The Other Side of The War: City of Women by David R. Gillham

I haven’t written anything in a while because I have been pretty busy this fall. I am interning at a literary agency in New York which has been great! Most of my job is reading manuscripts and giving feedback on them, which is very similar to how I approach reading on my own anyway. I have also been using a lot of the information I learned from my Creative Writing and English classes in my critiques which has been pretty cool – I feel like I am actually using my degree right out of college which does not always happen…

I am still working on figuring out the whole reading for work vs. reading for fun schedule, but today I was able to finish the book I have been reading. I finally decided to delve into the books that I got at BEA and I was not disappointed. City of Women by David R. Gillham came out this past August. It tells the story of Berlin during World War II when all the men were off fighting the war, hence the title of the book. The protagonist, Sigrid, is just trying to maintain her daily routine of going to work, living at home with her mother in law, and dealing with the frequent air raids over Berlin. When life gets too hard for her, Sigrid escapes to the cinema, and to the memory of a previous affair she had had. Soon however, Sigrid’s life goes from being an empty void to being filled with a secret and a purpose that she shares with Ericha, a young girl who lives in her building, to counteract the effects of WWII on war torn Berlin and its citizens.

What really drew me into the novel was the level of story telling and description that Gillham includes in every detail of the novel. 1940’s Berlin becomes real through his writing, and the setting takes a role as it’s own character within the story. One review described it as claustrophobic, which I definitely saw come across in the descriptions of the city. To convey such emotion in the setting, I think, is very impressive. According to his website, Gillham used to be a screen writer which comes across very well within the narration of his story. It makes the whole thing very gripping.

I also thought that the characters were very well done. Sigrid is extremely strong willed and comes across as unique in her dark and drab war setting. Her side kick, Ericha is also equally strong willed and interesting. Gillham makes sure that even his minor characters stand out and have multiple layers behind their exterior.

The world that Gillham creates for his characters is one that is both relatable and oddly foreign, which I think makes the book a great read. I was impressed. I just don’t know what to read next…

It’s The End of the World as We Know It – Or Maybe Not

picture from wired.com

Well it’s hard to have a book blog in this day and age without a tip of the hat to e-books. They are everywhere and hard to miss. Personally, I am an old timer and would go for good old fashioned paper and ink rather than a Kindle or Nook, but I do understand their appeal. E-readers do make reading long novels on crowded rush hour subways ten times easier, and the fact that you can store multiple books on one device is appealing. Or if you are in the middle of no where and just dying for a new book, that’s do-able too. However, I find it interesting that there is a new push for more LED screens as opposed to e-ink, with more options for internet and games. For me personally, I like reading not only because of the stories, plots, characters etc, but also because I don’t stare at a screen while I do it. It’s a nice break. I would be okay reading a book on my Goodreads app, for example while I was on the bus or subway, if I was reading the physical version at home, and could curl up with that when I wasn’t in transit.

Maybe its because I’m a nerd and notice these things, or maybe it’s because I just finished a publishing program and like to read myself, but I feel like people have been reading more than ever now. And I can’t help but think that e-readers have to do with that. But it’s not just people reading on e-readers, although there are a lot of them. I’ve noticed more people reading books on subways, busses, or in cafes too. i.e – The Underground New York Public Library blog. I remember when ipods had just come out sometimes I would count the number of people with white headphones on the subway. But now, if I’m really bored on the subway (which can happen frequently) I count the number of people reading. E-books or regular books. And there are definitely a lot out there. Yay reading!

Another interesting thing (maybe only to me) is the kind of books that are popular on e-books. From what I have heard and seen it is primarily genre fiction. (The romance best seller list on Amazon for example) People are still buying real books though, maybe more expensive, or hard cover books that they intend to keep for a longer period of time. This makes me happy. It seems like we are coming to a place where e-readers and physical books might be able to co-exist.

These are just my opinions mixed with what I have heard on the topic – I am in no way an e-reader expert. Feel free to comment with your thoughts.

Thoughts About Book Challenges

I have noticed through my wanderings on WordPress that,

1) there are a lot of book blogs and

2) there are a lot of reading challenges out there.

I love book people! I love talking about great books, good books, bad books, good reading spots, any of it, really. At the same time I am not a fan of book challenges. The “read 150 books in a year type thing (or insert your own number here). To those of you who can do them, all the more power to you. That just isn’t how I work. I have spent my entire educational career reading books for a certain deadline and splitting up readings into somewhat manageable segments so I don’t overwhelm myself. (Telling myself that I could read 50 pages of dense Russian Literature before bed my Junior year in highschool didn’t always go as planned).

The thought of graduating terrifies me (ahhhh!) but one thing that I realized I am looking forward to is reading what I want when I want (to a certain extent, I expect). I can never read for fun during the school year because I always have so much reading for homework that I tend to not want to read as a break on top of that. But that will change. And I feel like if I try one of those read 365 books in a year things I would hate it. I would stress myself out about it and make it feel like homework and that i had to do it or else I would be a terrible person/English major/reader or something. I am expecting to read a lot in the future/coming year/summer etc. But the fact that it is on my own free time is what excites me. Whatever I want whenever I want. Maybe down the road I will try some sort of book challenge, but for right now I’m just going to curl up with a good book and read for fun.

Thoughts?