The Gendarme by Mark Mustian

I finished this book over a month ago and am just now getting around to writing about it. It is the story of Emmett Conn, an old man who suffered memory loss after being injured during World War I. But now he has a brain tumor, and he is having dreams that he is a gendarme, taking a group of Armenians out of Turkey. One of the Armenians is a young woman who captivates Emmett. But the war intervenes and they are separated.

I had never heard of the Armenian genocide before reading this book, so I learned some history. It was a good story and well written. I rated it 4 out of 5.

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller

I don't read a lot of mysteries, but this book sounded interesting.  After surviving World War I, Laurence Bartram learns that his old friend John Emmett has apparently killed himself.  Laurence agrees to investigate for John's sister Mary.  But as one of the characters tells Laurence, "You're dogged but you're not a natural detective. . ."  What I liked about this mystery that was different from others I've read was that it presented Laurence's musings about the case as he learned bits and pieces.  Most of those musings turned out to be wrong, but it was interesting to follow.  There is a quote on the cover of the book that states, "The new Birdsong - only better."  I would have to disagree with that statement.  While I basically enjoyed the book and thought it was fairly well written, it was not as good as Birdsong in my opinion.  I rate it 3 out of 5.

Strange Meeting by Susan Hill

I've read several good WWI books for my reading challenge this year (The Light Between Oceans, The Summer of Katya (WWI was a small part of each of these books), and Birdsong to name a few), but this ranks right up there near the top.

John Hilliard has been wounded and spends some time recuperating at home.  He finds that he can not bear to be at home where no one understands what it is like at the front.  When he returns to the front, he knows very few of the officers left in his unit; most have been killed or disabled in the fighting.  He must share space with a newly arrived officer, David Barton.  At first Hilliard is angry about this; he wants to be alone.  But Barton and Hilliard become very close friends, even though they are very different.  Hilliard is very proper and straight laced and has never had a close friend, while Barton is very friendly and outgoing and everyone likes him.  There are scenes of life in the trenches and of fighting and even of the boredom in between the action.  But mostly it is about the friendship between these two men.  I enjoyed the writing style very much; it was easy to read and lyrical without being overdone.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

When Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia after World War I, he takes a job as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, an isolated island off the western coast.  He hopes the isolation will help him to heal from the war.  While on leave back to the mainland, he meets Isabel Graysmark.  The two fall in love and marry.  One day, very shortly after Isabel has had a stillbirth (following two earlier miscarriages), a boat washes to shore with a dead man and a live baby.  Isabel convinces Tom, against his better judgement, to keep the baby and claim her as their own.  This lie has devastating effects on everyone involved.  The book is a reminder that there are many shades of gray between right and wrong and there are no easy answers in life.  It was very well written and I rate it 4 out of 5.  The moral dilemma reminded me of The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

The Summer of Katya by Trevanian

I decided to read this book because of a review posted by Semicolon at War Through the Generations blog.  It is set in France in 1914, right before the start of World War I.  Dr. Jean-Marc Montjean, a recent graduate of medical school, works for the only doctor in the small village of Salies.  He falls in love with Katya Treville, a beautiful young woman, after treating her twin brother's injured arm.  Katya's brother warns Montjean to stay away from Katya, but Montjean is convinced that Katya returns his affections.  He soon realizes that the Treville family has been running from an old secret.  It was a well written story that was part mystery, part love story, and part psychological drama.  I didn't think that World War I was either a primary or secondary theme of the novel, but since a review was posted on the War Through the Generations blog, I'm counting it for my reading challenge.  I rate it 4 out of 5.

The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey

I decided to read this book after reading reviews of it on the War Through The Generations blog.  In order to count towards the reading challenge, WWI should be a primary or secondary theme.  While parts of the book occurred during WWI, it really didn't seem like either a primary or a secondary theme to me.  But since both hostesses of the challenge (Anna Horner and Serena Agusto-Cox) counted it, I guess I can count it too.

The book is a historical novel set in early 20th century Northern Ireland.  I didn't know much (or any) Irish history, so I learned a lot about Ireland's struggle for independence from Great Britain, the formation of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and the partitioning of Ireland into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  The main character, Eileen O'Neill, was a very strong, opinionated, and defiant young woman.  I sometimes got tired of how angry she was much of the time, although much of her anger was justified.  The love story portion was a bit too predictable for me, but otherwise I enjoyed the book.  I rate it 3 out of 5. 

