on the path to the draft and his experience going into the NFL. Tebow shares his feelings through the ups and downs and most importantly his life through His perspective.

Through My Eyes is different from other novels and autobiographies because it is very personal and Tebow does a great job expressing his feelings through the use of literary devices. When I read Through My Eyes I felt like I had a personal connection with Tebow and could relate to why he reacted to certain situations for example losing to Ole Miss in the 2008 season in a game they definitely should have won.

Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker made the book feel very real. When very positive things happened, I felt good, when big decisions were being made, I felt nervous, and when there were negatives, I felt bad. The tone and language used made the novel feel very real. For example when Tebow was waiting for the announcement of the Heisman trophy winner I could feel my hands start to sweat and my nerves go up.   

The most memorable moments for me were when Tebows had to make a decision where he was going to collage and it literally came down to the last minute or when he was waiting for the announcement of the Hesiman trophy or his reaction to losing to ole miss in the 2008 season. Those moments all had high emotion and seeing how Tebow felt in those particular moments was very memorable.

Through My Eyes is a great book for athletes to read or anyone that need some motivation. It's also a great book for anyone what wants to learn more about Tim Tebow. Through My Eyes is entertaining and inspirational for an audience between the ages of 10-15.    

Say Nothing Review

Title of the Book: Say Nothing

Author: Patrick Radden Keefe

Number of Pages: 348

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:

                I’ll wear no convicts uniform,

Nor weekly serve my time

That Britain might 

Brand Ireland’s fight

Eight hundred years of crime (170)

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is a history of Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s when religion divided the country. Chaos ensues between the Catholics and the Protestants. The British Army is called in to intervene, but they only make matters worse. The IRA is divided to the Provos and the Stickies with younger members joining each side in order to survive. The Provos mission was to cause damage, but violence is the only message the British Army receives. Families are torn apart by the three groups, their beloved members taken from their homes. “We have a simple message for Gerry Adams and  the IRA: our families have suffered far too much. Please bring this nightmare to an end.” 

          Patrick Radden Keefe’s style of writing causes this book to be unique. He, being a magazine blogger, has a way of making the past seem like fiction. His writing seems to be an action and adventure tale, rather than a non-fiction novel. Patrick Radden Keefe paints a picture that feels like you are present, watching the events unfold before you.  

          Keefe portrays all parts of this story like he lived through each one. His words and sentences are complex, but easily understandable. Keefe makes his reader feel as if they are experiencing the events in person, rather than through a book. 

          One of the more memorable moments in the book is when Hughes was in America, trying to raise money and morale for the armed campaign. One man, an Irish American who was all for the cause, told Hughes that the IRA was “going about the war all wrong.” and should shoot anyone associated with the British army. After stating that Hughes would never allow the IRA to do that due to backlash, the man offers Hughes a briefcase full of money. Hughes wants nothing to do with the man at this point and states that he doesn’t “want [the mans] f****** money.” (p. 210-211)

          Another memorable part in the book is when the Price Sisters decide together that, in order to get what they want, they will follow in Terence MacSwiney’s foot steps and announce a hunger strike. This lead the British prison system to have them force fed, until, 167 days later, it was announced a form of torture.

           I would recommend Say Nothing to anyone who enjoys untold history. This book is good for those who like a sense of adventure and not just a lecturing book. With unexpected turns and twists in the story, Say Nothing is unpredictable. 

When Breath Becomes Air Review

Title of the Book: When Breath Becomes Air
Author: Paul Kalanithi
Number of Pages: 225 Pages
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review: It will be hard to catch your own breath when streams of tears roll down your cheeks as you turn through the pages of Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air. During his last year of residency as a neurosurgeon, Paul was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. His life, stripped of all the dreams he aspired to accomplish as a neurosurgeon and with his young wife Lucy. Paul has to redefine and rediscover his identity as he forages his path towards death. He ironically chose to become a neurosurgeon to confront the meaning of life while actively engaging with death. Now, Paul experiences life as the dying patient rather than the doctor treating the dying. Paul’s memoir chronicles this painful transformation from doctor to patient and answers his own life long question: what makes life worth living in the face of death? 

