The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas By: John Boyne

This is a book that I have been wanting to read for a long while, however I knew being a book about two boys and the holocaust that it was going to be a very difficult read. I decided to try it out this weekend and immediately was sucked into the story of Bruno and Schmuel. I am literally minutes from reading it and quite honestly I am having a hard time putting into words what I felt about this book. Over all I really love it. I guess you can say that's morbid what I am about to say next; I really enjoy reading about the holocaust. ever since I started to learn about the Holocaust in 8th grade I have always had a deep respect and fascination with it. Well maybe fascination isn't the best word, I guess it would be a yearning to learn as much as I could. Although this book is as the author puts it "Just a book" and the story of Bruno and Schmuel is not at all true, but simply a way to show the innocence that existed in the midst of so much evil. The author presents an interesting point of view that I haven't read yet before. Again even though the characters aren't based off actual people, just the way John presents the perspective of the holocaust through the eyes of an innocent 9 year old boy who was simply looking for a friend and for something to do and stumbled upon a boy sitting on the other side of a large fence by his house. I think it was interesting too the way that Bruno's father changed at the end of the book. I could see myself reading this again and when my little girl gets a little older to understand; sharing it with her as well.

Inheritance

Inheritance By: Christopher Paolini

This is the last book of the Inheritance series. When it came out I told my husband that it was the only thing I wanted for Christmas. He was kind enough to get it for me and I started reading it, then we moved and I misplaced it and found it a few months later. Then we moved again and the book was lost in a box in a storage shed for close to 2 years. I was excited to find it again with this last move and decided to finish it no matter what.
Christopher Paolini has always been a little harder to read for me and most people I talk to. He does a good job setting up the story, but because of that it takes a long while to get into the books. But once you do its one that is hard to put down. This one proved to be the same except it started out fairly slow, picked up and then ended rather slowly as well. The end seemed to drag on just a bit. It felt as if Paolini himself felt sorry to see it end and had a hard time saying goodbye to the characters and the book. I am very glad that I got to finish this series though and I rather enjoyed the series.