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

I had heard of this book for a long time, and decided to read it for my WWI Reading Challenge after watching the PBS movie.  As usual, I enjoyed the book much more than the movie, although I thought the movie was good when I saw it earlier this year.

Part one begins in1910 when Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman, is sent to France by his company to learn more about the manufacturing process of textiles from Rene Azaire, the owner of two factories.  Stephen and Azaire's wife Isabelle fall in love and have an affair while Stephen is staying with the Azaires.

Part two jumps to 1916 and Stephen is an officer fighting in France during World War I. Like another reviewer mentioned, I didn't know about the tunneling that was done in the war. WWI really was one of the most brutal wars ever fought, and I've never really understood what it was about. This book didn't get into the reasons for the war, but it certainly did an excellent job of describing the horrors of it.

Part three jumps to 1978 where Stephen's granddaughter Elizabeth is trying to learn more about her grandfather. While this part of the story was not as interesting or compelling to me, there was one scene that I thought justified having this section in the book:  Elizabeth visits a veteran who had been a soldier with Stephen.  He'd had his left leg amputated and still suffered from shell shock and had lived in a veteran's home for almost 60 years. His only visitor had been his sister who had died almost 30 years earlier. There was also a parallel between Elizabeth and Isabelle Azaire that I won't say any more about so I don't give away too much of the story.

I thought the book was very well written and I rate it 4 out of 5.

The Last Summer by Judith Kinghorn

Clarissa Granville is almost 17 years old when the story begins.  She has just spent an idyllic summer at her family's country estate, Deyning Park, where she meets and falls in love with Tom Cuthbert, son of the family's housekeeper.  But then the Great War (World War I) begins, and everything changes.  Clarissa's 3 brothers (Henry, William, and George), Tom and many of their friends all go off to war.  Many don't return or else are so physically or emotionally damaged that life is never the same afterwards.  I really wanted to like this book, and I did like a lot of it.  But it is narrated by Clarissa, and I thought she was such a ninny!  I know that I'm seeing an early 20th century woman through the eyes of the 21st century, but she could be so exasperating at times.  She claimed to have this all-consuming passion for Tom, but when it came right down to it, she let the opinions of others (especially her mother) control her.  I kept thinking of the rather crude expression, "sh*t or get off the pot."  Anyway, I debated how many stars to give this, and finally settled on 3 out of 5.  It is my 7th book for the World War I Reading Challenge.

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

The book opens with this paragraph, "They've gone now, and I'm alone at last.  I have the whole night ahead of me, and I won't waste a single moment of it.  I shan't sleep it away.  I won't dream it away either.  I mustn't, because every moment of it will be far too precious."  What follows are Tommo Peaceful's memories of his childhood with his mother, brothers Charlie and Big Joe and friend Molly, and how he became a soldier in World War I at the age of "nearly sixteen."  You know something terrible is going to happen when the night is over, but you don't find out what until near the end of the book.  This is by the same author as War Horse, another World War I young adult book, and it is very well written (you can see my review of War Horse here).  It is my 6th book for the World War I reading challenge, and I rate it 4 out of 5.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

I read this book for a read-along with War Through the Generations blog, which sponsors the reading challenges I have done for the past 4 years (World War II in 2009, Vietnam in 2010, US Civil War in 2011, and now World War I this year).  I had never read any Hemingway before, so I thought this would be a good chance to read something of his.  It is the semi-autobiographical story of American Lieutenant Fredric Henry, who is serving as an ambulance driver in the Italian Army, and the love affair between Henry and the British nurse Catherine Barkley.  Henry is the narrator of the story, and he is a very stoic character; we really don't learn much about him.  According to the blurb on the back of my copy of the book, "Hemingway wrote in short, declarative sentences and was known for his tough, terse prose."  This made it easy enough to read, but I can't say I enjoyed it much.  I rate it 2 out of 5.  It is my 5th book for the World War I reading challenge.

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

I had planned on reading this book earlier on my iPad for a read along with Book Club Girl.  I THOUGHT that I had downloaded the book before we left on our trip to Tennessee (it was on sale for $1.99).  But when I tried to read it, I learned that I had only downloaded the preview, not the book.  And of course, by then, the sale on the eBook was over.  So I requested the book through inter-library loan, and just finished it yesterday (and now the read along is over, so I didn't participate after all).  I enjoyed it much more than I expected - I don't usually read mysteries, although I grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries (didn't all girls?).  It's the first in a series, so I may just have to read more.


