The Sunday Post #388

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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post

On The Blog Recently

• Books Under 130 Pages
• Books I'm Reading In Fall
• Books About Book Nerds
• Quarter Year Reading Check In
• Some Things Have Happened Since We Last Spoke

In My Reading Life

Last week, I read The Betrayal of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosemary Sullivan. It's a nonfiction book about a team of investigators who use modern police technology to discover who told the Nazis where the Frank family was hiding.

An astounding amount of research and dedication went into the investigation. I was impressed with everybody involved. They hit a ton of dead ends, but they never gave up. They were always able to regroup and change directions. It's a fascinatingly complicated story. Living in Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII would be terrifying because you couldn't trust your family or neighbors. Everybody has complex motives.

The story is interesting, but the book's structure is a bit tedious. The author introduces a suspect, then explains the evidence. Then the author introduces another suspect and explains the evidence. This structure repeats for hundreds of pages. The book is easy to put down because it doesn't flow very well.

The investigators do reach a conclusion about who betrayed the Frank family. They're very confident about their conclusion. I'm less confident.

I didn't love everything about this book, but I'm glad I read it. If you're interested in WWII history, I'd recommend it.

Then I read another WWII book. It was The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin. I loved it just as much as I thought I would. It's middle grade historical fiction about two siblings who are living at Bletchley Park. Nineteen-year-old math genius, Jakob, is working as a code breaker. His equally brilliant sister, fourteen-year-old Lizzie, is desperate to find their mother, who disappeared in Poland. Odd messages keep showing up on the siblings' doorstep. Lizzie believes the notes are from their mother. She will stop at nothing to prove she's right.

If this book had been around when I was a kid, it would have become a favorite. It has a quick-paced mystery. Lizzie is a quirky detective with a friend group that made me laugh a few times. I like the teens' boldness. They're completely confident they will find Lizzie's mother. Even the bombs falling from the sky won't discourage them.

This is a delightful book. Read it if you like historical mysteries.

In The Rest Of My Life

Five things that made me happy last week:

1. It finally feels like fall! The trees are yellow, and it's cold. I'm excited to not be hot.
2. I made many Pinterest pins and wrote many drafts of blog post. It was a productive time.
3. All the deer. There are lots of deer around right now. I like seeing them. (Well, I like seeing them when they're in the fields. I don't like seeing them standing in the middle of the road like idiots.)
4. I had questions about healthcare stuff and left a message on my doctor's answering machine. The nurse who called me back was amazing. She was helpful and patient. I appreciate it because I was very confused about life. She helped a lot.
5. Decorating for Halloween. My sister and Baby Brooklyn decorated the outside of the house. It looks festively spooky. Unfortunately, squirrels ate the pumpkins. I guess we're not going to carve pumpkins because the squirrels already did it.

Happy Spooky Season! (Don't Let The Squirrels Ruin It For You)

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!