The Silence of Trees

The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu

This is the tale of a woman who loses herself and then finds herself again.

In the backdrop of the drama that was the beginning of World War II, Nadya is a teen girl in Ukraine. The clash of German and Russian soldiers tear her world apart.  In an attempt to protect her family, if they survived, she changed her last name. This was the beginning of the many secrets she would hold in her heart.

This book wove Ukrainian folklore into a beautiful fabric of Nadya's life. Her family, often like a whirlwind around her, also grounded her and supported her. Nadya struggles with her past, her secrets and regrets. Eventually she is able to release the binding around her heart and tell her story to those she loves.

This was an endearing story of a woman who one day realizes that the life she has lived isn't quite the life she had hoped for. The questions is "is it a life enough and can there be more?"

The 100 Year Old Man Who Crawled Out a Window and Disappeared

The 100 year old man who crawled out a window and disappeared by Jonas Johansson

This was an entertaining book. I highly recommend it.

The Swedes seem to have a knack for telling stories of violence with such nonchalance that it seems quite commonplace to kill another person because they are bothering you. Also, the protagonist has lived a Forest Gump-like life in that he was strategically in important places at important times with important people.

Set aside your disbelief and allow yourself to eavesdrop on the fantastic life of a very matter of fact man.