When Breath Becomes Air answers the questions that everyone finds themselves asking through the duration of their own life. Paul brings to light in such explicit detail the pain and suffering yet euphoria he experienced during his last years and months of life. He describes his internal and external strife when coming to terms with his disease after his dreams of a future dissolved as quickly as the cancer metastasized within his body. His poetic writing brings the readers closer to his own soul as if he were sitting in the chair across the room telling his story from beginning to end, exposing his raw emotions and in turn exposing some of your own.

What stuck with me was the powerfulness of his death. Paul writes a brief message to his daughter before he dies and thanks her for the “salted joy” she brought to his life during times of unwavering darkness. The happiness can be literally felt through this passage. Paul’s poetic yet descriptive word choice connects this ending with the challenges of his own reidentification. If Paul were to succumb to the cancer and strip him ultimately of his neurosurgery and life aspirations, he would have never been gifted with the life of his daughter. His tone throughout the novel is motivational and thoughtful. His writing motivated his wife Lucy to write about what it was like during the last days of life, up until his final breath. His and Lucy’s writing made it feel as if he were dying right in front of our eyes, yet there was a sense of a peaceful closure to a life that seemly had just begun.

This book is incredible. It allows the reader to experience death in an intimate yet external way, allowing them to question how they make meaning in their own lives. It is a beautiful tale that I would recommend to anyone and everyone.  

The Things They Carried- Jake Germaine
 Tim O'Brien
233
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
 Review:

Tim O’Brien shares with us his incredible experience in, The Things They Carried. In this eye-opening story you feel and see what the people serving in Vietnam went through. Tim O’Brien introduces us to multiple soldiers, and as we follow them in their lives we learn what mental and physical things you carry throughout war. O’Brien informs the reader what war is like most of the time, but also makes sure that the reader knows that war is constantly changing and it is impossible to predict a war. Due to that it shows how incredibly strong each soldier is. We follow O’Brien he is also struggling with the guilt of war and each decision made. Near the end of the story many different stories are told by soldiers. Finally O’Brien explains why he started telling stories and how they helped him.

This book is extremely unique to me. For one I noticed that the entire story is not in chronological order. To me that is very unique because the author is purposely choosing to write it like this. For me it gives me an idea of how war felt for these soldiers. I also found this story unique because the meaning of the book evolves so much from the beginning to the end. I noticed at first “the things they carried” was just meaning all of their physical resources. But by the end the men were also carrying multiple feelings and thoughts. Over all I think this is one of the most hooking and unique stories I have read. Especially knowing that we are getting a peak into the author's actual life.

One of my favorite parts in the story was on the last page of the entire story. I loved when Tim wrote this part “"Well, right now," she said, "I'm not dead. But when I am, it's like ... I don't know, I guess it's like being inside a book that nobody's reading." "A book?" I said. "An old one. It's up on a library shelf, so you're safe and everything, but the book hasn't been checked out for a long, long time. All you can do is wait. Just hope somebody'll pick it up and start reading."” (O’Brien page 232) I love this part of the book specifically because all of this book has lead up to a few simple words. Those words are put together so creatively and the entire meaning to this book is revealed. I love how O’Brien wrote this story and the different writing techniques he used.

I would strongly suggest this book. It is a very hooking book, and I gained so much more empathy for the soldiers and what they carry. It is very fascinating to see how Tim O’Brien a Vietnam war veteran shares his stories. If you like a good story that makes you think very deep and recognize very little details this is the book for you.  

The Things They Carried - W. Elison Crum

Title of the Book: The Things They Carried
Author: Tim O'Brien
Number of Pages: 233
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a non-fictional book about war, throughout the book the author talks about story truth and emotional truth. It battles the idea of perspective and truth. The book character kills a man, Tim immediately pictures this mans life story and this burdens him for the rest of his life, eventually Tim creates a story of this man in order to make the victim more human.

This book is incredible unique because not only does it depict the sad reality of war it also battles reality within the time of war. In the book the main character Tim O’Brien is stated not to be Tim O’Brien although the similarities even with their names. This gives a unique outlook not only on the author's perspective but the perspective the author had in the time of war.

Tim O’Brien wrote this book in a style that I have not seen before. It jumps from different realities most commonly being ones from war and after war. This gives an amazing perspective of war because not only does it give the truth of the characters during the time of war but also after the war.

