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Georg Rauch’s memoir, "Unlikely Warrior: A Jewish Soldier in Hitler’s Army," brings a very interesting question: How did a Jew find himself serving in the German army during World War II? Rauch, who came from an intellectual Austrian family in Vienna, was a Christian and had a Jewish grandmother. As a result of his Jewish heritage under Nazi doctrine, he and his family were relegated to second-class citizenship, exempt from the dreadful concentration camps but subject to discrimination.  The book starts in 1943, with Georg, a smart yet somewhat oblivious teenager, messing with gadgets while his mother houses Jews in their attic. Aware of his quarter (25%)-Jewish heritage, he has a contempt for the Nazis but fails to understand fully his situation. His inadvertent actions, such as constructing and testing a shortwave radio, nearly result in the arrest of his family and the Jews they were hiding, although the Gestapo (German secret police) see him as merely a naïve youth. This ...

     In the last two blogs, I reviewed the first two books of The Wild Robot series:  The Wild Robot and The Wild Robot Escapes , which are about a robot named Roz. I recently discovered that there is a new, third book in the series, called The Wild Robot Protects , so I was determined to read it. In this blog, I’ll share what I thought about the book, which arguably is the best book in the series. It revolves around the themes of protecting the environment and the interconnectedness of the natural world.       Roz is a robot who found herself activated on an island without humans. To survive, she had to learn from the island’s animals, so she learned their language. At first, the island inhabitants rejected Roz and were afraid of the new addition to their lives, but after Roz responded with kindness, gave a helping hand in many situations, and showed the animals her adopted gosling, Brightbill, the animals loved Roz. She then beca...

As the year wraps up, I’m doing an analysis of a song on The Tortured Poets’ Department, Taylor Swift’s new album. So High School is a song based on how Taylor Swift feels about Travis Kelce, her current boyfriend.  This song is one of my favorite songs on the album, and she’s basically saying being with Kelce makes her feel like she’s in high school again. It takes her back to her experience in high school or just when she was younger, which was an amazing experience for her. The experience of being with Kelce just made her feel more alive and more exciting in a very wholesome way, which was definitely what she needed after breakups with Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy. The song starts with a classic, stereotypical high school crush:               I feel so high school every time I look at you                I wanna find you in a crowd just to hide from you Generally what she means by “so high sch...

 Ender's game is a sci-fi novel by Orson Scott Card published in 1985. While it seems quite old for a sci-fi novel, it's a true classic and one of my favorite sci-fi novels. In this blog, I will talk about why I like this book so much and what made me want to constantly revisit this book. In Ender’s Game (1985), a little boy named Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin is recruited by the International Fleet for its Battle School, a training school for the best children in the world so that they can meet an alien invasion that’s just around the corner. Ender is short but tactically brilliant and a great leader, and he quickly learns how to take orders. He also learns how to obey his masters, who lie manipulatively to him at every turn. His brilliance and gifts tend to come with loneliness and isolation, as he begins to “win” battles and get promoted in his training. The alien threat becomes his playground. Of course it wouldn’t be a military sci-fi novel if young genius Ender didn’t wreak total...

You know that feeling when you're really into a TV show and you discover there's a book within the show or written about the show? That's exactly what always happens to me when I read books and I tend to gravitate towards books like this most of the time. In the TV show Jane the Virgin the main character lives a crazy life (as the TV show is based off of telenovelas)  and Snow Falling by Jane Villanueva ( the main character in this show) is the novel that she works tremendously hard to finish throughout the eight seasons this show ran for.   Snow Falling is a romance novel and takes you back to 1900s Miami, where the main character Josephine Galena Valencia and Diego de la Vega fall head over heels for each other. I'm not entirely sure where the writers of the show or the book put the credits to the person who actually wrote this novel but it's a very well written book and really proved me wrong about the depth and plot of this book. If you have watched the show ...

     Stephen E. Ambrose's book "Citizen Soldiers" and John Eisenhower's writings offer profound insight into the experiences of ordinary soldiers during World War II, highlighting their resilience, resourcefulness, and unwavering commitment in the line of fire. Ambrose focused on the contributions of citizen soldiers, rather than just the actions of generals. This book provides a more nuanced perspective on the war. Through vivid accounts of bravery and courage, Ambrose illuminates the untold stories of those who fought not for glory, but out of a sense of duty and a desire to uphold what is right. As Ambrose guides readers through pivotal moments like the Battle of the Bulge, connections to broader historical narratives become apparent, underscoring the sacrifices made by millions of soldiers, often overlooked in popular retellings of the war.      One particular story from Ambrose's book really tells and shows the experiences of ordinary soldiers: that of...