December Wrap Up 2017
I honestly can’t believe that another year of reading is done. I wish that I could have read more this month but I’m pretty happy with how much I read considering finals and all.
1. Obama: An Intimate Portrait: The Historic Presidency in Photographs, Pete Souza 5/5
Pete Souza began photographing President Obama on his first day as a U.S. senator, in January 2005, and served as the chief official White House photographer for the President's full two terms. Souza was with President Obama more often, and at more crucial moments, than any friend or staff member, or even the First Lady--and he photographed it all. Souza captured nearly 2 million photographs of Obama, in moments ranging from classified to disarmingly candid.
I was going to ask for this book for my birthday but I knew no one in my family would get it for so I decided to get it for myself. After I bought the book I went to the coffeehouse to look at the book. This books is beyond beautiful. Near the end of the book it shows Obama’s reaction to the election results, what he says to his staff and him leaving the White House for the last time. I didn’t realize that there were tears in my eyes until I closed the book. I wondered how the photographs went from Obama’s Selma speech and the white house covered in rainbow lights to such a tragedy.
2. Night Elie Wiesel, 5/5
“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.”
Night is Elie Wiesel’s masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. This new translation by Marion Wiesel, Elie’s wife and frequent translator, presents this seminal memoir in the language and spirit truest to the author’s original intent. And in a substantive new preface, Elie Wiesel reflects on the enduring importance of Night and his lifelong, passionate dedication to ensuring that the world never forget man’s capacity for inhumanity to man.
I had to read this book for my diversity class and I’m so glad I picked it. This is smallest but most powerful book I’ve read. I think the beginning was almost more horrific for me. I think it was because I knew somewhat what the concentration camps would be like. I didn’t know what life was like for Jewish people before the war. It was surprising to find that Ellie talked more about others than himself. He talked about strangers on the train, his family before they went to the gas chambers, people he met in the camps. The one time I remembered him talking about himself was when he was injured. This is a beautiful book that I’m glad I finally picked up.
3. The Reader, Bernhard Schlink 4/5
“Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily..”
When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover—then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.
The synopsis sounds strange and it is. At the same time the reviews on Goodreads were so high that I had to give it a try. If the writing style wasn’t so beautiful I probably would have put the book down. It’s also a quick read which is a huge plus. The characters were vivid and the author makes you ask so many questions that you have to keep reading. I wish that I could say more but it’s best to go into this book knowing nothing.
1. Obama: An Intimate Portrait: The Historic Presidency in Photographs, Pete Souza 5/5
Pete Souza began photographing President Obama on his first day as a U.S. senator, in January 2005, and served as the chief official White House photographer for the President's full two terms. Souza was with President Obama more often, and at more crucial moments, than any friend or staff member, or even the First Lady--and he photographed it all. Souza captured nearly 2 million photographs of Obama, in moments ranging from classified to disarmingly candid.
I was going to ask for this book for my birthday but I knew no one in my family would get it for so I decided to get it for myself. After I bought the book I went to the coffeehouse to look at the book. This books is beyond beautiful. Near the end of the book it shows Obama’s reaction to the election results, what he says to his staff and him leaving the White House for the last time. I didn’t realize that there were tears in my eyes until I closed the book. I wondered how the photographs went from Obama’s Selma speech and the white house covered in rainbow lights to such a tragedy.
2. Night Elie Wiesel, 5/5
“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.”
Night is Elie Wiesel’s masterpiece, a candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. This new translation by Marion Wiesel, Elie’s wife and frequent translator, presents this seminal memoir in the language and spirit truest to the author’s original intent. And in a substantive new preface, Elie Wiesel reflects on the enduring importance of Night and his lifelong, passionate dedication to ensuring that the world never forget man’s capacity for inhumanity to man.
I had to read this book for my diversity class and I’m so glad I picked it. This is smallest but most powerful book I’ve read. I think the beginning was almost more horrific for me. I think it was because I knew somewhat what the concentration camps would be like. I didn’t know what life was like for Jewish people before the war. It was surprising to find that Ellie talked more about others than himself. He talked about strangers on the train, his family before they went to the gas chambers, people he met in the camps. The one time I remembered him talking about himself was when he was injured. This is a beautiful book that I’m glad I finally picked up.
3. The Reader, Bernhard Schlink 4/5
“Sometimes the memory of happiness cannot stay true because it ended unhappily..”
When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover—then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder.
The synopsis sounds strange and it is. At the same time the reviews on Goodreads were so high that I had to give it a try. If the writing style wasn’t so beautiful I probably would have put the book down. It’s also a quick read which is a huge plus. The characters were vivid and the author makes you ask so many questions that you have to keep reading. I wish that I could say more but it’s best to go into this book knowing nothing.
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