A memorable moment within the book is when an individual so hurt emotionally by the war did something just as evil as the war. He killed a baby buffalo in a painful and disgusting way because he had been hurt by events in the war. Another memorable moment is when an individual visiting the base eventually became so entranced with the war they became apart of the war.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I believe that developing an understanding of an individual's life is a better way to develop your own morals and ideas. Although this book tends to show more of an emotional truth than a factual vague truth it is important to understand both sides.

Tuesdays With Morrie- Angelee Rose

Title of the Book: Tuesdays with Morrie Author: Mitch Albom Number of Pages: 199 Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Review:

Title of the Book: Temple Grandin

Author: Annette Wood

Number of Pages: 224

Rating: ☆☆☆

Review:

You think that from the title it would be about the person itself, an Autobiography of Temple Grandin. But it was not, the first 7 chapters of the book was about Temple Grandin’s life, which is not a lot. There was 59 pages of Temple Grandin’s Life out of 212 pages. The rest of this book covered other topics, like info related to the Slaughter Houses, Autism, Therapy Animals, and other people's lives. This is not what I was expecting from this book, I was expecting to read about Temple Grandin, not the other things.

The way the Author discussed Temple Grandin’s life seemed condensed, and it seemed like the author's life of having a little sister with autism dispersed throughout the book. I would have loved to see more about Temple Grandin’s current life, instead of things that were like years ago in 1970.

It seems like this book also focused on things going on in Kansas. If you know nothing about Temple Grandin, and Autism, then you should read this book. However, if you would like to read more about Temple Grandin’s life, then I would suggest reading books written by Temple Grandin or her mother.

This book was great!!! I got to learn extra info about everything, even though that is not what I hoped. If you do not know anything about Temple Grandin, this is a place to start.

Title of the Book: The Doors of Perception
Author: Aldous Huxley
Number of Pages: 189
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Review:
The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley; the book that changed me. As humans, we all have a few things in common, like our physical features and a conscious mind. Something in particular that boggles my mind often is the fact that we were all brought here, without choice and without any knowledge of what happens next. This inquiry motivated me to strengthen my spirituality and to learn more about this life we are given from a perspective that does not include traditional religious ideas. In my research around these ideas, I noticed a common name, Aldous Huxley. I understood his dystopian ideals after reading Brave New World and was also intrigued to learn more about his cognition. These two factors where enough to convince me to read his book The Doors of Perception. After you read this book, you too will question the world around you...in the best way that is. That being said, let me break down Huxley’s masterpiece for you.

To get an idea of what you will be getting into, I’ve put together a brief summary with no spoilers! Huxley makes it clear that his book will elaborate on his psychedelic experience on mescaline. He begins with insight on the drug, its background of scientific study/research, and traditional, religious uses of peyote by the natives of Mexico/American Southwest. This information is really important if you wish to truly understand this book, especially if you have never heard of such a drug. Huxley then goes into his experience after ingesting four tenths of a gram of mescaline. He does an incredible job of balancing the visual and spiritual realm of that he enters, I can’t go into much detail about them. It is vital for you to experience the book in complete candour and ignorance. Finally, his elaboration at the end of the book is almost the most exciting part. As he shares his beliefs and new found perceptions, you may find yourself wishing there was more to read.

Huxley’s book is unique in many ways. Something I find admirable is how he never promotes the use of drugs in his work, as he says he may “throw [light] on such ancient, unsolved riddles as the place of mind in nature and the relationship between brain and consciousness”. This motivated me to write such a review and plant the idea this book in the minds of others. Aldous Huxley is not humble when it comes to showing the world his brilliance, his techniques and vocabulary are challenging yet intriguing to read through. The tone of this book is enthusiastic and critical. A quote that illustrates his uniqueness and the true honesty of Huxley, is from the elaborations after his experience, “Most men and women lead lives at the worst so painful, at the best so monotonous, poor and minited that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and always has been appetites for the soul”. As new and interesting his experience was, this was my favorite moment in the book. His raw appetite for truth is so earth shaking and vivid.

This book is for individuals looking to expand their domain of perception. As we walk this earth, so many things are unknown. Huxley does an incredible job of opening up the mind and introducing ideas of visionary experience, transcendence, and truth. However, I would recommend this book to only those who are patient and pensive enough to decipher and analyze what Huxley is trying to tell us in his book The Doors of Perception. Aldous Huxley was a wise man, I call myself lucky to hear his story.

Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi

Title of the Book: Survival in Auschwitz
Author: Primo Levi
Number of Pages:185
Rating: ☆☆☆☆



Review:



 Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, This book is about how the author Primo Survived the mass murder that was caused by Hitler and his ruling during WWII. Mainly on Jews, Hitler disliked them and felt like they were causing the destruction within his country and felt like getting rid of them would help the country in a positive way. Hitler was sending all Jews to concentration camps where they were separated from their wife’s and children. Unfortunately, the children and wives were put into cremators where they were poisoned by gas to death while the strong men or working men would be put to work until they die or get weak and shot by the Germans. This was not a good time for Jews since they were killed on mass numbers because of one’s person’s view on them. This book describes how one’s point of view inside the camp and what had happened throughout the time he was there and how he survived.



Primo was an Italian Chemist that was taken by the Germans since he was a Jew. He was put into a concentration camp like the rest of his fellow people. He was separated from everyone he knew, and he was put to work, for years he had to deal with the harsh environment inside the camp and had to deal with so many things that the Germans were doing to him. Primo was not a strong guy neither he was a weak skinny guy that had to push his weigh on stuff so he can survive. There were many things he had to deal with that he described in his book that is worth reading.



In my opinion, I believe that Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi is a good book to read to get a different person’s point of view on something that has happened in history of the world. It was not a good time for this to be happening, but it gives you an idea on how it was during the time and gives you a point of view of what he had to deal with while in this concentration camp. I believe it was a good read since it provided me with details and events he had to deal with that I didn’t know before since I wasn’t able to see how the camp’s were during the time but he was able to provide great detail on what was happening in the camps and what things they were required to do while they were there and what thoughts were going through their mind during the time. Primo was a friendly guy that was put through a harsh time and he was able to provide us with detail on what happened and give other points of view on how it was during the unforgettable time. Primo was a great guy that was able to achieve the impossible that many were able to do and now he gets to tell his story.

Be Free book review

Title of the Book: Be Free
Author: Jackie Grunlond
Number of Pages: 198
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:
Finally, someone, who actually understands what it's like to grow up in a world full of high standards, stereotypes, and things that are just flat out wrong.

Be Free is a book about redeeming yourself. Its about healing your past wounds and rediscovering self love. It's about not having a perfect Instagram feed, but showing your own insecurities. The author Jackie Grunloud goes from getting blacked out every single night, to discovering who God is. Jackie doesn't sugar coat her life or hold anything back. She tells her unfiltered story about a young teenage girl who was just looking for love.

This book is unique, because of how real it is. The author mentions topics she believes people might lash on her, or disagree for how truthful she is being, but does it because she believes if she doesn't talk about it no one else will. In a sense, it's a self-help book, without being one. Its a breath of fresh air. It's a reminder to take a step back and admire your life for what it is, and stop trying to abide by the norms of society. I found this to be extremely unique because no one ever talks about the harsh realities of social media or the pressure other individuals put on each other to be a certain way. This won't be the prettiest book you've ever read, but it'll be the most real book you've ever read.

The authors writing style is very straight forward and to the point. There's no true style; she just writes a story and tells her life for what it is. The tone shifts from a depressing tone, to a casual/formal tone, to an upbeat, happy tone. Her journey is all over the place and will take you on a roller coaster ride full of emotions and realizations.

The most memorable moment I had while reading this book was in the beginning when she was talking about her Instagram feed. She felt it was necessary to portray this perfect lifestyle that "everyone wanted" even though she was experiencing depression, and crying herself to sleep every night. On all aspects of her social media platforms, she looked like she was "living her best life," but in reality, she wasn't. I think most girls in society, including me, can relate to this because everyone always wants someone else to want their life. We spend so much time posing for the perfect picture and creating the perfect caption, so we appear to have it all figured out when we don't. To me, this was a big thing, because all the times I scroll through Instagram thinking I wish my life were as good as some other person, I never took into consideration the propaganda behind every perfect Instagram photo.

I would recommend this book to all female ladies out there, but not so much to the males. This book is geared towards the things girls feel every day- insecurity, imperfectness, and pressure. I don't believe boys will be able to relate to this book or enjoy it. I extra recommend this book to Christian girls, because it does talk a lot about God, and the holy spirit. Even if your not Chrisitan, or have an association with any kind of church, I wouldn't let that discourage you from reading this book. I just personally believe having some background on the Bible, will take this book to the level it took me too.