World War II — in fiction and nonfiction
This week’s theme for Nonfiction November (hosted by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness and Leslie at Regular Rumination) is book pairing — match a nonfiction book with a fiction book. Check out the great pairings offered by other participants at Nonfiction November Week 3.
My favorite fiction read in 2013 was Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. With that book and the companion volume, Rose Under Fire, under my belt, I think I was better equipped to read Brave Genius by Sean B. Carroll.
Brave Genius proved to be a challenging book, but like most challenging books, it was also incredibly rewarding. One of the things that kept me going through the first half was that I learned so much about World War II from the French perspective. Since Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire were World War II novels with some of the action taking place in France, they gave me a good backdrop to understand what Albert Camus, Jacques Monod, and others in the French Resistance went through during the war.
Do you have other favorite World War II books, fiction or nonfiction, that I should be reading while I’m in this mode?
I just picked up “Code Name Verity” from the library this past weekend–I read a glowing review of it on another blog, written by a blogger who I tend to agree with. And now to hear that it’s your favorite fiction read of 2013–what am I waiting for?? I need to stop reading blogs tonight and start reading that book!
I just grabbed a used copy of Code Name Verity from a library sale a few weeks ago and I’m looking forward to reading it since I’ve heard so many wonderful things. Earlier this year, I read Margot by Jillian Cantor, which is a fictional alternate history written about Margot Frank that I thought was really interesting.
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I read a lot of WWII books, many of them were very good.
Right now I’m reading The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. I also enjoy the Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther series, the one book I think you’d like is Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada (a href=http://manoflabook.com/wp/?p=4655>http://manoflabook.com/wp/?p=4655)
All of these books look fabulous, I love finding different perspectives from WWII.
I like that your books aren’t just all about WWII, but all about WWII France. It’s much more specific and I find it more interesting because it makes the books more connected. They all sound like really good books too
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I’m going to look for Code Name Verity- thanks, Joy!
For WWII, I would recommend Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.
Thanks! That’s look good — added to my list!
Check out my new novel First Generation, which traces a father’s WWII experience and its impact on his relationship with his son. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1492965324