Bess Crawford is a nurse serving on a hospital ship during WWI.  She gets close to a dying soldier and promises to take a message back to his family:  "Tell my brother Jonathan that I lied. I did it for Mother's sake. But it has to be set right."  When she is finally able to deliver the message, they react as if the message has no significance.  Through a series of events, she decides to try to learn what the message means and set it right herself.  This is my fourth book for the World War I Reading Challenge, and I rate it 4 out of 5.

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West

This is the story of an English soldier who returns home with partial amnesia after an injury.  He doesn't remember his wife and believes he is in love with an innkeeper's daughter he hasn't seen in 15 years.  It is a quick read - only 87 pages - and a good story.  It was written in 1918, which may explain why I wasn't too fond of the writing style.  But I still enjoyed it overall and rate it 3 out of 5.  It is my third book for the World War I Reading Challenge that I'm participating in this year; the other two books were All Quiet on the Western Front and Warhorse.

Read Along with Book Club Girl

I'm joining a read along hosted by Book Club Girl of A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd.  It will qualify for my WWI Reading Challenge, and it's available as an e-book for just $1.99.  So I'll be reading it on my iPad, which I've never done.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Fifteen year old Alfred receives Joey, a beautiful horse, from his father.  Alfred loves Joey and trains him to work on the farm.  When the family runs short of money, Alfred's father sells Joey to the cavalry at the start of World War I.  Alfred is too young to join but promises Joey he'll find him.  Joey experiences many of the horrors of war.  Joey is the narrator of the book, and that works better than I thought it would.  The book is written for children aged 8 and up; I don't often read children's books, but I wanted to read this before seeing the movie.  It was a quick read; I'm a pretty slow reader and even I finished it in 2 days.  I thought it was well written and I rate it 3 out of 5.  It is my second book for the World War I reading challenge.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

My first book for the WWI reading challenge hosted by War Through the Generations blog was this classic anti-war novel, which I'd never read.  It tells the story of a group of young men whose school master shames them into enlisting in the German Army.  It describes the fear and horror they experienced much of the time.

"We crouch behind every corner, behind every barrier of barbed wire, and hurl heaps of explosives at the feet of the advancing enemy before we run.  The blast of the hand-grenades impinges powerfully on our arms and legs; crouching like cats we run on, overwhelmed by this wave that bears us along, that fills us with ferocity, turns us into thugs, into murderers, into God only knows what devils; this wave that multiplies our strength with fear and madness and greed of life, seeking and fighting for nothing but our deliverance.  If your own father came over with them you would not hesitate to fling a bomb at him."  (pgs. 113-4)

And it discusses the futility of war to those who fight.

"A word of command has made these silent figures our enemies; a word of command might transform them into our friends.  At some table a document is signed by some persons whom none of us knows, and then for years together that very crime on which formerly the world's condemnation and severest penalty fall, becomes our highest aim.  But who can draw such a distinction when he looks at these quiet men with their childlike faces and apostles' beards.  Any non-commissioned officer is more of an enemy to a recruit, any schoolmaster to a pupil, than they are to us.  And yet we would shoot at them again and they at us if they were free."  (pgs. 193-4)

I rated this 3 out of 5.

2012 Challenges

My friend Kathy (Catching Happiness) asked me whether I was doing any new reading challenges this year and I realized that I hadn't posted about that yet.  I'm doing one reading challenge this year.  It's my 4th year to do the War Through the Generations Challenge, and this year the focus is on World War I.  The previous 3 years were US Civil War (2011), Vietnam (2010), and World War II (2009 and my first ever reading challenge).  Last year I did 5 challenges, but I selected challenges that I knew I could finish easily, which isn't really the point of a challenge, is it?  So I decided to do just one reading challenge, but to choose the Wade level (4-10 books) instead of Dip (1-3 books).  I've selected my first 3 books: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (which is the book for the 2012 read-along), and War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (I don't usually read children's books, but I wanted to read this before seeing the movie).

The only other challenge I've signed up for this year isn't a reading challenge; it's the Sketchbook Challenge.  I did this one last year too, and participated in 9 of the 12 monthly themes.