Dearest Readers,
Teaming up with my blogging buddy Alison at Puppies & Pretties for this year’s first edition of “Reading Lately”. Since I have started listening to books rather than just plain ole reading them, I’m able to “read” more each month. And it is more enjoyable to me. Love that listening to books through Amazon’s Audible app allows me to multi-task. As in “read” and drive, “read” and clean house, “read” and iron, even “read” and work out.
So, in the last six weeks or so, I have “read” and multi-tasked my way through the intricate stories of two stirring books. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly and Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan. Lilac Girls is Hall’s adult fiction debut novel while Echo is one of over 40 children’s books written by the prolific Ryan. Until I began thinking about this blog post, I didn’t realize how similar these books are in several ways.
Here’s what I’ve been reading lately.
Reading Lately: Lilac Girls
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Pretty sure I’ve mentioned this book on the blog several times but never in a real review. Consider this a real review!
Lilac Girls is the survival story of three women during World War II. Caroline Ferriday is a New York socialite. Her philanthropic work helping orphans in France through the offices of the French consulate in NYC encompasses every aspect of Caroline’s life once the war breaks out. The story begins from the point of view of this character but readers are soon introduced to the other main characters.
Kasia Kuzmerick, a young women whose brief activity with the Polish underground, results in the imprisonment of herself, her mother, sister and several close friends in a Nazi labor camp. German Herta Oberheuser, a recent medical school graduate in dermatology, accepts a job in the women’s unit of a labor camp when she is unable to open practice on her own.
The lives of these women become entangled as this poignant story progresses throughout the months and years of the war. Inspired by real people and events, Martha Hall Kelly masterfully unravels the details of the lives of Caroline, Kasia and Herta and then stitches them back together. Each suspenseful chapter is told through the point of view of one of the characters. And on Audible, three narrators bring these characters to life. When I “read” the last page, I felt sad but satiated. I had just finished my new favorite book.
Meet Martha Hall Kelly on her blog, here. Just discovered it myself in writing this post. Can’t wait to get to know more about her!
I rate this book five out of five stars.
Reading Lately: Echo
Pam Muñoz Ryan has long been a favorite children’s author of mine. Perhaps you are familiar with her novels Esperanza Rising or Riding Freedom. Both are beautiful stories with valuable lessons about the unplanned directions one’s life can take. And so is Echo.
Like Lilac Girls, Echo is the story of three characters, in this case children. It is told from their points of view, over three separate parts of the book. In part 4, the lives of Friedrich in Germany and Mike and Ivy in the United States become entwined. All three children are survivors and the heroes of their own lives. The book spans a decade of time from mid-World War II to the mid-50s. But the book actually begins as a fairy tale of sorts that prophecizes the events that will unfold throughout the three children’s lives.
Friedrich, Mike and Ivy find comfort and solace for the problems in their young lives through music. In particular, the music they create themselves on harmonicas. Audible uses three narrators and a number of musical passages to tell the story. The addition of the music to the narration is an enhancement for those of us who “read” Echo with our ears instead of our eyes.
Echo is part fairy tale part historical fiction. Friedrich experiences life during World War II. Mike is subjected to the sad life of an orphan with his brother in a boys’ home. Ivy encounters a Japanese-American family who is moved to an internment camp in California. All of which makes this a wonderful book to supplement the social studies curriculum in upper elementary and middle school.
I give this book four out of five stars. I had some trouble following the story at times, but possibly because I was multi-tasking while listening to it.
Recognition for Lilac Girls and Echo
Both of these books have received acclaim among real book reviewers, publishers and children’s book awards. Lilac Girls is a New York Times Bestseller. It has received an average of 4.27 stars on Goodreads; reviews here.
Echo was awarded the Newbery Honor Medal and is on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list for 2016-2017. It has earned an average of 4.34 stars on Goodreads. Check out reviews, here.
What have you been reading lately? Won’t you share in a comment below? Would love to have you follow me on Goodreads, too. And if you are interested in purchasing either of the two books reviewed today, I invite you to use my Amazon affiliate links in the right sidebar to do so.
Please stop by to see what my friend Alison has been reading lately…click here to be magically transported to her blog! And click here to sign up for The Blended Blog’s virtual book club. Join us, won’t you?
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Enjoy your weekend, dear friends.
Hugs and kisses,
Kim Street
I just put Lilac Girls on my TBR list a few days ago, and here you are raving about it too! 🙂 I look forward to reading it! I read All the Light We Cannot See and Nightingale (both excellent for those who haven’t read them yet!) in 2016, so it seems appropriate that I should follow those up with this one!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
OH YAY YAY YAY!!! It is so good. Truly my new fav book. I really enjoyed listening to it, too. The narrators
did an excellent job of making the characters seem like real people. I haven’t read All the Light…that needs to
be my next Audible “read”. Loved Nightingale.
Thank you for the suggestion and the comment. Please come back to let me know what you thought of Lilac Girls. XO
alisonculhane
Lilac Girls sounds fascinating. I signed up for 2 free months of audible last month so I’m finally going to try listening to a book. Now to figure out when to do it!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Lilac Girls is sooo good on Audible. The narrators do a bang-up job. And hearing the story helped me keep
the characters straight. Thank you for the link-up and for stopping by.
Christy
I’ve heard over and over about people listening to books but I just can’t get into it. There is just something about turning the page of a paper book that I enjoy….
Leslie Roberts Clingan
That’s an interesting point. And there’s the smell of book that you miss when listening
to the audio version. But I love perking up my drive to work by “reading” an audio book.
dousedinpink
I love WWII period books and Lilac Girls sounds like a great read! I’m definitely adding this one to my list! Thanks for sharing your reviews!
Jill
Doused In Pink
Leslie Roberts Clingan
I adored listening to Lilac Girls. Maybe consider listening to the story via Audible? The narrators did such a wonderful
job telling the story. Books set during WWII are my favs. If you try Lilac Girls, please let me know what you think!
Thank you for visiting.
McKenzie Allyshia
Lilac Girls sounds like a wonderfully written book! I will definitely have to check it out. That time period is definitely very interesting.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Hello, new friend! So glad to make your acquaintance and to have you leave a comment, too. I see you are a reader and reviewer
of great books. You are one busy lady indeed. Would love to invite you to join our virtual book club through The Blended
Blog, where I am one of the contributors. Absolutely no pressure to read so many pages or so many books, just gals drinking wine
and sharing what they are reading with one another. If you are interested, you can register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgAByusC9wsojeNCz6BTOw97cp3XQXIx-dI7cHO31caeflXw/viewform?c=0&w=1 We begin on February 2. Again, thank you for
stopping by!!
Jennifer Psihogios
I needed to thank you for this excellent read!!
I certainly enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve got you book marked to check out new stuff you
post…
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for stopping by and for commenting!!! Glad you enjoyed my Title Talk post. Would love to have
you consider joining our virtual (come as you are) book club. We are going to begin new books for April
very shortly. If you are interested, please let me know. You can follow me on Bloglovin’ if you like, or
receive my posts via email, if that uncomplicates things.
Thank you again! And WELCOME!