Waiting on Wednesday {107}: Anna and The Swallow Man

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine. This week's can't-wait-to-read pre-publication book is: Anna and the Swallow Man.

Anna and the Swallow Man

by Gavriel Savit

Publication date: January 26th, 2016

From Goodreads:

A stunning, literary, and wholly original debut novel set in Poland during the Second World War perfect for readers of The Book Thief.

Kraków, 1939. A million marching soldiers and a thousand barking dogs. This is no place to grow up. Anna Łania is just seven years old when the Germans take her father, a linguistics professor, during their purge of intellectuals in Poland. She’s alone.

And then Anna meets the Swallow Man. He is a mystery, strange and tall, a skilled deceiver with more than a little magic up his sleeve. And when the soldiers in the streets look at him, they see what he wants them to see.

The Swallow Man is not Anna’s father—she knows that very well—but she also knows that, like her father, he’s in danger of being taken, and like her father, he has a gift for languages: Polish, Russian, German, Yiddish, even Bird. When he summons a bright, beautiful swallow down to his hand to stop her from crying, Anna is entranced. She follows him into the wilderness.

Over the course of their travels together, Anna and the Swallow Man will dodge bombs, tame soldiers, and even, despite their better judgment, make a friend. But in a world gone mad, everything can prove dangerous. Even the Swallow Man.

Destined to become a classic, Gavriel Savit’s stunning debut reveals life’s hardest lessons while celebrating its miraculous possibilities.

#FinallyFriday {1}: Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler's Army

Finally Friday is a meme started by me (Jessica, aka @coffeelvnmom) and J from @life_love_fandoms. This week's I-finally-read-this-waiting-on-Wednesday-book is: Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler's Army. 

(This review was originally posted 2/24/15.) I'm a sucker for WWII survival stories, especially when they're YA. And yet... it's been weeks since I finished Mr. Rauch's memoir, and I'm *still* not sure what to say. You think you know what it must have been like after learning about WWII so many times in school or watching movies or doing reports or reading books about it, but you don't. Not really. Nothing can prepare you for how atrocious things got on both sides of the warfront as the war continued. Nothing can prepare you for the emotional turmoil anyone put through war has to go through. Especially when you read true recounts down to specific details (like killing a few hundred lice every night just before going to bed, for instance--and this was one of the lesser horrific ones). It breaks you. 

Most stories about WWII have to do with survivors *not* on the side of Hitler. What makes Unlikely Warrior: AJSIHA so different is that, amidst the chaos of war and death and prejudice, Georg was not a survivor of a camp, or a Jew in hiding, but a Jewish soldier, forced to fight on Hitler's side doing something he didn't even believe in. 

As you go with young Georg on his journey, reading letters his mother saved, seeing photos of family, and looking at illustrations he drew back in that day, you feel for him. You want to sit with Georg, hug his past self, and tell him everything'll be okay. And what broke me after going on that journey with him was the fact that he's no longer here to reach out to. 

I am so, so grateful for being given a chance to read this book. So glad that, even after so many decades, Mr. Rauch finally chose to tell his story. I'm also incredibly grateful for his wife, Phyllis Rauch, for translating it into English; and to Farrar, Straus, & Giroux for getting Mr. Rauch's book to more readers.

This is a good read, guys, and worth every single minute.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | iBooks | Goodreads 

This week's writerly news: new favorite writing songs + a #Whole30 recipe

This week's *actual* writerly news is... pretty much non-existent! ;D The girls have been on break for three weeks now, so the environment just hasn't been all that conducive to writing. I've gotten lots of *other* stuff done, though, so that's nice. Really looking forward into diving into some stuff Monday!





I've been doing Whole30 for almost two months now, so the yummy sweet recipes I usually shared before taking a break from the writerly news posts are a thing of the past for now, but I am TOTALLY in love with this Grilled Chicken Shawarma (and the Israeli salad, too) at the moment. So fresh, and natural! (And the shawarma seasoning works great on steaks, as well!)



Moondust:


Moondust (Stripped):


I'll Be Good


Currently listening (over and over) to Jaymes Young's I'll Be Good and Moondust (Stripped & also the original version). Jaymes Young's voice is like velvet. Got so many great scenes in my head now! *melts to the floor* 


ICYMI:

#JLBgivesawayanINDIE: Next month I'll be starting up #JLBgivesawayanINDIE. I'm very excited about the photo-a-day challenges and giveaway (and just highlighting authors in general), so if you're interested in participating as a reader/blogger, feel free to check out THIS POST and sign out the form before it closes.


Waiting on Wednesday:

This week's WoW was Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler's Army. I'm a sucker for WWII YA (I mean, hello, CODE NAME VERITY, ROSE UNDER FIRE, and TAMAR: A NOVEL OF ESPIONAGE, PASSION AND BETRAYAL are some of my favorite books), and knowing this story is true (click the link and read "about the author") just made it even more special. Also, I was just approved to read an e-ARC of it, so YAY!

Ships and OTPs:

The Flora characters have recently been listed in a few places, which I thought was cool (thanks, guys)! You can check them out below:

* OTP of the year (!!!): Rowan and Dahlia at Genie in a Book

* BRO-TP (ha ha): Briscoe and Rowan at life_love_fandoms

* Friend"ships": Dahlia and David at life_love_fandoms 


Have a blessed weekend! :)

Code Name Verity (book review)

Remember how I posted about being the newest member of Afterglow Book Reviews last week? Well, I have officially posted my first review! And it's on the roller coaster of an awesomely emotional World War II/secret agent/flight-oriented book, CODE NAME VERITY! (Have you read this? Ugh! Let me just say that my review is very... wordy!)



You can check the review out here!

Be blessed,

Jessica