, by Laura Hillenbrand.
The book is the biography of Louie Zamperini, who grew up in a small town California as a hard to control teen, who went on and became the best runner and represented the US in the Olympic Games of 1936. His dream of competing in the 1940 Olympics was diminished when the war started and he enlisted in the Air Force to become a bomber. During a search mission, his plane crashed and he was lost in sea for more than 40 days then he was saved and became a POW in Japan. There he suffered the unimaginable and unbearable and lived on to tell his story.This is the first book I read by Hillenbrand, even though she has another best seller under her name, Seabiscuit: An American Legend
. She researched for 7 years before writing this book. She narrating style is gripping and powerful, even with the large amount of background information, it was never dull or exhausting. Although it was hard to carry on reading the some chapters in the middle of the book, when all the torture, sadistic treatments, starving and abuse happened. It was so much harder when the abused and suffering were given a face by the photographs scattered through out the whole book. I was deeply affected by the book, by the worst thing a human could do, to the better human nature, even after unimaginable suffering. I now have a much deeper gratitude for all service men and women, who gave their life and youth for our country, so selflessly.
. She researched for 7 years before writing this book. She narrating style is gripping and powerful, even with the large amount of background information, it was never dull or exhausting. Although it was hard to carry on reading the some chapters in the middle of the book, when all the torture, sadistic treatments, starving and abuse happened. It was so much harder when the abused and suffering were given a face by the photographs scattered through out the whole book. I was deeply affected by the book, by the worst thing a human could do, to the better human nature, even after unimaginable suffering. I now have a much deeper gratitude for all service men and women, who gave their life and youth for our country, so selflessly.My favorite book of the year...I'm glad I found you just before the year ended.
Japanese young woman who married an American Navy Medic after WWII, trying to start new and better life in the United States. The story is about herself, her family, the clashes of two completely different cultures, the challenging relationship between her and her American born daughter, and the misunderstanding between her and her brother. The first 1/2 of the book was narrated by the main character, Shoko, while the second 1/2 was narrated by her daughter, Sue. I enjoyed reading this family's saga in two different narrative voices, which is found commonly in Jodi Picult's books. At times, this story also reminded me of a favorite from long time ago, 
by Amy Tan, which was also about Asian moms and their American born daughters. The ending was bittersweet. It left me wanting more, especially more about Sue, and her young yet wise daughter Helena. Margaret Dilloway did a surprising good job on her first book.
, knows what a talented writer she is. This is a story about Louie Zamperini, a juvenile delinquent turned Olympic track runner, crash survivor, POW, then army hero. My friend told me some chapters can be hard to tolerate, but I'm ready with a box of Kleenex right besides me. I'll let you know how I like it. Merry Christmas, everyone!