Tag: The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz

Sunday Summary – 26th November 2023

Happy Sunday night (if ever there is such a thing?) and welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary instalment. I’ve had a productive week of reading and listening to audiobooks, which I’ll get onto below!

Firstly, I like to take the opportunity to share the blog posts I’ve already prepared and published this week. My first post of the week was a book review of The Appeal by Janice Hallett. If you enjoy complex mysteries where you need to read between the lines, multi-perspectives and/or mixed media books, then I strongly suggest you check it out!

This week’s Friday feature was a Well, I Didn’t Know That! post. In that post, I revived a habit of listening to podcasts and featured Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women podcast. Philippa is publishing a book with the same name in February next year. If you want some insight into one of the topics of the podcast, or more generally, check out that post!

 

Books Read

 

The Boy Who Followed His Father to Auschwitz

In my last Sunday Summary update, I had about 100 pages left of this historical non-fiction book. That’s where I began reading this week.

The Boy Who Followed His Father to Auschwitz is every bit as good as I thought it would be! Although the tales of this book are harrowing, the narrative is intriguing and I was rooting for Fritz and his father Gustav to make it out the other side.

Although I have read multiple books in the genre, every time it shocks me how brutally mistreated people like Fritz and Gustav were. The book is a great (and well-researched account) of life in multiple concentration camps throughout the Second World War. Although a difficult subject, the book is compulsively readable as the writing and level of investment in the characters was great.

 

Ashes of Guilt

The next physical read I picked up this week, and is my current read as of this Sunday Summary, is Ashes of Guilt by Isabella Steele. I am reading this to review it before the end of the month. Needless to say, I am making all haste with this book!

As of today’s Sunday Summary post, I am exactly two thirds, or 66%, through the narrative. As a relatively short thriller, it is a very fast-paced read. Already, we have worked our way through the points in the synopsis, making me wonder what twists and turns I can expect later in the narrative. It’s a bit quicker-paced than I am used to, but I’m getting on with it reasonably well regardless. I’m looking to finish Ashes of Guilt in the next day or so, so watch this space for my thoughts.

 

The Flood

I finally pulled my finger out and finished The Flood by Rachel Bennett this week. If you’ve been reading my blogs, you’ll know that I’ve been chipping away at this audio for a little while. Back in 2019, I added The Flood to my reading list as the author is currently living locally. I wanted to pick up the book and support her. I pulled this book out of the TBR Jar last month to read. 

Overall, I enjoyed The Flood. Part of the reason it took me so long is that I’m not in the habit of listening to audiobooks that much. The vast majority of my reading is done either through physical books or e-books on my Kindle. I do enjoy audio though, and the narration of this book went a long way towards my enjoyment of it. The story is well told, and I enjoyed how the two timelines ultimately come together to give us the full picture at the end.

 

The Minders

Having finally finished The Flood, I moved on to my next audiobook whilst I was in full flow. The Minders is my first ever book by John Marrs. Although I’ve only listened to around an hour and a half of this audio as of this Sunday Summary post, I can say the experience so far is a good one.

I’m intrigued by the narrative and how the story is going to play out. As I’m not that far in, I haven’t got any ideas as to where the story is going to go. I’m looking forward to finding out though!

I’m going to try and keep up the momentum and continue listening to The Minders. Naturally, I want to try to finish the audiobook as close to the end of the month as I can. Fortunately, I have time off work next week, so I have every opportunity to listen to this audio. Let’s see how far I can get in the next week!

 

Books Discovered

There are no new books added to my reading list. Currently, the list sits at 199 still to work my way through. Just a few, eh?

Having floated at just over 200 for some time, I can thank the reading progress I’ve made this week in tipping this under. Let’s hope it stays that way!

 

Coming Up…

On Wednesday, I plan to share my review of Ashes of Guilt. The book launches on Thursday so I want to get it out there ahead of publication and hopefully build some excitement!

On Friday I’ll be parking the regular Friday feature in favour of my month-end review post for November. As always, I’ll be recapping my reading month and sharing all the books I’ve picked up in the prior 30 days.

Finally, I’ll be rounding up the week with a Sunday Summary post. Fingers crossed for a week just as productive as this one!

Have you read any of the books I featured today?

 

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Sunday Summary – 19th November 2023

Good evening everyone and welcome to another Sunday Summary post. If you’re off watching I’m A Celebrity, then I’ll understand! I’m watching it as I write, which is why this post is a bit shorter than normal!

So, what have I been up to this week? The first post I shared with you was a Top Ten Tuesday post, discussing which mainstream authors I have not (as yet) read any books by.

On Friday, I shared a First Lines Friday post. I kept my options open for this post, and in the end, I featured a book related to a series I read years ago and I’m looking forward to reading.

 

Books Read

 

Lost Solace

As of last week’s Sunday Summary post, I had only read the first chapter of Lost Solace by Karl Drinkwater.

I really enjoyed this break and change of genre. Having read books in Karl’s Tales of Lost Solace series, I already had some knowledge and high expectations of the book.

It didn’t disappoint! I read Lost Solace very quickly and I thoroughly enjoyed it! There is plenty of action to keep us entertained, and just the right amount of detail/jargon so as not to overwhelm a non-techy reader.

 

The Boy Who Followed His Father to Auschwitz

After Lost Solace, I moved on to my current read, The Boy Who Followed His Father to Auschwitz.

It’s a difficult book to read for its topic, but it is compulsively readable in style. I’m really enjoying this book. It’s a harrowing topic, and awful to think that so many people lived through the horrors this book touches on! Even so, this is a fantastic book.

As of this Sunday Summary, I’m 240 pages into the book. Ignoring the appendices, that leaves me with another 100 pages to go. Already so much has happened in the narrative. A part of me wants to find out what happens to the titular Gustav and his son, Fritz – how their story ends.

 

Books Discovered

I’ve added one book to my reading list this week as a result of Friday’s post. I want to re-read the whole series again, this time including The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

 

Coming Up…

On Wednesday, I plan to share a book review with you. This week, I’m reviewing The Appeal by Janice Hallett.

On Friday I’ll be back with a Well, I Didn’t Know That! post! It’s been a while since I made a habit of listening to some podcasts, so I might try to incorporate that into this feature. Stay tuned to find out more!

Last, but not least, I’ll be returning with a Sunday Summary post. As always I hope to have plenty to catch you up on in that post.

In the meantime, that’s all for this Sunday Summary post!

What have you read recently?

 

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